Greeting Message for the 2026 Annual Meeting

2026 Annual Meeting Executive Committee Chairperson Fumito Tani
2026 Annual Meeting Executive Committee
Chairperson
Fumito Tani

It is my pleasure to extend a few words of welcome on the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry (JSBBA).

This 2026 Annual Meeting marks the first in-person gathering in Kyoto since 2017, nine years ago. We are honored to host it at the prestigious Doshisha University, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. The meeting will last for four days, from Monday, March 9th to Thursday, March 12th, 2026. While this marks the first time the meeting is held at Doshisha University in Kyoto, this university and the JSBBA share a deep connection. The Kansai Branch of the JSBBA was established in 1934. At that time, many pioneers, led by Professor Gintaro Daikuhara, then President of Doshisha University, established a discussion group with Professor Umetaro Suzuki. They worked tirelessly to spearhead agricultural and biological chemistry and build a foundation for academic exchange, ultimately realizing the establishment of the Kansai Branch. The spirit of that time remains the source of the academic vitality of today’s Kansai Branch and indeed the entire Society. The opportunity to hold this event at Doshisha University, the foundation of the Kansai Branch, is a testament to the guidance and instruction of the many distinguished scholars who have long contributed to the development of our society and the cultivation of its fruitful academic culture. We express our heartfelt gratitude to them and hope that all of us will share the joy of research and the essence of scholarship while exploring the new frontiers of bioscience, biotechnology, and agrochemistry.

This meeting centers on the themes of “Life, Food, and Environment,” featuring an awards ceremony, awards lectures, memorial lecture, symposia, general lectures (oral presentation), exhibition of equipment, reagents, and books, luncheon seminars, Nougeikagaku Meeting for High-school students and Frontier symposium. This program lineup symbolizes the diversity of bioscience, biotechnology, and agrochemistry.

On the first day, March 9, the award ceremony and awards lectures will be held at Hardy Hall, Kanbaikan, at Muromachi Campus of Doshisha University, followed by a banquet at Hotel Okura Kyoto. From March 10 to March 12, general lectures (oral presentation) and symposiums by the society members will be held at Imadegawa Campus of Doshisha University. We have set 35 themes for the symposium based on proposals from our members. Depending on the number of applications for general lectures, we would like to organize the program so that general lectures and symposia do not overlap as much as possible, to encourage the members to actively participate in both. Additionally, two international symposia are planned: the JSBBA-KMB joint symposium and an international joint symposium on food science. Furthermore, the Forum of the Academic Exchange Committee between Government, Industry and Academia to strengthen collaboration among industry, academia, and government, and the Nougeikagaku Meeting for High-school students will be held as usual. A luncheon seminar will also be held during lunchtime. In addition to the luncheon seminars supported by our corporate partners, we have planned the JABEE luncheon seminar, the BBB luncheon seminar, and the DE&I (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: promoting gender equality and fostering an environment where diverse members, including international students and socially underrepresented groups, can thrive) luncheon symposium. We encourage your active participation in these events as opportunities to gather cutting-edge information.

We are going to set up an exhibition of equipment, reagents, and books on the first floor of the Ryoshin Building at Imadegawa Campus, the main venue for general lectures. We hope many participants will take a moment to visit exhibition during breaks between lectures. Additionally, a rest area will be available within the venue. Please use it as a place to refresh and as a space for casual networking among participants.

On the evening of the final day, March 12, through the following day, we will hold the Frontiers symposium for young researchers and students at the Doshisha Biwako Retreat Center on the western shore of Lake Biwa. We hope that this event will serve as a vibrant forum for exchange among the young individuals who will lead the future of JSBBA and encourage your enthusiastic participation of the next generation.

