The 33rd annual meeting of the Japan Society of Brain Tumor Pathology (JSBTP) was held on 29–30 May 2015 at JR Hotel Clement Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan. It is my great honor to contribute to this special issue of “Brain Tumor Pathology”, volume 33, no. 2, including several special articles based on lectures at the 33rd JSBTP. The theme of the 33rd annual meeting was “Brain tumor pathology: Molecular based morphology”.

On based this theme, Professor E. Antonio Chiocca (Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital) and Professor Gregory N. Fuller (The University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center) gave excellent lectures and seminars. Professor Tadashi Yoshino (Okayama University) and Professor Masaki Ueno (Kagawa University) also gave us interesting educational lectures. We had four symposia: molecular diagnosis based on morphology for pediatric brain tumor, molecular diagnosis based on morphology for gliomas 1 and 2, and pathology for new treatments of glioblastoma. A clinicopathological conference was a highlight of this meeting. Twelve cases for which pathological diagnosis was difficult were presented and discussed. I thanked Professor Akira Kurose (Hirosaki University), Vice President of the 33rd JSBTP, who greatly contributed to this session. The educational committee of JSBTP also held an educational seminar. Many training neurosurgeons attended this seminar. I expressed great appreciation for contribution of the members of the educational committee of JSBTP.

I express special thanks to the Japan Society of Brain Tumor Pathology and the Editor in Chief of Brain Tumor Pathology, Professor Takashi Komori for publishing these excellent articles presented the 33rd annual meeting. I also appreciate the cooperation of authors who took time for submission. I hope these articles will contribute to area of molecular biology based on morphology for brain tumors.

Takashi Tamiya, MD, PhD.

President, The 33rd annual meeting of the Japan Society of Brain Tumor Pathology.