Hello! Thanks to all of you, the first annual meeting of Japan Foregut Society (JFS) will be held at the Kioi Forum in Tokyo on November 11, 2023. There have been few scientific meetings in which physicians from different specialties meet together to discuss common topics. The purpose of our “Foregut Society” is to actively and frankly discuss these important issues irrespective of different specialties, and to widely spread the knowledge of foregut diseases to the community and improve the QOL of patients who have suffered from GERD/LPRD.

Although GERD has been widely recognized as a “reflux esophagitis” in Japan, a “reflux esophagitis” is just one endoscopic finding of mucosal injuries caused by GERD. GERD can cause a wide variety of symptoms, from mild heartburn to pulmonary failure, and the severity of symptoms vary for each patient. Therefore, a multidisciplinary approach utilizing both medical and surgical therapy based on the severity of disease and goal of treatment on each patient is critical to improve the outcome of GERD therapy, thus providing better QOL. Foregut surgeons have considered GERD as a “surgical disease” because we think that GERD is caused by an impaired antireflux barrier function at the gastroesophageal junction due to anatomical and functional abnormalities. Many gastroenterologists may say “what are you talking about?”. But it is exactly what JFS is looking for; to serve as a bridge between different specialties.

Our goals of the first JFS meeting are 1) to discuss how each specialty understands the pathophysiology and approach to GERD, 2) to understand the indications for (and limitations of) each treatment option, and then 3) to hopefully discuss how JFS can advance the team effort. We prepared 3 sponsored lectures regarding esophageal physiology testing and the recent advances in medical therapy so that everyone can better understand esophageal physiology testing, and utilize this testing without any hesitation.

As one of JFS’ international activities, the international joint session with the American Foregut Society (AFS) and the European Foregut Society (EFS) was planned. At the end of meeting, we want to enjoy having a Debate Session involving all audience with different specialties to discuss the optimal management of several difficult cases.

We are planning to utilize live streaming to provide the easy access to JFS meeting even from outside Japan, especially Asian countries.

The purpose of JFS is to internationally build our network and send the message with Japanese wisdom to the world. Every effort has been made to construct an attractive program so that all participants will say “I have never attended such an interesting meeting” and “I really want to participate again”. Don’t hesitate! We will provide a place where anyone can discuss and network regardless of specialties or experience level without any hesitation. I would very much like all of you to bring as many colleagues as possible to the first meeting of JFS. I am really looking forward to meeting all of you in person soon!