.jpg)
The 16th annual conference of the Japanese Music Therapy Association was held in Sendai, Miyagi from September 16 to 18, 2016. The cumulative total number of participants was over 4,000 for three days.The pre-conference seminars offered a wide variety of topics to meet the needs and interests of participants working with different populations. There was a unique seminar titled Writing for Academic Purposes, presented by Dr. Robert Gray, who reviews English manuscripts and abstracts submitted to the Japanese Journal of Music Therapy. He provided guidance on academic writing in English, and it was fairly new as a seminar topic here. I was very glad to see a number of people attended this seminar and listened to his talk enthusiastically as well as taking notes. In the afternoon, we were supposed to attend a three-hour seminar. It was intensive but helped us learn and think about the topic deeply.It was the first conference held in the Northeast region, where the Great East Japan Earthquake struck, after the traumatic event; therefore, we also had a special event during which some professionals in related fields from the region shared what they have done to support people. By following the path they took, we re-realized how important it is to stand by the people, look from their point of view, and be creative to find a clue.Finally, as the hosting country for the 15th World Congress of Music Therapy next year, the JMTA invited Dr. Amy Clements-Cortes, the President of the World Federation of Music Therapy, as a guest speaker. More than 1,000 of people attended her lecture!! She talked about her research on clinical effects of singing in a choral group with older adults. The attendees must have learned a lot, especially from the video clips she shared with us, because many of us work in similar settings here. I was amazed that lots of people came to her and spoke in English after the lecture. We usually hesitate to speak English, so it tells how powerful her speech was – they really wanted to talk with Dr. Clements-Cortes! I am sure music therapists in Japan are now considering attending the World Congress seriously.The biggest worldwide music therapy event is getting hot here in Japan!!Kumi Sato, JapanWFMT Student Delegate for the Western Pacific
