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Japan Times

Japan enacts law to turn science council into special entity

Parliament on Wednesday passed into law a bill to convert the Science Council of Japan from a state organization into a special public corporation. The new law for the council, which represents the country's scientific community, will come into effect in October 2026. In a plenary meeting of the House of Councilors, the upper chamber of parliament, the bill was approved by a majority vote with support from the ruling bloc and Nippon Ishin no Kai, an opposition party, following its passage last month at the House of Representatives, the lower chamber. The SCJ had called for revising the bill due to concerns about its independence. Meanwhile, an amendment proposed by the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan was voted down Tuesday at the Cabinet Committee of the Upper House. Under the new law, the council will be positioned as a "representative organization for Japanese scientists at home and abroad," and the government will provide necessary financial support. The law will newly establish an evaluation committee and auditors, to be appointed by the prime minister, to check the council's activities and finances. The SCJ will continue to hold the right to make recommendations to the government on science and technology policies. The law expands the number of council members from 210 to 250. Newcomers will be approved through a vote in the council's general meeting, after being nominated by a selection committee comprising council members. An advisory committee of outside experts will be able to give opinions on the nomination policy. In 2020, then-Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga took the unprecedented step of rejecting the appointments of six council member nominees, sparking a debate over how the body should be structured. In 2023, the government compiled a bill to change the council's membership selection method, but gave up submitting it to parliament due to strong opposition from the council. After discussions with experts, the government decided to seek a new law that turns the body into a corporation. SCJ President Mamoru Mitsuishi had released a statement on the new law, saying, "Concerns have not been eliminated from the perspective of autonomy and independence." At its general meeting in April, the SCJ approved by a majority vote a resolution seeking the bill's revision.