San'in Coast listed as 'Japanese Geopark'
The Japan Geopark Committee has awarded its first 'Japanese Geopark' label to seven regions, including the San'in Coast (photo) in western Japan. The designation is given to areas where characteristic geological structures, including topography and strata, can be observed. The designated regions will be allowed to call themselves 'Geoparks' and join the 'Japan Geopark Network'(JGN) to be established in February 2009. The regions will promote educational and research activities relating to earth science and environmental issues as well as engage in regional promotion work, including in the field of tourism.On the San'in shoreline along the Japan Sea, stretching from Tottori to Hyogo to Kyoto prefectures, rocks and strata formed by volcanic activities are visible. These activities caused what is now the Japanese archipelago to break off from the Asian continent 15 million to 25 million years ago to form the Japan Sea. The contrast between dunes/sandbars, including the famed Tottori dunes, and dynamic cliffs eroded by the sea is also an attraction. The area has a wide variety of geological features and bears testimony to the dynamic processes involved in the birth of this archipelago.
The JGN is a domestic version of the Global Geoparks Network, established with the support of UNESCO. From fiscal 2009 starting next April 1, domestic candidate sites for Global Geopark designation will be selected from among the regions on the JGN list. The San'in Coast will try again to obtain the Global Geopark label.
For inquiries, please contact Secretariat, Japan Geopark Committee (Tel: 029-861-3687; URL: http://www.gsj.jp/jgc/indexJ.html).
Media Forum 2008
An annual forum, cosponsored by the Kansai Press Club, KIPPO and the International House, Osaka, was held in Osaka City on Dec.2. The 14th forum at the International House, renamed 'Media Forum' from this year, drew some 120 participants, including mass media personnel and ordinary citizens who had responded to an open invitation. They held discussions under the theme 'Kansai as a staging ground for communication via films.'Following opening remarks by Kansai Press Club President Fumio Ikeuchi, radio personality and film critic Jun Hamamura delivered a keynote speech, 'A Splendid Darkness: Films from the West.' Looking back on the history of Japanese films, he said, 'I wish to see movies depicting ordinary people in the Kansai region in a natural fashion.'
At the ensuing panel discussions, ways of sending out information about and from Kansai via films were the main topic. Panelists were Junji Sakamoto, a film director who calls himself an Osaka native residing in Japan; Efu Wakagi, an actress and representative of a theatrical group; Ken Terawaki, a film critic and professor of Kyoto University of Art and Design; and Khanittha Matsuo, a Thai resident of Kansai and a radio personality. The moderator was Toshihiko Michiura, a Yomiuri TV announcer. (photo) The forum was followed by a reception involving panelists and other participants, including media representatives. (Tawara)
'Sea & air' transport test
The Kansai Economic Federation and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport launched a 'sea & air' transport experiment on Dec. 8, airfreighting electronic products shipped by sea from China to Japan's Hanshin Port to the United States and Europe from Kansai International Airport (KIX).Electronic products made at Sony's Shanghai plant are shipped by freighters to Osaka Port (one of the three international ports making up Hanshin Port) and trucked to KIX, from where they are transported by cargo planes to Amsterdam and other cities. Demand for direct air shipments from China to the United States and Europe is heavy, but airfreight is very expensive. Using far less expensive surface transport part of the way is expected to reduce costs. At the same time, it is designed to enhance KIX and Hanshin Port as international physical distribution hubs and promote the use of the airport.
The test will be conducted two or three times by February 2009 to check the time and costs required for shipments, administrative procedures, and vibrations and shocks to which merchandise are exposed.
For inquiries, please contact Regional Affairs Dept., Kansai Economic Federation (Tel: 06-6441-0107; URL: http://www.kankeiren.or.jp/).
