(Tour destinations may be subject to change without notice)

Meet Time and Place:9:00 am International Convention Center Pamir Main Entrance

<Sustainable Building>Institute for Global Environmental Strategies(IGES)

Institute for Global Environmental Strategies is a building designed to use natural energy effectively by adopting various architectural methods such as roof greening, solar systems on the roof as well as louvers that block the afternoon sun but afford a fine view. (The building also controls light and wind coming in that change in each season.)

<Sightseeing Tour>Great Buddha

The Great Buddha of Kamakura is designated a National Treasure. The original wooden statue, completed in 1243, was destroyed by a typhoon. Then the statue was cast in bronze around 1252. The Great Buddha was once housed in a hall, but a tsunami washed away the hall in 1498. Today the Great Buddha sits in the open air. Weighing about 121 tons, the statue is 11.31 meters tall and the face is 2.35 meters long. The Great Buddha of Kamakura is the largest Buddha statue in Japan after that of Nara in Todaiji Temple.

<Sightseeing Tour>Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine

Founded at its present location by Yoritomo Minamoto in 1180, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu remains one of the most popular shrines in the Kanto region. Yoritomo had relocated the shrine from Tsurugaoka near the Yuigahama coast to make it the core of Kamakura. He ordered built the Wakamiya Oji approach from the shore to the shrine as a prayer for an easy delivery by his wife. The shrine burned down in 1191. Yoritomo rebuilt it on a graded hillside and dedicated it to the Minamoto tutelary deity. It was then that the shrine acquired its present arrangement of upper buildings and lower buildings. The present buildings date from 1828.

(Tour destinations may be subject to change without notice)

7:30 am International Convention Center Pamir Main Entrance

<Sustainable Building> Osaka Gas Experimental Housing NEXT 21

Next 21 is an experimental housing complex, constructed in 1993 in Osaka with the aim of creating environment-friendly, energy-efficient urban housing for the 21st century. This project conducted two-phase experiments (1994-1999 and 2000-2005). During each five-year period, various experiments took place for the residents. Tested systems include flexible piping systems, a fuel cell co-generation system, a waste processing system, and so on. Based on a two-stage supply system, the main structural parts and the interiors (dwelling) of the building were designed separately. This residential complex also has an ecological garden.

<Sustainable Building>Omron Keihanna Technology Innovation Center

The Keihanna Technology Innovation Center is a research and development facility, built with the themes of flexibility and harmonization with the landscape and environment of the Keihanna area (Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara). Through the flexibility, the center can adjust to quick changes in organization structure and promote "collaborative innovation" in the company and with outside partners. The office area of 6,000m2, designed as one space, is on the third floor. Laboratories are located on the lower floors. In the center of the second floor, there is a space called promenade, which functions as a communication zone. Energy generation/saving measures include co-generation, rain utilization, and solar power generation systems. In the office zone, an under-floor air-conditioning system and task-and-ambient lighting are employed. Incorporating the Japanese architectural style such as deep eaves and vertical lattices, this building stands in harmony with the surrounding landscape

<Sustainable Building>Kansai-kan of the National Diet Library

The Kansai-kan of the National Diet Library in Kyoto was constructed as one of the central facilities of the "Kansai Science City" Project, following an international design competition. The winning design was selected from a total of 496 entries. Environmental features of the building include natural lighting and a green roof, and most of the building is located below ground. In this way, high environmental performance is achieved. Carefully selected finishing-materials and sophisticated details lend stately elegance to the building.

<Sightseeing Tour>Todaiji Temple

Todaiji Temple, completed in 752, houses one of the largest bronze statues in the world. The temple is approached through an imposing gate supported by eighteen 25-meter-high pillars. It is a National Treasure, as are two wooden images of the Deva kings in its exterior niches. The present Hall of the Great Buddha, dating from 1709, is the world's largest ancient wooden structure (57m wide, 50m deep, and 48m tall) and a National Treasure. The Great Buddha, a National Treasure, was cast in bronze in eight sections over three years, being completed in 749. The 16.2-meter-high figure is seated on a huge bronze pedestal 20.7 meters in circumference.

<supper & stay at the hotel>

<Sustainable Building>Miyako Ecology Center

To commemorate the Kyoto Global Warming Conference (COP3) held in December 1997, Miyako Ecology Center was founded, and it has served as the base in Kyoto for providing environmental education and promoting environmental conservation. The ecology center itself is environmentally friendly, using systems such as solar power generation, rainwater utilization, and geothermal energy utilization. The exterior is well insulated, and natural and recycled materials are utilized throughout the building.

<Sightseeing Tour>Kinkakuji

Kinkakuji, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, is a famous structure dating from the Muromachi Period (1336-1573) and was listed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1994. It is the popular name of Rokuon-ji (Deer Park Temple), a temple dedicated to the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy. The upper stories are covered in gold leaf and the roof is topped by a bronze phoenix. The reflection of the temple shimmers majestically in the waters of a rock-studded pond.

<Sightseeing Tour>Ginkaku-ji

Ginkaku-ji, the Temple of the Silver Pavilion, was built in 1482 as a villa for the eighth Ashikaga Shogun, Yoshimasa, on the site of an old Amidst temple. His grandfather, Yoshimitsu, had built the Golden Pavilion in 1398 and covered its top two stories with pure gold leaf. Yoshimasa, just five years after the devastating Onin Wars, did not have the resources to cover his villa in silver. But today the unadorned wooden buildings blend in well with the atmosphere of the area.

<Sightseeing Tour>Kiyomizu Temple

Kiyomizu Temple is noted for its cliff top Main Hall with a broad wooden veranda affording a panoramic view of Kyoto and environs. The veranda is supported on a towering scaffold of wood. Situated on a wooded hillside, the veranda seems to hang in midair. The depth of the valley below is such that the Japanese expression "To jump from the veranda of Kiyomizu Temple" means to do something daring. The veranda was built on the temple's south side so that it would face the sacred Otowa Falls.