Volume 12, Number 1 | Spring 2017

Conference Report
International Conference of World Federation ofAcupuncture-Moxibustion Societies (WFAS)Tokyo/Tsukuba 2016
Hiromichi Yasui
Japan Institute of TCM ResearchTheInternational

Tokyo/Tsukuba

2016

Conference
washeldofatWFAS
Tsukuba

International Congress Center on November 5 and 6,
2016. Headed by Shuji Goto as Conference President
and Shuichi Katai as Head of Vice President, and cohosted by the Japan Society of Acupuncture andMoxibustion and the Japan Traditional AcupunctureandMoxibustion

Society,

some

1,800

Keynote Lectures
In this session, Dr. Baoyan Liu, President ofWFAS, first gave a comprehensive lecture, followed
by a lecture by Dr. Tadashi Yano, titled “Formationof Japanese Acupuncture and Role in Future
Society.” Dr. Yano presented a wealth of informationthat ought to be disseminated more and more
widely, such as that acupuncture has a significant
effect in preventing the impairment of motor
activity among elderly people, and that applying
acupuncture strengthens the immune system andhelps maintain a healthy mind and body in today’s
stressful society.

guestsattended from throughout the world. Under thetheme of “The Art of Acupuncture and Moxibustion,”it spotlighted the advancements that have been
made in the field of acupuncture and moxibustion
over a period of 23 years since the conference waslast held in Japan.

Dr. Tadashi Yano

The venue was filled with an air or excitement,
and all the sessions were packed full of avid guests.

Dr. Kenji Kawakita gave a lecturethatfocusedon

howJapanese

acupuncture exerts an effect withshallow

insertion.

His

approachtoJapanese

acupunctureevaluating

impressed the audience.

Dr. Kenji Kawakita

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

scientificsuch
deeplyVolume 12, Number 1 | Spring 2017

an era of technical profusion. The joint performanceHari-Kyu Technical Sessions
These sessions were divided into seven categories,

was a showcase of remarkable demonstrations byeach featuring lectures that centered on three to four

each school of practice, and provided a glimpse of thethemes.

diverse nature of Japanese acupuncture and

1. Diverse Hari-Kyu Therapeutics from Newborn tomoxibustion.
Just as diseases differ depending on age, so do theYoung Adults
2. Dealing with Young Adults to Patients in thepractices of acupuncture and moxibustion. The
series of presentations that demonstrated this also

Mature Stage of Life
3. Coping with Mid-Life Symptoms with Hari-Kyu

spotlighted the detailed and meticulous skills of

4. Coping with Mid-Life Symptoms with Hari-Kyu

Japanese acupuncturists. For example, Dr. Satoru

5. Acupuncture Solutions for the Elderly Patients

Yamaguchi’s approach to treating headaches by

6. Hari-Kyu Exhibition: When History and Art Meet

drawing fully upon all available information, is

7. Acupuncture for Common Diseases

probably unique to Japan.

The speakers used their allotted 25 minutes tothe fullest to demonstrate their own practice or thepractice of the school of acupuncture to which theybelong. They demonstrated acupuncture on model
patients while explaining each procedure, andshowed the changes that such treatment can bringabout.
This was a groundbreaking idea. What everyone
had been seeking for long, but what no one had so far
attempted, was realized at WFAS Tokyo/Tsukuba
2016. The audience turned its undivided attention tothe joint performance by each school of practice, andDr. Satoru Yamaguchi

gave a round of applause to each technique.
These technical sessions also included a 60minute luncheon technical seminar on both days ofthe conference.
Luncheon Technical Seminar 1: Meridian Therapy
LuncheonTechnicalSeminar

2:

WisdomofJapanese Acupuncture and Moxibustion
Theoryisimportant

toacupuncture

andmoxibustion, but the technical aspect is just asimportant. Japanese acupuncture and moxibustion
blossomed in diverse ways from the late 16th century
to the mid-17th century, and thereafter developed byadopting Chinese acupuncture and moxibustion
practices that were standard at the time.
However, ongoing developments have produced
diverse acupuncture and moxibustion techniquesThis WFAS conference will no doubt go down inhistory as one where differing schools of practicecame together and put on a joint performance.
These schools included Daishi-Style Shonishin
Association, The Japanese Society of RyodourakuMedicine,

Toyo

Hari

MedicalAssociation,

Shakuju Association, Tohokai, Tokyo Kyuushin
Kenkyukai, Koshinkai—A Society for the Studies
ofAcupuncture,

Moxibustion

andMeridian,

General Incorporated Association Hokushinkai,
Nagano Method Clinical Study Society, The Japan
Society of Pediatric Acupuncture

and TheSociety for the Meridian Therapy. The conference
will furthermore mark a new starting point forJapanese acupuncture and moxibustion hereafter.

