The Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) was founded in 1914 as a corporation with its mandate to "Contribute to academic culture through the promotion of civil engineering and development of civil engineering services". Ever since, continuous efforts have been made to realize opportunities for exchanges of relevant information and best practices among the members, promotional activities related to civil engineering from both academic and technical perspectives, and contributions to help build and maintain social infrastructure.

JSCE's programs and researches are planned and managed by relevant committees formed by the members after being acknowledged at the General Assembly and by the Board of Directors. The headquarters is located in the downtown Tokyo with eight local branches that are responsible for local activities. The members of JSCE have recently reached more than 40 thousand people of which 6 thousand are student members. The regular members of 34 thousand consist of those belong to construction industry (30 per cent), consulting firms (24 per cent), public agencies (22 per cent), academic circle (10 per cent), and other various business sectors. It has annual budget of about $20 million with about 60 personnel including part-time staff.

During the past decades, JSCE has substantially expanded its arena of activities which can be categorized into the following seven areas: (1) providing the latest information through several periodical bulletins including an annual English publication of "Civil Engineering JSCE" (2) facilitating opportunities for academic exchange through JSCE annual convention and various types of symposiums, which are supported by more than 300 subcommittees organized under 60 research committees; (3) helping promote understanding on civil engineering through workshops, seminars, study tours as well as the academic publications including Civil Engineering Guidebook, Dictionary on Civil Engineering Terminology, and reference materials for various specifications and formula. In this connection, JSCE runs its own library containing more than 30 thousand periodicals and publications; (4) awarding academic and technical achievements through provision of several prizes including JSCE Technical Award and International Contribution Award; (5) conducting research and studies entrusted by public authorities on the issues relating to social infrastructure; (6) promoting cooperation with other organizations domestically and internationally through exchanges of information and experts, and conducting study tours abroad; and (7) strengthening general public relations through various activities including provision of summer school for high-school students, and hosting special events in cooperation with public organizations on November 18th each year which is publicly claimed as "the Civil Engineering Day".

A role for JSCE being expected today is to challenge the time of paradigm shift to improve the people's welfare in the coming century. With the ever-growing trend of globalization, JSCE increasingly recognizes the importance of international cooperation and understanding. You may wish to get more information from JSCE through the following contacts address.

Internet Home Page Address: http://wwwsoc.nacsis.ac.jp:/jsce2/jac/ Mail Address for Membership: Attn: Member Registration Section, JSCE Mubanchi, Yotsuya 1-chome, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0004 Telephone: +81(3)3355-3443 Facsimile: +81(3)5379-2769

Headquaters of JSCE