1. Establishment
When the 4
th World Congress of the International College of Psychosomatic Medicine (ICPM)[
1,
2] was held in Kyoto on September 5
th to 9
th, 1977, a movement to establish an Asian Chapter was begun and a preparatory committee was set up.
The ICPM-AC Establishment Committee Meeting was held in Tokyo on April 12th, 1982. At that time, memorial lectures were given by four distinguished psychosomatists; Yujiro IKEMI (Japan), Alfred M. FREEDMAN (USA), Jinichi SUZUKI (Japan) and Masamoto HIGUCHI (Japan). The President Hitoshi ISHIKAWA (Japan), the Vice Presidents Burton G. BURTON-BRADLEY (Papua-New Guinea) and Mahalingam MAHADEVAN (Malaysia), and the General Secretary Sueharu TSUTSUI (Japan) took office, and Yujiro IKEMI was appointed Honorary President. It was decided that the ICPM-AC Congress would be held every two years in Japan or another Asian country.
The 1st Congress of the ICPM-AC was hosted by President Yujiro IKEMI in Tokyo, Japan on May 19th and 20th, 1984. The opening ceremony took place at Nippon Seinenkan, located in the Meiji Shrine outer garden. During the ceremony, Taisaku KATSURA, who was the General Secretary of the 1st Congress of the ICPM-AC, took the role of master of ceremonies. First, President IKEMI gave a welcome address, which was followed by the greetings of ICPM-AC President Hitoshi ISHIKAWA, the Vice Presidents M. MAHADEVAN and B.G. BURTON-BRADLEY, and the General Secretary Sueharu TSUTSUI. ICPM President Chase P. KIMBALL delivered a congratulatory address and Masayoshi NAMIKI, the President of the 25th Congress of the Japanese Society of Psychosomatic Medicine, gave a congratulatory address.
At the 1
st Congress of the ICPM-AC, plenary lectures were given by Jiro KANEKO, the Honorary President, and Yujiro IKEMI, the President. Also, eight special topics were presented, including those by Professor A.N. SINGH (Canada), Professor Hsien RIN (Taiwan), and Professor B. H. FOX (USA). In addition, 82 presentations were made on general topics. The first conference was a prosperous beginning, with participants from Japan, Taiwan, Korea, China, Malaysia, India, and Papua-New Guinea [
3].
2. Progress (Table 1, 2)
The 2
nd Congress of the ICPM-AC, a continuation of the 1
st Congress of the ICPM-AC held by conference president Yujiro IKEMI in Tokyo on May 19
th and 20
th , 1984, was hosted by President A.N. SINGH in New Delhi, India from December 12
th to 15
th, 1986. The main theme of the conference was "Asian Perspective in Psychosomatic Medicine" and participants came not only from Japan, India, and Malaysia but also from Indonesia, Thailand, and Australia. Hitoshi ISHIKAWA passed the presidency on to Sueharu TSUTSUI. After the conference, the participants enjoyed sightseeing at the Taj Mahal, Bodh Gaya, and other wonderful places [
4].
Table 1
Congress Presidents of the ICPM-AC and ACPM
1st | 1984 | Yujiro IKEMI | Tokyo, JAPAN | May 19~20 |
2nd | 1986 | Amarendra Narayan SINGH | New Delhi, INDIA | November 12~15 |
3rd | 1988 | Mahalingam MAHADEVAN | Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSHIA | November 25~27 |
4th | 1990 | Jinichi SUZUKI | Sendai, JAPAN | April 20~21 |
5th | 1992 | Hsien RIN | Taipei, TAIWAN | September 4~6 |
6th | 1994 | Chiharu KUBO | Fukuoka, JAPAN | June 5~6 |
7th | 1996 | LIU Zengyuan | Dalian, CHINA | September 5~7 |
8th | 1998 | Byung I1 MIN | Seoul, KOREA | October 28~30 |
9th | 2000 | Sueharu TSUTSUI | Tokyo, JAPAN | September 29~30 |
10th | 2002 | Ming-Been LEE | Taipei, TAIWAN | September 28~29 |
11th | 2004 | Hiroshi ISHIZU | Okinawa, JAPAN | October 23~24 |
12th | 2006 | Lorraine DENNERSTEIN | Melbourne, AUSTRALIA | November 24~25 |
13th | 2008 | Bong Yul HUH Kyung Bong KOH | Seoul, KOREA | August31~ September1 September 10~12 |
14th | 2010 | ZHAO Zhifu | Beijing, CHINA | August 24~26 |
15th | 2012 | Tserenkhuugyin LKHAGVASUREN | Ulaanbaatar, MONGOLIA | |
Table 2
Official Board of The Asian College of Psychosomatic Medicine (2010-2012)
