English

The 41st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Congress of Neurological Surgeons will be held at Pacifico Yokohama from May 13th to 16th, 2021. The Japanese Congress of Neurological Surgeons (JCNS) is an academic society which aims to contribute to the health and welfare of the Japanese people through the advancement of neurosurgery via the continuing education and scientific research of neurosurgeons. Following the example of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), the JCNS was founded in 1980. It is involved in the lifelong education of neurosurgeons in a way that differs from the usual academic societies: It holds annual meetings of the academic community, where all the lecture topics are designated.

Society is currently experiencing the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The beginning of the new year has been marked by the rapid expansion of the third wave of the pandemic, resulting in another state-of-emergency declaration. Many of our members have been engaged in the treatment of patients with COVID-19, and in many facilities, neurosurgery treatment has been greatly impacted. At present, the future is uncertain, and it is expected to remain blurry as it is difficult to estimate when the situation will return to normal. Although these are testing times, the continuing education of neurosurgeons must nevertheless continue. With the cooperation of program members and designated speakers, the 41st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Congress of Neurological Surgeons program has been created. The format of the meeting will allow for both online and on-site participation on the web and at the venue, respectively. The number of permitted on-site participants will be determined according to the situation at the time. However, it must be understood that, depending on the circumstances, it is possible that it may be held as a completely online event.

The theme of this year’s meeting is glocal neurosurgery. “Glocal” is a term coined using “global” and “local,” and it has been in use since 1990. Today, it is often used in the context of economic activities and human resource development and is easily viewed as a geographical concept. Personally, I think of “glocal” as a physical and spatial concept; a process of developing and resolving problems, as local and global factors influence each other. Thus, “glocal neurosurgery” encompasses the following three meanings. First, taking Japanese neurosurgery as local, and the entire world of neurosurgery and medical care as a whole and society as a whole as global, we then want to consider the present situation and future potential of Japanese neurosurgical medicine from a glocal perspective. I believe that although Japan’s neurosurgical medicine has a global perspective, there are also glocal parts that have developed independently in accordance with Japan’s social environment. Moreover, as physicians are associated with basic clinical practice units, neurosurgeons contribute to the community through the first-line treatment of patients with neurological diseases. Although we contribute to the development of the medical care and society, I believe that we need to think and act from a glocal perspective to advance and develop further. Second, if we consider the subspecialty of neurosurgery as local, and recognize the entire field of neurosurgery, which is a primary medical field, as global, a new knowledge could be created by practicing glocally, while understanding and overseeing all areas. Third, the parts and the whole are seen in terms of a local–global relationship. We believe that, from this point forward, there is a need for neurosurgeons to holistically aim for human medicine from a glocal position, seeking further progress and optimal solutions, while moving back and forth between the perspectives of the part and the whole, that is, micro and macro.

This year’s general meeting will be held over four days as usual. Eleven specialist physician educational seminars and 12 surgery video seminars from mid-level specialists are scheduled from the afternoon of the 13th, the first day of the meeting. On the 14th, there will be 12 plenary sessions and a joint session with the 35th Annual Meeting of Japanese Society for Microneurosurgical Anatomy (Congress President: Mitsuhiro Hasegawa). Additionally, there will be 11 other morning seminars organized by the Society, and a series of seminars combining different approaches to the same disease are also scheduled. A total of 33 luncheon seminars have been scheduled, including two seminars hosted by the Society. All lectures, apart from corporate-sponsored seminars, will be made available for on-demand distribution at a later date, with the hope that this will prove useful for lifelong learning.

We continue to collaborate with the American Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) and are also planning a CNS Chairman’s lecture and a joint seminar with CNS. Dr. Kenichi Uemura, the Chairman of our 5th Annual Academic Meeting, will give a special lecture titled “Mastering ‘Good English’ for Neurosurgeons.” We hope you will enjoy it. The cultural lecture will be presented by Mr. Kazuto Ataka, Professor of the Faculty of Environmental Information at Keio University (Shonan Fujisawa Campus), and Yahoo CSO. He is scheduled to discuss what we can learn from history in the era of COVID-19, and what will be valued going into the future.

While there have been many uncertainties regarding how the meeting can be held amid the COVID-19 pandemic, I believe we have been able to offer a rewarding program for our members. Although we are all busy with daily clinical practice, I look forward to your participation, either on-site or online.