It is a great honor to greet you as the new Chairperson of the Board of Directors, having just being elected at the board meeting in April.  I would like to take this opportunity to give you an update on recent developments at the Japanese Gastroenterological Association (JGA).

It has already been four years since the founding of the JGA in April 2004. The 4th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Gastroenterological Association, held under the auspices of President, Prof. Tetsuo Arakawa of Osaka City University, at the Osaka International Convention Center this past February, ended as a highly successful event, with a significant number of submissions for presentation exceeding 600, and more than 1,600 participants. The four annual meetings to date have all had highly sophisticated presentations and active discussions, showing the striking enthusiasm of members across the nation for their willingness to build the association. Participation from a wide range of academic fields, from internal medicine and surgery to basic medical science, pharmacy, pediatrics, and trophology, is also in line with the association's philosophy, aiming to be a "comprehensive academic society for gastrointestinal diseases", for which I truly thank you.

With current membership exceeding 3,300, the association has very successfully been developing as an organization, and I have a great confidence in the deep interest that the JGA draws. Admission for membership is simple and easy by online application on the website, and as always we welcome more people to join us.

In addition to Digestion, the official JGA publication in English, we are now issuing a biannual Japanese-language JGA Newsletter, for which we are working on the editing process for Volume 1 to be issued this coming summer. As the association annually recognizes selected excellent articles from among those appearing in Digestion, we encourage you to make submissions.

We have also been working on the development of bylaws as a part of our efforts to establish the Gastroenterological Specialist System. A number of factors have been specified by the National Government for certifying specialists, including membership history, career as a gastroenterological specialist, record of attendance to association-designated programs, results in specialist examinations, and so on; JGA is in the process of compiling its own standards. In the meantime, we have launched the JGA Certified Gastroenterologist System since last year, when a total of 423 members were granted qualification as certified gastroenterologists. In any case, a certain length of membership is a prerequisite for this certification, and we suggest any interested parties to register as a JGA member.

Also in the last year, the 1st JGA Educational Seminar was held at Schonbach Sabo in Nagatacho, Tokyo, with Prof. Kyoji Ogoshi of Tokai University School of Medicine as the Chairperson. With the support of over 400 attendants, this also ended as a great success. This year's Educational Seminar is scheduled on Sunday, September 21st at Schonbach Sabo again, with the Chairperson being Prof. Hajime Kuwayama of Dokkyo Medical University Koshigaya Hospital.

For next year, the 5th Annual Meeting is scheduled to be held on Thursday the 12th and Friday the 13th, February, 2008, at the Keio Plaza Hotel with Prof. Choitsu Sakamoto of Nippon Medical School, and we are putting every effort into preparation to ensure its great success.  The call for abstracts starts shortly, and the program is expected to be a highly substantial one. Details for both the Educational Seminars and the Annual Meetings will be constantly updated on the JGA website for your reference, and we encourage as many members to attend as possible.

Thank you very much for your support and cooperation as always.

With kind regards                               

Akira Terano