Born in 1951, I received M.D. degree from Tohoku University School of Medicine, Japan in March 1975. From 1975 to 76, I joined in a health survey of Japanese immigrants in Bolivia and Argentina. I continued my study on maternal & child health, and received Ph.D. degree from Tohoku University in 1979. From 1979, I studied physical anthropology at University of Texas at Austin, USA, and received M.A. degree in 1981. From same year, I started to work at Nagasaki University Medical School, Japan. From 1991 to 92, I did health communication research at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,USA. Since 1997, I am joining to the faculty of Fukuoka University Medical School as a professor.
Outside of the university, I am serving as a board member of JSHEP (Japanese Society of Health Education and Promotion.) I also worked as a committee member of Healthy Japan 21, the first comprehensive and evidence-based national health-promotion plan starting from 2000. As a chief discussant, I drew up the section of collaboration and networking. During 2001-2007, I worked as a board of trustees member of IUHPE, and also worked as the regional director of NPWP since 2003.
Sharing and learning of health-related realities is essential to develop tight partnership regarding health promotion and education in this region (NPWP; northern part of the western pacific.) However, lots of barriers (such as geographic location, language, culture, etc.) prevent us from doing it. The second NPWP conference held in June 2006 in Tokyo inviting Dr. Mittelmark (IUHPE president) was a corner stone to start discovering our uniqueness toward meaningful collaboration. As a professor of public health atFukuoka University, one of the most southern universities in Japan that has the best access to other Asian countries, I have been doing research and education regarding collaborative learning and sharing of health related values. From 2005, Dr. Nam Eun Woo and myself started academic exchange meeting of Japan (JSHEP) and Korea (KSHEP; Korean Society for Health Education and Promotion), and this exchange is ongoing steadily. Diversities in this region should not be considered as obstacles but rather as potential resources for the region to learn and grow.
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