Kurashi - News From Japan

Visit Roses & Gardening Show 2013

2013-05-12T00:30:00.000+09:00

Lovely exhibition of roses, at a grand location. Special treat this year will be roses from Turkey:

To mark the friendly relations Japan and Turkey have enjoyed over the years (despite the rivalry involved in both countries’ bids to host the 2020 Olympics), a new variety of rose called Ertugrul, named after a frigate of the Ottoman Navy that sank off the coast of Wakayama Prefecture in 1890, will be unveiled to the public for the first time. Some Turkish foods will also be available at the expo.

Other highlights at the six-day show include a fountain that uses pure rose water. A total of 200,000 Damask roses, a variety known for its strong fragrance, will be used to create the fountain water, which visitors are free to scoop up and apply to their skin.

The Japan Times: Outlook is rosy at 15th annual garden show

If you like new ideas for your garden, small or large, this is a great opportunity.

The International Roses & Gardening Show 2013 will held from May 11-16 at the Seibu Dome in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Admission 2,000.

For more information, visit www.bara21.jp (J).

Top image from last year's show, from the karie24 blog. I like how the 1970s anime Rose of Versailles is mentioned, with its romantic themes, that I think Japanese fans know better than most of us who grew up in Europe.

Swedish diplomat, Axel von Fersen, for example, is a major character in this Japanese work of fiction, which was first published in 1973.

Many Swedish people would have trouble explaining who he is! "The Rose of Versailles" was the first commercially translated manga to be available in North America, in 1983. From wikipedia:

The Rose of Versailles focuses on Oscar François de Jarjayes, a girl raised as a man to become her father's successor as leader of the Palace Guards. A brilliant combatant with a strong sense of justice, Oscar is proud of the life she leads, but becomes torn between class loyalty and her desire to help the impoverished as revolution brews among the oppressed lower class. Also important to the story are her conflicting desires to live life as both a militant and a regular woman as well as her relationships with Marie Antoinette, Count Axel von Fersen, and servant and best friend André Grandier.

And there is much more:

It's easy to toss out lines about how influential The Rose of Versailles is, but it's another matter to really sit down and grasp how much Ikeda helped change the manga scene with her work. Dr. Susan Napier, Professor of the Japanese Program at Tufts University and author of Anime from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle, was Viki's host, along with Christopher Macdonald, publisher of Anime News Network, at the North American premiere of Rose at New York Comic Con on October 13. Speaking about the title in an interview with ANN, she said that The Rose of Versailles is one of the most important manga series ever made. “It was one of the first major manga written by a woman,” she said. “Up till that point most manga had been written by men, but in the early 70's a group of women writers known as the group of 24 appeared, and Versailles's creator Riyoko Ikeda was one of them. All of them would go on to have a major impact on the shojo manga industry, helping to make shojo manga a serious and significant genre that was not only about romance but dealt with social issues as well.

“Ikeda's Rose of Versailles was particularly influential, for its fascinating and involving story and its exciting setting —the French Revolution, depicted with great historical accuracy,” she said.

Napier pointed to the main character Oscar as being a major asset to the series, saying, “The cross-dressing young woman would become the series' most important protagonist, eclipsing even Marie Antoinette. Although there had been cross dressing manga protagonists previously, (the most famous being the heroine of Tezuka Osamu's Princess Knight series), Oscar was a truly complex and three-dimensional figure who offered young Japanese women a different kind of role model from the traditional demure and subdued idea of Japanese womanhood. Oscar went on to spawn a long line of feisty cross dressing heroines, the most famous of whom is probably Utena of the popular Revolutionary Girl Utena series.”

Napier went on to explain in more detail the specifics of what The Rose of Versailles brought to shojo, including a change in art style. “Visually, Rose was one of the pioneers in developing the open frame, visually detailed style that became the hallmark of shojo manga in the 1970's,” she said. “Although Ikeda was not alone in doing this, (Hagio Moto, another member of the group of 24, was probably the first in doing this in Tomo no Shinzo), the lush and gorgeous setting of pre-Revolutionary France depicted in Versailles appealed enormously to readers and helped solidify the trend toward visual lavishness in subsequent shojo manga aesthetics.”

But it wasn't just art that was altered. It also gave rise to strong storylines, and, very importantly for female readers, to strong female leads. While it's easy to point to the gender-bending lead Sapphire of Princess Knight as predating Oscar in the female-disguised-as-male scenario, it's still worth noting that Sapphire typically shows strength in male form, and weakness in female form. This is not an empowering message to female readers. While The Rose of Versailles played around with gender-bending scenarios, it also gave more strength and equality to women.

“Deborah Shamoon in her excellent book Passionate Friendship: The Aesthetics of Girls' Culture in Japan believes that the romance between Oscar and the love of her life, Andre, served as a paradigm for a relationship between equals where the woman does not have to lose her identity,” said Napier. “In general, the uncompromising, somewhat tomboyish female lead character became a popular heroine in later manga and anime.”

As if this weren't already influential enough, Napier had more important details to discuss. “Another significant aspect of shojo manga culture that Rose helped to pioneer was the importance of fan/reader interaction with the manga's creator. Ikeda actually changed the plot to emphasize Oscar more vividly because of strong reader response to the character. The interaction between fans and creators, with fan reaction affecting the development of a series, remains an important element in shojo manga culture to this day.”

Making History: The Rose of Versailles

Back to roses. I like how the Seibu rose show this year is more about Turkey. Of course, we would have no variety of roses without the amazing variety from that part of the world. And, did you know that Japan has had relations with Turkey and the Ottoman Empire at least since 1889, when the ship Ertugrul arrived at Yokohama. It sank due to terrible weather on its return journey back to Constantinople, sadly, and has since become a symbol of friendship between Japan and Turkey.

At the site of the accident, around 533 sailors, of whom fifty were officers including the commander Admiral Ali Osman Pasha, lost their lives. Only six officers and sixty-three sailors survived. Six of the survivors were uninjured, nine severely wounded and the others sustained light injuries...

All of the sixty-nine survivors were transported back to Constantinople aboard Japanese corvettes Kongō and Hiei, leaving Shinagawa, Tokyo in October 1890. The sultan accepted the officers of the Japanese battleships on 5 January 1891 and expressed his appreciation for the relief operation by decorating them with medals.

Imagine that, all of you who fly in and out of convenient airports to this country; we are all in debt to people like the sailors who came here not so long ago, on ships like the Ertugrul. Respect.

Seizo Suzuki, Rose Breeder in Japan

2013-05-11T23:50:00.004+09:00

Seizo Suzuki was a rose breeder who, with his rare talent and incessant efforts, played a leading role in the rosedom of Japan. Due to his leadership that Japan's rosedom has come to enjoy the world-wide reputation it holds today. During his lifetime, he raised as many as 160 new rose varieties, and 30 of them were awarded the ARRS and other prizes at prestigious intenational competitions of new roses the world over, earning him the reputation as a great breeder globally.

Heritage roses in Japan

He was one of the breeders who recognised early on the importance of species roses and old garden roses as a gene pool for future breeding programmes. He collected about 2,000 such roses in his research institute of the Keisei Rose Nursery. This collection impressed Mr. Peter Harkness so strongly that he wrote in an article he contributed to the RNRS journal The Rose: "For quality of growth and richness of variety I have never seen its like. I could have stayed for days." (The Rose, Christmas 1993)

Seizo Suzuki was born in Tokyo in 1913. His love of plants started in his early childhood under the influence of his father, an enthusiastic amateur horticulturist. Among many plants, he was particularly fascinated by a beautiful red rose, Gruss an Teplitz, the queen of his father's garden. It was this rose, that made him decide to take up the study of roses as his lifelong occupation.

In 1938, at the age of twenty-four, he started his career as a professional rosarian, opening Todoroki Rose Garden in Tokyo. Two years later, in 1940, he married Haruyo, who was to become his most devoted colleague all through his life.

Roses in Japan have a long history.

Heritage Roses:

The City of Sakura Rose Garden (Kusabue-no-Oka Rose Garden) is located in Sakura, a city in a quiet rural area, 15km west of Narita International Airport and 40km east of the central area of Tokyo. Though it is a small city, Sakura has an interesting history stretching back over a thousand years. During the Edo period, Japan closed its door to the outside world for over 250 years until it gave up the policy of diplomatic isolation in the middle of the 19th century. It was Masayoshi Hotta, the then feudal lord of Sakura and a chief minister of the Tokugawa government, who played a pivotal role in promoting Japan’s open door policy at that time.

After the Meiji Restoration, he aggressively worked to introduce culture and advanced technology to Japan from other countries. In those days, Sakura led the nation in various fields: art, medicine, language study, finance, and horticulture. Hotta opened a trial farm in Sakura with the aim of promoting the study of modern horticulture.

His son Masatomo served as the first president of the Japan Imperial Rose Society. It was considered that Sakura, with its tradition of horticulture and of roses, should be the place to preserve heritage roses, and the City of Sakura Rose Garden (Kusabue-no-Oka Rose Garden) was therefore opened. The Garden has been trying to collect historically important roses, on the basis of the late Mr. Seizo Suzuki’s rose collection, and with the help of many rose lovers in and out of the country. At present, the Garden has 850 varieties --- 120 species, 600 old garden roses, and 130 modern roses. In total, 1900 roses are taken care of by many volunteers in the 2.5 acre lot of this garden.

Where do the roses come from?

Don't forget Takatori Rose Nursery, in Okayama, from 1935.

Fantasy Garden Roses
bred by Yoshiho Takatori and variety name is from Aynu language.
Fragrance of the Old Roses and dwarf type of English Roses.
In our climate Fantasy Garden Roses are best protected for summer.
All are good repeaters, except where noted.

http://www2e.biglobe.ne.jp/%257Eroselove/newroses.htm
Japan loves its roses. Suntory and others are also breeding these amazing plants.

We are very grateful to those rose authorities around the world who have kindly donated many varieties of rare roses to our garden.

