From Kanazawa to eCAM

The idea of an international symposium was first proposed to me on a cold day in March of 2002. Professor Nobuo Yamaguchi had invited Dr Toyoshi Onji of Oxford University Press (OUP) to our part of western Japan for an oyster feast. Auspiciously, we were wearing bibs to facilitate the consumption of this delicacy from the Noto peninsula. This is Professor Yamaguchi’s modus operandi: the best regional dishes and wine or sake always accompany momentous discussions. When Professor Edwin Cooper reminisces about their 25year-old friendship, his stories are interspersed with descriptions of unusual and sometimes heavenly food and drink. It was at this point, our faces hot from the charcoal fire and pink with new rice wine, that Dr Onji announced that a successful symposium in November of that year was the only chance for the launching of a new international journal for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).