Access Dermatology

Summary

Modern Japanese dermatology has a history of over 100 years and the Japanese Dermatological Association (JDA) is the 12th oldest national dermatological society in the world. To date, more than 30 new skin diseases have been described by Japanese dermatologists. In earlier times, most Japanese skin diseases were disorders of pigmentation and keratinization. Since the 1940s, various other important skin diseases have been described in Japan, and Japanese dermatologists have contributed to world dermatology. In this article we present the current status of Japanese dermatology and briefly review several important skin diseases, including Nevus of Ota and acquired bilateral nevus of Ota-like macules, Kimura's disease (eosinophilic lymphoid granuloma), eosinophilic pustular folliculitis (Ofuji's disease), prurigo pigmentosa (Nagashima's disease), and papuloerythroderma of Ofuji.