Kyoto wins 4 high level scientific and scholarly congresses,

Including meetings that haven’t been held in Asia and Japan before!

Kyoto’s streak of success reveals a trend that Asia is becoming an increasingly important destination for international meetings. Kyoto’s comprehensive bureau support, great selection of world class meeting facilities, strong local hosts, traditional cultural heritage, and cutting edge innovation offer a perfect mix of what high quality scientific and scholarly conferences need to make the first big step into Asia.

– The World Conference on Carbon (CARBON 2020)

CARBON will be held from June 28 – July 3, 2020 at Kyoto’s centrally located Miyako Messe (congress and exhibition center) with 800 delegates from 30 countries expected to participate.

KCVB provided materials to the local host to maximize the potential for success. Kyoto’s heritage of traditional culture and Japan’s cutting edge innovation were especially important in attracting CARBON.

Japan has lead the world in carbon research for many years and is home to great industry partners for the conference. Three of the world’s greatest carbon material manufacturers are located in Japan.

Also, Kyoto is one of the great birthplaces of carbon innovation. In Japan, the charcoal that is used to boil the water for the tea ceremony is considered a form of art and an integral part of the ceremony. Fine artisans create the highest quality charcoal by hand, harvesting wood sustainably and acting as stewards over the mountains. This quality was recognized by Thomas Edison who used carbonized bamboo filaments from Kyoto to create his lightbulb.

Furthermore, carbon materials are renewable and play a key role in the cutting edge development of green technology. Kyoto’s dedication to the environment put it perfectly in line with values of the conference.

– The 46^th Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Study of the Lumber Spine (ISSLS 2019)

At their annual meeting this May in Singapore, ISSLS chose Kyoto to host their annual meeting in 2019. ISSLS 2019 will be held at the Westin Miyako Hotel from June 3 – 7 with approx. 520 participants from 28 countries in attendance. Kyoto’s local committee carefully prepared for an entire year to present the bid with KCVB providing support, resources, and know-how. KCVB also introduced the committee to appropriate local partner, helping the bid to be successful.

ISSLS was held once before in Kyoto in 1989, but until recent years, the ISSLS rarely visited Asia. As of the 40^th meeting held in 2013, ISSLS had only been held in Asia three times. However, the Kyoto 2019 meeting will mark three meetings held in Asia in just a seven year period of time, showing a strong shift towards Asia. (Seoul 2014, Singapore 2016, Kyoto 2019)

– The 31st Annual Meeting of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE 2018)

During their Annual meeting held in Berkley, CA in June of this year, SASE chose Kyoto to host the 30^th annual meeting from June 23 – 25, 2018 with 1,000 delegates from 18 different countries expected.

Kyoto is the first destination outside of Europe or the Americas to ever to successfully attract SASE. 2018 will be a milestone year for SASE as Kyoto will be its first ever meeting in Asia. Throughout the bidding process, KCVB worked with local representatives to provide consulting, tools and other support including subsidies for the meeting.

Kyoto’s Doshisha University, which will host the congress, has a strong international presence in the field of socio-economics.  SASE 2019 is expected to establish Kyoto as a base for socio-economic study in Asia. There are high expectations that the congress will increase Kyoto’s notoriety and spread understanding and appreciation for Kyoto and Japan throughout the world. KCVB hopes that this can pave the way for SASE and similar meetings to add Asia into their regular rotation.

– 5th World Parkinson Congress (WPC 2019)

In June of this year the WPC chose Kyoto in a unanimous vote to host their first Asian congress. WPC will bring approximately 3,200 delegates from 50 different countries from June, 2019. WPC invites patients and families to participate and is expected to have a significant impact in the lives of people with Parkinson’s in Japan and Asia.

As an innovative, young congress that is experiencing rapid growth, a successful meeting in Asia is crucial for the future of the congress. Factors like Japan’s highly respected Parkinson’s doctors and specialists, including doctors in Kyoto, the destination’s safety, and the bureau’s proactive support in engaging with the congress’s vision that helped give WPC the confidence they needed to bring their congress to Asia for the first time.

KCVB representative, Matthew Stevens comments that Kyoto would like to bring more congresses to Asia.

“As Asian meeting destinations, we all are very aware of the great contribution that international meetings offer our communities, so of course we compete fiercely with each other. But ultimately I believe we all know we are in the same boat. This friendly competition is building capacity and demand for the meetings industry in Asia.

“Here in Kyoto, we recognize that international meetings are building a better future for the world and we want to support them in their vision. We want to encourage congresses that aren’t coming to Asia to broaden their perspectives, look beyond their current comfort zones. We have something special to offer here that can’t be found anywhere else in the world and we have the support and resources to make sure your first meeting in Asia will be a success.

“We want to see many congresses coming back again and again to Kyoto, but we also hope we can contribute to opening new doors for Asia.”

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For more information:

Yoshiaki Matsui, Matthew Stevens

Kyoto Convention & Visitors Bureau

Tel: +81 75 212 4140, Fax: +81 75 212 4121

E-mail: kyoto@hellokcb.or.jp

Website: https://meetkyoto.jp/en