It was eleven years ago that I assumed the professorship of my department, at the age of 44. It took me a whole year to establish a departmental system, with Associate Professor Daisuke Sawamura, Assistant Professor Masashi Akiyama and Assistant Professor Tadamichi Shimizu as the central staff. We set lofty goals, and thanks to the efforts of all the department members, we were able to smoothly achieve them. Each member posted a record of individual achievements. Although I thought I was leading the department, at a certain moment I found that it was really the opposite: In managing the department, I found I had been supported by all its members in so many ways. After some years, Dr. Sawamura moved on to Hirosaki University and Dr. Tadamichi Shimizu to Toyama University; finally last year, Dr. Akiyama moved on to Nagoya University. They all went on to become dermatology department professors. The associate professor and assistant professors who were with me at the start had all left.

The department now has a new group of core members: Associate Professor Abe, Assistant Professor Aoyagi and Assistant Professor Nishie, whose average age is about ten years younger than the former trio’s. We have returned to the starting point in a game of sugoroku backgammon, so to speak. A big difference between the department staff of today and that of eleven years ago is that most of the younger staff– one assistant professor and four instructors – are up-and-coming members who joined the department during the past 11 years.

Last year I had the opportunity to take a step back from my daily routine and rethink my long-term view of managing the department. I concluded that now is the time of “And Then There Were None,” a new opportunity to make a fresh start, to write the second chapter of “Shimizu’s Dermatology.” I have resolved that, together with the new staff, I will make efforts to realize new goals that are even more ambitious than the previous ones. The basic, consistent policy of the department is to provide outstanding scientific education to its young members so that they will be able to excel as successful dermatologists in their desired positions – for example, as university professors or as division directors at regional core hospitals. I wish to keep the department as a place where every member is able to realize 120% of his or her potential. I hope the department is always filled with the cheerful laughter of happy and healthy members. I would like to ask you all, this year, to continue the support you have extended to the department. Please look forward to the start of the second chapter of “Shimizu’s Dermatology at Hokkaido University”.