From September 27th (Friday) to 29th (Sunday), 2024, the 37th International Council of Medical Acupuncture and Related Techniques (ICMART) World Congress on Medical Acupuncture was held on Jeju Island, South Korea. The congress showcased groundbreaking research in a wide array of foundational and clinical fields related to medical practices centered on acupuncture, with vibrant discussions taking place. Additionally, academic exchanges between Japan and South Korea were conducted, including a joint session organized by the Korean Acupuncture and Moxibustion Medicine Society and the Japan Society of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, which featured a symposium on "Facial Nerve Paralysis". The variety of research presentations from around the world was particularly stimulating. Notably, the follow-up report on a study published in "Nature" concerning electroacupuncture at the ST36 point and its anti-inflammatory effects, as well as a neuroimaging study evaluating changes in neural metabolites in the anterior cingulate cortex of patients with anxiety disorders following electroacupuncture stimulation, were especially impressive. This article reports on the memorable presentations and key topics from the 37th ICMART World Congress on Medical Acupuncture.

From September 27 to 29, 2024, I presented my research on electroacupuncture at the ICMART 2024 World Congress on Medical Acupuncture, held in Jeju City, South Korea. ICMART, an organization primarily involving countries from Europe and the Americas, hosted this congress in Asia for the first time. Under the theme "Future of Integrative Healthcare," the event highlighted the convergence of acupuncture and modern medical techniques. While much of the research presented focused on clinical efficacy, relatively few studies took a physiological approach, indicating the need for more diverse methodologies and the inclusion of objective assessments in acupuncture research. For Japan to achieve greater international recognition in this field, it is essential to look beyond immediate outcomes and develop frameworks that cultivate the next generation of researchers. Lowering the barriers for acupuncturists to participate in both clinical practice and scientific research will be a key factor in this process. Examples from other countries presented during the conference underscored the value of strong collaboration between practitioners and academics, providing valuable insights for Japan's integrative medicine landscape. Ultimately, the congress demonstrated that integrating various disciplines-from physiology to clinical application-can enhance the credibility of acupuncture research. By adopting such interdisciplinary approaches and learning from global initiatives, Japan's acupuncture community can expand its international presence and contribute to advancing the field of integrative healthcare.

The 37th ICMART World Congress on Medical Acupuncture (ICMART) was held on Jeju Island, South Korea, from September 27 to 29, 2024. The theme of the congress was "Future of Integrative Healthcare, Convergence of Acupuncture, Medical Science, and Technology," and the event was organized by the Society of Korean Medicine (SKOM), which officially became a member of ICMART in 2019. During the ICMART General Assembly on September 28, 2024, the formal membership of our society was officially approved. This article provides an overview of the process leading to our society's membership in ICMART, and the proceedings of the ICMART General Assembly. It also summarizes the ICMART 2024 Congress and highlights a joint session between our society and the Korean Acupuncture & Moxibustion Medicine Society (KAMMS) focusing on facial nerve paralysis.

The Annual Meeting of the World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies (WFAS) was held in London, UK, from October 11 to 13, 2024. The conference, themed "Acupuncture Research and Clinical Applications," brought together experts from around the world to discuss advancements in basic and clinical research related to acupuncture and moxibustion treatment. Additionally, the WFAS Executive Committee presented the 2024 activity report and key plans for 2025, while deliberating on new proposals. Furthermore, the academic conference featured keynote speeches, oral presentation, and poster presentations that exhibited research findings demonstrating the potential applications of acupuncture in various medical conditions. This report provides an overview of the　10th Executive Committee Meeting and the academic conference highlights.

Acupuncture and moxibustion (AM) is increasingly recommended in various clinical practice guidelines published in Japan. AM has pharmacological-like effects with fewer adverse events, and it can relieve various symptoms, including persistent physical symptoms (PPS) or symptoms with a clear cause that are difficult to treat with medications. In addition, AM may overcome the limitations of Kampo medicine by reproducing the effects of some Kampo drugs or reducing the severity of the clinical feature (termed "Sho"). AM has a strong focus on narrative medicine, including recording a patient's life history or conducting a physical exam (e.g., of tongue, pulse, facial color, or acupoints), which can detect pathological signs in PPS patients with no abnormal blood or imaging testing findings. This is important for certain diagnoses and treatments with AM. Moreover, although 80% of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients have been well controlled since the emergence of biologics, some RA patients continue their symptoms despite reducing inflammation. AM has the potential to help these patients through lifestyle changes, such as improved sleep or smoking cessation. Further research on the integration of AM into general medical care, or its application for early-phase chronic pain, is required.

Following the Japan-Korea Symposium at the 37th ICMART World Congress in Jeju, Korea, September 27-29, 2024, another international symposium was held in Daegu on November 17, 2024, by three countries, including not only Japan and Korea but also the Chinese Medical Association of Acupuncture in Taiwan. In addition, a Korean domestic symposium was held by three societies under the Society of Korean Medicine.　Korea has been actively inviting such international symposiums in recent years, and international exchanges in the field of acupuncture and moxibustion has been progressing further than ever before. Academia of traditional medicine in Japan needs to respond actively to this trend, including human resource development.

