Message

President of the ASPA2020
Chair of the JSPA
Chair of Department of Critical Care and Anesthesia National Center for Child Health and Development
Tokyo, Japan
SUZUKI Yasuyuki, MD, PhD

Dear friends and colleagues,

　On behalf of the organizing committee, I have the great pleasure of welcoming you to the Joint meeting of the 26th meeting of the Japanese Society of Pediatric Anesthesiology (JSPA) and the 17th Asian Society of Paediatric Anaesthesiologists (ASPA) in Japan at Sendai International Center, which will be held on October 3-4, 2020.

　This is the first ASPA meeting to be held in Japan. The year 2020 of Sendai has a special meaning for us. In the year of 1965, Doctor Seizo Iwai, who is known as the father of pediatric anesthesia in Japan, established pediatric anesthesia department at National Children’s Hospital in Tokyo. That year of 1965 was just one year after the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964, the first Olympic games took place in Asia.
So, the year of 2020 is the 55th memorial year in the history pediatric anesthesia in Japan. And in August 2020, football matches of the Tokyo Olympic Games will be played at Miyagi Stadium near Sendai by chance, so those will be memorable events for everyone.

　The era of Reiwa began in May 2019. The name Reiwa was taken from traditional Japanese poetry, which is a beautiful figure of a plum blossom that foresees the arrival of spring. In other words, the meaning of hope for the new generation. The theme of this joint meeting is “One Step Ahead, Together! ”, which means that we can brighten the future of our children by taking a step forward. This conference is a great opportunity to think, learn and exchange ideas with the anesthesiologists from Asia and all over the world.

　Sendai is located approximately 300 kilometers north of Tokyo on the Pacific coast of Honshu.
It takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes to reach Sendai from Tokyo on the Tohoku Bullet Train (Tohoku Shinkansen). Sendai also has regular flights to and from major domestic and international cities. Please enjoy the conference, beautiful Sendai city and Tohoku area. Sendai is known as a modern city in harmony with nature and called the “City of the Trees.”