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Professor Dr Hitoshi Katayama, MD, PhD, was born in 1932 and passed away on August 25, 2008. He served as Professor of Radiology at Juntendo University and later as President of Juntendo University from 1996 to 2000. He was the 7th AOSR president, and the first from the Japan Radiological Society (JRS). He presided over the 8th AOCR which was held in Kobe in 1998. Dr Katayama conducted pioneering research on contrast media at a global level and was awarded the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Honorary Membership in 2006 and even earlier in 1999, he was awarded the ESR Honorary Member. For his many contributions he was also awarded the AOSR Gold Medal in 2004.
The JRS has been a stalwart support for the formation of the Asian Oceanian Society of Radiology (AOSR) and particularly throughout the early years until today. In October 1969, Hotel Otani in Tokyo, Japan was where the “first” meeting of the regional radiological societies took place, with a total of 30 delegates made up of radiologists, and radiotherapists. From inception and for many years until 2001, the AOSR did not have a permanent address and the AOSR executive meetings were held during the Asian Oceanian Congress of Radiology (AOCR) and through the support of the member societies. Whilst not the only AOSR society member to support executive committee meetings, the Japanese Federation of Medical Congress Promotion and JRS were then regularly inviting the AOSR Executive Committee (Council) members to their annual congress for such purposes.
In recognition of the contributions and support of the JRS, the AOSR presented a certificate of appreciation in April 2001 to the JRS. Dr Katayama is pictured holding one side of the certificate in this photo.
Kazuro Sugimura became involved in the AOSR circa 2008 under the encouragement of Dr Osama Matsui who was then in the AOSR executive committee. Coincidentally, Kobe has been host not only to the 8th AOCR but the 15th AOCR as well where Dr Sugimura presided over this AOCR as Congress President. Both these AOCRs were the first and second time the AOCR was held in Japan. The 15th AOCR was held towards the end of Dr Sugimura’s tenure as AOSR president. He shares his thoughts on the 15th AOCR which coincided with the JRS Autumn Meeting. He provides the background of the major congresses/meetings of the JRS and how Kobe City became host to the AOCR yet again in 2014.
The JRS holds two major meetings each year: the Annual Meeting in spring and the Autumn Meeting, which is more clinically focused. The spring Annual Meeting attracts over 20,000 participants, including radiological technologists, and features a large-scale equipment exhibition—second only to that of the RSNA. For this reason, it has been held regularly in Yokohama. In contrast, the Autumn Meeting is attended primarily by radiologists, and the scale of the equipment exhibition is more modest. This allows the meeting to be held in major cities across Japan (from Kyushu in the south to Hokkaido in the north), typically at the location of the congress president. Kobe University, where Dr Sugimura served as Professor then, is located in Kobe City.
For 2014, he decided to jointly host the meeting in Kobe with Professor Shozo Hirota of Hyogo College of Medicine (as it was known then, later it was renamed to Hyogo Medical University) which is located in nearby Nishinomiya. Professor Hirota was then only junior to Dr Sugimura by one year and also an alumnus of Kobe University. The organization of the AOCR2014 held jointly with the JRS Autumn Meeting proceeded very smoothly. This was due to several factors: a stable expected participation from Japanese members, strong demand for hosting meetings outside Yokohama where they are usually held, and the fact that the presidents of AOCR and the Autumn Meeting shared the same academic background, which facilitated consensus-building.
Kazuro Sugimura retired from the Chair position, Kobe University in 2021 but is not resting on his laurels. At the time of this write up, he is in fact, just as busy if not more so, as COO of 13 Prefectural Hyogo Hospitals.
To read more about how H.Katayama was both colleague and friend to K.Sugimura; the AOSR challenges during Sugimura's time as AOSR president and his thoughts about a fixed location for AOCRs with more photos from their era as AOSR presidents - download the article: Katayama and Sugimura, JRS Role.pdf
Katayama and Sugimura, JRS Role.pdf
