This special issue represents the proceedings of the symposium, held as part of the 29th International Geological Congress, 1992. Other relevant papers on Cainozoic climate change in Japan are also included. Data is assembled from the Pacific Ocean itself, its marginal seas, in particular the Sea of Japan, and the surrounding coastal states. The palaeoenvironment of the region is reconstructed from the analysis of micropalaeontological, isotopic and stratigraphic data from deep-sea and terrestrial cores. -S.J.Stone