Chapter 2 Goals and Activities
Clause 4 Goals
The JSPP aims to promote the development of both basic and applied research in the field of plant physiology, to disseminate knowledge related to this field, and to contribute to the development of science and culture.

Clause 5 Activities
To fulfill these goals, the JSPP will:
(1) Publish the academic journal Plant and Cell Physiology
(2) Hold an annual meeting
(3) Hold lectures, symposia, and international conferences
(4) Publish a newsletter
(5) Encourage research through the granting of awards
(6) Conduct public relations and outreach activities
(7) Engage in other activities, as determined by the Council

Chapter 3 Membership
Clause 6 Types of Membership
1 The JSPP will offer the following types of memberships:
(1) Regular membership for individuals who agree with the goals of the JSPP.
(2) Institutional membership for institutions who want to receive a subscription to Plant and Cell Physiology.
(3) Sustaining membership for companies and research institutions that agree with the goals of the JSPP and support its activities.
(4) Honorary membership for individuals who have made significant contributions to the development of the JSPP or the advancement of plant physiology and related fields.
2 Regular members and honorary members will together constitute the individual members.
3 Individual members and institutional members will be divided into Japan-resident and international members as follows:
(1) Japan-resident individual members (regular/honorary): Individuals residing in Japan
(2) International individual members (regular/honorary): Individuals residing in other countries
(3) Japan-resident institutional members: Institutions with an address in Japan
(4) International institutional members: Institutions with an address outside of Japan.
4 Honorary members will be elected by resolution of the Council based on rules stipulated elsewhere.

Clause 7 Rights of Members
JSPP members will have the following rights.
(1) All members may submit opinions regarding the management of the JSPP to the president or to the Council.
(2) All members will receive Plant and Cell Physiology and other regularly published materials.
(3) Individual members may attend and present research findings at the annual meeting and may participate in other JSPP activities.
(4) Individual members may vote in the election of the president and may be elected to serve as president.
(5) Japan-resident individual members may vote in the election of councilors and may be elected to serve as a councilor.

Clause 8 Membership Dues
Members must pay membership dues as stipulated in the by-laws. Honorary members will be exempt from paying dues.

Chapter 4 Officers
Clause 9 Officers
The JSPP will have the following officers:
(1) President (1)
(2) Deputy President (1)
(3) Secretary General (1)
(4) Secretaries (several)
(5) Auditor

Clause 10 President and Deputy President
1 The president will represent the JSPP and oversee its affairs.
2 The president will serve a term of two years and will not be eligible for reelection.
3 The president will be elected in accordance with the stipulations of the by-laws one year prior to assuming office.
4 The post of deputy president will be filled in the first year of the president's term by the former president and in the second year by the president-elect. The deputy president will assist the president and perform the duties of the president in the event that the president becomes unable to do so.

Clause 11 Secretary General and the Secretaries
1 The secretary general and secretaries will be appointed by the president from among the Japan-resident individual members.
2 The secretary general and secretaries will serve terms of two years and will be eligible for reappointment.
3 The secretary general and secretaries must perform their duties, even after their term has ended, until their successors have assumed office.
4 The secretary general will oversee the performance of the JSPP's affairs.
5 The secretaries will consist of the secretaries, the secretaries of public relations, and the treasurers, each of which will be responsible for performing the duties of that office, as stipulated elsewhere.

Clause 12 Auditor
1 There will be one auditor who will be appointed by the president upon approval by the Council.
2 The auditor will serve a term of two years and will be eligible for reappointment.
3 The auditor will audit the JSPP finances and report the results to the Council.

Chapter 5 Committee Members
Clause 13 Committee Members
1 The JSPP will have the following committee members:
(1) Editor-in-chief, editors, and members of the Editorial Board
(2) Chairperson and members of the Annual Meeting Committee
(3) Chairperson and members of the Public Relations Committee
(4) Members of the JSPP Awards Committee and the Outstanding Contribution Awards Committee
(5) Members of the Elections Administration Committee
2 Committee members will be appointed from among the individual members, but editors and members of the Editorial Board do not need to be JSPP members.

Clause 14 Editor-in-Chief, Editors, and Members of the Editorial Board
1 There will be one editor-in-chief. The number of editors and Editorial Board members will be determined by the Council.
2 The editor-in-chief, editors, and Editorial Board members will be appointed by the president.
3 The editor-in-chief, editors, and Editorial Board members will serve terms of four years and will be eligible for reappointment.
4 The editor-in-chief will oversee the editing process of Plant and Cell Physiology.
5 The editors will be in charge of various aspects of the editing process of Plant and Cell Physiology.
6 The Editorial Board members will assist in the editing process of Plant and Cell Physiology.