Vice-President
| Lorrain DENNERSTIN (Melbourne, Australia) Bong Yul HUH (Seoul, Korea) Hiroshi ISHIZU (Okinawa, Japan) Ming-Been LEE (Taipei, Taiwan) LIU Zengyuan (Dalian, China) Mahalingam MAHADEVAN (Kulala-Lumpur, Malaysia) Byung I1 MIN (Seoul, Korea) Amarendra Narayan SINGH (Kingston, Canada) Sueharu TSUTSUI (Tokyo, Japan) Jun Shick WHANG (Seoul, Korea) ZHAO Zhifu (Beijing, China) |
Counselors
| Yukihiro AGO (Okayama, Japan) Kazuo HASEGAWA (Kawasaki, Japan) Shigeaki HINOHARA (Tokyo, Japan) M.MAJUMDER (Kaula-Lumpur, Malaysia) Tetsuya NAKAGAWA (Fukuoka, Japan) Hsien RIN (Taipei, Taiwan) Shridhar SHARMA (New Delhi, India) Itsuro SOBUE (Nagoya, Japan) Hiroyuki SUEMATSU (Tokyo, Japan) |
Directors
| Imaculada J. GONZAGA-OPTAIA (Pohnpei, Micronesia) Michio HONGO (Sendai, Japan) Toshio ISHIKAWA (Tokyo, Japan) Hiroshi ISMAEL (Kosrae, Micronesia) Tomifusa KUBOKI (Tokyo, Japan) Shih-Cheng LIAO (Taipei, Taiwan) Tserenkhuugyin LKHAGVASUREN (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia) MA Hongkun (Harbin, China) Yoshihide NAKAI (Osaka, Japan) |
General Secretary
| Tetsuaki INAMITSU (Fukuoka, Japan) |
Auditors
| Katsutaro NAGATA (Tokyo, Japan) Shoji NAGATA (Kitakyushu, Japan) Hong Keun OH (Seoul, Korea) |
The 3
rd Congress of the ICPM-AC was hosted by conference president M. MAHADEVAN in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from December 25
th to 27
th, 1988. Its theme was the same as the 2
nd conference, "Psychosomatic Medicine Asian Perspective". Sultan Azlan SHAH (Perak State) was selected as the Honorary President of the 3
rd Congress [
5].
The 4
th Congress of the ICPM-AC was hosted by conference president Jinichi SUZUKI in Sendai, Japan, on April 20
th and 21
st, 1990. Its main theme was "Psychosomatic Medicine in Primary Care". At this conference, participants from Brazil joined for the first time [
6].
The 5
th Congress of the ICPM-AC was hosted by conference president Hsien RIN in Taipei, Taiwan, from September 4
th to 6
th, 1992. Its main theme was "Panic and Anxiety". President RIN, the head of the Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, studied at the Hokkaido Imperial University School of Medicine in Japan. Because of this, he developed a strong relationship with Japan and held a special welcome reception program for Japanese guests with visit to memorial places at the medical school of the former Taihoku Imperial University [
7].
The 6
th Congress of the ICPM-AC was hosted by conference president Chiharu KUBO in Fukuoka, Japan on June 5
th and 6
th, 1994. Its main theme was "Psychosomatic Medicine Symposium-East and West". Many participants and speakers came from China and Professor Wolfram SCHÜFFEL from Germany joined as a special participant [
8].
The 7
th Congress of the ICPM-AC was hosted by conference president LIU Zengyuan in Dalian, China from September 5
th to 7
th, 1996 with many Chinese participants. After the conference, the participants visited Hill 203 in Ryojun (Lushun) where one of the fiercest battles of the Russo-Japanese War was fought [
9].
The 8
th Congress of the ICPM-AC was hosted by conference president Byung Il MIN in Seoul, South Korea from October 28
th to 30
th, 1998. The participants interacted with the staff of Kyunghee University, learned Korean history and culture, and visited a folk village and other special places [
10].
The 9
th Congress of the ICPM-AC was hosted by conference president Sueharu TSUTSUI in Tokyo, Japan on September 29
th and 30
th, 2000. Its main theme was "New Encounter between Mind and Body-Stress Management in the 21
st Century" and a large number of speakers gave presentations. At the Executive Board Meeting of this conference, the name "The Asian Chapter of the International College of Psychosomatic Medicine" (ICPM-AC) was changed to "The Asian College of Psychosomatic Medicine"(ACPM) and this new name has been used since the 10
th Congress. Also, the presidency was handed over from Sueharu TSUTSUI to Chiharu KUBO [
11].
