Welcome to the website for the Phytopathological Society of Japan (PSJ). The PSJ was founded in 1916 to promote or spread knowledge of plant diseases and their control in Japan, and now has been grown as an international society.

On April 1, 2020, PSJ was transitioned to The General Incorporated Association PSJ, and PSJ again has begun to mark its 105th year. At this time our society has about 2000 members including more than 30 overseas members, and in addition about 350 student members.

Plant pathology is an interdisciplinary science through plant diseases that includes knowledge of microbiology, plant science, molecular genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, and physiology. Plant diseases are caused by living organisms (called pathogens) such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, viroids and phytoplasmas; and by nonliving agents such as air pollutants, nutrient imbalances, and various environmental factors.

The society covers broad areas of basic and applied plant pathology, including diagnosis of plant diseases and identification of the causative agents, mechanisms for pathogen infection and multiplication, plant-pathogen interactions, mechanisms for plant disease resistance, epidemiology on disease transmission, monitoring or assessment, chemical and biological control, development of disease-resistant plants, and related areas dealing with plant pathological disorders.

Plant pathology has made a brilliant contribution in disease protection of food crops, forests and landscape plants, and also has made a great contribution to scientific development of other fields, such as molecular biology, molecular genetics, plant biotechnology, etc. At present, plant pathology is spotlighted not only as a plant medical science, but also as a hot and attractive field in the area of agricultural and life sciences.

The PSJ aims at more contributive society in developing basic bioscience and maintaining the health of agricultural and non-agricultural plants.

The PSJ publishes the Journal of General Plant Pathology bimonthly and the Japanese Journal of Phytopathology quarterly. Also, you can search the plant diseases occurred in Japan and the causative pathogens in the PDF “Common Names of Plant Diseases in Japan” edited by PSJ.

Finally, I hope that this home page will provide the beneficial information on meetings, symposia, workshops, publications, and other activities in the PSJ.

President of the PSJ