The late Mr. Seizo Suzuki, Japan : He donated part of his collection: 90 varieties of species roses and 200 varieties of old garden roses, enabling us to open Rose Garden Alba, the predecessor of Kusabue-no-Oka Rose Garden.

Mrs. Odile Masquelier, Lyon, France : She is known as the owner of the beautiful garden featuring roses, La Bonne Maison. From her collection as many as 200 varieties of rare roses were donated to the garden.

Mr. and Mrs. Viru Viraraghavan, Kodaikanal, India : They raise heat-resistant roses, and use species roses such as R. gigantea and R. clinophylla in their breeding programme. Their roses including HT ‘Blushing Yuki’ and some amazing Clinophylla hybrids are planted in the garden.

Mrs. Helga Brichet, Santa Maria, Italy : She has greatly contributed to the preservation of heritage roses through her activities in the WFRS. From her own collection, many rare China roses and Gigantea hybrids were donated to us.

Vintage Gardens in California, US : The gardens donated to us 50 very rare heritage roses from their collection.

Huaian Rose Garden, Jiangsu Province, China : It sent us old China and Tea roses originating in China with Chinese names. It is said some of them were raised in the 12th century.

Prof. Yoshihiro Ueda, Japan : From his precious collection of wild roses from Japan and China, many roses, including very attractive R. chinensis spontanea, were donated to us.

Dr. Yuki Mikanagi, Japan : She is a specialist in wild roses in Japan and in rose pigments. She donated to us many of rare specimens, e.g. R. luciae ‘Anemone Form’ and R. sambucina.

Damask Rose in Japan

2013-05-11T23:26:00.000+09:00

The Damask rose is one of the oldest rose strains in the world, its virtues lauded since antiquity.

Today it is mainly cultivated for its use in perfumes -- and in the Syrian village of Al Marah, the traditions for its cultivation have endured through the centuries.

AFP:

A total of 200,000 Damask roses, a variety known for its strong fragrance, will be used to create the fountain water, which visitors are free to scoop up and apply to their skin.

The International Roses & Gardening Show 2013 will held from May 11-16 at the Seibu Dome in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Admission 2,000.

For more information, visit www.bara21.jp (J).

Roses are tricky plants. Most of of just know the flowers, and we have no idea about how those gorgeous pink, red, or white blossoms appear. Behind the Scent has more.

Half the fun of introducing a new fragrance family into our home fragrance collections is doing the research on the basic elements we combine. In our newest fragrance family, Cedar Rose, which incorporates Atlas Cedarwood of which we have written previously, we also have combined the heady fragrance of the Damask Rose.

The Japan Times: Outlook is rosy at 15th annual garden show

Noun

damask rose - large hardy very fragrant pink rose; cultivated in Asia Minor as source of attar of roses; parent of many hybrids

Teachings (New Orleans Zen Temple)

2013-05-08T00:48:00.002+09:00

Maka Hannya Haramita Shingyo

The Great Sutra of Profound Essential Wisdom and Beyond
The Bodhisattva of true compassion,
Through deep practice in Great Wisdom,
Understands that the body and the five skandas are only emptiness.
And with this understanding, he helps all who suffer.
Oh Sariputra,
Phenomena is no different than ku, ku no different from phenomena.
Phenomena becomes ku, ku becomes phenomena.
The five skandas too are only phenomena.
Oh Sariputra,
All things are ku.
There is no birth, no death,
No purity, no impurity,
No increase, no decrease.
This is why in ku there is no form, no skandas,
No eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind.
There is no color, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no thought.
There is no knowing, no ignorance, no illusion, no cessation of illusion.
No withering, no death, no end to withering and death.
There is no beginning to suffering, no end to suffering.
There is no knowledge, no profit, no non-profit.
Because of this wisdom which leads beyond, the Bodhisattva is fearless.
All illusion and all attachment are dropped off, and he can grasp the final end to life, nirvana.
All Buddhas of the past, of the present and of the future,
Through this incomparable, unparalleled and authentic incantation,
Can attain understanding of this supreme wisdom which frees us from suffering
As it does away with all suffering, it allows us to find reality, true ku.
Go, go, go together, beyond, fully beyond, to the shore of satori.

Maka Hannya Haramita Shingyo
Kan ji zai bo za tsu
Gyo jin han ya ha ra mi ta
Ji sho ken go on kai ku
Do i sai ku
Yaku sha ri shi

Shiki fu i ku
Ku fu i shiki
Shiki soku ze ku
Ku soku ze shiki
Ju so gyo shiki

Yaku bu nyo ze
Sha ri shi
Ze sho ho ku so
Fu sho fu metsu
Fu ku fu jo
Fu zo fu gen

Ze ko ku chu
Mu shiki mu ju so gyo shiki
Mu gen ni bi ze shin i
Mu shiki sho ko mi soku ho
Mu gen kai nai shi mu i shiki kai
Mu mu myo yaku mu mu myo jin
Nai shi mu ro shi yaku mu ro shi jin
Mu ku shu metsu do mu chi yaku mu toku i

Mu sho toku ko bo dai sa ta e
Han ya ha ra mi ta ko
Shin mu ke ge mu ke ge ko
Mu u ku fu on ri i sai ten do mu so ku gyo ne

Han san ze sho butso e
Han ya ha ra mi ta ko
Toku a noku ta ra san myaku san bo dai
Ko chi han ya ha ra mi ta
Ze dai jin shu ze dai myo shu
Ze mu jo shu ze mu to do shu
No jo i sai ku shin jitsu fu ko
Ko setsu han ya ha ra mi ta shu
Soku setsu shu watsu

Gya tei gya tei
Ha ra gya tei
Hara so gya tei
Bo ji so wa ka

Hannya Shingyo

Visit Tree of Life Herb Garden in Hanno

2013-04-30T22:02:00.003+09:00

If you like herbs, and if you like gardens, do pay a visit to the Seikatsu no Ki Herb Garden in Hanno, Saitama... Nice shop, cafe, medial herbs, natural healing garden, special Sri Lanka treatments, aroma therapy, Ayusha, Ayurveda products, and a lot more.

The Hanno garden itself is a work of art, you walk up through roses and all kinds of flowers, a tiered theme park, with so much fragrance to enjoy... Each month has new surprises... A very special place.

The medical garden tour in Hanno is just 1050 yen plus your lunch...

The Tree of Life company stretches around the globe, talking to the staff, I got some sense of how they got so big! I like how they do both seminars in the city and guided trips in the forest. Founded in the early 1960s, some 50 years ago, this is a company that has grown to have 100 shops all over Japan.

Never heard of Tree of Life? You are missing out. Do visit Hanno and the unique herb garden, really, it is a small park, and you will not be disappointed.

Additional images from the Takuetsu blog...

Visit Koma in Saitama, Japan

2013-04-27T23:11:00.001+09:00

Koma, a small town in rural Saitama, Japan has an amazing story to tell, and if you visit the small Koma Shinto shrine, you will be told that this tiny hamlet was the place where a bunch of survivors from a war on what is now the Korean peninsula - I have no idea what it may have been known as back then - some 1300 years ago.

People escaped from all the way across the ocean, and ended up safely, here?

In fact, even today, people are confused about what to call that Korean region. Even more seriously, Communist China appears to try to claim large parts of the region (which is now to the north of North Korea, if I understand things correctly).

Here is what Koma, Saitama looks like today, while the wikipedia entry for "Koma" redirects to Goryeo, the ancient Korean kingdom from 918–1392.

Ken has this to add:

This shrine is also very old and was founded about one thousand and two hundreds years ago. It is said that the prince, Jakkou, of the ancient Korean dynasty had visited and stayed in Japan with his people in 7th century AD as mentioned in the previous chapter. Because his country was conquered by Tang dynasty in China during his staying, unfortunately, he was made resign to go home and decided continuing to stay in Japan. He and his people taught various things to people here and gave great influences on them in many fields such as the silk production, agriculture etc. Then the Japanese government established Koma County and nominated him as a mayor of the County in 716 AD, recognizing his greatness. This shrine was, thereafter, founded and dedicated to him.

It is heartwarming and refreshing to wander on the country road from the foot of Hiwada-san through Koma-jinja Shrine via Shou-den-in Temple in early spring.(Same as Course A specified in Chapter 9) You would surely feel a start of natural lives of the year, pale green buds on the branches of trees, sound of birds, agile movements of small animals and so on.
In recent years many people come to this shrine to pray, especially for a new year. Autumn festival called Rei-tai-sai is also held in October every year when selected people dance in special costumes as shown in the photograph below.

(Photo, Right ; Entrance gate called "Torii" to Koma-jinja Shrine)

(Photo, Left ; Dancing in the autumn festival, Right; Festival ornament in front of the shrine)

There is a historical old house preserved in the backyard of Koma-jinja shrine. This used to have been inhabited by the Koma family and now, it is open to public for education. There are many kinds of Japanese apricot trees in the backyard and they are in full bloom in February and so beautiful. In addition, chrysanthemum flower contest takes place here in November.
(Photo, Left; a Historical Old House of the Koma Family)

Meanwhile, an American blogger living in South Korea has this to add to the mystery, with comments from others.

He quotes Donga Ilbo: China distorts ancient history at Goguryeo museumhttp://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2013042660578

So tiny Koma here on the Seibu Line in my neighborhood is somehow linked to a strange conspiracy where Communist China is trying to usurp a large part of Korean territory?

I rather doubt that the locals would want to have anything at all to do with that!

APRIL 26, 2013 06:54

As China is set to open an exhibition center specializing in displaying relics of Korea’s ancient kingdom Goguryeo in Jian, Jilin Province on May 1, it has begun in earnest to publicize key parts of its Northeast Asia Project that claims Goguryeo as its local state.
Dong-A Ilbo reporters and Goguryeo historians have visited the museum, which preliminarily opened to the public early this month, to conduct an in-depth analysis of China’s distortion of Goguryeo history. The museum opened after 10 years of preparations.

