Since the 1st Yamaguchi Symposium on Liver Diseases in 1989, this series of symposia has provided opportunities for exchanges of information on the topic between leading Japanese hepatologists and internationally renowned scientists. Somewhat unusually for meetings held in Japan, the official language of the symposium is English. The pro ceedings of these symposia are published under the title Frontiers in Hepatology and distributed worldwide. The 12th symposium was held on December 9 and 10,2000, at the ANA Hotel, Ube, Japan. The theme selected by the Organizing Committee was "Growth, Proliferation, and Apoptosis in Hepatocytes;' each of which is important in the understanding of the pathophysiology of intractable liver disease. Nine Japanese hepatologists were invited to give presentations, as was leading u.S. researcher Professor D.A. Brenner, recently elected editor-in-chief of the journal Gastroenterology. The reports given at the two-day meeting were valuable in furthering our under standing of the complicated signaling system involved in hepatocyte differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis. Progress in this field is rapid, and another symposium on the same theme will be held in the near future. We believe that these proceedings are useful in summarizing current information on this important topic. The Organizing Committee would like to express special thanks to all participants and to the Viral Hepatitis Research Foundation of Japan for its continuing financial support.