Call to forge a common East Asian culture

The shared characteristics of East Asian countries, including China, South Korea and Japan, provide a basis for establishing a common cultural community, experts say.

These characteristics include Confucianism, Buddhism, written Chinese characters as a communication tool, treating humans as part of nature, the emphasis on the community over the individual and the realization of harmony from contradictions, according to Professor Jin Ryong Yoo, of South Korea's Eulji University.

He was speaking at the First High-Level Academic Forum for Asian Culture and Art Circles, held last week in Chengdu, Sichuan province.

"The world is heading toward a multi-polar system under which regionalism has become an essential element of globalization. It is time to put our efforts to form a cultural community based on a common emotional background before setting up a political and economic community," Yoo says.

East Asian values, he says, have played an important role in the success of some Western cultural products, such as Hollywood's Mulan, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and even in Avatar, which has been seen by some to be based on the Taoist ideas of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu.

A cultural community of East Asian countries will help them reap the benefits of scale economies in the world cultural industry, he adds.

Calling the culture industry a "sunrise industry", Professor Qi Yongfeng, of the National Research Center of Cultural Industry, Communication University of China, says: "Promoting regional cooperation and communication in Asian cultural industry will not only help optimize and upgrade the economic structure of Asian countries, but also push forward the course of economic integration."

Besides, it will also help remove historical misunderstandings and increase mutual political trust, he says.

According to statistics quoted by Korea Creative Content Agency, in 2009 China accounted for only 4 percent of the world's contents market, but the share of Asian countries, including China, South Korea and Japan, was 22.9 percent. In contrast, Europe's share was 36.6 percent and North America's, 35.7 percent.

"Independently, South Korea, China and Japan may not find it easy to overcome the United States' absolute superiority. But cooperation among East Asian countries can help in the long run," Yoo says.

He adds that China, South Korea and Japan must build a new common cultural consciousness that is different from that of other regions by confirming their emotional identity while comprehending their differences.

This can be done, he says, through common management of and research into the cultural assets of East Asia, cultural exchanges, and cooperation in setting up a legal system for the culture industry.

According to the Annual Report on Development of China's Cultural Industries (2010) by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China produced 456 feature films in 2009, ranking third in the world, after the US and India, with the year's domestic office box income increasing 42.96 percent over the previous year.

Jia Leilei, a research fellow with Chinese National Academy of Arts and one of the sponsors of the forum, says that while the Chinese cultural industry is developing rapidly, it still lags behind developed countries. "We cannot make a film like Avatar overnight. We need more time to acquire the skills for this," he says.

The forum, initiated by the Chinese National Academy of Arts and Korean-China Culture and Arts Forum, attracted more than 50 participants from various Asian countries.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/life/2010-05/11/content_9833575.htm

Ancient art on display in private, picturesque Japanese gardens

By Grant Okubo, Stars and Stripes Scene, Sunday, April 25, 2010

For some, Mr. Miyagi and the Karate Kid movies were their introduction to the world of bonsai — the art of growing miniature trees.

There are even a few websites talking about how "Mr. Miyagi" introduced them to bonsai.

But the ancient Japanese art of bonsai has grown past the pop culture references and found its way into gardens around the world.

Originally developed in China 2,000 years ago, bonsai was adopted (and some say perfected) by the Japanese in the 12th century. Growing bonsai requires a specific process of pruning, root reduction and potting to ensure the desired effect.

"There is (a growing) interest in bonsai" outside Japan, said Yoshihiro Nakamizu, president of the Bonsai Network near Tokyo, which connects visitors to Japan with some of the country’s most spectacular bonsai gardens.

Most of his clients come to Japan from Europe, North American and South America specifically for the bonsai tour, he said.

Japan has the best bonsai in the world, said Pedro Morales, president of the Puerto Rico Bonsai Federation, who along with other bonsai enthusiasts from Puerto Rico, Mexico, Columbia and Venezuela spent a recent Sunday touring gardens with Nakamizu.

"If we want to learn the correct way, we have to come to the best," Morales said.

Their first stop was to the bonsai village in Saitama City, just outside Tokyo. Located near Omiya Station, it is made up of several privately owned bonsai gardens in the residential neighborhood Bonsai-cho.

