Members of the Zoological Society of Japan

Although it is very late, following our previous notice on April 5, we would like to inform all members once again of the decisions made regarding this year's academic conference.
Regarding the holding of this year's annual meeting of the Zoological Society, after repeated discussions by the Yonago Meeting Organizing Committee, other meeting-related personnel, and the Board of Directors, and after carefully considering that COVID-19 infections continue to have a major impact on society as a whole, we have reached the following conclusion.

1. We have determined that this year's Yonago convention cannot be held, and therefore the academic conference in Yonago City will be postponed by one year, to be held in 2021 (scheduled for September 2–4).
2. Preparation for the Yonago Tournament and the structure of the tournament executive committee will, as a rule, be postponed by one year.
3. After that, the rotation of convention organizers will be shifted back by one year each, with the 2022 Tokyo Convention (scheduled to be hosted by Waseda University) followed by the 2023 Yamagata Convention.

Following this, an extraordinary board of directors meeting was held on May 1st to discuss alternative events for this year's Yonago Convention. As a result, a proposal to hold the following scaled-down alternative event was approved. While the specific details of the implementation need to be worked out going forward, we plan to finalize the implementation method by late May, reopen registration on June 1st, and accept abstract and participant registrations until July 1st.

1. From the perspective of downsizing the alternative event to take place during the schedule of the Yonago Convention, it is planned for a total of 1.5 days, specifically all day on Friday, September 4, and half a day on Saturday, September 5.
2. The events to be held are as follows.
   • A total of about 5 slots for public symposia and related meetings
   • General presentation in online poster format
   • Headquarters Planned Events: General meeting, awardee lectures (Society Award and Encouragement Award), and Headquarters Planned Symposium (lectures by 3 recipients of the Myohara Research Grant)
3. All of these events will be held online via live streaming, with no on-demand recorded streaming or downloading permitted, and attendance restricted to registered participants only. As with regular academic conferences, recording the presentation content through any media during the events is strictly prohibited to protect unpublished paper data. In addition, programs and online abstract search systems (such as the Kcon-navi system) provided at conventional conferences will not be available. For both symposia and general presentations, implementation methods will be devised to enable discussions among participants. Furthermore, for general presentations, the presentation format will be made as flexible as possible to reduce the burden on presenters while providing a platform for discussion.
4. Since online events also incur hosting costs, membership fees will be determined after future consideration, but "student participation fees will be free, including for presenters," and even for regular members, it is expected to be less than half the price of a regular conference.
5. We plan to set up multiple channels on a web conferencing system to hold an online social gathering as a substitute for the company party.
6. The alternative events mentioned above will be led by the society headquarters, and the Yonago Convention Preparation Committee will be responsible for hosting conventions for the 2021 academic year and beyond.
7. High school student presentations will not be held.

That is all. While the event will be held amidst very difficult social circumstances, we expect those planning to present to conduct their research within reasonable limits suited to the current situation, and we look forward to the participation and presentations of many attendees.

President of the Zoological Society of Japan, a Public Interest Incorporated Association - Yoshitaka Oka