today, such that we are poised to once again welcome

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A scene from a Hari-Kyu Technical Session
A future issue lies in making sure each techniqueleads to studies based on clinical evidence. Toward
this end, it is important to present case reports tomedia that is recognized by large numbers of people.
Well-writtencasereports

outweigh

poorlyconducted RCTs. Moreover, sharing each school’s
standard treatment methods for various diseases
provide a good reference to many people. Each schoolof practice should aim to achieve universality,
instead of remaining in its own shell. In this sense
as well, the technical sessions provided a good
opportunity for all acupuncturists to think about thefuture of Japanese acupuncture and moxibustion.
Dr. Yong-Suk Kim from South Korea and Prof.
Jing-xian Han from China also participated in theProf. Jing-xian Han

Videos of the Hari-Kyu Technical Sessions, alongwith videos of other sessions, will soon be released
for sale as a DVD set by the WFAS 2016 executive
committee. It is expected to benefit front-lineacupuncturists.

technical sessions. In particular, the presentation on“San Jiao Acupuncture Method and CognitiveImpairment,” which introduced the joint study
carried out by Prof. Jing-xian Han and Prof. Akira
Hyodo in Japan and the results thereof, captured theattentionofthemedia.

Warmsupportandencouragement are extended to the two gentlemen
for their study and practice that address head-on theissue of dementia, which is claiming an increasing
number of patients both in China and Japan.
WFAS Tokyo/Tsukuba 2016・Set of 15 DVDs

4The Journal of Kampo, Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine (KAIM)

Volume 12, Number 1 | Spring 2017

Japanese Acupuncture Overseas
This session introduced Japanese acupunctureand moxibustion that are practiced around the world.
Mr. Junji Mizutani, a Canada-based acupuncturist
involved in the publication of North American
Journal of Oriental Medicine (NAJOM), introduced
the significance of the bilingual journal. Mr. Yoshihiro
Odo from Brazil outlined the history of acupuncture
and moxibustion in Brazil, and described theirsomewhat tangled status in today’s medical industry.
Mr. Haruo Yamaki from Nicaragua discussed thehistory of Japanese acupuncture in Nicaragua since
1987, with a sense of pride and confidence as one who
has played a central role in its dissemination. The
establishment of the University of Oriental
Medicine’s five-year program is particularly worthy ofmention, and high expectations are pinned on theuniversity’s graduates. Dr. Mitsuharu Tsuchiya, whoboasts 40 years of clinical experience in Portugal,
spoke about the potentials and practice of Japanese
acupuncture and moxibustion. Mr. Tadanori Takada,
who works at the National Center of Traditional
Medicine, Ministry of Health in Cambodia, discussed
the possibilities of utilizing traditional medicine in
ASEAN developing countries, and introduced cases ofacupuncture and moxibustion treatment in thecountry.
Japanese acupuncture is also widely practiced incountries in addition to those introduced in theconference. For the future of traditional medicine, it
shall become important to view Japanese
acupuncture from a comprehensive, globalperspective, and consider new styles that befit its
global status.
Public Seminar
Academic conferences generally offer a publicsession, and this conference was no exception. Twohighly interesting lectures were offered to generalvisitors under the theme of “Moxibustion can change
the World,” and introduced the practice of Japanesestyle moxibustion in Africa and Nepal.
Ms. Yuki Itaya is a California licensed
acupuncturist, lives in the U.K. She lectured on theactivities of Moxafrica, where she works as a trustee.
Surprisingly, the activities attempt to provide relief
to tuberculosis and AIDS patients in Africa, throughJapanese-stylemoxibustion.
Thatis,theorganization teaches the patients the simple methodof applying moxa to just two points—the Zu San Li
on both legs—through a doctor or nurse, so that thepatients can apply the moxa by themselves. In herlecture, she spoke fervently about how manytuberculosis and AIDs patients can be saved using
this simple method.
Ms. Minae Hata, representative of Yomogi No Kai,
is working to establish an acupuncture and anma
massage school and a moxa production factory inNepal, to export moxa from Nepal to Japan, and tospread Japanese-style acupuncture and anma
massage in Nepal. She is also aiming to spread
Nepal moxa sticks in Japan.
These two women deserve our utmost respect for
their strong will to contribute to people’s healtharound the world through moxibustion, and theirenergy and capacity to realize that goal.
Moxibustion is a treatment that was developed inChina, but Japan is today the only country thatpractices the original moxibustion method ofburning moxa directly on the skin. Based on Dr.
Shimetaro Hara’s study, Moxafrica has developed atreatment against tuberculosis and AIDs, and has
applied it to clinical practice, with remarkable
results. Numerous people have regained their healthand prolonged their life.

