Newsletter Volume 39, Number 4, 2024
Introduction
The hot summer of this year is drawing to a close, and I hope everyone is doing well without suffering from summer fatigue.
The hottest topic of the summer is the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, a sports festival. Cheering on athletes from all over the world as they strive to reach the top of the sporting world, you may lose track of time and find yourself up late at night. The joyous moment of winning a medal, of course, but also the sight of athletes in tears when the results are not as good as they had hoped for is a source of great inspiration.
Related to sports, another memorable event for me this summer was the 100th anniversary of Hanshin Koshien Stadium on August 1. I have been a Hanshin Tigers fan since I can remember, partly because of my family’s influence, and I have often watched baseball games at Koshien through a CRT since I was in elementary school. These were the days when there was still a lucky zone in front of the outfield stands. My earliest vivid memory is 1985, when the Tigers, with a cleanup lineup of Barth, Kakefu, and Okada, won the league championship and became the first team to win Japan’s first championship since the two-league system was introduced. Thirty-nine years have passed since then, and many great games played in professional and high school baseball remain in our memories, but it is surprising how long the history of Koshien is, considering that it is less than half of the 100-year history of Koshien.
Did you know that the year 1985 is also an important year for you, the readers of this newsletter? Yes, it is the year that the Pharmacokinetic Society of Japan was founded. The Society of Pharmacokinetics will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year, and I am sure that it will continue to develop and build an even longer history while contributing to the advancement of science and technology. I hope that you will continue to read this newsletter for many years to come as a forum for providing information and exchange within the Society of Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics. (H.T.)