An international Manga museum planned in Kyoto
Kyoto Seika University (Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City, President: Hajime Nakao), which in 2000 established the first School of Cartoon and Comic Art in Japan, has announced that it would open 'Kyoto International Manga Museum'(a provisional name) as a base for spreading Manga culture, jointly with Kyoto City Government in the autumn of 2006. The planned site is Tatsuike Elementary School (Chukyo Ward, Kyoto City), which has been closed down.The plan envisions renovating approximately 3,000 square meters of the school's total floor space of 4,500 square meters. The school has three stories above the ground and one underground floor. In addition to housing and exhibiting approximately 230,000 titles and issues of comic books and magazines from around the world, the largest collection in Japan, it will hold courses on the subject of Manga for the general public.
Plans for further in the future include fostering human resources, such as computer graphics animators, providing support to venture businesses using Manga and developing the functions to create a new industry through these and other means.
Kyoto Mayor Yorikane Masumoto says, 'We will promote at home and abroad the culture of Kyoto that boasts of the 'picture scroll of wildlife at play' which is said the origin of Manga, and would like to host an international event on the study of Manga by 2008.' For inquiries, please contact Planning Section, Kyoto City Board of Education (Tel: 075-222-3768)
New detection method of legionella bacteria developed
Daikin Industries (Head office: Osaka City) has announced that it has developed a new easy on-the-spot detection method of legionella bacteria, called bioelectrocatalytic DNA method, in a joint research with the University of Fukui and the University of Tokushima.The new method measures the intensity of the enzyme reaction caused by the probe that recognizes the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) of legionella bacteria by detecting the electric current generated by the reaction. It does not require big centrifuges and many reagents the conventional method required. It only uses 10ml of the sample water and quickly detects legionella bacteria onsite with easy injector-type filter suction filtration concentration, two types of reagents, one electrode and an electricity measuring instrument.
For inquiries, please contact Public Relations Dept., Daikin Industries, (Tel: 06-6373-4348) URL http://www.daikin.co.jp/press/2004/041110/index.html
Whisky by the cask: Suntory offers Owner's Cask
Suntory, Ltd. (Head office: Kita Ward, Osaka City), which makes a wide variety of malt whisky using its advanced technology, has announced that it would start an 'Owner's Cask'program, under which unblended malt whisky will be sold by the cask. This is the first such offer made by a Japanese distiller.Suntory will offer 103 casks carefully selected from approximately one million casks stored at its Yamazaki Distillery (Shimamoto Town, Osaka Prefecture) and Hakushu Distillery (Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture). The prices range from 500,000 yen to 30 million yen per cask. The highest price is attached to whisky distilled at Yamazaki Distillery in 1979 and has been matured in a cask of mizunara, a kind of oak. It can yield approximately 290 bottles of whisky. Would-be buyers will taste the whisky at the distilleries before signing a contract.
For inquiries, please contact Public Relations Dept., Suntory, Ltd. (Tel: 06-6346-0835) URL http://www.suntory.co.jp/news/2004/8963.html
Japan's largest telescope completed in Nishi-Harima
Nishi-Harima Astronomical Observatory run by Hyogo Prefecture (Sayo Town, Hyogo Prefecture) has completed the construction of an optical telescope 'Nayuta' with a reflector with a diameter of 2 meters, the largest in Japan, and opened it to the public. This is the world's largest optical telescope at an observatory that is open to the public.It is equipped with five state-of-the-art equipment, including a naked-eye watching unit that shows distant objects clearly and a simultaneous 3-color near IR (infrared) camera, which shows objects invisible to the naked eye. With it, one can see the world approximately 14 billion light-years away (1,300 trillion kilometers), so-called the 'end of the universe. 'Nayuta' means an extremely large number in Sanskrit.
