Fireside Conferences
In 1965 I went to Tokyo for my first World Congress of Otolaryngology. It was a big adventure. I flew from Campinas to Lima, then to Los Angeles, on a Varig Boeing 707; spent a night on a hotel near the LA airport, then flew from LA to Tokyo in a Japan Air Lines DC-8, with stops on Honolulu and Wake Island. I remember leaving LA at 10:00 AM and arriving in Tokyo at 5:00 PM of the following day.
It took me three days to be able to sleep. A 12-hour jet leg is difficult to overcome, even though I was young.
The Meeting, however, was excellent, and very well organized.
There was a small group of Brazilians attending the Meeting. One of them was a Nissei – a first generation Brazilian born Japanese. His name was Miiko Imamura. On the first day of the Meeting he took me and some other Brazilians for a quick lunch in a small restaurant close to the Convention Center. He talked to the waiter in fluent Japanese and the waiter took us to a nice table and brought menus for all of us. Our menus were in English; Miiko’s was in Japanese. The problem was that he could not read! Like so many Brazilian-born Japanese, he could speak the language, but could not read or write.
One of the major social events of the Congress was Japan’s First Minister’s reception for the foreign guests. It was given at the Imperial Hotel and I had the chance to see the hotel that had been built by the famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
The first Imperial Hotel was first built in 1890 and burned down in 1919. Frank Lloyd Wright was then invited to build a new hotel. It is told that he spent a lot of time studying the soil, and also spent a lot of time designing and building its foundations, that included seismic separation joints, located every 20 m along the building. The building was completed in 1923 and soon afterwards there was a huge earthquake (magnitude 8.3) that destroyed the whole city, including the Emperor’s palace – but the Imperial Hotel was practically unaffected. Baron Kihachiro Okura, the hotel’s owner, sent Frank Lloyd Wright a telegram saying: “Hotel stands undamaged as a monument of your genius...”
If you go to Tokyo today you can easily find the Imperial Hotel. You can even stay there. It is in the same place. But it is not Wright’s construction; that was demolished in 1968 and replaced by a more modern building.
On another evening there was a beautiful reception on the garden of the New Otani Hotel. There were many small tents, some serving saké in small wooden boxes, beer or Japanese whisky, others serving different types of Japanese food. One of the Brazilians attending the conference was the late Luiz Piza Neto; his wife Lucy saw a particularly long line to reach one of the tents. “This must be very good,” she said to herself. She joined the line and received something very small on a skewer. She did not like the taste of it. But she wanted to know what it was and asked the Japanese lady behind her in the line. It as a new-born mouse with honey, a real delicacy served only in the best parties!
One of the interesting scientific sessions of the Congress was called “Fireside Conferences.” I have not seen this arrangement in other meetings, and I enjoyed it very much.
This was a very large room, with a beautiful fireplace. There were many round tables, and lots of chairs around each one. Each table had a post with a scientific topic and one chairman. We could choose our favorite topic and seat at the corresponding table. Everybody could ask questions and make comments.
The picture that you see here is of the Otosclerosis table. Dr. Howard House was the chairman. You cannot see him in the picture. But you can see Prof. Rudolf Lang (a dear friend that died very young) and I participating in the discussion. I added a (1) over Rudolf and a (2) over me. Maybe you will not recognize our 1965 faces.
On the last day of the Congress Dr. Howard House made comments on stapedectomy, at that time a very important scientific topic. I added some comments on the different types of prostheses that were being used. There are still several types of prostheses employed to replace the stapes, but at that time there were more.
After Tokyo, Rudolf Lang and I went to Hong Kong. But that is another story.
It took me three days to be able to sleep. A 12-hour jet leg is difficult to overcome, even though I was young.
The Meeting, however, was excellent, and very well organized.
There was a small group of Brazilians attending the Meeting. One of them was a Nissei – a first generation Brazilian born Japanese. His name was Miiko Imamura. On the first day of the Meeting he took me and some other Brazilians for a quick lunch in a small restaurant close to the Convention Center. He talked to the waiter in fluent Japanese and the waiter took us to a nice table and brought menus for all of us. Our menus were in English; Miiko’s was in Japanese. The problem was that he could not read! Like so many Brazilian-born Japanese, he could speak the language, but could not read or write.
One of the major social events of the Congress was Japan’s First Minister’s reception for the foreign guests. It was given at the Imperial Hotel and I had the chance to see the hotel that had been built by the famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
The first Imperial Hotel was first built in 1890 and burned down in 1919. Frank Lloyd Wright was then invited to build a new hotel. It is told that he spent a lot of time studying the soil, and also spent a lot of time designing and building its foundations, that included seismic separation joints, located every 20 m along the building. The building was completed in 1923 and soon afterwards there was a huge earthquake (magnitude 8.3) that destroyed the whole city, including the Emperor’s palace – but the Imperial Hotel was practically unaffected. Baron Kihachiro Okura, the hotel’s owner, sent Frank Lloyd Wright a telegram saying: “Hotel stands undamaged as a monument of your genius...”
If you go to Tokyo today you can easily find the Imperial Hotel. You can even stay there. It is in the same place. But it is not Wright’s construction; that was demolished in 1968 and replaced by a more modern building.
On another evening there was a beautiful reception on the garden of the New Otani Hotel. There were many small tents, some serving saké in small wooden boxes, beer or Japanese whisky, others serving different types of Japanese food. One of the Brazilians attending the conference was the late Luiz Piza Neto; his wife Lucy saw a particularly long line to reach one of the tents. “This must be very good,” she said to herself. She joined the line and received something very small on a skewer. She did not like the taste of it. But she wanted to know what it was and asked the Japanese lady behind her in the line. It as a new-born mouse with honey, a real delicacy served only in the best parties!
One of the interesting scientific sessions of the Congress was called “Fireside Conferences.” I have not seen this arrangement in other meetings, and I enjoyed it very much.
This was a very large room, with a beautiful fireplace. There were many round tables, and lots of chairs around each one. Each table had a post with a scientific topic and one chairman. We could choose our favorite topic and seat at the corresponding table. Everybody could ask questions and make comments.
The picture that you see here is of the Otosclerosis table. Dr. Howard House was the chairman. You cannot see him in the picture. But you can see Prof. Rudolf Lang (a dear friend that died very young) and I participating in the discussion. I added a (1) over Rudolf and a (2) over me. Maybe you will not recognize our 1965 faces.
On the last day of the Congress Dr. Howard House made comments on stapedectomy, at that time a very important scientific topic. I added some comments on the different types of prostheses that were being used. There are still several types of prostheses employed to replace the stapes, but at that time there were more.
After Tokyo, Rudolf Lang and I went to Hong Kong. But that is another story.
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