A round-table discussion on "Basic natural science" was held prior to the opening of the 1st Yamada Symposium on Neutrinos and Dark Matter in Nuclear Physics. The symposium is the first one of a new series of symposia started on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of Yamada Science Foundation (YSF). Active discussions were made on the promotion of basic science and YSF by five distinguished physicists in Japan, Dr. Leo Ezaki (President, Shibaura Institute of Technology), Dr. Hiroyasu Ejiri (Science Advisor, Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, Professor Emeritus Osaka University), Dr. Masatoshi Koshiba (Professor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo), Dr. Katsuhiko Sato (Professor, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo) and Yasusada Yamada (Director General, Yamada Science Foundation).
The following is the article of the discussion in the morning edition of Asahi Shinbun on June 14, 2003.