Section VII JAPAN The Japanese Section is commemorating its history and planning for the future by preserving the founding values of the College. President’s Greeting Tadashi Mizutani W ith the swift passage of time, it is surprising to look back and realise that one year had passed since I was accepted as the President of the ICD Japan Section at the general meeting in Nagoya. I had a great amount of support from the committee members, as well as from the board of ICD Japan in my first year. Also, every one of the Fellows proactively participated in all events, and as a result, we finished a highly-successful year without any difficulties. Last fall, a new meeting named the “KINREI-kai” was organized as a gathering for our permanent Fellows. The history of the ICD was shared by the senior members. On that occasion, an informative and meaningful time was spent in each other’s company. In the spring 2017, we held another meeting for newcomers who became Fellows one or two years prior, allowing them to introduce themselves and present their achievements. This meeting was named “SEISEI-kai”, which, along with the KINREI- kai, will now take place on a regular basis for the continued development of ICD Japan. Our study group was formally au- thorized as the Japan Section by the principal body of the Interna- tional Collage of Dentist in the fall of 1958, and 34 Fellows joined. The first general meeting was held at the Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo after the group’s founding. Dr. Hidesaku Fukushima was selected as the first president, and in 1960, the news was posted in the May newsletter under the heading “Japanese Sec- tion Inaugurated”. 2017 was the 60th meeting since our founding. It was confirmed by the board meeting in 2016 that we would not conduct any special occasion for our 60th anniversary. However, I would like all our Fellows to keep in mind that it marked a special occasion, so not only should we show appreciation and hold the senior members in high esteem, but also know that 60 years of his- tory and tradition will be passed to the proceeding generation. As recorded in the book of the ICD, the College was established in 1920. At that time, there were only four institutions for dental education in Japan. It was a difficult time for in- ternational exchange, but Dr. Ottofy, a former principal at Northwestern University, who was a friend of Dr. Okumura, a former principal at To- kyo Medical and Dental University, stopped by Japan on his way back to the U.S after 20 years of dedica- tion to the development of dental medicine in Asia. When he inter- acted with Japanese dentists on his visit, he made a proposal, “I would like to develop a way where every dentist in the world can have access to the technology of dental medi- cine.” This is believed as the initial motivation to establish the ICD. For the purpose of sophisticated international organization, Drs. Okumura and Ottofy set forth in- novative ideas such as communi- cation between doctors all over the world, and the exchange and utiliza- tion of knowledge for dental medi- cine. Above all, the ICD strongly demands occupational ethics in its general principles. The belief History of Japan ICD JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE OF DENTISTS SECTION REPORTS 3 8