Although the Japanese Society of Health and Medical Sociology is relatively small, with just over 700 members, it is one of the oldest societies in Japan, covering the interdisciplinary fields of health, medical welfare, and social science.
Another feature of the forum is that in addition to academic presentations by researchers, it also features a program called Round Table Discussion, where people living with mental and physical illnesses or social challenges take the stage to discuss solutions together with researchers.
The 51st Congress (annual academic conference) was held under the theme "Health and Medical Sociology in Motion: Exploring Borders."
Perhaps due to the theme, there were more foreign and international participants than ever before, and more than twice as many applications for Round Table Discussions as usual, making it a harmonious conference that literally transcended borders and academic fields.

This conference was held at the Sakamoto Campus of Nagasaki University, which is home to a museum that stores valuable materials related to the history of modern and contemporary medicine, as well as the remains of the atomic bombing. As a result, the campus itself was introduced to participants as a tourist resource.
We distributed a picture map of the campus highlights to all participants, and many of them visited the site during breaks in their academic conferences. On the second day, our students organized a campus tour and acted as guides, much to the delight of the participants.
We also asked the students from Junya Yamaguchi's seminar at Nagasaki University's Faculty of Economics to set up an exhibit at the venue, selling items with a Nagasaki motif. The Yamaguchi seminar deals in items from the Type B workshop for continued employment support, and this type of student activity was well received by the conference participants who are interested in health, medical care, and welfare. Making effective use of the various resources on campus, even without spending money, may be one key to making the conference a success.
 

Nagasaki City is well known worldwide as a tourist city, and many participants wanted to do some sightseeing after attending the conference. As the conference was tightly scheduled over two days, some participants were unable to find time to sightsee. For this reason, we worked with the Nagasaki University Co-op to sell goods at the venue, including souvenirs such as Nagasaki castella cakes, and books about Nagasaki.
In addition, bento boxes filled with Nagasaki's local dishes such as champon and hatoshi were well received by participants who did not have time to go out to eat champon (however, I think it is necessary to decide in advance what to do with any unsold bento boxes in order to prevent food waste).
Many of the participants said, "This was my first time in Nagasaki, but I realized there was a lot to see even just from the campus tour. I'll come back and take my time next time." It seems important to run the event in a way that creates opportunities for people to visit Nagasaki again and again.