It has already been six years since the Institute of Statistical Mathematics was incorporated into and became a member of the Research Organization of Information and Systems. During this period, we have proceeded with research projects focused on current important subjects, including the establishment of strategic research centers in 2005 in addition to the existing departments that conduct basic research. The Risk Analysis Research Center has since steadily developed, and currently, its four research groups are engaged in the fields of food and drug safety; environmental risks; financial risks and insurance; and reliability and quality assurance of services and products. In particular, since the center's NOE-forming project was approved for special funds for education and research this fiscal year, the center has started more earnest efforts. The Prediction and Knowledge Discovery Research Center has proceeded with four research projects consisting of research on statistical seismology, data assimilation, molecular evolution, and statistical genome diversity. Among other activities, the Data Assimilation Research Group's activity is being established as a next-generation simulation method that can be adopted not only in global environmental prediction but also in other extensive areas. At the Research Innovation Center, which was established two years ago, four research groups are performing activities in order to create research areas on statistical science. The Advanced Monte Carlo Algorithm Research Group has employed a foreign professor for the first time and started a top-level study.

The relocation to Tachikawa, which was approved at a Cabinet meeting in 1988, finally realized in October this year. It was also decided to construct a guest house required for joint research projects involving stays, which had been a pending issue, and its construction is about to start and is expected to be completed within this fiscal year. After moving to Tachikawa, the institute will strive to play the role as an inter-university research institute based on new concepts, such as NOE formation, in addition to conventional application-based joint research projects, by making the most of the larger joint research space and the facilities of the new campus. In line with the remarkable progress of information and communications technologies, both the society and the academic research circles are about to drastically change. Noticeably, the use of large-scale data will be the key to the progress of science and technology in the future, and it is imperative to establish data-centric science, which is regarded as a fourth scientific methodology. Statistical research, whose major goal is to perform scientific reasoning based on data, will become even more important in the future. We look forward to your understanding and support for the activities of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics.

Genshiro Kitagawa
Director-General
The Institute of Statistical Mathematics