FAQ

Can you help us to reserve hotels beforef the Pre-Congress Tours on Mar. 6th and after the Post-Congress Tours on 17th, 2025 ?

Participants should pay the fee after our confirmation. 　

(New) Do we have to pay the International Bank Transfer Fee ?　

Can we select the A+D+E ?　

Do we have to complete the "Arrival and Departure Data” ?　

Our bank doesn’t allow payment using Swift code.　

Can we pay with a credit card, debit cards and/or Paypal?　

Do we have to prepare some japanese Yen ? 　

Price of a lunch and a dinner and Tipping in Japan 　

Good news (Dec. 17, 2024) ! (We can afford to invite you two dinners during B or C course.) 　

Can we select the single room ?　

Do Japanese staffs understand the difference between "One single individual room" and "a room for a single individual” ?　

What airport do you recommend for arrival and departure? 　

(New) For a course A, is it more convenient to land at Komatsu Airport or land at Haneda Airport and take the Shinkansen?

Are we supposed to plan for another flight for Komatsu? If so please can you confirm if that is already included in the congress package?　

Chinzanso Tokyo Hotel is an expensive, five-star hotel. Can you negotiate a lower rate for conference participants who stay there? 　

Though you can change Euro, US dollar, and other currencies to yen in Japan by using money changer at the International Airport or can use your credit cards (not all cards) by using ATM not only at the Airport but also at convenient stores ( such as Seven Eleven), Japan Post Bank (Yubin-kyoku) or hotels by Visa, Master, or 銀聯 cards, we are afraid that you will not be able to find the ATMs or that it takes time. Therefore, we recommend you to bring some Japanese Yen from your country.

In Japan, you can not use your credit card not only on the taxi, but also some restaurants and some ATM of the bank depend on the type of your credit card. Please note that dinner on 7th, 8th (Pre-congress Tour), 10th, 11th (Congress), 14th and 15th and lunch on 14th and 15th (Post-congress Tour). We hope you enjoy Japan by yourself ( Instruction sheet of the Registration form).

After the information on December 15, 2024, we got some questions as participants abroad are unfamiliar with the cost of restaurant meals in Japan.

1) What is the everyday price of a lunch and a dinner in Japan ?

2) Tipping in Japan.

1) Common lunch in Japan is less than 1,500 yen and for dinner, 3,000 yen is enough. Generally speaking, the restaurants in hotels are expensive and it was difficult to find an appropriate restaurant which can accept 100 guests. You can find some reasonable price and small size restaurants, 10- 20 guests, if you walk around the hotel.

2) I have never given a tip in Japan.

In the Instruction sheet of the file of “Registration form”, you can find the "(3) Fees” as follows,

(3) Fees

The fee includes not only the transportation, but also the following meals (0) and accomodations (0) during the congress.

We will reimburse some dinner (x) when we can afford to pay.

(x) dinner on 7th 8th (Pre-congress Tour) 10th 11th (Congress) 14th and 15th (Post-congress Tour) and lunch on 14th and 15th (Post-congress Tour).

The fee is very reasonable, because we do not employ assistants and convention company, and the member of our Organising Committee are volunteer and are not paid money at all.

Good news !

We can afford to invite you two dinners during B or C course. So you have to pay for 2 lunches and 4 dinners.

We will send an email on the "Booking confirmation” after we receive the "Registration Form”. There we will check the amount of the fee again. As we found a few wrong amounts of the fee on the appliation, please pay only after you receive our email, "Booking confirmation” . You can pay the fee any time (check the exchange rate) as the “first-come first-served” basis is only for the registration.

Pls note that you have to pay the bank transfer fee both in your country (about 3,500 yen) and in Japan (about 2,500 yen) as the instruction say. Some of the applicants sent their fee to our bank account, 2,500 yen or 6,000 yen smaller than the correct amount of their fee. Their bank should charge them 3,500 yen as their bank fee and also 2,500 yen as our bank fee. But the bank officer might think that the fee we requested includes the cost of the bank transfer. Then we shall charge them the rest of the fee at the reception of the Hotel Chinzanso, Tokyo.

