languages and distributed to 1,000 places abroad, including Japanese restaurants and the like. We are planning to issue a guidebook next year in English, Chinese and Korean, which will offer such privileges as discount coupons for certain facilities.
The media of information technology encompasses the Internet and CD-ROM. We had adopted the Internet long before its boom arrived and in those days there were only three home pages on the Internet in Japan. Two of them were half-completed theses by university professors and the other was the PR page for tourism in Japan displaying Kinkakuji temple and Mts. Fuji and Aso, and when you pressed a certain key their graphic images were enlarged but that was the extent of the information. We think it would be interesting if we could provide the TV programs which are currently on air in Japan via the Internet, where they could be accessed worldwide. First though, we have to solve the technical problems involved with animation. Concerning CD-ROM, we delivered about 3,000 discs to VIPs and the mass media when APEC was held in Japan.
Human effort also plays an important role in the spread of information, hence the formation of a network of key persons around the world. Mr. Hutchison, one of the presenters whom I met in Australia, and Mr. Koga are well aware of the importance of the overseas project we are working on. The "Rekishi kaido Forum", recently renamed the "Kansai Forum" has been held in 15 cities abroad in cooperation with other organizations. We carefully chose these cities the world over in an effort to reach as many countries as possible including those in Europe, the United States, South America and Asia. We also organize tours for foreign travel agencies and journalists. 32 people from 12 countries participated in the most recent of these tours, traveling around the "Rekishi-kaido." We consider it very important to monitor the outcome and effects of such projects and I would like to explain about that later.
In reference to the media using visual image, we are doing nothing at present but hope to broadcast television commercials in overseas countries in the future. After all, Japan's greatest attractions for most foreign tourists are probably its history and culture, and the national assets the Kansai region holds account for 60 % of all the historic buildings in Japan. We already have more than 500 video films introducing their charms, although they are all short programs lasting two minutes. It is our hope to broadcast such programs on television overseas, as a joint PR activity with international companies based in the Kansai region, so that not only historic buildings but also festivals and the like can be introduced. We have already formed a network for summer festivals in three cities in association with the Kansai Federation of Economic Organization and the Osaka Chamber of Commerce, but we will expand it further to advertise festivals as a core attraction of Japan, whereby all festivals including those of Wakayama and Shiga Prefectures can be introduced overseas. The point I would like to make is that the aim of our council is to develop projects in association with various communities, thus having a wider effect.
As the project progressed, several negative points were exposed. One of them is that a basic acknowledgment of foreigners in the region is missing. For example, there are no Hangul sign-boards in the Kansai region, even though the importance of Asian countries is loudly talked about today, and Shinkansen tickets have no English wording on them. We hold forums in other countries with the assistance of the Japan National Tourist Organization, but I see no brochures of the Kansai region in their overseas branches, while there is material from many other regions, including Tohoku, Shikoku and Kyushu. The local governments in the Kansai region have such material but do not send it to the overseas offices. This seems to be a fundamental oversight. Similarly, regardless of the alleged enthusiasm in PR by the local governments in the Kansai region, the way of advertising seems to have been so far unsuccessful. Even though they spend millions of yen participating in overseas expositions,
