Presidential Address

The 71st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy will be held from June 19 (Friday) to June 21 (Sunday), 2026, at the Kobe Portopia Hotel, Kobe International Conference Center, Kobe International Exhibition Hall, and World Memorial Hall. This meeting is one of the largest medical congresses in Japan, bringing together professionals from a wide range of disciplines.　It is a great honor and privilege for me to host this long-standing and large-scale meeting in my home prefecture of Hyogo, and I feel a profound sense of responsibility in taking on this role.

With the aging of patients, numerous challenges have emerged in the medical care and nursing of individuals with renal failure. Furthermore, the global COVID-19 pandemic has had a direct impact on dialysis care settings. In addition, rising costs of medical supplies and issues related to medical reimbursement have made healthcare economics increasingly severe. While these challenges are not limited to the field of renal failure, they are shared across the entire healthcare sector, and it is true that the environment surrounding us is not filled with encouraging news.
For the 71st meeting, we have chosen the theme: “Empower the People – Energizing Renal Replacement Therapy.” Given the current social circumstances, we selected this theme with the hope of sincerely addressing the challenges and societal issues faced in the field of renal failure care, and of creating a meeting that will provide renewed energy and inspiration to all participants. The term “people” in “Empower the People” refers not only to patients, but also to physicians, nurses, clinical engineers, pharmacists, dietitians, physical therapists, and related industries—in other words, all those involved in end-stage renal disease care and renal replacement therapy. We aim for this meeting to serve as a source of energy for research, clinical practice, nursing, development, and daily life, and for participants to take that energy back to their workplaces, sharing it with patients and colleagues who could not attend. In addition to the traditional program of symposia, workshops, educational lectures, and general presentations, we are also planning hands-on seminars to provide opportunities for participants to acquire more practical knowledge and skills.

Although this meeting has been held in Kobe before and may be familiar to many of you, as organizers working in Hyogo Prefecture, we are planning programs and hospitality that will allow you to fully experience the unique charm of Kobe.
We warmly invite you to submit your abstracts and sincerely look forward to welcoming you to Kobe in June 2026.