The U.S.-Japan Panel on Earthquake Research or U.S.-Japan Natural Resources (UJNR) met at the Asilomar Conference Center and in the field at Parkfield. The meeting was October 12-16, 2004. The UJNR Panel on Earthquake Research promotes advanced research toward a more fundamental understanding of the earthquake process and hazard estimation. The Fifth Joint meeting was extremely beneficial in furthering cooperation and deepening understanding of the common problems in both U.S. and Japan. The meeting included very productive exchanges of information on approaches to systematic observation of earthquake processes. The next meeting will be held in Japan in the autumn of 2006. This publication includes over fifty presentations by the attendees and presents their written contribution and in most cases their slide presentations; several motion-graphics files are also provided here.