MESSAGE FOR THE 50TH VOLUME
Congratulations on one half centuryof publication of the Journal
Tai Akera
Vice President, Merck Research Laboratories, Rahway, NJ, USASenior Vice President, Banyu Pharmaceutical Company, Tokyo, Japan(Advisory Editor from 1988 to 2000)

shifted from the more general, such as FASEB, to thespecialized, like the Society for Neuroscience or theAmerican Heart Association. One approach to survivethese changing times is to become a tool of publication
for thesis papers. Although this would guarantee thenumber of articles to keep the necessary volume, wewould lose the interest of the general audience.
The Keio Journal of Medicine has been fortunate tohave outstanding, innovative, and dedicated editors inrecent years, namely Dr. Fujino and then Dr. Aikawa.
When Dr. Fujino became editor, the Journal struggled
for survival amidst paucity of manuscripts, delays inpublications, and lack of reader interest. With the editors' tireless efforts and innovative ideas, the Journal
has now established a strong tradition with a stable
number of manuscript submissions.
As a novice scientist, I ®rst submitted two originalarticles to the Journal in the 1960s. A few years ago, I
submitted an original article that I wished to publish
quickly. I received valuable and compassionate advice
from the editors. The experience was one of editors
working with the authors to get quality articles published in the Journal in a timely fashion. My manuscript,
originally submitted in early September, was publishedin the same year. This collaborative atmosphere of
helpful advice and speedy publication attracts authors
to publish quality work in the Journal.
The future style of scienti®c publication will likely
change. Electronic media allow rapid publication andeasy retrieval. I trust that Keio Journal of Medicine,which has developed a strong tradition, will take thenew challenge of changing journal styles and retaining
its inclusion in Index Medicus, and emerge as a leading
journal on general topics and education of the medical
society throughout the world.

All the wooden buildings of Keio University Schoolof Medicine were burned to ashes during World War II.
Only three buildings located on the west side of thecampus remained. Just seven years after the end of thewar, Dr. Yoshio Kusama started the Keio Journal ofMedicine in English as a part of brave efforts to reestablish the prestige of Keio University School of Medicine. This was by no means a modest undertaking, as
most faculties here and at other medical schools inJapan were under the in¯uence of German medicine atthe time. Very few faculties had been trained in English
speaking countries such as the United Kingdom or theUnited States. It is noteworthy that more than half ofthe ®rst authors in the ®rst volume of the Journal wereprofessors who were likely more ¯uent in German thanin English.
Keio Journal of Medicine was fortunate to have Dr.
Kusama, a graduate of Stanford University and facultyof the School of Medicine, as the ®rst editor. It musthave been daunting for Dr. Kusama to get the Journal
started, then to continue. Thanks to Dr. Kusama's
foresight, coupled with enormous efforts by editors andcontributors, and also continued support from readersand medical school administration, the Journal has now
established its unique position. The Journal is one of a
few international journals that is published by a Japanese medical school and listed in the Index Medicus.
Producing such a Journal in English is the pride of Keio
Medical School.
In recent years, as medical science has become sodiverse, maintaining a general journal such as the Keio
Journal of Medicine has become more dif®cult. Exceptfor a few very prestigious journals, like the New England Journal of Medicine, many have disappeared or
merged. Even attendance at scienti®c societies has4