Cultivation of arterial stiffness fields in the land of the rising sun.

Arterial stiffness increases with advancing age and is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. As the number of research studies investigating arterial stiffness has increased dramatically over the recent years, their scope has broadened from physiological investigations to clinical domains focused on risk predictions. A number of key research studies were conducted in Japan in the formative years; however, some of these studies are unknown to most and largely forgotten. In this mini-review, some of these key formative research studies conducted in Japan by Japanese investigators are re-introduced and highlighted to provide appreciation for their pioneering work conducted in the land of the rising sun.