Greetings

Dear Colleagues and Friends,
It is our great pleasure and honor to welcome you to Tokyo on the occasion of the JSGOE 64th Annual Meeting. The conference will be held from September 12th (Thursday) to September 14th (Saturday), 2024, and the venue will be Toshi Center Hotel Tokyo and its adjacent Schönbach Sabo.

I served as the President of our society from 2019 to 2023, and worked on a variety of initiatives. Based on that experience, we chose this year's theme as “Embrace healthy diversity!“ In recent years, endoscopic surgery has become increasingly diverse. In terms of equipment types, several new surgical robots have appeared, and multiple small-diameter hysteroscopes have also been introduced. In methodological aspects, vNOTES is a recent big game changer and continuous improvements are also being made to the techniques of robotic surgery and laparoscopic surgery. In addition, the position of endoscopic surgery in treatment strategies is diversifying in accordance with progress in elucidating the pathology of diseases and advances in drug therapy. In terms of training systems, efficient training is required depending on the different situations in urban and rural areas. A major challenge of our time is how to deliver the best medical care to patients amidst such diversity. Furthermore, we believe that diversity must go hand in hand with sustainability. Laparoscopic surgery, which uses many disposable products, requires consideration for the global environment, and it is also important to properly dispose of smoke and medical waste generated during surgery. From a global perspective, medical disparities clearly exist. In countries where it is difficult to introduce surgical robots, traditional laparoscopic surgery will still play a central role for the time being.

This year's conference is an international conference held at the same time as the APAGE regional meeting, and we have prepared a wide range of English sessions. We hope that the participation of doctors from countries with diverse medical environments will stimulate discussion from a broad perspective and further develop into international collaboration. In order to expand communication, we are also preparing social events. The venue is in the middle of the metropolis of Tokyo. When you get tired of studying, we hope that you can leave the venue and go out into the city and enjoy food, drinks, and entertainment. We look forward to your participation in the 64th JSGOE Annual Meeting. See you in TOKYO!