e-ShortNews

Belated, but let me begin with my wish for A Happy New Year to all of you.

People do a variety of things, but the New Year comes equally to us all. At the end of the 20th century, which was called "the century of war," we all wished that the coming century would be a peaceful one. But as you know, the wish was shattered and the world is suffering.

Last year, the "UNESCO Terakoya movement," organized by our National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan, presented some ping-pong tables and soccer balls to the Terakoya in Afghanistan. I learnt that the boys and girls played the games and filled the school grounds with big smiles and cheers, establishing real communication among themselves. (The project of sending soccer balls to Asian children was carried out in collaboration with the Japan Football Association and the Dentsu Group.)

In the middle of December, the Fall course of UNESCO Japanese classes of the Meguro UNESCO Association ended with a closing ceremony. I was told that many of the students could not come, but about 50 students from about 20 countries attended out of . a total of 161 students from 48 countries who participated in the Fall course. To those students I made a speech with the message "Spreading 'communication' among people is one aim of the UNESCO movement. Please tell the story of your country to many Japanese, especially Japanese children so that people can better understand each other."

Twenty one years have passed since the Meguro UNESCO Association started the "UNESCO movement and the Japanese language course." The aim of these activities was to spread the spirit of UNESCO among as many people as possible. It was also a way for us to show what we, a non-governmental organization can do for that purpose. The Japanese classes call for untiring efforts and energetic cooperation of the staff concerned. The teachers and the students both are precious treasures of the Meguro UNESCO Association. I feel that we should renew our appreciation for the values of these activities and try to improve the method involved. This probably is one of our tasks for this year.

'Communication' could take various forms and contents depending on the situation. To spread com-munication, we should start with something close to us. Just as a cheer was the result of giving a soccer ball, I hope that a group of those who aim at the UNESCO movement would freely discuss and improve ourselves so that we can contribute to make a better world with joyful and fresh energy.

Reiko Kato, President, Meguro UNESCO Association

The year 2005 was a memorable year ? a century after the so-called miraculous year of physics when Einstein published a paper on “the special theory of relativity” and others, that had a strong impact on people. UNESCO declared 2005 to be the World Year of Physics. ‘The Year of Physics’ may sound quite abstruse and give an image of a lofty world far from the lives of ordinary people. We tend to back away thinking that the fields of science, including physics, are too difficult to understand.
In the modern society we live in, however, we greatly benefit from various fields of science, not only physics.
Looking back on our UNESCO activities, those for international cooperation and cross-cultural understanding were very remarkable, but they were somewhat inclined to aim at “mutual benefit” so to speak ? absorbing knowledge from foreign people as well as offering Japanese language education and promoting understanding of our country. No doubt they are very important activities, but we regret that we have been rather indifferent to what the letter S in UNESCO stands for ? Science.
Now is the time to improve our activity plan, adding programs to cultivate and stimulate elementary and junior high school students’ interest in UNESCO activities, and also in scientific matters. Our aim this year is to carry out activities in every field of education, science and culture.
Now in 2006, we have just started our “Junior Club CHIKYU” designed for elementary and junior high school students.We would like to help promote active interest in science education, which people are now talking about, in cooperation with the local community and develop programs that will make children learn about recent science and understand the relationship between humans and science. That is our New Year’s resolution.

Takashi Saito, Vice President of Meguro UNESCO Association

Junior Club CHIKYU” (CHIKYU means "Planet Earth" in Japanese) emanated from our wish that young people will understand UNESCO activities and work with us to promote non-governmental UNESCO activities. It is a club for young people getting together to think about peace, which is advocated in the Constitution of UNESCO. The club has just started. We would be very happy if you could assist us to make this year’s new project successful. Any ideas for activities would be gratefully received.

JUNIOR CLUB PROGRAMS
Visit to the National Science Museum (Jan. 6)
Spring Vacation Program:
Visit to the Ghibli Museum, Mitaka (Apr.3)
Summer Camp
(Aug.20-22,YMCA Tozanso International Conference Center)

A Message of Peace and Culture for the Next Generation

A peace concert by a world-renowned violinist, Mr. Takayoshi Wanami, and a pianist, Ms. Mineko Tsuchiya, was held at Meguro Persimmon Hall on November 27th(Sun). The concert started with Bach's Sonata No.1 in G minor for violin solo followed by Beethoven's Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3 in E flat major. The beautiful and deep sound, played from the heart, penetrated to the soul of the audience.
After a break, Mr. Wanami himself addressed the audience. He said the important thing in life was to wish for other people’s happiness and world peace. He also expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to play in the UNESCO Peace Concert.
Dvorak, Kreisler, Elgar, and Saint-Sa?ns. The program went on until a presentation of a bouquet by children. It ended with a lingering and comforting afterglow.
After the concert he went out to the lobby to talk with children, despite his tiredness from the concert.
He looked surprised for a moment when he was asked what he lived for?
He replied by saying, “The same as you. After I wake up in the morning, I have a meal and play the violin. I make it a rule to live the life given by God to the fullest.” The words remain strong in my thoughts and also in the children’s I think.
At the end, he sang a children’s song “Aka Tonbo” (“A red dragonfly” in Japanese) together with students of Higashine Elementary School. It was a memorable and heart-warming moment.

