The 36th Annual Scientific Meeting of The Japan Medical Society of Paraplegia was held on November 7–9, 2001, in Fukuoka City, Japan. The Society has 1361 members, and about 320 of these attended the meeting. The invited lecture was given by Mr El-Masry: ‘Total care of the spinal cord injuries: A spinal specialist's point of view’. In addition, there were two educational lectures, three symposia, five mini-lectures, luncheon seminars and 110 scientific papers were presented.

The name of the society has been changed from the Japan Medical Society of Paraplegia to the Japan Medical Society of Spinal Cord Lesion. The Society has inaugurated a Spinal Cord Prize which is open to members of the Society. Membership includes specialists in orthopaedic surgery, urology, rehabilitation medicine and neurosurgery amongst others.

The next Annual Scientific Meeting of the Japan Medical Society of Spinal Cord Lesion will be held on the 7th, 8th, 9th November 2002 in Wakayama, Japan, and will include invited lectures from Professor Wise Young (USA) and Professor Michael Craggs (UK). The home page for the meeting is: http://www.square.umin.ac.jp/spcord37