I have a request to make of readers. I have been invited – with Parkinson’s advocate AC Woolnough – to conduct a round table at the upcoming 2019 World Parkinson’s Congress meeting in Kyoto. The round table is a discussion involving 10-20 people sitting around a table. Our topic will be how can we better align the efforts of researchers and patients. And this is where we would like your help. Or at least, we would like your input. Specifically, we are seeking topics for discussion at the table regarding how we can better join the goals/focus of the community on the research side of things. In today’s post, we look at what the World Parkinson’s congress is, how the round table topic came about, and what we are currently thinking regarding the structure of our roundtable session.

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Yasaka Pagoda and Sannen Zaka Street. Source: JT

It was the capital of Japan for more than one thousand years (from 794 to 1869).

It sits 315 miles southwest of Tokyo and 25 miles east of Osaka.

It was the setting of the world’s first novel in the world (Shikibu Murasaki’s The Tale of Genji).

It has over 1000 Buddhist temples (including the hugely impressive Fushimi-Inari-Taisha), and more than 2,000 temples and shrines collectively.

Fushimi-Inari-Taisha. Source: Medium

It has the oldest restaurant in Kyoto, Japan (called Honke Owariya, which was founded in 1465).

It had its own civil war – referred to as “Onin no Ran” (Onin War) – in the 15th century. The war lasted 11 years (1467-1477) and focused on two families of samurai warriors seeking power in Kyoto.

It is the home of the video game company Nintendo and Nightingale Floors:

It holds 20% of Japan’s National Treasures and 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites (including Kiyomizu-dera, Ryōan-ji, Saihō-ji, Tō-ji, and Kinkaku-ji.

It has 1.5 million residents (and 50 million tourists per year).

It consumes more bread and spends more money on coffee than any other city in Japan (I wonder why?).

It has the longest train platform in Japan (at JR Kyoto Station – 564 meters long!).

It is Kyoto.

Kinkaku-ji. Source: AWOL

And in June of this year, the World Parkinson’s congress will be held in this beautiful city.

What is the World Parkinson’s congress?

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