Located in an area bordering North Korea, Jian was the capital of Goguryeo from 3 to 427 A.D. and has approximately 12,000 Goguryeo tombs. The Monument of King Gwanggaeto the Great is also in Jian.
The museum is not so large in size, as it has six exhibition rooms on two floors. One doesn`t need to be an expert in Korean history to notice that the museum did not provide any explanation about Goguryeo’s link to the Korean Peninsula. Goguryeo’s relocation of its capital to Pyongyang, a large-scale war between Goguryeo and China’s Sui Dynasty and the fact that heaps of Goguryeo relics have been excavated in the Korean Peninsula are little mentioned.

By contrast, the museum emphasized that Goguryeo was under absolute influence of and fused politically, economically, socially and culturally with Chinese dynasties in the Central Plain. This thoroughly reflects the core parts of studies conducted under the Northeast Asia Project, although the museum does not directly mention that Goguryeo was a local state of China. A historian who accompanied Dong-A reporters said, “Though it is not explicitly stated, the museum claims that Goguryeo history is a part of Chinese history.”

The Research Center for Chinese Borderland History and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think tank, carried out from 2002 to 2007 the Northeast Asia Project, including the history of ancient Korean kingdoms such as Goguryeo, Balhae and Gojoseon into Chinese history. Faced with South Korea’s protest at the time, the Chinese government claimed that Seoul was reacting “too sensitively” to some scholars’ academic discussions, denying that it was a state project.

“Just as South Korean scholars have been concerned, the Chinese government is applying Northeast Asian Project research results to the field to solidify the project, starting with the opening of the Goguryeo museum,” said Cho Beop-jong, a professor of history at Woosuk University. “South Korea should respond proactively.”

Proactively, right. You can't win, these ancient battles are part and parcel of living in Asia, as long as there are communists and nationalists and whatnot. Without much further foreign involvement, things would probably stay the same, for a very long time. Meanwhile, isn't it wonderful to ponder the fact that that simple shrine here in Koma, Saitama, is a shinto shrine. The native goods of Japan do not seem to mind.

As for Wikipedia, I find it very useful, but I also hesitate to rely on any site that has more than 500 revisions. The Northeast Project of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is one such wikipedia site. For more about Goguryeo (ancient northern Korean) do check this wikipedia page or History of Korea.

Buddhism was introduced here [in Korea] as early as in 372, but was more popular in other parts of the ancient Korean kingdoms...

When I read the news each day I think these peoples of various faiths and economy systems and interpretations of history have yet to find a way to recognize the wonders and miracles of each other, as each and everyone is so great. Love your neighbor. North East Asia will continue to surprise, while inspire an ignite profound trends, for a very long time.

When visiting Nara, for example, you are not just visiting "Japan" but really a puzzle or matrix of influences that include people who came all the way to this city from India, China and Korea.

Hamaoka Nuclear Reactors In The News

2013-04-24T17:54:00.000+09:00

The Hamaoka Nuclear Plant near Tokyo is in the news again, with The Mainichi reporting that anti-reactor restart mayors have been victorious in nearby towns. Glad to hear that. Best of luck to the campaigners in Shizuoka prefecture who have fought so hard for so long against this particular nuclear folly. Check Hamaoka here on Kurashi and it is probably the one nuclear plant I have blogged about most often over the years...

Municipal elections delivered wins on April 21 for two incumbent mayors against the restart of the nearby Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station, joining two other cities in the region against reactivating the plant's reactors.
Mayoral elections were held in the cities of Iwata, Kakegawa and Fukuroi, and anti-restart incumbents in the latter two were returned to office. The mayors of nearby cities Kikugawa and Yaizu have also declared they "will not recognize" any move by plant operator Chubu Electric Power Co. to restart the Hamaoka reactors.
All five cities fall in whole or in part under the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA)-designated 30-kilometer radius "urgent protective action planning zone" (UPZ) around the plant, where preparations must be made to shelter the local population in case of a nuclear accident.
The Hamaoka area is one projected epicenter for the next major earthquake in the Tokai region.
The NRA expanded the UPZ across the country from 8-10 kilometers to 30 kilometers in October last year. In the case of the Hamaoka nuclear plant, the new UPZ embraced parts of 11 cities and towns. Two of those cities also fall within the plant's five-kilometer "precautionary action zone" (PAZ), where urgent emergency measures must be prepared.
Municipal government approval is not strictly required to restart a nuclear reactor. Gaining local cooperation is considered essential, however, due to the burden placed on the municipalities by a nearby nuclear station, including preparing sufficient stores of iodine tablets and drawing up evacuation plans.
In the Kakegawa election battle between current and previous mayors, 66-year-old incumbent Saburo Matsui hammered home the message that "it's very hard to say that this is really the place for a nuclear plant," and, "I will not recognize a restart until the safety of the plant has been confirmed." His 73-year-old opponent and former mayor Shinya Totsuka, meanwhile, said he "would not entirely repudiate the nuclear plant" and said he would approve a restart if certain conditions were met.
In the Fukuroi poll, both incumbent Hideyuki Harada and his opponent came out against restarting Hamaoka's reactors.
"Even when the new safety measures (at the plant) are completed, I still will not approve reactor restarts," the winning Harada said.
Hamaoka reactor restarts were not an issue in the Iwata mayoral election.
Part of Kakegawa is within 10 kilometers of the Hamaoka plant, and had signed an agreement with Chubu Electric on safety measures even before the UPZ expansion. Fukuroi is not within 10 kilometers of the power station, but the city is demanding Chubu Electric sign an equivalent accord.
A Chubu Electric executive told the Mainichi that the firm would "refrain from commenting on the election results, but is developing thorough safety measures that we hope will lead to local public approval for reactor restarts."
The power company is set to finish construction on anti-tsunami projects within the year, and will install the newly-required filtered vents at the Hamaoka plant's No. 3 and 4 reactors by March 2015. Chubu Electric is aiming to restart the reactors soon after.

April 22, 2013

Joe Hisaishi - Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)

2013-04-23T20:32:00.000+09:00

I don't fly much these days, I feel I have more or less used up my miles when I was younger, and thinking about the planet, we all ought to travel more climate-friendly (and travel less). Be that as it may, there is also something subconscious about flying - I dream about hovering, levitating, using nothing at all to be air-borne. Might have something to do with watching Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future, 25 years ago? Remember all those hover skateboards escapes and cool cars that didn't need any roads?

Or how about Kiki's Delivery Service, a wonderful Ghibli feature from 1989, set mostly in the imaginary skies over Visby, Gotland, a small island in Sweden. Kiki battles her reluctant broom as she saves the day. I like how they used that airplane in the beginning, a Handley Page, only a handful were built in the UK.

G-AAUD, production number 42/3, was named after the Carthaginian explorer Hanno the Navigator, who explored the Atlantic coast of Africa in approx. 570 BC. Hanno first flew on 19 July 1931 and was later converted to a H.P.42(W) (Hannibal class).

Back to the film - almost impossible to find on Youtube, so do rent it, or buy it, it is a classic. Apparently, the idea was to show a Europe that had not gone through two world wars... Well, Sweden fits the bill, but we have precious few flying mago.

This clip is from a special concert in the Budokan in Tokyo, with composer Joe Hisaishi conducting the NHK Philharmonic. Enjoy!

Earthday Tokyo Japan

2013-04-21T23:52:00.003+09:00

I was lucky enough to walk through the Earthday market in Tokyo today, a regular Sunday. If you haven't tried it, you haven't experienced the more aware youth in Japan, all the NGOs, the amazing farmers markets, the hemp clothes, the organic tea, the hippie vibe. This is a city that cares about the environment, the state of the planet, the wholeness. We are all connected.

More Tokyo farmers markets here.

TPP Links About Food And Farming

2013-04-01T22:59:00.001+09:00

I'm more and more impressed by the amount of debate about the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations in Japan. Here are a few links.

The Mainichi: Japanese participation in TPP talks bad news for everyone involved

Michio Ushioda, Expert Senior Writer notes: The TPP has such great value precisely because it is aimed at complete tariff elimination and trade liberalization, without exception. Demands for special consideration risk watering down this basic principle and producing a weak agreement. In other words, it may be better for the rest of the world if Japan were to turn down TPP participation.

Soichi Yamashita is a Hokkaido farmer who knows of what he speaks. Do read his heartfelt appeal:

The Mainichi: Farmer to urban dweller over TPP: 'You would starve if Japan's agriculture collapsed'

"There's no problem as long as you can buy food. However, if Japan's economy went bankrupt, you would starve without the domestic agricultural industry. I'd be all right because I'm a farmer. I wouldn't mind if Japan's agriculture declined or died down because I can produce what I eat," replied the farmer, 76-year-old Soichi Yamashita. "It's you -- not me -- who would starve."

(...)

"Urging farmers to send high-quality Japanese agricultural products to wealthy citizens in Hong Kong is tantamount to demanding low-income earners in Japan eat cheap Chinese farm products," he says. "If Japan were to sign the accord, opponents of Japan's participation in the TPP couldn't eat safe, high-quality agricultural products. Only those who are promoting the TPP could eat such farm products. How disgusting."
Yamashita believes that if Japan were to be a party to the TPP, it could lead to the disbanding of agricultural cooperatives, the elimination of the Agricultural Land Act and the liberalization of private companies' entry into farming. In other words, companies would replace agricultural cooperatives. Such development would certainly please advocates of structural reform. However, Yamashita points out that regional agricultural cooperatives are far more humane than private companies that purely pursue profits. He is worried that those in favor of structural reform could force farming households to recklessly seek profits by citing the examples of a few companies' success in farming, thereby destroying the regional communities of rural areas.
Yamashita expresses grave concern about the future of Japan's farming in "No wa Kagayakeru" ("Agriculture could glitter"), a book that records his discussions with 77-year-old farmer-poet Kanji Hoshi, who grows rice and apples in Takahata, Yamagata Prefecture.
A series of books authored by Yamashita are records of his struggle with Japan's trends of making light of and looking down on farming. His novel, "Gentan Jinja" ("Idle farmland shrine"), which depicts a farmer stretching a sacred rope around his idled rice paddy to prevent other people from dumping garbage there, was nominated for the Naoki Literary Prize in 1981.
Public broadcaster NHK made Yamashita's novel, "Hikobae no Uta" ("The song of the tiller") -- based on his experience of inheriting assets including farmland from his father who suddenly died -- into a drama in 1982.
Yamashita has inspected agricultural industries overseas on about 50 occasions, based on which he has written many essays.
It is widely believed that Japan had no choice but to participate in the TPP talks as part of efforts to strengthen the Japan-U.S. security arrangement. Despite the decision, the prime minister has emphasized that he will "protect Japan's rural scenery."
However, Yamashita is skeptical of the prime minister's words. "When farmers' incomes were half of what they are today, rural areas were bustling because farmers lived in their own villages. But these villages are almost empty now although farmers' incomes have doubled. Why?"
Japan's farming industry could not survive if the government continued to pursue economic growth and make up for all problems deriving from such growth with money. Yamashita is certain that the current situation of Japan's agriculture is the consequence of this policy.
Close attention should be focused on whether Japan can convince other countries participating in the TPP talks to create a system to ensure Japanese people do not starve even if the world is thrown into chaos and imports of foodstuffs to Japan are suspended. (By Takao Yamada, Expert Senior Writer)

I really wish Japan Agricultural News, a daily newspaper with a heavy-duty website, would pay someone to provide English translations to its excellent coverage of current issues including food safety, WTO, TPP, you name it.

