Last year The Physiological Society of Japan (PSJ) celebrated its 100th anniversary. In light of this, and their 100th Anniversary Congress meeting taking place this week in Kyoto, Dr Yoshihiro Ishikawa, President of the PSJ, and Professor Tadashi Isa, Conference Director of the 100th Anniversary Annual Meeting of the PSJ, reflect on the history of the PSJ and look ahead at the next century.
History of the Physiological Society of Japan
The Physiological Society of Japan (PSJ) was founded in 1922 when its first meeting was organised at the University of Tokyo on 10 July 1922. At the first meeting 37 papers were presented as free communications. From the beginning the society had a liberal spirit, which has continued to the present day. The Society’s scientific meetings have been held annually except in 1944 and 1945,which was due to World War II. However, the activities of the PSJ were quickly revived after the end of the war. The aim of the PSJ is to promote research in the physiological sciences by providing free communications to members and by actively committing itself to the national and international scientific communities.
As of 2022 the PSJ has more than 2,500 members. Most of the members belong to academic research institutions related to medical science, life science, health science and pharmaceutical science. Some PSJ members have achieved several breakthroughs in research. A list of the recent breakthrough papers published by PSJ members can be viewed at the ‘Science Topics’ section of the PSJ website.
The PSJ is committed to supporting education and research for Japanese and global physiologists. It provides an opportunity to acquire a wide range of knowledge required for teaching physiology. Firstly, through its educational lecture course in physiological science, organised by the society’s Education Committee at the annual meetings. The PSJ members who take part in the lecture course can earn points towards certification as a “Physiology Educator.” Around 400 members have been certified as of 2022. Secondly, the PSJ supports the Physiology Quiz in Japan that is run and participated in by college students.
The PSJ supports physiological research through its two journals. The Journal of the Physiological Sciences, an international peer-reviewed journal that publishes high quality papers with a most recent impact factor of 2.781 (2021-2022), and The Journal of The Physiological Society of Japan, which is published quarterly in Japanese.
The 100th Anniversary Congress, Kyoto, Japan
On Tuesday 14 March to Thursday 16 March the PSJ will hold its 100th Anniversary Congress in Kyoto on the theme of “Homeostasis for Sustainability – Toward the Next Century of Physiological Sciences”. At this memorial 100th meeting of the PSJ, we will look back over the 100-year history of physiology in Japan through a special exhibition that traces the 100-year trajectory of PSJ and look forward to the next 100 years in anticipation of further development.
In the next 100 years it will be necessary to consider the human body as a system and reintegrate existing physiological knowledge while incorporating new technologies such as artificial intelligence. During this time the PSJ intends to keep supporting the development of physiological research activities.
Dr Yoshihiro Ishikawa and Professor Tadashi Isa reflect on how the PSJ has grown through the years and look ahead at the next century in their celebration piece featured in Physiology News 128 Winter 2022. They take you back in history to where the PSJ’s story began and share details of the superlative programme they have planned this month.