Message

The 101st Congress of the Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society (101JGES) will be held in Hiroshima City from Friday, May 14 to Sunday, May 16, 2021. It is a great honor, and I would like to express my deep gratitude to Prof. Hisao Tajiri, the Senior Advisor, and Prof. Haruhiro Inoue, the President of the Society, for giving me this opportunity.

The 101JGES will be held in Hiroshima for the fifth time, including the autumn meetings in the past when Prof. Tsuneyoshi Yao held at JDDW Hiroshima in 1999. The theme of the 101JGES is "Search for Endoscopic Medicine and Scientific Art". Although some people may have a solid image of clinical practice when it comes to endoscopy, Endoscopic Medicine is a science, including basic research. Also, there are many technical elements other than surgery, but I would like you to re-recognize that endoscopy is a scientific art based on theory and evidence, not on individual masterpieces. That's why I chose this theme.

Not only the 101JGES but the 100th Ceremony of the JGES will be also held during the 101JGES. We are honored to welcome this prestigious event to Hiroshima, which has well-established history and tradition. Due to the spread of COVID-19 infection, social activities have been greatly restricted in Japan, like many overseas countries. Since foreseen what the COVID-19 situation will be like on the conference day is difficult, we have decided to hold the 101JGES in a completely hybrid format. We are going to sufficiently prepare for any possible situations by either on-site participation or web participation. In particular, we have made arrangements to take all possible measures to prevent infection at the venue for local involvement. For overseas participants, we have devised programs to allow direct discussion.

We hope that with the reinforcement of infection control measures by the national and local governments, the COVID-19 situation will be under control before the 101JGES. I would like to ask all the members to proceed with the preparations. And make a final decision; physical or virtual participation based on the policies of the national, local governments and the affiliated facilities after the holidays in May.

In Hiroshima, we have two world heritage sites, "Itsukushima Shrine (Miyajima)" and "Atomic Bomb Dome (Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park)". I hope you have a wonderful and memorial time in Hiroshima as much as possible. I hope that many JGES members will participate in this Congress, from novice to veteran. Everyone, please join us.

Shinji Tanaka, MD, PhD, FASGE, FACG
The President of the 101st Congress of the Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society
Professor, Department of Endoscopy, IBD Center, Hiroshima University Hospital /
Professor, Endoscopy and Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical & Health Sciences, Hiroshima University

Overview

Date	May 14-16, 2021
Venue	RIHGA Royal Hotel Hiroshima, NTT Cred Hall (Cred-Pacela 11F), The Hiroshima Prefectural Sports Center (Hiroshima Green Arena)
President	Shinji Tanaka, MD, PhD, FASGE, FACG Professor, Department of Endoscopy, IBD Center, Hiroshima University Hospital / Professor, Endoscopy and Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical & Health Sciences, Hiroshima University
Secretariat	Shiro Oka, MD, PhD Sumiko Akiyama, Secretary Department of Endoscopy, Hiroshima University Hospital 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan Tel: +81-82-257-5538
Contact	101JGES Acting Secretariat Office c/o Convention Academia, Inc. #4F Hongo-UC Building, 3-35-3 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 JAPAN TEL. +81-3-5805-5261 FAX. +81-3-3815-2028 e-mail: 101jges@coac.co.jp

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