Medical meet set for April 6-8 in Osaka
The Japanese Association of Medical Sciences will hold a gathering at the Osaka International Convention Center and other places on April 6-8. The General Assembly of the Japan Medical Congress, first staged in 1902, has since been held once in every four years. This year's assembly is the 27th, and about 30,000 people are scheduled to take part.The theme this time is 'Future Medicine-Life, People & Vision of the Future,' and participants will consider what medical treatment leading to people's happiness should be amid remarkable development of medicine as a science.
During the Edo period, Ogata Koan (1810-1863) opened the 'Tekijuku' School in Osaka, said to be the origin of modern Japanese medicine. The upcoming assembly regards it as an arena to discuss medicine and medical treatment opened to society and citizens. Exhibitions and various programs for citizens are prepared.
At Theater BRAVA in the Osaka Business Park, a town-hall meeting will be held on the theme on April 6. It will be chaired by Osaka University head Hideo Miyahara, and panelists will be five professors from the university,including robotics expert Minoru Asada, clinical philosophy specialist Kiyokazu Washida and Kazuo Kawasaki of the Center for the Study of Communication Design.
For foreign participants, slides in English are prepared. First comers numbering 1,000 are allowed to enter free of charge.
For inquiries, please contact 2nd Town-hall Meeting on Future Medicine Secretariat (Tel: 06-6879-6552, 6557) URL: http://www.hp-mctr.med.osaka-u.ac.jp/
Nat'l sailing training center
Dinghy Marina at the Wakayama Marina City in Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture, has been provisionally named as a national training center for sailing races, Wakayama Gov. Yoshinobu Nisaka has announced. The central government has been building national training centers throughout Japan as bases to train athletes taking part in Olympic Games and other international events.For a sailing training center, not only Wakayama City but also three other cities had stood as candidates. But Wakayama was chosen because of a weather condition with stable westerly winds, good access from Kansai International Airport and its past experience in holding international sports events. Wakayama will formally be named as a national center after recommendation from the Japan Sailing Association to the Japan Olympic Committee (JOC) and recommendation from the JOC to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
The governor said 1,500 athletes and sports officials will annually visit the center, yielding an economic effect totaling 200 million yen and improving the prefecture's athletic ability. In the tourism and economic fields, the center will help the prefecture appeal as an ocean prefecture to the world, he said.
For inquiries, please contact Public Relations Office in Governor's Office (Tel: 073-432-4111) URL: http://www.pref.wakayama.lg.jp/
'Hottest Researcher' again
Thomson Scientific, a leading U.S. provider of information about academic documents, has announced that Osaka University Prof. Shizuo Akira, an expert on immunology, has been recognized as the 2005-2006 'Hottest Researcher.' This is the second consecutive year he has received the honor.Thomson checked research articles published between November 2004 and October 2006 and cited from September to October 2006, then ranking the number of cited papers placing within the top 0.1%.
As a result, Akira became the Hottest Researcher with seven 'hot papers,'including articles on Toll-like receptors (which permit immune cells in the body to recognize microbes), natural immunity and virus recognition. The most cited article is the one announced in the U.S. science magazine Cell in February 2006, and for two months from September 2006, it was cited 29 times, and the number reached 121 by the end of February 2007.
For inquiries, please contact Research Institute of Microbial Diseases, Osaka University (Tel: 06-6879-8264) URL: http://www.biken.osaka-u.ac.jp/index.php
Business info magazine
The Fukui prefectural government has published a business information magazine, 'That's Fukui's Technology,'to introduce excellent manufacturing technologies not known well.In the prefecture, there are many companies whose global and domestic market shares are the largest or those which are the only manufacturers of certain products. But their technologies are not well known generally because most of their products are part of finished goods and it is difficult for them to make them public due to trading relations with major user companies.
The magazine classifies 122 technologies from 98 companies into nine fields, such as automobiles, mobile phones, and tourism and leisure, and introduces technological points and only-one technology.
Eleven technologies, including those for motors of hybrid vehicles and insulating materials for power generators, boast top global market shares, 41 technologies, including those for infrared cordless karaoke microphones, enjoy leading domestic market shares.
The magazine is used by companies in the prefecture for publicity and business matching, and by students to find jobs in these companies. It can be seen on the prefectural government's website and is linked to sites of the companies.
For inquiries, please contact Department of Business, Industry & Labor, Division of Industry, Academic & Government Collaboration, Fukui Prefectural Government (Tel: 0776-20-0374) URL: http://info.pref.fukui.jp/tisan/
65th KIPPO press tour
The Kansai International Public Relations Promotion Office (KIPPO) sponsored a press tour in Nara and Hyogo prefectures for Tokyo-based foreign correspondents on March 8-9.In Nara, the journalists covered 'Shuni-e'(Ceremony of the Nigatsudo Hall) at the Todaiji temple, the remains of the ancient Heijo-kyo Palace (a World Heritage site), and plans of events for the 1,300th anniversary of the Nara Heijo-kyo capital. In Hyogo, they covered the Takarazuka Revue Company and Takarazuka Music School.
Many tour participants said they will send out abroad information about the attractiveness of traditional events in the ancient capital Nara and the charm of Takarazuka whose evaluation is high in theatrical communities both at home and abroad. Taking part were 16 correspondents from 14 companies in eight countries and territories. (Photo: Correspondents covering the Heijo-kyo Palace ruins)
Historic Kansai: Walking around Murouji temple:mood-stabilizing zone for Japanese
By Junzo TanakaThe attractiveness of things in the Kansai area appears to be that everything is living close to each other.
A modern society doing nothing but competition for survival and a solemn historical society.
A city environment with development going ahead and rural scenes in sleep.
Quickly changing urban areas and nature singing in praise of spring.
