I am pleased to announce that the 32nd Annual Research Meeting of the Japanese Orthopaedic Association will be held on October 26 and 27, 2017 at Okinawa Convention Center. This is the first time for the Annual Research Meeting of the JOA to be held in Okinawa and I am most honored to host this meeting which is one of the three major annual meetings that the JOA organizes.
Japan is composed of four main islands: Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku. Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku are all connected to Honshu by bridges or tunnels. Okinawa has left being the only prefecture that is not connected to the other main islands since 1988 when Seto-Ohashi (Seto Long-Bridge) was constructed and connected Honshu and Shikoku together. Geographically Okinawa is located at the very southwest of Japan, but at the same time we could say it sits in the center of Asia in the global view. I believe that it is worthwhile for us to send messages of orthopaedic basic science in Japan to the orthopaedics in other Asian countries here from Okinawa.
This year, we have planned several symposia, workshops and free presentations on issues of orthopaedic basic studies. two Special Lectures on advanced orthopaedic fields, four Invited Lectures and 13 Educational Training Lectures are planned as well as 16 Luncheon Seminars focused on clinical studies. We had 889 abstract submissions and we have accepted 739, which made 83.1% acceptance, There are 9 symposia, 5 panel discussions, Best Poster Session, 347 oral presentations and 297 poster presentations.
The Annual Research Meeting of the JOA has quite numbers of presentations by young orthopaedists and many of them are based on clinical medicine and therefore they are relatively comprehensible. That is the uniqueness of this meeting in Japan.
I believe that this basic research in orthopedic field which has been uniquely developed in Japan has become the groundwork of the JOA. I am most grateful and honored that I have the opportunity to host the Annual Research Meeting of the Japanese Orthopaedic Association this year.
The theme for this year's congress is "Standing on the shoulders of giants." I quoted the famous phrase that Sir Isaac Newton liked to use; "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." The tremendous accomplishments in medicine and science today have been made with the great efforts of those who came before us. And we can overlook much further enjoying these accomplishments of our pioneers. In this congress I would like to witness deep discussions on the future development of the JOA as well as to see how high we have reached until this moment. I would be very fortunate if the young who wish to study orthopaedics would have a clear view as far as the horizon by "standing on the shoulders of giants" which could rise higher enjoying the accomplishments of our pioneers.
The 32nd Annual Research Meeting of the JOA will be held on the fourth week of October to avoid the typhoon season in Okinawa. I would like to adopt "cool biz" and recommend you to dress casually, for it is still a nice season in Okinawa in late October. I guarantee that you can be comfortable with short-sleeved shirts on.
A sunset barbecue will follow the academic timetable on the first day of the congress. I hope everyone enjoys heated discussions during the congress, and not only continues discussions after the congress but also deepen friendship on the beach while you are in Okinawa. We all look forward to meeting you in Okinawa soon.

Fuminori Kanaya, M.D., Ph.D.
President,
The 32nd Annual Research Meeting of the Japanese Orthopaedic Association
Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus