In 2002 the ICPS (International Carnivorous Plant Society) World Conference took place at the National Science Museum in Tokyo, Japan, providing excellent lectures on carnivorous plants (CP) by numerous famous CP-experts. At the beginning, Prof. Dr. Katsuhiko Kondo, chairman of the Japanese organization commitee, asked us (Irmgard and Siegfried Hartmeyer) to produce the official video report on the event. We agreed without hesitation and are now happy to upload several excerpts of the resulting video to YouTube.

Part 1 shows pictures from the plant sale in front of the conference room and the starting lecture by Dr. Chiaki Shibata (Nippon Dental University, Tokyo) on Pinguicula ramosa (endemic in Japan) and its habitat on top of the vulcano Mount Koshin.

Part 2 provides a lecture on food webs inside Nepenthes pitchers: “Twelve years of ecological research on Nepenthes in Southeast Asia – Some personal highlights”  by the famous author Dr. Charles Clarke (Hongkong). He also introduced the new described species N. jacquelineae, named after his wife Jacqueline.

The very scientific lecture by Prof. Dr. Mitsuyasu Hasebe (Japan) is entitled "The Phylogeny of Sundews, Drosera (Droseraceae) based on chloroplast rbcL and nuclear l8S ribosomal DNA sequences". This lecture has been stronger shortened to be "digestable" also for CP-laymen. For experts we recommend to read the full text in the printed proceedings of the conference.

REMARK: The very informative and recommended lecture on the Waterwheel Pant Aldrovanda vesiculosa, held by Dr. Douglas Darnowski (USA), which would follow now has already been uploaded to YouTube. To avoid a double upload, please refer to our film "Aldovanda in Switzerland" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H-0UkhVwtk.

Part 3 provides excerpts from the lectures "Chromosome studies in Drosera (Droseraceae)" by Prof. Dr. Yoshikazu Hoshi (Japan), "Population structure of Nepenthes species from Weston, Sipitang in Sabah" by Dr. Jummat Adam (Malaysia), and "Nepenthes in Malaysia" by Prof. Dr. Mitsuro Hotta (Japan). Some of the shown films and pictures are meanwhile many years old, so please appologize the picture quality, however, all speakers are prominent CP-experts and well known for their world-wide publications.

Part 4 provides a great lecture on "Nepenthes species of the Hose Mountains in Sarawak, Borneo" by the famous Ch'ien C. Lee (Malaysia). Beside well known plants like N. fusca, N. hirsuta or N. veitchii, he introduced also the new discovered N. ephippiata, N. glandulifera and the amazing N. platychilla.

With part 5 we show excerpts from our own lecture in Tokyo, for which we have been invited by Prof. Dr. Katsuhiko Kondo (chairperson of the organizing committee). Siggi (Germany) started with a film on our visit at the growing site of "Drosera schizandra on Mount Bartle Frere" (Queensland) which has still been uploaded to YouTube, so please refer to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gEbq_cQ1YM for this.

The lecture continued with our film on the Eastern Kimberley (Australia), featuring the rainbowplant Byblis filifolia and its mutualistic bugs (Bybliphilus species), and Drosera ordensis and its mutualistic partner, bugs of genus Setocornis. Also our search for a unique dark red sundew is shown, which we discovered on a former trip in 1995 ...

Part 6 continues with our lecture on the filmtrip through the Eastern Kimberley. Large Drosera ordensis can be found directly at the roadside and a boat trip down the Ord River provides great pictures of the unique landscapes. Our search for the unusual red sundew is finally successful, so we are able to document a very nice growing site on video. Showing the pictures after our return to Germany, a CP-friend recognised the plant and told us that not only he grew it from Australian seeds, it is present in diverse CP-collections since about 1997, labelled as Drosera indica "red". Finally we are able to show a living plant to Dr. Jan Schlauer (Germany), an international known CP-expert and editor of Carnivorous Plant Newsletter (CPN), who examined all details of the species. In December 2001 he published his results: the botanical description for Drosera hartmeyerorum Schlauer spec. novae in CPN.

