The Cyber Kyoto Laboratory (CKL, Director: Professor Masatsugu Kidode, The Kyoto College of Graduate Studies for Informatics), which serves as the registry for the new geographical name top-level domain ".kyoto", was opened at the Keihanna Open Innovation Center (KICK), an academic research facility in Kyoto Prefecture. A concert and party was held at Kyoto Computer Gakuin Kyoto Ekimae Campus on July 19, 2015 to commemorate this opening. The event was attended by many people from Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City, the business community, and universities, as well as people from companies and organizations that were among the first to participate in the Founders Program of ". kyoto" to create a dignified city of Kyoto in cyberspace. Based on a comprehensive agreement with Kyoto Prefecture, the Cyber Kyoto Laboratory will not only operate and conduct research on ".kyoto" but also promote efforts to build an "Open University Kyoto" that promotes collaborative education with universities around the world using e-learning.
The concert featured "Music of Bassoon and Cello" by Mr. and Mrs. Edelman, who are active on the world's most prestigious stages. The couple has been active in Japan, performing at the Imperial Palace, at the opening ceremony of the Nagano Winter Olympics, and at concerts to support victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake. On the day of the concert, the couple entertained the audience with their solemn and harmonious tone of Mozart's sonatas and Japanese pieces. The concert was part of "KCG Summer Festa 2015," a summer festival of the KCG Group, which consists of Kyoto Computer Gakuin, The Kyoto College of Graduate Studies for Informatics, and Kyoto Computer Gakuin Automobile School, and was attended by many members of the public.
At the party after the concert, Mr. Wataru Hasegawa, President of KCG Group, gave an opening address and expressed his enthusiasm for the various projects based at the Cyber Kyoto Laboratory. Mr. Akimasa Yamashita, Vice Governor of Kyoto Prefecture, said, "The Cyber Kyoto Institute will start with a high vision. I hope that the KCG Group will play a leading role in creating a dignified city of Kyoto in cyberspace, and that KICK will become a research institute that will be recognized worldwide as a base for the realization of a smart city. Makoto Nagao, Counselor of Kyoto Prefecture (former President of Kyoto University and former Director of the National Diet Library) proposed a toast, and the participants enjoyed a friendly discussion.
In September 2014, the Cyber Kyoto Laboratory received the first certification from the prefectural government for its research utilization plan. On May 26, 2015, The Kyoto College of Graduate Studies for Informatics and Kyoto Prefecture signed a comprehensive agreement on collaboration and cooperation, which includes the use of ".kyoto" to strengthen the promotion of the Kyoto brand.
In operating ".kyoto", Cyber Kyoto Laboratory has recruited founding members as part of the Founder's Program, a priority registration program (up to 20 domain names can be reserved and acquired in advance), and on June 1, 2015, "urasenke.kyoto" of Urasenke, a Japanese tea ceremony school, was registered as the first domain name to debut in cyberspace. Since then, Kyoto Chuo Shinkin Bank and Sun Chlorella Co., Ltd. have registered as well, and other corporate organizations based in Kyoto are also preparing to register. The Founders Program ends on November 30 of this year. The subsequent sales programs will be done according to the regulations of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), a non-profit organization in the U.S. that manages domain names used on the Internet. First will be "Sunrise I" (for alphanumeric names and hyphens) from October. Next is “Sunrise 2” (for names registered as trademarks), which is priority registration for public and public interest organizations. From January 2016, "Landrush" (premium price) and lastly, from February, registration for the general public will open up.