Further, if you help your friends to send the fee, you can save not only the cost, but also their labour. The cost of the international bank transfer will be 7,000 (3,500 + 2,500) yen for one time.

We asked you to select one from the following six course combinations. A+C+E B+D+E A+C B+D C+E C But, if some of you have been Oshima already, please let me know your choice. If you do not want to select one of the six combinations, you are allowed to choose the combination, A+D+E, A+D or D+E.

You do not have to complete the cells of "Arrival and Departure Data” when you send us the "Registration Form". But please let us know the data later when you reserve the Airplane.

We had known that some local bank and many branches of even a big bank all over the world refuse the “international" bank transfer. At that time we will recommend the applicants to ask your director or MR who use the big bank.

No, you can not use the credit card, debit cards and/or Paypal !!! We asked the bank officer and also checked the credit card by myself. There are many problems ; 1) The credit company charges 4-5 %. It means that if the amount of the total fee shall be 50,000,000 yen, they shall charge us 2,000,000 - 2,500,000 yen. For the bank transfer, 7.000 yen/each time, 45 EUR in Europe, is cheaper this time. The participants must pay the extra cost finally; 2) If we contract with some credit card companies (for example, Visa, Master, American Express), Chinese card, JCB card or other minor credit card user must complain it; 3) The bank officer did not help us at all, but said many problems might be there in our case; 4) We are not sure, but we are afraid you can not use the credit card from Europe or America in sending the money to the other region, as Japanese could not use the credit card in sending the fee to Italy.
Then we stoped checking the Paypal and debid systems. Many debid cards are considered that they can not use the cards for this purpose outside of their country and region. Anyhow, we decided not opening the credit card account this time.
We, of course, can use our credit cards for shopping or cashing even abroad.

We know that European people prefer the single room. Then we had reserved enough rooms in the Hotel Chinzanso and two hotels in Oshima, one of which has single bed rooms (Hotel Shiraiwa). So, pls do not hesitate choosing the single room, if you want.

But, the style of the Oshima Onsen Hotel (better) is a kind of traditional Japanese inn; 1) no single room; but 2-1) twenty-six Tatami mat rooms with Futon for family (3-5 people); and 2-2) six European style twin rooms with two beds. So if you are kind enough not to choose the single room in Oshima during the course C and if you want to enjoy the Japanese style inn or Japanese culture there, you have to stay in the room with three people but not two people. We expect more than 23 groups choose the Tatami mat rooms for three (3 x 23 = 69 and 2 x 6 = 12, 69 + 12 = 81) , but now (Aug. 30th) only 8 groups (3 x 8 = 24) did among 106 applicants of the C course. We think the capacity of the Oshima Onsen Hotel (better) must be 80 and that of the Hotel Shiraiwa 60. And if needed, we will prepare other small hotel in Oshima island. Please ask your friends to stay together during the C course.

While, as the Hotel Chinzanso is one of the very best hotel which used be a four season hotel, they do not have small rooms. Therefore, the twin room is the basis, and if you want to stay alone it cost double. we know triple room is not so common outside of Japan, they can bring an extra bed (triple room = single supplement room? = three beds in one room?).

We hope the international guests enjoy a touch of Japanese style. We had better explain that the room system, more than two persons, used to be common in Japan as follows; In the Edo period of Japan, travel was very popular even among the common people. For example, one of the famous sight seeing spot was Ise shrine. Though it is located in a distance from Tokyo and 3 million travelers visited there/year. It took one month trip because they have to walk. They enjoyed the sightseeing on the way to the Ise shrine. There were 53 towns for the inn between Tokyo and Osaka. And one of the most popular trip was the hot spring inn for recuperation or for enjoy and they sometimes took their family together. Therefore, many hot spring inns were developed all over Japan. The Ohama Onsen Hotel (Onsen mean hot spring) is one of such hotel.

Thus we, Japanese, prefer sharing the room with our family or friends more than staying alone. This time, the reason why we recommend you to share a room is not only the cost and/or the capacity of the accommodation in Oshima island but also that we hope you enjoy the Japanese culture. There, you can enjoy the hot spring if you are brave enough.

