Japan News This Week 9 September 2012

Japan to Buy Disputed East China Sea Islands: Media

New York Times

South Korea in military drill near disputed islands

BBC

Fotgazet通信・「東電の隠蔽体質は変わらない」原発作業員

Our Planet

Global help urged to avert reactor 4 pool fire

Japan Times

韩抗议美媒在独岛问题“偏向日本” 要求反驳

Caijing

Troubled Seas: Japan’s Pacific and East China Sea Domains (and Claims)

Japan Focus



Statistics

China's coastline is 30,017 km long, or slightly longer than Japan's, which is 29,020 km.

However, thanks to 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) - which has turned into a windfall for former colonial powers such as the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and Japan - China has a much smaller EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zones) than Japan.

China EEZ: 879,666 square kilometers
Japan EEZ: 4.5 million square kilomteers

China ranks 31st in the world, after the Maldives and ahead of Somalia, in EEZ area.

Japan ranks 9th, with an EEZ that is five times the size of China's.

Source: Japan Focus

Nagoya Municipal Subway N3000 series

Since March this year Nagoya subway's Tsurumai Line has been running some new trains - the Nagoya Municipal Subway N3000 series.

The six car sets are sleek and modern and feature in-carriage displays in Japanese and English showing the route and the next station.

The seat covers incorporate Arimatsu tie-dye designs, a famous local craft in Nagoya. The latest trains in the series are built locally in Toyokawa.

Kyoto Cycle Tour Project Kinkakuji

The branch of Kyoto Cycle Tour Project near Kinkakuji Temple is useful if you want to tour western Kyoto: Kinkakuji, Ryoanji and Ninnaji but only if you want to do that tour in the morning at the shop closes at 1.30pm. Otherwise you have to drop off your bike at one of KCTP's other outlets (see below) before 7pm and pay an extra 800 yen for the pleasure.

The bike I hired was the standard class 1,000 yen a day bone-shaker and was far to small for a 6ft foreigner. Only 2 out of the 3 gears worked and the extra 800 yen drop off charge made the whole deal rather expensive.

Kyoto Cycle Tour Project has other outlets near Kyoto Station near the APA Hotel Ekimae and the Rihga Royal Hotel  at Nishiki-kita (at the Hotel Co-op Inn) and Fushimi (at Urban Hotel). An alternative rental shop near Kyoto Station is Miyakoshiki Fuune, where visitors can rent battery-assisted bicycles.

Souvenir from Japan

A fun souvenir from Japan is a small hand towel. You can purchase them almost everywhere, in convenience stores, railway stations, and in many historical attractions.

The towels are small, light, useful, and fit easily into a suitcase. I like seeing the various images available - Jpop idols, city mascots, videogame characters, Hello Kitty from every prefecture, historical figures, and yes, the Glico Guy!

It's a unique and inexpensive item to pick up on your travels through Japan.

Long Distance Meitetsu Buses From Nagoya Station

As well as providing local suburban and inter-city bus services in the Chubu area of central Japan to such places as Gujo Hachiman and Shirakawa-go, Meitetsu also has long distance buses to destinations farther afield.

Meitetsu buses run from Nagoya Station's Meitetsu Bus Center to Matsuyama, Tokushima, Kochi and Takamatsu (and Marugame) in Shikoku.

From Nagoya Station there is an early morning bus at 8am arriving at Takamatsu Station at 1.18pm and Marugame at 2.28pm. The overnight bus leaves Nagoya at 11.10pm arriving in Takamatsu at 6.05am and Marugame at 7.10am. The one-way price is 6,800 yen with return 12,200 yen.

From Nagoya Station from Matsuyama there is an overnight bus leaving Nagoya at 11.10pm arriving in Matsuyama at 7.10am. The one-way price is 10,000 yen with return 18,000 yen.

From Nagoya Station to Tokushima there is an early morning bus at 7.40am arriving at Tokushima Station at 12.45pm. The overnight bus leaves Nagoya at 11.00pm arriving in Tokushima at 5.40am. The one-way price is 5,800 yen with return 10,400 yen.

From Nagoya Station to Kochi in southern Shikoku there is an overnight bus leaving Nagoya at 10.30pm arriving in Kochi at 6.50am. The one-way price is 9,070 yen with return 16,310 yen.

