May 23, 2024

JOA/AOA Traveling Fellows Blog

JOA Opening Ceremony

Fukuoka

Today marked the beginning of the JOA annual meeting in Fukuoka.  It is a kind of homecoming for the traveling fellows because we now get to see all the friends we have made during our nearly two weeks in Japan.  We have already seen many familiar, friendly faces.   We again, thank you for your hospitality and kindness.

The ceremony started with a serenade.\

We had the great pleasure of meeting Professor Mario Matsumoto last evening at a banquet held at the Hotel Nikko where we are staying. Professor Matsumoto presided over the opening ceremony, and he is the President of the JOA congress for this year. 

Dr. Paul Tornetta, the President of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, attended the meeting in person and made remarks about the long and growing relationship between the JOA and the AAOS.

Professor Yasuharu Nakashima, the President of the JOA, made remarks referencing Professor Matsumoto’s vision of the 100 year life expectancy burgeoning in the world and, in particular, Japan.

The opening remarks were followed by an address delivered by Professor Matsumoto whereby he discussed the changes in life expectancy in Japan.  The “100 year year life” puts new emphasis on how one can age gracefully and how orthopedics can play a key role in allowing people to remain active throughout their extended life span.

Four of the five traveling fellows, the author (Schwab) excluded, have made a point of running regularly during their time in Japan.  Their efforts have led them to the tops of many mountains.  They often assumed they would find the trail empty, but they found the trails and the tops of the mountain filled with seemingly elderly yet robust Japanese seniors.  Japan leads the world with over 25% of the population over 65.  This is compared to 16% for the United States.  Furthermore, each of our hosts has spoken about the challenges they have faced with osteoporosis.  Yet, as fellows, we found the relative dearth of hip fractures notable at each hospital.  Josh found an abstract reporting the rate of hip fractures to be substantially lower in Japan than in the United States despite their older population.  He postulated that Japanese society seemed to embrace movement to a far greater degree than what is seen in the United States and that might explain their lower hip fracture rate.

The following image, obtained while we visited Gunma University, is a good example of the embrace of movement in older age.