The first ever US - Japan housing conference will be held on November 11 and 12 at the Tokyo Big Site, Ariake. The conference is a follow-up to the Mondale conference held in Seattle last September where nearly 300 US participants heard about deregulation and the Japanese housing market.

The upcoming conference is primarily intended for a Japanese audience and will provide information on US design, construction and building materials. Separate sessions will be held in English for US attendees to provide market updates and information. Plans call for a business forum for US exporters to meet with Japanese buyers attending the conference. It is hoped the new US ambassador for Japan (nominee not confirmed yet) will address the conference and senior Japanese officials will be involved with some of the presentations.

For the Japanese attendees, the program will be divided into three different focus areas: post and beam construction; 2x4 housing; and interiors. Conference registration fee will be 22,000 yen or about $200 per person. A web site will be available in August to provide regular updates on the conference and registration information. The web site address is

http://www2.gol.com/users/afpajpn

Sponsors of the conference include the American Forest & Paper Association and CTED. The conference coincides with the Japan Home Show (November 11 - 14) which is also being held at Big Site. Attendees will be able to attend and participate in both events if they wish. CTED is offering an affordable catalog option for Washington State companies interested in the Japan Home Show. CTED is organizing a 2 - 4 booth catalog display for this purpose. Cost per company will be $350. A US pavilion, coordinated by the US Department of Commerce will be available for companies wanting full booth space.

A related program will be the Washington State Housing Trade Mission the following week, November 17-21. The mission will give seminar presentations in Nagoya, Shizuoka, Yokohama, Utsunomiya and Fukushima. The mission will be sponsored jointly by CTED and JETRO. Participation fees per company will be between $500-800.

See accompanying program matrix and registration form for further details on participation.

Washington State will have a12 booth pavilion at the Kobe Interhome Fair, September 3-6. Participating companies include Milgard Windows, Ostermann & Scheiwe, Orepac Building Supply, Home Builders Center, Premier Building Systems, Resource One, Saris Building Corp., Cascade Components, Evergreen Partnership/PNW Building Materials Showcase, Home Depot, Asian Housing Services and Trinity Glass.

Participating companies will give seminars during the show on September 6, including a product installation and maintenance demonstration by Milgard Windows. A featured main seminar for the show this year will cover the US building inspection system and will be given by a speaker from the City of Seattle Inspection Services Division.

A program in late September will be held in Matsuyama on Shikoku Island. The Ehime International Trade Fair Association is sponsoring the Ehime International Housing and Products Fair, which will take place September 18-20. Washington State has been given 6 free booths and these are available to any Washington State company to use. Although this is a smaller regional show, it may be of interest to companies displaying at KIHF or to Washington State companies with offices in Japan.

Companies interested in the Ehime Housing Show should contact Mark Calhoon at (206)464-7143 by August 31st.

Comprehensive Export to Japan Study Program for The Washington State Housing and Building Products Industry October 3rd & 10th 9am- 5pm

This will be an intensive two day program sponsored by the Washington State Department of Community Trade and Economic Development and the US Department of Commerce. It is designed to prepare new to market companies to deal with the complexities of the Japanese housing and building materials market. Topics will include:

• The Housing and Building Products Market & Distribution Systems in Japan

• Building Codes/Product Certification & Testing

• Site/Worker/Visa Related Issues

• Cultural Issues/Problem Solving/Case Studies

• Marketing/Trade Show Opportunities

The cost for participation is $125.00. For more information or to register call Kelly Butler at (206) 553-7250.