Editor's Comments
 
We are sorry for such a long time delay to get this issue published. The transition (see page 2,3) from being a laboratory directly under the government (MEXT) to being a semi-independent cooperation was a drastic one, if not traumatic. But, we came through the transition without catastrophe, although sweating a lot. The editor feels that the transition will have more positive effects than negative ones mainly because we are under a new regulation that gives us more freedom in managing KEK while we accept far more responsibility for survival. We expect that it will take a few more years until the transition is completed to the extent that we can make the best out of this change. KEK visitors will soon find dormitory condition significantly improved, as we can get major renovation going (which is still in progress). Of course the charge for dormitory rooms and apartments had to be raised significantly (this also was not possible before) to make ends meet. But the charge after the big raise is still significantly less than that for accommodations outside of KEK.
 
J-PARC project is getting to the stage that we can almost say we will be ready soon for real experiments. We will be reporting on the J-PARC in more detail in future issues.