Japanese Society Of Gastroenterological Surgery 70th General Meeting

The 70th General Meeting of the Japanese Society of Gastroenterological Surgery will be held from Wednesday, July 15 to Friday, July 17, 2015 in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka. This is the first time the Society’s General Meeting will be held in Shizuoka Prefecture.

The theme of the 70th General Meeting is “Gastroenterological Surgery, Expanding into the World and the Future.” Hamamatsu is known for being a place where the spirit of taking risks is still a vital part of the local culture. This can be seen in the fact that companies such as Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawai, Honda, and Hamamatsu Photonics are committed to creating new products and novel systems. This same spirit is embodied in the local dialect in the word “yaramaika,” which means, “Give it a try”. Our goal is to hold a fruitful General Meeting that takes advantage of Hamamatsu’s distinctive features, communicates Japan’s high-quality gastroenterological surgical treatment techniques to the world, and leads to future development and evolution in the field.

The 70th General Meeting represents a turning point for the society and its future, as several new initiatives will be attempted. One of these is internationalization. The society will be placing more emphasis on cooperation and coordination with the world, especially the United States and Asia, as part of its efforts to become a more international society. The International Session held with Gastroenterological Surgery Societies of other countries has been held since the 68th General Meeting. In the 70th General Meeting, we will accelerate the momentum already established by holding half the advanced lectures and part of the general lectures and discussions in English. The 70th General Meeting has also established grants to invite young surgeons from overseas to participate. Through lectures, discussions, and informal get-togethers, we hope to increase cultural exchanges between surgeons from overseas and gastroenterological surgeons in Japan, especially young and experienced surgeons.