Meanwhile, the current LDP minister of agriculture, Yoshimasa Hayashi, seems hardly the best candidate to fight for farmers' rights. Is there anything in his CV to assure us that he cares about rural Japan? Nobody has even bothered to update his English wikipedia page. Please tell me I am wrong.

Maruyama Naotaro - Natsu no Owari

2013-03-30T23:35:00.002+09:00

A peace song by singer song-writer Maruyama Naotaro, born in Tokyo in 1976. "End of Summer" - Nice short speech there about getting kids, who do not know about war, to understand the importance of peace... Lovely Okinawa vibe. Hope the North Koreans (and South Koreans, and American GIs who are based in these parts of the wood) are listening tonight...

Stop Idling, Revisited: Stop Car Deaths

2013-03-27T00:50:00.002+09:00

Strange. Toyota and Honda and Mazda have introduced Start-stop systems that mean car engines are simply turned off when the car isn't moving. So why are there no campaigns to help every driver understand that turning off the engine manually, will also reduce gasoline use, and save money? Not only that, but reduce exhaust pollution and help combat climate change.

Japanese car companies have been loss-leaders in this field, fighting a lot of battles since the 1970s. I guess the car business is just that kind of game. You can't win, they are destroying our towns and cities and no matter what kind of sense or reason, the car is the rule.

Getting back to idling, why did not the Japanese ideas back in the 1970s to save gasoline catch on?

Popular Science (1974): Automatic On/Off Switch Gives 10% Gas Saving

Interesting to note that the writer was aware of "CO" emissions back in 1974, and the need to keep them as low as possible.

The car industry, however, is less interested in such stuff. Over 30,000 deaths each year in the US, and how many injured and handicapped for life, each year? Is there any other such force that makes a profit from killing a lot of people?

Half of all road traffic deaths are among pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, and young adults aged between 15 and 44 years account for 59% of deaths.

Bloomberg: American Gun Deaths to Exceed Traffic Fatalities by 2015

Do take a look at that graph. Gun deaths is something the US is infamous for. Much worse, really, is the case if you compare to auto fatalities. Look at 30 years ago, the US had some 40,000-50,000 people dead in car related accidents. Now it is down to 30,000-35,000. Annually, still worse than gun-related deaths.

I can find relevant statistics for Japan from 2009: 4,914 deaths.

It is easier to compare if we break it down to deaths per capita:

US: 33,000 deaths for a population of 313,000,000
Japan: 4,900 deaths for a population of 120,000,00
Sweden: 270 deaths for a population of 9,000,00

Five years ago, The Japan Times noted:

In Tokyo, and many other parts of Japan, it’s illegal to leave your motor running when parked, and the law applies not only to taxis but also to trucks, buses and regular passenger cars. The idea is to protect the environment by reducing carbon-dioxide emissions, but as you pointed out, idling also wastes energy and creates heat and noise — the last thing we urban dwellers need, especially in these hot summer months.

How can we get the rules to stick?

Climate Angst

2013-03-25T22:16:00.000+09:00

I get angry extremely rarely, which is why events today took me by surprise. I was at a local Home Center (which in Japan is a place where you can by gardening supplies, among lots of other things) with colleagues who have a small car.

As we returned to the car to load our bounty (shovels, garden scissors, rubber boots, bags of soil and fertilizer) it turned out that the car just opposite ours was idling like mad. Not only that, but the red sports car was empty, so it wasn't possible to just go up to the driver and politely tell him to turn off his foul-smelling engine. The driver had left his engine on while going shopping.

Now, I don't own a car so I don't really know what goes on in the brains of drivers. But this made me really angry, for a number of reasons. Such as, my health - having to breathe the foul air from his (her?) car while standing directly behind it. Such as, wasting fuel. Such as, the health of our planet - ever heard of climate change?

There is a term, climate angst, which appeared a few years ago in New Zealand and Australia, using the German term for "worry" or "concern" which is also more existential, about serious issues related to life itself. What we are doing here on Earth matters, and we ought to know better. Coming generations and grandchildren will most certainly curse us for a) leaving behind huge amounts of horrifically dangerous spent nuclear fuel and b) having also managed to f*ck up the climate for them, AT THE SAME TIME. And I never shout. I never (almost) get angry. I try not to swear. But red sports cars that are left with the engine on full blast make me very upset.

I can't find the link, but apparently a WWF Sweden study has recently shown that some 80% of Swedish kids suffer from "climate angst" and worry about the future. Push Sweden is a new initiative this spring to get youth to do more for their future.

New Scientist: International climate angst is growing
SvD: Klimatångest nytt fenomen i psykiatri

And do check out Plan:

Plan is an international child rights organisation that enables millions of children around the world to have an active role in their own development. We fund our work through a multitude of sources: primarily by individual sponsors, grants from statutory funding bodies, corporate partnerships and individual donors.

Japan Center for Climate Change Actions (J) has made efforts to reach out to children in Japan and talk about climate change... Try reading the picture book with Midori-chan...

Top image: Berglins, a Swedish comic strip that I like, translation mine, do share if you feel so inclined.

Moriyama Naotaru - Sakura

2013-03-20T01:46:00.000+09:00

It is that time of the year. I usually try to resist it, what will all that pale pink, but here in my local parts of the wood, in my hood, with all that is going on, it is just more lovely than ever. We just went from plums to cherries in a snap.

And here is a tune for all of you who like spring (thanks Tom for finding, and reminding).

僕らはきっと待ってる
君をまた会える日々を
桜並み木の道の上で
手をふり叫ぶよ
どんなに苦しい時も
君は笑っているから
挫けそうになりかけても頑張れる気がしたよ

霞ゆくけしきの中に
あの日の歌が’聞こえる

さくら、さくら今咲き誇る
せつなにちりゆく運命としって
さらば、友よ旅立ちの時
変わらないそのおもいを今

今なら言えるだろうか偽りのない言葉
かがやける君の未来を願う
本当の言葉

うつりゆくまちはまるで
僕らをせかすように

さくら、さくらただ舞い落ちる
いつか生まれ変わる時をしんじ
泣くな友よ今せきべつの時飾らないあの笑顔でさあ

桜、桜いざまいあがれ
とわにさんざめく光をあびて
さらば友よまたこの場所で会おう
桜、まいちる道の、上で

Bokura wa kitto matteru Temos esperança
Kimi to mata aeru hibi wo De ver você novamente
Sakuranamiki no michi no ue de Na alamedadeCerejeiras
Te wo furi sakebuyo Gritamos, abanando a mão
Donnani kurushii toki mo Você está sempre sorridente
Kimi wa waratteirukara Mesmo nos dias mais difíceis
Kujikesooni narikakatemo Por isso, senti firmeza da sua coragem
Ganbareru kigashitayo Capaz de superar desenganos

Kasumiyuku keshiki no naka ni Dentro da paisagem enevoada
Ano hi no uta ga kikoeru Ouço a canção daquele dia

Sakura sakura ima sakihokoru As cerejeiras florescem agora
Setsuna ni chiriyuku sadame to titte Cientes da sua vida efêmera
Saraba tomo yo tabidachi no toki Adeus amigo, é a hora da despedida
Kawaranai sono omoi wo ima Será eterno o sentimento deste momento

Imanara ierudarooka itsuwari no nai kotoba Se fosse agora, conseguiria dar
Kagayakeru kimi no mirai wo negau Palavras sinceras e verdadeiras
Hontoo no kotoba Para desejar futuro brilhante para você?

Utsuriyuku machi wa marude Cidade em transição
Bokura wo sekasuyooni Parece nos afobar

Sakura sakura tada maiochiru As cerejeiras simplesmente caem
Itsuka umarekawaru toki o shinji Confiantes no momento de renascer um dia
Nakuna tomo yo ima sekibetsu no toki Não chore amigo
Kazaranai ano egao de saa Vá com aquele sorriso singelo

Sakura sakura iza maiagare Levantem-se flores de cerejeira
Towani sanzameku hikari o abite Tomando o sol que as ilumina para sempre
Saraba tomo yo mata kono basho de aoo Adeus, amigo, nos veremos aqui nesta ladeira
Sakura maichiru michi no Sobre a qual posam flores de cerejeira
Sakura maichiru michi no ue de

Blogging About TPP, Straw Man Arguments, And More

2013-03-18T23:00:00.002+09:00

If you like writing that is as good as Spike Japan's, you'll be sad to hear he is once again hanging up his hat. He blames Abenomics and other recent events. However, the good news is that Ken and his wonderful garten blog is back! Which is great, because I learnt a lot from his write-ups, and comments, and I'm suddenly in the middle of a similar project... Pandabonium? Not sure, he and his Momo Wonderdog always come up with the best of the best, but all too un-frequently for my taste, so do check out his vast archives. Other fun blogs are truly sayonara, like Mari's Watashi to Tokyo and her cute rants against hello kitty and all sorts of fun stuff that most of us non-natives might have missed. Glad to see that Ten Thousand Things is more active than ever.

