18 February. On 24 - 31 January, the Director-General visited Tokyo and Nara, Japan, to participate in meetings organized in by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU), Sophia University and the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties. During his stay, he delivered the keynote speech at the International Conference on "Human Resources Development for Cultural Heritage Protection" held by ACCU and the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties in Nara (27-30 January).

While in Japan the Director-General met with:

• Mr Shogo ARAI, Governor of Nara Prefecture
• Mr Gen NAKAGAWA, Nara City Mayor
• Mr Isao KISO, Director-General for International Affairs, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan and Secretary General of the Japanese National Commission for UNESCO
• Mr Norio SUZUKI, Director, Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties
• Mr Satoshi YAMATO, Architecture Division, Agency for Cultural Affairs and ICCROM Council Member
• Mr Hideo TAMAI, Commissioner, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan
• Mr Hiroyuki SEKI, Director-General, Cultural Properties Department, Agency for Cultural Affairs
• Mr Yoshiaki ISHIZAWA, President, Sophia University of Tokyo
• Mr Rei Harada and Mr Yagi, Japan Consortium for International Cooperation in Cultural Heritage
• Ms Ping KONG, Asia-Pacific World Heritage Training and Research Institute.