"The serenity, simplicity and peace that you get when you visit the gardens is a very unique feeling," Morales said. He added that both amateur and professionals interested in bonsai definitely have to see the gardens for themselves.

Meeting the bonsai artists is among the highlights of such trips, said Morales, who has made his fifth trip to Japan with bonsai always topping the agenda.

"This place is full of history and to see all the great collections there and to learn where each of the masters came from is a very special feeling. Every (bonsai) master that we spoke with is willing to share their knowledge. The most important thing is that they appreciate that outsiders are learning (this) Japanese art form."

While Japan is a bonsai lover’s paradise, Morales and others have exported the art to their native countries, Morales said.

Though trees and climates vary, the technique remains the same, he said.

The tour also included a stop at the private garden of Masahiko Kimura in Saitama City. Kimura is considered the best of the best in the bonsai world, Nakamizu said.

"Kimura is the Picasso of the bonsai world," Nakamizu said. "You’ll see how his trees are different from the others. He takes the material and makes them into an art form."

The tour ended at bonsai master Kunio Kobayashi’s Shunkaen Bonsai Museum in Tokyo. During the visit, many of the bonsai fans had the opportunity to speak with bonsai practitioners such as Peter Warren, Kobayashi’s apprentice. The native of Yorkshire, England, has studied under Kobayashi for seven years.

"What I’ve learned from bonsai in terms of technique has only been a small part compared to what I’ve gained from this experience on a personal level," Warren said. "Bonsai can be incredibly beautiful, and it makes people happy."

For more information on attending a tour of the various bonsai gardens, visit www.j-bonsai.com

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=140&article=69568

Japan's synchronized swimmers face nail art ban

OKYO (Reuters) - Japan's synchronised swimmers can keep their nose pegs and sparkly costumes but will be banned from having brightly decorated fingernails or dying their hair.

Japanese officials have expanded their ban on swimmers to synchronised and diving disciplines under a policy that formally begins on April 1, local media reported on Saturday.

Swimmers could face lifetime bans if they turn up for competitions with dyed hair, elaborately painted nails or pierced ears.

The tough measures were drafted last year to prevent the country's athletes breaching discipline and looking more like rock stars than swimmers.

Male and female swimmers caught drinking alcohol or sneaking into each others rooms at Japanese training camp will also find themselves in hot water.

The national soccer team were recently labelled a "shambles" by the president of the Japan Football Association for not standing to attention during the national anthem.

A top Japanese snowboarder was the subject of a media firestorm for wearing the national tracksuit in a hip-hop style at the Vancouver Olympics in another breach of protocol.

(Reporting by Alastair Himmer; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

http://af.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idAFTRE61J1DJ20100220

Flower art blooms among Japan's stressed out men

By Anna Yokoyama
TOKYO (Reuters Life!) - Japan's traditional, female-dominated art of flower arranging is returning to its masculine roots, for an entirely modern reason: it's become a way for male employees to prune away their stress.

Ikebana, or "the way of flowers," dates back more than 500 years and first blossomed among male artisans and aristocrats.

Aimed at creating harmony between man and nature as well as heightening the appreciation of the rhythms of the universe, arrangements are conducted in silence using only organic elements put together in a minimalist style.

And it's this creativity and spirituality that has attracted thousands of Japanese men to reclaim the art form that has more recently been associated with women.

"Nowadays there are a lot of people seeking something that makes them feel at ease," said Gaho Isono, a master ikebana instructor at Sogetsu, founded in 1927 and one of the first schools to offer flower arranging courses to men.

"There are many hobbies people can do now and there's no longer the preconception that men cannot arrange flowers. They are free to choose whatever they like and the number of men choosing flowers is actually increasing."

Japanese society has traditionally put much emphasis on hard work and employees regularly put in long hours in the office, which increases the risk of depression, mental health organizations say.

The nation, which has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, even has a term for death by overwork -- karoshi -- making stress-relieving activities such as ikebana all the more popular.

Flower compositions arranged according to the traditional principles of ikebana are said to represent the relationship between heaven, mankind and earth.
There are an estimated 3,000 ikebana schools across Japan with some 15 million enthusiasts, most of whom see flower arrangement as an antidote to their hectic lives.

"Each time when the class starts at first I feel tired from work," said male student Koji Takahashi, 45.

