Greetings

We would like to express our heartfelt condolences to all those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and Typhoon No. 19.

　We are honored to be given the opportunity to conduct the 56th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Ophthalmological Society. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the members and officers of the Japanese Society of Ophthalmology and Kitasato University for this opportunity. We would also like to sincerely thank everyone involved. We had originally planned for the conference to be held on Saturday, September 5 and Sunday, September 6, 2020, at the Pacifico Yokohama Annex Hall in Yokohama, Japan. However, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the board of directors has made the decision to conduct this meeting online. This decision has been made to ensure the safety of the attendees.

　For more information on the relationship between the Japanese Ophthalmological Society and Kitasato University, please refer to the 1992 lecture by Prof. Satoshi Ishikawa. Professor Kimiya Shimizu was elected as the chairman of the conference in 2009 and Professor Hiroshi Uozato, in 2010. This year's conference will be held in the milestone year of 2020. The theme of this year’s conference is "FOCUS 2020" and with the aim of focusing on the basics of ophthalmology, and its fusion with both related and unrelated fields. Our hope is to make this conference easy to understand, useful, and fun, resulting in a new kind of ophthalmology . We will prepare for this conference diligently and are more than happy to help you find your “FOCUS.”

　The conference will feature special lectures by Dr. Toshifumi Mihashi (President of the Japanese Society of Ophthalmology, University of Tsukuba). His lecture will deal with the development of autorefractometers and aberrometers—which have become commonplace in the world—their evolution, and the history of ocular development. The lecture will focus on optical properties. The invited lecture will be given by Dr. Yuzuru Takashima (James C. Wyant College of Optical Sciences, The University of Arizona) on the future of optics. There will also be lectures from U.S. engineers and researchers who are at the forefront of Ophthalmology. The theme of this conference was decided based on surveys on vision and refraction testing and eyeglasses. We identified the needs of the field of ophthalmology, such as contact lenses, intraocular lenses, intraocular lenses, and clinical ophthalmic devices. Based on the results of the survey, we prepared a proposal and approached the speakers. As audience members, we are excited for this event!

　The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games have been postponed to 2021. In preparation for the Olympics, the development of Minato Mirai area in Yokohama was accelerated, and we were looking forward to meeting and hosting you all. However, one of the advantages of web hosting is that you can watch from the safety and comfort of your home and at your own pace. "You can't watch it at the venue if there is a time overlap, but you can watch both on the web.  There are many attractive points, such as the fact that you do not have to move around.  While retaining the image of Minato Mirai, we will create a virtual venue where you can enjoy learning. We will make the best use of the time we have with our speakers, chairpersons, cooperating companies and organizations, and the attendees. We hope you enjoy the conference.