Our theme this year is Poiesis. It is enjoyable (and of course difficult) to think about birth and beginnings. Talk is about the beginning of everything, and the creation of the universe. The inflation from a small universe is a splendid tale. That small universe was created from nothing. Physics gives meaning to nothingness through the expression of the tunnel effect — isn't that amazing? Research presents a story about the creation of a planet that gives birth to living creatures in the universe. In that story, one can see the potential for the existence of an Earth-like planet from observations of planets outside the solar system. It talks about the start of a movement toward that search. I hope they quickly discover living creatures. Next is research that focuses on the process of the creation of a symbiotic system in the lab. As that fulfills the wish to see evolution with one's own eyes, it also is suggestive of the fluctuations that support the result of a peacefulness through the symbiotic relationship of eating and being eaten. I felt a real sense that through all these stories, technology enabled one to see that which could not be seen.
        In Scientist Library, Shigetada Nakanishi, one of those active in the Kyoto University group, speaks with confidence about employing his creativity to establish experimental methods. He then moved from methodology to principles and concepts. This is an interesting coupling with Mr. Sato's discussion.