Hand therapy is a comprehensive treatment that is performed to help people with hand injuries and illness regain a useful hand, the hand that functions in their daily lives.

Along with advances in the field of hand surgery, which evolved from hand trauma care, the field of hand therapy has been developed centering on knowledge of the anatomy and repair of the upper extremities, as well as the skills to improve upper extremity function.

While such development highlights the fact that hand therapy is specialized in the improvement of hand function, essentially, hand therapy is about rebuilding the lives of individual patients by creatively applying the knowledge and skills organized on the basis of academic research and technological innovation to patients to match their lifestyles and individuality.

This scientific and creative approach of hand therapy has been found useful not only in the treatment of hand trauma but also in the treatment of congenital anomalies of the hand, rheumatoid hand, and neuropathies associated with medical illnesses. Now, hand therapy covers various areas of treatment of hand problems, such as a treatment strategy focusing on brain function.

Moreover, the reliable knowledge and skills of hand therapy have been enhanced by accreditation programs. Academic societies around the world, including our society, have established educational programs to train hand therapists to achieve a certain level of expertise.

The Japan Hand Therapy Society (JHTS) was established in 1988 as a voluntary organization.

The origin of the JHTS dates back to the 1970s to the 1980s, when the late Professor Tatsuya Tajima, who was already an internationally renowned hand surgeon at that time and later became the first auditor of the JHTS, devoted himself with vision and passion to establishing the JHTS and to the education and training of hand therapists.

In the world at that time, the American Society of Hand Therapists was founded in 1977 after hand therapy was conceived and developed in the United States. In 1980, the first congress of the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand was held in the Netherlands. Following these movements, hand therapists were also about to move toward establishing an international organization.

Professor Tajima knew the world situation very well. Six founders came to him, laid the groundwork, and founded the JHTS.

Since then, in addition to academic activities that included the holding of scientific meetings and publishing a scientific journal, the JHTS has been dedicated to advancing the knowledge and skills of hand therapy, holding sessions to train highly qualified hand therapists, making international contributions, and sponsoring exchange activities in the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT) and the Asian Pacific Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (APFSHT). In 2009, the JHTS established the Japan Certified Hand Therapist Credentialing Program. The JHTS was granted corporate status as a general incorporated association in 2012 and has been promoting the advancement of hand therapy.