It is my great pleasure to announce that the 48th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Shoulder Society will be hosted at Winc Aichi (Aichi Prefectural Industrial Labor Center, Nagoya City), on October 29th (Friday) and October 30th (Saturday).

The Japan Shoulder Society (JSS) is the oldest society in the world in the field of shoulder joints, and continues to disseminate valuable information not only in Japan but also to the world. In the field of Orthopedics, its high degree of specialization and enthusiasm for academic meetings are one of the leading academic societies in Japan, and it is a great honor to be able to preside over this congress. This is the first time that the JSS congress has been held in the Tokai area, so I feel the weight of responsibility as well as the joy. It has been 32 years since I joined the Society in October 1988, and I believe that this academic meeting is a place for culmination and gratitude. The theme of the congress is "professionalism, passion, empathy", which is the motto of my life. We believe that all three items should not be missing in our daily medical care and research activities, and we are planning programs such as special lectures, symposiums, and panel discussions with that idea as our slogan. In addition to rotator cuff tears and traumatic shoulder joint instability, we would like to highlight pathological conditions that have many problems in elucidation of pathological conditions and treatment policies such as throwing shoulder injury, thoracic outlet syndrome, and multidirectional shoulder joint instability. At the Combined session with the Japanese Shoulder Function Research (JSSFR), we plan to have former professional baseball player, student baseball managers, and baseball trainers join us to discuss initiatives for prevention and treatment of throwing shoulder injury.

The number of participants in this academic meeting has increased in recent years to over 1,600, including participants of the JSSFR. The 47th meeting in 2020 was held in a hybrid format with the enthusiasm and efforts of Chairman Naoki Suenaga during the COVID-19 disaster, but the number of participants was forced to decrease significantly. For the 48th meeting in 2021, I would like to see this adversity repelled and encourage members who love shoulder joints to gather in Nagoya for hot discussions. We will do our best to prepare as much as possible with the cooperation of the alumni association members of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery of Nagoya University School of Medicine and the JSS members in the Tokai area, as well as those involved in the medical corporation Sanjinkai.

Nagoya is located right in the middle of Japan and is one of the leading international cities in Japan, which is also the center of industry such as Toyota Motor Corporation, a global company. It is predicted that it will be difficult to travel overseas due to the influence of COVID-19, but we hope that overseas shoulder joint enthusiasts will come to Nagoya and discuss with us as much as possible.