It is a great honor to hold a joint conference of the Japan Neuroscience Society, the Japanese Society for Neurochemistry, and the Japanese Neural Networks Society for the first time in 9 years. The previous joint three-society conference was in 2013 in Kyoto. These three societies each have their own distinct approach to the common goal of understanding the brain. We hope that this joint conference will be a good opportunity to learn new methods, findings and ideas through each societies’ distinctive approach, receive a lot of inspiration, and also to find new friends in different communities.

This is the first major neuroscience conference held in Okinawa, Japan’s southernmost islands which have attractive nature and culture. Okinawa is conveniently accessed by direct flights from major airports in Asia, in addition to those in Japan. We expect many international attendees for this joint conference.

The theme of this conference is “Yui-maaru”, an expression in Okinawan dialect which means the spirit of mutual help. We all have gone through many difficulties due to the COVID pandemic in the last couple of years, but hopefully it will be under control in 2022 so we can enjoy meeting and talking in the beautiful subtropical atmosphere. To facilitate attendance for many people, we also offer options for online participation and presentations.

We hope to see you all in Okinawa or online!