The 8th International Shiatsu Conference was held at the Hotel Ambassador in Madrid, Spain, with about 200 people participating from many countries in Europe, Japan, as well as the U.S..
At 2:00 p.m., after Io sensei made a declaration of the opening of the conference, Garabal sensei, the chairperson of the Centro de Shiatsu in Spain, delivered a message of welcome. Denis Binks sensei, the president of the Nippon-Netherlands Shiatsu School, Rudy Palombini sensei, the president of the Scuola Italiana Shiatsu in Italy and Gerhard Birkner, the director of the Shiatsu center in West Germany reported on the current condition of Shiatsu in their countries. Thus ended the first section of the conference.
At the beginning of the second section of the conference, the movie "Shiatsu: the heart (essence) and techniques" was screened in front of about 200 interested parties who swarmed the hall. Following a speech on "Self Shiatsu" by Toru Namikoshi, a demonstration of Shiatsu in a sitting position was performed to the Spanish participants in a joyful atmosphere.
Over 100 people who attended the reception party that night were convinced of the tremendous success of the conference.