ITS Japan held "The 5^th Japan ITS Promotion Forum" on November 24th and 25^th in Tokyo with the theme, "New Generation of Sustainable Transport Systems Under the National Strategic Plans." The forum also focused on the Smart City and the Next Generation Automobile utilizing ITS.

On the first day, the event started with the Keynote Speech by Professor Hideaki Miyata, University of Tokyo about "Policy on an Environmentally Sustainable City for the Future" followed by Mr. Akira Matsunaga, the Counsellor of Cabinet Secretariat and Mr. Toshimichi Hanai of ITS Japan about ITS action plans. Then, the five representatives from the ITS-related ministries had a panel discussion moderated by Mr. Hajime Amano, President of ITS Japan.

The event also picked up the topics about advanced technologies, welcoming experts on "Next Generation Vehicle Batteries" and "Wireless Charging for Electric Vehicles," followed by an overview of the scope and project reports from the four model cities regarding "A Smart Community with Area Energy Management."

On the second day, the program started with the session "Electric Cars and Road Transport Systems" with the presentations and status reports on EV projects from the three local governments. The latter half of the day was devoted to the international arena. After the first part, "Review of the 17^th ITS World Congress, Busan 2010", we welcomed the four invited guests from overseas, Ms. Sheryl J. Wilkerson, President of Willow LLC, on behalf of ITS America, Mr. Vincent Blervaque from ERTICO - ITS Europe, Mr. Xiaojing Wang, the Vice Chairman of ITS China, and Professor SK Jason Chang from ITS Taiwan. They delivered presentations and discussed upcoming ITS events.

The Forum was attended by almost three hundred participants.

(From left) Mr. Hajime Amano (ITS Japan), Mr. Xiaojing Wang, (ITS China) Mr. Vincent Blervaque, (ERTICO - ITS Europe), Ms. Sheryl Wilkerson, (Willow LLC - ITS America)
Professor Jason Chang, (ITS Taiwan)