The Osaka International Convention Center or “Grand Cube Osaka” opened in April 2000. Located on Nakanoshima Island, it is a steel-frame building approximately 105 meters high that offers 67,000 square meters of floor space on thirteen floors plus three basement levels. It has simultaneous interpretation facilities that can accommodate eight different languages at the same time, large projection equipment, a special hall for international conferences, a main hall that can hold about 2,700 people, conference rooms of varying sizes, and more. “Dedicated to providing the utmost in quality, service, and usability, OICC offers the perfect setting for a diverse range of events, including conferences, music concerts, and exhibitions.”

The Convention Center, together with the adjacent Rihga Royal Hotel, was one of two main convention venues (the combination was referred to in the convention program and transportation guide as RRH/OICC). The meeting rooms of the convention center were used for the afternoon seminars, and the lobby provided space for several official booths and stage for entertainment.

Other convention activities were on the second and third floors of the hotel.

• On the second floor, a warren of separate rooms housed representatives of several R.I. functions (the Secretariat, The Rotarian) as well as booths manned by representatives of numerous Rotary Recreational and Vocational Fellowships and club and district projects.

• Two large rooms on the third floor accommodated the House of Friendship, one room containing booths for vendors of food and other merchandise, the other with tables for eating or just sitting and a stage for continuous entertainment.

On the lobby floor of the hotel, overlooked by the balcony connecting the hotel’s two towers, was a glass-walled space with a stream running through it. Here, for the duration of the convention, Dr. Genshitsu Sen, chairman of the 2004 Osaka Convention Committee and a fifteenth-generation grand tea master, presented demonstrations of the tea ceremony for interested convention-goers.

Although we walked to and from the OICC/RRH frequently, we never got much of a perspective on them. Luckily the RI official photographer captured them both from across the Dojima River and from the bridge on Amidaike-suji (Amidaike Avenue).