These are folding like mosaic work. On a certain day, a person traipses around a mountain nearby with cherry trees in full bloom, and the next day, the same person plunges himself into a ferocious competitive society straight away. There are only a few places in Japan where these can be done easily.
Today, I would like to introduce to you the area around the Murouji temple in Nara Prefecture, a spot where you can enjoy the atmosphere of spring. If you are confident in your legs, hiking is OK. If you are not, drive your car.
Choose either Murouguchi-Ono Station or Haibara Station of the Kintetsu Osaka Line as a starting point or an ending point. What you can see during the trip will be a smoky countryside in a spring breeze, old cherry trees, brooks and old roads. Depending on the season, you will be welcomed by flowers such as magnolia, daphne and Japanese cornel.
Following the signs, visit temples like Butsuryuji, Hasedera and Oonodera. The tour's climax is a visit to the Murouji temple. When the temple was established is not certain because it is too old. According to a document handed down to day, the temple is said to have been created at the end of the 8th century by Emperor Kammu (in the reign from 781 to 806). After that, a leading disciple of Shingon sect founder Kukai (774-835) trained his mind at the temple, and it has since become a temple of esoteric Shingon.
In the 17th century, the temple was reconstructed on order from Keishoin (1627-1705), mother of the shogun (tycoon). Because of this, women visitors to the temple increased. At that time, women were forbidden to climb Mt. Koya, and instead they visited the temple. It has since been called 'Women's Koya.'
Due probably to the impression that the temple has been loved by women, you will feel it so lovely that you would want to press your cheek against its structure and bridge railings. You can now visit the temple by train and bus, but for such visits in old days, mountain paths were cut open from four cardinal points. A temple visit then was a far cry from today when everything is convenient.
From that point of view, a visit to the temple on foot is recommended. Even now, it is less convenient than in a city, but few people will feel unhappy in walking because nature around the temple is very pastoral and beautiful.
Almost all Japanese are proud of nature in Kansai like this. Because of the nature, they appear to feel that they can endure cruel modern competition. The area around the temple is a mood-stabilizing zone for Japanese. I would like you to visit and walk around the temple to find it out. Railway and tourism companies will let you know details about a trip to the temple.
Kansai in Focus: Portuguese culture being sent out from Osaka restaurant
'Bacalhau.'If this word is shouted loudly, it sounds strange for Japanese because it sounds like 'bakayaro'(bastard). But it is a popular dish in Portugal, a combination of dried codfish, vegetables and rice. Its flavor and taste have mass appeal for Japanese.At the Portuguese restaurant Portugaria in Nishitenma, Osaka City, this writer ordered 'bacalhau.'A painfully sad melody of Fado was heard at the restaurant. Fado is Portuguese folk music, and the writer remembered his stay in the country several years ago. At that time, the main street in Lisbon, the country's capital, was purple-tinged with flowers of Jacaranda roadside trees.
When the writer finished paying the bill at the restaurant, a heavy-bearded hawt man, who looked like the manager of the Japanese professional baseball team Nippon Ham Fighters, entered the restaurant and stood in front of the cash desk, saying, 'Arigato gozaimasu'(thank you very much).
He was Eduardo Mira Batista (see the photo), 50, the Portuguese owner of the restaurant, and this time he is the guest for this interview story.
'Almost all our customers are Japanese. There are only about 100 Portuguese in Kansai.'So few Portuguese? Portugal used to be a superpower dividing the world in two. The country also helped Western Europe's fresh wind blow much into Japan. That culture still remains among Japanese.
Portuguese culture still vivid
For example, 'castella'(sponge cake), 'karuta'(Japanese cards), 'confeito'(pointed sugar candy balls) and 'tempura'(fritter). 'Bateira'(pressed sushi) means a boat in Portuguese. 'Ponto'of Kyoto's Pontocho area means 'sharp-pointed'in Portuguese. If word origins are traced, there are full of stories having historical warmth.
But Portugal these days lacks energy. 'I want to make this restaurant a base for friendship between Japan and Portugal,'Mira says with a magnificent dream. 'When I was a student, I was interested in karate, Zen and natural food. So, when I passed an overseas study exam, I chose Japan without hesitation.'He has a rank of '1st dan'in both 'karate'and 'aikido'martial arts.
He came to Japan in 1979 and studied fluid dynamics at Kyoto University. But as he could not fully understand the Japanese language, he spent his early life in Japan by making a round trip to the university and a Japanese-language school. 'My university in Portugal? Coimbra University.'This was a surprise. The university is quite famous with its foundation dating back to the Roman times, and the writer once visited its campus standing on a hill.
Mira: a former diplomat
In 1989 when he finished his university studies and was thinking to return home, the Portuguese Embassy in Tokyo approached him, and he worked as a trade and tourism promoter for 15 years. 'For two years before retirement, I was a commerce counselor.'The position was the No.3 post at the embassy, following the ambassador and the minister. In 2005, he was in charge of a Portuguese pavilion during the World Exposition in Aichi Prefecture. These experiences are still alive.
In July last year, he opened the restaurant in Osaka City, from where his Japanese wife hails. 'I would like our customers to get in touch with Portugal's food culture and enjoy Fado. If customers further increase in number, I would also like to organize tours never seen before. As I long engaged in tourism-related work, I think I know that field well,'he said.
Everything is Portuguese at the restaurant. Beer and wine are of course Portuguese-produced. 'I have invited a female chef from my country. Portuguese love rice and fish most among Europeans. There are about 50 dishes on the menu. I think they suit Japanese taste.'
At the restaurant, there is a flurry of Portuguese spoken among staff. Customers are mostly young women. There is 'Little Portugal'at the restaurant, attracting young people. From a corner of Osaka's Kita area, Portuguese culture is being sent out steadily. (Omori)