Presidential Greeting

　I am delighted to extend my cordial greetings to everyone ahead of the 67th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Respiratory Society. I am Yasuhiko Nishioka of the Department of Respiratory Medicine and Rheumatology at the Tokushima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. It is an honor and privilege to serve as your president for the 67th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Respiratory Society, an opportunity for which I am deeply grateful.
　The 67th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Respiratory Society will be a three-day event held at Tokyo International Forum, starting on Friday, April 16 and wrapping up on Sunday, April 18, 2027. This will be the first time in 19 years for Tokushima University to steward this conference since the 48th Annual Meeting organized by Professor Emeritus Saburo Sone. Our entire department is committed to making sure preparations are in place to ensure this meeting’s success. 
　“Art and Science in Respirology: Building on Empathy to Collaboratively Create” is the theme for this meeting. Over my career researching respiratory medicine, four concepts have proved invaluable: kokoro (heart & mind), kagaku (science), kyōkan (empathy), and kyōsō (collaborative creation). In my daily clinical practice and research, I have felt it paramount to understand the ‘human heart’ and commitment myself ‘wholeheartedly’ to caring for patients and conducting research, both of which I pursue upon a medical foundation firmly grounded in science. Today, in this time of diversity, my message to the respiratory medicine community is that we should embrace our colleagues’ diverse perspectives as this will better enable us to collaboratively create and pioneer the next chapter of respiratory medicine to be built upon our shared empathy.
　The venue for the 67th Annual Meeting is Tokyo International Forum where we have met regularly every two years. The poster promoting this meeting features a constellation-filled night sky arranged to portray the lungs, together with symbols epitomizing Tokushima Prefecture: the Naruto whirlpools, Otsuka Museum of Art, Awa Odori (Awa Dance), and Vine Bridges of Iya Valley.
　We are honored to have Professor Kenji Kangawa, a native of Tokushima Prefecture, give the keynote lecture. Professor Kangawa discovered ghrelin, adrenomedullin, natriuretic peptides, and a number of other biologically-active peptide hormones. In 2025, he was recognized as a Clarivate Citation Laureate for his outstanding contributions as a researcher, making him a strong candidate for the Nobel Prize. We have also invited Kaoru Tamaoka, author of “Ware Sarishi Tomo Bi Wa Kuchizu” (Though I Depart, Beauty Will Not Fade), an account chronicling the project to establish the Otsuka Museum of Art in Tokushima Prefecture. I earnestly hope her address will provide everyone attending with a sense of both Tokushima’s kokoro (heart & mind) and kagaku (science).
　In line with the keyword of kyōsō (collaborative creation), we are planning several collaborative formats. There will be an international session, to which the current and incoming presidents of the American Thoracic Society, European Respiratory Society, and Asian Pacific Society of Respirology as well as promising young investigators from several countries will be invited to share their knowledge with attendees and study cutting-edge research in respiratory medicine. We will also have joint sessions with other academic societies, joint sessions arranged by our own scientific assemblies, a collaborative initiative with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and other activities. We are also developing programs we hope will resonate broadly among our membership, including “An Introduction to Respiratory Medicine” for medical students and junior residents, sessions spearheaded by early-career physicians and researchers, and other sessions focusing on a range of topics from the frontiers of basic science to practical clinical skills applicable in our clinical practices. 
　I am looking forward to welcoming all of you at Tokyo International Forum. I hope you will join the 67th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Respiratory Society and sign up for as many lectures as you can to help make this a very successful and rewarding conference.

Yasuhiko Nishioka, M.D., Ph.D.
President, 67th Annual Meeting of
the Japanese Respiratory Society
Professor, Department of Respiratory
Medicine and Rheumatology
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Tokushima University