Osaka governor Ohta urges PM Koizumi to use strong leadership
Osaka Governor Fusae Ohta, in the mail magazine 'Fresh Letter,' published by the Osaka Prefectural Government, urged the Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to use strong leadership in his reform agenda, particularly in the field of structural special zone. Ohta also proposed the following two-pronged approach: 1) focus on the people's needs in building a new 'lateral' government structure and doing away with the vertical bureaucratic structure in order to push for such projects as investment in both the hardware and software aspects of urban resurrection, and 2) make regions sovereign entities through coordinated structural reform of state subsidy burdens, transfer of sources of taxation, and local grant tax. Ohta said that implementation of these measures would serve as a strong message for the people to rid them of frustration and that she places high expectations on Koizumi's leadership in the reform.
Ohta gave Koizumi credit for having articulated the necessity and direction of the structural reform of the nation in its entirety. She noted that Koizumi's proposal for establishing structural special zones symbolized his reform agenda and marked the first step in his efforts to let regions take a lead of changing the whole country. The Osaka governor was proud that she was the first to propose to Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa and Minister for Economics, Fiscal Policy and Financial Services Heizo Takenaka the introduction of structural special zones. She expressed her determination to continue efforts to accelerate regulatory reform and improve systems.
Reform projects are making progress in Osaka Prefecture, including the introduction of fixed-term land lease for industrial bases such as Rinku Town, preferential treatment for high-tech companies including the expansion of subsidies for the purchase of factory sites, and the selection of factory sites for high-tech companies manufacturing solar batteries and biotechnological products.
Ohta emphasized the need of speed in inviting factories to Osaka, saying, 'We will miss a chance to host plants if we fail to take bold measures within two or three years.' Also, she expressed her determination to do her best to revitalize Osaka and resurrect the region's industries by proceeding with structural special zone project and inviting companies to Osaka.
Nara institute unravels rice genetic network
A research group at the graduate school of biological sciences of the Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST) has successfully shed light on the genetic network that determines the short-day flowering property of rice.Scientists had long known that there are two types of plants-one long-day plants, which flower when days become long, and the other short-day plants, which flower when days become short. But they had been left in the dark about the regulatory mechanism that determines the difference.
The research group, headed by Ko Shimamoto, professor in charge of plant molecular genetics, took note of the fact that Arabidopsis thaliana, which is a long-day flowering plant, has a set of three important genes (GI, CO and FT) necessary for its flowering and that the gene set activates in the positive GI-CO-FT direction. Based on the findings, the team then conducted molecular experiments using rice, which is a short-day flowering plant, and discovered that control of rice's regulatory mechanism from Hdl to Hd3a is reversed in the negative direction under long-day condition, though it has the same set of genes (OsGI-Hdl-Hd3a). This showed that a short-day flowering plant reverses its response to the length of the day by reversing its regulatory function while using the same set of genes as a long-day flowering plant's. In essence, the research team succeeded in unraveling the difference between long-day flowering plants and short-day flowering plants on genetic levels.
Osaka Design Forum slated for May 24
The Osaka Design Forum will be held on May 24 at the Osaka Central Public Hall in Kita Ward, Osaka under the auspices of the forum's executive committee comprising the Osaka Municipal Office and others. It aims at bringing together Osaka City's small and midsize enterprises, the world's renowned designers and international media with a view to develop Osaka-based global brand-name products.Gilda Bojardi, chief editor of the Italian interior design magazine 'Interni' who has contributed to the restoration of small and midsize enterprises' vigor in Milan, Italy, and other entrepreneurs and designers who have successfully made it to world markets will be among speakers who deliver lectures on successful stories in world markets.
The executive committee was established in April to create enterprises capable of turning out Osaka-based products that could become brand-name products in the world by modeling after Milan, which has produced world brand-name products. The committee plans to hold a similar forum in July, October and February.
Colored waste glass recycled successfully
The Kansai Center of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST Kansai) in Ikeda City, Osaka Prefecture, and the Japan Science and Technology Corporation have developed the means of recycling colored waste glass, the bulk of which is currently dumped in landfills. The newly developed method made it possible to recycle silica, valuable material from colored waste glass, and produce transparent and stable luminescent oxide glass from silica. Because it brings in recycled products with high added value, those concerned place expectations on it to overcome the matter of high cost associated with the question of recycling technology.It had previously been known that the specific composition of glass called alkali-borosilicate glass was set apart to boron oxide rich phase and silica rich phase and further to a phase separation at nano level, and that when they were re-treated, only the boron oxide rich phase was liquidated to earn porous glass with silica as their main ingredient.
Researchers at the center and the science and technology corporation conducted research involving adding the boron oxide rich phase to waste glass to melt it again, to transform it to glass, to bring about the phase separation at nano level between the boron oxide and silica phase in order to extract by acid boron oxide rich phase that opened the way for metal ions to condense easily, and to break metal ions and alkali away from waste glass. The process led them to successfully obtain silica with more than 99% in purity from waste glass. By giving some thought to the composition of additives added to waste glass at the time of renewed melting of the glass, they found it possible for the glass to retain its shape in undergoing the melting process and break metals and alkali away. Following the acid treatment, pronouns glass with colorless transparent silica as its main ingredient came out. It becomes more elaborate by having it sintered. The researchers revealed that colorless oxide material glass with relatively strong fluorescence emerged when a very small amount of low pollution metal ions were doped on porous glass and sintered.
