Tooru Shimosegawa
President
Organization of JDDW

Hello, everyone. I am Tooru Shimosegawa, President of the Organization of JDDW.

Since the first JDDW in Kobe in 1993, we will be marking the 30th anniversary of JDDW in 2022. We will be celebrating this anniversary at JDDW 2022 in Fukuoka City over four days from October 27 (Thu.) to 30 (Sun.), 2022, at Fukuoka Kokusai Center, Sun Palace, International Congress Center, and Marine Messe. At JDDW 2022, Professor Kazunari Murakami of the Department of Gastroenterology at Oita University will host the 64th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Gastroenterology; Professor Toshiharu Ueki of the Department of Gastroenterology at Fukuoka University Chikushi Hospital will host the 104th Congress of the Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society; Professor Michiie Sakamoto of the Department of Pathology at Keio University will host the 26th General Meeting of the Japan Society of Hepatology; and Professor Minoru Tanabe of the Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery at Tokyo Medical and Dental University will host the 20th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Gastroenterological Surgery. In addition, Doctor Yasumasa Niwa, Director of Aichi Cancer Center Hospital, will host the 60th General Meeting of the Japanese Society of Gastrointestinal Cancer Screening. On April 30, 2021, Professor Kazunari Murakami, at the first meeting of the Steering Committee, was elected Chairperson of the Committee, and under his chairpersonship, the hosts of the respective meetings are working together in making preparations for JDDW 2022. As in previous years, we plan to have the general programs in the first three days and the Educational Lectures on the fourth day. As special events to commemorate the 30th anniversary of JDDW, we are planning a commemorative ceremony as well as lectures by Doctor Tasuku Honjo and Doctor Shinya Yamanaka, both Nobel Laureates in Medicine or Physiology. A commemorative symposium and concert are also planned. The preparations are underway to make the program truly worthwhile.

As of the end of August 2021, COVID-19 continues to spread unabated, and health care is under considerable strain nationally. Workers in health care and public health are battling this invisible enemy day and night. I would like to sincerely express my respect to the efforts made by those workers and earnestly hope that mankind will be able to overcome this hardship as soon as possible.

I hope that JDDW 2022 in its 30th anniversary year will usher in a post-COVID era and that I will be able to see you at the venues in Fukuoka. I also wish that the convention will be a full-hearted and rewarding one. We look forward to having many of you participate in JDDW 2022.