The Society for Biotechnology, Japan was first established as the Osaka Brewing Society in 1923. As a result of the many historical and memorable events of the society, the present name had been established as Society for Biotechnology, Japan in 1992. In 2002, the 80th anniversary of this society was celebrated in its birthplace, Osaka. The society originally established as a local community in Osaka, but now, we have six branches and total 4, 000 members. As indicated by its original name, this society initially consisted of scientists and engineers involved in the production of alcoholic beverages and fermented foods. Concomitant with the development of the fermentation industry, the scope of this society was enlarged to cover biotechnologies relating to microbial production, enzymes, bioactive materials, plants, animal cells and the environment. Currently, the society intends to cover newly developed fields such as postgenomics, nanobiotechnology and medical/pharmaceutical biotechnology.