It is my great pleasure and honor to welcome all of you to the 23rd Japan Digestive Disease Week (JDDW) in Tokyo, held for four days from the 8th (Thu.) to the 11th (Sun.) of October, 2015. JDDW is one of the largest gastroenterological conventions in the world, draws more than 20,000 participants annually, and is organized jointly by four member societies, namely the Japanese Society of Gastroenterology (JSGE), the Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society (JGES), the Japan Society of Hepatology (JSH), and the Japanese Society of Gastroenterological Surgery (JSGS), plus the Japanese Society of Gastrointestinal Cancer Screening (JSGCS). This year, 2,962 papers will be presented: 722 for topic sessions (symposia, panel discussions and workshops) and 2,240 for electronic poster sessions. Taking advantage of the member societies involved, an Integrated Program is designed to enhance cross-talk between subspecialty societies, with six sessions focusing on the latest themes. We also have “Seminar on Medical Issues” entitled “Towards clinical research in the future - A new stage” where social issues concerning medico-pharmaceutical relationships will be discussed. Through the experts’ discussion, we hope this seminar will guide us in enhancing fairness and transparency in clinical research in line with the ethical guidelines that have been revised this year.

The Committee for Women Physicians and Researchers of Gastroenterology in Japan, one of the JDDW’s extraordinary committees, has its own program for encouraging women physicians and researchers who play an active role in the gastroenterological field. We hope that this program will help them strengthen their networks and activities.

A new “Medical Staff Program” starts this year. Medical treatment should involve not only physicians but also medical staff from different professions, including nurses, pharmacists, nutritionists, clinical laboratory technicians and radiological technologists, working as a team. This type of program has seldom been adopted in past conventional academic conferences, and we hope it will provide medical staff and doctors with exciting opportunities for promoting better patient care.

Asian Pacific Digestive Week (APDW) will be held next year jointly with JDDW, and JDDW this year is a sort of preparatory meeting for it. International Sessions will be conducted every day at the JDDW conference to provide many opportunities to liaise with representatives from foreign countries, and all the PowerPoint slides for the theme sessions will be presented in English.

We also have general “International Poster Sessions” in English. JDDW is determined to grow into an international conference where international participants, especially those from Asian nations, get together to exchange ideas on mutual concerns and promote friendship.

Finally, I would like to use this opportunity to extend my sincere gratitude to each president of this year’s member societies who took time during their busy schedules to plan the excellent programs. In particular, I would like to thank Prof. H. Takikawa who coordinated all sorts of programs as Chair of the Scientific Committee of JDDW 2015. I also want to thank the members of the program committees in each society for reviewing thousands of papers, as well as the researchers who submitted their original work. Without their input, this scientific meeting would never be successful.

We, the JDDW Directors and the staff of the JDDW secretariat, look forward to meeting you, and are confident that JDDW 2015 in Tokyo will certainly be attractive and fruitful for all the participants.

Kentaro Sugano
President, Japan Digestive Disease Week