The 27th JASID Spring Conference

General Information: 27th JASID Spring Conference

This year's annual conference will be held on June 27 (Saturday), 2026 at Shirokane Campus, Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo.

1. Theme

Ancient Futures: Development by the Ordinary People

All this is happening before our eyes and yet we act as if we have all the time we want and all the solutions. (...) In my country, we make so much waste, we buy and throw away, buy and throw away, and yet northern countries will not share with the needy.　Even when we have more than enough, we are afraid to lose some of our wealth, afraid to share.

―Speech of young Severn Suzuki at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio―

At the 26th JASID Spring Conference in Hokkaido, we smiled during students’ presentation about bears. However, in 2025 more than 9,700 bears were "culled" in Japan. In 1992 （34 years ago）, we had already experienced natural disasters, global warming, war, and we knew that such a human "development" would exceed the Earth's capacity. Despite setting the SDGs, human activities of "development" with mass consumption and destruction have not been corrected. "Ancient Futures" coined by Norberg-Hodge sounded the alarm against the violence of monocultural destruction and illustrated a vision of a sustainable society through the case of Ladakh in India. There are people who, while affected by the negative impacts of globalization, are trying to restore coexistence with nature through daily practices. This is a localization movement using "intermediate technology" introduced in Schumacher’s work "Small is Beautiful." For example, some people in Japan are attempting to create eco-friendly communities. Rather than relying on the government, these movements of endogenous "development" proceed using the community power and wisdom of local culture, under the slogan of the "Ancient futures."  At the same time, they stand in international solidarity against exploitation that breeds poverty and wars, which are the greatest environmental destruction. We hope that OUR conference will make small actions of people "visible."

2. Dates

  • June 27 2026 (Sat): Conference

3. Meeting format

This conference will be held in-person.

4. Participation fee

  • Regular member:
    4,000 JPY (Early bird registration: 3,000 JPY)
  • Student member・Honorary Member・Regular member (aged 70 and older):
    2,000 JPY (Early bird registration: 1,000 JPY)
  • Non-member (general, including those who are applying to the membership and those who have not paid yearly membership fee):
    6,000 JPY (Early bird registration: 5,000 JPY)
  • Non-member (student, including those who are applying to the membership and those who have not paid yearly membership fee):
    5,000 JPY (Early bird registration: 4,000 JPY)

5. Important dates

  • February 9 (Mon): Call for presentation open
  • March 1 (Sun): Deadline for JASID membership registration
  • March 23 (Mon): Call for presentation close
  • April 6 (Mon): Conference registration open
                         *Early bird registration is until May 5 (Mon)
  • April 11 (Sat): Notification of acceptance 
  • May 15 (Fri): Deadline for submission of full paper
  • June 25 (Thu): Conference registration close

6. Gatherings

A social gathering is planned  (June 27).
We warmly invite you to participate.

7. Venue and access

Shirokane Campus, Meiji Gakuin University,
1-2-37 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Nearest Stations: Shirokanedai and Shirokanetakanawa Stations (Namboku Line), and Takanawadai Station (Toei Asakusa Line) — all approximately a 7-minute walk.

8. The 36th JASID Annual Conference Executive Committee 

  • Executive Committee Chair
    • Megumi Hirayama (Meiji Gakuin University)
  • Executive Director
    • Jotaro Kato (Meiji Gakuin University)
  • Executive Committee
    • Rumiko Akashi (Meiji Gakuin University)
    • Kimiko Abe (Meiji Gakuin University)
    • Kanako Omi (Toyo University)
    • Maki Kanbe
    • Hiroshi Sato (Tokyo Institute for Development Sociology)
    • Shinichi Shigetomi (Meiji Gakuin University)
    • Naoko Takasu (Komazawa Women’s University)
    • Saeko Noda (Hitonomori)
    • Yoichi Hiruma (Shizuoka University)