Dear Friends and Colleagues,

On behalf of the organizing committee, we would like to announce the 12th Annual Meeting of Shoulder Function Study Group (SFSG). This meeting will be held in conjunction with the 42nd Annual Meeting of Japan Shoulder Society (JSS) in Sendai, Japan on October 9th - 10th, 2015. In 2004, the meeting of the SFSG started with the support of the JSS for shoulder specialists including therapists, nurses, athletic trainers, and engineers. Since then, the SFSG has developed into a big meeting where more than 500 shoulder specialists attend. It is our great honor and pleasure to host the annual meeting of the SFSG in Sendai.

In accordance with the theme of the 42nd annual meeting of the JSS of “For Better Understanding of Shoulder Pathophysiology”, we would like to focus on “Shoulder Function and Pathology”. We would like to encourage many shoulder specialists to submit papers regarding the theme and would like attendees to deepen discussion on “What kind of function does the shoulder joint have?” and “What kind of dysfunctions become problems on the management of shoulder pathology?”

We will invite Prof. Jeremy Lewis, a consultant physiotherapist and shoulder specialist from UK as a presidential guest speaker. He will give us a lecture regarding pathologies of rotator cuff and surrounding tissues, which shoulder specialists need to address from the perspective of current concept in Europe. We will also have two presidential guest speakers from Japan. Prof. Masao Tomita will give us a talk regarding shoulder function from the perspective of functional kinetics and affordance. Prof. Fujiyasu Kakizaki will talk about functional relationship between thorax and shoulder. We believe these lectures will give us an opportunity to reconsider "shoulder joint" not only in orthopaedic field but also from broader perspective.

This is the second time that this meeting has been held in Sendai since Dr. Kouji Ihashi hosted in 2010. Although the venue is Sendai International Center, which will be same as the last meeting, more people can join this meeting because of new exhibition building. In addition to profound discussion of shoulder, we would like you to enjoy the cuisine of Sendai and visit not just the scenic sites but also the area hit by the disaster for better understanding of the recovery and wonderful places around Sendai and Tohoku areas.

We look forward to seeing all of you who have great interest in "Shoulder".