It is a great honor to host the 16th MIST Society as part of Spine Week Japan 2026.

After graduating from Jichi Medical University, I spent many years engaged in medical care in what are known as remote rural areas. My experience of striving to provide the best possible care for the patients before me, within limited medical resources, forms my origin as a physician.

The theme of this congress, "Mokorita (忘己利他)," is also the school motto of my alma mater, Jichi Medical University. "Forgetting oneself to benefit others" — no matter how much medical technology advances, this spirit should remain at the center of our judgment: simply asking, "What is best for the patient?"

Returning to this origin, we have prepared a program where young doctors active on the front lines play a leading role, transcending academic factions. I am confident that this will be a place where "living knowledge" that changes tomorrow's clinical practice is exchanged, eliminating formal authoritarianism.