The 13th International Symposium on BL & CL was held at the International Conference Center of Pacifico Yokohama from 2 - 6 August 2004 and was the first to be held in Japan, as well as in the Asian region.
More than 260 delegates attended together with 30 accompanying friends. They came from 15 countries including Belgium, Brazil, Canada, The People's Republic of China, Germany, Iran, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, UK and USA. Around 200 oral and poster presentations were made during the Symposium.
At the 12th Symposium (Cambridge, 2002), a lecture was given in memory of the late Gordon Stewart. Therefore, the Organizing Committee of the 13th Symposium discussed having a Memorial Lecture for this symposium and planned one in honor of the late Professor Toshio Goto (Nagoya University). Professor Goto, who died in 1995, was one of the important members of the Japan Association for BL & CL and contributed to the development of the Association. He was a famous organic chemist, especially well known in the field of BL & CL in Japan as well as all over the world.
The Symposium began with the Memorial Lecture presented by Professor H. Niwa (The University of Electro-Communication, Japan), followed by plenary lectures by Professor O. Shimomura (Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, USA) and Professor W. Adam (University of Puerto Rico). From the second to the fourth days, plenary lectures were presented by Professor T. Nagano (University of Tokyo, Japan), Professor F. Tsuji (University of California, San Diego, USA) and Professor Y. Umezawa (University of Tokyo, Japan). Following the plenary lectures, 15 sessions were held and and these were followed by a Scientific Educational Session entitled "Firefly Sheds Light on New Technology" which was open to schoolchildren aged from early teens. They were accompanied by their parents as well as teachers from Yokohama. This session was generously supported by Kikkoman Co., which provided experimental materials. The inclusion of this session was to encourage scientific interest by schoolchildren and it was favorably reviewed by the participants.
The Marlene DeLuca Prizes were again generously given by Dr. Fritz Berthold with his company Berthold Technologies. The President of the International Society for Bioluminescence and Chemiluminescence, Professor John Lee (University of Georgia) chose a small Committee from the Society to judge the presentations and recommended three winners. Dr. Berthold himself presented the prizes at the Banquet.
The International Society for Bioluminescence and Chemiluminescence recognized the need to encourage young researchers in the disciplines and so provided financial support for 13 young scientists.
For the social programme delegates had a choice of a tour of the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise (a large aquarium), or a walking tour around the historical town of Kamakura, or a scientific visit to Yokosuka City Museum. Japanese Drum was played as entertainment at Banquet. This was appreciated very much by the delegates, especially those from foreign countries.
The Organizing Committe recognize and thank all Foundations and those who exhibited and supported the Symposium in various ways.
Thanks are due to John Wiley & Sons for again publishing the Symposium abstracts in the journal Luminescence. All registered delegates received a copy of this issue.
Delegates who made presentations (programme can be seen at http://www10.showa-u.ac.jp/~ISBC/index.html) were invited to submit short manuscripts for the Proceedings volume. This will be edited by Professor Larry Kricka and Dr Philip Stanley and published by World Scientific Publishing, Singapore. All registered delegates will mailed a copy and it is expected that the volume will be available early in 2005.
Finally, the President and the General Secretary of the Organizing Committee wish to thank the members of the Conference Office of Kintetsu International, Kinki Nippon Tourist Co. Ltd.
Emeritus Professor Akio Tsuji
Professor Masako Maeda
School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Showa University
1-5-8 Hatanodai, Shinagawa, Tokyo 142-8555, JAPAN
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