This year's Japanese Pro Tour is being held at the Kobe International Exhibition Hall. This is the view that greets you as you come through the first set of doors. (On your left, just out of sight, is a bank of vending machines. There are a lot of things I love about Japan, but high on that list are the delicious little cans of coffee you can get here from vending machines. I don't know what they put in those things, but if they had them in the States they'd eventually bankrupt me.)

Just inside those doors, one of the first things you'll come across is a set of display cases housing various perpetual trophies. The one you see in the forefront here commemorates all of the national teams that have won the title at the World Championships. The first Worlds, won by Zak Dolan, was held in 1994 but didn't include a team event. That top list you see for 1995 is the first group to take the team title, including Henry Stern, who later went on to join Wizards R&D and works there to this day. In the back, the trophy with the crystal globe is the one listing all of the World Champions, from Zak Dolan to Katsuhiro Mori.

A little farther down and you get the new display of plaques for the inaugural class of the Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame. Legends Jon Finkel, Darwin Kastle, Olle Råde, Alan Comer, and Tommi Hovi all made it in last year. At this year's Worlds the '06 class will be inducted: Rob Dougherty, Gary Wise, Dave Humpherys, Raphaël Lévy, and Bob Maher, Jr.

Pro Tours have a lot going on, and one of the most popular events is the chance to meet your favorite artists, get some cards signed, and maybe pick up a print or original piece while you're there. Pictured here is perennial fan favorite rk post, holding up his awesome painting of Skulking Knight for us.

Also in attendance is the popular team of Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai. This was my first chance to meet the duo, and when I introduced myself I mentioned just how popular the Magic Arcana had been which showed off the evolution of their Incinerate from Selecting Tenth Edition sketch to final piece. They were both very happy to hear how much the readers enjoyed the piece and said they loved the idea of having a vote like that where the players could be part of the process. Zoltan told me that the piece meant more to them knowing that the readers had been involved in its selection.

Just because you're not qualified for the main event doesn't mean you don't get to play at all. Pictured here, the side events area offers a non-stop flood of events in all kinds of formats. Even here in the afternoon of Day One the place is packed with Magic players duking it out for packs and other prizes. Last time we were in Kobe one of the sponsored events offered a Kobe beef dinner to the champ. I haven't heard what's up for grabs this time around, but I'm sure many players wouldn't mind another shot at some of the best steak in the world.

Whether it's sleeves, draft sets, uniquely quirky Japanese life counters or something else, there's a good chance you can get it here at the Pro Shop.

Nestled against the far wall of side events is the dealer's area, where card vendors can sell singles and other products to the mass of players in the hall. Savvy veterans know that the dealers can often be the source of the latest metagame info. While visiting here, I asked the dealer pictured if anything particular was selling out. She nodded emphatically: "Oh yes! There is definitely a front-runner. I had 30 or 40 of them and I was already sold out by this morning!" At this point I'm sure there are players all over the world getting ready for the Champs events and drooling at the info. The card? Stonewood Invocation!

As this guy can tell you, buying isn't the only way to track down those elusive final cards for your decks. Trading is fast and furious at events like this, where whole tables can be taken up by players swapping cards for collections or a deck for the next side event.

On top of all that, there's also the Pro Tour main event of course. This is the scorekeeper's area, where results are turned in, announcements are made, pairings are generated, and more. This time around we've got a giant screen above playing all kinds of things from vintage Magic commercials to Pro Tour footage, the popular Ravnica animated trailer, and also a quick video introducing Wizards' latest minis game, Dreamblade. Now, I obviously work for the company, and on top of that I'm even in the marketing department, but even with all that said, believe me when I say that Dreamblade is an awesome game. One of the perks to being an employee with so much tournament background is that I got to play in one of the development leagues before the game was launched, and it was some of the most fun I've had in a long time.

The famed Pro Players' Lounge. This one features pool, snacks and beverages, go, movies, seating, Internet…

… and even a Taiko drum video game! (This one's been getting a lot of play today.)

Pictured here is the draft that kicked off the main event this morning. This weekend's event broke the record for a Japanese Pro Tour, with 388 players from 42 countries competing!

And, lastly, the webcast booth. As always, we'll be covering each of the days here in print, but on Sunday you can also tune in for a live video broadcast of the final day's events. The action starts 10:45 AM Sunday morning local Japanese time (9:45 PM Saturday night Eastern U.S. time) and will feature commentary by official Pro Tour Historian Brian David-Marshall and Director of R&D Randy Buehler. As a special surprise, this time around we'll be using the broadcast to announce the finalists for The Great Designer Search, the next step in a process that will determine who gets the chance to be R&D's newest Magic designer. Don't miss it!