Recent interests in lung cancer surgery can be divided into two main categories: 1) minimal invasive surgery for early cancers; 2) surgery and multidisciplinary treatment for IIIA-N2 disease. Because of the common use of computed tomography (CT) in daily practice, we have had more chances to detect early-stage lung cancers. Based on this trend, we have pursued both curability and less invasiveness in treating such lesions. The proportion of video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) in lung cancer operations has enormously increased; it was 63% in Japan in 2011. The number of limited resections, especially segmentectomies, has also increased. The findings of high-resolution CT [consolidation and ground-glass opacity (GGO) ratio] are strongly correlated with biological malignancy of the tumors, and GGO-dominant tumors less than 20 mm are considered to be good candidates of segmentectomy. Clinical trials in Japan are ongoing to evaluate the noninferiority of segmentectomy versus lobectomy for peripheral-located tumors of less than 20 mm and consolidation ratios between 25% and 100%. On the other hand, the role of surgery for the treatment of patients with stage IIIA (N2) nonsmall-cell lung cancers is also a hot topic. Variable results of surgery versus chemoradiotherapy have been reported. Most patients are treated by chemoradiation, but the certain group of patients with stage IIIA (N2) might benefit from chemoradiation followed by surgery. The scientific selection of cases suitable for surgery is not confirmed, and it is a challenge to soon find individualized treatment for IIIA-N2 patients. The combination of surgical skills and oncological analysis is necessary for the improved treatment of lung cancers.