Message: Jan 2015

Dear all,

1 Jan 2015

            I am honored and delighted to be serving as president of Carcinological Society of Japan for the period 2015-2017.  Our goal is to provide facilities for association and communication among crustacean biologists of all scientific fields.  In order to accomplish this goal, CSJ publishes two journals, Crustacean Research and Cancer, and sponsors an annual meeting. It also confers honors and awards to young researchers who are the author of papers appeared on Crustacean Research and other society's publication.

Last year, we hold an international conference "IAA&CSJ Joint International Conference on Crustacea" at Sapporo.  The International Association of Astacology (IAA) was founded in Hinterthal, Austria in 1972, which is dedicated to the study, conservation, and wise utilization of freshwater crayfish.  We invited the world's leading scientists in the field of crustacean biology, including Prof. Amir Sagi (Negev Ben Gurion University; Past President of International Society for Invertebrate Reproduction and Development), Prof. Sérgio Bueno (University of São Paulo, Brazil; Past President of Brazilian Crustacean Society), Prof. Neil Cumberlidge (Northern Michigan University, USA; Chair of Freshwater Crustacean Specialist Group, Species Survival Commission, International Union for Conservation of Nature). The Conference was a great success.  Some 100 participants were treated to a high level of expertise with regards to crustacean biology. The program was led by a very enthusiastic Chairperson, Dr. Tadashi Kawai.  I truly appreciate his outstanding leadership.  I also thank The Crustacean Society (USA) for partial financial support and thank Brazilian Crustacean Society, International Society of Invertebrate Reproduction & Development, Colloquium Crustacea Decapoda Mediterranea, The Plankton Society of Japan, Japanese Association of Benthology, The Japanese Society of Fisheries Science, The Biogeographical Society of Japan, Society of Japanese Scientists, The Nature Conservation Society of Japan for their support, in particular, advertisement of the conference.

        CSJ publishes an international journal, Crustacean Research.  I extend sincere and heartfelt thanks to Editor of Crustacean Research, Prof. Hiroshi Suzuki (Kagoshima University), for his efforts and labor to publish this journal these six years.  I hope that I, as a new Editor, will serve you equally well.  An urgent issue for promoting this journal is to establish an electronic publishing system, in particular, online-first publishing system, in which we must continue to do our very best to resolve.

        CSJ is now at a turning point. We are taking responsibility for the future of the CSJ by continuing to cooperate with each other and thereby positioning the society to be a leader in the crustacean biology in Japan and Asia-Pacific area. I, therefore, would like to ask all of you for your cooperation by inviting new members to join, attending to, and giving presentations at, our annual meeting, as well as submitting manuscripts to "Crustacean Research" and "Cancer" for publication.

                    Akira Asakura, 

                    President, Carcinological Society of Japan

                    Director and Professor, Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, Kyoto University