Hyogo Fan Club established to lure int'l tourists
The Hyogo Tourist Information Desk (Hyogo Tourism Association) has established "Hyogo Fan Club" to promote a drive for international tourists to visit Hyogo Prefecture. The club is recruiting members among foreign residents in Japan and overseas tourists.It will send to its members free English quarterly E-mail Newsletter issued in June, September, December and March and containing a wide variety of tourist information such as shopping, restaurants, spas, events, sports and other tourist attractions. Those who are interested in joining the club may access to http://www.hyogo-tourism.jp/english for subscription.
Kansai's exports to Asia in March hit record high
Exports by six prefectures in the Kansai region (Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Shiga, Nara and Wakayama) in March jumped 4.8% from the like month of the previous year to 988.643 billion yen for the 12th consecutive month of year-on-year increase, while imports rose 3.2% to 703.098 billion yen for the fifth consecutive month of y-o-y increase, according to preliminary monthly trade statistics released by the Osaka Customs. Exports to Asia (572.209 billion yen, up 15.6%) and China (169.559 billion yen, up 49.7%) marked a record high.
Kansai in Focus: Campaign under way to use rape blossoms as car fuel
There is already a sign of early summer in the Kansai region, as dazzling nanohana (rape) blossoms withered and pink azalea and moss pink flowers began to dominate the botanical scenes. Rape blossoms are over, but it is after blossoming that rape proves its real worth.A project for using rapeseed cooking oil and its waste as car fuel, launched by Shiga Prefecture, is bearing fruit in other prefectures in Kansai, such as Hyogo, Fukui and Mie, and spreading to all parts of the country.
The project dates back to 1986 when red water in Lake Biwa, caused by waste cooking oil, became a serious problem. The pollution triggered a grass-root campaign in Shiga Prefecture to collect waste cooking oil and recycle it into environment-friendly powder soap. The campaign led to the establishment of an environment-friendly consumer cooperative, which started production of environment-friendly bio-engineered diesel fuel from rapeseed oil and waste cooking oil.
Shiga Prefectural Government, the local consumer cooperative and private-sector companies in the prefecture jointly developed a technology to produce diesel by adding methanol and catalysts to waste cooking oil. Aito Town on the eastern coast of Lake Biwa in 1995 became the first local entity in the country to build a diesel fuel producing plant using the technology. Simultaneously with the building of the plant, the town started planting rapeseeds which would be used for producing bio-diesel. Three years later, the town office started using the fuel produced at the plant for its four official cars.
Shin-Asahi Town on the western coast of Lake Biwa followed suit, building a car fuel plant by introducing the technology. The town is currently running three buses powered by rapeseed-made fuel for the municipal kindergarten and other public facilities and one truck for the municipal food supply service center. The size of the town's rapeseed fields has expanded to 11.5 hectares. The 'Nanohana Blossom Festival,' held in April in and around the town's windmill park, attracted a large number of tourists.
The rapeseed fuel project initiated by Aito Town has been adopted one after another by other municipalities in Shiga Prefecture, such as Nagahama, Omihachiman, Moriyama, Shigaraki and Santo, and those in other prefectures as well.
In 2001, the first Nanohana Blossom Festival was held in Shin-Asahi Town with more than 500 representatives from 27 prefectures attending. The second festival was held in Yokohama Town, Aomori Prefecture, in 2002 and the third festival by Oasa Town, Hiroshima Prefecture, April 19-20 this year, testifying to the fact that the project is now taking root throughout the country.
Among the local entities in Kansai that have built rapeseed fuel plants are Hyogo Prefectural Government, its Awaji District Administration Office, as well as Goshiki Town, Higashiura Town, Ichinomiya Town, and Itami Municipal Government in Hyogo Prefecture; Fujiwara Town and Nabari River Community in Mie Prefecture; and Imadate Town and Sabae Municipal Government in Fukui Prefecture.
Apart from that, Kyoto Municipal Government has been operating 282 cars (210 garbage collecting vehicles and 72 buses) powered by diesel fuel produced from waste cooking oil.
Shiga Prefecture's initiative for using rapeseeds oil and waste cooking oil as automotive fuel is spreading all over the country in a visible way. Shiga Prefectural Government is also using rapeseed diesel fuel for the 928-ton training ship Uminoko operating on Lake Biwa, besides official cars. The prefectural government is facing the challenge of further expanding the size of its rapeseed fields now totaling about 30 hectares. The government is also racking its brains to further spread the use of bio-fuel produced from rapeseeds.
Incidentally, rapeseeds are sewn autumn and their flowers are harvested in May or June of the next year to be squeezed into oil. (K)