Raku-Yu

KyotoUniversityNewsletter

Greetings from Kyoto-U SPRING 2006Issue 9

C O N T E N T S

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Culture of a Deformation Belt and the Role of Kyoto UniversityKazuo Oike, President of Kyoto Universsity

Forefronts of Research at Kyoto UniversityJunzo Munemoto, Professor, Graduate School of Engineering

Erika Takashina, Associate Professor, Institute for Research in Humanities

FEATURES

Fostering a Renaissance in Kyoto Toshio Yokoyama, Director-General of the Organization for the Promotion of International Relations

Our Urgent Mission Takeshi Tamura, Director of the International Center

Organizational InformationKyoto University and UC Davis, University of California commit to per-sonnel internship exchange program

School visits enhance learning experience for foreign students ofJapanese language and culture

Kyoto University students to KCJS lectures

Mochi-Making Party at the Student Lounge "KI-ZU-NA"

Essay – Patricia Vickers-Rich, Director of Monash Science Centre

Interview – Junko Maruyama, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies

What's Happening in International RelationsThe 6th Kyoto University International Symposium

The 7th Kyoto University International Symposium

Official Visitors from Abroad

PROMENADE

Shinnyo-do – The other “Philosopher’s Walk”

Editor in Chief

Masahiko Sato

Associate Editor

Tsutomu Kaneko

Senior Editors

Ichiro NakanishiToshikazu KitagawaHitoshi TanakaHau, Caroline SyNaoko SaitoMasahiro Nogi

Editorial Collaborator

KOSOSHA CO.,LTD.

Printed by

KOSAIDO CO.,LTD.

This name was taken from theassembly hall called "Raku-YuKaikan " that commemoratedthe 25th anniversary of thefounding of Kyoto University.

© The Committee of Public Relationsof Kyoto University

A Note on Order of NamesAs a general rule, names appearingin Raku-Yu are written in givenname/family name order.

Raku-Yu means to respect, treasure, and enjoyone's friendship.

Editor's NotesThe main theme of Rakuyu Vol. 9 is "Science, Art, and Culture." Kyoto has continued to be a hub of Japanese tradition and culture since the city became the

capital of Japan in 794. In this issue we feature two researchers from Kyoto University located in this rich cultural environment, who are internationally active in theirrespective fields.

Professor of architecture, Junzo Munemoto has received high acclaim for his design of the Museo Vangi - the Sculpture Garden Museum in Shizuoka Prefectureand was awarded the first prize of the Urban Landscape section in the Italian Marble Architectural Awards. Erika Takashina, assistant professor of art history, special-izes in Japanese fine art from the Meiji to Taisho periods and is currently researching the cultural exchange that occurred between Japan and the West.

Kyoto University is undergoing a restructuring of the university organization. In April 2005 the Organization for the Promotion of International Exchange wasestablished to assist in international exchange throughout the entire university and we provide an overview of this organization here for the benefit of readers with aninterest in Kyoto University.

Despite facing the problem of global warming, we are experiencing a particularly cold winter this year. The back cover features the Shinnyo-do, a popular place toadmire the beautiful colors of autumn leaves and also a famous site for cherry blossom viewing in spring. In April the university will welcome its new students fromboth Japan and overseas.

Newspaper Archives: Shimbun BunkoAdvertisement for Rakuzendo Ginza: Rakuzendo Baiyaku Kokoku / Kyoto University Library Collection

At the end of the Edo period, in the 1860s, newspapers began to appear in various regions. The most striking of these newspapers was the nishikie newspaper.The nishikie newspaper was chiefly a multi-color ukiyoe print with a small amount of printed text, explaining the print's subject matter, whichwas usually a social-interest story. It was widely read by ordinary folk as it was a visual form of news media in an age before the use ofphotos. The cover photo is a newspaper advertisement printed in a nishikie newspaper for the pharmaceutical company Rakuzendo, whichwas established in 1877 by Ginko Kishida (1833-1905), renowned as being Japan's first newspaper journalist. Having been a journalisthimself, Kishida must have had a strong trust in the future potential of newspapers and reaped much success through the frequent use ofnewspaper advertisements.

The newspaper archive section of the Kyoto University Library Collection contains a wealth of Japanese newspapers and related resourcesfrom the late Edo period until the beginning of the Second World War. In particular it has a voluminous collection of early Japanese newspa-pers, and historians of art, society and popular culture should take note of the comparatively good condition that this collection is in.

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Kyoto University is situated on Kyoto basin. While cen-

tered in Kyoto basin, the university has facilities for education

and research throughout Japan and overseas. Kyoto is host to

world cultural heritage that dates back to long ago when the

capital was located in the Kyoto basin. Kyoto holds an accu-

mulation of tangible and intangible culture that has developed

over a long period. One of the roles of Kyoto University is to

understand and cherish the culture and tradition that have been

nurtured in Japan, particularly Kyoto's accumulated culture,

while introducing this culture to the world.

Japan is spread over an archipelago on a deformation belt

that has emerged from the border between of plates. As part of

this archipelago, Kyoto basin has been formed under the influ-

ence of large scale earthquakes caused by active fault

movement. Upward and downward relative movement that

arises along active faults formed Kyoto basin surrounded by

mountainous landforms such as Mts. Higashi and Nishi. Due

to mudslides from these mountains during torrential rain and

through erosion, large amounts of earth and sand were

deposited on the bedrock of the sunken basin to create thick

sedimentary layers.

Rich stores of water accumulated inside these thick sedi-

mentary layers providing an important basic condition for the

birth of civilization in Kyoto.

The typical basin, formed by active fault movement and

surrounded by mountains in three directions was selected as

the best location to situate the capital. Moreover, the favorable

conditions have meant that the city has lasted for such a long

time. In the history of this city that is more than 1200 years

old, works of literature such as genji monogatari (Tale of

Genji), makura no soshi (The Pillow Book) and hojoki

(Visions of a Torn World) were created right from the early

periods.

The rich subterranean water cache has influenced the emer-

gence of various cultural elements over the different ages. The

wells of famous water for tea ceremonies tapped the subter-

ranean waters. The yuba and tofu production that began from

the basin was made possible by the abundant supply of subter-

ranean water. Likewise for the Fushimi Sake; it could be

produced because of the climate and subterranean water of the

basin. Even in today's age, subterranean water is being used in

various productions such as semiconductors.

Both science and art are global. The eyes of science that

observe nature share these observations with the world while

art and literature are without borders when it comes to their

capacity to captivate the hearts and minds of people. While

this global science and art of the time are adopted, local

culture fostered by individuals of the region for the region

accumulates in the respective lands to form a complete culture.

The culture accumulated in Kyoto basin can be called

extremely local in these terms.

If one delves into this extremely local culture, it becomes in

essence, global, a global culture that is known throughout the

world. I think that one of the roles of Kyoto University as part

of its involvement in the region is to introduce this Kyoto

culture to the world.

