When the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) held its general assembly in Tokyo in May 1955, Dr. S. P. Ladas, Secretary General of the U.S. Group of AIPPI, came to visit Japan to preside over its Industrial Property Committee meeting. In relation to the diplomatic meetings for discussing the revision of the Paris Convention, Japan had been earnestly studying activities of AIPPI as an organization having a particularly strong influence on the Paris Convention practices and discussions on Resolutions. Dr. Ladas's visit provided the Japan Patent Office with an opportunity to obtain detailed information on AIPPI through a meeting of JPO senior officials with Dr. Ladas. 　Based upon a strong recommendation by Mr. Shoichi Inoue, then Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office, who highly appreciated internationalization of industrial property rights, and with encouragement of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, the Japan Patent Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) and the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Japanese Group of AIPPI (International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property) was inaugurated on April 27, 1956, about 60 years after the establishment of AIPPI. The Japanese Group was formally admitted into AIPPI at the AIPPI Congress held in Washington in the same year. Appointed as the first President of the Japanese Group of AIPPI was Taizo Ishizaka, then Chairman of the Keidanren. Since Ishizaka, the incumbent Chairman of the Keidanren has been serving as the President of the Japanese Group. 　The Japanese Group of AIPPI has been developing since then to become the world's largest national group as it is today, with more than 1,100 members. It is working closely with national groups, intellectual property offices and intellectual property-related organizations of major countries and carrying out a wide variety of activities to improve the intellectual property system in Japan. 　As of April 1, 1991, the Japanese Group of AIPPI was incorporated as the International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property of Japan (AIPPI JAPAN). In its Congress in June 2001, it was decided to change its name and it has become the "International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property of Japan" through the approval of the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry. 　In April 2006, AIPPI JAPAN successfully held a ceremony to celebrate its 50th anniversary The 50th Anniversary Event (April 25, 2006) Anniversary Ceremony Celebration Party 　A large amount of correspondence was found in the diplomatic reference library of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was sent from Japanese embassies to the Japanese Ministries such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Foreign Minister: Mr. Jutaro Komura) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce (Mr. Keigo Kiyoura) during the early years of AIPPI. This correspondence suggests that Japanese delegates have participated in the AIPPI Congress since the initial phase. 　(Counselor Minoru Oka of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce participated in the 7th AIPPI Congress in Liege in 1905, Examiner Kojiro Murayama of the Japanese Patent Bureau in the 8th AIPPI Congress in Stockholm in 1908, and Examiner Eiji Suguri of the Japanese Patent Bureau in the 9th AIPPI Congress in Brussels in 1910.)