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we need to increase the qualified SLHT workforce as well as to improve public awareness of our roles. To commemorate the day when our licence law was enacted, we designated 1 September as “Speech and Hearing Day” to promote public awareness and understanding of SLHTs and better speech, language, hearing, and swallowing. In 2012, there will be a comprehensive review of both medical and long-term care service fees, which will then set the financial foundation for the next few decades. We need to demonstrate with evidence that our services do make a difference in order to win favourable results and keep moving forward. Therefore, the next couple of years are critical for the future of our profession in Japan and for the future of our young members in their 20s and 30s, who constitute almost 80% of our association. References Honkawa, Y. (2010a). Life expectancy. In Honkawa Data Tribune , Birth rate. [Data file and comments]. Retrieved from http://www2.ttcn.ne.jp/~honkawa/1610.html Honkawa, Y. (2010b). Birth rate. In Honkawa Data Tribune. [Data file and comments]. Retrieved from http://www2.ttcn. ne.jp/~honkawa/1550.html Japanese Association of Occupational Therapists (JAOT). (2010). Occupational therapy in numbers. Retrieved from http://www.jaot.or.jp/eng/index.html#eng01 Japanese Physical Therapy Association (JPTA). (2010a). Cumulative number of individuals who have passed the physical therapy national examination. In Proceedings of the General Meeting, May 2010. Japanese Physical Therapy Association (JPTA). (2010b). Members statistics. [Data file]. Retrieved from http:// wwwsoc.nii.ac.jp/jpta/02-association/data1004.html The Kodansha Encyclopedia. (1999). Japan: Profile of a nation . (Revised ed.). Tokyo: Kodansha International. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology – Japan (MEXT). (n.d.). Special needs education. Retrieved from http://www.mext.go.jp/english/shotou/001. htm Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology – Japan (MEXT). (2008). Advancement rates. In School education I . Retrieved from http:// www.mext.go.jp/component/b_menu/other/__icsFiles/ afieldfile/2009/08/26/1283357_1.pdf Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. (2008a). Number of doctors, dentists and pharmacists. [Data file]. Retrieved from http://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/saikin/hw/ishi/08/xls/ hyo/xls Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. (2008b). Number of nurses, public health nurses, nursing aids and maternity nurses. [Data file]. Retrieved from http://www.mhlw.go.jp/ toukei/saikin/hw/eisei/08-2/dl/02.pdf Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication Statistics Bureau, Director-General for Policy Planning & Statistical Research & Training Institute. (2010). Population estimates by age. [Data file]. Retrieved from http://www.stat.go.jp/ englis/data/jinsui/tsuki/index/htm Ministry of Justice. (2010). Trend in the numbers of registered aliens by nationality. [Data file]. Retrieved from http://www.moj.go.jp/content/000049970.pdf

Dr Jun Katsuki-Nakamura is a consultant to the Speech and Language Therapy Service, Department of Rehabilitation, at Yawata Medical Center, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. Over the last 24 years while raising three children, she has worked with a range of clients with communication difficulties including adults with aphasia and children with speech and language delay. She is the president of Ishikawa Speech-Language-Hearing Therapists’ Association. She also served on the executive board of Japanese Association of Speech-Language-Hearing Therapists (JAS) from 2000 to 2005 as the director of International Liaison of the association. She chaired the 7th Japanese Congress of Speech-Language-Hearing in 2006. Professor Junichi Fukaura is the director of Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Fukuoka School of Rehabilitation, International University of Health and Welfare, and the president of Japanese Association of Speech-Language-Hearing Therapists (JAS). He entered into this field as one of the pioneer students after receiving a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. Prior to his current appointment, he worked for many years at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Saga University Medical School Hospital. His main areas of research interest include hearing impairment and voice disorder.

Correspondence to: Dr Jun Katsuki-Nakamura Department of Speech-Language Therapy Yawata Medical Center I-12-7 Yawata, Komatsu-shi Ishikawa-ken, 923-8551, Japan phone: +81 761 47 1212

fax: +81 761 47 1941 email:st@katsuki-g.com Professor Junichi Fukaura President Japanese Association of Speech-Language-Hearing Therapists (JAS) JAS National Office (Nihon Gengochoukakushi Kyoukai) 8th floor Kasumi Building 2-5-16 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0022, Japan phone: +81 3 6412 9853 fax: +81 3 6412 9854 email: kaiingai@jaslht.or.jp

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