The Japan UAV Association (JUAV) is the organization representing the industries which develop, manufacture and operate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Japan. It was organized for the purpose of promoting safety and contributing to the development of the UAV market in Japan. Along with a broadening of the fields in which UAVs are used, Japanese society is caling more strongly for safety assurance. The Japan UAV Association (JUAV) is responding to that demand by creating standardized safety guidelines for UAVs through various working groups formed by active, JUAV members.
　The history of UAVs in Japan goes back more than fifteen years, when Japan first developed and introduced unmanned helicopters as an efficient way of supplementing the manned helicopters being used to spray pesticides on rice fields. Later, as unmanned helicopters became more useful and the social environment surrounding agriculture changed, the number of unmanned helicopters surged.
　In recent years, unmanned helicopters have begun being used not only for pesticide spraying, but for a variety of other applications as well. Among these new applications are aerial seeding for forestation and tree planting, and to eradicate insects that cause harm to pine trees. Other more recent applications include observation of volcanoes on Mt. Usu and Miyake Island. Recently, there have been numerous natural disasters in Japan, and this has lead to an increase in the number of ways that unmanned helicopters are being used outside of the traditional agricultural field, such as in observation of geological features and landslides. 　The Japan Agricultural Aviation Association under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, sets standards governing the use of unmanned helicopters for agricultural applications. including pilot training and aircraft registration 　At the same time, the fact is that there are no common rules governing applications outside of the agricultural field, which have been expanding over the past few years. Because of that, four companies (Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., Kawada Industries, Inc., Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd and Yanmar Agricultural Equipment Co., Ltd.) that have been involved in developing, manufacturing and utilizing unmanned helicopters, formed an Unmanned Helicopter Consortium in 2002. Since then, with guidance from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, they have been investigating standardized safety guidelines concerning the use of unmanned helicopters in applications other than the agricultural sector. In 2004, the consortium completed formulation of “low altitude” safety guidelines for unmanned helicopters in commercial use over unpopulated areas.
　In the future, it wil be necessary for not only manufacturers, but also for users and persons involved in research, marketing, operation and other aspects of UAVs, to work as a whole to implement the relevant safety guidelines practicaly and uniformly. It wil be necessary to implement safety standards not only for unmanned helicopters, but for al unmanned aircraft, especialy the unmanned fixed-wing aircraft. In recognition of that necessity, rather than continuing to expand the Unmanned Helicopters Consortium, the Japan UAV Association (JUAV) was formed as a new organization.
　On June 30, 2004, a general assembly was held by the four companies noted above as founding companies, and was attended by guests from the Ministry of Trade, Economy and Industry, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Japan Agricultural Aviation Association, and the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies. At the assembly, the founding prospectus, proposed safety guidelines, proposed membership fees and other elements were determined, and on September 1, 2004 the Japan UAV Association (JUAV) was officialy founded. Subsequently, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd, Sky Remote, Hirobo Limited, Mitsubishi Electric Co., Ltd , Hitachi Co., Ltd, and NEC Corporation have joined the Association as of June 2005. The Association is currently operating with eleven regular members together with several individuals as supporting members from universities and research agencies. The association is expecting to receive more member applications from industries as JUAV becomes recognized as the sole representative UAV organization in Japan.
　In the future, members of the Association wil work together to propagate and investigate new safety guidelines, as wel as conducting activities aimed at refurbishing the existing safety guidelines for unmanned aircraft in general.