- Written by Akiko Miyashita, a teacher of children’s chorus and member of Meguro UNESCO Association

Hello, everyone. I am Wanami. I would like to thank Meguro UNESCO Association for inviting me here to enjoy music with you.
Since this is a peace concert, let me talk about peace. UNESCO is an organization of the United Nations and as it stands for UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, it works on issues related to education, science and culture. Education-wise, it helps the people all over the world to study and conduct research. Science-wise, I may not have to explain because you already understand what is meant by science when you hear a story about space travel or an extraterrestrial rock found on Earth. Culture is more difficult to explain. I am Japanese, but my heart is half-European. I started to play the violin at the age of four, and I like European music. I have many friends in Europe. I like to speak in a European language. When I go to Europe, I feel very relaxed. Europe consists of many countries including the Republic of Bulgaria, where sumo wrestler Koto-ousyu was born. Each country has its own culture inherited from a distant past, which is difficult for people from other cultures to understand. For example, the languages of neighboring countries like China and Korea are very different from the Japanese language and cannot be understood by Japanese people. If all the people in the world spoke the same language it would be convenient, but we would have a problem if the Japanese language disappeared. People in any country would be annoyed if their native languages were gone. It is important for all the people in the world to respect other people’s languages and cultures.
Lately, there have been terrorist suicide attacks carried out in Iraq. Some people in the country do not like American culture to be imposed. Some of them would rather die than have it imposed on them. Culture is not something to be imposed on, but to be understood and respected by people who have different cultures.
World Heritage is one of the important programs of UNESCO. I think the importance of World Heritage lies in making a country’s heritage a world treasure so that more people can cherish it. The violin I am holding now belongs to me but many people in the world have used it carefully. I hope many people in the world will use it in the same way after my death. It is important for everyone to cherish everything in the world. Above all, life is most important. You should never take away other people’s lives. Any life is important; be it yours or anyone else’s. Suicide terrorism is the last thing to be considered. I especially hope young people to realise that all the things on earth belong to everyone.
To make one more comment, when you throw away something, you should think twice. It might be still good. Someone might want to use it. These days, I think peace can be realized when we value, care for and do little things one by one

.- Yukio Okusawa is responsible for the wording of this summary

Nov.9-13 / Meguro Museum of Art, Kumin Gallery

Sponsored by NPO Meguro UNESCO Association, Meguro City, Meguro Federation of Cultural Activities, Meguro Board of Education, Meguro Foundation of Art and Culture; Cooperated by National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan, Ekaterinburg Branch of Russia-Japan Society

Left photo: UNESCO Lecture “Winter in Norway”
November 13, 2005 at the World Heritage Corner
Lecture and photos: Mr. Asami Hasegawa, photographer

The 48th UNESCO Art Exhibition was held earlier in the year than past events. This made the staff busier than ever preparing for the exhibition. As a result, the numbers of works of art exhibited were fewer than usual. Instead there were works from artists participating for the first time as well as works with international flavor, which more than made up for the relative paucity of exhibits. Here are some examples: firstly, Uruguay’s Ambassador to Japan and his daughter, who participated in the UNESCO art class (watercolor), presented their works of art. Secondly, the works made by Ms. Tomoko Kurokawa, traditional Japanese embroidery “Rozashi” artist, were exhibited to report on her exhibition in Bulgaria held last June.　Also oil paintings and sculptures by Ms. Miho Takai, who lives in New York were displayed. There were also pieces of art from children from overseas. Unique pieces drawn by children from Ekaterinburg in Russia, under the theme “Japan in my imagination” and “illustrating Haiku by Basho and Buson”, were warmly appreciated by the visitors.
The World Heritage Corner, our new challenge, was filled with the latest works presented by Mr. Asami Hasegawa, a photographer. There were photographs of the Naeroyfjord, which was registered as a World Natural Heritage along with Shiretoko in 2005. Plus pictures of aurora and the fantastic light of winter in Norway. He once told us he had been wishing to take a photograph that makes us remember the colors and light in impressionist paintings. The beautiful atmosphere of the snowy country and the windows of a house giving out warm lights, which might be surrounding a family gathering, made us warm, too. They were splendid works of art beyond time and space and made us feel the mystery of a night sky.
On the last day, the UNESCO Lecture was held with Mr. Hasegawa as a lecturer. The title was “Winter in Norway - Travel photography and myself.” Because it was announced on the Meguro City Newsletter, we happily had a lot of non-member audiences, too, and it helped us to widen our activity as an NPO organization. After the lecture, audiences actively asked many questions, such as Norwegian climate and life, social welfare system, advice for a woman who travels alone, how to take photographs in severe cold, etc. And lastly, the audiences gave us their grateful words, “I’m happy to be here”, which made us very happy, too.