Kurashi in its 8 (!) years of history has nowhere near the amount of readers or fans. Be that as it may. Sort of, we try to keep the flag up against the facebook and twitter crowds. If Kurashi manages to continue to fly under the radar, then so be it.

Thusly, the recent TPP debate ought to be something I should delve deeply into, but I fear it is all to complex and chimera-ish or vague at this point. The negotiations are all kept secret, so whatever we may demand, from a public point of view, is secondary. Not very democratic, thus hard to blog intelligently about. Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA) of course is absolutely against. For work, I get paid to help Consumers Union of Japan explain its point of view, and we did point out that Prime Minister Abe has just managed to contradict the election pledge of the LDP in December, 2012, by announcing that he now thinks Japan ought to try and jump (belatedly) into the fray:

Prime Minister Abe has then gone on to talk about formally announcing participation in TPP negotiations during speeches in the Upper and Lower House Parliament sessions on February 28, 2013.

This is in sharp contrast to the LDP election promises during last December’s general election, to oppose Japan’s participation in the TPP negotiations if abolishing tariffs without restriction becomes a precondition. Five conditions were included in LDP’s election manifesto, including protecting the country’s health insurance system, which covers all citizens, and food safety standards, as well as not accepting numerical targets for imports of cars and other manufactured products. LDP also promised it would not liberalize financial services or rules regarding public procurement. The TPP also stipulates a new type of dispute resolution system, known as Investor-state Dispute System (ISD) that will allow foreign corporations or financial investors to sue governments in other countries. The comment by the Prime Minister only five days after his meeting with the US President can only be construed as an absurd violation of LDP’s election promises in key areas.

We regard it as unacceptable that such infringements of the rights of people can be proposed, that will infringe on our lives and all aspects of society. This is related to governance and Japan’s national structure, its politics, and issues related to important national policy-making.

And do note that it is not just farmers in Japan that are angry. Shufuren, Parc, Seikatsu Club, Pal System Coop, Dai-ichi Mamoru Kai, Shin Nihon Fujin Kai, have joined CUJ in protesting against the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP). That is unusual, to say the least. Not just farmers' organizations but also all of the main consumer organizations are against TPP.

If I may just add, Shisaku is one blog I really like, and I like that he is still going strong. And I like that he just pointed out that farmers in Japan have a lot of traditions and culture to protect:

- Commentators about Japan's entering into Trans Pacific Partnership discussions not talking about the recalcitrance of Japanese farmers and starting to talk about the recalcitrance of U.S. light truck manufacturer executives and workers. At least Japanese farmers have the traditional rural environment and culture fig leaves to hide behind.

Here at Kurashi we think we owe a lot to Japanese farmers, for the wonderful food we can enjoy on these shores. Even a small izakaya will serve you a meal with freshly harvested veggies, local rice and miso soup from Hokkaido soybeans. My 2009 book was all about that heritage, and the safety of it all, and the importance of food self-sufficiency, if you don't prefer more imported corn syrup in your diet. Remind me how many Michelin star restaurants we can count here in Japan...? If I can add one thing to Dr. Cucek's points, it is this:

- Stop calling Japanese farmers "inefficient" (from a global trade perspective) as they are amazingly diverse and in touch with the local crops that grow in each season, and having a great sense of biological diversity, compared to North American or Australian farmers, with their vast farm areas, that require pesticide applications by airplanes ("crop dusting") or genetically modified crops (patented by Monsanto, mostly).

Finally, I was encouraged by the post over at East Asia Forum, where the normally Japan-critical trade expert, Aurelia George Mulgan, asks, Will Prime Minister Abe’s TPP strategy be successful?

She cleverly picks Abe's plan apart, noting that he set up a straw man argument:

Abe’s two-stage political strategy for achieving Japan’s entry into the TPP negotiations has now been revealed. First, he wanted the recent summit with President Obama to deliver some kind of statement that exceptions to tariff abolition were possible, which would enable him to honour the election pledge of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on the TPP whilst at the same time opening the door to Japan’s participation. Second, he wanted to use the summit’s achievement as leverage to persuade the members of his own party to accept participation and have the ruling party entrust him to make the decision to join the talks.
Abe appeared to overcome the first hurdle in his meeting with Obama. The wording of their joint statement read: ‘The two Governments confirm that should Japan participate in the TPP negotiations, all goods would be subject to negotiation’ and that ‘as the final outcome will be determined during the negotiations, it is not required to make a prior commitment to unilaterally eliminate all tariffs upon joining the TPP negotiations’.
A superficial reading of this statement would suggest that Japan could enter the TPP negotiations without violating the LDP’s election pledge. However, there never was a requirement for participants in the TPP talks to make a prior commitment to unilaterally eliminate all tariffs. The statement set up a straw man, misrepresenting the TPP in order to eliminate a domestic political obstacle facing Abe.

Then of course we have all the usual main stream news in the local media:

NHK World: Hokkaido governor lobbies govt. against TPP

The Governor of Hokkaido has urged the government to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks if the trade pact is likely to negatively affect farming, forestry and fisheries. These are the northernmost prefecture's main industries.
Governor Harumi Takahashi along with Hokkaido assembly members and farm organization representatives made the appeal to agriculture, forestry and fisheries industry minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on Monday.
Takahashi said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's announcement last week that Japan's is joining the talks is extremely regrettable. She said the negative impacts of the pact would be concentrated on Hokkaido and other rural regions. Hayashi responded that the government will do all it can to protect the nation's interests, maintaining withdrawal as an option.
Meanwhile, a group of farm and fisheries organizations in Iwate, northern Japan, have called on the prefectural governor to urge the government to retract its decision on the TPP talks. Governor Takuya Tasso said the prefecture also considers it regrettable that the government announced the decision despite the prefecture's calls for caution and the full disclosure of information.

Jiji Press/ Yomiuri: LDP panel seeks TPP exceptions for 5 items

A Liberal Democratic Party panel has adopted a resolution asking the government to ensure that rice and four other items will be treated as exceptions to the basic principle of tariff elimination under the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact. The resolution, adopted Wednesday at a plenary meeting of the ruling party panel on issues related to the TPP, effectively marks the LDP's approval of the nation's participation in the ongoing U.S.-led multilateral talks. But it also said the government should consider quitting the talks if it decides the proposed exceptions to the tariff elimination rule are unlikely to be secured. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will likely hold a news conference Friday to announce the country's participation in TPP talks. In a document attached to the resolution, the LDP panel said the five items for which tariffs should be maintained are rice, wheat, beef and pork, dairy products, and plants for making sweeteners. The resolution said the government must make clear the degree to which people's lives will be affected if the country participates in the TPP, and present to the public a clear policy on how to protect the nation's interests and provide sufficient information. Noting that the public is divided over whether Japan should join the TPP negotiations, the resolution said the prime minister needs to make an important decision on the matter by fully taking various opinions into account.

I also agree with this commentary by James R. Simpson over at The Japan Times: TPP a risky venture for Japan

If tariff levels are set much lower, Japan will have crossed a bridge with no return, and it will be a prisoner to one system. While loss of human, capital and other resources are an integral aspect of “trade prisoner risk,” a very real problem is the potential for disruptions in securing specialized commodities and products such as Japonica rice as well as a host of foods that are not traded internationally or may ultimately be available only from a low-cost neighboring country specializing in it. Not to denigrate China, but what happens if the producing country suddenly becomes bellicose with the other and halts food shipments or shuts off exports due to production problems? The solution for Japan is to strongly support the LDP resolution on national interests and, for very sound economic and social reasons, to strongly back Japan’s multifunctional agriculture based on a system of small and medium-size farms.

Here is what I had to say in an interview with the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Tokyo:

To TTP or not to TTP
The CUJ and many other NGOs and NPOs are opposed to Japan joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which involves eliminating trade barriers and importing more food produced at lower cost elsewhere. Frid finds these lines of argument dangerous for a country that already imports some 60% of its food and exports only little. “Joining the TPP would mean a collapse of the backbone of the farming industry in Japan.”

Misia - Ginkado

2013-03-11T01:33:00.000+09:00

Misia and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) collaborated making this amazing music video.

Star Party (E)

Here is a door to the universe.

Star Party for the public is held at the Mitaka Campus of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, on Friday before the 2nd Saturday and the 4th Saturday in every month.

(Please check the Star Party Calendar).

Even city lights have taken dark nights away, the universe is still above us. Now it's time to explore the vast universe.

A telescope enables us to observe a fine pattern and faint stars thanks to its large aperture. As you know, main roles of telescopes are to collect light and to magnify distant objects.
As for concentration of light, larger mirrors or lenses telescope have, more light they can collect. A human pupils has a diameter of about 7mm, while our telescope has a main mirror 50 cm in diameter. The power of collecting light for our telescope is about 5000 times larger than your eyes.
As for magnification, the lowest and the highest are determined by the aperture. It is not reasonable to raise the power recklessly. The maximum magnification equals to the numerical value of the aperture at the unit of the millimeter as a rough guide. The minimum magnification equales the aperture (mm) divided by 7 mm (the diameter of the human pupils). Thus, in case of the 50 cm aperture, the maximum magnification is 500 times, and the minimum magnification becomes 71 times.

I like how the NAOJ Mitaka campus east of Tokyo is open to the public. Their website will need a little help, but hey, nobody is perfect. These guys and gals are too buy watching the sky to pay attention to stuff like websites. Don't we all know that feeling.

Daily Open

Opening Hours

10:00 - 17:00 (last admission 16:30)

Open Facilities

The First Dome and Solar 8-inch Refractor (*)
Solar Tower Telescope (Einstein Tower) (*)
65-cm refractor (Observatory History Museum) (*)
Old library
Repsold Transit Instrument and Its Housing
Gautier Meridian Circle
Photoelectric Meridian Circle
Exhibition Room (models of Subaru telescope, the 45meter Radio Telescope in Nobeyama, ALMA , TAMA300 and other displays)

The facilities marked (*) are designated as tangible cultural properties.

