Correspondence to: Y. Kawaguchi, The President of

Peritoneal Dialysis International (PDI) has invited meto review the history and status of peritoneal dialy-sis (PD) in Japan. A number of articles exploring various important issues in PD today appear in this issue of PDI. Specific characteristics of renal replacement therapy (RRT) in Japan are a large hemodialysis population, a low utilization of PD, and an extremely low rate of kid-ney transplantation. HISTORICAL REVIEW Intermittent PD was first done in Japan in 1960 using a temporary plastic catheter (Cutter Laboratory) and an imported “Maxwell ” PD solution. Therapy was initially delivered 3 days per week using 20 L of solution per day. The frequency increased to 6 days per week when auto-mated cyclers were introduced in 1966. The change was associated with better control of blood pressure and he