Welcoming Message Dear Colleague: It gives me a great pleasure to invite you to attend the 6th International Conference of Clinical Laboratory Automation and Robotics (The Cherry Blossom Symposium) in Kobe, Japan, April 18-19, 2008. Laboratory Automation System (LAS) was adopted in the clinical laboratory in early 1980s and Kochi Medical School was the first laboratory which incorporated the Belt Track System in 1981. Since then, LAS has made laboratory operation more efficient and saved labor. On the other hand, revision of medical economics are shifting the roles of clinical laboratory, laboratorians and suppliers. After the first Cherry Blossom Symposium in Kochi in 1998, people who are involved in the field of laboratory automation and robotics gather from all over the world to learn new advances and exchanged ideas to get updated on science and technology. The exciting 6th International Conference of Clinical Laboratory Automation and Robotics will be held in Kobe. Kobe is blessed with nature beauty and is known as the gourmet city; Kobe beef, Nada Japanese sake and Kobe wine. Kobe is positioned as one of the most popular sightseeing cities and is also at the heart of Japan's premiere tourism region, less than an hour from ancient cities such as Kyoto and Nara. The main theme of this meeting will be "The new era of clinical laboratories and hospitals -Total quality management by robotics and IT-". Four major sessions titled "Current Management and Strategies of TLA", "Use of TLA to Improve Quality of Laboratory Data", "Advanced Quality Management of TLA", "New Approach to Next Stage TLA" will be offered. Together we can learn about the trends of laboratory automation and consider the needs in the future. On behalf of the local organizing committee, I welcome all of you to Kobe next April. Tetsuro Sugiura MD, PhD Chairman Organizing Committee