This volume contains reviews on state-of-the-art Japanese research presented in the annual Spring and Autumn meetings of the Japanese Polymer Science Society. The aim of this section is to make information on the progress of Japanese Polymer Science, and on topics of current interest to polymer scientists in Japan, more easily available worldwide.

The book introduces fundamental principles, phase structure, mechanism, mechanical properties, and different types of multicomponent polymers. Rheological properties, graft copolymers, block copolymers and interpenetrating polymer networks are discussed in detail as well. With abundant illustrations, it is an essential reference for polymer chemists, material scientists and graduate students.