Drastic reform changes UK, British ambassador stresses
British Ambassador to Japan Graham Fry gave a lecture on the latest situation in Britain, the 2012 London Olympics, the G-8 summit meeting and other matters related to the Kansai region at the "Seminar on Kansai" jointly held in Osaka by Kansai International Public Relations Promotion Office (KIPPO) and the Kansai Press Club. The excerpt of his speech (in Japanese) is as follows.The British economy has been growing for 52 consecutive quarters, 31% of world foreign exchange transactions are done in London and foreign investment in Britain accounts for 38% of Britain's gross domestic product. Due to stepped-up globalization of Britain, 30 % of the London population are immigrants from foreign countries for generations, more than 1,000 foreign news media have offices in London and some 2,000 foreign journalists are stationed there. Globalization is picking up in Britain in the cultural sector as well, with young artists converging on London from all over the world. Contemporary art exhibitions held in London in September and October totaled 196.
Referring to London's successful bid to host the 2012 Olympics, Ambassador Fry believed that London won the bid because its Olympic concept (redevelopment of its northeastern sector and its contributions to sports of the world) was highly evaluated.
The terrorist attacks in London in July were a shocking affair, but the British government held a meeting with foreign ambassadors in London two days later as originally scheduled because a change in the plan would amount to concession to terrorists. The government was able to hold the G-8 summit meeting in Gleneagles because of high-class hotels with tight security. It is important to consider measures to deal with terrorists and demonstrations in holding G-8 summit and other large-scale international meetings.
In the recent British social trend, "Cool Britannia" signifies a new Britain. Some time ago, the phrase "British Disease" was used to describe Britain, which was undermined by labor unions and strikes, but drastic reform of the society through the introduction of market mechanism changed the country. In the British reform, reform of reality preceded publicity of image, and leaders made full use of reality, which made the reform successful. In today's Britain, the three creative powers of arts, designs and science are accumulated and will be unified into one, the British diplomat explained.
Kansai economy on recovery track, BOJ survey
Business conditions in the six prefectures of the Kansai region (Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Shiga, Nara and Wakayama) were slowly recovering in September, with production picking up momentum, according to the quarterly "tankan" report released by the Osaka branch of the Bank of Japan.The diffusion index (the ratio of companies responding in the positive to those responding in the negative) was 7 for all industries, up 1 point from June. The June index represented the second consecutive quarter of improvement and eclipsed for consecutive six quarters the nation's average, which stood at 2 in September. The DI for manufacturers and major corporations was 22, up 1 point, with the DI for precision machinery improving 11 points, from 22 to 33.
Meanwhile, the jobless rate (before seasonal adjustment) in the Kansai region in August stood at 4.9 percent, down 1.0 point year-on-year, while 57.0% of 1,111 large corporations (capital: 1 billion yen and over) in Kansai ended in the black in fiscal 2004, according to the Taxation Bureau.
12th Osaka European Film Festival, Nov. 5-28
The 12th Osaka European Film Festival will be held from Nov. 5 to 28 with various events. To be shown at this year's festival are seven new European films, six of which have not yet been released in Japan. Among them are "Hhe Hamburg Cell," a British film made in 2004, and "Off Screen," a joint Dutch-Belgian film made this year.Other events include an exhibition of German animation films to commemorate Germany in Japan 2005/2006, the other to mark the 25th anniversary of the conclusion of the partnership between the Osaka and Le Havre ports.
For inquiries, please contact Osaka European Film Festival Organizing Committee (Tel: 06-6882-6213) URL http://www.oeff.jp
Traditional culinary culture to foreigners, Shiga pref.
