I am Kiyoshi Takeda of the University of Osaka, and it is a profound honor to serve as President of the 55th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Immunology. It is my great pleasure to announce that the Meeting will be convened over three days, from Tuesday, November 17 to Thursday, November 19, 2026, at the Osaka International Convention Center.

Immunology in Japan began as a discipline devoted to a phenomenological understanding of immune responses. The successive cloning of cytokine genes in the 1980s catalyzed remarkable progress in elucidating their molecular identities, and the advent of gene-targeted mice in the 1990s enabled the dissection of immune functions at the organismal level. In recent years, technological innovations—including next-generation sequencing and other advanced analytical platforms—have made it possible to obtain vast quantities of highly precise data from even minimal biological samples, ushering the field into a new era. In this rapidly evolving landscape, it is increasingly essential for immunology to engage in close, bidirectional collaboration with clinical science and informatic science, to deepen our understanding of the human immune system, and ultimately to contribute to conquering immune-related diseases. With this perspective in mind, the Annual Meeting aims to highlight a broad range of topics and promote vibrant and intellectually rigorous scientific exchanges.

As President of the Japanese Society for Immunology, I am also committed to advancing the Society’s sustainable and international development through three major initiatives:

1. Strengthening collaboration with clinical societies
2. Fostering the next generation of researchers
3. Promoting internationalization

These priorities are likewise reflected in the structure of the Annual Meeting:

1. Collaboration with clinical societies: Joint symposia with the Japanese Society of Allergology and the Japan College of Rheumatology.
2. Fostering the next generation: Award ceremonies and poster presentations for young investigator awards; dedicated sessions for recipients of the Young Immunologists Promotion Program and the Young Female Researcher Support Program; and poster presentations by awardees of the “KIBO” Project.
3. Internationalization: Joint symposia with the immunology societies of France, Germany, Australia, and Korea.

This will be the first Annual Meeting to be held in Osaka in 17 years, following the presidency of Professor Masayuki Miyasaka in 2009. With Osaka hosting Expo 2025, the city is already imbued with a vibrant and dynamic atmosphere. Researchers at the University of Osaka share in this sense of momentum, and we are working diligently to ensure that the forthcoming meeting will be as stimulating, fruitful, and inspiring as the EXPO itself.
We sincerely look forward to receiving many abstract submissions and to welcoming all of you to Osaka for the Meeting.