Dr. Masami Iriki was born in 1930 and received a doctorate in medicine from the Tokyo University Faculty of Medicine. Around 1970, he became interested in the natural CO2 balneotherapy that has long been used in Germany for disorders such as hypertension and heart disease, and attempted to introduce such therapy in Japan. However, on finding that Japan had no appropriate natural carbon gas springs and that artificial CO2-enriched water producing units did not exist, he had no alternative but to abandon his efforts. In 1997, after learning of a practical method for producing high-concentration CO2-enriched water using the GPH(TM) membrane developed by Mitsubishi Rayon, Dr. Iriki established The Society of Carbon Dioxide Balneotherapy and was appointed its first chairman. Since then, he has worked tirelessly, primarily through the Society, to expand research on artificial carbon dioxide balneotherapy and increase the clinical use of such therapy. His efforts have met with considerable success. Today, Dr. Iriki is recognized as one of the world's leading experts on artificial carbon dioxide balneotherapy. Many specialists look to him and the society he heads to continue the vigorous program of research and treatment activities that have been started. In addition to serving as chairman of The Society of Carbon Dioxide Balneotherapy, Dr. Iriki is also professor emeritus at the Yamanashi Medical University and director of the Yamanashi Institute of Environmental Sciences, and has written numerous books and articles on environmental physiology and gerontology. At the "Third International Carbon Dioxide Conference: CO2 and Health," held at Freiburg, Germany in October 1999, Dr. Iriki presented a report outlining the basic concepts and effects of carbon dioxide balneotherapy using Mitsubishi Rayon's artificial CO2-enriched water production unit. The full text of the report can be viewed here.