The Materials Research Society of Japan (MRS-Japan), formerly the Advanced Materials Science and Engineering Society (AMSES), was established on 16 March 1989 in Tokyo, Japan. AMSES was established following the International Conference on Advanced Materials, held from 30 May to 3 June 1988 in Tokyo (MRS Bulletin, October and November 1988). This meeting was similar to the MRS meeting held in Boston, USA, and consisted of 21 symposia, which were published as proceedings in 14 volumes. The number of participants was over 1600. The first President of AMSES, Professor Masao Doyama, gave the following address: As advanced technology develops toward its highest goals, a small improvement in existing materials is not enough to meet the demands. The deadlock of advanced technology often brings the invention of new materials. Human civilization has grown along with materials. The Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age represent the materials most used in those times. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the plastic age, the semiconductor age, the new ceramics age, and the composite materials age have been identified, but no single material dominates.

Inhalt
Advanced Materials.- Rare Metals: Blue Skies Ahead.- Development of the Electron Microscope in Japan.- Micro-biosensors for Clinical and Food Analyses.- The Future of Engineering Plastics.- High-Temperature Oxide Superconductors: Structural and Compositional Aspects in the Manifestation of Superconductivity.- Advanced Ferrous Materials.- Design and Development of Superalloys in Japan.- Carbon Fibers and Their Composites.- Structural Change of Gels Prepared from Highly Acidic Tetramethoxysilane Solutions in the Drying Process.- Synthesis of SiC-AIN Ceramic Alloy by the Combination of Reaction Sintering and HIP.- Energy Equilibria and Rate Process in Brittle Fracture.- Atomic Crack Tips in Covalent Crystal.- Theoretical Calculation of the Rate of Crack Propagation and Time to Failure in SiC Single Crystal.- Formation of Intermetallic Compound Layer Formed by Diffusion Treatment of Thermal Spray Coatings, and its Application.- Effects of Al2O3: SiO2 Ratio of the Starting Mixture on the Composition, Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Mullite Produced by Reaction Sintering.- Development of Direct Observation Method for Internal Structure in Silicon Nitride Granule and Green Body.- Structural, Electrical and Optical Characterization of Sputtered ZnOx Thin Film.- Influence of External Stress for Non-Equilibrium Thin Films.- Thin Films of YBaCuO Prepared by Multilayer Evaporation Process.- Zirconia and Zircon Ceramics.- Toughening Mechanisms for Monolithic Ceramics.- Optimisation of Y2O3 Doped ZrO2 Powder (Y-TZP).- Thermal Shock Fracture of Zirconia Ceramics.- Phase Transformation Characteristics of Nano-Sized Zirconia-Alumina Composite Powder.- Strength Evaluation of Y2O3-Stabilized Tetragonal ZrO2 Polycrystals with Scanning Laser Acoustic Microscopy.- Synthesis of Zircon.- Design and Application of a Zircon Advanced Refractory Ceramic.- Hydrothermal Reactions.- Hydrothermal Processing of Zircon.- Preparation of Yttrium Carbonate by Hydrothermal Precipitation Method.- High Pressure Hydrothermal Growth of Beryl Single Crystals.- Microstructure-Designed Hydroxyapatite Ceramics Prepared by Hydrothermal Hot-Pressing.- Hydrothermal Treatment of Radioactive Waste: Solidification of High-Level Radioactive Waste by Hydrothermal Hot-Pressing.- Growth and Characterization of Some New Superionic Phosphates.- Index of Contributors.