The Shiga prefectural government will hold in Tokyo on Nov. 9 a party for foreigners to taste the prefecture's traditional foods at Tokai University's Alumni Association Hall in Tokyo's Chiyoda ward, aiming at publicizing to foreign residents in Japan its efforts to produce environment-friendly foods and explore the possibility of exporting them to world markets. Shiga Prefecture is known for its high-quality Ohmi rice and Ohmi beef. It is engaged in environment-friendly agriculture halving the use of agricultural chemicals and chemical fertilizer.The traditional cuisines will include famed funa zushi, (pickled crucian carp), rice balls made with prize-winning Hinohikari-brand rice, Ohmi sake wine and tea. Funa-zushi is made by pickling and fermenting funa (crucian carp) of Lake Biwa. The Ohmi rice won the Global 100 Eco-Tech Award at the EXPO 2005 Aichi, Japan.
For inquiries, please contact Agricultural Policy & Fisheries Dept., Shiga Prefectural Govt (Tel: 077-528-3812 Fax:077-528-4880)
Kansai press tour goes to Toyooka City, Hyogo pref.
The Kansai International Public Relations Promotion Office (KIPPO) organized recently a Kansai press tour, which took foreign journalists to Toyooka in Hyogo Prefecture where a national project for releasing artificially-bred white storks to the wild are under way. Participating in the tour were 14 foreign journalists from 10 media organizations of five countries. During the visit to the "Return the White Storks to Nature" experiment site, the journalists seemed to be impressed by the project and took pictures of elegantly flying white storks.
Later, the group visited bag making factories and willow works (known as Kiryu works) factories, both of which represent Toyooka's traditional industries. They met with Michio Uemura, a veteran bag craftsman of 50 years, who owns a bag repair factory. Uemura, who was formerly director general of the Hyogo Prefectural Bag Industry Association, told that he had devoted himself to bag making always with customers' interest in mind and with firm belief in his craftsmanship. He expressed his concern over consumers' latest penchant for high-priced brand commodities. Uemura explained that Toyooka bag industry's efforts to make high-quality bags with its superb craftsmanship and promote Toyooka-brand bags in tie-ups with local traders.
[Historic Kansai] Canadian contributed to revival of wild storks
By Junzo TanakaStorks, artificially bred and released to the wild, are now flying elegantly over fields in Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture.
Behind Toyooka's campaign to artificially breed storks, once almost extinct in Japan, and release them to the wild was a Canadian bird enthusiast, named Richard Busette.
Busette, accompanied by his wife, came to Toyooka in 1962 in the course of a global bird-watching tour because he wished to watch Oriental white storks.
At that time, the number of storks inhabiting Toyooka had decreased to only about 30 due to ecological disruptions. Busette was told by local residents that storks, which were once seen everywhere, were disappearing as the forests where they made nests were felled down, while their favorite feed, such as loaches and crucian carps, vanished from rivers, ponds and paddy fields due to water contamination.
Offers to help increase the number of storks had already come from various parts of the country. Various groups in Shikoku and Kyushu donated loaches, crucian carps and other kinds of feed. The fish were released in paddy fields near the nests. Students of local middle and high schools kept stork observation records to monitor their number. Volunteers stood guard around stork nests to keep curious people away. Despite such efforts, the number of the rare birds continued to decline.
While in Toyooka, Busette was constantly surrounded by reporters of news media, because he watched the storks so earnestly, checked temperature and currents of paddy water and explored paddy fields to see whether there were enough loaches.
He told local people that it was time to start artificial breeding of storks to recover their number. He suggested catching adult storks with shooting nets and keeping them in a large cage for artificial breeding. "artificial breeding" was an unfamiliar expression for local people who would only improve the environment and passively wait until the number of storks increases naturally. Busette's positive attitude came as a surprise to local people who had a typical Japanese attitude of easily getting resigned.
While in Toyooka, Busette told of a book about the harms done by chemicals to bids through plants and small animals they eat. The book, titled Silent Spring, published in the United States in 1962, warned that toxins of chemicals are accumulated in plants, insects and small animals, with the result that birds which eat them are destined to die. The book was translated into Japanese two years later and published under the title of "The Wonder Drug of Life and Death" later retitled "Spring of Silence." Until then, few Japanese had heard of the harms of chemicals done to wild animals and birds. Busette's advice was not lost on Toyooka people, who immediately went into action by pushing for organic farming and reducing the use of agricultural chemicals.