During the Tokyo conference Prof. Dr. Stephen Williams (USA) offered to examine the amazing yellow emergences of the plant with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). As a result of this co-operation we are now - after the conference - able to show even detailled SEM images (by Regina Kettering, USA). The unique yellow shining honeycomb structures of the glandless tentacle-head are obviously hollow giant cells which act like yellow rear reflectors. 

Meanwhile about 50% of our report has been uploaded, so let us take a little time for some impressions filmed in the city of Tokyo. We show the perfect arranged buffet banquet which took place in a wonderful ambiance between fascinating fossiles at the National Science Museum, and Prof. Dr. Katsuhiko Kondo (University Hiroshima, chair-person of the organizing committee) notifies some statistics on the conference for us.

Part 8 and 9 provide a lecture on "Carnivory and parasitism in plants" by the famous Prof. Dr. Daniel M. Joel (Israel), well known as co-author (with BE Juniper and RJ Robins) of the unique scientific book "Carnivorous Plants". His very interesting report shows that carnivorous plants have some features in common with parasitic plants. Both groups of plants catch another organism (host or prey) use enzymes to digest organic tissue. A really amazing lecture shown in two parts.

Part 10 features a great lecture on systematics by Dr. Jan Schlauer (Germany). Due to its scientific content, please refer to the conference proceedings for the full text. However, watching the distribution maps the interested CP-enthusiast will be able to learn a lot about the world wide proliferation of CP genera.

Parts 11-13 provide the Droseraceae symposium held 2002 June 22, beginning with "Comparative physilology of the Droseraceae sensu strictu. How do tentacles bend and traps close." by the famous Prof. Dr. Stephen E. Williams (USA).

With part 12 the Droseraceae symposium continues. Enjoy the second part of Prof. Dr. Stephen E. Williams' lecture on the trap movement, and the first part of Prof. Dr. Wayne R. Fagerberg's (USA) lecture "Changes in trap tissue relationships during closure-reopening in Venus's Flytrap. A possible model to explaine trap morphological changes.", to be continued with part 13 of our conference report.

Like part 11 and 12, also part 13 provides lectures from the symposium on Droseraceae. Please enjoy the second part of Prof. Dr. Wayne R. Fagenberg's lecture on possible models to explain trap morphological changes of Venus's Flytrap, and the lecture "Chemical substance concerning the leaf movement of Dionaea muscipula" by Prof. Dr. Minoru Ueda (Japan).

Part 14 provides the lecture "The structural basis for nutrient transport in the pitchers of Nepenthes" by Prof. Dr. T. Page Owen, Jr. (USA). With many SEM pictures, the interesting mirco-structures of peristome, nectar- and digestive glands can be seen. Using carboxyfluorescein as a marker, also the way which nutrients take through the absorbing glands is documented under the microscope.

Part 15 and 16 of our report provide the lecture "Recent observations on the genus Heliamphora (Sarraceniaceae)" by Dr. Andreas Wistuba (Germany). Visiting numerous Tepuis and the Grand Savanna, his lecture features well known and new discovered Heliamphora species but also Brocchinia, Catopsis, Drosera, Genlisea and Utricularia.

This is the last part of our report on the ICPS World Conference in Tokyo. Please enjoy the second part of Dr. Andreas Wistuba's lecture "Recent observations on the genus Heliamphora (Sarraceniaceae)". After this lecture the participants of the conference entered a bus to start a CP-excursion. We show some pictures from the first break at the Toshogu Shrine. The final goal, the habitat of Pinguicula ramosa on the vulcano Mount Koshin, has been visited the next day.The whole life-cycle of this endemic butterwort can be seen with Dr. Chiaki Shibata's (Japan) film provided with part 1 of our conference report.