Personal development through research

At present, hobbies and values are becoming more diversified in Japan. Diversity also means dispersion: What does it really mean to the society? Although it appears to be a common phenomenon among advanced nations, the child population has markedly decreased, particularly in Japan, because of a declining birth rate, and the estimated average life expectancy is increasing almost every year, resulting in a significant increase in the elderly population. As a result, the demographic composition has become disproportionate, and Japan has entered a situation that will result in the total population decreasing naturally. The baby boomers born after the end of World War II made great contributions to the postwar restoration of Japan, and their mandatory retirement has had a great negative impact on the social structure and economic power of Japan. The babyboomers who supported Japan for such a long time have become the elderly; as a result, the absolute number of elderly has increased, while the population supporting the elderly has decreased. As the number of people in the economically productive age group supporting the elderly and raising children is expected gradually to decrease, there is concern that the national power of Japan itself may decline. It is a political objective and a challenge to firmly maintain the total population of at least 100 million in Japan. Economic power was also developing in the era where the population was naturally increasing without conscious effort, and Japan made it to the position of second economic superpower in the world. In those days, Japanese citizens shared almost the same values and goals, and everyone appeared to look in the same direction. People unconsciously shared a sense of sameness, a sense of unity, and a sense of mutual support; it seems that Japan was in its prime, and the sense of exaltation reached its climax during the bubble economy. After the collapse of the bubble economy a quarter century ago, we lost a great deal: we lost values that were once considered to be absolute and values are diversifying; the lifetime employment system, which contributed to stabilization of the social structure, developed cracks, and more people now change jobs than ever before; the age called the ‘‘employment ice age’’ seems to be protracted, generating many irregular employees. With the introduction into the medical profession of the postgraduate training system, the movement of young physicians in the medical field has greatly changed as well. The absolute number of physicians remaining in rural areas has decreased, which has led to reductions in medical care and medical research in the countryside. The introduction of the specialist physician system also encourages orientation toward cities. Clinical training for the specialist physician system is more highly prioritized, resulting in a decrease in the number of physicians giving importance to degrees. Many studies in clinical research departments of universities are carried out for graduate students to obtain degrees. Therefore, the capacity to transmit knowledge to the world appears to be decreasing in many universities. Furthermore, clinical orthopedic surgeons themselves conduct basic research; one could thus say that no such system exists in countries other than Japan. Basic research is an attempt by physicians themselves to solve clinical questions, fostering the ability to think things out for themselves. The process will lead to enhanced clinical skills, which will yield significant returns to those physicians. Research often generates results that lead to further S. Komiya (&) Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, 8-35-1, Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima 890-8544, Japan e-mail: [email protected]