It is our immense pleasure to welcome you to all the 73rd Annual Congress of Japan Clinical Ophthalmology at the National Kyoto International Conference Center and the Grand Prince Hotel Kyoto from October 24th to 27th, 2019.
It is great honor for me and Dr Kiyoshi Komai, the Vice-President of the annual congress, to host the largest ophthalmology conference in Japan. First of all, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to the executive committee members of Japanese Ophthalmological Society who allowed us to host this congress. Secondly, we would like to express our gratitude to Professor Toshiki Murata who is the Chair of the program committee and last but not least, we would like to thank the program committee members who are working on hard with Prof Murata to create this wonderful and interesting program.
The theme of the congress is "Progress and Breakthrough". There has been a steady progress in the last 120 years of the Japanese Ophthalmological Society. There is also remarkable technological innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI), which is impacting the research and medical in Ophthalmology as well.
I'd like to introduce Professor Naoyuki Maeda at Osaka University and Professor Shuichi Yamamoto, Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology at Chiba University will give plenary Lectures. I'd also like to extend special welcome to two great invited speakers from United State; Professor Paul A Sieving from National Institute of Health and National Eye Institute and Professor Peter Campochiaro from the Johns Hopkins University. We are looking forward to hearing the wonderful lectures by Japanese great researchers and world giant researchers.
It goes without saying that learning the latest knowledge from original papers and the symposia is important. Updating knowledge through instruction courses and sponsored seminars and testing the latest equipment at the exhibition are just as important. It may not always easy to acquire the latest research and medical information, but I hope that the congress will help you.
The National Kyoto International Conference Center is one of the largest convention centers in Japan, but was not enough large for the Annual Congress of Japan Clinical Ophthalmology, due to the increase in number of participants. Fortunately, a new exhibition hall was established recently and we will use this exhibition hall for the first time in Ophthalmology conference which allows us more exhibition.
Lastly, Kyoto is the old capital of Japan where you could enjoy historical sites, both modern and traditional cultures cuisine. We are sure that you and your families enjoy the stay in Kyoto. We sincerely look forward to your active participation.
President: Masahito Ohji, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor and Chairman, Shiga University of Medical Science