Kazuo OikePresident of Kyoto University

Culture of a Deformation Belt and the Role of Kyoto University

Kazuo Oike Kazuo Oike was born in Tokyo, 1940, and spent his elementary, juniorhigh, and senior high school years in Kochi Prefecture. In 1963, after graduating fromKyoto University Faculty of Science, he took a position as assistant professor at theKyoto University Disaster Prevention Research Institute and in 1973, was appointedassociate professor. In 1972, he received a D.Sc. from Kyoto University. In 1988, hebecame professor of the Faculty of Science and in 1995 was appointed professor of theGraduate School of Science. After serving as Kyoto University’s Vice President since2001, he was elected as the President in December 2003. As Kyoto University's firstpresident since it became a national university corporation in April 2004, Dr. Oike hasled various reforms aimed at improving the functions of education, research, andmedical services with marked success. His unique approach, such as personallydesigning a menu for the university cafeteria, has drawn much attention. While facinghis daily work, and turning his mind to the complexities of post-incorporation universitymanagement such as financial issues, he cherishes the view from his office window,enjoying the changing of the four seasons and the view of Mts. Higashiyama andYoshidayama lying on the Hanaore Fault, the focus of his research.

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people.Logically speaking, when approaching

the problem of design, it is not possible tostay confined to only the activities handledby design because there is also theproblem of clarifying the scope of theproblem of what needs to be solved and towhat extent. In other words, there is alsothe problem of seeking a design solutionthat includes the ethical constraints that thedesigner must adhere to and how far thedesign should go towards improving theenvironment and landscape. Moreover,such problems only begin to become clearas the design progresses, so there is theproblem of new design conditions beingadded during the process of design. Thissort of problem is termed an ill-definedproblem as opposed to a well-definedproblem. There are also times when theproblem is a wicked problem which iswhen it is not possible to define a goodsolution.

Problem Solving ActionThe design problems described above

encompass a broad realm, the boundariesof the problems are difficult to define andsome problems are without closure. Thissituation makes it very difficult to clarifywhat is the correct solution and there arecases where the solution provided is pro-vided out of necessity rather than it beingthe correct solution. However, the correctsolution does exist for a design, and thedesign problems can be multifacetedwhere multiple solutions exist. The archi-tectural design is a combination of thethoughts of the designer and the thoughtsthat constitute the wishes for the architec-ture. Unless these thoughts and wishes canbe correctly defined, the correct solutioncannot exist, and one can say that this is aproblem of creativity. Reversely speaking,a design problem is where one can be boldand say that highly creative solution is acorrect solution. However a firm answercannot be given to the question of how toacquire the creativity.

When providing answers to the ques-

tion of what kinds of methods can beemployed for problem solving, generallythe terms, trial-and-error procedure, gen-erate-and-test procedure, problem-solvingplanning, and heuristic reasoning are used.

2 Intelligent System and ProblemSolving - An Example of OurResearch

Currently one of the major researchthemes at my laboratory are technologiescalled intelligent systems which have awide range of applications in designmethodology and problem solving. Manyof these technologies relate to makingmodels for the evolution of living things,nervous mechanism and human rea-soning, and thus are loose mathematicaland logical methodologies and of theabovementioned categories, it is amethodology of problem-space planning.

In our research, there are many exam-ples such as bi-objective problems dealingwith environmental conservation at thesame time as planning the room layout ofa building or reconstructing a campus, andplanning methods for detached housing toreduce environmental burden based onmulti-objective planning.

Using interactive evolutional models,the system learns the likes of the designerand reasons by artificial intelligence topropose alternative proposals. (photo)Currently we are experiencing tremen-dous advancements in technologies forsolution search methodologies thatemploy models of the evolution of livingthings and the knowledge of humans.

3. Norm for Design and theDesign Work

What relationship does the researchand methodology of the design sciencedescribed above have with projects?The design undoubtedly had a designprocess and the actions and results of

Search for Design SolutionsGraduate School of Engineering, Kyoto UniversityDepartment of Architecture and Architectural Engineering Junzo Munemoto

Science, Art and CultureScience, art and culture are all very

much part of what is architecture.Depending on the particular specializationof architectural study such as research,design, or structural technology, however,there can be a leaning towards certainaspects such as scientific approach, artisticcreation and research into engineeringtechnologies.

1 Design Science and DesignThinking

At my research laboratory, we focus ondesign and first set out to describe usingsome degree of logical reasoning, whatkind of actions and thoughts are involvedand what is the solution of the design. Ourstarting point is asking what it is that weare calling design and this involvesthinking about what actions are involved.When attempting to describe the object ofdesign in architecture in simple terms, it isdifficult to pinpoint because although it isconveyed as a fusion of technology andart, you can collect countless amounts oftechnology and art but still be unable toachieve a design work or design solution.Moreover it is not an extension of tech-nologies and it is not only the internalworkings of the designer in the form ofpure art.

At first glance, when people encounterproblems of architectural and environ-mental design, they perceive it as designingelements of form and architecture butactually, the object of focus is space. Inother words, while space is the objective,the concrete activity is dealing with formand architectural elements. To put itroughly, this handling of form and archi-tectural elements is the designing light andspace and also mood and time. To reversethe logic of this — which represents theproblem of landscape — there are manycases where although the elements of formand architecture are excellent and thearchitecture as a stand-alone object isgreat, there is no improvement in theoverall cityscape and living space of the

Key words: design solution, intelligent system, problem solving, heuristic reasoning

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this process are neither scientific norartistic. However, these actions andresults can be described in terms of sci-entific methodology and logicalmethodology. These methodologies arethe above mentioned design sciencemethodologies.

However, using those alone is insuf-ficient to describe the architecturalspace. For example architecture thatfuses with the natural environment andthe urban environment and designingspace suitable for enjoying culture arethings the designer aims for. For thisreason the designer manipulates lightand darkness, artificial structures andplants, the external and the internal, andso forth with their sights set on whatthey consider to be good architecture.At this time what are the grounds bywhich the designer can make goodarchitecture? At the very least, thearchitecture must be functional, easy touse and convenient, but the notion ofwhat makes a good design is also partof the designer's decision making.These are what we call the norm, andthe normative existence is essentialwhen a designer is aiming to create adesign work. There are cases wherethese norm are practiced and caseswhere they are not practiced but usedas language that expresses aestheticvalue. No matter what kind of architec-ture it is, it is impossible to understanda design without norm. Normative andautonomous constraints can be illus-trated by presenting my work asexamples.

Vangi Sculpture Garden MuseumHere I created spaces of light and

darkness in inside and outside, in par-ticular a space consisting of light anddarkness that focuses on Mishima'sresemblance to Tuscany for the purposeof sculpture. The architecture wastherefore limited to extremely simpleelements and materials for finishingeffect. The purpose of the architecture

was to eliminate its presence from thelandscape so that the space of light anddarkness created became a humanspace expressed by sculptures. (photo)

South Building of Kyoto UniversityMuseum

The Main Campus and West Campusare separated by a main street called theHigashi-ohji. My objective as adesigner was to create a new face forthe university by creating a new slopeand wall on the Higashi-ohji Street thatconnects the campus and the city. I setmy sights towards finding a designsolution for this objective. (photo)

Iki Bunka HallThe form of the building is comple-

mentary to the subtle contours of theremote island. (photo)

Junzo Munemoto・Born in 1945・Field of Specialization: Architectural Environmental

Planning・Completion of Doctoral Degree Course Units,

Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University・D. Eng., Kyoto University・Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto

University・URL http://munemoto-lab.archi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/

Realizing architectural design is in part science,but also is about being human. It requires bothrational thought and sensibility.Prof. Munemoto received the highly respected inter-national architectural award for architecture forutilization of stone, the first prize of the MarbleArchitectural Award 2005 in Urban Landscape for theMuseo Vangi - The Sculpture Garden Museum inShizuoka Prefecture. The Museo Vangi is the world'sonly private museum solely dedicated to the work ofGiuliano Vangi, a contemporary Italian sculptor, andProf. Munemoto received high acclaim for thisstrongly Japanese themed architectural work pos-sessing a contemporary sense of space that is inharmony with the sculptures.Prof. Munemoto begins the design process for hisprojects first by visiting the site to get a sense of the“power” and atmosphere of the site. For the MuseoVangi project also, he visited the site, observed thesculptures and decided they would be best placed ina nature setting. Then, what at first glance wouldappear contradictory to his role as an architect, hesought for ways to erase architecture from the land-scape by taking a trial and error approach. For Prof.Munemoto, architecture is more about creating the"place" than creating the structure. For about 16 years after leaving the Kyoto UniversityGraduate School, Prof. Munemoto steadily gainedexperience through working for a major constructioncompany. Prof. Munemoto and his colleaguesreveled in extensive overtime work, working until lateat night designing, to the point that they jokinglycalled themselves the "overtimers club". Even now,he advocates working on all angles right until thedeadline for a good finished creation. This side ofProf. Munemoto, which rejects easy-way-out com-promises, i l luminates a strong pride that ischaracteristic of true artistic endeavor.

