1st	  Announcement	  “Shiki	  Matsu	  zu”	  drawn	  by	  Kano	  Tan-­‐yu	  (Collection	  Daitokujj-­‐Temple)	  	  Plant	   Biomechanics	   and	   Mechanobiology	   is	   an	   expanding	   interdisciplinary	   field,	   at	   the	  interfaces	   of	   biology,	   mechanics,	   physics	   and	   engineering.	   Over	   the	   years,	   the	   Plant	  Biomechanics	   International	   Conference	   has	   become	   the	   central	   event	   of	   this	   community,	   as	  well	  as	  a	  unique	  place	  for	  interdisciplinary	  exchanges	  around	  the	  amazing	  features	  that	  Plants	  have	   evolved	   to	   sense,	   acclimate	   and	   adapt	   to	   the	   mechanical	   challenges	   they	   have	   been	  submitted	  to.	  	  8th	   	   PBM	   follows	   a	   series	   of	   conferences	   organised	   every	   third	   year	   since	   1994	   when	   the	   first	  of	  these	  conferences	  took	  place	  in	  Montpellier,	  France.	  Since	  then,	  conferences	  in	  Reading,	  UK	  (1997),	   Freiburg-­‐	   Badenweiler,	   DE	   (2000),	   East	   Lansing,	   MI,	   US	   (2003),	   Stockholm,	   SE(2006),	  Cayenne,	  French	  Guyana	  (2009),	  Clermont-­‐Ferrand,	  FR	  (2012)	  were	  organised.	  We	  hope	  that	  this	   forthcoming	   conference	   in	   Nagoya	   will	   be	   able	   to	   bring	   you	   a	   similar	   stimulating	  experience	  as	  the	  ones	  in	  the	  past.	  	  Conference	   format.	   The	   sessions	   include	   keynote	   lectures,	   invited	   and	   contributed	   papers,	  and	  posters	  with	  short	  oral	  presentations.	  The	  official	  language	  of	  the	  conference	  is	  English.	  	  Topics	   of	   regular	   sessions.	   The	   usual	   topics	   of	   preceding	   events	   will	   be	   addressed:	  Biomechanics	   of	   tree	   and	   wood	   –	   Mechano-­‐perception,	   growth	   and	   morphogenesis	   –	   Fluid	  dynamics	   in	   plants	   	   –	   	   Micromechanics	   of	   cell	   wall,	   cell,	   and	   tissue	   –	   Scaling	   of	   pattern	   and	  development	   in	   plants	   –	   Biomechanics	   of	   root	   and	   root	   systems	   –	   Modelling	   and	   numerical	  simulation	   –	   Mechanics	   of	   the	   plant	   material	   and	   plant	   surface	   –	   Trade-­‐offs	   and	  multifunctionality	   –	   Plant-­‐animal	   interactions	   –	   Plant	   motions.	   Modelling	   as	   well	   as	  development	  of	  experimental	  devices	  and	  methods	  especially	  devoted	  to	  these	  topics	  will	  be	  welcome.	  
Special	   session	   on	   “Plant	   Biomechanics	   and	   500	   million	   history	   of	   land	   plant	  evolution”.	  The	  greening	  of	  the	  planet	  Earth	  over	  the	  past	  500	  million	  years	  has	  involved	  vast	  and	  intricate	  patterns	  of	  changing	  phylogenetic	  and	  functional	  diversity.	  Biomechanics	  lies	  at	  the	  heart	  of	  this	  diversification,	  from	  the	  colonisation	  of	  the	  land	  and	  the	  appearance	  of	  stems,	  roots	   and	   leaves	   to	   the	   complex	   and	   diverse	   growth	   forms	   and	   ecosystems	   we	   see	   today.	   The	  first	   aim	   of	   this	   special	   session	   is	   to	   discuss	   recent	   findings	   on	   some	   of	   the	   main	  biomechanical	   innovations	   that	   have	   characterized	   land	   plant	   evolution	   culminating	   in	  today's	   complexity	   and	   biodiversity;	   the	   second	   objective	   is	   to	   invite	   both	   empirical	   and	  theoretical	  discussions	  on	  how	  “biomechanical	  innovations”	  that	  have	  proved	  such	  a	  success	  for	  plants,	  can	  be	  used	  as	  bioinspiration	  for	  technical	  applications	  and	  biomimetics	  research.	  
A	   Young	   scientists	   forum	   will	   be	   organised	   to	   encourage	   participation	   of	   PhD	   students,	  postdocs	  and	  young	  staff.	  
A	   Post-­‐conference	   tour	   to	   cultural	   places	   of	   technical	   interest	   within	   Nagoya	   area	   will	   be	  proposed	  on	  4th	  December.	  	  1st	  Announcement	  How	  to	  get	  to	  Nagoya,	  Japan?	  
1.	  	  From	  	  Nagoya	  International	  airport	  (Centrea,	  NGO)	  	   by	  train,	  28~40	  min	  to	  the	  city	  (Kanayama,	  Nagoya.	  
	  2.	  From	  	  Kansai	  International	  airport	  (KIX)	  	   by	  Kanku-­‐Tokkyu	  Haruka	  train,	  from	  KIX	  to	  Shin-­‐Osaka,	  60	  min,	  	  	   and	  Shinkansen,	  from	  ShinOsaka	  to	  Nagoya,	  60	  min.	  
	  3.	   From	   Narita	   (NRT)	   or	   Haneda	   (HND),	   you	   need	   to	   transit	  airplane	  to	  Nagoya	  (NGO).	  
Accomodation	  in	  Nagoya	  Nagoya	   is	   the	   4th	   biggest	   city	   in	   Japan,	   having	   many	   hotels	   and	  guest	  houses	  with	  prices	  from	  6,000	  JY	  (=55	  USD)	  to	  20,000	  JY.	  	  The	  Venue	  Nagoya	   is	   the	   third-­‐largest	   incorporated	   and	   the	   fourth	   most	   populous	   urban	   area	   (2.27	  million	  live)	  in	  Japan.	  Located	  on	  the	  Pacific	  coast	  on	  central	  Japan,	  it	  is	  one	  of	  Japan's	  major	  ports	   along	   with	   those	   of	   Tokyo,	   Osaka,	   Kobe,	   Yokohama,	   Chiba,	   and	   Kitakyushu.	   It	   is	   also	   the	  center	   of	   Japan's	   third	   largest	   metropolitan	   domain,	   known	   as	   the	   Chukyo	   Metropolitan	  Region.	   One	   possible	   etymology	   for	   the	   city's	   name	   is	   the	   adjective	   nagoyaka,	   meaning	  “peaceful”,	  with	  400	  years	  history	  since	  Nagoya	  Castle	  was	  built.	  	  Nagoya	   is	   the	   center	   of	   Greater	   Nagoya	   which	   earned	   nearly	   70	   percent	   of	   Japan's	   trade	  surplus	  as	  of	  2003.	  
Nagoya's	  main	  industry	  is	  the	  automotive	  business,	  as	  many	  Japanese	  automotive	  companies	  are	  based	  out	  of	  Nagoya,	  akin	  to	  how	  many	  U.S.	  automakers	  are	  based	  out	  of	  Detroit.	  Toyota's	  luxury	  brand	  Lexus	  is	  headquartered	  in	  Nagoya.