The Political Economy and Economic History Society was originally 
established in 1948 as the Agrarian History Society. The objective of 
this Society was to study the overall process of the agricultural 
reform after WWⅡ and to forecast the future of Japanese society. The 
initial membership included scholars of economic theory, as well as 
legal and rural sociology. The Society aimed to clarify the specific 
characteristics of the agricultural reform from the viewpoint of social
 science in worldwide and historical perspectives. 

In its early years, the Society held an annual conference and published
 The Bulletin of Agrarian History. Since 1958 it has published The
 Journal of Political Economy and Economic History quarterly.

In October 2002 the Society decided to change its name from the 
Agrarian History Society to the Political Economy and Economic History
 Society. Today, the Society is headed by a Board of Directors with
 over 20 members, which supervises the Editorial Committee, the 
Research Committee and the Secretariat.  

The Editorial Committee publishes The Journal of Political Economy and 
Economic History quarterly. The Journal maintains a high reputation for
 the quality of articles, judged under a double-referee examination.
 
The Research Committee manages bi-annual conferences in Spring and 
Autumn. The Spring Conference, usually held in Tokyo, consists of a
 symposium on an up-to-date subject. The Autumn Conference, a two-day 
meeting, holds several panel discussions, seminar sessions, as well as 
a symposium. 

The Society has four divisions: Economic Theory and Current Analysis,
 Agrarian Issues, Japanese Economic History, and Economic History of 
the World. The Society also contains seven “forums”, which gather
 scholars and students, inside as well as outside the Society, to deal 
with specific issues. The present “forums” consist of the following
 themes: Welfare Society, Environment, Military Industry and Weapons 
Transfer, Urban and Economic History, European Integration, Music and 
Society, and Global History of Textiles.
 

cited with permission, from Information Bulletin of The Union of
National Economic Associations in Japan

DOI https://doi.org/10.20753/rengo.36.0_49