Green Tech Tour of Eco-Products 2008 in Japan

English tours at Japan’s largest eco-fair show international visitors the hottest green gadgets from a country renown for technological innovation.

At RICOH booth, we saw the demonstration of a new erasable advance paper. Printed document on this advance paper can be erased by ironing and be ready for another round of printing.

I had an opportunity to take the English guided tour at Eco-Products 2008. The Eco-Products exhibition is one of the largest green fairs in Japan, showing all kinds of green products and services to the public. The event draws a large number of visitors. It’s possibly the world’s largest event of its kind. The tenth Eco-Products 2008 exhibition was successful enough to attract 173,917 visitors this year according to the event organizer.

Visitors came from all over the world to see the latest of Japanese green activities. To accommodate such foreign visitors, guided tours in English, Chinese and Korean, were offered for free by volunteer staff from Japan for Sustainability (JFS) and EcoNetworks (ENW). The English guided tours were offered twice during the three-day event, but you needed to register for the tour beforehand at JFS’s website.

Our tour was guided by Frank H. Ling Ph.D. from USA, who works as a researcher for the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies in Japan. Our group had five visitors including me plus a lead guide, Mr. Ling, with a few more staff for additional assistance.

• » See also: Bioengineers Speed Up Evolution to Make Better Bacteria
• » Get EcoWorldly by RSS or sign up by email.

The tour was about one hour. We visited many interesting booths, which were selected from over 700 exhibitors by the guide team. The wireless headsets were provided to everyone, so we would not miss what the guides were saying in the crowded exhibition hall. We could ask questions in English to the exhibitors with help from the guide team, which provided translation.

I was very impressed that Mr Ling was very knowledgeable on various environmental subjects, and he speaks Japanese too! Other visitors in my group included an international corporate director, a foreign visiting national working in Japan for a major US corporation and a business representative from Africa. They all seemed to appreciate the tour.

I believe the guided tour will be offered for the 2009 event too, which is scheduled for December 10, 11, and 12, 2009. The tour was very interesting and a great opportunity to learn more than I could have on my own. All staff were friendly and helpful. I recommend the tour for everyone who is planning to visit the event next year. In addition to the English guided tour, there was an English information desk just in case you need help and guidance. An English map and brochure were also freely available at the fair.

After the tour, the tour guide, Frank, and I chatted. I found out that he had been in a master program at UC Santa Barbara, where I had my undergraduate education in Environmental Studies. Such a small world, we said.

Related Posts:

• Eco-Products 2008, One of Japan’s Biggest Environmental Fairs to Open This Week
• Japan: Eco-Products 2008 - day 1
• Free Eco-Bags Galore at Eco-Products Fair 2008

Related Links:

• Japan for Sustainability (JFS) is a NPO promoting and leading sustainable society. Lester R. Brown (Earth Policy Institute) is one of the directors at JFS.
• EcoNetworks supports JFS and offers consulting services on CSR.

Image Credit: All pictures are taken by Tetsuya Yokoyama. Above, left: Dr. Ling, is introducing a waterless urinal from INAX. This urinal surprisingly does not require flushing.

Tweet This Post