Clinical isolates collected from clinical facilities across Japan in 1998 were tested against five aminoglycosides and three beta-lactams. The resistance of 50 strains each of methicillin sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli, Citrobacter freundii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter sp., Serratia sp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus sp. (P. mirabilis 25 strains and P. vulgaris 25 strains) to the aminoglycosides isepamicin (ISP), amikacin (AMK), gentamicin, tobramycin and dibekacin, and to the beta-lactams imipenem, ceftazidime and piperacillin (all three known to be effective against P. aeruginosa) were investigated using a micro liquid dilution method with the following results: 1. ISP was effective against all strains except for 14% of MRSA, 2% of Proteus sp., and 4% of P. aeruginosa. 2. Six strains of MRSA were resistant to all eight drugs; however, in these cases ISP exhibited a relatively low minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) compared to the other compounds. 3. Four strains of MRSA were resistant to all drugs except ISP. MRSA was the only isolate to demonstrate a resistance to seven or more drugs. 4. Twenty-one strains of MRSA and 1 strain of P. aeruginosa were resistant to six drugs; however, all of these were susceptible to both ISP and AMK. 5. Against all strains tested, ISP generally exhibited a lower MIC compared to AMK. These results suggest that, even ten years after its entering the market, ISP is still an aminoglycoside having a high anti-bacterial activity against a wide range of clinical isolates.