The 56th Annual Congress of the Japanese Society of Pediatric Surgeons

It is a great honor to be hosting the 56th annual congress of the Japanese Society of Pediatric Surgeons (JSPS 2019), which will be held at Kurume City Plaza in Kurume city for 3 days, form May 23rd to 25th. This is the second time the annual congress of the JSPS has been held in Kurume city, since it was held by Professpr Hiromichi Yano in 1986. I am deeply moved and it is a pleasure to welcome everyone to Kurume city for the first time in 33 years.

The theme of this congress is “Hew one's way—inherit the great achievements of our predecessors and open up the future of pediatric surgery—”. I hope that the active discussion is promoted during the congress by inviting famous pediatric surgeons from Europe with the aim of contributing to the further development of pediatric surgical care. Gastrointestinal motility, which is one of the pillars of pediatric surgery, was chosen as one of the main programs because of my longstanding research on the subject. In this congress, I would also like to organize symposiums, workshops, panel discussions in addition to the educational seminars organized by the JSPS.

The Chikugo river, the largest river in the Kyushu, is supplied with water from Mt. Kuju in Oita prefecture and the outer rim of Mt. Aso in Kumamoto prefecture. It flows from the northeast to the west of Kurume city and opens into the Sea of Ariake, providing water to the Chikugo plain. Kurume city boasts a beautiful landscape with features such as the Minou mountain range, which rises straight up like a folding screen east of Kurume city, and the extensive and fertile Chikugo plain. Kurume city was first given city status with 30 other Japanese cities in 1889. After repeated mergers, the city region has expanded and Kurume city has become a major urban area outside of the prefectural capital of Kyushu. Historically, Kurume city developed as a hub in southern Fukuoka prefecture and eastern Saga prefecture, where the ancient provincial government office was established in the Nara/Heian era, as a castletown in the Arima Domain in Edo era, when it was famous for the production of Kurume gasuri (kimono with splashed patterns). In the modern era, it has become home to the rubber industry. Kurume University is located in Kurume city, the birthplace of Shojiro Ishibashi who was the founder of the Bridgestone company and who contributed to the establishment of the university as Kyushu Medical Professional School in 1928. It marked its 90th anniversary this year. In recent times, Kurume city has become a medical city with a large number of medical doctors (approximately 500/100000 population).

Meanwhile, Kurume city has nurtured the rich culinary culture and has been blessed with a variety of food from the river and fields. Traditional dishes of Kurume include `Unagi` (steamed eel), ‘Etsu’ (Coilia nausus: a local river fish), Sake (rice wine; Kurume is one of the 3 famous placed where sake is made in Japan), ‘Kurume Ramen’ (Kurume is known as the birthplace of ‘Tonkotsu Ramen’), ‘Yakitori’ (grilled chicken) (the number of the grilled chicken restaurants per population is the largest in Japan.), and ‘Chukugo Udon’ (wheat noodles). Kurume city has therefore been widely promoted as a shrine for cheap, tasty and local foodies. I would like you to taste these specialty dishes in the banquet for members and guests.

My staff and I have joined together in pressing ahead with the preparation for the hosting of JSPS 2019, with the cooperation of the executive board of JSPS. We hope that we will be satisfactory hosts of JSPS 2019 and kindly ask for your cooperation and support.  All of the staff members are sincerely looking forward to greeting many of you in Kurume city.