On Monday, July 1, work is beginning on the construction of the new building for the EFEO Center in Kyoto. The start of work was preceded by the Jinchinsai ceremony, a Shinto rite purifying and protecting the site. This took place on June 28 in the presence of the French Consul General, the Director of the EFEO, the building's architects, and the construction company, along with many friends of the EFEO. The event was coordinated by the head of the Kyoto EFEO Center.
Among the guests of honor were representatives from the University of Kyoto and from the University of Naples "L'Orientale" (Italian School of East Asian Studies) - founding members of the GIP ECAF and academic partners of the EFEO Center in Kyoto - as well as the main donors supporting the project: the Horiba group (Kyoto, Japan) and the Saint-Gobain group (Courbevoie, France).
Recognized as world leaders for their environmental technologies, Horiba and Saint-Gobain have made major reciprocal investments, in France (Horiba) and in Japan (Saint-Gobain). The EFEO greatly appreciates the generosity of the Horiba group (manufacturers of scientific instruments and monitoring systems), who contributed a substantial financial donation to the construction project, and of the Saint-Gobain group (innovative materials, construction products, building distribution) who made a large donation in kind of technical materials. These include building insulation materials as well as SageGlass, electrochromatic glazing for the façade of the new Center. This innovative material permits control of the level of natural light and heat absorbed by the building, resulting in cost savings for heating and air conditioning, as well as protecting books stored in open shelving. Manufactured by a branch of the Saint-Gobain group in the United States, SageGlass is being imported and installed in Japan for the first time on this project.