Dear Colleagues:

It is my great honor to host the 78th Annual Meeting of the Japan Radiological Society (JRS) Congress, the 75th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Radiology Technology (JSRT), the 117th Scientific Meeting of the Japan Society of Medical Physics (JSMP), and the International Exhibition of Medical Imaging (ITEM) 2019, which will be held in Yokohama, Japan on 11-14 April 2019. As a president of the JRS, I am very pleased to extend you a warm invitation to these conferences in Yokohama, Japan.

The primary objective of the JRS scientific assembly is to promote high quality radiological practice in science and education. We will focus on the recent advances in radiology in Japan and predictions for innovative progress of radiology in the next quarter of a century. We believe that “integration” with other sciences such as genomics and computer sciences will promote radiology in the future; but most importantly, it should be noted this progress always needs to be for the patients.

This time, therefore, the theme of JRS is “Innovative Radiology close to the Patients”. We will include many new and “innovative” technology programs in the scientific sessions in our meeting in order to expand these new techniques for clinical practice close to the patients. Many symposiums will be organized to discuss our collaborative fields, such as imaging diagnosis in treatment, image-based intervention, and molecular imaging in targeted therapy.

Yokohama is one of the most famous port cities all over the world. The conference will take place at the Pacifico Yokohama Convention Center, which is located within easy walking distance at hundreds of restaurants and a wide selection of hotels. Mid-April is the most beautiful season in Japan when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom.

I look forward to meeting all of you at the 78th JRS in the beautiful history romance and international nature city of Yokohama.