President: Mosaburo Kainuma
76th Annual Meeting of the Japan Society for Oriental Medicine

Development of Oriental Medicine: New Challenges for the Next Generation

The 76th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Oriental Medicine will be held for 3 days from Friday, June 12, 2026 to 14th (Sun) at Toyama International Conference Center and Toyama Shimin Plaza. My name is Mosaburo Kainuma. I am a professor at Department of Japanese Oriental Medicine,
Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama and I have been appointed as the president of this meeting. All the past presidents had deep knowledge and outstanding insight into oriental medicine. I have carefully considered what is required of me as a young person in their lineage. The conclusion reached at the end of this deliberation is the theme of this meeting, "Development of Oriental Medicine: New Challenges for the Next Generation."

At present, the environment surrounding oriental medicine is filled with many issues, such as human resource development, educational and research systems, a stable supply of herbal medicines, and the health insurance system. These issues have been repeatedly discussed, and various efforts have been made, but they have yet to be sufficiently resolved. Therefore, I would like this meeting to be an opportunity to find a breakthrough for the future through new perspectives and ideas, without being bound by the conventional framework. Furthermore, in preparing for the meeting, I became strongly aware of the world beyond "new challenges." My answer was to aim for a future of medicine in which the "two-way tradition" of Eastern and Western medicine is not special but the norm.

We have prepared a number of unique plans for this meeting to achieve this goal. The special plans emphasize practice and dialogue, including a special performance by master Shinosuke Tachikawa, a rakugo storyteller born and raised in Toyama prefecture, Meet the Expert, where young doctors can ask questions directly to renowned doctors who are active on the front lines, a participatory tongue examination seminar, and a practical abdominal examination seminar for young doctors who are concerned about abdominal examination. Tours of the Medicinal Botanical Garden of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences of University of Toyama and the Ethnic Drug Museum of the Institute of Japanese and Chinese Medicine of University of Toyama are also planned, providing opportunities for visitors to experience the unique academic resources of Toyama.

As part of our efforts to train the next generation, we have assigned a pair of experienced doctors and young doctors who have recently acquired specialist qualifications to chair contributed paper sessions. In addition, we will open a free nursery so that delegates in the child-rearing generation can participate with ease.

Some sessions will be available on demand. We hope that you will be able to listen carefully to the lectures that you were unable to attend in-person later and use them for your daily medical care and education and research. Pharmacists can earn up to 9 credits from Kampo and herbal medicine certified pharmacist training by participating at the site. In addition, we plan to hold acupuncture and moxibustion practical seminars, nursing and herbal medicine, student projects, Chukeihai-Cup, and other events that have been well received.

This year, we have received more contributed papers than ever before, and we feel that they contain many ideas that will lead to the next generation. Contributed paper sessions will not be distributed on demand, so we hope that you will come to Toyama and have lively discussions in person.

It is our hope that this meeting will be a rallying call for the strong development of Kampo medicine into the next generation, and for a future where the two schools of medicine, East and West, naturally merge. We sincerely look forward to your participation in Toyama. Thank you.