Ageless long life to be challenged, Takara Bio top says
Ikunoshin Kato, president of Takara Bio Inc. (Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture), delivered a lecture titled 'Biomedical Care: Challenge to Ageless Long Life' at a regular luncheon meeting of the Kansai Press Club in early March. The following is the excerpt of his speech.The development of pharmaceutical products is indispensable for people's desire to remain ageless and live long. Osaka has a tradition of medicine such as a great physician Ogata Koan's private medical school Tekijuku in the Edo period and a pharmaceutical town Doshomachi, among others. In the field of biotechnology, Osaka is really stronger than Tokyo. My former teacher Shiro Akabori, president of Osaka University at that time, helped educate biotech researchers.
Conventional Japanese pharmaceutical companies do not show any interest in the new field because it is not profitable but the rest of the world is rushing into it. Japan could fall behind other countries if it stays inactive in the area of gene therapy. Japan is unwilling to take on something new.
With respect to biomedical foodstuffs 'it is anticancer food that prevent damage to DNA and we should eat food that makes genes happy, such as 'kombu' seaweed, 'kanten' vegetable gelatin or 'ashitaba' perennial plant.' As for matsutake mushroom, the president said 'Takara Bio Inc. had succeeded in deciphering its genome. The company is still in the process of studying gene workings and is not ready for mass production. However, I tell the researchers to do it within a year. The reason the company is striving for kinoko's development is because it will ultimately be effective in the fight against cancer.'
Finally, the time has come for Kansai-Osaka to become the center of gene engineering and biomedical care by taking the initiative for the establishment of a greater bio zone 'the Yellow Sea bloc' embracing South Korea, China and Japan.
Int'l fireworks symposium on Lake Biwa, April 18-22
The Eighth International Symposium on Fireworks, the world's biggest event of the pyrotechnic industry, will be held for five days beginning April 18 at the Lake Biwa Hotel in Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture, under the auspices of the International Symposium on Fireworks Society in Nova Scotia, Canada.The upcoming meeting will mark the first gathering outside Europe and North America. About 350 people including 200 from 25 foreign countries will gather, exchange information on the pyrotechnic industry and discuss the safety, scientific, engineering, artistic and regulatory aspects of fireworks at the world level.
Also, during the period of the symposium, 'world fireworks display Shiga' will take place at six places on the shore of the Lake Biwa featuring the latest pyrotechnic technology of Britain, Italy, China and Taiwan. The event is scheduled to be held in Ogoto, April 18, in Imazu and Hikone, April 19, at Moriyama (Biwako Bridge), April 20, in Nagahama, April 21 and in Otsu, April 22. About 3,000 fireworks are expected to be displayed at each site.
For inquiries, please contact Dept. of Commerce, Industry and Labor, Shiga Prefectural Govt (Tel: 077-528-3741)
Universities of unique types to open in Kyoto, Fukui
Kyoto University of Art and Design in Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City, which has been engaging in an education designed to stimulate children's intellectual curiosities, will inaugurate an 'art university for children' in April this year for preschool children aged 3 to 5 and their parents to study arts and nature. It will provide children and their mothers who tend to stay home with a place to get together with other , learning art and nature in the process of their growth. They will study from a year to three years until they go to primary school.On the other hand nonprofit organization Nousonryoku (village power) Design Laboratory headed by Director Mamoru Shimizu in Ikeda town, Fukui Prefecture, will open private school 'Japan Nousonryoku Design University' to members of society in July this year. The NPO, defining 'nousonryoku' as agricultural wisdom, will grapple with the task of fostering human resources for businesses and town building.
For inquiries, please contact Kyoto University Art and Design School (Tel: 075-791-9120) URL http://www.kyoto-art.ac.jp/~kodomo/
Nousonryoku Design Laboratory (Tel: 0778-44-8100) URL http://www.c-nord.com/
Common discount passes to Kansai museums put on sale
Sixty museums, including art museums, have put on sale common discount 'round-the-museum passes Kansai 2005' in a cooperative effort to seek the understanding of the accumulation of Kansai culture by as many people as possible and to realize an increase in the number of visitors to art galleries and buildings where important cultural, historical or scientific objects are preserved for them to see. The sale of the passes is part of a Kansai Cultural Metropolitan Bloc idea proposed by Hayao Kawai, director general of the Cultural Affairs Agency.Each coupon-like pass comprising 50 admission free and discount price slips is sold for 1,000 yen. Visitors use one slip at each of the member museums. The passes are valid from April 1 to March 31 but are effective for two months after their holders used them first for a visit to a museum.