The Comet

2013-03-10T22:41:00.001+09:00

Nice video animation by the good people over at NAOJ (E) of the path of the comet that we will possibly be able to see, in the western sky, just after sunset. I think this is using Mitaka, a cool space visualization program that was developed by Kato Tsunehiko. Stars within 3000 light years with distance measurements from the Hipparcos satellite are in the database...

Great photo courtesy Luis Argerich in Argentina.

Tricky to catch since it is so close to the horizon. Earthsky provides this helpful image.

And did you know that you should be able to see at least five planets this month?

You’ll have absolutely no trouble spotting the dazzling planet Jupiter this month, which pops out high into the sky at evening dusk. The king planet ranks as the fourth-brightest celestial body to light up the heavens, after sun, moon and the planet Venus. However, Venus will be obscured in the glare of sun all this month. Look for the moon to pass close to Jupiter on March 16, 17 and 18.

This particular comet is called Pan-STARRS, because the Panoramic Survey Telescope And Rapid Response System was the first to detect it.

Air Quality Warning, Japan

2013-03-10T00:49:00.000+09:00

If you have allergies, the SPRINTARS page may help you to prepare for your daily tasks.

Red alert means severe warning
Orange means pretty bad
Green means yaya, a little bad
Blue means OK...

Sunday was severe in many places, including Tohoku and Kyushu. But Monday should be OK.

SPRINTARS Forecast (J) The aerosol forecast is based on the simulation with a global aerosol climate model, SPRINTARS (E). Their movies are rather interesting too, here.

Here is the link to their daily forecasts:

http://sprintars.riam.kyushu-u.ac.jp/forecastj.html

SPRINTARS also do video forecasts of pollutants.

Try this link. Wow, China really gets it bad.

SPRINTARS is based on an atmosphere-ocean general circulation model, MIROC, developed by Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute (Division of Climate System Research), University of Tokyo, National Institute fot Environmental Studies, and Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (Research Institute for Global Change), and treats main tropospheric aerosols both from natural and anthropogenic sources (black carbon, organic matter, sulfate, soil dust, and sea salt). They are also categorized into PM10 and PM2.5. SPRINTARS calculates transport processes of aerosols (emission, advection, diffusion, wet deposition, dry deposition, and gravitational settling). The aerosol direct effect, which is scattering and absorption of solar and thermal radiation by aerosols, and the indirect effect, which is act of aerosols as cloud condensation nuclei and ice nuclei, are included in the calculation.

A Weekend Of Demonstrations In Tokyo

2013-03-09T00:51:00.001+09:00

March 9, 2013 (Saturday): Bonding with Fukushima: Sayonara Nuclear - Event starts at 11:00 in Meiji Koen, Tokyo. Opening Live from 12:00. Speeches from 12:25, then at 15:00 the parade (demonstration walk) starts with two routes, one for NGOs and one for Labour Unions.

If you want to avoid the speeches, try to get there by 15:00 but it may be very crowded.　

3月9日　つながろうふくしま！

March 10, 2013 (Sunday): Two Years after the Nuclear Accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi - Event starts at 13:00 in Hibiya Koen, Tokyo. Parade (demonstration walk) starts from 14:00. Event from 17:00 outside the Parliament Bldg.

March 11, 2013 (Monday): Bonding with Fukushima: Sayonara Nuclear - Event at Shinagawa Culture Foundation (Oimachi Station, Rinkai Line). Lecture and music from 18:30.

More details and maps over at sayonara-nukes.org (J)

Appeal for March 9 in English here.

Much more in English from Kai Sawyer's excellent Living Permaculture blog:

I'll be speaking at the Talk Tent with a few other people working on cool sustainability projects from 12:30.

3/10 Major demonstration against nuclear power (FREE, of course)

This year will mark the 2nd anniversary of 3/11 disasters. Much has happened since and politics-society is changing rapidly. Demonstrations have happened every week in Tokyo and will continue indefinitely. An occupation of the Ministry of Industry Trade and Economy continues (just a little corner with cute little tents with friendly ojisans and women from Fukushima). Anyways, if you have never been to a Japanese demonstration (or any demonstration) come join and have a cultural experience. They are extremely safe (this is Japan) with music (professional bands, drumming groups) and there is also a family friendly march too. It's a bit like a parade.

Hibiya Park Outdoor Music Area (Hibiya Koen Yagai Ongakudou)

13:00 gather 14:00 start the march

Home Page:

http://coalitionagainstnukes.jp/?p=2415

3/10-3/11 Peace on Earth Hibiya Park music festival (FREE)

There will be a free festival also at the same park! Famous bands like world-renowed Sakamoto Ryuichi and Asian Kung Fu Generation (ajikan) will be there. Musicians will be performing on a solar powered stage. There is also a plan to bring children from affected areas of Fukushima and hear their stories. I'll be talking at a smaller stage too:) with other community organizers and organic farm/localization change-makers. This might be one of the biggest free festivals in Tokyo. It will also be ustreamed.

Hibiya Park (you can't miss it), rain or shine (although if it rains they'll have to use a non-solar energy source)

12:00 - 19:00

http://www.peaceonearth.jp/

3/15 Wake Up! A day of mindfulness

This is a monthly meditation group I host in Harajuku. Its a day to relax, slow down, learn/practice meditation, and meet other young people who want to create a healthy and compassionate society. I highly recommend it as its a good way to meet other people from Tokyo area, and meditation might help you stay calm and grounded through the year. Life can be stressful sometimes, but peace is always in you.

Time: 10:00 - 17:00

Place: Cafe Vayu (Omotesando/Harajuku, Tokyo)

Max: 15 people

Cost: 1500 yen (delicious lunch included from the cafe)

To register, contact: sekiguchi.shiori(at)gmail.com

There are lots of local events too around the country. May I just mention that here in my furusato, there will be a great event over at Chuo Koen on Sunday. If you feel like getting out of Tokyo, get on the Seibu Ikebukuru line, head to Hanno, and enjoy some fresh air, Tenransan mountain and rivers. Also on Saturday, UN Women's Day, Yasuda Setsuko (J) will visit to talk about food safety and radiation, over at the Hanno Civic Hall, together with Philippine women living in Saitama. We are blessed with many talented people here in my parts of the wood.

No Nukes 2013 Events In Tokyo This Weekend

2013-03-08T00:24:00.000+09:00

Monday next week of course a very solemn date for all of us here in Japan, as it marks two years since the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit Tohoku, northeast of Tokyo. Polls in the news this week indicate that a lot of people are still suffering and in doubt how to carry on.

The Tohoku region, and Fukushima prefecture, has such a long history. It is not easy to abandon one's roots and one's hometown. However, many people in this part of Japan were migrants in earlier eras, going to the US and Hawaii. Fukushima also has that special kind of vibe, with people from Manchuria returning after WW2, to battle against the forces of nature again. No wonder there are a lot of people in Tokyo who want to support and help any effort from Tohoku, like the Nippori March events.

You a;so get the inspiration from ladies like the Hula Girls movie, based on a true story.

Plus the fierce fishermen and everyone involved in the trade along the coast. I was particularly struck by the train lines, when I visited Tohoku, such narrow gauge lines, through old tunnels and on overpasses that were clearly not strong enough. That broken coastal line that I saw two years ago in Minamisanriku in Miyagi prefecture was beyond repair, but you cannot say that to the people who used it day-to-day.

Day by day, roads and train lines have been brought back to service in this part of Japan.

Media here has noted it but I'm not sure how much of that caught the attention abroad.

Here is a FNN local clip about a train service that is finally coming back in service after two years.

It wasn't just the massive tsunami, though. It was the Fukushima nuclear power plant, that still is not really under control, is it. As I type, I note that I don't have my usual genki Kurashi verbs and adjectives ready. Seems this is something that will be with us for 30 or 40 years. Or more. Kyoto Journal once had an article that suggested that the Fukui prefecture Zen temples may have the kind of lesson to help us through the nuclear age. Most people seem to just ignore such state of affairs.

I do wonder about this weekend. Big demonstrations and parades planned again. A year ago, some 40,000 or 60,000 or 100,000 people gathered in Tokyo to protest against nuclear power and everything that was wrong with the world. Nice photos of that event here and here and here.

Meanwhile, we have also had to deal with North Korea testing its nukes.

American expats who are bloggers in South Korea are more concerned:

UPDATE: A North Korean foreign ministry spokesperson just warned that North Korea would exercise its right to launch nuclear preemptive strikes on the “invaders strongholds.” as long as the United States is pushing to ignite a nuclear war against the North. Or something to that effect.
ORIGINAL POST: OK, North Korea’s Rodong Shinmun is warning it can turn not only Seoul, but also Washington DC into seas of fire.

- North Korea’s throwing its poo around again, this time threatening to nullify the Armistice Agreement. OK, now I’ve heard North Korea threaten to void the Armistice so many times I can’t really take it seriously, but I did find the “diversified precision nuclear strike means of Korean style” bit mildly amusing:

North Korea has also vowed to take unspecified retaliatory steps if the Security Council imposed more sanctions against the country for its third nuclear test on Feb. 12, and its latest warning amplified on such threats.
“Now that the U.S. imperialists seek to attack the DPRK with nuclear weapons, it will counter them with diversified precision nuclear strike means of Korean style,” the North Korean statement said, using the acronym of the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. “The army and people of the DPRK have everything including lighter and smaller nukes unlike what they had in the past.”

Ancient Navigation, Viking Style

2013-03-07T00:54:00.000+09:00

We know precious little about how our ancestors travelled. We do know that the Vikings used some kind of "Sunstone" to sail, and recent discoveries seem to confirm that they may have used a kind of crystal found in Iceland and other places in Scandinavia, called spar or Iceland spar or silfurberg. Fältspar is a common Swedish word, so this is not an unusual stone, and not a precious stone as such, but they simply may give a hint at where the sun may be on a cloudy day through polarization.

