Dear Colleagues,

The mega-earthquake and tsunami on March 11 this year affected Japan profoundly but every efforts to restore the social activities have continued in the area and in all over Japan. In spite of the disaster, it is with my great pleasure to chair and introduce the 49th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Pediatric Surgeons (JSPS49) during the period of May 14 to May 16, 2012. The Annual Meeting will be attended by about 1,000 healthcare providers involved in pediatric surgery from all over Japan and abroad. The JSPS49 will be held at PACIFICO YOKOHAMA Annex Hall located in Yokohama. (http://www.pacifico.co.jp/english/)

We have decided the theme of the JSPS49 to be: "Look and Appreciate" to focus our vision for the sake of caring for sick children. JSPS was established in 1964 and evolved continuously where new ideas and technologies have been developed and medical and social environments have been changing incessantly. The word “Appreciate" includes a meaning of valuing and regarding highly or placing a high estimate. At this meeting participants would discover values after looking and appreciating what we have done and where we are doing. The discovery would give us “life" to cares of children more innovatively, effectively and constructively in the field of pediatric surgery.
For the JSPS49, we have invited the former JUDO champion, Prof. Yasuhiro Yamashita, Dean of School of Physical Education Tokai University as a special speaker and Prof. Kazumi Komiya, the Director of Kanagawa Institute of Technology as a guest speaker. From abroad, Prof. Prem Puri from Ireland, Canada are going to give us important messages in the international sessions.

In addition, we would like to organize a number of international sessions about important topics including pediatric trauma care, transplantation, and intestinal failure.
We are looking forward to welcoming you to Yokohama Japan in May 2012.
Thank you for your support and cooperation.