Final Circular

Post-Conference Excursion canceled for safety reasons

The post-conference excursion scheduled for 7 July at Ajisai Fall has been canceled. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding.

Online Payment System via the JTB portal is now available

It is mandatory for all participants to access the JTB portal (https://amarys-jtb.jp/ioc2023/) and complete payments for the registration and accommodation fees by 15 June 2023.

• If you would like to pay only the registration fee for the conference, please proceed to the "Start Payments" section and select "Registration Fees". Here, you can create your ID and password.

• If you would like to pay for both the registration and accommodation fees, please proceed to the "Start Payments" section and select both "Registration Fees" and "Accommodation Fee". Here, you can create your ID and password.

• Please note that payments for the registration fee can only be made with a credit card.

We kindly ask all participants to make payment for their registration fees based on their participation category.

• Onsite regular presenters (speakers): 20,000 JPY

• Onsite non-presenters: 10,000 JPY

• Onsite student attendees: 10,000 JPY

• Onsite accompanying persons (e.g., family): 10,000 JPY

• Online (Remote) participants in all categories: 3,000 JPY

Note: Registration fees for onsite participants include the costs of the excursion, the ice-breaker gathering, the Mayor’s reception, and the Conference dinner.

Conference Schedule and Presentation Program

Thanks to your valuable contributions, we have arranged a total of 60 oral presentations and 24 poster presentations. We expect around one hundred attendees in total. You can access the latest conference schedule and presentation program through the following websites.

• Conference Schedule: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18yBUkv5g3UWa4zST3LV67ymKbPujcBOXkyRdb0pUCbo/edit?usp=sharing

• Presentation Program: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kd1MQOS7ssVVc88d1-8ImjZbzhdbyFOVSJrfqcdLZt8/edit?usp=sharing

Presentation Guidelines

 Oral presentations (onsite): 

• Please bring your presentation file in the PPT format on a USB flash drive. 

• The coordinators for each session will collect the files from you before your presentation.

• Oral presentations are limited to 15 minutes, followed by 5 minutes of discussion.

 Oral presentations (online): 

• We kindly request online oral presenters to submit their video files recording of your presentation by 15 June via the designated upload form at https://forms.gle/rhB6MuWnNX6GgCc37. If you are unable to use the Google system, please send your video file (not the PowerPoint file) to the contact persons using any file transfer service.

• Oral presentations are limited to 15 minutes. We will follow up with further details regarding the discussion format, which is still under consideration.

Poster presentations (onsite):

• We are unable to fulfill any requests for poster printing. Kindly bring your printed posters to the venue or ship them to the Engaru Metro Plaza in advance.

• We have decided not to conduct a brief presentation before the poster presentations.

• Students presenting posters are automatically nominated for the IOC student poster awards sponsored by SAS.

• Poster presenters are required to display their posters by 1:00 pm on 3 July and remove them by 1:00 pm on 6 July.

Access to Engaru Town

For attendees arriving in Engaru by JR trains, we highly recommend using the JR website (https://www.jrhokkaido.co.jp/global/) to plan your journey. To search for the timetable, simply set your departure station as Sapporo or New Chitose Airport and your arrival station as Engaru. This will provide you with the most effective and efficient train schedule to ensure a smooth journey to the conference.

Obsidian knapping workshop: exhibition for non-specialists

An obsidian knapping workshop will be held at the Engaru Metro Plaza on 2 July at 5:00 pm, just before the Ice-breaker gathering. This workshop will be conducted by Drs. Kenji Nagai from Aichi Gakuin University (Japan) and Han-Yong Lee from the Jeongok Prehistory Museum (Korea) will demonstrate their excellent knapping skills to replicate ancient stone tools using obsidian and other knappable stone materials. This is an excellent opportunity to witness the active production of ancient stone tools such as knives, arrowheads, and handaxes. We cordially invite you to join us and experience the fascinating art of obsidian knapping.

Public Lecture

Engaru Town will hold a public lecture at 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm on 4 July. Dr. Robon Torrence in the Australian Museum will be invited as a lecturer with a talk about "Rare, shiny and deadly: why is obsidian so special?"

Since the beginning of human history, people living across the globe have made tools, ornaments, and ritual objects using a volcanic rock that geologists call ‘obsidian.’  Unlike most other kinds of stone, which were mainly used near places where they occur naturally, it was not unusual for pieces of obsidian to be transported very long distances, up to several thousand kilometres away from their source.  Why was obsidian so special?  Why was this type of stone so highly valued by many ancient societies?  The talk will address these questions by surveying how cultural groups around the world have taken advantage of the special physical properties of obsidian: such as rare, shiny, and deadly.