VENUE
The venue of the XXI Congress and Assembly of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr2008) is Grand Cube Osaka (Osaka International Convention Center), Osaka, Japan. This convention center is equipped with all the modern facilities for any kinds of conventional events. It takes 10 min. by taxi and 15 min. by City Bus from JR Osaka Station. The shuttle bus service of RIHGA ROYAL HOTEL is available between the hotel (next to the venue) and JR Osaka Station or Subway Yodoyabashi Station. Complimentary shuttle bus service is also available especially in the busy time of the congress.

HOTEL SHUTTLE BUS
Rihga Royal Hotel serves the shuttle bus between JR Osaka Station and Hotel, and Subway Yodoyabashi Station and Hotel.

Time Schedule

JR Osaka Station – Hotel:
Service time: 07:45 – 22:15
Interval:
07:45 – 10:00; 15 minutes
10:00 – 21:00; 6 minutes
21:00 – 22:15; 15 minutes

Subway Yodoyabashi Station – Hotel:
Service time: 07:55 – 21:55
Interval: 15 minutes

COMPLIMENTARY SHUTTLE BUS
Complimentary shuttle buses are available between Subway Yodoyabashi Station and Osaka International Convention Center in the busy time during IUCr2008. The bus has the capacity of 42 persons.
Please refer shuttle bus stop and schedule below.

August 23 (Sat)

Yodoyabashi Station --> Osaka International Convention Center

Every 10 minutes between 13:00 and 20:10 departure.
Participants attending Welcome Reception can take following shuttle buses:
Depart: Rihga Royal Hotel
Arrive: Yodoyabashi Station
Every 10 minutes between 21:30 and 22:30.

August 24 (Sun) – August 30 (Sat)

Yodoyabashi Station --> Osaka International Convention Center

Every 6 minutes between 7:30 and 10:00 departure.
Bus stop of Yodoyabashi station is the same as that for the Hotel Shuttle Bus shown above.

PARKING
The majority of hotels have private parking facilities. An underground paying parking lot is located on the basement floor of the Convention Center.

GENERAL INFORMATION DESK
Assistance and general information is available at the Registration Desk. ”Messages” board is located close to the Registration Desk. On the board, a limited area is reserved for personal communications. Please do not forget to date your messages. As they will be removed after two days of posting.

OPENING HOURS OF THE REGISTRATION DESK ON-SITE
Registration desk will open at 11:00am on Saturday 23, August 2008. Opening hours are 08:00 - 18:00 from Sunday 24 to Saturday 30, August 2008.

OFFICIAL WEB SITE
The official Web site of the congress is: www.iucr2008.jp.
In the Web site, participants will be able to submit abstracts, to register at the congress, to make reservations for hotels and tours and to find the updated version of the Scientific Program. Any news on the congress will be announced in the official Web site.

LANGUAGE
The official language of the congress is English. Sessions and posters will be presented in English.

EXHIBITION
A professional exhibition is scheduled to take place in conjunction with the congress, from Sunday 24 to Wednesday 27, August 2008. For more detailed information please visit the Web site www.iucr2008.jp.

PHOTO EXHIBITION
An exhibition on 60th Anniversary of IUCr takes place in R-1004, 1005 form Sunday 24 to Saturday 30.
Wiiliam L. Duax will give an explanatory talk on photo exhibition at the luncheon seminar in D-1003 on Saturday 30.

INTERNET AND FAX
Internet connection will be provided during the congress hours. A FAX machine is available at the Business Center located on the 11th floor in the venue. Opening hours are 8:30am - 7:00pm.

CLIMATE
August temperatures in Osaka range from 24°C at night to 32°C during the daytime. Sometimes it reaches 35°C, but all trains, buses, hotels and the Congress venue are fully air conditioned.

CLOTHING
Informal for all the occasions.

CURRENCY AND BANKS
The currency in Japan is the yen. You can exchange major currencies or travellers' cheques at international airports, major branches of major banks, and some of the large hotels. A passport may be required for currency exchange services. These are easy to find in downtown Osaka. Banks are open from Monday to Friday, 9:00-15:00 and closed on Saturday and Sunday. Some automated teller machines (ATMs) are available for withdrawing from 9:00 to 19:00 at almost all major banks. Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Diners Club cards are widely accepted at hotels, department stores, shops, and restaurants as well as at major train stations.

