The Movement Disorder Society of Japan (MDSJ) was established in May 2001 with Dr. Nobuo Yanagisawa as its President. The purpose of MDSJ is to promote clinical practice and studies on extrapyramidal disorders including Parkinson's disease. At present, in order to fulfill this purpose, a seminar with lecturers invited from overseas is held in the evening of the final day of each annual meeting of the Japanese Society of Neurology, followed by information exchange and reunion among members. Dr. Richard Eidelberg, Dr. Vincenzo Bonifati, Dr. Glenda Halliday, and Dr. Phillip Thompson have delivered lectures for us in the past. The area of movement disorders is one of the most common topics for speeches given at the annual meetings of the Japanese Society of Neurology. Parkinson's disease, for which there is no radical cure, is the second most common disease after Alzheimer's disease and public concerns about the disease are extremely high. Studies in the area of extrapyramidal disorders have advanced at a relatively high speed, and interesting articles are being released one after another on molecular genetics, neurophysiology, neuropathology, neuropharmacology, imaging, diagnosis and therapy.

In light of these situations, it was considered difficult to meet the needs of this age with information exchange only being conducted on the last day of an annual meeting of the Japanese Society of Neurology, and we started considering the possibility of holding the first independent meeting in 2007. We are pursuing the idea of conducting the meeting for a period of about three days in the beginning of October, carefully scheduling the dates so as not to overlap with other meeting. In October 2006, the International Congress of the Movement Disorder Society will be held for the first time in Asia, in Kyoto (from October 29 to November 2). This is currently the largest Parkinson's diseaserelated international congress, and the one held in Rome two years ago was attended by 3500 participants. We sincerely hope that the one in Kyoto will also be attended by many participants. This congress is designed to share the most recent progress on the basics and clinical practice and also highlights education as well.

Modeled after the organization of the International MDS, the MDSJ is operated by seven officers, including a President, Secretary, Treasurer, President-elect, Secretary-elect, Treasurer-elect and Past President. In addition to these officers, an Executive Committee has also been established, to which important matters are submitted for approval. A strict fixed-term system is employed: each officer must retire from his/her position at the end of the two-year term after he/she has served in the elected position for two years, and continuous reappointment is not permitted. The term of the Executive Committee members is set at four years, and 50% of the members are re-elected every two years. By adopting this system, we hope to provide a wide-range of people the opportunity to participate in MDSJ operations and to inspire MDSJ with new ideas.

With the development of the Internet and email along with the significant increase in the number of international congresses, new knowledge can be shared internationally almost immediately these days. Recommended therapeutic strategies for extrapyramidal disorders are released in EBM-based therapeutic guidelines and algorithms at the international level. We cannot be ignorant of these changes in the international community. First of all, we must acquire the knowledge contained in these therapeutic guidelines and algorithms to provide the best possible care to our patients. Also, now that medical lawsuits are often brought about these days, following the therapeutic guidelines in areas that such guidelines have been established may be vital to protecting yourself. I sincerely hope that MDSJ will grow to become a society that is able to meet the various needs of the diversified modern world.

Yoshikuni Mizuno, December 24, 2005