The 52nd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine

The 52nd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine

“Weaving Today, Connecting to the Future”

President, Meigen Liu, MD, PhD

Professor and Chair, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine,
School of Medicine, Keio University

I am truly honored to have been appointed as the president of the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine, with its long tradition. Now that I am responsible for this meeting, I would like to extend my greetings.

The main theme has been set as “Weaving Today, Connecting to the Future.” The idea is that every single person involved in the study and practice of rehabilitation medicine should carefully weave together what it is that they can do now, that they should accomplish now, in the environment and position in which they find themselves. They should bring what they have come up with to our meeting, where we will spin everyone’s threads together into one thick string and connect it firmly to the future.

The 52nd Annual Meeting is to take place for three days, from Thursday, May 28 to Saturday, May 30, 2015, at Toki Messe in Niigata. You may wonder why we would hold the meeting in Niigata while our association is headquartered in Tokyo. Let me say a few words about that. So far, our association has held 51 Annual Meetings, of which 24 have been held in the Kanto region. Almost all of those were in Tokyo or Yokohama, with 15 meetings in Tokyo, six in Kanagawa, two in Chiba, and one in Tochigi. This time, we wanted to hold the meeting in a prefecture affiliated with the Kanto regional meeting where it had not been held before. Niigata was chosen for the following reasons.

1) Niigata has an excellent venue, Toki Messe.

2)	We have received understanding and support from those involved in rehabilitation in the prefecture, especially the Niigata Society for Rehabilitation Medicine. The locals have offered great help in planning, preparing, and managing the meeting.

As of 2014, it has been 10 years since the Chuetsu Earthquake in Niigata. This makes it an appropriate place for us to consider the future of disaster rehabilitation, now that we have experienced many large-scale natural disasters including the Great Hanshin Earthquake and the Great East Japan Earthquake.

4)	Niigata is easy to access, with direct flights from the major Japanese airports (Sapporo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka) and a two hour Shinkansen trip from Tokyo.

5)	Niigata is a gateway to continental Asia, with direct flights from Harbin, Shanghai, and Seoul. Access is also convenient from Europe and America through Shanghai and Incheon.

6)	Last but not least, the people are kind, the food and drink are delicious, and the scenery is beautiful.

Also, after it was decided to hold the meeting in Niigata, it was discovered that the 56th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Neurology (President: Professor Masatoyo Nishizawa, Department of Neurology, Niigata University) was also to be held in Toki Messe, one week before our 52nd Annual Meeting. Professor Nishizawa and I have hurried to discuss plans for collaboration that promise synergy for the benefit of both of our organizations.

In rehabilitation medicine, changes in mind, body, and lifestyle functions due to such factors as disease, injury, and aging are diagnosed and evaluated, and a variety of treatment methods are used to creatively support the patient’s adaptation to a new situation. In short, rehabilitation medicine can be seen as designing adaptation to change. To make it possible for rehabilitation medicine to further contribute to society with the character and features described, we would like to make the 52nd Annual Meeting 1) a place where rehabilitation medicine can be deepened and advanced as a science, 2) a place where practical skills in research, education, and clinical settings can be honed, 3) a place where young people can show their energy and drive, and 4) a place where domestic and international collaboration can be deepened among rehabilitation professionals and organizations and the general public.

We shall give all our effort to create a place for exchange for “Weaving Today, Connecting to the Future.” I hope that you will grace us with your warm support and cooperation, and I look forward to meeting everyone in Niigata.

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