Welcome you to 2014 International Symposium on Electrical Insulating Materials in Niigata! The 1st International Symposium on Electrical Insulating Materials (ISEIM) was started in 1995. This time we have the 7th one in Niigata, the place for Japanese to come home to, following the 1st one in Tokyo in 1995, the 2nd in Toyohashi in 1998, the 3rd in Himeji in 2001, the 4th in Kitakyushu in 2005 the 5th in Yokkaichi in 2008, and the 6th in Kyoto in 2011. In Japan we started the 1st Symposium on Electrical Insulating Materials (SEIM) in 1968. The founders of this symposium were Prof. Y.Inuishi, Prof. M.Ieda, Prof. K.Yahagi, Dr. T.Nakazima, and so on. At that time they attended the Pocono Conference (now it becomes CEIDP) in USA and they wanted to realize the similar conference in Japan to stimulate the activity in the field of dielectrics and electrical insulation technology in Japan through the intensive discussion among university, research institute and industry people. We hold this SEIM every year from 1968 and SEIM greatly contribute Japanese development in this field. In 1991 the International Conference on Properties and Applications of Dielectric Materials (ICPADM) sponsored by IEEE DEIS was held in Waseda University in Tokyo. Many DEIS officers visited Japan for the conference and initiated the request to make the SEIM to International SEIM (ISEIM). According to this request we hold the Joint Conference of 1993 International Workshop on Electrical Insulation and 25th SEIM in Nagoya in 1993 for the preparation of ISEIM. Based on this preparation we hold the 1st ISEIM in Tokyo in 1995. Through ISEIM it has been greatly promoted the stimulus information exchange among Japanese, Asian, American and European researchers and engineers in the field of electrical insulation technology and dielectric material properties. And the foreign participants might know the Japanese new findings embedded inside Japan. At the same time the ISEIM provided young researchers and students the opportunities to touch the international atmosphere of our society. The ISEIM 2014 covers nanotechnology, asset management, HVDC technologies, numerical simulations, and so on to catch up with the new trend of electricity market. As for the special lectures, we have invited two excellent speakers. The first speaker is Prof. J. K. Nelson, Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., who has awarded the Inuishi Memorial Lecture Award. The second speaker is Prof. G. Chen, Southampton University, UK, who will give us a plenary lecture. One of our important missions is to encourage young researchers who will succeed and expand our activities. From this point of view, we set up and continue a session of "Mutual Visiting type Poster presentation", named as an "MVP session". This session aims to encourage and improve the presentation and discussion abilities of especially young researchers, and give a chance to discuss other poster presenters. Including MVP sessions, sufficient time and space for the poster sessions will impress all the participants. This is aiming that all participants can make deep and fruitful discussion by overcoming language barriers. The other important mission is to provide chances for encounter among various researchers to open up a path to future. Especially in recent days, linkages among researchers in industry and academia (including students) are becoming more and more important. From this point of view, we set up and continue a special session, named as a "Sun-Shine session" to introduce R & D topics in industry to academic people. In addition, it will be quite impressive that young students were so attracted by enthusiasm of presenters from the industry side. We are also planning some social events including parties and tours. We believe that all the participants and accompanying families will enjoy delightful time filled with friendship and kindness. The executive and local committees are proud of providing these entertainments. We hope all of the participants will have fruitful time for discussion and information exchange, and their accompanying families will have a pleasant stay in Japan.