Outline

The world today is beset by crises of division. In the Middle East, the armed conflict between the Israeli forces and the militant Islamic organization, Hamas, has produced a terrible humanitarian crisis. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is now in its third year and, with no end in sight, many lives are still being lost. Refugees who fled abroad continue to have no prospect of returning home.

Daily life for large numbers of people around the world has been disrupted by food and energy crises, inflation and other such challenges. International
cooperation has been undermined and the divisions grow only more pronounced.

At the G7 Summit in May last year in Japan, world leaders gathered for the first time in Hiroshima, the city where the first atomic bomb was dropped, for talks on the nuclear and economic threats confronting the planet. In a world of growing divisions and conflict, it is now more important than ever to cooperate and work together to maintain peace. In conjunction with this, such issues as cross-cultural understanding, diversity and sexual equality are demanding a shared global awareness and joint action.

Amid these crises of division and challenges to international understanding and cooperation, the JAMCO International Symposium for the 2023 fiscal year has invited researchers, business people and others working in the field to present wide-ranging reports on the current situation and issues which have to be faced.