It has globally been recognized that the innovation and new materials development are the complementary to each other and together constitute the key for future scientific and technological progresses. In order to achieve a sustainable society and life, and to solve the critical issues that the humankind is currently facing, such as environment and energy problems, with their multiple facets and interwoven elements, the developments of new materials and advanced technologies are of crucial importance.

For this kind of research and development of new materials, it is vital to discard the conventional classification of material species among metals, organic and inorganic materials, or structural and functional materials, in accordance with various industries, such as industries of chemicals, steels, machines, foods, medicals, transports, information technology, etc. and to take interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary approaches in cooperation with experts of diverse materials science and engineering fields.

According to the understandings above, the MRS-Japan (Materials Research Society of Japan) was founded in March 1989, based on the premises with interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary stances, after holding MRS International Conference on Advanced Materials at Sunshine City in Ikebukuro in May 1988. The first name of the academic society was Advanced Materials Science and Engineering Society, which was modified in 1990 to Materials Research Society of Japan. Concurrently, the IUMRS (International Union of Materials Research Societies) launched in 1989 together with the adhering bodies of MRS over the world. The MRS-Japan is one of the founders of the IUMRS. The main activities of the IUMRS is to organize the series of international conferences, that is, biennial IUMRS-ICAM (Int’l Conf. on Advanced Materials) and IUMRS-ICEM (Int’l Conf. on Electronic Materials) and annual IUMRS-ICA (Int’l Conf. in Asia) and other symposia.

Since its establishment, the MRS-Japan has promoted research & developments and industrial applications of advanced materials science and technologies, via the interdisciplinary research activities of scientists and engineers and their global cooperation. The MRS-Japan has organized international conferences and symposia under the cooperation with the IUMRS, such as IUMRS-ICAM’93 (Ikebukuro, August 1993), IUMRS-ICA’97 (Makuhari, September 1997), IUMRS-ICAM2003 (Yokohama, October 2003), IUMRS-ICA2008 (Nagoya, December 2008), while the MRS-Japan cooperates with and actively participates in the IUMRS conferences. The IUMRS conferences are growing year by year and keep providing materials scientists and engineers with unique opportunities to highlight their R&D achievements and to develop the international networking. The IUMRS-ICA2008 attracted more than 1800 participants with 50 symposia. On the other hand, the MRS-Japan Academic Symposia have annually been held mostly in December. The recent main theme of the academic symposia has focused on the materials innovation for sustainable energy and environment, and the topical research achievements have been updated across the interdisciplinary fields, including several international sessions.

As for the memorial events, the MRS-Japan celebrated its 10th anniversary of establishment at Ishigaki Memorial Hall in Tokyo, September 17, 1999. This memorial event featured seven major lectures covered by various fields from science and technology. The details can be referred to the MRS-J News issued at that time. Since then, another decade has past with the steady progresses of MRS activities.

The MRS-Japan 20th Anniversary Symposium was successfully held on December 6, 2009 at Yokohama Media & Information Center. This symposium was organized by MRS-Japan to commemorate its 20th Anniversary, discussing on "Materials for 21st Century" as the main theme. The commemorative ceremony began with MRS-J Present's opening remarks followed by congratulatory addresses by the past presidents of MRS-J, Prof. M. Doyama, Prof. R. Yamamoto and Vice President Dr. S. Sawai. The special lectures by the invited speakers were entitled "MRS-J: A Leading Society for the Promotion of Global Materials Research" by Prof. Robert P.H. Chang (Northwestern Univ.), "Materials for New Generation Aircrafts & Propulsion" by Prof. Yafang Han (C-MRS, BIAM), "Computational Study on the Phase and Structural Stability of Ag-based Nanoclusters and its Catalytic Applications" by Dr. Hyuck Mo Lee (KAIST), "Solid State Lighting: Current Status and the Impact of the Technology on the Reduction in Energy Utilization and Environmental Pollution" by Prof. Robert F. Davis (Carnegie Mellon Univ.) and "Microstructural Evolution in Polycrystalline Materials with Control of the Interface Structure" by Prof. Suk-Joong L. Kang (KAIST). The invited poster session gathered over 50 papers by active MRS-J members, followed by the celebration party.

This special issue of Transactions of MRS-Japan highlights the papers at the MRS-Japan 20th Anniversary Symposium.

Now, the MRS-Japan keeps advancing and the upcoming IUMRS-ICEM2012 is held at Yokohama Pacifico on September 23 through 28, 2012. The ICEM2012 challenges for the frontier of electronic materials and related technologies. A wide range of topics of contemporary importance for science, engineering and technology of materials will be highlighted and provide materials scientists with the opportunity to tackle the global issues.

The MRS-Japan activities can be achieved only by the active participation and voluntary contribution of many people from various fields. Your everlasting supports would be greatly appreciated.

Naoki Kishimoto, President of MRS-Japan