Clause 15 Chairperson and Members of the Annual Meeting Committee
1 There will be one Annual Meeting Committee chairperson and several Annual Meeting Committee members for each annual meeting.
2 The Annual Meeting Committee chairperson will be appointed by the president and will appoint the Annual Meeting Committee members.
3 The chairperson and members of the Annual Meeting Committee will plan and implement the annual meeting.

Clause 16 Chairperson and Members of the Public Relations Committee
1 The number of Public Relations Committee members will be determined by the Council.
2 Members of the Public Relations Committee will be appointed by the president and the Public Relations Committee chairperson will be elected from among the committee members.
3 The committee members will serve terms of four years and may be reappointed. The committee member elected as chairperson will serve a term of two years as chairperson and will be eligible for reelection.
4 The chairperson and members of the Public Relations Committee will plan and implement publicity activities necessary for furthering the goals of the JSPP.

Clause 17 Members of the JSPP Awards Committee and Outstanding Contribution Award Committee
1 The number of members of the JSPP Awards Committee and Outstanding Contribution Award Committee and the length of their terms will be determined by the Council. Members of both committees will be appointed by the president.
2 The JSPP Awards Committee chairperson and Outstanding Contribution Award Committee chairperson will be elected from among the members of their respective committees.
3 The members of both committees will select the winners of their respective awards based on rules stipulated elsewhere.

Clause 18 Members of the Elections Administration Committee
1 The Elections Administration Committee will consist of a few members, one of whom will serve as the committee chairperson. The members and chairperson of the Elections Administration Committee will be appointed by the president upon approval by the Council.
2 The Elections Administration Committee members will serve terms of two years and will be eligible for reappointment.
3 The Elections Administration Committee will perform the tasks pertaining to the election of the JSPP president, councilors, and executive councilors.

Clause 19 Other Specialized Committee Members
The president will appoint other specialized committee members as necessary.

Chapter 6 Councilors and Executive Councilors
Clause 20 Councilors
1 Councilors will be elected from among the Japan-resident individual members.
2 The number of councilors and the methods by which they are elected will be stipulated in the by-laws.
3 The councilors will serve terms of two years and will be eligible for reelection. However, they may not serve for more than two terms consecutively.

Clause 21 Executive Councilors
1 Executive councilors will be elected from among the councilors in accordance with the by-laws.
2 The executive councilors will serve terms of two years and may be reelected.

Chapter 7 Governing Bodies
Clause 22 Council
1 The Council will discuss and make decisions regarding matters pertaining to the management of the JSPP.
2 The Council meetings will be attended by the councilors, the members of the Steering Committee as stipulated in Clause 24, and other committee members as deemed necessary by the president.
3 Council meetings will be convened by the president and held once or more a year.
4 At the request of 1/5 or more of the councilors, the president must convene an extraordinary meeting of the Council.
5 A Council meeting will be deemed to have a quorum when 2/3 or more of all the councilors are present (including proxies and representatives).
6 The presiding chairperson will be elected from among the councilors present.
7 Resolutions will be passed when they are approved by more than half of the councilors present. When a vote is tied, the council chairperson will make the final decision.

Clause 23 Executive Council
1 Executive Council meetings will be attended by the executive councilors and the members of the Steering Committee as stipulated in Clause 24.
2 Executive Council meetings will be convened as necessary by the president.
3 The Executive Council will discuss and make decisions regarding urgent matters pertaining to the management of the JSPP and other important issues. Resolutions must be reported and approved at the next Council meeting. When special urgency is required, resolutions may be passed by notifying the councilors of the matter via postal or electronic mail and obtaining the approval of more than half of all the councilors.

Clause 24 Steering Committee
1 The Steering Committee will be comprised of the president, deputy president, secretary general, secretaries, editor-in-chief, and the chairperson of the Public Relations Committee.
2 Steering Committee meetings will be convened as necessary and run by the president.
3 The Steering Committee will draft project plans in accordance with the guidelines set out at the Council and Executive Council meetings and will discuss matters pertaining to management.

Clause 25 Other Committees
1 In addition to the Council, Executive Council, and Steering Committee, the JSPP will maintain the following committees:
(1) Editorial Board
(2) Editor's Committee
(3) Annual Meeting Committee
(4) Public Relations Committee
(5) Elections Administration Committee
(6) JSPP Awards Committee
(7) Outstanding Contribution Award Committee
2 Of the committees listed in Item 1, the Editorial Board will be comprised of the editor-in-chief, the editors, and the members of the Editorial Board, and the Editor's Committee will be comprised of the editor-in-chief and the editors. The other committees will be comprised of the members of each committee.
3 Meetings of the Editorial Board and Editor's Committee will be convened and run by the editor-in-chief. Meetings of the other committees will be convened and run by their respective chairpersons.
4 Each committee will discuss issues stipulated elsewhere and other matters pertaining to those issues.