We know of course that vikings like Leif Eriksson settled on the eastern coast of North America (called Vinland by the Scandinavians) long before that upstart Columbus reached what we now call the "American" continent, but it hasn't been clear how the vikings navigated, except for the few lines in ancient Nordic texts.

Viking legends, including an Icelandic saga ‘Rauðúlfs þáttr’ with the hero Sigurður , hint that these sailors had another navigational aid at their disposal: a sólarsteinn, or sunstone.
The saga describes how, during cloudy, snowy weather, King Olaf consulted Sigurður on the location of the Sun. To check Sigurður‘s answer, Olaf “made them fetch the solar stone and held it up and saw where light radiated from the stone and thus directly verified Sigurður’ s prediction”. In 1967, Thorkild Ramskou, a Danish archaeologist, suggested that this stone could have been a polarizing crystal such as Icelandic spar, a transparent form of calcite, which is common in Scandinavia.

Now it seems just such a crystal may have been found near an English shipwreck. The English vessel sank in 1592, some four years after the Spanish Armada, near Alderney.

The Independent: Not just the stuff of legend: Famed Viking 'sunstone' did exist, believe scientists

Researchers who have spent three years poring over a cloudy crystal discovered in the wreck of an Elizabethan ship sunk off the Channel Islands believe they have proved that it could be the substance described by the Norsemen as helping to locate the sun when obscured by cloud. The so-called sunstone has long been the subject of scientific intrigue after it was described in one Icelandic saga as a magical gem which, when held up to sky, would reveal the position of the sun even before dawn or after sunset.

Such a navigational aid could be one of the secrets behind the Vikings’ reputation as remarkable seafarers whose prowess at heading into unexplored water means they may have beaten Christopher Columbus as the first European visitors to America by hundreds of years.

So, why not? There would have to have been someone on a Viking ship who knew about navigation. Using the sun and stars, well what do you do when it is cloudy and rainy and storms are all around you? If a simple device like a crystal can do the trick, then I'm pretty sure they used it. Plus, they probably kept it secret, just like today with all our convoluted patent laws and intellectual property right protection issues and WTO and TRIPS and TPP debates --- but I'm digressing. Isn't it wonderful to imagine that on each viking ship, a very smart guy with a precious crystal was on board, to make sure everyone got from A to B to C?

If you ever get the chance, do visit the amazing Oslo museum, with the 24 meter long Gokstad longship. I had the pleasure of going on a junior high school trip (I always had great teachers!) to this place, and it is really something, especially if you like sailing.

However, what does seem to be pure fiction, is the work by English author Gavin Menzies, who wrote the curious book 1421: The Year China Discovered the World. There seems to be an unusual agreement among all historians and others that this book is complete nonsense. See for example 1421 Exposed and here and here.

Japan Leading The Way Away From Nuclear?

2013-03-06T00:50:00.001+09:00

Strange to observe what is happening in the world. Italy has no nuclear reactors, having abandoned the idea from the start. Germany quickly responded to the call of the general public in the spring of 2011, and decided to stop investing in new nuclear plants, thus basically and fundamentally changing its energy future. Japan - after the Fukushima disaster with three meltdowns and massive hydrogen explosions.

Remember at Three Mile Island in Harrisburg, US, they thought it might happen, but it didn't... Imagine if it had? Well, Japan went through three such explosions, all shown live here on television, back in March 2011, just two years ago.

Then, in 2012, for two months, all of Japan's 50 or so remaining nuclear reactors went offline. Then, the Oi reactors north of Osaka were restarted, and there were amazing demonstrations and protests, unlike anything you had ever seen in this country.

Now, it turns out that possibly no reactors will be restarted in Japan during 2013, according to a survey by Kyodo and reliable sources.

None of Japan's nuclear power plants that have been idled since the nuclear crisis triggered by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami are likely to restart operations within the year as safety checks under new standards are not expected to be completed, a Kyodo news agency survey of utilities showed Sunday.

In addition to that news, note that the Oi reactors will be shut down later in 2013 for regular maintenance. New, more strict safety rules will also enter into force in 2013. The Ikata nuclear plant in Ehime, Shikoku, and two reactors in Kyushu could be restarted "in July if inspections by the Nuclear Regulation Authority are completed swiftly." Not likely to happen. That means, Japan will be joining Germany and Italy (and others) in leading the way away from nuclear power, with zero reactors online.

Meanwhile, Taiwan is having trouble deciding what to do with its nuclear waste. The small island has/had a dodgy deal with North Korea (of all places) for disposal of its dangerous waste. Back in 1997, Taiwan thought it could pay Pyongyang to get rid of some of its waste, according to New York Times.

NYT: North Korea Agrees to Take Taiwan Atom Waste for Cash

Bad idea. On March 4, 2013, some 16 years later, North Korea is suddenly suing Taiwan for breach of contract. LOL. Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper that I have no reason not to quote, has more details:

Chosun Ilbo: N.Korea Sues Taiwan Over Nuclear Waste Disposal Deal

North Korea has belatedly sued a Taiwanese power company for US$10.1 million for an unfulfilled contract signed 16 years ago to dump nuclear waste in the North, the Taipei Times reported on Sunday.

The daily said North Korea signed a contract with state-owned Taiwan Power Co. in January 1997 to dispose of 60,000 barrels of low-level radioactive waste from the company in an abandoned coal mine in Pyongsan, North Hwanghae Province. But Taipower reneged on the deal under international pressure. North Korea is now suing for the cost of building the disposal site.

Also, the Taiwan government has recently decided to hold a referendum on the yes or no to a new nuclear plant in Gongliao, which terrific expat blogger Michael Turton calls "the dumbest public infrastructure project in Taiwan history."

It even made the international news (AP). After noting that the government had agreed to the referendum, the Taipei Times reported:

According to the plan, a referendum on halting construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant will be initiated by the KMT caucus tabling a motion next month in the legislature, KMT caucus whip Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said.

Lai said the plebiscite could be held in August as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) stipulates that a referendum must be held no sooner than one month and no later than six months after its proposal.

If the completion of the plant failed to win approval, there was the risk of huge compensation payouts for breach of contract, higher electricity costs, power shortages and even an adverse effect on economic growth, Jiang said.

Hahaha. The KMT government is already hard into fear mongering, the same tired nonsense. The government claimed twenty years ago that power shortages and economic growth effects would occur if the plant were not built, and it has never varied from that line. Obviously these things never happened. It was lies at the beginning, and it is still lies. There are plenty of other ways Taiwan can generate power. Not to mention reduce demand through improved conservation...

Frozen Garlic has a long, excellent post on many of the issues. First, I think many of us are as shocked as he is that the KMT would submit a major project to the overall review of the public when it knows that in any fair referendum the Party position in favor of nuclear power will be defeated. In these two paragraphs he strikes to the heart of the matter:
Why is the KMT so politically committed to nuclear power? Most importantly, they have committed enormous piles of money to this project over the past two decades. They cannot simply walk away with nothing to show for it. The DPP would beat over the head relentlessly for years and years. How many schools, hospitals, roads, public housing, MRT lines, or flower festivals were sacrificed for 4NPP?

South Korea, too, has had a range of issues with its old reactors. There is a strong anti-nuclear movement in South Korea. As far as I can ascertain, the South Koreans also do not know/have no plan/are lying to the public/about what to do about nuclear waste from South Korean nuclear reactors. “We want a nuclear-free peaceful world” say South Korea’s women.

We South Korean women call these participants to give us hope by supporting our stance toward a nuclear-free world.
1. Nuclear security must start with the elimination of nuclear weapons.
At the 2010 Washington Nuclear Security Summit, leaders focused on the security of nuclear materials, but did not discuss the reduction or elimination of nuclear weapons or reactors, which should be the core issues of any nuclear talks. Consequently, participating 5 nuclear-weapon states (NWS) were criticized for imposing non-proliferation and nuclear security regulations on non-NWS, while NWS themselves did not carry out their responsibility of eliminating nuclear weapons. Although non-NPT nuclear weapon states (Israel, India and Pakistan) participated in the 2010 Summit, Iran (a member of the NPT) and North Korea (seceded from the NPT) were not invited. The world witnessed the double standards of the international community during the 2010 Summit, where discrimination was seen between NWS and non-NWS and even within the nuclear weapon countries.
We South Korean women call all nuclear weapon countries including the US, Russia, the UK, China, France, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea to eliminate their nuclear weapons and to show consistency in principle and position on these weapons at the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit. We believe this is the only way that nuclear security is possible.
2. Nuclear power generators must be phased out and their export must be suspended.
The South Korean government has announced that the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit will promote nuclear energy safety and its peaceful use, and that the Nuclear Industry Summit, preceding the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit, will provide a place to formulate measures for safe use of nuclear power. However, we believe that the government sees the Summit as an opportunity to establish nuclear power as the next generation’s power source, despite the risks demonstrated by the Fukushima disaster.
The Summit steering committee must understand that many countries around the world are reconsidering their nuclear power generation policy after the Fukushima disaster. The Summit participants must accept the collapse of the nuclear safety myth, agree the policy to abolish nuclear reactors, suspend nuclear reactor exports and eliminate plans for new reactor construction.
3. To build a nuclear-free world, governments must cooperate with the women and civil society.
A nuclear-free world is possible only when governments around the world walk in step with their citizens, including women. The South Korean government has announced that it will consult its people in preparation for the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit. So far, however, the government has cooperated only with those from industry, academia and social organizations which support nuclear energy. The South Korean government must listen to the voices of all those in society who are interested in a nuclear-free world. We call the government to build a mechanism for cooperation with the women and civil society on peace-related issues, including nuclear issues, as called for by the UN Security Council’s Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.
Furthermore, in preparation for the Summit, we call the international community to take a more thoughtful approach to North Korean nuclear issues, which stem from the Cold War regime still prevailing in Northeast Asia. Resolution of these issues is closely tied to the establishment of a peaceful regime on the Korean Peninsula and the normalization of U.S.-North Korean relations. It is impossible to realize peace on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia without solving North Korean nuclear issues.
Proactive negotiations by the six-party nations, including the U.S., are needed to solve these issues. We Korean women believe that it is crucial to hold the six-party talks as soon as possible.
In order to achieve peaceful coexistence of all living things, we must stop producing nuclear materials and begin using renewable energy. By doing so, we can realize a nuclear-free world and resolve the contradiction of the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit, which claims to seek solutions to nuclear terror even as nuclear materials continue to be produced. We Korean women, in solidarity with women around the world, call for new forms of cooperation with governments in order to realize a nuclear-free world in the near future.
This formal statement was released officially by twenty-two women’s organizations in South Korea on January 13, 2012.
________________________________
Authors of this release include the Organizing Committee of the Northeast Asian Women’s Peace Conference, Korean Women’s Association United, Women Making Peace, The Women’s Committee of the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, Kyunggi Women’s Association United, Korea Church Women United, Korea Differently Abled Women United, Jeju Association for Women’s Rights, Daegu Women’s Association, Daegu Kyungbuk’s Women’s Association United, Korea Women Migrants’ Human Rights Center, Pohang Women’s Association, Korea Women Workers Association, Daejeon Women’s Association for Peace, Korea Women’s Political Solidarity, Korean Association of Women Theologians, Gwanggju Jonnam Women’s Association United, Korean Association of Christian Women for Women Minjung, Jeju Women’s Association, Korea Women’s Studies Institute, Cheonan Women’s Association, Korean Womenlink (a total 22 women’s organizations in South Korea).
_______________
©2012 WNN – Women News Network