This is the first time as a cultural project that such passes will be sold continuously in the Kansai region although the Kansai Council has initiated a 'Kansai Culture Day' in which art galleries and museums are open free for a certain period in November.
For inquiries, please contact Executive Committee Secretariat (Kyoto National Museum ) (Tel: 075-531-7504)
Historic Kansai:Time to savor spring in Kansai
By Junzo TanakaA variety of flowers are in full bloom without a break from March to June during the most beautiful season in a year in the Kansai region. With the cherry blossoms at their best, many people find the time to savor flowers.
Saigyo (1118-1190), who gave up being a samurai at the age of 23 after realizing the uncertainties of life and became a distinguished traveling Buddhist priest and poet, loved flowers and wrote the following tanka poem:
'Let me die in spring/under the blossoming trees, /let it be around/that full moon/of Kisaragi month.' He meant to say that he wanted to die in the spring under trees in full bloom around February under the lunar calendar or in March under the solar year calendar when the moon was at its full. Mentioning the blossoming trees, he referred to sakura cherry trees. Many Japanese temples are known as noted places of flowers, perhaps because they are deeply related to flowers or they have something to do with Japanese people's sense of lives or due to the fact that Buddha Shakyamuni attained spiritual enlightenment under linden and entered the nirvana under the tree of sara (Japanese roses).
I would like to introduce the following temples of flowers that I personally like. There are many other temples that preserve flowers. The time I give for flower viewing is tentative because a climate change takes place immediately before the best time.
<From late March> Cherry trees-The Sekkoji Temple in Katsuragi City, Nara Prefecture. Get off a train at Taimadera on Kintetsu Minami Osaka Line or turn off at the Kashiwara Kashiba IC of Nishimeihan Expressways. You can see peony (herbaceous peony) in April and shakuyaku or a kind of peony in May.
<From early April> Camellia-The Jizoin Temple in Kita Ward, Kyoto. It is located in the area of the bus stop Kitano Hakubai town by bus from JR Kyoto Station. Drivers can reach there from the Kyoto Minami IC of Meishin Expressways to Nishioji Dori via National Route 1. The temple is commonly known as Tsubakidera where camellia is in bloom from the cold season.
Magnolia-The Koshoji Temple in Yoka town in Yabu-gun, Hyogo Prefecture. Passengers get off a train at JR Yoka Station on the San'in Line or via the Wadayama Kita IC of Bantan Expressways. Near the temple is Hachikita Kogen highland where the prefecture's natural treasure zazen grass blossoms from late March to early May.
Mitsuba azalea-The Ryogonji Temple in Ayabe City, Kyoto Prefecture. The nearest is JR Ayabe Station on the San'in Line and Ayabe IC of Maizuru Expressways. Cherry blossoms are viewed from late March while lotus can be seen from late June and sarusuberi crept myrtle in July.
<From late April> Peony-The Ryukokuji Temple in Hidaka town in Kinosaki-gun, Hyogo Prefecture. Ebara is the nearest railway station on the JR San'in Line or the Fukuchiyama IC of Maizuru Expressways is for motorists. Camellia and dogwood blossom in early April and the tree of sara in early June. The Naomi Uemura Memorial Museum for the late Japanese mountaineer is found near the temple.
Hirado azalea-The Chogakuji Temple in Tenri City, Nara Prefecture. JR Tenri Station on the Sakurai Line and the Tenri IC of Nishimeihan Expressways are closest to the temple respectively. Rabbitear iris becomes available for viewing in May and hydrangea in June. Yamanobenomichi, Japan's oldest path built by government expenditure is located near the temple.
