This conference, which started in 1951 in Chicago, is the first to be held in 30 years since the last one took place in Japan in 1977. It is truly meaningful to have this most prestigious conference in Japan again.
Nuclear Physics brought a rich store of scientific knowledge about materials consisting our universe though the study of atomic nuclei and discovery of new elementary particles. In addition, nuclear physics has promoted advanced knowledge in various related fields such as energy, medical and material science, all of which are inevitable in our modern life. I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely express my respect to many researchers who have devoted themselves to the progress of this research field.
Currently, Japanese government is vigorously promoting science and technology policy as well as innovation policy on a national scale. Nuclear physics and nuclear physicists have provided truly innovative concepts to numbers of fields of application. The knowledge and technologies developed by nuclear physicists make great contribution to our daily life, through various fields such as nuclear energy, radiation medicine, information technique and even plant breeding. With the advanced researches at Nuclear Physics A 805 (2008) 13c-14c www.elsevier.com/locate/nuclphysa