It is our great honor to hold these international minimally invasive societies here in Tokyo, Japan. First of all, we wish to express my deepest condolences for lots of people who had and have been suffering from COVID-19. The world has been still in the pandemic status of the virus; however, we plan to hold the international congress (in-person and on-line). It will be held in November, and hopefully many people in the world will have been vaccinated at the time and will be able to attend on site.

By the way, the development of the MISST has been quite rapid; especially the application of the minimally invasive spine endoscope to a variety of spinal disorders is growing year by year. Therefore, this time we will mainly discuss endoscopic decompression and endoscopic fusion as a symposium. IITS is the combined meeting; thus, the state of the art technique of intradiscal surgery is focused on the main topics.

In November, Tokyo is very beautiful with Autumn leaves. Japanese traditional cuisine is very delicious in the fall; e.g. Sushi, Sashimi, Japanese beef, wild plants, and so on. Please attend on site hopefully and enjoy the scientific meeting as well as the life in Tokyo, Japan. We would like to welcome all of you.

See you soon!

Koichi Sairyo, Congress President

Akira Dezawa, Congress Honorary President