Location

The conference will be held in Kobe, Japan. Kobe is a historical port-city, having a population of approximately 1.5 million. The port-city of Kobe, together with Osaka and Kyoto, form the focal points of population concentration, industrial activity and transportation in the Kansai area. Kobe's urbanized area is nestled between the Rokko Mountain Range and Osaka Bay. Visitors can enjoy the beautiful views of the mountains and the bay, as well as strolls around the vibrant and historic city centre.

Venue

The venue for the conference is the Port Island campus of Kobe Gakuin University (KGU), a private, co-educational university located on the western edge of the city of Kobe, in Hyogo Prefecture in Japan. It was founded in 1966 and overlooks the city of Akashi, the Akashi Straits and the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge - the longest suspension bridge in the world.

Airports

The closest international airport is Kansai International Airport (KIX). Port Island is also the home to Kobe's domestic airport: Marine Air. Cheap flights from Haneda (Tokyo) for about 10,000 yen can be found at Skymark's website.

From Kansai Int'l Airport to Kobe (Sannomiya Station)

Sannomiya Station is considered the center of downtown Kobe. From there you can reach Kobe Gakuin University.

Getting to Sannomiya from KIX is very easy and takes about 60 minutes via limousine bus. Exit the arrival hall and walk about 30 m to the left. Find the ticket machine and buy a one-way (1,800 yen) or roundtrip (3,000 yen - valid for 2 weeks) ticket, and line up at Bus Stop #6. There are also options to take trains or even the high-speed ferry to Port Island, but as the train is more expensive and requires a transfer in Osaka, and the ferry requires a shuttle bus and the monorail, the limousine bus is by far the best choice for anyone staying in Sannomiya.

Getting to Sannomiya from Other Locations

Sannomiya is accessible via the Hankyu or JR railways (two different companies). Via Osaka (from Hankyu Umeda or JR Osaka Station), Sannomiya can be reached in 20 minutes. The trip from Kyoto takes 50 minutes.

The JR Shinkansen (bullet train) stops at Shin Kobe (map), from which it is a 15 minute walk downhill or a 3 minute subway ride to Sannomiya Station. Another slightly cheaper option is to take the Shinkansen to Shin Osaka, and transfer to the rapid local train; this will get you to Sannomiya in 25 minutes. People coming from the West by Shinkansen have the option of stopping at Nishi Akashi, transferring to a local train and riding for another 20 minutes, or going directly to Shin Kobe.

Getting to KGU

Monorail. KGU is just ten minutes by the Portliner monorail from Sannomiya Station. The monorail runs every 5-10 minutes and costs 240 yen. The stop for Kobe Gakuin is Shimin Byoin Mae. The trip from Sannomiya Station takes 9 minutes. From there it is an 8 minute walk (or 3 minute taxi ride) to the campus.

Shuttle bus. Another more limited option is to take the Kobe Gakuin Shuttle bus from in front of the the Sogo Department store near Sannomiya Station. That bus stop is about 20 m west of the place the airport bus lets people off. Note that buses (#240) during March are only scheduled for 08:28, 08:45,10:15,10:30:12:35,14:35.

Taxi. A third option would be taxi from Sannomiya, but that might run 1,200-1,500, making it a convenient but more expensive option.

The Conference Site

The conference will be held in Building B on the second and third  floors of Kobe Gakuin University's Port Island Campus (KPC).  As the campus itself is quite spacious, on the water and there are only 3 buildings, it should not be hard to find (see Map 1 (scroll down to see KPC map) and Map 2). There is an overhead walkway from next to the Shimin Byoin Hospital which will take you directly to the campus (about 500m).  Building A is the tallest and is a 6 story tower-like structure. Building B is also on the water and across the plaza to the right of Building A. Signs will be posted at the entrance to campus indicating how to find the conference building and rooms.