The 50th annual meeting

The 50th annual meeting of the Japanese Society of Neurology
The Progress of Neurology in Japan - Past and Future -

I am delighted to announce that the 50th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Neurology will be held in Sendai City (Sendai Kokusai Center) from May 20 to 22, 2009. We will celebrate the 50th anniversary during the year 2009 to 2010, and will be looking back over the history and academic progress of our society at the 50th annual meeting in Sendai. An anniversary ceremony will also be held at the 51th meeting in Tokyo.

We wish that all of the members of the Japanese Society of Neurology will try to guide the next 50 years' progress in our society by taking lessons from the past 50 years. In this meeting, we are planning to have a special lecture by Professor emeritus Akira Takahashi, and also a memorial symposium entitled "The Past 50 years and the Next 50 years in the Japanese Neurological Society". In addition to these, more than 10 symposia and 10 educational lectures are planned. In these symposia and lectures, we can review the 50 years of progress in each research field of neuroscience and neurological diseases.

Fifty years ago, the first meeting of our Society of Neurology was held in Fukuoka City with about 500 attendees in pursuit of the real and independent development of Neurology in Japan. Since then, our society has grown enormously and now includes 8,500 members and 600 trustees, and nowadays more than 5,000 members attend each annual meeting with about 1,000 papers being presented. Remarkable progress has been also shown in various fields of neurology in Japan, such as enlightening the public about neurology and neuroscience, increasing information about various neurological diseases, improving diagnostic technologies, developing research to clarify the pathomechanisms of neurological diseases and expanding therapeutic approaches for several intractable neurological diseases.

Sendai is a beautiful city especially during the late spring and the main conference center, Sendai Kokusai Center, surrounded by a forest although near the city, stands by Aoba Mountain and the Hirose River. We welcome all of you and wish all attendees can learn much and enjoy Sendai City.