The President of the City Council of the City of Torino Giovanni Maria Ferraris led a mission of the City of Torino to Tokyo and Kanazawa, within the framework of the EU-Japan Urban Development Programme Exchange, exchange of experiences and good practices in the field of urban development, promoted by the European Commission and the Japanese Government. Torino, together with Leipzig and Stockholm was selected by the European Union for this pilot initiative.

After a preliminary meeting with the delegates coming from the different European cities invited and from the DG Regional Policy of the European Commission on May 14th, President Ferraris gave a speech, the following day, at the Japanese Ministry of Territory, Infrastructures, Transports and Tourism, in the thematic meetings on the issue of the utilization of the historic and cultural heritage for urban development. The schedule of the meetings was opened by the Vice Minister of Infrastructures Yuichi Masuda.

On May 16th the delegation attended different technical visits in Tokyo and then moved to Kanazawa, where it has been welcomed by the Mayor Yukiyoshi Yamano. On May 17th the mission of Torino and some officers of Kanazawa discussed about the exchange of some good practices in the fields of town planning and culture. The program ended after some technical visits in Kanazawa on May 18th.

On the occasion of the mission, the delegates from Torino met also some representatives of the Italian Embassy in Tokyo and the Director of the Italian institute for Culture in Tokyo.