 Thank you for visiting the homepage of the Japanese Ophthalmological Society (JOS).
The earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011 brought the worst disaster in our history, followed by the nuclear power plant incident in Fukushima. Many members of our society who reside and operate in the affected areas suffered as well. These events resulted in a shock that brought up many issues, some of which still remain unsolved.
Following the disaster, we at the JOS, received many messages of condolences and sympathy from around the world and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our friends who wrote to us to express their sympathy.
Although a year has passed since the disaster, many people in the affected areas are still in shelters and the way to full recovery is lined with formidable obstacles. On the other hand, the ophthalmology facilities that were affected by the disaster are well on the way to full recovery, with the support and hard work of our members.
The JOS is celebrating its 116th anniversary this year with a total of 14,000 members as of December 2011. Whereas the 1857 International Congress of Ophthalmology in Brussels is known as the oldest international medical conference, of all the clinical fields of medicine, the Congress of the JOS of 1897 was the very first conference convened in Japan. In this way, ophthalmology was a pioneer within the Japanese medical science as well.
As the objective of the JOS is to advance the science of ophthalmology and to plan towards its development, it is crucial that this goal be considered when trying to solve problems stemming from the activities of our members both in research and in the clinical fields. Also, the society has the mission to disseminate both knowledge and information about ophthalmology to the general public. Towards this goal, the society has continually revised and upgraded its structure to continue and have an up to date organization that can manage the modern challenges that it faces.
One of our missions is to facilitate the partnership and cooperation within the field of ophthalmology throughout the world and, in particular, to contribute to the development of this in parts of Asia. The JOS is a member of both The International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) and the Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO) and is contributing to the ICO foundation; which helps to encourage the development of ophthalmology throughout the world. The late Professor Yasuo Tano, who passed away suddenly in 2009, was an example of our contribution. With his leadership, talent and ability he acted as the ICO Treasurer as well as the President of the APAO, thereby reinforcing the ties between Japan and the world. At present, the former President of the JOS, Professor Makoto Araie, is the Vice President of the APAO.
We also set ourselves the mission of answering the quest of patients suffering from eye diseases all over the world for new kinds of treatment and medication. At present, research work on cornea regeneration is proceeding at a high level in Japan, as well as in the regeneration of the retina using iPS technology. In these areas our Japanese researches, are at the front leading to clinical progress. And both neurological medication and genetic treatment aimed at treating incurable retina diseases are now being pursued in Japan.
The English language publication of the JOS, the Japanese Journal of Ophthalmology (JJO) receives an average of 60% of its submissions from abroad. The main non-Japanese contributors are from Korea, Japan's good neighbor. Korea has been a driving force in the promotion of ophthalmological excellence throughout Asia, and, partially thanks to the Korean papers, the journal's impact factor has been rising. Another international activity, the ARVO-JOS symposium conducted jointly by the JOS and The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), has, since 2009 become a regular feature of the Annual Meeting of the JOS and is attracting much attention. On April 5 to 8, 2012 the JOS held its 116th Annual Meeting in Tokyo, under the chairmanship of Professor Kazuo Tsubota of Keio University. The main theme of the meeting was 'Moving Beyond National Boundaries: The Transnational Congress of the Japanese Ophthalmological Society'. Fellowships were offered to overseas presenters, as a result of which, 63 submissions of proposals had been received. Also, a large number of overseas presenters had been invited. In this way, we hope that the efforts to promote international cooperation by continuing the planning and research in ophthalmology, and vision research will be fostered.
The World Ophthalmology Congress® (WOC) 2014 (together with the 34th International Congress of Ophthalmology, the 29th APAO Congress and the 118th Annual Meeting of the JOS) will be held in Tokyo on April 2-6, 2014. The executive director of the JOS, Professor Tetsuro Oshika, is the President of the International Congress of Ophthalmology, whereas Professor Araie, the former president of the JOS is the president of the 29th APAO Congress.
The WOC 2014 will be held simultaneously at the Tokyo Forum and the Imperial Hotel Tokyo, both located within the very center of Japan's business district. This is one of the few sites that conform to the WOC requirements for a suitable location. The JOS has set up a number of committees that are working hard in preparing for the conference.
Once the promotion period will start, the website for WOC 2014 will be operating at http://www.woc2014.org to provide all the relevant information. It is recommended that all interested persons will also sign on to the mail magazine. The conference will be held at the beginning of April, coinciding with the time when Japan's most famous flowers, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. We wish to extend our warmest welcome and make this both a scientifically meaningful conference and one which the participants will fully enjoy. I do hope that a great many colleagues from around the world will come and join us in Tokyo in 2014.
Tatsuro Ishibashi
President, the Japanese Ophthalmological Society |
