The theme of the congress is Diversity in Harmony: Insights from Psychology. Today, diversity in our world can be seen as both problematic and beneficial. For example, there is diversity related to ethnicity and culture, and to physical attributes and health status. There is also diversity among the various domains of the field of psychology. The term harmony is derived from Greek words meaning "joint, agreement, concord" and "to fit together, to join," and is most often used in music to indicate different tones that together make a more pleasing or striking sound. This concept of "living together," of many diverse constituent parts coexisting in accord forms the basis of ICP2016.

Related to this, and from a local perspective, the coming ICP2016 will also focus on various aspects of "kokoro." In Japanese, the term kokoro connotes many concepts, including mind, spirit, heart, emotion, will, consciousness, awareness, feeling and compassion. In other words, traditionally we take a holistic approach to representing the human mind and related matters. Indeed, research confirms that all these aspects are highly interconnected and cannot easily be separated.

Of course, in addition to a stimulating scientific program, we are also planning a wide variety of social events that will take place in Yokohama, the greater Tokyo metropolitan area, and across Japan. Detailed information about the program of ICP2016 will be available via the ICP2016 website — please bookmark it and visit it regularly. Please also put the date in your calendars and make sure you join us in 2016. The Organizing Committee is determined to make ICP2016 a memorable event, and thus welcomes any suggestions that will help achieve that goal.