The company offers reductions on the above services during the summer with 30% off during the month of August.

Ryukoku Museum Kyoto

The new Ryukoku Museum is directly opposite Nishi Honganji Temple in Kyoto and close to the Omiya campus of Ryukoku University and the famed Higurashi-mon Gate.

The Ryukoku Museum is dedicated to Buddhist art detailing the spread of Buddhist culture and belief from its birthplace in the Ganges valley in India, through South East Asia, China and Korea to Japan. The exterior of the museum features a huge blind made of ceramics.

The Ryukoku Museum has a basement level and three levels above ground in a light and airy building. The second floor concentrates on Buddhism in Asia with the third floor focusing on Buddhism in Japan.

Exhibits include sculptures from the Gandhara period of Buddhist art in what is now present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Otani collection gathered between 1902 and 1914 on three expeditions sent by a chief priest of Nishi-Honganji on the original route of Buddhism from India to Japan and Important Academic Materials held by Ryukoku University.

The Buddhism in Japan section details the development of Shin Buddhism and the history of Honganji and the life of founder, Shinran Shonin.

The Ryukoku Museum also holds special exhibitions and has a museum shop and cafe facing Nishi-Honganji Temple.

Ryukoku Museum
117 Nishinakasujidori Shomen Sagaru
Shimogyo-ku
Kyoto 600-8399
Tel: 075 351 2500
Admission: 500 yen
Hours: 10am-5pm; closed Monday

Futaba Museum Former House of Sadayakko Kawakami

The Futaba Museum, the former two-story house and garden of actress Sadayakko Kawakami and industrialist Momosuke Fukuzawa, is the highlight of Nagoya's "Cultural Path" which runs from Nagoya Castle to Tokugawa Art Gallery and Tokugawa-en.

Sadayakko Kawakami (1871-1946), a former geisha, is known as the "first modern actress in Japan" and is credited with introducing Japanese dance and theater to the West on tours of the US and in a sensational appearance at the Paris World Exposition in 1900. Sadayakko was known by such people as Pablo Picasso and helped to spread an interest in "Japonism" so popular at the time.

After the death of her first husband and mentor, the actor Otojiro Kawakami, Sadayakko (aka Sada Yacco) lived with her lover, the rich businessman Momosuke Fukuzawa (1868–1938) in the house in Nagoya which is now the Futaba Museum.

Fukuzawa made his fortune in the production of electricity including hydro-electricity plants on the Kiso River in Gifu Prefecture, including the dam at Ena Gorge.

The residence is known for its mix of Japanese and western styles including Japanese tatami-style rooms, exquisite furniture and western stained glass. The house became a salon where important poets, writers and business people would meet.

Futaba Museum contains a number of exhibits and panel displays detailing Sadayakko's life as well as materials relating to various authors active in the period: Shoyo Tsubouchi, Saburo Shiroyama, Tsuyoshi Kotani, Miyoshi Enatsu and Ken Kasugai.

Lesley Downer's book, Madame Sadayakko: The Geisha Who Bewitched the West, is the authoritative narrative of Sadayakko's life.

Other places to see on the Cultural Path include Nagoya City Hall, the Hori Art Museum, Nagoya City Archives, the Aichi Prefectural Building, the Chikaramachi Catholic Church, the Shumokukan, home of Tamesaburo Imoto, as well as the former residence of Sasuke Toyoda, Kenchuji Temple, the residence of Tetsujiro Haruta and the Nagoya Ceramics Hall.

The Cultural path runs through a prosperous, residential district home to the rich and powerful of Meiji and Taisho-era Nagoya including the Toyoda family who founded the present-day Toyota car company, artists, merchants, bankers and writers.

Futaba Museum
3-23, Shumoku-cho
Higashi-ku
Nagoya
461-0014
Tel: 052 936 3836
Hours: 10am-5pm; closed Mondays
Admission: 200 yen

Access

Futaba Museum is a 10-minute walk north of Exit 2 of Takaoka Station on the Sakuradori Line of the Nagoya subway, a short walk from the Bunka no Michi Futabakan stop of the Meguru tourist Loop bus, 12 minutes south from Amagasaka Station on the Meitetsu Seto Line, and also a short walk from Shimizu-guchi bus stop on the route of Key Route Bus #2.