IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2017 - 14

Sapporo,
Hokkaido
2019 IEEE International Symposium
on Circuits and Systems,
Sapporo Convention Center
http://www.iscas2019.org/
Like northern New England in the
U.S. or the Grenoble region of France
(which are on about the same latitude),
the island of Hokkaido offers cool
forests in summer, snow sports in
winter, and blazing fall foliage.
"Visitors of all nations have
always selected Sapporo-with its
distinctive northern culture, delicious
food, and warm hospitality-as the
most attractive city in Japan," says
Professor Yoshikazu
Miyanaga, dean of the
Hokkaido University
Graduate School of
Information Science
and Technology, and
chair of the organizing
committee for the upcoming 2019
IEEE International Symposium on
Circuits and Systems (ISCAS 2019).
The flagship IEEE Circuits and Systems
Society (CASS) conference should
attract around 1,500 attendees. "Many
IEEE members and others who do not
belong to CASS attend to keep up with
cutting-edge research."
The Sapporo Convention Center,
says Professor Miyanaga, is
particularly well suited to international
technical symposia.
Getting there is easy, with more
than 50 scheduled flights from Tokyo's
Haneda Airport to Sapporo's ShinChitose International. The center of
Sapporo is only 30 to 60 minutes away
by rail, bus, or car, and "newcomers
can find their way around easily, even
without their smartphone GPS apps."

special advertising section

Meetings in Japan:

t's easy to forget how vast Japan is. The archipelago sweeps
2,850 km (a 1,770-mile sweep)
from Wakkanai in northern Hokkaido, through Honshu, Kyushu,
Shikoku, and Okinawa to the islands of Taketomi and Ishigaki far
to the south. Along that arc lies a
tremendous variety of landscapes,
climates, local cultures, and attractive meeting venues.
In 2016 alone, IEEE societies
sponsored 50 international and
regional meetings in Japan. Most
convened in the capital region,
from Tokyo to Kyoto, but tech
meeting organizers are increasingly looking to other venues, from
the semi-Alpine north, where Hokkaido has hosted 7 major IEEE
meetings since 2013, to semitropical Okinawa Prefecture, which has
welcomed 10 IEEE conferences in
four years. (For a list of IEEE meetings in Japan 2016-2019, see http://
bit.ly/2hKoawk.)
"We would like to let organizers
know the charms of not only the
metropolis but also regional cities
in Japan," says Etsuko Kawasaki,

Executive Director of
the Japan Convention
Bureau, part of the Japan National Tourism
Organization (JNTO).
Competitive Costs
Once considered an expensive destination, Japan is increasingly competitive, says Ms. Kawasaki. The
December 2016 exchange rate was
115 yen per U.S. dollar, compared
to 78 yen five years ago. On average,
a trip to Tokyo can be significantly
less expensive than a visit to Paris,
London, or (most expensive) New
York City.
And there is, moreover, "a wide
range of venues...and you can select a
suitable one that meets your budget,"
particularly outside of the big cities-
one more reason to consider Japan's
smaller cities and outlying islands.
Getting Around Is Easy
Foreigners are often daunted by the
thought of getting around in Japan.
They don't need to be.
"Traveling to regional cities is
easier than meeting planners and

http://www.iscas2019.org/ http://http:// http://www.bit.ly/2hKoawk

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2017