After wild storks completely disappeared from the Japanese archipelago, various attempts were made to bring the rare birds back to the land by artificially breeding them. The campaign culminated in the implementation in 2003 of a national plan.
Incidentally, Busette has not been heard from since he returned to his country.
[Kansai in Focus] Kansai region again gripped by seasonal wild bear scare
Autumn is the season when bears, boars and other wild animals appear in villages in the countryside and cause havoc to residents and the crops. Damage by wild animals had previously been limited to Hokkaido, Tohoku and Chubu. Recently, however, damages by wild animals are reported from various other regions, including Kansai, as well.The bears inflicted serious damages on agricultural products and attacked a large number of people last autumn. This autumn, nuts of beech trees and oak trees, which are their favorite feed, are in plenty in the mountains and so bears are believed likely to stay from human communities. Even so, prefectural governments in Kansai are calling on local residents, by such means as information on their web site, to be on alert against bears just in case last year's condition is repeated.
Bears inhabiting Japan are classified into two types: higuma bears (brown bears) which are denizens of Hokkaido and tsukinowaguma bears, which are seen in all regions of the main island of Honshu.
Assaults by Tsukinowaguma
According to the Nature Conservation Division of the Ministry of Environment, bears assaulted 111 persons and killed two in 94 cases throughout the country last year, when Fukui Prefecture was worst hit by bears in Kansai, with 15 persons wounded in 12 attack cases. Hyogo Prefecture reported two attack cases in which two persons were wounded. Shiga Prefecture reported three attack cases though nobody was wounded. This year, 31 persons were attacked, none killed, through July.
There are an estimated 10,000 Tsukinowaguma bears throughout Japan, of which 600 to 800 are believed to be in the northern part of the Kansai region such as Kyoto, Shiga, Fukui and Hyogo prefectures. Tsukinowaguma bears are 140 to 190 centimeters long and weigh 50 to 200 kilograms. Last year, a poor crop of acorns, caused by abnormal climate and typhoons, forced them to frequently come down to villages from mountains and ate fruits in orchards or scavenged on household garbage. Some ecological experts note that reductions in the number of broadleaf trees in mountains undermined mountains' functions of serving as the barrier between humans and bears.
Tsukinowaguma bears are already extinct in Kyushu and only 10 or so of them survive in Shikoku Island. Their number is also sharply declining in the Chugoku region. All over Japan, some 2,000 of them are still killed every year as they are hunted as harmful animals. Now, Tsukinowaguma is among endangered animals listed by the Ministry of Environment and is also listed as an endangered species in the addendum of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), known as the Washington Convention.
Anti-bear manual
Whether to protect or get rid of them is a difficult question. But, the bear scare season has already started this year. Fukui Prefecture, where 248 Tsukinowaguma bears were hunted last year, is calling on citizens to take precautionary measures against the bears. Up to September 21 from the beginning of July, the prefectural government received 51 reports from citizens about witnessing bears in mountains, spotting bears roaming residential areas or capturing them. The prefectural government is providing information on the bears on its web site.
As part of the precautionary measures, the Nature Protection Section of the Environment Division of the prefectural government compiled in April a manual for dealing with bears. The manual sets for an anti-bear initiative based on a four-level scale which requires officials to go into action as quickly as possible just as they do in the case of natural disasters, when bears appear in villages or attack people.
It is not easy to avert damages done by the Tsukinowaguma bears since they are endangered species and must be protected. Accordingly, various gadgets aimed at repelling the bears have been marketed. Alarm bells and battery-powered buzzers are already introduced on the Internet market. It goes without saying that people in provincial areas must strive to protect themselves from possible attacks by bears. (K)