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Inspiration from Joint ResearchIt has been five years now since I beganmy position at Kyoto University's Institutefor Research in Humanities. My positionhere has given me extensive opportunitiesto participate in research with academicsspecializing in other fields and thus I haveon many occasions encountered new con-cepts, which I feel has steadily broadenedmy perspective. My specialization is theHistory of Early Modern Art, with a par-ticular interest in fine art of the Meijiperiod. Soon after I started working here, Iparticipated in two joint research teams;one for Suguru Sasaki's "Society andInformation during the Meiji Restoration"and the other for Shinichi Yamamuro's"Various Aspects of InterculturalActivities and the People Involved."

Shinichi Yamamuro's line of thoughtthat "cultural boundaries do not exist atfirst, but rather can only begin to existwhen different culture is encountered" wasan eye-opener and tremendous inspirationfor me. I then participated as a member inmore joint research teams such as"research of cultural exchange betweenJapan and France", "the body in the earlymodern period", "representation andexpression of race" and "research of earlymodern Kyoto", all of which overlappedwith my interests and were golden oppor-tunities for me to ponder on therelationship between fine art and variousfields such as history, anthropology, litera-ture and area studies.

From Impressionism to MeijiJapan

Originally, my specialization was thehistory of 19th century Western art. It waswhen I was researching neoclassicistIngres and the impressionist Degas, that Ibegan to develop an interest in Japanesefine art of the same period. Up untiltwenty years ago in the field of Japaneseart history, the art of the Meiji period wasnot regarded noteworthy nor was it consid-ered a subject of research. Then beginningfrom the 1980s, people began revisitingthe period; academic societies were estab-lished, the tales of descendents wererecorded while they were still in goodhealth, works and materials were sorted,and concerted effort was made to fire uppassion for the study of Meiji art.Gradually membership of these academicsocieties grew, academic societies pub-

lished bulletins and painters who till thenwere unknown began to be unearthed. Itwas through this that I happened to viewan exhibition in 1993 of a painter by thename of Hosui Yamamoto where I wasshocked by such strange paintings. At thetime I was overwhelmed by the element ofthe grotesque and sense of weirdness ofthese paintings (see Urashima Figure 1and Junishi Figure 2), which are ofJapanese subject matter but painted com-pletely in Western oil painting technique.But at the same time, I felt the impact ofhaving discovered a Japanese-style oilpainting for the first time and with mycuriosity piqued, I wanted to find out moreabout them.

Hosui Yamamoto was a Western-stylepainter who lived in France for about 10years in the 1870s and 1880s but there hadbeen little research on his life whileabroad. I went to Paris to do some investi-gation and I discovered a whole range ofnew things about him. Hosui had mingledclosely with Parisian artists and intellec-tuals and he did not simply study the West.Hosui painted Japanese style decorativewall paintings, and drew pictures for ananthology of Japanese tanka poetry trans-lated into French and as an artist exposingJapanese art, he played not a small role inthe permeation of the Western Japonismmovement and Japanese artistic conceptsin general.

My research into Hosui was a trigger tocompile a history of the reception andexchange of Western art and Meiji art,which is published as "Ikai no umi: Hosui,Seiki, Tenshin ni okeru seiyou (The SeaBeyond — Hosui, Seiki, Tenshin and theWest)" (Miyoshi Kikaku, 2000).

Problem Awareness of SeikiKuroda and Tenshin Okakura

The triggers for my research are alwaysencounters with works of art and the caseof Seiki Kuroda was no exception. Thistime around it was the painting "Chi kanjo" (Figure 3), which was exhibited at theUniversal Exposition held in Paris in 1900.This influential work portrays three femalenudes in almost life size proportion withpowerful effect, but despite this, the artistsaid next to nothing about this paintingand so it is a work of mystery. I discoveredsome comments regarding "Chi kan jo"made by Tenshin in his personal notes andwhen I researched the relationshipbetween the two artists, I found that theymet each other on numerous occasions atthe Tokyo Bijutsu Gakko (Tokyo FineArts School) where they both wereteaching. Moreover the two seemed toshare a similar problem awarenessregarding how to strategically exhibitJapan to the world at international eventssuch as the Universal Exposition held inParis. With Tenshin belonging to the genreof Japanese-style painting and Kuroda tothe Western painting genre, researcherswho focus on one genre rarely consideredthe link between the two artists. Howeverpeople with consciousness during theMeiji period looked hard at how tech-nology acquired from the West was fusedwith Japanese elements and painstakinglythought of the best ways to exhibit thisinternationally.

Japan and the West in Meiji ArtF

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Figure 1 Hosui Yamamoto "Urashima" 1893-1895 The Museumof Fine Arts, Gifu

Figure 3Seiki Kuroda "Chi kan jo (wisdom, impression, senti-ment)" 1897 National Research Institute for CulturalProperties, Tokyo

Figure 2Hosui Yamamoto "Mi(snake)" of "Junishi (Chinesehoroscope)" 1892 MitsubishiHeavy Industries, NagasakiShipyard and MachineryWorks

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Research into Themes ofMythology and Legend in MeijiArt

Although Hosui's period abroad coin-cided with the impressionist period, hisfocus of study was art of the academismstyle, which was the orthodox style of thetime. The themes of mainstream Westernart were mythology and history such asJacques-Louis David's Coronation ofNapoleon and are large works that featuremany people. Hosui learnt this style ofpainting and once he returned to Japan, notonly did Japan society ban the painting ofnudes, the Japanese public had no knowl-edge of the subject matter from the Bibleor Greek mythology. He thus faced thedilemma of how to express and utilize hisacquired oil painting techniques in Japan.In Western painting, the depiction ofhistory and mythology and the expressionof the nude body are inseparable. Even forpaintings featuring only clothed people,many drafts of these figures in the nudewould first be drawn and then the clothingwould be overlaid. Thus the expression ofnudes was fundamental to the expressionof people.

For example, not just Hosui, but alsomany artists of various genres such asKinkichiro Honda, Kiyoo Kawamura,Eisaku Wada, Japanese-style painter SeihoTakeuchi and architectural historian ChutaIto used heavenly maidens as the themesof their work. This was partly because iteasily tied in with traditional tales and reli-gious themes such as robes of feathers, thetale of the bamboo cutter, and scatteringflowers, but it is also thought to be a goodtheme for portraying images of the femalenude. I am very interested in how Japanadopted the traditional elements ofWestern painting that were the most diffi-cult to adopt, which are historical paintingsand nude paintings. To explore this areamore deeply I am going to focus on thethemes and representation of mythologyand legend of the Meiji period, particularlythe portrayal of heavenly maidens in mystudy of the encounters of historical paint-ings and nude paintings in Japan.