- reported by Yasuko Hamada, Art and Cultural Activity Committee

Date & Time: Nov. 2, Mon. (18:30 -) Place: Moriya Kyoiku Kaikan
Speaker: Mr. Minoru Kurihara, Professor Emeritus of Showa University,

Director of NPO Tokyo Cooperative Oncology Group, former President of the Japan Society of Clinical Oncology

The first scientific UNESCO lecture in a long while was on frontiers of medical science. Mr. Kurihara, Professor Emeritus at Showa University, is an advisor to our association. He seemed to have made up his mind in his school days to devote his life to early detection of cancer. Using thirty seven color slides he described cancers of only a few centimeters in size. The slides of cancers in rats, dogs, and humans looked very precious. He told us how he first succeeded in creating cancer artificially, and about medicine to treat such artificially-created cancer. Then he explained what is being done to make the medicine even one percent more effective. He also told us that good quality clinical photographs are very important for early detection and treatment of cancer, and about the difference in cancer treatment among different countries. Responding to questions from the audience, he kindly gave a detailed answer on
each actual cancer treatment. It was a very precious lecture given by a leading authority on digestive system cancer

Speaker Profile: Mr. Kurihara is a doctor aiming at “pro-patient” medical treatment. Having graduated from Mukaihara Elementary School in Meguro, he now lives in Meguro. He has known Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara, St. Luke’s International Hospital. He was involved in the development research of stomach radiography when he was a graduate student, and has since been devoting himself in cancer diagnosis and treatment for more than forty years.

Some thoughts on UNESCO’s approval of the Treaty on Cultural Diversity
(Yaoko Matsuoka)

The term ‘globalization’ is often used in the sense of political and economic internationalization to refer to the overseas promotion of economic and political activities. Yet, globalization also has cultural and environmental aspects. I would like to focus on the cultural dimension by introducing the field of Global Education ? a field that I am studying at graduate school as an effective approach to foreign language teaching. Global education is not education for teaching young people about political strategy or about how to survive in a world of economic competition. Rather, it is education based on the ideal of preparing youth to be responsible world citizens by raising their awareness of global issues and providing them with opportunities to think about world problems.
Education with a global perspective is not a new idea. It has developed since the end of World War II, supported by the idea and movement to foster education for world understanding for the sake of preventing further world wars. Currently, global education is being carried out at schools in the USA, UK, Australia and other countries. In Japan, it has been adopted into the “integrated study” classes in elementary and junior high school which aim at promoting international understanding. Many global topics such as landmines, refugees, and destruction of ozone layer are already included in current textbooks for junior and senior high schools.
Global education comprises four main categories: peace education, human rights education, environmental education and development education (teaching about people and issues in developing countries). In peace education, students study about topics such as the Nobel Peace Prize as well as about wars and conflicts around the world, from which they learn to perceive the necessity and importance of peace. Human rights education deals with such topics as racial prejudice, sexual discrimination, morality and virtue as well as rights and responsibilities and is aimed at deepening students’ understanding of minorities and preventing bullying among children. Environmental education provides information about environmental issues, such as global warming and water pollution, and enables students to recognize what they can contribute to what make our environment better. Lastly, one good example of development education is UNESCO’s ‘terakoya project’. To know about such projects and to discuss them, even without actually participating, is effective for helping students to grow as global citizens. By introducing these topics into the language classroom, global education makes it possible to cover two areas: the study of global issues and the study of foreign languages, such as English. Furthermore, taking action to seek solutions for these problems is another aim which global education strongly hopes to attain. Every small action in daily life, such as trying not to pour waste oil down the drain in order to keep rivers clean, is capable of leading to progress.
Take a glance around you and you will find a rich variety of international connections, such as shirts made in China, furniture from Taiwan or dishes made in Denmark. Then, you will realize that we are all globally interrelated to each other. Our children may have to face a restless world, yet the term ‘globalization’ can be the key to solving international concerns. Globalization can refer to the idea of seeking to benefit the wider world beyond one’s own nation, as if the globe were one big family. I would like to continue experimenting with global education, one step at a time, in my English language classroom.

(#) Mr. Wanami’s talk during his violin concert was well-received among the members of the editorial meeting, to say nothing of his musical performance itself. He spoke to the children in plain words, citing his own experiences, and yet meaningful. And for this reason, it was decided to have his words printed in this issue. We hope you all enjoyed every word of his, as it contained many invaluable suggestions for UNESCO activities.

(#) Various opinions were exchanged at the editorial meeting this month, as in past months. We asked ourselves “whether our reports are to provide accurate, factual information of events or expected to be something more interesting to read with our own remarks and opinions”, “whether we can freely express our views and opinions or there should be a certain limit as the official newsletter of our organization,” etc. Many men, many minds, and the discussion lasted long without reaching a consensus.

(#) I found an article in the “Nikkei” newspaper in the end of year about a round-table discussion on “peace and culture”, in which the participants expressed their hopes that Japan conveys its culture to the world, arguing that “various religions and cultures have coexisted in Japan…It is Japan that can possibly answer the question - how can different religions and cultures coexist?” I thought what they pointed out was very important.

(M. Saito)