2024 Meeting of the Crystallographic Society of Japan

The 2024 annual meeting and general assembly of the Crystallographic Society of Japan (CrSJ2024) was held at Nagoya University from 8-10 November. More than 330 crystallographers participated in the meeting. There were 156 oral and poster presentations covering all aspects of crystallography, four award lectures, two special lectures, three symposia, and a Japan-Taiwan joint session. The conference was closed with an excursion to the Aichi Synchrotron Radiation Center.

The annual meeting started with the Japan-Taiwan joint session “The Forefront of Crystallography in Taiwan and the Future of Taiwan-Japan Friendship” organized by Professor S. Toma-Fukai of the Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Professor G. Kurisu of Osaka University and Professor N.-L. Chan of National Taiwan University.

Two special lectures were given to the public by Professor M. Takata, Chairman of the Photon Science Innovation Center, and Nobel Laureate Professor H. Amano of Nagoya University. More than 250 people, including families, attended. Professor Takata gave a lecture entitled “NanoTerasu Ecosystem Genesis: A Transformative Placemaking for Building a New Range of Crystallography”. His lecture was focused on “what we can do, and how much we can achieve” with the new 3 GeV SR facility “NanoTerasu” [the name taken from the Goddess “Amaterasu” who illuminates (“terasu” in Japanese) the world]. He also showed the first outcomes from NanoTerasu, which were really astonishing and convincing. Professor Amano gave a lecture entitled “Advantages of Nitride Semiconductors and Their Contribution to Human Society and the Earth”. His lecture was not only about the materials but also, or even more, about his enthusiasm for developing new materials and his research history with his colleagues, particularly with his mentor, Professor Akasaki of Nagoya University. It was really enlightening for all of the audience.

From the left: Professor Y. Sugawara of Kitasato University (Chair), Professor K. Sugiyama of Tohoku University (Chair, President of the CrSJ), Professor H. Amano, Professor M. Takata and Ms A. Sakamoto, freelance announcer (Moderator).

Three symposia were held in parallel on the second day: “Structure and Physical Properties of Hypermaterials” (organizer: Professor H. Takakura of Hokkaido University), “Symmetry-Dominated Functional Molecular Crystals” (organizers: Professor Y. Yakiyama of Osaka University, Dr T. Ohhara of JAEA and Professor T. Ozeki of Nihon University) and “The Next Move of Structural Biology” (organizers: Professor A. Sato-Tomita of Jichi Medical University and Professor A. Kita of Kyoto University).

Five poster presentations by high-school students were included for the first time as an enlightenment activity in society. Their presentations were powerful enough to remind us of the pure curiosity about the universe, which we surely had but might have weakened over the years. It was also a good opportunity to exchange opinions with high-school teachers on some aspects of educating younger generations.

At the CrSJ Award Ceremony in the general assembly, Research Awards were presented to Professor M. Sugishima of Kurume University for his research “Structural Study of Enzymes Involved in Porphyrin Metabolism” and Professor S. Toma-Fukai of the Nara Institute of Science and Technology for her research “Structural Study of the Regulation of Post-Translational/Post-Transcriptional Modification”. Young Crystallographer Awards were also presented at the ceremony to Dr S. Kawaguchi-Imada of JASRI for her research “Submillisecond in situ X-ray Diffraction Measurement System with Changing Temperature and Pressure using Diamond Anvil Cells” and Professor Y. Hanazono of the Institute of Science Tokyo (ex-Tokyo Medical and Dental University) for his research “Elucidation of Conformation Variations in Peptide Bonds by High-Resolution Neutron Crystallography”.

From the left: Professor K. Sugiyama of Tohoku University (President of the CrSJ), Professor M. Sugishima, Professor S. Toma-Fukai, Professor Y. Hanazono and Dr S. Kawaguchi-Imada.

Five young scientists were honored with Student Presentation Awards based on their poster presentations: Shota Nishida (University of Tokyo), Taichi Baba (Institute of Science Tokyo; ex-Tokyo Institute of Technology), Yui Wakasa (Rikkyo University), Yuta Shiraga (Kyushu University), Kikuko Asahi (Yokohama City University) and Shin Ando (Sophia University). 

Professor K. Sugiyama and the five poster awardees.

The Young Crystallographers Committee organized a mini-symposium on the first day, and more than 30 young scientists joined the assembly. Two invited young scientists from Taiwan and Japan gave their research presentations. After that, two graduate students and two young scientists introduced their careers and current research topics in flash-talks. They deepened mutual understanding and friendship for the coming AsCA 2025.

The banquet on the second day began with a toast by Professor Y. Ohashi, 2005 IUCr President and Honorary Member of the CrSJ. We enjoyed the performance given by “Nagoya Omotenashi Bushotai” and deepened our friendships through the banquet.

Group photo of the banquet.

Professor Y. Ohashi giving a toast at the banquet.

The chair of the organizing committee was Professor L. Chavas (Nagoya University) and the chair of the program committee was Professor S. Aoyagi (Nagoya City University). The next annual meeting will be held at AsCA 2025, 1-5 December 2025, Taipei, jointly hosted by Taiwan and Japan with Professor C.-J. Chun (National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Taiwan) and Professor A. Nakagawa (Osaka University, Japan) as the chairs of the organizing committee.