Dear Friends and Colleagues,
It is with great pleasure that we invite you to attend the 12th World Congress of Veterinary Anaesthesiology (WCVA 2015) to be held at the Kyoto International Convention Center (ICC Kyoto), from 1st to 4th September 2015. Hanaoka Seishu (1760-1853) was a Japanese surgeon of the Edo period with knowledge of both Chinese herbal medicine and Western surgical techniques. Hanaoka was the first surgeon in the world to use general anaesthesia in surgery. However, the national isolation policy of the Tokugawa shogunate government prevented Hanaoka’s achievements from being publicized until after the isolation ended in 1854. It seems appropriate to hold WCVA 2015 in Japan, the country that pioneered general anaesthesia. Kyoto is the most popular must-see tourist destination in Japan. It embodies 1,200 years of Japanese history and tradition that includes 17 UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Sites. WCVA 2015 will take place in the ICC Kyoto – made world- famous in 1997 with the signing of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change. A wide range of accommodation provides for each need and even the cheaper accommodation is spotlessly clean with excellent facilities. Train, coach and hotel shuttle taxi offer plentiful transport options from the closest gateway, Kansai International Airport. Transit flights from Tokyo Narita Airport to Osaka Itami Airport are also a convenient way to arrive in Kyoto. Once here, Kyoto city transport is a convenient integrated network of buses, trains and underground. We look forward to welcoming you in Kyoto in September 2015. Organizing committee of WCVA 2105 in KYOTO/JAPAN
Kazuto YAMASH*TA, Ryohei NISHIMURA, Ayako IMAI, Tadashi SANO
