Hokkaido Toyako Summit
Venues
Kyoto, which boasts an illustrious history stretching back over 1,200 years, has developed a rich culture nurtured by tradition in the course of playing its role as a crossroads of civilization. In addition, Kyoto has been adept at taking in aspects of culture from elsewhere in Japan and overseas, and blending them with existing forms to create new and distinctive forms of culture. Kyoto is the point of origin of the well-known Japanese hospitality culture that includes tea ceremony, flower arrangement, etc., as well as of much of what has come to be seen as definitively Japanese food culture such as tea ceremony dishes and vegetable dishes. Furthermore, Kyoto is the home of many Japanese festive traditions, the most notable of which are the Aoi Matsuri, the Gion Matsuri, the Jidai Matsuri, and the Gozan no Okuribi, a traditional event in which fires are set alight on each of the five mountains that surround the city. In hosting the Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting, Kyoto will seek to appeal to the world its "high cultural abilities," including its cultural creativity and its intellectual assets, which can be described as forming a major component of Japanese identity.