A photo showing a Moxafrica team applying moxa tothe Zu San Li

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Volume 12, Number 1 | Spring 2017

Ms. Yuki Itaya lecturing about Moxafrica

Hari-Kyu Scientific Session
This session was composed of two parts.
1. Pleasantness in Acupuncture Therapy
2. Treatment of Tuberculosis Using DirectMoxibustion
The first part on acupuncture focused on the roles oftactile afferents and reward system. Among thelectures, Professor Kenji Kawakita’s lecture proved tobe a highly significant one that emphasized the strong
importance of shallow insertion with soft stimulations
that are characteristic of Japanese acupuncture. The
second part on moxibustion discussed the future
potentials for implementing deeper studies and morewidescale treatment activities, in reference to the factthat studies that form the foundation of Moxafrica’sactivities, which had already been implemented in the1930s, have been revived today. In Japan, there is theexpression, “onko-chishin.” In English, it means“developing new ideas based on a study of the past, andlearning from the past.” Dr. Shimetaro Hara’s study ofmoxibustion for tuberculosis had long been forgotten,
but its revival by Mr. Merlin Young illustrated to us
that the spirit of the saying is still alive today. Mr.
Young is the founder of Moxafrica.

Oral Presentation
Tsukuba International Congress Center has
many rooms with a capacity of approximately 50people. The oral presentations were held in theserooms, each of which were filled with a lively air ofexcitement. The lectures were diverse, ranging fromacupuncture and moxibustion case reports, to anintroduction of new technologies and a rediscovery ofold technologies, as well as reports of basic researchand studies of history of medicine. There is notenough space to introduce them all, so let us
introduce an exemplary moxibustion study by Mr.
Sumikazu Nakayama, on “Direct Moxibustion forJapanese and Non-Japanese Pilgrims; Researching
Differences in Research in Reaction to the Protocol.”In his study, Mr. Nakayama applied ancient directmoxibustion, which is practiced only in Japan today,
on Japanese pilgrims and foreign visitors to Japan,
and asked them to answer a questionnaire. As aresult, the negative image of moxibustion decreased,
and a positive image increased in both groups ofpeople. The study provided useful reference forpredicting whether the direct moxibustion method,
also practiced by Moxafrica today, will spread on a
global scale hereafter.
Poster Presentation
Poster presentations, which were divided into twodays, as they were so many of them, attracted large
crowds of people on both days. Particularly
conspicuous were scenes throughout the venue,
where visitors and presenters were seen engaged inheated discussion, asking and answering questions,in front of each poster presentation.

Crowds of people at the poster session

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Volume 12, Number 1 | Spring 2017

There were also many presentations by overseas

could offer. This was perhaps the first time that thepresenters. The WFAS Tokyo/Tsukuba 2016, being

acupuncture and moxibustion community in Japanan international conference where the official

came together as one and demonstrated its

language is English, attracted many presentations

capabilities to foreign organizations and societies. In

from English-speaking countries.

this sense as well, WFAS Tokyo/Tsukuba 2016 was a

For example, the photo at right shows apresentation by Ms. Robyn Adcock from Acupuncture& Integrative Medicine College, Berkley (AIMC) in
California.
An interesting point
about her study is that she
examined the effects ofacupuncture
applying
acupuncture to medical
staff members of a hospitalin San Francisco. Because
the subjects were medical
staff
members,
they
understoodtheirown
conditions
well,andapplying
acupuncture
treatment to such people
meant that it was possible
to acquire direct feedback
from medical specialists.

truly groundbreaking event.
Other photos

Registration for the conference

Ms. Robyn Adcock fromAIMC Berkeley in California

The hospital has recognized Ms. Adcock’s study, andwill offer a grant to her group next year.
Summary of the Conference
WFAS Tokyo/Tsukuba 2016 was well planned

Exhibition hall filled with visitors

overall, and was implemented in great detail. It wasa remarkable event that illustrated how aninternational conference should be implemented.
The seven Keynote Lectures, the Hari-Kyu
Technical Sessions that included a Luncheon
Seminar,lecturesonJapanese

Acupuncture

Overseas, Hari-Kyu Scientific Sessions, 24 Oral
Presentations, 212 Poster Presentations, and 32
Student Poster Presentations, filled the entire venue.
The conference was an international conference,but taking advantage of its being held in Japan, theacupuncture and moxibustion community in Japan

Scene from the gala banquet

launched full-scale efforts to provide the best they
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Volume 12, Number 1 | Spring 2017

Impressive displays of the Hari-Kyu Museum

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