<From mid-May> Peony-The Kyuanji Temple in Ikeda City, Osaka Prefecture. Ikeda Station on the Hankyu Takarazuka Line and the Ikeda IC of Chugoku Expressways or Kibe No. 1 exits on the Hanshin Expressways are the nearest transportation doorways to the temple. Cherry trees are in bloom in April, ogatama and shakunage rhododendron in May and azalea and the tree of sara in June.
<From late June> Lotus-The Hokongoin Temple in Ukyo Ward in Kyoto City. Visitors may take a walk from JR Hanazono Station on the Sagano Line or go there by city bus from Marutamachi Station on the subway Karasuma Line. Drivers may go from the Kyoto Minami IC of Meishin Expressways to National Route 1. They can see drooping cherry trees in bloom in April and azalea, iris, linden and the tree of sara in June. Nijo Castle is located near the temple.
Kansai in Focus: British economic analyst is indispensable adviser to Osaka Municipality
When I pressed the interphone, a voice saying 'please' came from the inside the office. The door opened and a giant stood there but I could hardly see his face. He was so tall that his face appeared above the threshold.The man is Mr. Alex Stewart, 53, who is CEO and president of Alexander Capital Access Co., Ltd. with his office in Kitahorie, Nishi Ward in Osaka City. He is a firmly committed economic analyst with contacts all over the world. He serves as a city of Osaka Executive Advisor as officials have quite a high opinion of him as an economic counselor. He sends out information on Osaka and the Kansai region to the rest of the world, inspiring foreign corporations to invest, and luring tourists to visit, and at times, supports Japanese and foreign enterprises to join together in business tie-up projects.
He has written numerous reports on the industrial field of his specialty and won recognition from noted futuristic scholar Alvin Toffler. Mr. Stewart is the irreplaceable strength for the Osaka city government that has been carrying the banner for 'urban renewal' in recent years.
From Sussex
'I am from Sussex, England,' Mr. Stewart said. 'I spent my younger years in Africa and Sri Lanka because of my father's work.' After graduating from University of London, he joined the British securities industry and took charge of Japanese affairs, among others. He became independent in 1996 and came to live in Kansai in 1999. He has been in the industry for 25 years. A reception was held at the Mayor's Mansion, Osaka last May for executives of 35 foreign-affiliated firms in Osaka. Prior to the reception, Mr. Stewart served as a lecturer at three briefings that called for investment in corporations in Osaka. He made a report summarizing the briefings in the presence of Mayor Junichi Seki and other dignitaries.
He said, 'Kansai has a weak point in not having many infrastructures for foreigners, but, in addition to having cheaper business costs than Tokyo, it has many small and midsize firms that possess a high level of technologies. Furthermore, it maintains close relations with China, which is expected to become the largest market in the world. This is going to be a very strong point (for Kansai) in the future.' Lately, a look around the city reveals that the construction of giant commercial facilities is under way uninterruptedly in the Kita (north) as well as the Minami (south) districts although it is said the country is economically depressed and the economy is in slump. One may wonder if it is all right to build so many buildings. One cannot shake off such misgivings. However, the situation in Kansai is obviously moving forward toward globalization.
Staff of four
Mr. Stewart's Alexander Capital Access Co. is comprised of four full-time employees. They are all elite individuals who have been posted to overseas offices of major Japanese corporations and are armed with a global understanding and judgment.
One of them said, 'Most big Japanese corporations have settlements of accounts only in Japanese. Their reference materials calling for foreign investments are in Japanese. Yet, such investment has been made in 20 percent of corporations listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It will soon rise to 40 percent. Don't you think this situation is strange?' Mr. Stewart runs around various countries in the world and establishes careful personal contacts and information networks. He touches all the bases in his research consulting business. He has the reputation as a competent man in preparing contracts. 'I made market research in Pyongyang in 1998,' he said. 'And Osaka's urban renewal plan? For instance,' he added, spreading the well-known Financial Times's four-page special issue featuring the Kansai economy. Mr. Stewart supervised that special feature.
Incidentally, Mr. Stewart is 193 centimeter tall. Told he is like a Dutch, he replied, 'Germans are also big.' He and his Japanese wife are parents of three children. (H)