Brief History
The Anthropological Society of Nippon (ASN) was foundeded in 1884 by Shogoro Tsuboi, who was then a student at the Faculty of Science of the University of Tokyo. He gathered a group of 10 people and formed the "Friends in Anthropology." In 1886, the first issue of their journal was published, and the growing group was renamed "The Anthropological Society of Tokyo." In 1887, Takahira Kanda became its first president. After that, The Institute of Anthropology, Faculty of Science, The University of Tokyo functioned as the center for the Society's activities. In 1936, the first annual joint meeting with the Japan Society of Ethnology was held. In 1941, the organization was renamed The Anthropological Society of Nippon, which continues to this day. The annual meetings were not held during the World War II times, but the Joint Meetings were reestablished after the war, and the 50th meeting was held in 1996. Since the initial founding of the organization, 113 years have passed by the year 1996, and the official journal had reached its 104th volume. It is one of the earliest established scientific societies of Japan. Anthropology is a multidisciplinary science that encompasses prehistory, archeology, ethnology, morphological anthropology, human genetics, human ecology, physiological anthropology, primatology, among other related disciplines. Over the years, with the advance of science, many independent societies have come out of the ASN. Currently, the fields of specialization of ASN members include all those disciplines listed above.