"But once I begin concentrating on how to combine the flowers and the vase, and I actually move my hands to create the composition, it's a change of pace."

Some men have spent years mastering the art form and now teach new students the therapeutic effects of ikebana.

Minoru Kagata, 61, an instructor at Sogetsu school who took up ikebana almost 20 years ago, said the art "gives life to flowers." It usually takes students more than two years to create beautiful arrangements with few natural elements, he added.

For many male students, stepping into the ikebana studio is rewarding enough, regardless of how skillful they are.

"Flower arrangement adds that unreal flavor to my life and lets my mind roam free," said Koji Otusbo, who has been studying ikebana for more than 15 years.

"At the same time, such an artistic hobby is like a bridge that connects me to the real world."


http://in.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idINTRE60Q1TX20100127?sp=true

Japanese create talking toilet

Major Japanese toilet maker Toto has created a talking commode. The new Neo model has a robotic lid that moves in time with its voice, which for some reason is male.

Neo features in a series of short video ads for the Japanese market, apparently as a joke. The videos show Neo chatting with a man about everyday things like relationships and riding Japan Railways trains.

The company's Tototalk campaign promotes the Neo 2 prototype model, which is currently on display in the Caretta Shiodome mall in downtown Tokyo. Check it out in the video below.

Neo 2 is designed to provide every function imaginable, a tongue-in-cheek reference to Japan's highly engineered toilets. Neo 2's ridiculously long armrest features more than 10 buttons. They can make Neo 2 tell jokes, give the weather forecast, or display an outsize bum scrubber.

The same functions can be controlled via a real-time Web link and Webcam at the Tototalk Web site.

In one joke, Neo talks about the U.S. cities of Onalaska in Texas and Wisconsin. The name is pronounced "Onaraska" in Japanese, and "onara" means "fart."

In their endless quest to engineer toilets into high-tech electronic waste receptacles, Japanese manufacturers have produced Western-style toilets that have remote controls, bum spray and bidet functions, heated seats, and dozens of buttons to control the various functions. Public toilets for women often have a Toto function called Otohime, or "sound princess," which masks the sound of urination with an artificial flushing noise.

Toto was also behind such innovations as the Washlet bum shower, a function called "Tornado flushing" and the tankless toilet. Some have contributed to cutting water use.





http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10410248-1.html

Obama bows to Japanese emperor and heads to China

November 17: Obama bows to Japanese emperor and heads to China. The way US President Barack Obama bowed before Japanese emperor has won millions of Japanese hearts as his respect for the ailing emperor looked genuine and not just a formality.

Obama who has just completed a year in office knows the art of winning the heart more than any other leader in the world. He is a warm and lively person who enlightens the most boring meetings.

But will he be able to do the same with Chinese leaders and Chinese people?

Despite being outstanding planners Chinese leaders come as mechanical and a bit boring. Though things are changing fast and President Hu Jintao in particular has tried to change it, but there is miles to go on this front right now.

Meanwhile Chinese President Hu Jintao and US President Barack Obama pledged on Tuesday that the two countries will "take concrete steps" to advance "sustained and reliable" military-to-military relations in the future, official news agency Xinhua reported.

"The two sides will actively implement various exchange and cooperation programs agreed between the two militaries, including by increasing the level and frequency of exchanges," according to a joint statement issued after their talks in Beijing.

Hu and Obama also vowed to deepen counter-terrorism consultation and cooperation between the two countries on an equal and mutually beneficial basis, said the statement, carried by Xinhua.

The two sides promised they will boost joint efforts to combat transnational crime and criminal organizations as well as money laundering and the financing of terrorism, including counterfeiting and recovery of illicit funds.

The two countries agreed to exchange evidence and intelligence on law enforcement issues in a timely and reciprocal manner, and undertake joint investigations as well as provide investigative assistance on cases of mutual interest, according to the statement.

Obama arrived in Beijing on Monday after visiting the nation's economic hub Shanghai on the third leg of his four-nation Asian trip starting from Nov.13 that has already taken him to Japan and Singapore.

During his stay in Beijing, he will also meet with Wu Bangguo, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, and Premier Wen Jiabao. He is scheduled to leave China for South Korea on Wednesday.


http://www.khabrein.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29314&Itemid=57&limit=1&limitstart=1