Baby Hatch

Despite much controversy and opposition a hospital at Kumamoto, Kyodo has installed the first ever baby hatch in Japan. The baby hatch is placed in the first floor of the Jikei Hospital and built into the wall. It is accessible outside through a door, which the parents can open to be able to pace the baby on a small specialized bed that maintains the same conditions as an incubator does. The hospital staff is alerted by an alarm and a surveillance camera pointed at the baby’s bed automatically starts capturing images once the door of the hatch is opened.

Taiji Hasuda, the hospital director, says that the baby hatch is a last resort meant to save the lives of babies who would otherwise be left to die. They however hope that parents will instead seek help from the hospital instead of leaving their babies in the hatch.

Sakuran

Sakuran, a film by renowned photographer, Mika Ninagawa, made waves in Japan. Sakuran revolves around the lives of women called oiran.

The oiran were women that existed during the Edo era. The oiran lived in self-contained “Pleasure Quarters” and like geishas were required to be well-versed with the arts of dance, music, poetry and calligraphy, and conversation. However, unlike geishas, the oiran were prostitutes, although they were considered to be elite prostitutes. Also unlike the movie, Memoirs of a Geisha, the movie about the oiran had a good reception Japan.

This could have been due to the more unsentimental approach of the film wherein the main character, a tayu (one of the highest ranking courtesans), had no silly day dreams of a prince in a shining armor but only wished to escape her life. It showed a far stronger breed of women, which is something modern women can relate to more easily.

Japan’s Geishas - Living Art

Geishas are the subject of much speculation from any other world outside Japan. Despite their fame the western world and even other eastern cultures do not completely understand the mystique that surrounds geishas. According to Liza Dalby, an American anthropologist who did research on geishas, the misunderstandings are probably due to the fact that there is no comparable group to them in other societies and so people have no basis on which to compare them to. Geishas are often mistaken by people as some kind of elite prostitutes, which is definitely not the case. In fact the word geisha comes from gei, meaning art, and sha, meaning a person.

To be a geisha one has to be well-trained in the traditional manner, etiquette, and various arts. One will need to master not only the intricacies of wearing a kimono but seemingly mundane stuff such as how to greet customers properly, how to serve a meal, and how to make conversation. Geishas aim to entertain but are at the same time a living piece of art.

Matsuzaka Versus Ichiro

Japanese baseball fans all over the world had their stomachs knotted in anticipation when Japan’s most successful pitcher faced off with Japan’s best hitter at Fenway just yesterday. Torn between their two favorite players Japanese fans cheered for either Daisuke Matsuzaka and Ichiro Suzuki while many who couldn’t make up their minds ended up cheering for both. The “battle” between the two ended with Ichiro grounding out to Matsuzaka.

Daisuke “The Monster” Matsuzaka joined the Boston Red Sox December 13 of last year. He has quite a repertoire of pitches but his “best pitch” is considered to be his screwball-like changeup.

Ichiro Suzuki, known all over simply as Ichiro, moved to the US in 2001 playing for the Seattle Mariners. He is known to be one of the best defensive outfielders in baseball and has won a Gold Glove award and is part of the All-Star selection in each of his first six years in the majors.

World’s Oldest Person

Japan is well known to the rest of the world as the home of all things innovative and sometimes, quirky. Yet today, Japan hits the headlines with a distinction of another kind – home to the oldest surviving person in the whole world. Yone Minagawa, 114 years old, receives this recognition as the other 114-year-old person in the world died. She was Emma Faust Tillman from the U.S.

Minagawa was born in January 4, 1893 and had five children in all. She has outlived all her children. Her 7 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren, however, visit her regularly. Minagawa lives in a nursing home in Fukuchi in southern Japan. When told of the news, she just broke into a huge smile and said “My goodness, I am grateful.”

The nursing home staff says that Minagawa is quite active for her age and never fails to socialize with the people around her. Additionally, she has an amazingly healthy appetite for someone her age and loves sweets as well.
[tags]Women, Seniors, Old Age, southern Japan, Oldest person[/tags]

The Japanese Instant Noodle Inventor

Earlier this month, Momofuku Ando, the “Father” of instant ramen passed away after suffering a heart attack after eating his famous chicken ramen with his employees . At 96, the inventor of the dish that sustains students in universities all over the world was the chairman of Nissin Foods Corporation, which he founded.

Nissin Food Products, was started by Mr.Ando in 1948 as a means to help feed the war-torn people of Japan post WW2. His invention, the
“Chicken Ramen”, which was the first instant noodle in the world, was introduced in 1958 and became a huge success.

The famous “Pot Noodle” debuted in 1971 and the rest is history. In 1999, The Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum opened in Ikeda City, western Japan paying tribute to this remarkable inventions.

The photo above shows Mr.Ando with his noodle invention for astronauts. He was showing off the “Space Ram” at the Instant Noodle Museum in Osaka 2005, a project he was very keen on. The first “space noodle” was brought aboard the space shuttle “Discovery” on the 26th by Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi.

[tags]Japanese food, ramen, inventions, instant noodles, Momofuku Ando[/tags]

Global Conservation Wins 2006 Japan Prize

With so much in the news about the dire situation our planet faces in terms of global warming, it was fitting that the Japan Prize for 2006 was awarded precisely in this terse area. British scientist, Peter Ashton, who specialises in asian forestry with a vision to promote the harmonious co-exsistence of humans and nature, won this year’s 50 million yen prize this January in Tokyo for his project which observed 3 million trees and 6,000 species in tropical forests around the world.

Dr. Ashton, who is a professor of forestry at Harvard University, is also the forest botanical advisor to the Sultan of Brunei’s government. Aside from authoring over 200 articles and several books on forestry, Dr.Ashton has already won awards for his achievements such as
the Sultan Qaboos of Oman Prize (through UNESCO), for research and training for improved management of tropical forests with his Sri Lankan colleagues, and the Environmental Merit Award of the Environmental Protection Agency, for significant efforts in conservation in New England and Asia.

Kunio Iwatsuki, panel chairman of the Science and Technology Foundation of Japan commented:

“Dr. Ashton’s research may form the basis of policy-making to optimize usage of forests by local people and enhance the sustainability of forest eco-systems……Younger people are concerned with conservation of the environment and over time harmonious co-existence will become an established field in its own right…”

[tags]Japan Prize, Conservation, Environment, Peter Ashton[/tags]