Probing into Attempts to Fuse theWest with Japan

Seiki Kuroda who studied in Paris ashort time after Hosui was also faced withthe dilemma of how to express in Japanthe techniques he learned in the West. In

1895, Seiki exhibited a complete femalenude in front of a mirror, which created atremendous scandal. It is well known thatfollowing this incident, Seiki becamedepressed that the use of nudes in paint-ings was yet to be understood in Japan.Meanwhile in the West, the impressionistperiod was bringing about a demise in thetradition of nude painting and historicalpainting. Seiki was abroad right at theverge of this transition and so was facedwith a dilemma of whether it was mean-ingful to import and start off a traditionthat is fading in the West, or while havingfully been immersed in the tradition,whether it was worthwhile to just take theradical elements of impressionism andimplant them in Japan despite the fact thatimpressionism had emerged out of histor-ical necessity. In the end, after mucharduous decision making Seiki adoptedaspects of the impressionist style that weresuited to Japanese tastes (Figure 4) andfollowed a career in teaching at art school.

So in this way the problem of the histor-ical painting and the nude painting was thequintessential problem of importingorthodox Western art to Japan. This wouldhave been a serious issue not just forWestern paintings but also for Japanese-style painting where artists wereattempting to create a new tradition ofJapanese art by using Western technology.Since the Meiji period, up until presentJapanese artists active in an internationalarena have created works by absorbingtechnologies from the West while con-sciously using various Japanese elementsin their creation. This trend continuestoday in works for popular arts such as theanimated film "Spirited Away". To gain adeeper perception of the trends in howJapanese culture is exposed internation-ally, I would also like to further researchthe aspect of the middle period of Meiji artthat can be called the "third path", whichextends beyond theframework of Japanesepaintings and Westernpaintings, and revise thehistory of art in the earlymodern period.

Erika Takashina・Field of Specialization: 19th Century European

and Japanese Art History, Relations betweenJapan and the West in Modern Art・Completed Doctoral Degree, Graduate School of

Humanities and Sociology, the University of Tokyo・Associate Professor, Institute for Research in

Humanities, Kyoto University

I would like to continue my discussion of arthistory by focusing solely on individual livingworks, but not just in terms of the history of art;rather, I want to explore the nature of one culturewhere the art is closely interconnected with theliterature, music and the historical context.Dr. Takashina has spent considerable parts of herlife, including her childhood years living in Europe,such as France, and through visiting art museums,churches and the like, she had countless encounterswith Western art. She recalls fondly the intellectualstimulation akin to having solved a riddle when herfather would explain the symbolism behind thefigures and objects in a painting and provide her withsome background regarding the time in which thepicture was painted. This was perhaps the startingpoint of her current research activities in art.Just as she herself experienced such fortunateencounters with art, Dr. Takashina approaches herresearch work in Japanese art of the Meiji periodwith a wish to increase the opportunities for studentsand the general public to have similar joyful encoun-ters with art. Dr. Takashina explained that works ofart are alive. But in order for an artwork to have life, itneeds the people living in the current period. For it isthe act of people viewing the works of art that pro-vides the opportunity for art to influence the heartsand minds of the people, and it is this that enablesthe art to stay alive. Researchers and critics of artare sometimes viewed upon with lesser reverencethan the artists who produced the works, but Dr.

T a k a s h i n a ' spride in her workreminds us oftheir invaluablerole of keepingworks of art alivethrough the ages.

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Figure 4Seiki Kuroda "Kohan (by the lake)"1897 National Research Institutefor Cultural Properties, Tokyo

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The International Center of KyotoUniversity was started after beingrenamed from the former Center forStudent Exchange (Ryugakusei Center).Our main mission is to play the role oftask force for the Organization for thePromotion of International Relations(OPIR, Kokusai Kohryu Suishin Kikoh)of Kyoto University, which was newlyestablished to make final decisions con-cerning the international activities of thewhole university. Therefore we mustcover a variety of jobs, by cooperatingwith the International Affairs Divisionand the Foreign Student Division, notonly for students but also for researchersand non-teaching staff. The programsthat we are now organizing include:Japanese teaching, giving advice forforeign students, curriculum planning

and research on different cultures.Among them, the most urgent issue thatwe are picking up is to promote overseasstudy by Japanese students. This isbecause the annual number of Japanesestudents of Kyoto University who go toforeign universities is around 200,whereas there are more than 1,200foreign students currentlystudying at Kyoto University.

More than 2 million studentsare said to be currently studyingabroad in the entire world. It isnoteworthy that some Asiancountries like China andSingapore are widely recruitingstudents from Europe andAmerica as well as from Asiain recent years. What is mostimportant is that all those coun-

tries are actively sending a large numberof their students to foreign countries aswell. We have to do something moreeffective right away. Fortunately it isdoubtless that many Japanese studentsare considering going abroad, which isapparently proved by the large amountof participants at the Kyoto University

Fostering a Renaissance in Kyoto

Our Urgent Mission

Features1

In December 2001, Kyoto Universitypromulgated its “Mission”, the leadingsentence of which states the univer-sity’s endeavor “to contribute to theharmonious coexistence of all beings inour planetary community”. Thedrafting committee proposes that thiscommunity must be conceived asincluding non-humans ranging fromanimals and plants to rocks andstreams. Although the goal envisionedby this statement may appear lofty,Kyoto University’s rich tradition offield sciences makes it perhaps anatural position for the university toaspire to at this critical stage of humanhistory.

In April 2005, one year after KyotoUniversity, like all national universitiesin Japan, underwent transformation tospecial corporation status, the univer-sity launched a new base for its

international activities with the estab-lishment of the Organization for thePromotion of International Relations(OPIR). The organization’s objectiveis to integrate the university’s interna-tional academic activities so that anyindividual project, be it at universitylevel or on a smaller scale, has betteraccess to relevant information andresources and greater opportunities tolink up with other projectsgoing on in and outside theuniversity.

The range of academicactivities conducted at KyotoUniversity is vast. The OPIRmust pursue its objective notonly of putting emphasis onfields in which the universityis likely to take a pioneeringrole in international academiccircles, but also of keeping in

mind the direction embodied in theabove-mentioned principle. In accor-dance with this direction, the OPIRseeks to encourage students’ studies indiverse parts of the world. The OPIR isalso ready to support the increase inKyoto University of talented overseasresearchers in tenure-track positions.

In this age of profound change, wheneven the notions of “nature” and

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Study-Abroad Fair held in 2004and 2005. They are listening withfascination to the senior studentswho have returned back fromstudying abroad and are trulyeager to go to foreign universi-ties. One of the keys in solvingthis big issue is, then, to makeappropriate circumstances inwhich Japanese students can goto study abroad at ease withoutworrying about any risks. We,the International Center, do helpand support such students torealize their wishes to studyabroad by planning and exe-cuting all kinds of effectiveprograms.

Takeshi Tamura

“humanity” face challenges, allnew knowledge obtained in lab-oratories and study-rooms needsto be considered in terms of itsmeaning for the entire commu-nity on this planet. Scholarsmust continue discussions inter-nationally and across disci-plines, and cultivate accessiblelanguage. Kyoto has a historyof more than twelve hundredyears and rich traditions ofseeking harmony with the envi-ronment. It may, as a culturalmilieu, inspire in us the ideasnecessary for another renais-sance.

