ABSTRACT: The Public Symposium of the Japanese Environmental Mutagen Society (JEMS), entitled “Regulatory Science”, was held at the Shiba-Kyoritsu campus of Keio University, Tokyo, on May 24, 2014. The concept of regulatory science was first proposed by Dr. Mitsuru Uchiyama in 1987 as the science that reconciles the fruits of science and technology with the most desirable form for harmony between people and society, by making accurate predictions, assessments, and judgments, based on evidence. However, a quarter-century later, the perception (or attitude) of the masses towards this word appears to be diverse. The main aim of this symposium was to provide the concerned population, including the members of JEMS, with an opportunity to rediscover the role played by JEMS in regulatory science and to discuss the meaning and implications of regulatory science, as well as its development in Japan. The morning session comprised six lectures, including one special lecture, which introduced the regulatory science-related activities of the organizations closely relevant to JEMS. The afternoon session included five lectures on the issues of regulatory science, pertinent to the Food Safety Commission of Japan (FSCJ), which were followed by a panel discussion. This symposium highlighted the important contributions of JEMS toward development of regulatory science in Japan, in conjunction with the many challenges to be addressed. We believe that this symposium provided great scope for eliciting interest in regulatory science, in many members of the audience. It would be helpful if all members of the audience, as well as the readers of this article, would attempt to clarify the challenges presented in this symposium. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s41021-015-0012-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
