Outline

Greetings from the Chairman

 Yoshiyuki Yokota

Yoshiyuki Yokota

Chairman
The Society of Iodine Science
(Director, NIPPOH CHEMICALS CO.,LTD)

I am Yoshiyuki Yokota, the Chairman of the Society of Iodine Science. Previously, as the former Vice Chairman, I have been involved in this society’s operation under the former Chairman, Mr. Kanoh; now I would like to make efforts to further develop this society that has been built up by our predecessors.

Iodine is an element that is essential not only to mankind but also to all organisms. In recent years, iodine has been used across many segments of the industry, including disinfectants, X–ray contrast media, catalysts for chemical products, LCD Polarizing Film and battery parts.

Regarding iodine production, Japan has approximately 30 percent global share—second to Chile. For Japan, a country poor in resources, iodine is a valuable product that has a significant weight in the world. In Japan, iodine is produced from brine (ancient seawater) along with natural gas in Chiba, Niigata, and Miyazaki Prefectures.

So iodine can be said to be a specialty product of Japan, and from the consciousness of the challenge in research and industry on how to highly utilize such a product, the academia and industry established the Forum of Iodine Utilization in June 1998 with the cooperation of the government. The forum steadily expanded its activities and was reorganized into the Society of Iodine Science in July 2007.

Our society—understandably from its original founding background—aims at the progress of iodine science and technology, and its purpose is to contribute to the industrial and societal development of our country. Researchers and engineers of universities, national, and public research institutes, and corporate researchers, engineers, and top executives work together toward this goal.

I believe the key to our further development from now on is to bring attention to iodine from a number of people. In that context, it would be very important to raise the awareness of iodine. I intend to advance the Society of Iodine Science’s various activities with raising this awareness always in mind.

The Society of Iodine Science has published journals and information magazines, funded researches, hosted symposiums, and presented awards every year. Although the situation of the novel coronavirus(COVID-19) is still uncertain, the shift to new business styles, new lifestyles and new values is progressing. In addition, environmental issues and SDGs initiatives are essential to achieving a sustainable society, the Iodine Society aims to carry out activities suitable for the new era. Now we hope to achieve further results through enhanced industry-government-academia collaboration. Thank you for your support.