For inquiries, please contact Nishi-Harima Astronomical Observatory Park (Tel: 0790-82-3886) URL http://www.nhao.go.jp/
Bunraku Week to mark World Heritage registration
To mark the first anniversary of the registration of Ningyo Joruri (Japanese classical puppet show) as World's Intangible Cultural Heritage, Osaka City Government, National Bunraku Theatre and Bunraku Kyokai jointly held an eight-day 'Bunraku Week.'Starting with the unveiling ceremony of the Bunraku puppet 'Yaegakihime'which is to be on a permanent display at the main entrance hall of Osaka City Hall, a special exhibition on the Bunraku themes was held at the hall. The exhibits included yukahon (scripts), shamisen (a three-stringed Japanese musical instrument) used on the stage as well as pictures of Bunraku puppets drawn by actor Akira Nakao. On the last day, Professor Mayumi Morinishi of Ritsumeikan University, who is also the chief editor in of magazine 'Kamigata Geino'(Performing Arts of Osaka), delivered a talk on the highlights of 'Kanadehon Chushingura'at Osaka Museum of History (Chuo Ward, Osaka City) currently on the stage at the National Bunraku Theatre (Chuo Ward, Osaka City) . The event also included a demonstration by master puppeteer Kanjuro Kiritake.Japan Arts Council (President: Kazuaki Tsuda, President of Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau), which operates National Bunraku Theatre and others, said that it plans to introduce English-language earphone guides to meet the needs of foreigners and open child-care facilities to attract younger generation.
For inquiries, please contact Cultural Affairs Dept., Recreation and Tourism Bureau, Osaka City Govt (Tel: 06-6615-0685)
Historic Kansai:'Gamono' the home of love poems that changed history
Junzo TanakaA person in love is beautiful to look at. There is no greater joy than expressing one's love in a poem and offering it to one's beloved. If the beloved would return an ode in reply, one would be in seventh heaven. And if such poems are so exquisite as to move a great number of people, nothing would be more auspicious.
The poem the poetess Nukata-no-okimi (Princess Nukata) composed in 568 met all these conditions. It was a short poem called Waka, and there it took the form of somonka, a poem calling out to someone that is answered by an ode in reply. The person who received this poem promptly responded with an exquisite verse. These two poems are so beautiful that even today many Japanese know them by heart. Princess Nukata's poem goes as follows.
'Akanesasu murasakinoyuki shimenoyuki nomoriwamizuya kimigasodefuru' These words sound really beautiful to Japanese ears. However, as the poem uses many set epithets and plays on words, it is difficult to convey the meaning word for word. Here are its background and a rough meaning.
On that day, Princess Nukata accompanied the Emperor, who particularly favored her, for hunting in the field of Gamono, which is on the eastern shore of Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan. Prince Oama, a brother of the Emperor who was also in the hunting party, covertly waved his sleeve as a sign to Princess Nukata. At the party after hunting, Princess Nukata chided the prince with this poem, saying if you do something like that the gamekeeper would censure you, and also expressing her love to Prince Oama.
Prince Oama responded, 'Murasakino niwoeruimowo nikukuaraba hitozumayueni warekoimeyamo,'meaning, you have become a consort of the Emperor, but I am still in love with you. In fact, before Princess Nukata was called to the court, she was a consort of Prince Oama. I should say these two were taking a big chance making such an exchange.
This pair of poems is included on 'Man'yoshu,' Japan's oldest anthology of poems compiled in the eighth century. The love poems relating to an emperor found their places in an anthology, the compiling of which was a national undertaking, so-to-speak. Man'yoshu also included poems of joys and sorrows of ordinary people and pains of soldiers who were sent to remote places as garrisons. A liberal idea that all are equal in art runs through the collection. In this sense, it is a historical document of the first class.
Later, the Emperor fell ill and a struggle broke out between Crown Prince, the eldest son of the Emperor, and Prince Oama, who eventually won the throne of the emperor. This was the war called 'Jinshin-no-ran.' Some scholars of Man'yoshu say that the signs of this struggle had already been seen in the exchange of poems between Princess Nukata and Prince Oama at that party. The love poems changed history.