Osaka college wins cheerleading World Cup
A team from Baika Junior College in Ibaraki City, Osaka Prefecture, won the first cheerleading World Cup event sponsored by the International Federation of Cheerleading. The team, Raiders, won in the Senior Cheer All-Female division of the IFC World Cup held in Moscow. (Photo courtesy of Baika Gakuen)There are two cheerleading world competitions. One is the World Championships, in which national teams comprising cheerleaders from various teams compete. The other is the IFC World Cup, in which individual teams compete. The inaugural World Cup was held on Nov. 23, with 25 teams from Japan, the U.S., Russia and other countries and regions competing against one another. Founded in 1992, the Raiders are a very strong team. 'The Raiders performed without error and vastly outperformed the second-place team,' said Prof. Keiko Miura, an advisor to the team.
In the Junior Cheer All-Female division, the Junior Bears from Mino-Jiyu Gakuen Junior High School (Osaka Pref.) were the winner. The next IFC World Cup is scheduled to take place in Germany in 2009.
For inquiries, please contact Planning Section, General Affairs Dept., Baika Gakuen (Tel: 072-643-6343; URL: http://www.baika.ac.jp/).
New system to aid venture firms
The Kyoto municipal government has established a system to support the city's venture businesses by purchasing their highly original or novel products. The city has already certified 15 products from nine firms under the 'Kyoto City Venture Business New Product Certification System.' The move is designed to support the cultivation of marketing channels for the products of venture businesses that do not have much of a track record in selling their products.The certified products include 1) light-storing emergency exit sign lighting, which absorbs ultraviolet-ray energy of the sun and incandescent lamps and emits light without electricity in the event of a blackout (photo); 2) platinum-nanoparticle solution having antibacterial effects and useful for such applications as protection against in-hospital infection; 3) a portable X-ray device that analyzes harmful chemical elements in soil; 4) a high-performance light-reflecting sheet made of fine foam plastic, which is used as a reflector for fluorescent or LED lamps; 5) frozen sushi that can be stored for disasters; and 6) a portable toilet with an ozonizing deodorizer for nursing care. Administrative bodies under the control of the city government can purchase these products without biddings, and when they purchase one, they are to make their assessments public.
For inquiries, please contact Industrial Promotion Section, Industry & Tourism Bureau, Kyoto City Government (Tel: 075-222-3324; URL: http://www.city.kyoto.lg.jp/).
Historic Kansai : Shirahama:History's footsteps heard even on sand
By Junzo TanakaThe white beach of Shirahama in Kishu (an old name of Wakayama Prefecture) is known for its glistening sand. Shirahama also boasts hot-water spas blessed with abundant water sources and is a popular resort spot both in winter and summer. However, if one checks it out a little, one finds the place is home to an interesting history dating back to ancient times.
Whether or not one enjoys Japan depends on this act of 'looking up a little.' In Japan, a single tree or a single stalk of grass in nature contains joys and sorrows of our forefathers. When I spoke like this in a gathering which included visitors from abroad, talk appeared to shift into a discussion of religion, as someone commented, 'This is a world of polytheism.' He had it all wrong. It was a simple statement of how we perceive nature.
A few hours' ride to the south, either by train or expressway, from Osaka brings you to Shirahama Town in Wakayama Prefecture. Shirarahama, a beach of quartz sand, lies at its center. You can dismiss it simply by saying, 'What a beautiful beach!' but I hope you will stop and note the name of a place nearby, which reads 'Tsuna-shirazu.' 'Tsuna' means a 'rope' and 'shirazu' means 'don't know' or 'have nothing to do with.' Before the railway reached this place for the first time in 1933, it was a gateway to this area. Ships from Osaka or Kobe all came here. Because its waters were calm, poles and ropes to moor ships were unnecessary here, hence the name, 'Tsuna-shirazu.'
During the Nara period (710-784), when Nara was the nation's capital, Shirahama was a playground for emperors and noblemen, perhaps equivalent to pleasure spots along the Mediterranean in Europe. It was a place not only for pleasure but also for power struggle. There is a record that an imperial prince who had lost in a succession fight was tried here.
