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In 1965 Japan hosted the XXIII
IUPS Congress in Tokyo, the first IUPS Congress held in Japan. The early
1960’s were the years when Japan recovered from the disastrous damage of the
WWII. In 1964, Tokyo hosted the XVIII Olympic Games and our country rapidly
rebuilt its social infrastructure to meet the requirement. New bullet trains
began their service 10 days before the opening ceremony of the Olympic
Games. A new highway connecting Nagoya to Kobe opened almost at the same
time. The IUPS Congress in 1965 in Tokyo was one of the first international
congresses held in Japan in the post-war era. Forty-four years after Tokyo,
we are hosting the IUPS Congress in Kyoto in 2009. The interval between the
Tokyo Congress and the Kyoto Congress is similar to the 38-year interval of
IUPS Congresses held in US: the 1929 Boston, the 1968 Washington DC and the
2005 San Diego.
What is the aim of an International Congress? It is one of the main
activities of the Union, as clearly described in the Union’s Constitution.
The Congress offers a forum a) to encourage the advancement of the
physiological sciences; b) to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge in
the field of physiological sciences; and c) to foster and encourage research
in the field of physiological sciences. In the present days when the vast
amount of information can be exchanged swiftly due to the development of
information technology, can the Congress still play its role?
The IUPS Congress in San Diego gave an answer to this question. The Congress
was organized by scientific theme “From Genomes to Functions.” It clearly
shows that physiology aims at the understanding of the integrated function
by piling up the knowledge from genomes, molecules, cells and tissues. The
Congress and the Scientific Programming Committee, under the leadership of
Walter Boron, showed the direction of the future of physiology. And this is
a very important role of the quadrennial Congresses. The scientific theme of
2009 Kyoto Congress is “Function of Life: Elements and Integration,” and
this theme also indicates the future direction of physiology. The first
International Scientific Programming Committee will be held in January 2006,
and it is planned to discuss the fundamental policy of the Congress under
the theme of “Function of Life: Elements and Integration.” I have no doubt
that the IUPS Congresses will lead the world physiologists’ community to
keep playing pivotal role in the biomedical sciences.
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