[Last Updated  March 9, 2018]

History

The IEEE Tokyo Section is one of the geographical units of the Institute of the Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE), the world’s largest technical professional society.

Through the great efforts of Dr. Fumio Minozuma, a local section of the Institute of Radio Engineers was organized in 1955 in Japan as the IRE Tokyo Section. In 1963, IRE and the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) merged to form the IEEE. Accordingly, the IRE Tokyo Section became the IEEE Tokyo Section.

Initially, it started with a membership of 72 and has grown annually, to about 10,000 in 1998. Use of “Tokyo” in the name and not “Japan” came from the IEEE’s traditional use of a city name in a Section name. However, in 1998, it was decided that the Tokyo Section should be split into eight Sections to further develop IEEE activities and promote member services and membership development in local region in Japan. In November 1998, a petition for the formation of seven new Sections was officially approved by IEEE Headquarters. Under the reorganization, the new Tokyo Section became one of eight Sections in Japan.

In June 1999, the eight Sections agreed to establish the IEEE Japan Council for the purpose of providing a coordination of all sections in Japan. Shin-etsu Section was also established in June 2006. Therefore there are nine sections in Japan.

 

◆IEEE Tokyo Section History

 

Current State

Tokyo Section is managed by the Section Executive Committee, or ExCom. ExCom meetings are held four times a year according to the Tokyo section bylaws. In addition, the Tokyo Section now has eight Standing Committees to promote section activities. The Section also holds an Annual General Assembly. The General Assembly features a report on the section activities of the previous year and the budgeting of operational funds for the next year, the presentation of Fellow certificates, a special lecture by an IEEE award recipient, as well as a party for members.

The Tokyo Section’s other activities include holding lectures by inviting well-known scientists and engineers from around the world, supporting Fellow nominations, and assisting students with their activities through the IEEE Student Branches.
There are more than 35 society chapters in the Tokyo Section as technical subunits.
There are two Affinity Groups in the Tokyo Section as non-technical subunits: LMAG, Life Members Affinity Group and YP, Young Professionals.
In addition, SIGHT（Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology）has established in 2018.
They have relationships between groups, and has been promoting various activities over the sections and the generations.

The Tokyo Section Publications Committee released the first issue of a Section newsletter called the “IEEE Tokyo Bulletin” on May 31, 2000 as a new means of communication for its members. Since then, the Bulletin has regularly been both posted on the IEEE Tokyo Section’s home page and distributed through email, so that every member belonging to the Section may be well informed of the activities progress and operation criteria of their Section.

 

【References：Link to Japan Council HP】

◆About IEEE
◆Section Membership Statistics
◆Society Membership Statistics
◆Chapters in Japan
◆Student Branches in Japan