Welcome from the President

It is a great honor for me to welcome you to the 85th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (85th JOA) to be held in Kyoto, Japan, from May 17th to 20th, 2012.

The Japanese Orthopaedic Association has over 23,000 members, and the JOA Annual Meeting, which attracts almost 10,000 orthopaedists every year from both Japan and overseas, is one of the largest medical meetings in Japan. We have set the theme of the meeting as "Great leap towards the future - the contribution of originality." This concept encapsulates our desire to continue making the most of traditions by utilizing the accumulated wisdom of our forebears, while adding our own original ideas to achieve future advances in orthopaedics. The national treasure from Kenninji Temple selected for the JOA 2012 poster, "The Wind and Thunder Gods" by Tawaraya Sotatsu, gives visual expression to this theme. The wind and thunder gods appear to look down upon human progress from a broader perspective, and the space of the gold leaf portion in the center evokes the possibilities of the future.

The main functions of JOA are educating our members and expanding the advancement of orthopaedics. The meeting will include keynote lectures, congress president lecture, culture lecture, special lectures, invited lectures, instructional lectures, symposia and panel discussions on recent topics presented by experts in the field. We are planning to have a variety of interesting programs available in English.

Kyoto is an ancient capital and a center of exceptional culture and tradition. There are 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Kyoto, including Nijo-Castle, Kiyomizu-dera, Ginkaku-ji (the Silver Pavilion) and the world famous Kinkaku-ji (the Golden Pavilion). You can experience the atmosphere of old Japan created by many historic temples and shrines, and also enjoy the traditional shops as well as authentic, delicious Japanese cuisine.

I am confident that you will enjoy not only the scientific program but also the myriad aspects of Kyoto's magnificent culture and delightful social events we have planned. I look forward to welcoming you to Kyoto in May 2012.