On November 8, 1957, Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi announced in a Cabinet meeting his wish to build an international conference center in Kyoto City or the surrounding area. Cabinet subsequently decided to 1) actively promote Japan as the place for major international conferences, 2) put Kyoto and Tokyo on equal footing as main locations for major international conferences to be held in Japan, and 3) build an international conference center on a scale rivaling the United Nations building in New York and the Palais de Nations in Geneva.
After many twists and turns in discussions, in a meeting on September 14, 1959, Cabinet finally decided to build the international conference center in the Takaragaike district of Kyoto City. The decision was based on a number of factors: Kyoto was a historical and cultural city representative of Japan; the city had a great many tourism resources including renowned temples, shrines and traditional crafts; and Takaragaike, the proposed site, had a graceful beauty typical of Japanese gardens.
Once the decision was made, work began immediately on site measurement, soil studies, and other surveys. The ground-breaking ceremony took place on November 19, 1962, and work began on leveling the site.

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  Construction begins
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  Panorama of the steel framework
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  Construction Stage 1 is completed <1966>

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  Commemoration ceremony on completion of
  Construction Stage 2 <1972>
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  Construction of Event Hall
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  Event Hall completion <1985>