After serving as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Dermatological Science (JDS) for the past 5 years, I assumed the five-year Secretary Generalship of the JSID in 2008. With Prof. Yoshiki Tokura as the new president and Prof. Akimichi Morita as the new JDS Editor-in-Chief, I believe it is an appropriate time to consider the JSID's future. Together with increases in the quality and impact factor of the JDS, the JSID's international role on skin science has become clearer