21-05-2025
Former SCJ leaders again urge scrapping of reform bill
Takaaki Kajita, a former president of the Science Council of Japan at left, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on May 20. (Takahiro Takenouchi)
Six former presidents of the Science Council of Japan issued a joint statement calling for the withdrawal of a controversial government-backed bill that would transform the council into an independent legal entity under closer government oversight.
'Academic freedom and democracy are being undermined,' said Takaaki Kajita, one of the former leaders and a Nobel laureate physicist, at a news conference on May 20.
The bill proposes a reform of the SCJ that comprises 210 of the nation's top academics and serves as an advisory body to the government.
It would create positions for auditors appointed by the prime minister from outside the council.
It would also remove the preamble of the current SCJ Law affirming the council's autonomy.
Given these changes, the statement criticized the bill's goal as an attempt to place the council more directly under government supervision, dubbing it the 'SCJ Control Law.'
The former presidents called for the bill to be scrapped and for trust to be rebuilt between the government and the SCJ.
Kajita, who recently testified at a Lower House committee discussing the bill, criticized the pro-reform arguments as superficial.
'They say the shift to an 'independent' legal entity would increase autonomy, but reading the bill makes it clear why there are concerns,' he said.
The bill passed the Lower House on May 13 with support from the ruling parties. Opposition parties opposed it, arguing that it undermines the organization's independence from the government.
'Concerns raised by opposition parties have brought serious issues in the bill to light,' said Takashi Onishi, a professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo and an urban planning specialist. 'We urge the Upper House to continue this critical discussion.'
The statement marks the fourth time since 2020 that past SCJ presidents have issued a collective appeal.
That year, then-Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga sparked a public outcry by rejecting the appointment of six scholars nominated by the SCJ—an unprecedented move that triggered ongoing tensions between the government and the nation's scientific community.
