The 63rd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Respiratory Society.

Abstract

The 63rd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Respiratory Society (JRS) was held in Tokyo on 28–30 April 2023. To reduce the risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, the meeting was held in a hybrid format, with approximately 1200 registered abstracts and more than 9700 participants attending the meeting. Many more local participants attended compared with the previous year, encouraged by the Japanese government's decision to downgrade the status of COVID-19 infection from category three to category five in May 2023. Participants were able to attend lectures regarding the latest findings from various fields, including basic research and clinical research, in accord with the conference theme, ‘Future of pulmonology pioneered by the fusion of knowledge’. Participants actively engaged in a face-to-face question-and-answer session after the lecture, and the venue was full of enthusiasm. I presented in two oral sessions and one poster presentation. It was a stimulating experience, and I exchanged ideas with many researchers and received helpful tips for my research. As editor-in-chief of Respirology Case Reports, the official case reports journal of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR), I also took part in promotional activities at the APSR booth, informing participants that JRS members received 50% off the article publication charge for Respirology Case Reports and encouraging them to submit articles. After the conference, young respiratory physicians involved in allergy research across Japan gathered for dinner together. The group is named Kinkira-kai, meaning shining and sparkling. Around 30 researchers participated, talking about their daily practice and research over beer and wine. Some researchers discussed potential collaborations and decided to undertake joint research. The COVID-19 outbreak is now largely behind us, and we were able to hold a large gathering for the first time in 3 years. We have pledged to meet again at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Allergology in October 2023. It will be exciting to see how the membership of this group grows in the next 5 or 10 years. Unfortunately, the number of foreign participants at the Annual Meeting of JRS was still limited. We expect that the influence of COVID-19 on the conference will disappear over time, and that next year's Annual Meeting in Yokohama will attract many participants from Japan and abroad. I am writing this column while watching the on-demand streaming of the meeting. I hope that this excellent on-demand system will continue after the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided. None declared.