West Meets East : JSCB 2004 Osaka, Japan May 26–28, 2004

In May, the Japan Society for Cell Biology held their annual meeting in Osaka. For some of us, this year's meeting was a special treat; presentations were given in English for the first time in the meeting's 57-year history. The conference organizers, including President Yoshimi Takai (Osaka University), did a superb job of attracting top cell biologists from not only Japan, but also far overseas. Each symposium was an especially cohesive collection of presentations, and topics included microtubule targeting and function, tissue remodeling, membrane trafficking, ubiquitylation in DNA repair, noncoding RNAs, structural analysis of transmembrane signaling, and advances in live-cell imaging. Poster sessions included discussions in Japanese when appropriate, but English was also heard throughout. Attendees and speakers included both established and young, up-and-coming scientists who enjoyed top-rate science in an international atmosphere.