Volume 13, Number 1 | Spring 2018

Conference Report
Interpretation for Dr. Hempen in Kanazawa and ourActivities in JTAMSJTAMS International Department Translation Teamtheme this time was "Acupuncture Moxibustion andTreatment

By

Expertizeon

OrientalWestern

Treatment
medicalOptions",

diseases

andprofessional medical English are required.
A manuscript from Dr. Hempen was sent to us 3

The 45th Annual Meeting of the Japaneseweeks before the conference and we started

Association of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Society

translating the manuscript from there. After that,(in Kanazawa) was held in October last year, In thewe interacted with Dr. Hempen several times by e-sponsored seminar (by Goto College), we welcomed

mail, but it was extremely difficult to talk to details

Professor Moritz Hempen, an internal medicineof the contents by e-mail alone. To assume every

specialist at the Technical University of Munich,situation and cases, we prepared hand data andGermany with the theme of Cardiovascular andentrusted everything to a preliminary meeting on

Traditional Chinese medicine: treatment options of

the day of presentation. Dr. Hempen’s lecture wasacupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine".

given in the form of a consecutive interpreting that

The International Department in JTAMS wasinterpret each time after Mr. Hempen's explanation.

pleased to work as an interpreter for that lecture.

The meeting just before the lecture was mainlyThis initiative this time became a first step for theconfirmation of the contents, but it took well over 3

International Department.

hours just for it. The lecture time was 50 minutes,
but it was full of uneasiness whether we could finish
within the set time while consecutively interpreting.
We did not have a time for through practice, so it wasexactly the first game of the presentation.
When the lecture started, we proceeded theinterpreting while taking notes on the contents
which are not listed on the manuscript. The primaryconcern was whether the presentation will end
within the time. It finished in 50 minutes, within thescheduled time, though always checking the timewith the timer at hand. Apart from this lecture, wealso engaged in attendance at Dr. Hempen during
the social gatherings and conference, and we kept on

An interpreting team was formed in June bybridging communication with other teachers. Andacupuncturists with English language skills in thealso, the day Dr. Hempen left Japan for Germany, wemember of international department. We had

saw him off at the Haneda Airport. It was the first

repeated meetings and proceeded preparations until

time for an international department to support thisthe event. First of all, undertaking the preliminarykind of activity but we got compliments from theresearch is important when interpreting. Starting

attendees, which ended up with getting a good start.

from obtaining background information such as
expertise of the lecturer, past career, writing

Through this experience, we, the International

relatedDepartment, would like to focus more on inboundliteratures on Dr. Hempen’s specialized field. The

support in the future. As number of inbound tourists

literatures,

then,weresearched

theThe Journal of Kampo, Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine (KAIM)

17

Volume 13, Number 1 | Spring 2018is expanding towards hosting the Olympic Games in

between them. In view of this problem, we are also

Japan,

withconsidering conducting conversation techniques

backgrounds other than Japanese language willseminars that include role-play practices in the clinic

increase.

setting in the future.

thedemand

Thereisfornoacupuncturists
doubt

thatJapanese

acupuncture and moxibustion has a distinctive merit,
As an international department of the traditional

and its outstanding skill leads the world.
Many of the teachers who handle it belong to thisacupuncture and moxibustion society, we will be a

traditional acupuncture and moxibustion society.

bridgeto

spreadHowever, we feel very sorry that these facts are notacupuncture to the world even a little, and at theso known to the world yet. The fact that many of thesame time, we will strive to prepare for receiving

researches and studies conducted in Japan are notinbound visitors from foreign countries.

yet translated into English, results are not widely
recognized. We are so concerned about the situation
where the treasures are buried within Japan andnever be discovered. How unfortunate it is!
We would like to disseminate the art of Japanese
acupuncture

andmoxibustion,

including

thiswonderful techniques and EBM from the studies,from our international department. To the start,
what we are now thinking is to first publish theEnglish terminology of the traditional acupuncture
moxibustion.

Currently,

each

acupunctureorganization has various expressions in uniqueacupuncture and moxibustion practices. Although itshows the same symptoms and condition, each group
has their own phrases. For practitioners from foreigncountries, this is extremely difficult to understand.
In order to have a better understanding of Japanesetraditional acupuncture and moxibustion, we arethinking about creating an Oriental medicine
glossaryin

Englishthatsummarizes

eachexpression clearly. Receiving the inbound visitorsfrom all over the world, calls for support their stay
have been increasing also in the field of acupuncture.
Patients from foreign countries will increase inclinics in the future. Even though foreign travelers
want to receive acupuncture and moxibustion
treatment in Japan, they do not know where they
can receive treatment or are worried because of thelanguage barrier. There may be many teachers who
feel uneasy about making communication to foreign
patients. The language barrier is towering up

18

The Journal of Kampo, Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine (KAIM)

thisJapanesetraditional