We may misunderstand the difference. As we wrote above, in the Hotel Chinzanso and the Oshima Onsen Hotel, there are no "room for a single individual”, OK ? There are only big rooms and then expensive if you stay alone.
We had been afraid the reader of the "Registration Form” also misunderstood the expression of single room, twin room, triple room, and sometimes double room. The styles of the accommodation differ among the countries, especially between Japanese hotel or inn and European hotel.
While, recently, we changed some but not all rooms of the hotels other than the two hotels, Hotel Chinzanso and Oshima Onsen Hotel, from one single individual room (big room, expensive if you stay alone) to a room for a single individual (Cheap) by the advice of the travel agency for some reasons.
If we misunderstand the difference between "One single individual room" and "a room for a single individual”, pls let us know.

Arrival; 1) If you are going to take part in the A course of the Pre-Congress Tour, your final destination should be Komatsu Airport (KMQ), Japan near Kanazawa City, (Note) There are domestic flights between KMQ and Haneda International Airport (HND) in Tokyo and between KMQ and Fukuoka International Airport (FUK), but not between KMQ and Narita International Airport (NRT); 2) If you are going to start from B course of the Pre-Congress Tour or C or D course of the main Congress, your final destination should be Haneda International Airport (HND) in Tokyo or Narita International Airport (NRT) in Chiba prefecture near Tokyo.

Departure; 1) If you are going to leave Japan after the main Congress, you had better select the Haneda International Airport (HND) in Tokyo or Narita International Airport (NRT) in Chiba prefecture near Tokyo; 2) If you are going to leave Japan after the Post-Congress Tour, you had better select Kansai International Airport (KIX) near Osaka, but not Itami Airport (mainly domestic) near Osaka and Kyoto or via Haneda International Airport (HND) in Tokyo or Narita International Airport (NRT).

We recommend you to transit the Haneda International Airport to the domestic terminal for Kanazawa Airport, but not Shinkansen. If you take the Shinkansen, you have to move Tokyo JR (railroad) Station by limousine bus from Haneda Airport or Narita Airport with heavy laggage.
We will send your baggages from Kanazawa Tokyu Hotel to Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo, if you want. We hope we can afford to pay the shipping cost.

Both the domestic transportation to KMQ and the accommodation of Mar. 6th night are not included. But if you want, we will help you to reserve the Hotel Tavinos Hamamatsucho for Course B or the Kanazawa Tokyu Hotel for Course A.

If you want, we can reserve the same hotel, Kanazawa Tokyu Hotel, in Kanazawa city for Course A, the Hotel Tavinos Hamamatsucho near the Takeshiba for Course B and Karasuma Kyoto Hotel for Course E. As the Pre-Congress Tour starts from Mar. 7th, 2025 and the Post-Congress tour finish on the morning of Mar. 17th, the accommodation of Mar. 6th and 17th night are not included n the fee. Therefore, you have to pay the accomodation there by yourself.

(Course A: Kanazawa Tokyu Hotel, Mar. 6th, with breakfast)

Many twin rooms with 2 single beds and 10 double-bed rooms (occupied by 2 people) - 13,500 yen + Tax
Room with single occupancy (1 bed for 1 person) - 21,500 yen + Tax
Twin room or double-bed room (Single use) - 24,800 yen + Tax

(Course B: Hotel Tavinos Hamamatsucho, Mar. 6th, drink and snack for morning)

Room with single occupancy (1 bed for 1 person) - 12,000 yen + Tax
Twin room with 2 single beds (occupied by 2 people) - 8,000 yen + Tax
(They do not have double-bed rooms.)
Room with single occupancy (1 bed for 1 person) - 12,000 yen + Tax

(Course E: Karasuma Kyoto Hotel, Mar. 17th, with breakfast)

Many twin rooms with 2 single beds and 12 double-bed rooms (room occupied by 2 people) - 11,200 yen + Tax
Room with single occupancy (1 bed for 1 person) - 13,400 yen + Tax

We felt sorry when we asked you to choose B+D course than A+C course by limiting the capacity of the course A and B to be 60, on a first-come, first-served basis. The reasons why we set such a condition were 1) the capacity of the hotels on the small island of Oshima were much much less than 200 which we had originally imaged, and 2) we also assumed that there would be more applicants for Courses A+C than for Courses B+D. In fact, as of this morning, there were 65 applicants choose the Course A, which is more than the maximum number, 60.