Currently, it is difficult to say that young acupuncturists and athletic trainers (ATs) in Japan are advancing smoothly in their clinical practice, fieldwork, and research activities. This symposium aims to report on the current state and challenges faced by these professionals, along with discussing possible solutions for improvement. Kawaguchi introduced the implementation of the Acute: Chronic Workload Ratio for managing training loads in a university American football team, highlighting that maintaining player loads within the "Sweet Spot" could enhance injury prevention. However, he pointed out that insufficient data from players posed a significant challenge to data collection and consistent monitoring. Murakoshi presented on the sports acupuncture support project at Niigata University of Health and Welfare, which establishes a treatment framework for student-athletes, but noted that a lack of understanding among coaches has hindered widespread adoption. Saito discussed condition monitoring in Japan's national hockey team, emphasizing the utility of sleep data and self-reported fatigue in player health management, while stressing that communication with athletes is as crucial as data collection. Hosoi, drawing on his experience in sports settings, underscored the need to improve the status and treatment of acupuncturists due to the shortage of evidence-based approaches, and highlighted the disparity in treatment between Japan and overseas, advocating for an elevated status for acupuncturists in sports environments. Additionally, he presented various sports field activities, particularly focusing on Japan's national soccer team (SAMURAI BLUE), to illustrate the high demand for acupuncturists and ATs. Tamai described his research on salivary biomarkers for fatigue assessment, suggesting the potential of viral nucleic acids as new indicators in the face of limitations in conventional fatigue assessment methods. These five reports emphasized the importance of training load management and acupuncture care in sports settings, underscoring the need for establishing evidence, introducing scientific methods for fatigue evaluation, and implementing reforms to improve the status and working conditions of these professionals.

In 2022, Japan College Association of Oriental Medicine established a committee to study electronic teaching materials, and a new edition of "Clinical Theory of Oriental Medicine" was published at the same time. 　Due in part to the promotion of ICT （Information and Communication Technology） education, which accelerated after the time of COVID-19th, not only electronic textbooks have been created, but also video teaching materials for the Introduction to Meridians and Acupuncture and Manual Examination have been conducted.　In school education, textbooks are tools to convey past experience and accumulated evidence to beginning students, and are considered to be a guide to becoming an acupuncture and moxibustion practitioner. 　Therefore, it is necessary to consider standardized education. While attempting to create videos of meridians and acupuncture points, it became clear that there were differences among teachers in the way they touched the body surface indicators and explained them. Oriental medicine, as a traditional medicine, is based on the classics, but any discrepancy between the classics and modern medicine's EBM needs to be corrected. while ICT education and EBM are attracting attention, the decline in students' basic academic skills is also becoming an issue. Introduction to Oriental medicine and meridians and acupuncture points, which form the basis of acupuncture and moxibustion treatment, are composed of ideas and difficult technical terms that students have not been exposed to in their daily lives, so understanding and memorizing them is necessary. If this is taken as mere memorization, it may lead to a sense of dislike for the course. 　Under these circumstances, the educational field is searching for ways to educate the next generation. In this session, he explained the proper education of traditional medicine based on the classics under the theme of how to pass on Oriental medicine to the next generation of acupuncture and moxibustion practitioners. Next, he explained the current state of progress and issues in ICT education centered on meridians and acupuncture. Finally, he explained the teaching strategy of "oriental medicine that students can think and practice on their own" while enjoying learning without feeling that they are not good at it. 　It was considered necessary to examine educational content from the three perspectives of classics (past), electronic materials (future), and class development (present) in order to respond to the diversity of oriental medicine education.

On 26 May 2024, the Panel Discussion 2 " Cooperation between medical doctors and acupuncturists: With a view to future medical care " was held at the 73rd Annual Meeting of the Japan Society of Acupuncture and Moxibustion was held in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. Three panelists presented the attempts of cooperation between medical doctors and acupuncturists at medical institutions and medical field in Japan, including the fact that acupuncture and moxibustion have been successful in improving and alleviating patients' illnesses and symptoms in psychiatry, general internal medicine and palliative medicine, contributing to shorter hospital stays for patients, and the challenges for cooperation between medical doctors and acupuncturists at medical institutions and medical field in Japan. A designated speaker also presented on the development of highly specialized acupuncturists at the Japan Society of Acupuncture and Moxibustion to establish cooperation between medical doctors and acupuncturists, among others. Finally, we discussed issues and future prospects for cooperation between medical doctors and acupuncturists at medical institutions and medical field in Japan, with a view to future medical care where acupuncture and moxibustion will be utilized. One of the challenges in improving the utilization rate of acupuncture and moxibustion in Japan is the cooperation between medical doctors and acupuncturists at medical institutions and medical field. This report summarizes the contents of this panel discussion.

Case reports are studies that document the detailed progression of a single case, representing the most accessible research style for clinicians. Even a single case can provide insights that may hint at directions for future research and clinical practice, and enhancing the quality of case reports can strengthen the scientific foundation of acupuncture. Therefore, it is advisable for acupuncturists to actively pursue case reporting based on their daily clinical experiences. However, to make case reports meaningful, they must be correctly "evaluated." Evaluation in acupuncture practice is broadly divided into assessment of the condition and the outcomes of treatment. The assessment of the condition involves understanding the patient's current state through consultation and physical examination, while outcome evaluation assesses changes in the patient following treatment. Here, "evaluation" refers to the latter-observing changes in patient outcomes. We discussed how patient outcomes are assessed in daily practice, how these assessments are utilized, and how they can lead to presentations at academic conferences, aiming to help with those who are one step away from making such conference presentations.