Unlike seminars and symposiums conventionally held in the field of science and technology, the Science Cafe is an experiment for making opportunities for science specialists and the general public to get together at easily accessible places like coffee shops and casually talk about science while having coffee, etc. It is said that such activity started in 1998 in England as Cafe Scientifique, and it has been spreading rapidly in and out of England. In Japan as well, many regions have started similar experiments.

 The Science Council of Japan and Japan Science and Technology Agency （JST）, on the occasion of Science and Technology Week 2006 （April 17 - 23）, opened Science Cafes at the same time in 21 locations all over Japan, from Hokkaido to Okinawa, in cooperation with the organizations of each region including NPOs, incorporated foundations, and universities.

 In the Science Cafe opened in Omotesando in Tokyo, under the title "Body, youthfulness, genes," Yoichi Nabeshima, Professor of Graduate School of Medicine of Kyoto University, made an introduction concerning the research to scientifically clarify the phenomenon of aging, which can never be avoided for creatures, taking the example of experimented upon mice that aged in an instant just by changing one of their genes. After the talk, some questions were made from some of the 37 participants on "What is the key to keeping youth?" which was the subtitle of the theme, and the Professor and participants had discussions through such Q＆As. After the event, many of the participants said that the guest's talk was interesting and that they were satisfied.

 Various scientific or technological themes were talked about in the Science Cafes held all over Japan at this time, including society with its declining population, the Internet, ancestors of Japanese, shapes of flowers, material engineering, and environmental conservation. As for the places, not only coffee shops but also museums and others were used. For the proceedings, various ideas were used in each site. There is no fixed method for Science Cafes, and it is expected to take root also in Japan in the future as a new communication method between the general public and scientists/researchers through a variety of trials depending on the region or participants.

Science Cafes held all over Japan by the Science Council of Japan and Japan Science and Technology Agency （Science and Technology Week 2006）

Note：
 The number in the bracket after the name of the region is the number of the places where the Science Cafes were held.
（A place without a number had only one Science Cafe.）
Photo：
 National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation