The 115th Annual Congress of Japan Surgical Society (JSS 2015 Nagoya) will be held from April 16 (Thursday) to April 18 (Saturday), 2015 at Nagoya Congress Center. As president of this Congress, I would like to extend my warmest greetings. In 2005, Dr. Yuji Nimura, my teacher, at the Division of Surgical Oncology (the former First Department of Surgery), Department of Surgery, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine served as president of the 105th Annual Congress. In 2010, Dr. Akimasa Nakao at the Department of Gastroenterological Surgery (the former Second Department of Surgery), Nagoya University School of Medicine assumed the presidency of the 110th Annual Congress. Hence, Nagoya will be the location for our annual congress for the third consecutive time at 5-year intervals. It is a great honor for me to take part in organizing the academic meeting with the longest history in Japan with the support of a great many physicians belonging to the Japan Surgical Society. Once again, I am very grateful to everyone.

The main theme will be “Breakthrough the surgical boundaries”. In recent years, particularly since the turn of this century, there have been dramatic advances in the field of surgery. New therapeutic modalities that were quite unlikely 10 to 20 years ago are finding a broad range of new clinical applications, including expanded indications of endoscopic surgery, launch of robotic surgery, implementation of surgical oncology operations involving new chemotherapies (conversion or adjuvant surgery), and gene therapy. However, the current trend appears to be excessive priority on advanced treatment; the consensus is that conventional surgical procedures are outdated. Based on our own experience, it is doubtful whether we surgeons have reached the pinnacle of surgery beyond which we can do no more. Against this background, this Annual Congress will focus on surgical procedures, our core discipline. You are encouraged to announce and discuss achievements in your research seeking “Breakthrough the surgical boundaries” in your own field.

In the past, senior presentations were provided in three categories: symposia, panel discussions, and workshops. At an academic committee meeting, the Society decided to revise its rules in two respects: 1) workshops will be abolished; senior presentations will be provided in either symposia (without general debate) or panel discussions (with general debate), and 2) all presentations that had conventionally been called special lectures, invited lectures, educational lectures, or the like will be handled together as special lectures. This Annual Congress will be operated accordingly. We expect to receive applications for senior presentations from many middle-standing and young surgeons. We will publicly advertise for speakers, and will determine their acceptability through fair and careful judgment. In addition, with appropriate room allocation, many opportunities will be provided to allow as many members as possible to participate in a large number of plenary sessions, specific topic lectures, and non-specific lectures. All these sessions are expected to occur in the form of oral presentations. Furthermore, there will be a session for doctors-in-training, with an opportunity for poster presentations by young doctors-in-training. On the other hand, special programs will focus on important issues including specialist certification systems, the National Clinical Database, disputes on the implementation of partially insured medical care services, the working environment for surgeons, and the vision for our Japanese journal in today’s global era, so as to give insights to the participating members.

Traditionally, our annual congress is held in April every year, often coinciding with when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. Because the coming Annual Congress will be held in mid-April, however, the cherry blossoms at Nagoya Castle will be past their best. Nonetheless, we hope that this Annual Congress will provide many excellent memories for all participating members of the Japan Surgical Society. I look forward to welcoming you heartily.