The 10
th Congress of the ACPM was hosted by conference president Ming-Been LEE in Taipei, Taiwan on September 28
th and 29
th, 2002. Starting with this conference, the official name of the conference became "The Asian College of Psychosomatic Medicine" (ACPM). Ten years had passed since the 5
th Congress was last held in Taiwan hosted by conference president Hsien RIN. The 2
nd conference in Taiwan was held at the same site as the 1
st conference. Its main theme was "Psychosomatic Medicine and Health Promotion" with about 250 participants. There were eight sessions of oral presentations and six poster sessions [
12].
The 11
th Congress of the ACPM was hosted by conference president Hiroshi ISHIZU in Okinawa, Japan on October 23
rd and 24
th, 2004. Its main theme was "Culture and Psychosomatic Medicine". The president's lecture, titled "Psychosomatic Medicine of Okinawan Culture and Healthy Longevity", as well as 6 special lectures, 1 symposium, 1 panel discussion, 2 educational lectures, 30 oral presentations, and 112 poster presentations were well received. The documents state that the symposium theme was chosen to be "Present and Future of ACPM" and all of the past presidents were invited. Also, for the future development of the ACPM, the congress president invited as special guest lecturers Professor Tserenkhuugyin LKHAGVASUREN, President of the National Medical University of Mongolia (now the National Health Sciences University of Mongolia) and Drs. Hiroshi ISMAEL and Imaculada J. GONZAGA-OPTAIA from the Federated States of Micronesia of the Pacific, who participated for the first time. Unfortunately, Professor Futa HELU of the Kingdom of Tonga could not participate due to other business matters. In addition, a professor in Kazakhstan was unable to be contacted. Despite these absences, the participants expanded our organization to include areas of the Asian-Pacific region from Mongolia in the north to Australia in the south and from Canada in the east to Sri Lanka in the west. In the Executive Board Meeting, the sites of the next four conferences were decided; The 12
th Congress at Melbourne, Australia, the 13
th Congress at Seoul, South Korea, the 14
th Congress at Beijing, China, and the 15
th Congress at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia [
13].
The 12
th Congress of the ACPM was hosted by conference president Lorraine DENNERSTEIN in Melbourne, Australia on December 24
th and 25
th, 2006. The theme picked for the conference was noteworthy, "Sexual Health and Psychosomatic Medicine". The conference was successful due to of the tremendous support from Vice-President of the 12
th Congress, Koji TSUBOI, Professor of Psychosomatic Medicine at Toho University School of Medicine, Japan [
14].
The 13
th Congress of the ACPM was hosted by conference president Bong Yul HUH in Seoul, South Korea on August 31
st and September 1
st, 2008. Ten years had passed years since the 8
th Congress held in South Korea hosted by President MIN. Due to the influx of South Korean pop culture into other areas, a large number of people came to the conference and many distinctive Korean features were included in the presentations at the well-received conference. Kyung Bong KOH played the role of co-President [
15].
The 14
th Congress of the ACPM was hosted by conference president ZHAO Zhifu in Beijing, China from September 10
th to 12
th, 2010. The China National Convention Center, a fantastic building that is located in the center of Beijing and that was renovated for the Beijing Olympics, was the site of the conference. More than 400 topics were presented. The conference was especially well organized. The participants had the opportunity to see traditional Chinese Opera at the welcome party, visit the Great Wall, a World Heritage site, where one could enjoy the distant view of Inner Mongolia, and visit the Ming Dynasty Tombs. President ZHAO's son, Dr. ZHAO Peng, who is studying abroad at the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine of Kyushu University, ably assisted President KUBO in preparing for the conference [
16].
The 15
th Congress of the ACPM will be hosted for the first time in Mongolia at Ulaanbaatar by conference president Tserenkhuugyin LKHAGVASUREN from August 24
th to 26
th, 2012. Members of ACPM in Japan are inviting people from far and wide to come and back up the conference as much as possible. The first Mongolian Workshop of Psychosomatic Medicine was held on October 20
th, 2006, and the Mongolian Society of Psychosomatic Medicine was established recently [
17]. We expect a large number of presenters from Japan to be at the conference next year to support this developing society.
Most recently, Indonesia announced its candidacy for the 16th Congress of the ACPM. The Indonesian Society of Psychosomatic Medicine, also newly established in 2010 in Jakarta, has its center at the National Indonesian University. For these newly established Asian societies of Psychosomatic Medicine to hold the conferences, it is important that as many of our members participate and present as many topics as possible. We would especially encourage the members of the Japanese Society of Psychosomatic Medicine to do all they can to assist these new societies.