IPA welcomed the Japan Psychogeriatric Society (JPS) as its first national affiliate following the introduction of the
global Affiliation Program in 1998, although the two organizations were closely linked for many years prior to the
formalization of the relationship.
The Japan Psychogeriatric Society was founded in 1986, for the express purpose of organizing IPA’s Fourth International
Congress in Tokyo (1989), the first meeting in the field of psychogeriatrics to be held in Asia. Under the direction of
IPA’s then-President Kazuo Hasegawa, Local Organizing Chair Tsuyoshi Nishimura, and Secretary General Akira Homma, that
Congress was enormously successful and important to the region. It attracted 750 delegates from 30 nations (including
first-time attendance by participants from Thailand, Indonesia, People's Republic of China, Turkey, India, Pakistan, and
Hong Kong!), who gathered to hear more than 300 scientific presentations.
The Fourth Congress offered extensive studies of major issues in the field, and its setting, in Tokyo, presented an
excellent opportunity for academicians, scientists, and clinicians from Eastern and Western cultures to exchange
information and ideas about research directions for the future. Its impact throughout Japan and the region was
widespread. As a result of the Congress, Kazuo Hasegawa delivered an address on NHK, a major Japanese television and
radio station with international reach, on the progress of research on senile dementia. He urged that this and related
psychogeriatric issues receive the most serious consideration by government and policy makers. Psychogeriatrics:
Biomedical and Social Advances, a volume of selected proceedings from this Congress, was published in 1990 (K. Hasegawa
and A. Homma, editors, Excerpta Medica).
Since its formation in 1983, the Japan Psychogeriatric Society has grown to a current membership of approximately 2,300.
Its leaders include Masaaki Matsusita, President and Editor-in-Chief of the Japanese Journal of
Psychogeriatrics; Akira Homma, Treasurer and Secretary General; Koho Miyoshi, Chair of the Committee for Specialty Board; Masatoshi Takeda,
Editor-in-Chief of Psychogeriatrics; and 13 Directors. Two members of the Society, Koho Miyoshi and Masatoshi Takeda,
also are current members of the IPA Board of Directors.
JPS publishes the monthly Japanese Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry (in Japanese) and the quarterly Psychogeriatrics (in
English), as well as a semi-annual newsletter. The organization holds an annual, two-day meeting at which approximately
70-80 papers are presented in areas including basic neuroscience, clinical, and social studies. The 15th annual meeting
will take place under the presidency of Kenji Kosaka, Department of Psychiatry, Yokohama Municipal University, 5-6 July
2000, in Yokohama, Japan. Symposia concerning frontotemporal dementia and depression in later life are planned. The
Society also presents an annual JPS Award, which was initiated to encourage the research efforts of its members. The
first winning paper was “Clinical classification of depressive state in later life by multivariate analysis.”
In April 2000, JPS introduced the Specialty Board for Psychogeriatrics to increase the visibility of this field, as well
as elevate awareness and recognition of dementia by primary care physicians and related health professionals. In Japan,
new legislation concerning long-term care insurance was initiated to deliver appropriate care for the disabled elderly,
including those with dementia. It is expected that the Specialty Board will be beneficial in the detection of early
dementia in the community.
Additional information about the Japan Psychogeriatric Society can be obtained by contacting Akira Homma (tel: +81 33964
3241, fax: +81 33579 4776, email ahomma@tmig.or.jp).
IPA Bulletin June 2000
Copyright 2012 International Psychogeriatric Association
