Dear Members of the Zoological Society of Japan

This year is an election year for directors, branch committee members, and others. Also, around June, we will issue dues invoices for the 2026 fiscal year.

To finalize the electoral roll and the 2026 membership dues, those who wish to transition to senior member or lifelong member status based on Article 4 and Article 5 of the Bylaws (*1) are requested to notify the Zoological Society of Japan Secretariat by "the end of March" ( zsj-society@zoology.or.jp Please inform us by ).

When you become a senior or long-term member, your annual membership dues will be changed or waived based on Article 2 of the Membership Dues Regulations (*2). At the same time, in accordance with Article 8 of the Bylaws of the Articles of Incorporation (*3), you will lose the eligibility to become a board member "candidate" in elections (passive suffrage). However, your right to vote for candidates (active suffrage) will be retained.

Please forgive us for addressing all members in this manner, as we should normally contact you individually, but there are also opinions that providing date of birth and gender information at the time of membership registration should be optional.
We are also aware that there are various opinions regarding terms such as "senior members" and "long-term members." We would appreciate your understanding that these terms are used in this notice as they are defined in the articles of incorporation.

Please let the Zoological Society office know if you have any questions or concerns.

*1: Bylaws of the Zoological Society of Japan
Article 4. Based on Article 7, Paragraph 1, Item 4 of the Articles of Incorporation, members aged 65 or older may become senior members upon request.
Article 5. Based on Article 7, Paragraph 1, Item 5 of the Articles of Incorporation, members who are 70 years of age or older and have a membership history of 35 years or more may become permanent members upon request.

*2: The Zoological Society of Japan Membership Dues Regulations
Article 2. The annual membership fees for members other than general members shall be as follows:
(3) Senior members (aged 65 or older) shall be 9,800 yen, of which members with 30 or more years of membership shall be 5,300 yen.
(4) Long-term members (members aged 70 or older with at least 35 years of membership) shall be exempt from fees.

*3: Bylaws of the Zoological Society of Japan, Public Interest Incorporated Association
Article 8. Director candidates shall be elected from among regular members and student members, excluding honorary members. The election of director candidates shall be conducted by members on a branch-by-branch basis, with the fixed number of directors for each branch except the Kanto branch being 2, and the fixed number of directors for the Kanto branch being 6. The President and Vice Presidents may nominate a certain number of additional director candidates in addition to the director candidates elected by the branches.

Public Interest Incorporated Foundation, Zoological Society of Japan