To mark this occasion, where this meeting will be held at Doshisha University, which played a central role in the founding of the Kansai Branch, we have planned two Kyoto-themed special sessions. The first will discuss the cutting edge of mass spectrometry, as titled “At the forefront of Mass Spectrometry”. Because mass spectrometry is an important and indispensable analytical technique within the scientific field of bioscience, biotechnology, and agrochemistry, today, it is applied not only to the identification of compounds but also to the visualization of compounds within living organisms. In this special session, we are honored to welcome Dr. Koichi Tanaka, the Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry in 2002, who laid the foundation for the development of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Additionally, following the Nougeikagaku Meeting for High-school students, we will host a special session titled “Compatibility of Science and Manga” with Mr. Masayuki Ishikawa, a manga creator of “Moyashimon”. We hope this will provide an opportunity for everyone, from high school students to adults, to share in the fascination of bioscience, biotechnology, and agrochemistry. We sincerely hope you will join us.

Finally, organizing this annual meeting, we have received support not only from the Kansai Branch but also from members of other branches, and we are now preparing with our full strength. We also express our heartfelt gratitude for the generous support we have received from numerous companies and organizations in the form of donations, exhibitions, luncheon seminars, and advertising placements. The JSBBA has entered a new century, having surpassed 100 years since its founding. On behalf of the 2026 Annual Meeting Executive Committee, we sincerely hope this annual meeting will serve as a starting point for further new advances and look forward to your participation.

Chairperson of the Executive Committee Kei Sonoyama
The Chairperson of
the Executive Committee
Kei Sonoyama

The 2025 Annual Meeting of Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry will be held in Sapporo, Japan, from March 4 (Tuesday) to 8 (Saturday), 2025.

The Society is a core academic society in Japan that conducts a wide range of research, from basic to applied, on matters related to “chemistry and biology,” represented by the three keywords “life,” “food,” and “environment”. The annual meeting of the society is held as a place where researchers, engineers, and students in various fields gather from all over Japan to interact and exchange information. Since the Society will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2024 and the 100th anniversary commemorative conference was held in Tokyo, the 2025 conference can be positioned as the first conference for the next 100 years.

On March 4, the first day of the conference, the Award Ceremony and Award Lectures will be held at the Sapporo Convention Center, followed by the Banquet at the Grand Mercure Sapporo Odori Park (formerly Hotel Royton Sapporo). For the following four days, from March 5 to 8, general presentations and symposia will be held at the Sapporo Convention Center. All general presentations will be presented as posters, and we look forward to lively discussions during the core time in the afternoon.

In addition to 24 general symposia, 4 collaborative symposia (2 symposia in collaboration with the Korean Society for Microbiology and 1 each with the Marine Biotechnology Society of Japan and the Crop Science Society of Japan) will be held over the 4 days. In addition, the Forum of the Academic Exchange Committee between Government, Industry and Academia and the Nougeikagaku Meeting for High-school Students (Junior Nougeikagaku-kai) will be held, and the JABEE luncheon symposium, and the Luncheon Symposium about the Gender Equality will be held during lunch hour.

Luncheon seminars and exhibitions of equipment, reagents, books, etc., will also be held with the cooperation of companies, and the exhibitions will be held in the main hall, the same venue as the poster presentations. From the evening of March 8, the last day of the conference, to the following day, the Frontiers Symposium will be held. We hope that the symposium will once again provide an opportunity for active exchange among young researchers, graduate students, and students.

This is the first time in nine years, since 2016, that the Hokkaido branch will be in charge of the annual meeting of the Society. The organizing committee for this year’s conference consists of members affiliated with Hokkaido University, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, and Rakuno Gakuen University, and we are making all-out efforts to make thorough preparations. Sapporo in early March sometimes has a lot of lingering snow or heavy snowfall, so it may be said to be a midwinter environment for those of you outside of Hokkaido. Please dress warmly and be sure to leave plenty of time in your schedule.

Last but not least, the support of many companies and organizations is indispensable for holding this event. As we have already asked for your cooperation, we would be grateful for your support in the form of luncheon seminars, exhibits of equipment, reagents, books, etc., and advertisements.

We sincerely hope that this conference will be the starting point of a breakthrough for the next 100 years of our society, and we look forward to your participation.