Toshio Yokoyama

Toshio Yokoyama・Born in 1947・Field of Specialization: Global

Civilization Theory・Completed a Master’s Degree

at the Graduate School of Law,Kyoto University・D. Phil., University of Oxford・Professor, Institute for

Research in Humanities, KyotoUniversity

・Warden, Sansai Gakurin, Graduate School of GlobalEnvironmental Studies, Kyoto University, since 2002・Vice-President, Kyoto University, and Director-

General of the Organization for the Promotion ofInternational Relations, since April 2005

Prof. Yokoyama currently holds three important positionsat Kyoto University, as Vice-President for internationalrelations, Director-General of the OPIR, and Warden ofthe Sansai Gakurin at the Graduate School of GlobalEnvironmental Studies. A proficient multi-tasker, his seatis barely warm before it is time for him to move to thenext scheduled item. If he finds this a struggle, he cer-tainly does not show it as he pedals around the campus.In fact, his friendly personality seems to be the antithesisof the stereotypical man of authority.Flexibility and a sense of curiosity seem to be commonthemes in Prof. Yokoyama's career. Prof. Yokoyama wasa difficult student to typecast; while studying law, he alsotook subjects in other fields. After he graduated fromKyoto University's Faculty of Law in 1970, Prof.Yokoyama spent some weeks in a village in East Java"seeking to experience a different world". Once he had

Takeshi Tamura・Born in 1948・Field of Specialization: Applied

Mechanics・Completed Master's Degree at

the Graduate School ofEngineering, Kyoto University・D. Eng., Kyoto University・Professor, Graduate School of

Engineering, Kyoto University・Director of the International

Center, from April, 2005・URL: http://basewall.kuciv.kyoto-u.ac.jp/

The success or failure of the internationalization ofJapan depends on how foreigners in Japan are treatedover the next ten years or so. Currently we are caughtup in a flood of enthusiasm at our International Centeras we go about building the groundwork of the centerthrough providing opportunities and establishingenvironments where Kyoto University students can beexposed to the world outside of Japan.Prof. Tamura, who was appointed Director of theInternational Center in April last year, appears to betaking great pleasure in his busy daily schedule. In hisprior position as Director of the Center for StudentExchange, his activities in supporting the daily lives andthe academic works of both students and researcherswho come to Kyoto University from overseas put him atthe forefront in the area of international exchange atKyoto University. Prof. Tamura's own experience as a

visiting researcher abroad about 15 years ago had apowerful and lasting impression on him, and it has givenhim a passionate commitment to provide overseas stu-dents with opportunities for extending their experience.Prof. Tamura is using this latest restructuring as anopportunity to introduce overseas study to more studentsof Kyoto University. He is promoting this as somethingthat should be regarded as an important commitment,and is focused on enriching international exchangeclasses as part of the groundwork for this. In the futureJapan will be unable to ignore the need for international-ization, and Prof. Tamura is responding to an impendingsense of crisis that if we ignore the current general trendof Japanese students lacking in language skills andhaving little interest in exchange with people from othercountries, Japan will fall behind the rest of the world. Prof. Tamura is a lover of theoretical calculations andlikes nothing better than to explain complex phenomenain terms of simple models. He has numerous achieve-ments to his name, particularly in the field oftransportation engineering, such as the Seikan Tunnel,Tohoku Shinkansen and Osaka and Kyoto Subways. Nodoubt, in Prof.Tamura's mind areclear calculationsfor the futureshape of KyotoUniversity's andJapan's interna-tional exchange.

gained a moderate understanding of the language, hewas asked by the villagers on what kind of place Japanwas. Often stumped for an answer to such questions, hewas filled with a renewed interest in Japanese cultureand all things Japanese. After completing his master’sdegree at the Graduate School of Law, he entered theInstitute for Research in Humanities and from then onmainly pursued research in Japanese culture. According to Prof. Yokoyama, to help people coexistwithout fighting when there are limited resources andspace, it is necessary to engage intermediaries. Suchintermediaries could be mediators who act as a go-betweens such as partitions that separate space, orflowers that both parties can gaze upon and so forth.Guided by this notion, he has also turned his focus onlanguage and ways of daily life in his activities such as incurrent research and in lectures.Prof. Yokoyamahas remarkedthat one questionthat repeatedlycrosses his mindwhile writingpapers is whetherthe notions he iswriting aboutwould be under-stood by thosevillagers in EastJava.

8

President Vice-Presidents

Executive Directors

Kazuo Oike Masato KitaniExecutive Vice-President of General Affairs,Personnel, Public Relations and Administration

Kazumi MatsushigeDirector, International Innovation Center Director-General, International Innovation Organization

Masaki MaruyamaExecutive Vice-President of Planning andEvaluation

Yoshihiko NakamoriExecutive Vice-President of Legal Affairs andSafety Management

Tetsusuke HayashiDirector, Institute for the Promotion of Excellence inHigher Education

Toru KitaExecutive Vice-President of Hospital ManagementFacilities and International Affairs

Toshio YokoyamaDirector-General, the Organization for thePromotion of International Relations

Masao HommaExecutiveVice-President of Work-restructuring,Cooperation with Society and External Affairs (Tokyo)

Mitsuhiko ArakiManagement of Katsura CampusDean of the Graduate School of Engineering

Hirohisa HigashiyamaExecutive Vice-President of Education and StudentAffairs

Hiroshi MatsumotoExecutive Vice-President of Research, Finance andInformation Infrastructure

Organizational Information --- The new board of directors took office on October 1, 2005, for a three-year term of service that ends on September30, 2008. The new board of directors (President, Director General, Vice President) are introduced below.

Features2

9

June 6, Masao Homma, the Vice-presi-dent and Director of Kyoto universityvisited University of California Davis andconcluded an agreement for a staff intern-ship interchange program. This agreementwill dispatch and accept office staff, who

will receive business training in each uni-versity's international office in order toreinforce international administrativepractices.

Mr. Homma met William B. Lacy,vice-president in charge of the UC Davis

International program, and concluded anagreement after talking with Larry N.Vanderhoef, President of UC Davis, thatday. He went to an office related to dis-patch and acceptance.

Kyoto University and UC Davis, University of California commit to personnelinternship exchange program

Features3

In Kyoto University, students ofJapanese language and Japanese culturehave been accepted at the InternationalCenter for the purpose of studying for oneyear on a Ministry of Education, Culture,Sports, Science and Technology Japanesegovernment student scholarship.

Recently, 17 foreign students in thisprogram visited the Kyoto municipal

Hiyoshigaoka Senior High School. Thisplan allowed foreign students to deepentheir understanding of Japanese society andculture in addition to classroom lectures.

During this visit, lessons and sportsactivities were observed and the foreignstudents spoke with the high schoolteachers and students to increase theirknowledge of actual conditions of Japanese

high school education not usually seen andto allow participants to compare this withtheir own experiences.

School visits enhance learning experience for foreign students of Japanese language and culture

The Kyoto Center for Japanese Studies(KCJS) is an education / research organi-zation managed by 13 Americanuniversities. Located in Kyoto, the centeris attended by 45 American students whoare studying subjects related to Japan.Beginning this autumn, 15 Japanese stu-dents from Kyoto University will observean English lecture given by KCJS.