As of September 2012, Japanese people support the zero option on nuclear power, and the Japanese government announced a dramatic change of direction promising to make Japan nuclear-free by the 2030s. There will be no new construction of nuclear power plants, a 40-year lifetime limit on existing nuclear plants, and any further nuclear plant restarts will need to meet tough safety standards of the new independent regulatory authority, Nuclear Regulation Authority. The new approach to meeting energy needs will also involve investing $500 billion over 20 years to commercialize the use of renewable energy sources such as wind power and solar power.

This is also relevant (note that anti-nuclear protests started in Japan already in the early 1950s):

Hiroshima survivors from Japan participated in the very first protests in Europe, at Aldermaston March in 1958. BBC has more:

Since 1958, when 10,000 people marched from London to Aldermaston in protest at Britain's first hydrogen bomb tests, AWE Aldermaston has been the site of campaigns against nuclear weapons.

Nearby, RAF Station Greenham Common was used by both the Royal Air Force and United States Army until the Cold War ended and it closed in 1993.

In 1962 Hiroshima survivors led an anti-nuclear march from Aldermaston

In protest at the Cruise missiles stored there, the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp was formed in 1981.

WWOOF Japan

2013-03-05T00:40:00.000+09:00

If you are interested in organic farming, and would like to visit Japan, do try WWOOF. You may need to be prepared for all kinds of things.

WWOOF Japan

Do take the chance to do something completely different with your life. It could be difficult, it could be wonderful. You will be going to rural Japan, not to the big cities of bright lights and endless temptations. You will sleep on tatami mats in futons, wake up at dawn, breakfast is rice and miso soup.

An exchange between friends; Hosts and WWOOFers.

"Friends just like family"

When visiting hosts, you are neither a guest nor a worker, but a part of the host's place - like friends and family members are. Based on the rhythms you see at the host's place you'll be thinking about what you can do to help-out, and what you can learn and experience in doing so. The host will give the same back to you. Living chores are often a part of the day: ie., preparing meals and cleaning up. Open your heart. Listen to your friends' instructions. If misunderstanding occurs, tell the host of your needs directly but sincerely.

Leah Wood made this:

Hosts give WWOOFers accommodation and all meals in return for the WWOOFer assisting the Host. Hosts also give WWOOFers various knowledge and skills as result living and helping them, Japanese culture & Japanese language, introduction to the beauty of the local area, and other resources most of which are outlined in the Hosts' Preview. There is no payment of money between Host and WWOOFer. WWOOFers need to pay just the yearly WWOOF membership fee, 5,500 yen. WWOOFing starts from sending an online application form.

Here are some testimonials, from the WWOF website.

Hat-trick For Shinji Kagawa

2013-03-03T22:58:00.002+09:00

Congratulations to Shinji Kagawa, 23, who scored a hat-trick for Manchester United!

"I think I'll get a lot of attention because I scored a hat-trick but the fans in Japan are looking toward the Real Madrid game and that's where I'm setting my sights," Kagawa said, after netting in the 46th, 76th and 87th minutes before a turnout of 75,586 at Old Trafford.
"It'll be a terrific atmosphere here. I'll put the team first as always and prepare as well as I can for the match."

Kagawa scored three goals ("hat trick" in football parlance) in United's 4-0 home win over Norwich City. Kagawa is the first Japanese to score a hat trick on English soil since Junichi Inamoto, who fired Fulham into their first UEFA Cup in 2002 with a triple at Craven Cottage, according to The Mainichi...

Terrific photo, what a joy for the fans: AP Photo/Jon Super/The Mainichi

Update: 428 comments so far on The Guardian: Manchester United stretch lead as Shinji Kagawa treble sinks Norwich

The Myth Of Tamiflu: Why Is This Drug Still Marketed To Children?

2013-03-01T20:50:00.000+09:00

A long, long time ago, I wrote about Tamiflu on this blog, here and here. There were serious issues with this drug, as Japanese parents lobbied to stop it from being prescribed to children. There were several cases of suicides and other mental problems in teenagers who had taken Tamiflu.

It was big news here in 2007, and got the attention even of NHK World:

...on March 20, NHK World reports that Tamiflu side-effects prompt NPO reaction:

Families of people who died from abnormal behavior have asked the government to ban the sale of the antiviral drug Tamiflu. Five groups made the request to the health ministry on Monday. The groups include non-profit organizations studying the harmful effects of drugs, and a group of families whose relatives died after taking Tamiflu. They asked the government to stop the sale of Tamiflu, and to issue a stronger warning on the side effects of the drug.

They also asked the government to remove a professor from a research panel on the drug's side effects. The professor had accepted 10 million yen, or about 85,000 US dollars, in donations from a pharmaceutical firm that sells Tamiflu. They claim the professor did not tell the truth in his report, which said that there is no causal link between the abnormal behavior and the drug.

The ministry is advising people not to leave influenza patients alone for at least 2 days, whether or not the patient has taken Tamiflu. But the 5 organizations say the government's actions are insufficient, and that stricter measures are necessary to prevent future cases.

Now, as I had the opportunity to revisit my notes, I found that in England and the US, serious doubts have been raised about this drug - does it even work? Forbes calls it the "Myth of Tamiflu: 5 Things You Should know." And just a year ago, the UK regulatory agency, NHS, noted, "Doubts cast over whether anti-flu drug Tamiflu works."

“Tamiflu maker accused of secrecy over trial data,” reported The Independent today, while The Daily Telegraph said that scientists have challenged Roche, the manufacturer of the antiviral, to “prove Tamiflu works”. While these are disturbing headlines, they do not necessarily mean that the drug is ineffective or even harmful, as some newspapers seem to imply.
These headlines have come about following the publication of a systematic review into the effectiveness of Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and Relenza (zanamivir) in preventing and treating flu in adults and children. These drugs are from a group called neuraminidase inhibitors (NIs), which are thought to help reduce symptoms of flu. However, the evidence behind their effectiveness is a source of continued debate.
This story is particularly important because the UK government has spent millions of pounds stockpiling Tamiflu to protect against the threat of a potential flu pandemic, as have many other countries.
The review of Relenza was postponed due to new information about how the drug affected individual patients being made available by the manufacturer (GlaxoSmithKline). The results of this are eagerly awaited. The review on Tamiflu was incomplete because of difficulties obtaining sufficiently detailed information from the manufacturer (Roche).

What happened a year ago should have sent alarm bells ringing. The study was carried out by researchers from The Cochrane Collaboration and was funded by a grant from the National Institute for Health Research UK. So, why are medical doctors and hospitals in Japan still prescribing a drug that may not work, and may have serious side effects, especially for children and young adults?

One clue may be the person who was a board member and then chairman of Gilead, the California-based biotech company that discovered that star anise, a natural compound from China, may have antiviral effects (or not). Donald Rumsfeld was in charge until he was appointed Defense Secretary by President Bush, in January 2001. He had previous experience at GD Searle, another controversial US drug company, that was bought up by Monsanto...

In November 2005, George W. Bush urged Congress to pass $7.1 billion in emergency funding to prepare for the possible bird flu pandemic, of which $1 billion is solely dedicated to the purchase, and distribution of Tamiflu. No doubt Mr. Rumsfeld made a lot of money as share prices in Gilead went up and up...

Gilead has the patents that matter.

Plus, if you wonder why the US government is trying to get other countries to do the same, in addition to push drug patents to abide by US standards, then you have the answer. Do I need to mention TPP? We don't even have the right to know what is being negotiated, it is all kept secret. The very people who run the US government are involved in a rather-not-so-subtle racket.

More links:

Tamiflu maker accused of secrecy over trial data. The Independent, January 18 2012
Prove Tamiflu works, scientists challenge Roche. The Daily Telegraph, January 18 2012
Doctors Raise Doubts Over Pandemic Flu Drug. Sky News, January 18 2012
Side effects and effectiveness of 'wonder-drug' Tamiflu under the microscope as Department of Health faces awkward questions over mass prescriptions. Daily Mail, January 18 2012
Tamiflu effects 'still uncertain'. The Guardian, January 18 2012

Links to the science:

Jefferson T, Jones MA, Doshi P et al. Review: Neuraminidase inhibitors for preventing and treating influenza in healthy adults and children (PDF, 1.6Mb). The Cochrane Collaboration. Published online 2012.

Further reading:

Pharma company hid vital data on Tamiflu, scientists claim. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. January 12, 2012
Cohen D. Flu drugs: The search for evidence goes on. BMJ, Published online January 17 2012.