JPS History
Establishment
The Japan Pediatric Society was established on December 3, 1896, as the same day as the founding meeting of the Pediatric Research Society at the Nihon-bashi Kairakuen in Tokyo, and such was later recognized as the first general meeting.
Previously (1890), several physicians working in the field of pediatrics at the Tokyo Imperial University had met under the name of the "Mumei-kai". Two years later, the name was changed to the " Showa-kai" with the participation of Prof. Osa Hirota of the Department of Pediatrics, Tokyo Imperial University.
The society had 45 members nationwide in 1895 and published 100 copies of the first edition of its official journal entitled "Pediatrics".
Publication of Official Journal
The name of the journal, "Pediatrics", was changed to the "Pediatric Journal" in 1895. The seventh issue was published by the "Pediatric Research Society" in 1897, and became the official journal of this society (membership: 107 as of 1897).
Other Historical Events
1901: "Pediatric Research Society" was renamed as the "Pediatric Society" and general provisions were revised. The name was again changed to the "Japan Pediatric Society" in the following year, and it was decided to publish the official journal at least six issues per year.
1908: Held the 13th General Meeting in Kyoto for the first time outside Tokyo (membership in 1911: 1,837, in 1921: 2,676).
Important topics at this meeting: poliomyelitis, ekiri, rice flour nutritional disorders, pediatric beriberi, lead poisoning, and others.
1925: Held the 30th General Meeting in Nagoya. (membership in 1924: 2,788)
1929: Obtained the government's approval as a corporation aggregate.
1934: Decided to participate formally in the 4th International Congress of Pediatrics (ICP) in 1937.
1941: Japan entered the World War II. It became impossible to hold the 49th General Meeting in 1944.
The printing house for the society's official journal was destroyed by fire during bombing raids on Tokyo during the war. The journal could not be published for a period, restarting in April 1945 (Vol. 50, issue 4): Vol. 51, issue 1 and Vol. 51, issue 2 were published in January and December 1947, respectively (issue 1 of the revived publication contained a total of only 15 pages, whereas issue 2 contained 36 pages) (membership in 1941: 2,935, in 1949: 1,300).
The first general meeting after the war was held in 1946 in Tokyo.
1947: The 50th General Meeting was held in Osaka (the congress president: Prof. Nishizawa, Osaka University).
1951: "Pediatric Journal" was renamed the "Japan Pediatric Society Journal" (membership in 1952: 1,500).
1958: Published the first issue of the overseas edition of the journal under the name, "Paediatrica Japonica".
1962: "Paediatrica Japonica" changed to "Acta Paediatrica Japonica Overseas Edition".
1964: "Japan Pediatric Society" was designated as the official English language name of the society.
1965: The 11th ICP was held in Tokyo (the congress president: Prof. Tadao Takatsu, Tokyo University) (membership: 4,502).
1968/69: Introduced examination board system (old system) for the pediatric specialist in the society and 105 pediatricians passed in the two years.
1968: Decided to hold general meetings two times a year: although the second meeting was held in the fall this year, it was held only once a year in the following years.
1969-1983: The general meetings were not conducted smoothly because of the following various problems and issues in parallel with the federation of young physicians' movement and student rebellions throughout the country: 1) processing of the excess funds of the 11th ICP, 2) the incident involving arsenic poisoning of Morinaga milk products, 3) legal cases over the risks associated with thalidomide, 4) quadriceps contractural disorder due to intramuscular injection, 5) retinopathy of the prematurity, and 6) democratization of administration of the society (membership in 1975: 6,150).
1984: The official journal name (Japanese language edition) changed to "The Journal of Japan Pediatric Society".
1985: Started the new board system for the pediatric specialist. Membership at the date of the 89th General Meeting:11,549. Number of certified pediatricians as a result of interim measures: 4,436, the number of institutions certified as training facility: 393.
1986:The Japan Pediatric Association (JPA) formed with the Japan Pediatric Health Association and the Japan Pediatricians Society.
1988: The 6th Asian Pediatric Congress entitled, "Children's Health, Tomorrow's Wealth" held in Tokyo (the congress president: Prof. Sanji Kusakawa, Tokyo Women's Medical College) (membership in 1989: 13,954).
1990: Designated the second week of October as "Children's Health Week" and started campaign activities. Decided to introduce examination into the new board system for the pediatric specialist starting in 1991.
1997: Centennial anniversary of the founding of society. In commemoration of the centennial anniversary numerous events were carried out as follows:
1. Commemorative ceremony at the Tokyo International Forum: Conducted by President of the society, Prof. Nobutake Matsuo (Keio University), attended by an honor of Crown Prince and Princess.
2. The 100th General Meeting: Held by the congress president Prof. Kihei Maekawa (Tokyo Jikeikai Medical College).
3. Issue of the 100th commemorative publication entitled "100 years of the Japan Pediatric Society".
4. Establishment of "The Japan Foundation of Pediatric Research" (currently in progress).
5. Memorative issue of "The Journal of Japan Pediatric Society" (vol.100, issue 12 for December 1996).
(membership in 1997:16,045)
Sources: "History of the Society" by Yoshiyuki Hanawa, excerpted from "100 Years of the Pediatric Society", "Chronological Table of The Journal of Japan Pediatric Society" excerpted from the 100th commemorative issue of The Journal of the Japan Pediatric Society, others.
Former Director of the Public Relations Committee: Tsuyoshi Toba
(Correspondence: Secretariat, Japan Pediatric Society).