Japanese students, the same asAmerican students, will berequired to submit a report andparticipate in English. Conver-sational English is required.Orientation for Kyoto Universitystudents who will attend wasgiven on September 8, 2005.

Kyoto University students to audit KCJS lectures

An event called Mochi-Tsuki Pettanko!(Let's make mochi!) was held at the studentlounge "KI-ZU-NA" on December 15,2005. "KI-ZU-NA" is a facility where inter-national and domestic students can interact.Thirty-three international students partici-pated in the event, along with ProfessorTamura (Director of the InternationalCenter), teachers from the InternationalCenter, and approximately 20 members ofstaff from the Foreign Student Division.

After taking turns pounding mochi, theinternational students enjoyed the finishedmochi with various toppings includingsoybean flour, grated radish and bean jam.While eating they broke the ice by talkingabout the flavor of the mochi and the dif-ferent toppings.

One student from Zambia smiled as shecommented, "Out of all the toppings I triedtoday, I thought soybean flour went bestwith mochi. I like the daifuku mochi (rice

cakes stuffed with bean jam) you can buy atthe convenience store, but the mochi wemade today was even better."

Mochi-Making Party at the Student Lounge "KI-ZU-NA"

ESSAY

10

I have always, since a child, loved haikupoetry. It is poetry of few words and intensecontent. And, maybe this is why I became apalaeontologist. For, like the words in a haikupoem, the clues that we fossil hunters have touse are few and full of information that we haveto use mind and soul to interpret. It is notalways clear exactly what the meaning of thosedetails is.

From October 2005 to the beginning ofFebruary 2006 I am a resident scholar at theKyoto University Museum, with the wonderfulprivilege of being able to think about my fossils,which come from many places around the world– the White Sea and Siberia in Russia, the blueranges of South Australia, the sandy deserts ofNambia in west Africa and the wild coasts ofNewfoundland. I work with many other scien-tists around the world on this project, examplesbeing Prof. Terufumi Ohno from KyotoUniversity, Dr. Mikhail Fedonkin from Russia,who was also a visiting scholar in Kyoto a fewyears ago.

We palaeontologists are attempting to under-stand what was the trigger for the development ofthe Earth`s first animals, which appeared in thefossil record at least by 600 million years ago,perhaps as long ago as 1.4 billion years. Was itthe cold glacial climate of the Earth's worst iceages from 750 to 560 million years ago (a timecalled “Snowball Earth”) that gave “birth” tothese many celled organisms, some of whicheventually developed into snails, insects and us?I, and my collegues, are very curious about justwhat the environments of this time were like –were the seas as salty, did they contain as muchor even more oxygen than today, were they asdynamic with upwelling as, and so on. And justwhen did animals first appear? Precise timing ofevents dates provided by the radiometric datingof volcanic rocks is very important so that wecan figure out the coincidence of events goingon in the oceans and atmosphere, whether therewas active mountain building (and subsequentaddition of nutrient supply to the oceans as theseyoung mountains shed their sediments into thesea) and was their increased volcanic activity ….so many interesting questions.

Besides being a very curious research scien-tist, I am also passionately interested in passingon this frontline research to students – universitystudents, high school students and primary stu-

dents and their parents and friends. Suchexciting new discoveries of research are alsointeresting to non-scientists. So, several yearsago, I decided that the best way to do this was tostart a university-based science center, where thepublic could come and talk to scientists, whereteachers and scientists could develop curriculumtogether as well as science boxes and activities,where the genral public could come to eveninglectures and go in the field with active researchscientists, and where exhibitions could be onshow – and after their launch at the MonashScience Centre could go travelling. Two of ourexhibitions will visit Japan next year: Before theDinosaurs: The First Animals on Earth at theFukui Prefectural Museum in Katsuama andWildlife of Australia: The Land of Koalas at theGunma Prefectural Museum near Tokyo.

I initiated work on the Monash ScienceCentre in 1993 and eventually built it a beautifulnew, very environmentally friendly building inMelbourne, launched in 2001. Because the phi-losophy of the Monash Science Centre and thatof the Kyoto University Museum are so similar –with great emphasis on bringing front line,exciting science to the public – I was invited tospend time in Kyoto sharing ideas and devel-oping new programs with KUM staff while I carryout my research. And so, I am sharing mypalaeontologic haiku with the citizens of KyotoUniversity and the Kyoto community over thenext 3 months, and I hope that I can instill asmuch enthusiasm and interest in these denizensof the past in you as much as I have for them –and they have a name – the ediacarans – which,I guess should be the title of my Haiku!Ediacarans – the first Animals on Earth.

Patricia Vickers RichFounding Director, Monash Science CentrePersonal Chair, PalaeontologyMonash University, Melbourne, Victoria AUS-TRALIA

Scientific Efforts for a Sustainable Global Village - Kyoto University

Patricia Vickers-Rich・Born in 1944・Field of Specialization: Geology, Palaeontology・Completion of Doctoral Degree in Science, Columbia

University・PhD, Columbia University・Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, Monash

University・Director, Monash Science Centre・URL: http://www.earth.monash.edu.au/directory/pvrich.html

Prof. Vickers-Rich is on a four-month residence that beganin October last year at the Kyoto University Museum as avisiting researcher in the field of the early evolutionaryperiod of multicellular animals. Professor Vickers-Rich hasworked with the museum's Prof. Terufumi Ono, exchangingand analyzing the latest information. She also participatedin an international symposium hosted by the museum, as alecturer and taking part in a practical study program. Prof.Vickers-Rich is a world-renown paleontologist and geologistwho from an early age had a keen curiosity and strong getup and go. At age four, her dream was to become an ento-mologist and she surprised everyone by filling herdollhouse given to her by her uncle with insect specimens.At Christmas, when she was 14 and had just developed awish to become a brain surgeon, her mother presented herwith a thick book on brain surgery. At about the same timeshe developed an interest in the method for measuring theage of things using carbon isotopes, and after asking theprofessor who discovered the method to teach her about it,she created a simple C14 dating machine all by herself.Prof. Vickers-Rich is now devoting the most of her energiesto educational programs tailored for children and the com-munity. She firmly believes that in order to preventenvironmental destruction it is important for ordinary peopleto think about and create the future through learning aboutthe past and the present. She continues to think about what museums are able tooffer and what their role should be and busily puts theseideas into action, particularly focusing on ensuring youngpeople continue to have curiosity. Armed with the belief thatif you possess curiosity, life is never boring, Dr. Vickers-Rich is unstoppable in her pursuit.

The Monash Science Centre, where Dr. Vickers-Rich is thecenter's director

Patricia Vickers-Rich

The inside of the center is filled with exhibits ingeniouslydesigned to allow people to have fun while encoun-tering science.

PREHISTORIC HAIKU

11

Junko Maruyama transferred from TsukubaUniversity to Graduate School of KyotoUniversity and since 2000, she has madeseveral trips to the Republic of Botswana,Africa, conducting ongoing fieldwork on theSan (In recent years, Bushmen are often beingofficially referred to as San.) On the initiative ofthe government, the San have received guide-lines in making a transition from their originalhunting and gathering lifestyle to permanentsettlement, and through these changes, con-cerns have been raised that aspects of the San'sunique culture and lifestyle could be lost. Ms.Maruyama is researching how the San arefinding new ways to develop their lives amidstthe tremendous changes they are experiencing.

■What was it that led you to the world ofcultural anthropology?

I am not suited to desk-bound research and Imuch prefer fieldwork where I can listen to thelife experiences of lots of different people. Also,in my childhood, I spent some time living inGermany and France and this experience con-tributed to my interest in the rest of the world.So, when I first entered university it was myintention to direct my research towards Europe.

