Fukuoka University Chikushi Hospital
Yozo Shibata

The first meeting of the society was held in 1974 by Hisao Endo, and at the time of the 3rd annual meeting in 1976 held by Prof. Naoto Takagishi, Fukuoka University, it was decided that the secretariat would be established at Fukuoka University, and the following year, 1977, Volume 1 Number 1 of the “Journal of Katakansetsu (The Shoulder Joint)” was published (Fig. 1). At that time, the name of the society was the “Shoulder Research Society,” and as you can see, it did not yet have “Japan” at the beginning of its name. The names of the organizers at that time are listed at the back of the journal. These senior members have provided strong leadership and laid the foundation for shoulder surgery in Japan. The American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) was founded in 1982, and the European Society for Surgery of the Shoulder and the Elbow (SECEC) in 1987. The Japan Shoulder Society, founded in 1974, was the world's earliest society for shoulder surgery. The SECEC website states that the decision to establish SECEC was made after Dr. Patte and Dr. Gschwend attended the 3rd International Congress on Shoulder Surgery held in Japan.

• Figure 1. Volume 1 Number 1 of the “Journal of Katakansetsu (The Shoulder Joint)”

The number of members started with 280 in 1978, when the first record was kept, exceeded 1,000 in 1990, and developed into a large society with 1,639 members as of June 30, 2013, the 40th year of the society's existence. The number of abstracts presented at the first meeting was 11, but has now grown to around 400; 35 papers were published in Volume 1 of the Journal of Katakansetsu (held in 1976; Chairman: Naoto Takagishi), and 194 papers were published in Volume 38 (held in 2013; Chairman: Masao Kurokawa).

The symbol mark of society, which appears on the cover of the Journal of Katakansetsu and on the society's website, was first introduced to the public in 1985 in the abstract issue of the 12th meeting of the Shoulder Research Society held by Professor Shigeo Matsuno of Hokkaido University (Fig. 2). This symbol mark was designed by Kimitaka Fukuda and officially approved as the symbol mark by the Shoulder Research Society at the 13th Executive Committee Meeting in 1986. The minutes of the executive committee meeting at that time show that it was also a memorable year when the “Evaluation Method of Shoulder Function” developed by the society was approved by the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) and published in the Journal of the JOA as the “JOA shoulder score.” This was also the year in which the 3rd International Congress on Shoulder Surgery and 13th Annual Meeting of the Japan Shoulder Society were held as a combined meeting.

• Figure 2. Symbol of the Japan Shoulder Society.
  At that time, it was the name of the Shoulder Research Society and was first used at the 12th meeting of the society, chaired by Shigeo Matsuno (Hokkaido University).

In 1987, the Naoto Takagishi Award was awarded at the 14th meeting of the Shoulder Research Society (Congress President: Motohiko Mikasa), with funds from the surplus of the 3rd International Congress on Shoulder Surgery. The award was established as an encouraging award for young researchers, and many recipients have been appointed as directors and councilors of the Japan Shoulder Society and are active leaders in shoulder surgery in Japan (see the website of the Japan Shoulder Society for the names of previous recipients). This was also the year the Society was approved as a registered research organization by the Science Council of Japan, August 19. The first edition of the Shoulder Joint Literature Collection (initially A4 printouts) was distributed to participants at the meeting that year. Motohiko Mikasa is the sole author of this collection. Although the first edition contained only Japanese papers, a booklet containing English papers was later published and distributed to meeting participants as a CD-ROM version. Although members might think that the collections were produced by the joint efforts of society's officers, Motohiko Mikasa produced them as his own work, and I would like to express my deepest respect for his efforts.

In 1989, at the 16th meeting (Congress President Akio Matsuzaki), honorary membership was established to reward the achievements of executive committee members who had contributed to the establishment of society.

In 1990, at the 17th meeting (Congress President: Fumio Kato), the name of the society was changed to the Japan Shoulder Society as the number of members and papers increased, and the society expanded.

In 1991, at the 18th meeting (Congress President: Kosaku Mizuno), Prof. Neer Columbia University requested Japan's participation in the launch of the official journal, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgery. An international committee was formed within the Japan Shoulder Society to review English journals, and editorial board members of the Journal of Katakansetsu were assigned to this committee. This English-language journal is the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, which is now the top journal on shoulder and elbow surgery, as we are well aware.

In 1993, at the 20th meeting (Congress President Nobuyuki Ito), a biennial exchange program between the Japan Shoulder Society and SECEC was launched in 1994. The first exchange student was Eiji Itoi (Tohoku University; first President of the Japan Shoulder Society) and the second exchange student was Yozo Shibata (Fukuoka University), who visited Europe. To date, 15 members have been selected as exchange students, 10 of whom have been appointed as directors or councilors of the Japan Shoulder Society.

Subsequently, in 2006, at the 33rd meeting (Congress President: Hiroshi Ito), Professors Kwang Jin Rhee and Yong Girls Rhee came to Japan from Korea with the offer of an exchange fellowship program with Korea. The following year, Kazuhide Suzuki (Showa University Fujigaoka Rehabilitation Hospital) and Naoko Mizuno (Yukioka Hospital) were dispatched from Japan to Korea, and a total of 10 surgeons have been dispatched so far (see the website of the society for details). In 2006, the size of the Journal of Katakansetsu was changed from B5 to A4 edition, and at the same time, the journal was decided to be published electronically. From then until 2013, the Journal of Katakansetsu was published in print and electronic form in parallel, but since then, the print version has been discontinued, and only the electronic version has been published.

To perform the duties of the Japan Shoulder Society, Akio Matsuzaki (1976-1984) was appointed as the first secretary, Mitsuru Takeshita (1985-1991) as the second, and Yozo Shibata (1992-2009) as the third. Later, when I moved to Fukuoka University Chikushi Hospital, Terumasa Izaki took over as the fourth secretary. In October 2010, Professor Kenji Takagishi of Gunma University accepted the secretariat duties, and Tsutomu Kobayashi and Atsushi Yamamoto took administrative duties as the Secretary General of Society.

When I took charge of the secretariat in 1992, there were only four committees (Journal of Katakansetsu Editorial Committee, International Committee, JOA score Review Committee, and Naoto Takagishi Award Decision Committee), but gradually the number of case work that must be settled promptly, including cooperation with overseas societies, has increased. As of May 2015, there are 14 committees and 1 working group (Journal of Katakansetsu Editorial Committee, QOL Evaluation Chart Review Committee, International Committee, Naoto Takagishi Award Decision Committee, Social Insurance Committee, Education and Training Committee, Academic Committee, Public Relations Committee, Finance Committee, Ethics Committee, Constitutional Operation Committee, Reverse Shoulder Arthroplasty Operation Committee, 40th History Compilation Committee, Officer Election Administration Committee, and the WG for the Society) are actively engaged in activities. In 2012, at the 39th meeting (Congress President Teruhiko Nakagawa), with the aim of incorporating society as an incorporated association, the first board of directors was established with the aim of starting a director and councilor system for society as a voluntary organization. On August 1, 2014, the Japan Shoulder Society became a pending general incorporated association in 2014, at the 41st meeting (Congress President Keizo Morisawa), the second board of directors was established, and as of February 1, 2015, the secretariat was outsourced.

The Japan Shoulder Society, which was established by the achievements of our predecessors, has been active as the oldest society in the world, and now that it has been incorporated as a general incorporated association, we are confident that it will fulfill its greater social responsibility and contribute to the further development of shoulder surgery in Japan.