Greeting from President

On October 6, 2022, Hiroyuki Sugaya was appointed as the 5th President of the Japan Shoulder Society (JSS). The society will celebrate its 50th anniversary in October 2023 and turned to a general incorporated association in 2014. After this reorganization, JSS has two-year term society president, in addition to the annual congress president. The first society president was Eiji Itoi, followed by Kazuya Tamai, Yozo Shibata, and Hiroyasu Ikegami. I have been appointed as the 5th Society President, and am humbled to think about the weight of the history of the Society and the heavy responsibility of the future, but I will do my utmost for the development of the Society with all my heart, so I would like to ask for your continued support.

The JSS was established in 1974 as the "Shoulder Research Society", later changed its name to "Japan Shoulder Society", and since 2014, JSS has become a general incorporated association and its responsibilities and obligations have been clarified legally. As of July 31, 2022, the number of members is 2,294 (1,626 regular members, 292 first associate members, 341 second associate members, and honorary members) This society boasts the world's oldest history as a specialized academic meeting on the shoulder surgeries and researches, and we would like to work together with you to carry out the purpose of "contributing to the progress and spread of shoulder joint medicine and thereby contributing to the welfare of humankind" stated in the Articles of Incorporation.

In the Japan Shoulder Society, the International Committee has played a central role in promoting globalization. International exchange was completely closed due to the pandemic caused by COVID19 in 2020. During these time, virtual meetings that can be considered a lucky mistake from the pandemic, have become popular. Internet meetings have become a natural tool around the world without visiting the site, and this wisdom will continue to be used even after the pandemic. However, one of the major objectives of international exchange is to foster friendship, and for this purpose, we will go to the site and meet each other face to face directly. After the seventh wave came to an end in the fall of 2022, the momentum for the resumption of international exchange was increasing. In fact, the traveling fellowship program with ASES (American Shoulder and Elbow Society), which had been a one-way program before the pandemic, became exchange program: we hosted 2 fellows from ASES for the first time in September 2022. We also reopened the dispatch of Japanese fellows to SESEC (European Shoulder and Elbow Society) and ASES, which had been suspended. We will continue to actively promote these international exchanges, so we would like our members to actively use these systems and increase the number of young surgeons who can play an active role as internationally-minded person in today's borderless society.

Almost 9 years have passed since the introduction of the Reverse Shoulder Arthroplasty (RSA), which began to be used in Japan in April 2014. As of August 2022, about 20,000 RSAs have been performed in Japan. Reverse Shoulder prosthesis is the first artificial joint to be covered by insurance without conducting clinical trials in Japan, and the guidelines created by the Japan Orthopedic Society and the Japan Shoulder Society were quite strict at first to prevent abuse, but they were revised several times in line with clinical practice. In addition, in response to requests from the Japanese Society of Fracture Repair (JSFR), the door to RSA was opened to fracture specialists in 2019. It is expected that the qualification standard will be further relaxed in future for dissemination of this surgery.

At the time of the 49th JSS Annual Meeting in October 2022, 19 new delegates were born, bringing the total number of delegates to 82. The work of delegates is very important for promoting the progress and dissemination of shoulder surgery, which is the purpose of the Japan Shoulder Society. Currently, there are 13 standing committees, two special committees, and one working group. These committees cooperate not only with delegates but also with the general members. As an academic society, if there are any points for improvement, we would like to respond flexibly one by one, so if you have any opinions or requests for the society, please let us know to the secretariat. We would like to aim for further development for the future while preserving the tradition of this society built by our predecessors.

January 17, 2023

President, Japan Shoulder Society
Hiroyuki Sugaya, MD
(President, Medical Corporation TSOC;
Tokyo Sports & Orthopaedic Clinic)

■ Board of Directors

In June 1974, the first orthopedic symposium on the shoulder in Japan was held as a part of the 47th meeting of the West-Japanese Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (President: Prof. Nahoto Takagishi). In the symposium, the special speakers, Dr. Nagao Adachi, Professor Akira Iwabuchi, Dr. Hisao Endo, and Dr. Katsuya Nobuhara, called upon Prof. N. Takagishi to establish a Japan shoulder society. During the 43rd meeting of the Central Japan Association of Orthopaedic Surgery & Traumatology, the first meeting of the Shoulder Forum organized by Dr. T. Endo was held on October 18, 1974, in which 10 papers were presented with 87 participants. The second meeting of the Forum organized by Dr. Kiyohiko Oda was held on October 29, 1975 as a part of the 45th meeting of the Central Japan Association of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology. The third meeting was held on November 4, 1976. It was organized by Prof. N. Takagishi with 35 papers and 186 participants. From this meeting on, the conference was organized as an annual meeting. Prof. Koukichi Tsuchiya was appointed as the president for the fourth meeting of the JSS, and also entrusted to the task of forming an organizing committee, drawing up the regulations, and issuance of journal, in consultation with Prof. Takagishi, the former president. In its first meeting on January 14, 1977, the organizing committee resolved, in addition to the regulations and issuance of journal, that the secretariat be placed in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University. The Japan Shoulder Society, originally established in 1974, has the oldest foundation in the world as a specialized society focused on the shoulder.