TOKYO, Japan, August 27, 2024 – The International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences (IATSS) will hold an event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its foundation, on Tuesday, September 19, 2004 at Toranomon Hills Forum, in Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan. 

The IATSS was established on September 17, 1974 with an endowment from Soichiro Honda and Takeo Fujisawa, the co-founders of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda), as well as Honda as a company, with an aim to fulfill the desire of the Honda founders to “contribute to the realization of the ideal mobility society.”

In the 1970s, motorization made rapid progress in Japan. While offering tremendous benefits to people’s daily lives, such rapid growth also caused various problems such as traffic congestion, traffic pollution, as well as traffic collisions with more than 10,000 fatalities a year in Japan. Against this backdrop, in 1970, Honda became the first among motorcycle and automobile manufacturers to establish a Driving Safety Promotion Center, an internal division to promote traffic safety, which applied thoughts to traffic and safety issues from the perspective of everyone sharing the road and conducted various hands-on activities to promote traffic safety, including instructor training, safe driving/riding education and various safety awareness campaigns. However, traffic collisions and many other traffic-related issues are caused by a complex interplay of three factors: human, mechanical and environmental factors. Therefore, there was a limit to what Honda could do alone.

From experience amassed through the activities of the Driving Safety Promotion Center, it became clear that new scientific research organically linking a wide range of expertise was necessary to solve the traffic-related issues. Based on this recognition, IATSS was established for the purpose of conducting unrestricted discussion and research on various challenges facing the mobility society, including traffic safety, and presenting the results of such research to society. The IATTS consists of members including experts, critics and journalists in a wide variety of fields, including transportation engineering and other fields that span both the humanities and science disciplines, and it has been making progress in various research areas related to the mobility society. By communicating and sharing its research achievements to society at large, IATSS has been making significant contributions to solving various issues.

The IATSS has been conducting research and other hands-on activities not only in Japan but also in developing countries in Asia, which are experiencing serious traffic-related issues.

Through its activities, IATSS has been pursuing a “co-creation” approach where IATSS and local organizations work together to create solutions to address traffic-related issues in developing countries. Then, IATSS feeds back knowledge gained through activities in developing countries to be leveraged for transportation/mobility policies in Japan.

In 1983, Soichiro Honda and the then Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad attended the IATTS international symposium held in Malaysia. Sharing Prime Minister Mahathir’s theory that “the source of future development of ASEAN countries lies in human resource development," Soichiro Honda, together with Takeo Fujisawa, donated personal funds to establish the IATSS Forum in 1985 a training program for the next generation of leaders who would shape the future of Asian countries.

Participants of the IATSS Forum refine their leadership skills to contribute to the development of their respective countries through an intensive, eight-week long program including both experiential learning and real-world, hands-on training. Over the past 39 years through 2024, a total of 1,143 participants from 10 Asian countries, including ASEAN countries and India, have completed the IATSS Forum program.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its foundation, IATSS will hold an event to commemorate its 50 years of activities, express appreciation to a number of people who have contributed to its key activities and to share its vision for the future direction that will further revitalize its activities. The IATSS will continue to build relationships with experts in various fields and expand the range of its activities for the realization of the ideal mobility society. 

• Name:
  International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences (IATSS)
• Location:
  YANMAR TOKYO 6F,
  2-1-1 Yaesu, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0028, JAPAN
• Establishment:
  September 1974
• President:
  Kazuhiko Takeuchi         
• Purpose:
  To contribute to the realization of the ideal mobility society
• Composition of IATSS: Councilors, Directors, and Special Committees
• Special Committees:
  Research Committee in charge of surveys and research IATSS conducts in areas related to mobility and safety
  Publicity and Publication Committee in charge of publicity (PR activities) and publications related to mobility and safety
  Awards and Grants Committee in charge of the IATSS award programs to commend outstanding activities in areas related to mobility and safety
  IATSS Forum Committee in charge of international exchange programs toward the realization of the ideal mobility society in countries outside Japan
• Members:59 (as of August 2024)
• Official website:
  https://www.iatss.or.jp (Japanese)
  https://www.iatss.or.jp/en/ (English)

• Kazuhiko Takenouchi,
  President, International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences; President, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)
• Mamoru Mohori,
  Astronaut, Chief Executive Director Emeritus National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (MIRAIKAN)
• Kazumi Renge,
  Honorary Professor/Visiting Professor, Tezukayama University; Vice President, Japan Automobile Federation (JAF)
• Junko Nagata,
  Professor, Osaka Metropolitan University
• Tomoyo Nonaka,
  Chair and Founder of NPO GAIA INITIATIVE