The second episode in "Classic Japan" features the 1966 Kyoto International Conference Center by Sachio Otani. The site of the signing of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, Otani's waterfront conference center unfurls onto nearby Lake Takaragaike via a series of concrete pathways that offset the centre's Brutalist weight. Filmed and edited by Vincent Hecht, a French architect and film maker currently living in Tokyo, the series focuses on Japanese architecture from the 1950s to the 80s.
Before working on the conference center, Otani had previously worked in the office of Kenzo Tange, whose Yoyogi National Gymnasium was featured in the first episode of the "Classic Japan" series.