Clause 26 General Assembly
1 A general assembly will be convened by the president when deemed necessary by the Executive Council for management purposes.
2 The general assembly will be comprised of any individual members that attend.
3 The presiding chairperson will be elected from among the members present.
4 At the general assembly, the president will report on matters as determined by the Executive Council. The president will also discuss management issues as requested by the members present.

Chapter 8 Accounting and Assets
Clause 27 Fiscal Year
The JSPP's fiscal year runs from January 1 to December 31.

Clause 28 Audits
The JSPP's accounts must be audited by the auditor.

Clause 29 Assets
The JSPP's assets are as follows:
(1) JSPP Fund which provides the basic funding for the JSPP
(2) Other funds for use in JSPP projects
(3) Membership dues
(4) Contributions
(5) Income generated by projects
(6) Income generated by assets
(7) Other income

Clause 30 Asset Management
1 JSPP assets are managed by the president.
2 The JSPP Fund is maintained in a secure financial product such as a time deposit.

Clause 31 Management of the JSPP Fund
The JSPP Fund must not be spent or used as collateral. However, if it is unavoidable that the fund be used for JSPP business, it must be used in accordance with separately established stipulations.

Chapter 9 Constitutional Revisions
Clause 32 Constitutional Revisions
1 Revisions to the constitution require deliberation by the Council and the approval of 2/3 or more of the councilors present.
2 When a member submits a suggestion regarding a constitutional change, that suggestion must be deliberated by the Council.

Chapter 10 Supplementary Provisions
Clause 33 By-Laws
By-laws regarding the enforcement of this constitution will be established separately by resolution of the Council.

Addendum This constitution will become effective January 1, 2004.

Chapter 2 Election of the President and Councilors
Clause 3 Election of the President
1 The president will be elected from among the individual members one year prior to assuming office by a vote of the individual members.
2 The Council may recommend candidates for election.

Clause 4 Election of the Councilors
1 Councilors will be elected from among the Japan-resident individual members by a vote of the Japan-resident individual members.
2 The number of councilors per region will be determined based on the number of members in each region. The number of councilors per region will be one councilor for every 20 members (with fractions rounded-up).
3 If the address of the institution with which a person is affiliated is in a different region from the address to which their JSPP publications are mailed, the region to which the member is assigned for administrative purposes will be the region containing the address of their institution.
4 The president may appoint additional councilors in consideration of their research fields or other factors as long as the number of such councilors does not exceed 10% of the total number of elected councilors.
5 The president may not concurrently serve as a councilor.
6 The regions mentioned in Item 2 will be divided as follows:
(1) Hokkaido region Hokkaido
(2) Tohoku region Aomori, Akita, Yamagata, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima
(3) Kanto region Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano
(4) Tokyo region Tokyo
(5) Hokuriku region Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui
(6) Chubu/Tokai region Shizuoka, Aichi, Gifu, Mie
(7) Kinki region Shiga, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Wakayama, Hyogo
(8) Chugoku/Shikoku region Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Tokushima, Ehime, Kagawa, Kochi
(9) Kyushu region Fukuoka, Oita, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa

Clause 5 Election of the Executive Councilors
1 The executive councilors will be elected from among the councilors.
2 The president may recommend as candidates a number of councilors that equals no more than half of the number of executive councilors.
3 The number of executive councilors will be determined by the Council.

Chapter 3 Matters Pertaining to the President, Officers, and Committee Members
Clause 6 Concurrent Service Prohibitions
1 The president may not concurrently serve as an officer or committee member that is appointed by the president.
2 The executive councilors, secretary general, editor-in-chief, editors, and Public Relations Committee chairperson may not concurrently serve in any of the other positions listed.

Clause 7 Editorial Staff
The editor-in-chief may appoint editorial staff members from among the individual members to serve as their assistant.

Chapter 4 Branches
Clause 8 Branches
The branches stipulated in Clause 3 of the Constitution should be organized based on the regional units listed in Clause 4, Item 6 of these by-laws.

Chapter 5 By-Law Revisions
Clause 9 By-Law Revisions
1 Revisions to the by-laws require deliberation by the Council and the approval of 2/3 or more of the councilors present.
2 When a member submits a suggestion regarding a by-law revision, that suggestion must be deliberated by the Council.