■Why then did you choose to study andresearch the San in Africa?

I developed an interest in transfiguration insociety, looking at changes and continuities interms of lifestyle and customs of people when asociety faces a change in socio-cultural environ-ment, particularly from the aspect of lifestylerelated to the provision of food. Then, consid-ering how development project has spread intoplaces where the San were leading a hunting andgathering life, which has led to the governmentoffering guidelines for San to migrate to a lifestyleof permanent settlement, I became somehowinterested in how the San were experiencing dra-matic changes in their environment. Also, when Iwas still a student, my faculty advisor shared withme his experiences of anthropological fieldworksin Africa and so it just sort of happened.

■When did your fieldwork really startto get interesting?

At first, I didn't even understand the languageand I found myself interested in various

seemingly unrelated aspects, as if I were col-lecting various pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.Then during my third trip, which began inMay 2001, I started conversing a little in thelocal language and the interrelationship of allthe pieces started to become apparent and myinterest steadily strengthened.

■What new discoveries and surprises haveyou experienced during your fieldwork?

At the permanent settlement the San areworking at construction sites and arebecoming used to the very convenient way oflife while enjoying such things as cosmeticsand fashion. I had thought that the San livingin the permanent settlement would never returnto their former lifestyle but even now there aremany San who continue their hunting andgathering activities. They shift between thesetwo lifestyles so flexibly and buoyantly. As thefocus of my research is the transfiguration ofsocieties, it was quite a novel surprise for me. Ithought they were so cool.

■Have your dealings with the San changedyou in anyway?

I feel that my experiences with the San haveenabled me to think and live with more flexibilityand freedom. I now think more like if somethingturns out to be no good, there are other options.

■How do you find the environment at KyotoUniversity?

There is such a rich accumulation of fieldworkexperience, I think Kyoto University providesthe best backup system in Japan ranging frompractical methods of collecting resourcesthrough to finance. The researchers themselvesare very unique and I get on with them as ifthey were my fun drinking pals. The studentsaddress the lecturers in a more casual way andthis creates an atmosphere a little differentfrom other universities.

■So what are your plans for future activities?I would like to assist the San indeveloping ways for them to learnabout their lifestyle up until presentand the resources and informationthat anthropologists have compiled.So we are discussing among

researchers working with the San on thingslike encyclopedias targeting the junior highschool age kids who can read English. I alsothink it would be a good idea to create a smallmuseum for them.

■Do you think your work will always be tiedwith Africa?

Oh I don't particularly want to limit myself in thatway. I also have interest in Latin America andAsia. I definitely plan to stay involved with Africafor the rest of my life. As I pick up experiencehere and there, I would like to use this experi-ence as best I can to enrich their lives in thefuture. For example, recently I have joined upwith fellow young researchers to form an NPOnamed Afric-Africa (http://afric-africa.vis.ne.jp).

Admiring the buoyant spirit of the San as they straddle time

Junko Maruyama・Born in Kyoto, 1976・Entered Graduate School of Asian and African Area

Studies, Kyoto University in 1999・Currently at Graduate School of Human and

Environmental Studies, Kyoto University asResearch Fellow of Japan Society for the Promotionof Science

Ms. Maruyama fondlypicking up a local kid

Commemorative photowith the villagers, whoaccording to Ms.Maruyama, adorephoto opportunities

12

The 6th Kyoto University InternationalSymposium “Plant Sciences in Japan andChina – from Genomics to Breeding” washeld at the Chinese Academy ofAgricultural Sciences (CAAS) in Beijing,China, from October 8-9, 2005. There were35 participants from Kyoto University,including 19 faculty and 9 graduate studentsfrom the Graduate Schools of Agriculture,Science, and Biostudies. They shared theresults of their plant science studies, whichranged from the fundamental to the applied,in the form of 11 oral presentations and 17poster presentations. On the Chinese side,researchers from the CAAS, the ChineseAcademy of Sciences (CAS), PekingUniversity, China Agricultural University,Nanjing Agricultural University, NortheastNormal University, and Shandong

Kyoto University aims to be an internationally-minded university at the forefront of academic research open to the world, and to this end, it has been sponsoring overseas sympo-siums every year since 2000, in areas of research at which the university has excelled in producing original findings. In 2005, Kyoto University sponsored two symposia inBeijing and Bangkok. Below is a report on the two symposia.

University made a total of 17 oral presenta-tions and 15 poster presentations.Throughout the symposium, the site waspacked with the 219 Chinese researchersand graduate students who participated, andthere was a lively discussion between theJapanese and the Chinese participants. OnOctober 8, a reception hosted by KyotoUniversity President KazuoOike was held, and it was ahighly successful affair attendedby about 200 people. The nextday, the Chinese side hosted areception in which the KyotoUniversity participants mingledwith the Chinese participants,including dignitaries such as theCAAS’ President Zhai Huqu.On the 10th, the Kyoto

The 6th Kyoto University International SymposiumUniversity participants split into groups thateach held discussion sessions with the fol-lowing institutions: the CAAS’ Institute ofCrop Sciences, the CAS’ Institute ofGenetics and Developmental Biology, andBeijing University’s College of LifeSciences.

For many of the participants from Kyoto

The 7th Kyoto University InternationalSymposium “Coexistence with Naturein a ‘Glocalizing’ World – Field SciencePerspectives” was held in Bangkok,Thailand, from November 23-24, 2005.Kyoto University’s Graduate School ofAsian and African Area Studies, whichis participating in the 21st Century COEprogram “Aiming for COE of IntegratedArea Studies,” was the hosting organiza-tion. The Center for Southeast AsianStudies (CSEAS), also participating inthe same COE program, and the DisasterPrevention Research Institute, theGraduate School of Agriculture, theGraduate School of Informatics, and theGraduate School of Medicine were col-laborating divisions. Support andcooperation for the symposium wasextended by the National ResearchCouncil of Thailand (NRCT), which is

the national institution responsible forThailand’s higher education, as well asChulalongkorn University, ThammasatUniversity, and Kasetsart University inThailand.

At the symposium, Kyoto Universityparticipants made 12 of the 21 presenta-tions given, and Kyoto Universitygraduate students and researchers spon-sored by the Japan Societyfor the Promotion of Sciencemade 14 of the 16 poster pre-sentations. In addition to anumber of participants fromThailand, researchers fromIndonesia, Laos, and SriLanka also participated, for atotal of 222 participants,which enabled rich presenta-tions and lively discussion.From Kyoto University,

The 7th Kyoto University International SymposiumPresident Kazuo Oike and Director-General of the Organization for thePromotion of International RelationsToshio Yokoyama, and from Thailand,the NRCT’s Secretary-General AhnondBunyaratvej, Thammasat University’sPresident Surapon Nitikraipot, andKasetsart University’s President VirochImpithuksa attended, and made opening

13

University, this was their first time tovisit China, and this trip provided anopportunity to gain a renewed under-standing of the plant studies researchoccurring in China. In addition, theyreceived high praise for the wide-ranging and highly advanced plantstudies research being conducted atKyoto University. In this way, the 6thKyoto University International sympo-sium ended in all-around success,thanks to the efforts Kyoto Universitypersonnel, as well as the CAAS’President Zhai Huqu, the Institute ofCrop Sciences’ Director Wan Jianminand Professor Zhang Xueyong, and thegenerous support of the Department ofInternational Cooperation.

