The 26th Japan Digestive Disease Week (JDDW 2018) will be held for four days from November 1 (Thursday) to 4 (Sunday) in Kobe. Starting from this year, we have asked four Meeting and Congress presidents from JDDW’s Official Member Societies to hold the Public Lectures in their hometowns prior to JDDW 2018. Following four cities will be the venues for the Public Lectures; Matsue City (Meeting President Yoshikazu Kinoshita of the 60th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Gastroenterology), Ichinomiya City (Congress President Kazuo Inui of the 96th Congress of the Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society), Fujiyoshida City (Meeting President Nobuyuki Enomoto of the 22nd General Meeting of the Japan Society of Hepatology), and Tokyo (Meeting President Masakazu Yamamoto of the 16th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Gastroenterological Surgery). I hope this will serve as opportunities for the citizens to catch a glimpse of remarkable advances in gastroenterology, which will eventually help them improve their health and cope with illness properly.

JDDW 2018 programs consistently keep the traditional framework; scientific programs run for the first three days and the Educational Lectures will be held on the last day on Sunday. This year, a symposium will be held to mark the 50th anniversary for the Japanese Society of Gastroenterological Surgery (JSGS). Moreover, I am delighted to share with you that the joint program with Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT) and Asian Pacific Society for Digestive Surgery (APSDS) will take place for the first time this year. The International Session, which has been promoted by JDDW, will offer state-of-the art lectures by the world’s leading experts. This year, we start the Young Investigator Award for young doctors who submit outstanding papers to show appreciation for their efforts in conducting excellent researches despite the stricter research ethical rules. While the Integrated Program has provided chances so far to have diversified discussions from both internal and surgical points of view, opinions collected from the audience will be reflected by implementing an analyzing system using audience’s own mobile phones this year. In addition, to further expand the scope of this program, we adopted hot topics on gut commensal microbiota, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and imaging in gastroenterology. As for the Medical Staff Program, the focus will be on the aged-care treatment and the promotion of team-based approach in gastroenterological care. We are expecting many more participation from medical staff as a reasonable registration fee has been applied to them since last year so that they would be able to attend the whole JDDW sessions. The Seminar on Medical Issues will discuss problems surrounding subspecialties in the new medical board system, in which many of our participants have great interests. In the JDDW Program for Women in Gastroenterological Field, which is added as one of JDDW-led sessions this year, attention will be paid to career support for female doctors and researchers in gastroenterological field. In the Educational Lectures held on the last day, we will provide the syllabus with fruitful contents this year for free. This time, an interactive platform will be adopted where the audience not only listen to the lectures but also answer questions by using the analyzing system on their own mobile phones during the session. A question on important points from the lecture will be set by each Lecturer in order for the audience to deepen their understanding. We assume you will find it stimulating.

Lastly, I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to the congress/meeting presidents from JDDW’s Official Member Societies and the Member Society (Meeting President Yoko Saito of the 56th General Meeting of the Japanese Society of Gastrointestinal Cancer Screening) along with the members of each society’s Program Committee for their efforts and hard work to make cutting-edge programs. We, the staff of the JDDW organization and JDDW 2018 Secretariat managed by Congress Corporation, are committed to make JDDW 2018 successful. We look forward to seeing everyone again at JDDW 2018 in Kobe.

Kentaro Sugano
President, Japan Digestive Disease Week