During the Meiji and Taisho periods, reports on anthropometric measurements such as weight and height existed, but few attempts were made to develop them into growth and development research. The physiological phenomenon of physical development has attracted interest from many fields, including basic medicine (e.g., anatomy and physiology) and clinical medicine (e.g., pediatrics), as well as anthropology, public health, physical education, nutrition, dentistry, and clothing science. Growth and development research in anthropology is particularly distinctive for its focus on numerous anthropological measurements. After WWII, Prof. Tsunetaro Fujita, an anatomist, recognized the need for long-term follow-up studies examining growth and development through time series analysis of anthropometric measurements (longitudinal study). As a dental researcher, he recognized the importance of long-term observation of individuals from his research on tooth eruption. He could apply this experience to growth research and put the necessity for long-term observation of individuals into practice. He initiated this study (1949). Around the same time, Prof. Akiyoshi Suda, an anthropologist, began a long-term follow-up study at the Elizabeth Saunders Home in Oiso, Kanagawa Prefecture. Many of his students participated in this research, and many anthropologists were nurtured through this research. The purpose of Fujita’s long-term follow-up study of growth was to explore “the true nature of growth” and “growth individuality.” Through this research, he formed an interdisciplinary organization, The “Hatsuiku-Shudan Kai,” with growth and development researchers from various fields, and developed its activities. This spirit was carried on by the successors of the Anthropological Society, who established the “Auxology Study Group.” Researchers in the group developed their research while also being influenced by researchers from overseas, but activities gradually stagnated, and members began to work in other societies.