I am Toru Itoh of Department of Gastroenterological Endoscopy at Kanazawa Medical University. I have been appointed president of the 94th Congress of the Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society (JGES), which will be held during the 25th Japan Digestive Disease Week (JDDW) from 12 to 15 October, 2017. I am honored to be given this opportunity to organize the JGES Congress, which has a long standing history and prestige. At the same time, I feel great responsibility presiding over this event. The Program Committee members have already been selected, following the advice of JGES President Prof. Hisao Tajiri and the Directors and Board Members of the Society. I have also asked the JGES Directors and Councilors to fill in a questionnaire about the Theme Sessions, and the programs have almost been decided. The main theme for the Theme Sessions is “Banri-Ikkuu” (a Japanese idiom meaning “to persist in working without losing sight of your aim and what you need to do”), and its subtheme is “Going back to the source of endoscopy and its innovation and tradition.” It will not be too much for me to say that JGES has not only contributed to medical care in Japan, but has also led the world in regards to diagnosis and treatment of benign and malignant gastrointestinal disorders, especially malignant diseases and early gastrointestinal cancer. In addition to the scientific exchange conducted in a collegial atmosphere in Japan, we believe that cross-cultural exchange, which has been encouraged by Prof. Tajiri, plays an important role in reinforcing strengths and overcoming weaknesses in each field.

The themes include “Advancement of diagnosis and treatment of malignant diseases in the field of the upper and lower GI and liver, biliary duct, and pancreas,” which has been a topic of conversation recently, “Efficacy of endoscopy in gastric cancer screening for preventive medicine,” “Approaches to the future use of gastroenterological endoscopic treatment for benign disorders (obesity treatment, in particular),” and “Collaboration with gastroenterological surgery and other fields.” Some programs will be held jointly with other societies as JDDW itself is organized by five gastrointestinal societies.

Furthermore, the International Symposium will be held as usual on the following topics: “Reflux esophagitis,” “Barrett's adenocarcinoma” and “Colitic cancer.” Two-day Hands-on Seminars will be held on gastric and colorectal ESD, colonoscope insertion technique (for young physicians and female physicians) and EUS-FNA.

I have planned these programs so that the younger generations of participants who aspire to be endoscopists as well as self-employed general practitioners who are busy with their daily practice and those physicians who work in hospitals and universities will be willing to spare some time out of their busy schedules to join the conference.

A recent trend at medical conferences is that apart from case reports, presentations are required to be approved beforehand by the clinical ethics committee of the organization to which the presenter belongs. JGES has been working to prepare an environment in order to adapt to this change as quickly as possible.

I believe that the conference provides opportunities for physicians and researchers to present their scientific achievements from clinical research into which they have put a lot of efforts. At the same time, it also gives participants a wonderful opportunity to see and learn from their colleagues’ achievements in a relatively short time.

I cordially invite you to submit abstracts and join us at JDDW 2017.