Masterpieces of Japanese architecture, Kyoto International Conference Center

Designed by the architect Sachio Otani, Kyoto International Conference Center is a truly remarkable structure, one of the masterpieces of the Japanese Metabolism architectural style. The impression received while passing along this huge building varies according to the angle from which it is viewed... Here it is, seen from the entrance, where for me it looks like a spaceship that just landed in the middle of a Japanese garden.

I wanted to see this building ever since I first saw the Sydney Pollack's movie "Yakuza" (with Robert Mitchum and Ken Takakura), filmed here in 1974, 8 years after the inauguration. The Kyoto International Conference Center certainly had its heydays, another cult film, John Frankenheimer's "The Challenge" (with Scott Glenn and Toshirō Mifune) was also shot here in 1982, and the famous Kyoto Protocol on climate change was signed here in 1997.

Today, from a tourist point of view, it is almost forgotten, but I'm sure there are things to come for this amazing construction because a large part of it is covered in scaffolding...