LUNCHES
In the Congress Venue, there are a restaurant, a open cafeteria, and a tea room with a total of ca.500 seats. Inexpensive lunch boxes, sandwitches and hotdogs are also available.

LUNCHEON SEMINARS
The luncheon seminars will be taken place by the following sponsors. The lunch box is served on first-come and firstserved basis. The number in parentheses are the total number of lunch boxes.

For more information: Sponsored Seminar Program (PDF)

August 24, Sunday
C-1001.2; Bruker AXS K.K. (200)
E-1009; Rigaku Corp. (200)

August 25, Monday
C-1001.2; Fluidigm Corp. (200)
E-1009; Rigaku Corp. (200)

August 26, Thusday
C-1001.2; Rigaku Corp. (200)
E-1009; International Centre for Diffraction Data (200)

August 27, Wednesday
C-1001,2; Spectris Co. Ltd. (200)
E-1009; Rigaku Corp. (200)

August 28, Thursday
C-1001,2; Sysmex Corp. (200)
D-1003; Spring-8 (200)

August 29, Friday
D-1003; J-PARC (400)

August 30, Saturday
D-1003; IUCr Photo Exibition (400)

ELECTRICITY
The Japanese electric current is 100 V, 60-cycle AC (in western Japan including Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka). The plugs are flat two pin, identical to US and Canadian plugs.

TIME
Japan is all on the same time zone, 9 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Daylight-saving time is not used in Japan.

BUSINESS HOURS AND SHOPS
Shops are typically open seven days a week from around 10 am to 8 pm. There are many shops and restaurants in Osaka area. Please find more information at the information desk.

POST OFFICE
The main post office is located next to JR Osaka station. Post offices are open from Monday to Friday, 9:00-17:00. Hotels often provide simple postage services.

TIPPING AND CONSUMER TAX
Tipping is not customary in Japan. However, major restaurants or hotels may add a 10% to 15% service charge. Japan has a 5% consumer tax.

PASSPORT AND VISA
Valid passport is required to enter Japan.
Participants from certain countries may be required to obtain a visa to enter Japan. If you are uncertain about your requirements, please consult your nearest Japanese Embassy or Consulate, or visit the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (http://www.mofa.go.jp/index.html)
If you need an individual invitation letter to obtain a visa, please contact IUCr2008 official travel agent Kinki Nippon Tourist Co., Ltd. directly by E-mail at eckansai2@or.knt.co.jp with your registration No. and Abstract No. or the document to prove your affiliation (e.g. Certificate of Employment)

Registration No.	We require payment of registration fee as a condition of issuance of visa. Every participant who requires the invitation letter must give us the registration number.
Abstract No.	We will issue the invitation letter for the first author/ co-author of submitted abstracts. Please state your abstract number to show you are the first author/ co-author of submitted abstracts.
Document to prove your affiliation	Participants who do not have Abstract No. must attach the document to prove your affiliation (e.g. Certificate of Employment).

Please note that visa application process might take much longer in some countries. We highly recommend you to consider it at your earliest convenience. If you have any question about the form, please contact: eckansai2@or.knt.co.jp

If you need to receive the invitation letter from the Local Organizing Committee before above requirements will be satisfied, please contact secretariat office by e-mail at iucr2008@congre.co.jp with the information of one of below three categories;

Category 1: (If any of the above three questions is yes, you can skip following two categories.)
(1) Have you any position in the Committees of IUCr or in ACA, AsCA and ECA? If so, please write the position.
(2) Are you a speaker of the IUCr Congress? Please write the KN or MS number.
(3) Have you received IUCr support? If so, please write young or senior.

Category 2:
If you have published a paper in any international journal, please inform the name of the journal, volume, page, year. You can skip category 3.

Category 3:
If you do not have any information for above Category 1 and 2, a recommendation letter from your director or supervisor in your Institution or Department is required.

CITY TRANSPORTATION
Osaka is the center of an extensive rail network that spreads across the Kansai region. Ancient capitals, Kyoto and Nara, are each about 50 min., and Himeji Castle is about 70 min. from Osaka. JR and some private railways (Hankyu, Keihan and Kintetsu lines) offer easy access from Osaka to Kyoto, Nara and Himeji. Osaka city has a good subway network and a JR loop line that circles the city area. You can reach the Osaka Castle and Shitennoji Temple using the train network. Subways and JR stations are clearly marked in English as well as Japanese. Osaka has a bus system as easy as the rail network, though it has fewer English signs. For general transport, taxis are plentiful but are relatively more expensive.