JOIA History

The Japan Ophthalmic Instruments Association (JOIA) consists of a variety of member companies, such as ophthalmic instrument manufacturers, sales distributors, and import firms from all over Japan. JOIA runs the 0phthalmic Instruments Exhibitions at the request of ophthalmology societies in Japan, such as the Japanese Ophthalmological Society (JOS) and the other Ophthalmological Society

 JOIA is also affiliated with the Japan Federation of Medical Devices Associations (JFMDA) and the Japan Fair Trade Council of the Medical Devices Industry (JFTC), and is working to strengthen links with related groups by conveying notifications from government bodies such as the MHLW, giving opinions and so on. The association currently has over 130 member companies, including supporting members.

The details of the association’s history are unclear, but it is thought to have a long history of over 80 years.
Looking back over the history of ophthalmic instrument exhibitions, it seems that 0pthalmic instruments were displayed at exhibitions such as national industrial exhibitions held in 1890 and 1894, at the Joint Medical Exhibition in 1909, and at the 13th General Japanese Ophthalmology meeting (present the Japanese Ophthalmological Society) also held in 1909.

A medical instrument companies in Hongo, Tokyo were given permission to exhibits its products in the venue corridors when the regular meetings of Tokyo Ophthalmology meeting were held. The number of exhibitors who also helped with the meeting slowly grew, and it is thought that these companies gradually formed an association organization.

The Annual Congress of Japan Clinical Ophthalmology started in 1947 (the Kanto Ophthalmological meeting from 1947 to 1949, the Congress of Clinical Ophthalmology from 1950 to 1961, and the Annual Congress of Japan Clinical Ophthalmology from 1962 to the present day), and for a long time the main work of the association has been organizing the joint exhibitions at the JOS in spring and the Annual Congress of Japan Clinical Ophthalmology in fall.

At the time the association was called the “Tokyo Ophthalmology Exhibition Association,” but when the 17th Annual Congress of Japan Clinical Ophthalmology was held at the Jikei University School of Medicine in 1963, interested companies gathered, including some from the Kansai area, and upon discussing the name decided to change it to the “Japan Ophthalmology Exhibition Association.”

After this, one significant event for the association happened over May 14-20, 1978, when the World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC) was held at the Kyoto International Conference Center. An exhibition committee was formed, and the director of the association managed the congress as a committee member. At this time, as recommended by Dr. Kozaki (secretariat of the exhibition in WOC1978 Kyoto) the name of the association was changed so it would work on an international stage, and it became known as the “Japan Ophthalmic Instruments Association.” At a board meeting held during the Japanese Ophthalmological Society Meeting in Osaka in April 2006, the official year in which the association was established was discussed, and was designated to be 1978, the year the name was changed.

With a view to further optimizing ophthalmological meetings and joint instrument exhibitions, an agreement between JOS and JOIA has led to the association being involved in the main JOS meetings and Annual Congress of Japan Clinical Ophthalmology since 2000.