It is said that Gamono, where the Emperor's game hunting took place is a wide plain that covers today's Yokaichi City and Gamo Town in Shiga Prefecture. The local people call this area 'Man'yo country,' which is visited by many hikers and lovers of literature. Old shrines and temples and monuments inscribed with poems from Man'yoshu are scattered here and there and it is good for outing in late autumn, too.
The Japanese Imperial House has a very elegant tradition of enjoying poetry with the people. This tradition lives on in the New Year Poetry Party held at the Imperial court. I had wanted to touch on this subject as well, but I have run out of space.
Kansai in Focus: RIHGA Royal Hotel boasts talented young Frenchwoman at forefront
Strange as it may seem, when one steps onto plush carpeting in the lobby of a luxury first-class hotel, one cannot help but feel like a celebrity of a sort.As I entered RIHGA Royal Hotel in Nakanoshima, Kita Ward of Osaka City, I found a tall foreign lady standing next to a small desk across the isle from the hotel's main front desk. She was blond, blue-eyed and very fair. She had a large emblem showing a French tricolor on the left chest of her jacket.
'This? It means I am a French national and speak French,' said Ms. Julie Marchat (age: 27). Her business card reads 'Guest Relations, Front Desk Section, Accommodation Dept.' But it has no Japanese translation. What kind of work does she do?
Diverse tasks
Requests from hotel guests are diverse and complicated. There is no knowing what kind of requests or inquiries will come in. 'Where can I find a good Japanese restaurant?''I want to see sights in Osaka.' These are easy ones. Sometimes, people come to her saying, 'I don't feel well.'It is not possible to deal with all kinds of circumstances unless one knows pretty much everything.
When she finds it is absolutely beyond her power, she asks for help from senior Japanese staff members. In a nut shell, she is a member of a flying squadron doing multitasks at the frontline of the hotel.
On the lapel of her blazer, she wears a badge of the Union Jack and another badge depicting the yellow and red Spanish flag. 'These mean that I also speak English and Spanish.' I looked around to see that all other members of the staff also wear shining badges on their lapels. Ah I see! This person speaks Chinese. One can tell right away. It is all very clear. This must be a hit idea of the hotel. 'But, I don't wear the badge of the Rising Sun.' Well said! Without doubt, she comes from the country of esprit. Her joke is subtle.
From the foot of the Alps
Ms. Marchat hails from Savoie Province at the foot of the Alps. She majored in European history at Chambery University in the area. Then, she studied tourism at the University of Lyon. She also studied in England and Spain, though briefly. All this while, she cherished Japanese animations deep in her heart--'Heidi'(as Japanimation), 'Catseye,''Maison Ikkoku,' etc.
She dreamed of coming to Japan one day. Her dream blossomed and three and a half years ago she was admitted to the Course in Japanese Studies for Foreign Students at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies. She also polished her Japanese at the University's language school. 'When I was a student, I had a part time job as a nakai (a kimono-clad waitress) in a French restaurant in Ponto-cho in Kyoto City.'
A nakai at a French restaurant? 'Yes, I put on kimono... During the year and a half I worked at that restaurant, I learned so many things from senior colleagues.' Do you know the meaning of 'Ponto'? 'Means 'pointed'in Portuguese. 'Battera'(pressed sushi topped with vinegared mackerel) comes from a Portuguese word meaning a boat.' She knows everything.
She got her present job in September last year. Her wealth of knowledge must have come from studying in so many countries. She has a very, very cheerful character. Can her hospitable nature be inborn?
RIHGA Royal Hotel is the most prestigious and largest hotel in Osaka. When the leaders of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries met in Osaka in 1995, then U.S. President Bill Clinton made a reservation at this hotel. Ms. Marchat is at the hotel's forefront. 'My hobbies? I often visit art museums on my days off.' The way she speaks and the way she holds herself remind one of an ingenue that she was. (H)