I am Keiichi Kubota of Second Department of Surgery II of Dokkyo Medical University. I will be overseeing the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Gastroenterology at JDDW 2020. Established in 1898, the Japanese Society of Gastroenterology (JSGE) is steeped in history and tradition. It will be its 28th meeting at JDDW. It is a great honor for me to be presiding over the meeting, and I intend to make earnest efforts in preparing for the meeting together with all members of my department.

JDDW 2020 will be organized with the cooperation of five scientific societies that will respectively be hosting the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Gastroenterology, the 100th Congress of the Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society, the 24th General Meeting of the Japan Society of Hepatology, the 18th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Gastroenterological Surgery, and the 58th General Meeting of the Japanese Society of Gastrointestinal Cancer Screening. It is one of the largest scientific conferences in Japan. It will be held from November 5 to 7 at Kobe International Conference Center, Portopia Hotel, and other venues in the surrounding areas of Kobe. Although the venues are not in our hometown, we would make efforts towards making the meeting a success with the help of everyone.

In the field of gastroenterology, significant advances have been made in recent years in the classification of biliary and pancreatic diseases, treatment of gastric cancer after eradication of Helicobacter pylori, and diagnosis and treatment of hereditary colorectal neoplasm. There is a need to focus on these topics and promote discussion from a global perspective. Therefore, we are planning to invite many guests from overseas to actively participate in the discussions. In particular, the JSGE is promoting cooperation with international scientific societies, and we will have a session on microbiota during the Strategic International Session with the cooperation of the American Gastroenterological Association. We are convinced that interesting lectures will be delivered at these sessions.

The JSGE is a large scientific society with membership of some 35,000, the main body of which is comprised of internists and surgeons. The structure of each session is arranged to enable joint participation of internists and surgeons. For example, both internists and surgeons will make presentations on robotic surgery, RFA, and other state-of-the-art treatment during the international session on pancreatic cancer. The sessions will also provide opportunities to discuss, and gain a real sense of, advancement made in diagnosis and treatment from broad perspectives afforded by the participation of five scientific societies jointly organizing JDDW. We hope that you will actively engage in the discussions.

I sincerely hope that many JSGE members will participate to make JDDW 2020 a success and to promote discussions that will lead to future advancement and development of gastroenterology.