More than 3 years have passed since Japan Geoscience Union (JpGU) was established in May 2005. Since then, the JpGU's intensive activities in a number of areas have made its presence more widely known. As one of its core activities, JpGU held the 3rd general assembly meeting of the society called "Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2008" for 6 days from May 25 to 30 at the international conference hall of Makuhari Messe. About 4,800 scientists and students participated in the meeting that consisted of 135 sessions covering various fields in the Earth and planetary sciences such as the Earth's core and the interplanetary space. A total of 3,200 oral and poster presentations were also given. Although the union was initiated with 24 scientific associations, it has greatly expanded and now has 48 scientific associations with about 50,000 members.

   The next general assembly meeting will be held at the same place from May 16 to 21, 2009. Of course, international participants are welcome. You may not only participate in the meeting but also propose a session on our website for free. What attract the participants to our meeting are its wide coverage over the Earth and planetary sciences and a reasonable registration fee of \13,000 (or about US$120, member early bird) for full participation.

See you at the 2009 meeting.
Thank you.

Iwagami N
General Chairman of JpGU meeting 2009

Association of Geography Educators of Japan,
Geographic Information Systems Association of Japan,
Japan Association for Quaternary Research,
Japan Association of Mineralogical Sciences,
Japan Cartographers Association,
Japan Society of Earth Science Education,
Japan Society of Engineering Geology,
Japan Society of Geoinformatics,
Japan Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing,
Japanese Association of Groundwater Hydrology,
Japanese Geomorphological Union,
Japanese Society for Active Fault Studies,
Japanese Society for Biological Sciences in Space,
Japanese Society of Physical Hydrology,
Japanese Society of Snow and Ice,
Meteorological Society of Japan,
Palaeontological Society of Japan,
Society of Geomagnetism and Earth,
Planetary and Space Sciences,
The Association for the Geological Collaboration in Japan,
The Association of Japanese Geographers,
The Clay Science Society of Japan,
The Geochemical Society of Japan,
The Geodetic Society of Japan,
The Geological Society of Japan,
The Geothermal Research Society of Japan,
The Human Geographical Society of Japan,
The Japan Society of Atmospheric Chemistry,
The Japan Society of Hydrology and Water Resources,
The Japanese Association for Arid Land Studies,
The Japanese Association for Petroleum Technology,
The Japanese Association of Hydrological Sciences,
The Japanese Association of Professional Geographers,
The Japanese Society for Geographical Sciences,
The Japanese Society for Planetary Sciences,
The Japanese Society of Limnology,
The Oceanographic Society of Japan,
The Remote Sensing Society of Japan,
The Sedimentological Society of Japan,
The Seismological Society of Japan,
The Society for Science on Form,Japan,
The Society for the Study of the Origin and Evolution of Life Japan,
The Society of Agricultural Meteorology of Japan,
The Society of Eco-Engineering,
The Society of Exploration Geophysicists of Japan,
The Society of Resource Geology,
The Tohoku Geographical Association,
The Volcanological Society of Japan,
Tokyo Geographical Society

Astronomical Society of Japan,
Japanese Coral Reef Society,
Society of Atmospheric Electricity of Japan,
The Japan Society of High Pressure Science and Technology