However, we want all of the participants satisfy the congress as much as possible, so we discussed this with our travel agent yesterday. They have provisionally booked the two hotels on Oshima for 60 people each, but if 80 people will stay at the Oshima Onsen Hotel, we will have about 140 people, which make the capacity of the course A more. Then, we can increase the capacity of Course A to more than 100 people.
Don't worry, for the time being. There is room for the Course A more (maybe enough), even taking into account the first-come, first-served basis.

When we started planning this congress, we set the upper limit of the fee, less than 3,000 Euro as fee including the pre- and post- congress tours, which is cheaper than the previous recent congresses.
Though most of the congresses had been held in the local small cities and the costs were reasonable, we were asked to held the congress in Tokyo, a big capital city in Japan and then costs should be expensive. So we tried finding a cheaper hotel with a venue hall for the congress, but the hotels in Tokyo are very expensive.

One of our staff had a strong connection with the Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo which used to be one of the very best “Four season hotel" in the world and No 1 hotel in Japan, meaning more than five-star hotel. They offered very special price for our congress, much cheaper than other reasonable hotels in Tokyo, because camellia is a symbol of the hotel and they love camellia so much. That is why we select the Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo as a main venue of our congress. And the Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau of Tokyo Metropolitan support us financially, then we could set the fee less than 3,000 Euro finally. Pls understand that we work as just volunteer, and will pay the fee even Japanese director like us or staffs.

If not, can you recommend some less expensive hotels within one block of the Chinzanso Tokyo Hotel?


(Answer) You can stay in the hotel you reserved by yourself as well as the previous congress. Sorry but we can not afford to take care of any private tour. We will not reserve the hotels except the same hotels in Kanazawa and in Kyoto.
We recommend you to complete the registration form as soon as possible, beause the “ Early bird” and “first-come first-served” basis will be applied for booking but not for payment and you can cancel the booking without any charge until Dec. 20th. . Then we will calculate the actual fee, when you will not stay the Chinzanso during the main congress. As some Japanese staffs who live in Tokyo will not stay in the Hotel Chinzanso, we calculated their fee; as we should not charge the accommodation for three nights and breakfast and others (110,000 yen, twin room basis), the fee should be 160,000 yen (= 270,000 - 110,000 yen). Though the accommodation of the hotels are reasonable, we are sure you can find the cheaper ones by online. Pls do not hesitate to do so.

Second, is there a conference fee? If so, how much will it be; and what services will the fee include?

(Answer) Pls check the “Instrution” sheet of the registration form attached and FAQ page on the
https://hort.club/ICS/ICCongress.html
The 160,000 yen includes not only conference fee but also two parties, welcome and farewell, trip to Oshima or Saitama, proceedings and many other actual cost.

Third, please tell us about tours outside Tokyo. Can you please offer a one-day excursion from the Chinzanso Tokyo Hotel (CTH) to Oshima Island that will return to the CTH on the same day? Can you please offer a one-day excursion from the CTH to Yokohama-Saitama? I am suggesting that each of these single-day tours could be held on March 11, 12, 13, or 14. It will still leave time to attend sessions at the CTH!

(Answer) Pls see the
https://hort.club/ICS/ICCongress.html#Con
We can not afford to help the personal tour.

Fourth, we are interested in Tour E, the excursion to Osaka-Kyoto. Can ICS arrange for a discount for us on a bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto and a discount at the hotel in Kyoto?

(Answer) Sorry but it is impossible to pick you up at the JR station or at your hotel.

(Conclusion) Though we recommend you to stay the Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo, pls do not hesitate to reserve a reasonable hotel by yourself. We will calculate the fee when you reserve other hotel during the main congress. Pls circulate this email to the ICS member or friends in your country or region.