It is my great pleasure to publish this inaugural issue on the start of this new millennium. Let me express my deepest gratitude for the support and encouragement we have received.

Danone Institute of Japan (DIJ) was established in December, 1998 as our fifteenth institute in the world. It is the second in Asia, following China. The basic concept of the institute is to promote various action programs in the field of human nutritional science from a global perspective while keeping a special focus on regional characteristics. The main activities of the institute are in the following four areas: Providing assistance for research projects, holding nutritional fora, publishing informational materials and conducting promotional campaigns. We are close to establishing a solid foundation for these activities as we enter the forth year. The details of each activity will be examined later. The six academic research grants (two million yen per project) for the year 2001 have been decided. For the grant of each year, the application closing date is the end of August of previous year, and we would very much appreciate many applications from all over the country. As a unique program of DIJ, we have a grant for long-term research (four million yen, for a three-year period). The "Kida Project" which conducts cross-country comparisons on pediatric nutrition is in its second year.

The 2nd Danone Nutrition Forum was held last November on the 4th (Sat.) at the Sabo Kaikan Hall (Shoenbacher Sabo). The topic for the forum was "Nutrition and Health in Aging Society" and we had approximately eleven hundred applicants for the event. The special lecture by Dr. Allison (The University of Nottingham, UK) on "Nutritional care of the Hospital Patient" was also a great success, and discussions continued well until the end. Attendees to the forum received a complementary gift of the professor’s book "Nutrition in Medicine: A physician's view" which was published in Japanese by DIJ. The next scheduled publication, "The Large Intestine in Nutrition and Disease" is currently in translation and compilation and is planned to be released before the next forum.

One of the major activities of the DI is the Danone International Prize for Nutrition which is awarded (0.8 million Francs, or 12 million Yen) once in every two years. It is our hope that this prize will be recognized as the Nobel Prize in Nutrition Science. The first award was attributed to Pr. Young and the second to Pr. Hallberg and currently the selection process for the third award is in progress.