The Japanese Respiratory Society (JRS)

The year 1960 was an extremely significant year for the study of the respiratory tract in our country. In April of that year, the 35th meeting of the Japan Tuberculosis Society was held in Fukuoka, and there were proactive discussions concerning the foundation of several societies that are making important contribution today. These are the Lung Emphysema Research Association (presently the COPD Research Association), the Lung Function Seminar (presently the Clinical Respiratory Function Society), and the Japan Society for Diseases of the Chest (presently the Japanese Respiratory Society). In the following year, in 1961, the establishment of all of these societies was realized.

In October of 1960, the First Symposium on Diseases of the Chest was held in Nagoya, on which occasion it was decided to establish the Japan Society of Diseases of the Chest. The Second Symposium on Diseases of the Chest held in October 1961 in Tokyo was designated as the First Congress of the Japan Society for Diseases of the Chest. Since then, the general annual meeting of the society has been held every year, and in 2005, the 45th annual meeting will be celebrated.