In the 16th century, a lead mine was discovered nearby. In order to encourage the mining of lead, the powers that be of the time forgave tax payment in rice. In the modern times, because of its calm seas, a floating airport was built here and served as a base for pleasure flights and private-sector air routes. Later, an airport was built on land.
Shirahama is simple but has great depth. It is a living example of the land and climate of Japan, which is characterized by 'the more one knows about it, the more attractive it becomes.'
Kansai in Focus: Endangered acorn forests:Locals aiding their restoration
In late autumn, acorns add color to forests in 'satoyama'(the traditional Japanese countryside characterized by paddy fields, streams and forests) and parks. However, 'kashi'(oak), 'konara'(Quercus serrata Thumb) and other Japanese oak species of trees in the Quercus family are suffering mass die-offs, which have spread to the south-central areas of the Kansai region, are threatening to make these trees locally extinct. Both governments and residents are standing up to stop this phenomenon. A movement in which residents collect acorns to grow them into seedlings and replant forests may appear very primitive and feeble at first sight, but it is a popular means of nurturing love and care for the natural environment. It has also begun to have an effect.Acorns grow on oak trees such as 'konara,' 'mizunara,' 'kunugi' and 'ubamegashi.' They fall on the ground in autumn and sprout in the following spring. The mass die-offs of oak trees are caused by germs carried by a type of beetle which, about 5 mm long, bores into tree trunks. The disease has always been around, but it became noticeable on the Japan Sea side of the archipelago from around the late 1980s. It spread to the northern part of Kyoto Prefecture around 1990. The disease gradually spread southward and reached woods and forests around Kyoto City. Shiga, Hyogo and Osaka prefectures have also been hit by the disease.
Lack of young trees blamed
According to the Kyoto-based Kansai Research Center of the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, oak trees used to be felled frequently to make charcoal, grow shiitake mushrooms and produce woodcrafts. Hence natural forests such as those in 'satoyama' were always rejuvenated and there were not many old trees favored by pests. The presence of many strong, young trees which pests did not like kept the disease from spreading. The disease can be fought by such means as killing pests with chemicals or using a sticky substance to stop them, and felling diseased trees. But there is no surefire way. Even without the disease, natural forests in 'satoyama' and elsewhere are often untended and dying. One of the effective means of fighting this is to replant oak trees in mountains and forests by hand and replenish trees.
'Acorn Bank'
This concept has given birth to the 'Acorn Bank,' launched in Kagawa Prefecture in the 1990s, and the 'Tree-Growing Dream Bank,' opened in 2003 by the Conservation Promotion Division of the Osaka prefectural government's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Department. Both of these banks receive acorns as 'deposits' from local residents and children and allow them to withdraw seedlings depending upon the amount of their deposits. In the case of Osaka, acorn deposits placed by the end of November this year can be exchanged for seedlings next March and depositors may plant them at home or, with a permit, in mountain forests. The Osaka division says 18,000 persons obtained passbooks by March 31, 2008, deposited 7.5 million acorns and withdrew 3,500 seedlings (an additional 3,000 seedlings were distributed to schools and other groups).
To restore oak forests destroyed by natural disasters and diseases, the Hometown Improvement Section of Sumoto City in Hyogo Prefecture nurtures acorns gathered by residents at seedling farms (15,000 seedlings this year) and plants them. In order to replace typhoon-destroyed Japanese cypress forests with acorn trees, the Himeji Nature Sanctuary has been holding events since 2006 for residents to take home acorns gathered there to grow them into seedlings and bring them back for planting. Three tree-planting events are scheduled for next March, each event open for the participation of 60 persons.
These civic movements to nurture acorn forests are spreading to many parts of Japan. In addition to government activities, there are many examples of volunteer groups and individual gardening-aficionados growing acorn seedlings. To tell the truth, this writer also planted acorns at home in 2006.(photo) He wishes to report to his readers that unexpectedly some 20 strong young trees grew out them.(Kagami)