Fabrication of nano- or micro-structured scaffolds to mimic structural and three-dimensional details of natural bone or teeth has been the subject of much interest, and this study proposes a new strategy for self-assembling one-dimensional hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanorods into organized superstructures. A nanometer-scale rod array of HAp having preferred orientation to the c-axis was successfully prepared simply by soaking calcium-containing silicate glass substrates in Na(2)HPO(4) aqueous solution at 80 degrees C for various periods. Those HAp rods grew perpendicularly to the glass surface, and the crystallites covered the glass surface uniformly, resulting in a "dental enamel-like" rod array structure consisting of "pine-leaf-like" structure units. (C) 2009 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.