1997 April Takeshi Umehara is appointed the thirteenth president of Japan P.E.N. Club
June Statement about the Isahaya Bay Drainage Dikes
1998 May Statement about Nuclear Tests by India, Statement about Nuclear Tests by Pakistan
June Human Rights Gathering
September First "Evening of Literature (Writers Talk about Writers)" (held once a month for a year)
December Statement Protesting the Exercise of Force against Iraq
1999 February Urgent Statement Calling for Act on Access to Information Held by Administrative Organs based on the Public's Right to Know
July Human Rights Gathering
2000 February Statement on the Subcritical Nuclear Tests Undertaken by the Government of the United States of America
September The Speech and Expression Committee's second symposium "The Era of a Multitude of Expressions: How can I Express Myself in an Internet Society?"
2001 September The First Environment Committee symposium "Environmental Gathering 2001"
November The Japan P.E.N. Club Digital Library web site is opened on P.E.N. Day
December Women Writers' Committee symposium "When Women Write" (thereafter held continuously once a year)

■ Gathering "Think War and Peace Now"

One of the reasons for the existence of the Japan P.E.N. Club is to communicate about war and peace with conscience and courage.

Against the backdrop of the September 11 terrorist attacks which shocked the world, the resulting war in Afghanistan, and the increasingly serious situation in Palestine, the Japan P.E.N. Club held the first "Think War and Peace Now" gathering in December 2001. The gathering addressed the problem "how should we understand the present situation and how should we act in response to it?" and made a passionate appeal for peace.

The first "Think War and Peace Now" gathering　／　Kinokuniya Hall in Shinjuku, Tokyo in December 2001

President Hisashi Inoue giving the opening address at the first gathering

More...

2002  May        The secretariat moves to the Japan P.E.N. Club Building in Kabutocho, Nihonbashi, Chuo Ward, Tokyo

         July         Commemorative lecture on the occasion of the visit to Japan of International PEN President Homero Aridjis

2003  January   "Think War and Peace Now" forum

         March      Urgent Statement Protesting the Attack on Iraq by the United States and the United Kingdom

         April        Hisashi Inoue is appointed the fourteenth president of Japan P.E.N. Club

2004  February  Urgent meeting "Think War and Peace Now"

                         Declaration against the Dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq

         October    Japan P.E.N. Club begins publication of its e-mail magazine called "P.E.N."

2005  February  Urgent meeting "Think War and Peace Now"

                         Declaration against  the Dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq

         October    Speech and Expression Committee and Electronic Media Committee joint symposium "The Internet is Making Change, Will Printed Writing Also Change?

2006  February   Urgent meeting "Think War and Peace Now"

         October    Statement Protesting the Nuclear Test by North Korea and Appealing to the Countries Concerned for the Expansion of the Nuclear-Free Zone

2007  February    "Japan P.E.N. Club welcomes the International Secretary of International PEN, Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, and holds the sixth "Think War and Peace Now" gathering"

         March      Takashi Atouda is appointed the fifteenth president of Japan P.E.N. Club

         July          Japan P.E.N. Club Executive Director Takeaki Hori is elected as the Board of International PEN

         October   Statement to Protest to the Government of Myanmar and Call for the Restoration of the Freedom of Speech in Myanmar