Digestive Disease Week-Japan (DDW-Japan) was held successfully in Yokohama April 15-18, 1998, under the management of Prof. Yoshiki Hiki, Chairman of the Steering Committee. DDW-Japan was carried out with the cooperation and participa­ tion of gastroenterological societies in Japan. Because the participat­ ing congresses each dealt with topics characteristic of particular fields, all participants could enjoy a rewarding experience and could gather relevant, up-to-date information about a wide variety of subjects in basic and clinical medicine. Prof. Rikiya Fujita, Chairman of the International Relations Com­ mittee, planned and conducted the International Symposium working together with researchers from foreign countries, thus making DDW­ Japan in 1998 a great success. The symposium provided a fascinating insight into the global situation, and the papers that were present­ ed are being published in this monograph, Recent Advances in Gastroenterology. As we all know, the world soon is going to enter the third millen­ nium. Therefore, treatments and medicines should not be limited to any single country or small area; instead, medical knowledge must be shared as a global resource, without regard to nationality, way of life, or social system. I hope that this monograph will playa useful role in the develop­ ment of gastroenterology all over the world, and I very much appre­ ciate the tremendous contribution of all authors for this publication.