The 121st Annual Meeting of the
Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology
President　Shu-ichi Ueno
Professor, Department of Neuropsychiatry, Ehime University MD, PhD

　It is my great pleasure to serve as President of the 121st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology (JSPN).

As I mentioned in my earlier statement, the JSPN annual meeting was last held in the Chugoku-Shikoku region in 2010, presided over by Professor Shigeto Yamawaki at Hiroshima University. Since the new medical specialist system was launched on a full scale in Japan, it has become increasingly difficult for the Chugoku-Shikoku region to host the annual meeting due to the lack of a meeting facility with enough capacity, although the physical size of a facility may be less of an issue nowadays, considering the recent trend of making sessions available for on-demand viewing. I believe in the importance of a local region taking the initiative in such a meaningful event as this, and so I am delighted that the Chugoku-Shikoku region will serve as the host of the forthcoming annual meeting in nearby Kobe City.

The theme of the 121st JSPN Annual Meeting is “Enhancing and Developing Psychiatry and Neurology: Issues To Be Addressed.” In Japan, turning 60 years old is a special occasion that is to be celebrated. We hope this annual meeting, which will be held for the first time after two 60-year celebrations, will help us chart the course for JSPN to follow going forward. In developing the program for the annual meeting, we have placed special focus on the following.

First, the annual meeting is a venue to present and learn from the latest research and clinical practices and inspire each other to improve. Building on the achievements of the past annual meetings, we, as a hub organization of the psychiatry and neurology community, will add new sessions to the program to address areas that early-career psychiatrists often find difficult. We believe these sessions will be beneficial to all JSPN members.

Next, we will incorporate sessions to help psychiatrists develop a stronger professional identity. To be specific, the sessions are designed to reconfirm the importance of psychiatry and neurology as a field of medical science, increase our awareness of the meaning of being a psychiatrist, and help us reaffirm our professional identity. Work style reforms for doctors, coupled with the greater use of AI in healthcare, have caused drastic changes in the medical environment, forcing us psychiatrists to change the way we work. In the sessions, we will consider what qualities are required of a psychiatrist, while considering how we can maintain a work-life balance in this era of living to 100 years old.

Lastly, we will also present sessions to consider the roles of psychiatrists in society. Psychiatrists are required to be deeply involved in the daily lives of people with mental illness to cater to their welfare and other needs. As specialists of mental health, we are also responsible for speaking up on behalf of socially-vulnerable, mentally-handicapped people, while educating the public on psychiatric care. I hope fruitful discussions will take place on these issues at the annual meeting.

In preparing for the annual meeting, we have received generous support from medical institutions, members of the Japan Psychiatric Hospitals Association and those of the Japanese Association of Neuro-Psychiatric Clinics in the Chugoku-Shikoku region. We invited young members in that region to join the Program Committee to ensure the latest information necessary for modern-day psychiatric care will be shared during the meeting. Seeking to add to the successful track record of the past annual meetings, we will ensure the forthcoming meeting provides a forum for exploring the path that next-generation psychiatrists should follow. I hope that many JSPN members will attend the 2025 JSPN Annual Meeting in Kobe to engage in lively discussions on psychiatric care and enjoy networking with each other.