Kyoto University welcomes many visitors from overseas: government ministers,ambassadors, and presidents of associate universities.

President Oike, Vice-President Yokoyama, and concerned professors receive the guestsand discuss topics of mutual interest. These social and academic exchanges provide excel-lent opportunities for Kyoto University to better relations with its guests' organizations.

Official Visitors from Abroad

remarks. More than 40 years ago, theCSEAS established a liaison stationin Bangkok, which has since thenbeen giving support to KyotoUniversity’s research activities inSoutheast Asia. In the organizing ofthe symposium, the comprehensivesupport provided by this liaisonstation, and the network built upover the years by the University, andespecially the CSEAS, has proved tobe indispensable.

The symposium provided anopportunity for Kyoto Universityresearchers to showcase the highlevel of area studies being under-taken at Kyoto University, and foryoung researchers and graduate stu-dents to exchange views on areastudies, a field which is still dynami-cally developing.

Visitors List in 2005 in order of date of visit・Dr. Numyoot Songthanapitak / President, Rajamangala Institute of Technology (Thailand)

・Prof. Liu Jingnan / President, Wuhan University (China., P.R.)

・Prof.,Dr. Gu Binglin / President, Tsinghua University (China, P.R.)

・Prof. Luis Alfredo Riveros / Rector, University of Chile (Chile)

・Ms. Martha Lucia Villegas / General Director, Columbia Agency for Studies Abroad (ICETEX) (Columbia)

・Dr. Wen-Shu Hwang / President, National Dong Hwa University (Taiwan)

・Dr. Yang Chen-Ning / Professor, Tsinghua University (China, P.R.)

・H.E., Dr. Blagovest Sendov / Ambassador, Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Japan (Bulgaria)

・Dr. Zhai Huqu / President, The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (China, P.R.)

・Prof.,Dr. Kamarudin Hussin / Rector, Northern Malaysia University College of Engineering (Malaysia)

・Prof.,Dr. Umar Anggara Jenie / Chairman, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) (Indonesia)

・Dr. Chun-Yen Chang / President, National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan)

・Prof. Kirsti Koch Christensen / Rector, University of Bergen (Norway)

・Prof. Pan Yingjie / President, Shanghai Fisheries University (China, P.R.)

・Dr. Khaled S. Al-Sultan / Rector, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (Saudi Arabia)

・Dr. Christine Nebou Adjobi / Minister of the Fight against AIDS, Government of Cote d'Ivoire (Cote d'Ivoire)

・Prof.,Dr. Geoffrey West / President, Santa Fe Institute (U.S.A)

・Dr. Arden Bement, Jr. / Director, National Science Foundation (U.S.A.)

・Ms. Ruth Mollel / Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (Tanzania)

・Dr. Georg Schuette / Secretary General, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany)

・Dr. Alexei Abrikosov / Distinguished Argonne Scientist, Argonne National Laboratory (U.S.A.)

・Dr. Jose Trinidad Padilla Lopez / Rector, University of Guadalajara (Mexico)

・Dr. Zhu Xiaoman / President, China National Institute for Educational Research (China, P.R.)

・Prof.,Dr. Tran Van Minh / Rector, Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry (Vietnam)

・Prof.,Dr. Kalervo Vaananen / Chair, Research Council for Health at the Academy of Finland (Finland)

Dr. José Trinidad Padilla López, Rector, the Universityof Guadalajara, and President Oike shaking hands

Dr. Georg Schuette, Secretary General, the Alexandervon Humboldt Foundation, meeting with President Oike

Dr. Wen-Shu Hwang, President, National Dong Hwa University,and Vice-President Yokoyama holding a commemoration plaque

H.E., Dr. Blagovest Sendov, Ambassador, the Embassy of theRepublic of Bulgaria in Japan, meeting with President Oike

Public Relations Division

KYOTO UNIVERSITYYoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-ku,Kyoto 606-8501, Japan

URL http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/index.htmPDF files of Raku-Yu may be downloaded from the above URL

E-mail kohho52@mail.adm.kyoto-u.ac.jpFAX +81 75 753 2094

For inquiries regarding Raku-Yu, contact:

Shinnyo-do The other "Philosopher's Walk"Around late-November, the grounds of Shinnyo-do (official name: Shinshogokurakuji Temple), located about 1 km south-east from Kyoto

University's front gate, turn deep red as autumn leaves abound attracting many tourists. For Japanese, the cherry blossom in spring and thecolorful leaves of autumn are very special.

The history of Shinnyo-do began, it is said, about one thousand years ago with the enshrinement of the standing statue of Amida Nyorai(Amitabha Tathagatas), previously the principal image at the Mt. Hiei Jogyodo (the hall of perpetual practice), in the separate imperial resi-dence of Higashisanjo In, mother of Emperor Ichijo.

After the enshrinement, the temple became a gathering point for the public, particularly women of strong religious faith until 1467 whenJapan was divided in two for eleven years due to the internal turmoil of the Onin War. Being close to the maneuvers of the Eastern Army, thepagoda was burned to the ground. The statue itself was saved and moved to places like Mt. Hiei and Otsu. In 1693, the temple wasrebuilt at the current site.

The standing statue of Amida Nyorai, which is an important cultural property, and one of the principal figures that is counted as one of thesix Kyoto Amida Buddha is also called Unazuki no Mida (the nodding Amida). The story of this name dates back to when the AmidaBuddha was being carved at Mt. Hiei by the venerable monk Jikakudaishi (En'nin). It is told that when the statue was requested to becomethe principle figure for the monks of Mt. Hiei, Amida shook its head, but when it was requested it go down the mountain and save all thepeople, especially the women, the statue nodded three times. This perhaps explains why it was the gathering point for the faith of the public.

It was comparatively in more recent history that the Shinnyo-do became known as a place to view autumn leaves and it only began to get men-tioned on television etc. a few years ago. Before then, only ever a small number of people visited the temple and even now, outside the time whereautumn leaves are falling, the temple is a calm and serene place with locals walking quietly around. Entering the gate, you will see the main templebuilding straight ahead, and on the right is a great lime tree. The fruit of the lime tree ripens at the same time as the colorful autumn display and it hassomehow come to be said that this fruit brings happiness. The sight of people gathering this fruit gives the place an authentic "old Kyoto" feel.

The path that heads east from Kyoto University front gates and crosses Mt. Yoshida and passes the Shinnyo-do to arrive at the HoneninTemple has also been a favorite walk for successive generations of Kyoto University students, and some Kyoto University graduates canremember taking day-time naps on the veranda of the Shinnyo-do and leisurely reading by the side of the pond. On New Year's Eve, it ispossible to ring the famous bell that was created in 1754 and the crowd has its fair share of overseas students.

The Shinnyo-do is a temple always there to quietly watch over the thoughts, dilemma, and laughter of students.

Nehan-no-niwa (Garden of Nirvana)located at the back of the main templeis designed to utilize Mt. Higashiyamain the background for aesthetic enhance-ment. At the front of the garden is astone arrangement modeled onNehanzu (Nirvana painting) of Buddha.Stones are placed around the area torepresent the grief and sorrow ofBuddha' disciples and living creatures.

P R O M E N A D E

A blanket of autumn leavescovering the ground enhancesthe mood of the place.

After passing through the templeentrance, the grand main templebuilding comes into view whileclimbing the gentle stepped incline.

Locals and touristslining up to ring thebell. The solemnsound of the belladds a feel of aus-terity to the welcomingof the new year.