In a valedictory written for the January 2012 IFHE newsletter, the Federation’s President for 2010-2012, Yasushi Nagasawa, recollects that, although one of the ‘sub-themes’ of the IFHE 21st Congress in Tokyo in late 2010 had been ‘Safety and Security’, at the time he never anticipated that Japan would be struck by the devastating earthquake that hit its north-east coast in March 2011.
Expressing his ‘sincere appreciation’ for the many messages of concern from IFHE members for he, his family, and the Japanese people, he writes that, ‘currently the situation in Tokyo, as well as in Japan as a whole, is returning to a semblance of ordinary daily living’. However, a great number of people are ‘still in difficult living and working conditions in north-eastern Japan’, with the mails from overseas ‘encouraging Japan as a whole to fight against the difficulties lying before us’. He adds: “Solidarity is the word used by the Japanese people in the current situation. I hope Japan will be able to demonstrate recovery from the disasters with dignity and courage, based on its cultural heritage and background.” At the IFHE’s Executive Committee and Council meetings on 2 and 3 June, 2011 respectively in Paris, Yasushi Nagasawa said the Council had overwhelmingly accepted a proposal from General Secretary, Bernard Shapiro, to make a token donation for disaster relief in Japan, for which he personally thanked IFHE. A donation was subsequently made to the Japan Municipal Hospital Association (JMHA). On the subject of IFHE member countries, the 21st IFHE Congress had seen KIHA Korea President, Jungman Lee, and HASRB China’s Dong Yu, participate for the first time. The HASRB (The Hospital Architecture System Research Branch, Chinese Hospital Association) application for admission to IFHE national membership was provisionally approved at the Council meeting in Tokyo, and subsequently ratified at the Council meeting in Paris. In future, Yasushi Nagasawa says he hopes IFHE membership will be extended to other East Asian nations alongside BEAM Malaysia. He signs off: “I shall participate in the IFHE Executive Committee and Council meetings on 12 and 13 April 2012 respectively, and attend the IFHE 22nd Congress on board the MS Midnatsol. At the Council meeting I will take pleasure in handing over the insignia of the President’s office to Ole Rist, currently IFHE First Vice-President.”
