Important items for you to know and remember

Dear SIGNIS ASIA Assembly 2007 Participants;

First of all, we, at SIGNIS JAPAN, are very pleased to welcome you to Japan
and to host SIGNIS ASIA Assembly 2007 in Tokyo this September. We hope to
make your stay comfortable and fruitful.

Currently we have 27 entries from abroad; India (7), Philippines (6),
Malaysia (4), Sri Lanka (2), Cambodia (2), Taiwan (2), Hong Kong (2),
Indonesia (1) and Pakistan (1). And we anticipate additional 5 or more
persons from abroad.

We would like to list up some items important for you to know and remember
before you come to Japan:

(1) INVITATION LETTERS
Unless your country is visa exempt for entry to Japan, you need Japanese
visa. Many have already requested invitation letter from us and we have
airmailed majority of them already. Some cases it is taking longer because
of insufficient information or simply no confirmation on the draft letter.
So, we encourage you to USE OUR WEB-SITE for request for invitation letter
and pre-registration. You can reach us via link from Signis Asia web-site.

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(2) PHOTO
We are asking participants to send us YOUR PHOTO electronically maximum
100KB, so that we can make participants list with photos. If you have not
sent us your photo yet, please e-mail us by Aug. 20.

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(3) PRE-REGISTRATION/FLIGHT INFORMATION, ETC.
We have received some Registration Forms via e-mail, fax or our web site.
About half of the participants have already informed us about their arrival
date and departure date, many of which have flight information as well. If
you have not provided us with ARRIVAL/DEPARTURE DATE AND FLIGHT INFORMATION,
please let us know by Aug. 20, so that we can nearly finalize the numbers
and extra stays outside of NYC (9/24 night -9/29 night).

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(4) ABOUT NYC
National Olympics Memorial Youth Center (NYC) is state-owned facilities,
and there are lots of restrictions. Unfortunately, we have found them not
flexible. So, we need to ask you many house rules. There is no curfew, but
we are requested to behave nicely. The facilities are basically self
service. The check in time is 15:00 and check out time is 10:00.
Conference room(s) are from 8:30-22:00. Basically the facilities are
smoke-free, but there is a smoking corner in each floor. Your Lodging D is
all non-smoking single rooms with bath and internet connection. Because of
state-owned facilities, we are not allowed to have political and/or
religious activities within the premise. So, our Eucharist will be
conducted within the conference room not to be observed by other NYC users.
Alcoholic beverage is only allowed in the Reception Hall and certain
restaurants including Sakura.

There is no currency exchange function at NYC. So, we strongly recommend
you to EXCHANGE MONEY ($100-$200) at Narita Airport. In Japan, many small
shops and railway stations, etc. will not accept Credit Card.

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(5) HOTEL ASIA CENTER
For those who will come to Japan before 9/24 or stay longer than 9/29 night,
we have reserved some rooms at Hotel Asia Center. This hotel has limited
number of "genuine" non-smoking rooms at New Wing. All other rooms are
"regular" rooms for smokers and non-smokers. They will perform "deodorant
treatment" on the room for non-smokers upon request. Regular rooms are
reasonable, but "genuine" non-smoking rooms are
a little bit expensive. This hotel is English speaking, located in Akasaka
area, and is walking distance to Daughters of St. Paul. The expenses
outside of NYC schedule are all on your own.

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(6) MEALS
Breakfast: Sakura Restaurant (7:00-23:00) Western and Japanese food and
drinks
Lunch: Cafeteria Fuji (11:30-13:30) Choose from fixed menu
Dinner: Reception Hall (18:00-21:30) Buffet-style

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(7) PAYMENT
We provide you with two payment methods: Bank transfer and Dollar cash at
the time of registration in Japan. We would strongly encourage you to use
Bank Transfer.

<BANK TRANSFER>
Account Name: SIGNIS JAPAN
Account No.: 0087180
Currency: Only U.S. Dollars
Bank Name: The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.
Swift code: BOTKJPJT
Branch: Roppongi Branch (Branch No. 045), 4-9-7 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo,
Japan

<CALCULATION>
Payment amount=$50 (Registration fee) + $35 (Food & lodging) x no. of nights
at NYC + $15(Airport transportation one-way) x 2
If you are not sure, please consult us.

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(8) OTHERS
-Welcome escort at Narita Airport:
Signis Japan member and/or volunteer(s) will welcome you at Narita Airport
between 8:00-13:30 on 9/24. If you do not fall into this category, we will
provide you detailed instruction how you can get from Narita Airport to NYC.
You will have to pay the fare yourself first and will be reimbursed/adjusted
at the time of registration.

-Archbishop's Eucharist:
There will be Archbishop's Eucharist from 16:30 on 9/24. We strongly
suggest that you choose the flight which arrives at Narita Airport by 12:30
on 9/24 so that you can be safe to arrive at NYC, take shower, change
clothing and attend the Eucharist without fail.

-Bishop Matsuura's speech/homily on Peace:
We will have Bishop Matsuura on 9/26. He is the bishop in charge of
"Conference of Justice and Peace" in Japan, and we asked him to speak on
Peace.

-Tokyo Study Tours:
We hope to provide you with hand-made small group tours
on 9/27. We will propose most likely three tour routes for you to choose
from in due course.

-Catholic Cinema Award Night:
We have chosen "The Professor's Beloved Formula" as 2006 best film. We will
have Bishop Koda to present the award on 9/28.

-Presentation Materials
There will be simultaneous translations (mainly from English to Japanese)
during the Assembly and the workshops. Our simultaneous translators
request to have abstracts and whole presentation kit beforehand. Please
send us your materials via internet within August. Your cooperation would
be highly appreciated.

-DVD
Our DVD players are all region 2, so if you bring DVD-R, etc., make sure
that it is region 2 or region free.

-Your Products (DVD, Video, CD, Cassette, Books, etc.):
You may bring your products for display, but we are not allowed to do
business in the premise of NYC. SIGNIS JAPAN members, etc. may also bring
their products for display, but almost all are in Japanese.

-Our SIGNIS ASIA ASSEMBLY web site
Mhike suggested that it is safer for you and us that you access our site via
link from SIGNIS ASIA web site. We will put up this e-mail (and others to
come) in our web site, so that you can refer these whenever necessary.

-Requests:
Ms. Mom Kunthear: Will you please forward this e-mail to Mr. Ly Sovanna,
and ask him to give me his e-mail address?
Mr. Mhike So: Will you please forward this e-mail to Fr. Jerry, and ask him
to give me his e-mail address?
Fr. Peter Selvanathan: Will you please forward this e-mail to Fr. Michael
Vettickat, and ask him to give me his e-mail address?

-Our Future E-mails:
We will make similar e-mails within August regarding the weather, the
temperature, the clothes, etc. If you have specific questions or requests
regarding our information, please do not hesitate to e-mail us.

We are looking forward to seeing you in Japan.

Peace and Love,

SIGNIS JAPAN
T. Mac Machida

My e-mail address is JN1OGJ@nifty.com (jn1ogj@nifty.com), NOT
JN10GJ@nifty.com

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