The photo (bottom) is the view from the copy machine room of the Maison de la culture du Japon in Paris. (Also, the Galerie Vivienne and roses in the Jardin du Palais Royal).
It was a regular trip to Paris with my husband to fill up with energy. One of my energy sources comes from Book Off, used Japanese bookstore. One of the books I bought this time is written by Setsuko Ono. The book title (in Japanese) is A Woman Flying Alone in the World: Twenty-Eight Years of Experience at the World Bank (Tokyo: Kodansha, 2005). The author's brother-in-law was John Lennon, and her older sister is Yoko Ono. Dr. Ono worked for the World Bank as a senior adviser. Her book seems to confirm my impression that some existing international organizations may suffer partly because some powerful people in development are very keen to promote their own self-interests (rather than to devote much of their energies to fighting global poverty).
Watching the BBC World news at the hotel lobby, I thought of the plight of the people in Syria as well as of Marwan, my old Syrian friend, medical doctor, and businessman, whom I lost contact with.
That night (last Wednesday) we went to watch the movie The Avengers. I wondered if it was one of the movies whose release dates were postponed because of the Fukushima event.
Coming back from Paris, I was checking emails. Lately many of my email correspondents are German people as I find much important work on nuclear and environmental issues has been done by German experts. As you can imagine, nuclear matters are the subject to which I devote a great deal of my thought nowadays.
Okinawa 2 (I love Okinawa)
I visited Okinawa last month. Okinawa hosts 74 % of the U.S. bases on 0.6 % of the land. Despite overwhelming opposition, the Japanese government is taking the lead in efforts to build a new U.S. military base in Henoko Bay, emphasizing the deterrence value of the U.S. bases in Japan. Our policy makers want to proceed with the construction "shuku shuku to (calmly and solemnly)."
It is shockingly mindless and undemocratic to disregard the Okinawans' will. Here are some of useful websites on anti-U.S. base acitivities and protests (see the Japanese version – four of eleven sites are in English).
- 辺野古（新基地阻止）基金
- [[http:tamutamu2011.kuronowish.com/sosikikin.htm|Tamu Tamu @ Kuro no wish]]
- 辺野古への土砂搬出反対 協議会が発足
（辺野古に埋め立てる土砂が足りず、多府県からけずって運搬する。すべては米軍のために ― なんとも馬鹿げている）
- [[http:www.okinawatimes.co.jp/article.php?id=117820|Okinawa Times Journal]]
- 映画が描く沖縄基地問題と日本の選択
- [[http:www.videonews.com/marugeki-talk/738/|Video News]]
- 『戦場ぬ止み(いくさばぬとぅどぅみ)』劇場予告編
- [[http:www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo4nzhwdlx0|Youtube video]]
- 三上智恵監督インタビュー
- [[http:rooftop.cc/interview/150523185939.php?page=3|Rooftop News]]
- New Wave to Hope宮島玲子さんらの活動
- [[http:ja-jp.facebook.com/New.Wave.to.HOPE.okinawa|Facebook Japan News]]
- 米軍基地はもういらない〜辺野古の海を守る人々
- [[http:www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYRhHcaof6w|Youtube video]]
- チョムスキー氏「反基地に奮闘する県民、県政を強く支持」
- [[http:ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-243527-storytopic-3.html|Ryukyu Shimpo Journal]]
- "All Japan" versus "All Okinawa" - Abe Shinzo's Military-Firstism 「オール・ジャパン」対「オール沖縄」 安倍晋三の軍事最優先主義
- [[http:japanfocus.org/-Gavan-McCormack/4299/article.html|Japan Focus Journal]]
- Economics of U.S. base redevelopment sway Okinawa mindset
- [[http:www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/05/17/national/politics-diplomacy/economics-u-s-base-redevelopment-sway-okinawa-mindset/#.VWg8NFIppf6|Japan Times Journal]]
- Looking at Flaws in the Henoko Landfill Permit Process from the Standpoint of the Right to Self-determination
- [[http:japanfocus.org/events/view/250|Japan Focus Journal]]
Right to water
Nice documentary film recommended. Watch below:[[http:www.bottledlifefilm.com/index.php/the-story.html|www.bottledlifefilm.com/index.php/the-story.html]]
As a citizen, it is time to ask oneself if it is worth or simply feasible to fight against international corporates and local industries for the human right to good-quality, drinkable, and affordable water.
...and of course, the excellent film of Annie Leonard and her team:[[http:www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-bottled-water/|"Story of stuff: Story of bottled water"]]
Also, you may be interested in:[[http:www.stopcorporateabuse.org/campaigns/challenge-corporate-control-water/think-outside-bottle/|"Challenge corporate control over water: think outside the bottle!"]]
[[http:www.stopcorporateabuse.org/campaigns/challenge-corporate-control-water/public-water-works/|...and this: "Public water works!"]]
[[http:warisacrime.org/node/40335|...and this: http://warisacrime.org/node/40335]]
Kitano Takeshi’s Elementary Schools and Japanese Schools in Benin
About three months ago, I wrote a blog article on the children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic in Malawi and the importance of education as a critical instrument for social and economic development (or human development). Admittedly, what I wrote may be too crazy or too utopian to be realized.
But, we humans sometimes think alike. By chance, I learned about a Japanese guy who has already put the similar ideas into practice. That is Mr. Takeshi Kitano (Beat Takeshi)! What?! Is he an activist beside being a filmmaker and a comedian?
According to these Youtube, Takeshi Kitano used to have a TV show called “This is what is strange about the Japanese people.” A hundred foreigners living in Japan were invited to voice their observations about weird and negative aspects of Nihon. One of the guests was Mr. Zomahoun Idossou Rufin (known as Zomahon), from the Republic of Benin in West Africa.
That was how Zomahon met Takeshi twelve years ago or so. With the help of Takeshi, Zomahon built four schools in his country including Takeshi’s Elementary School and Takeshi Japanese School.
In the school lunch program in Benin, according to Takeshi, it costs 25 yens (about 25 cents in the USA) and there are kids who can afford it and those who cannot afford it. “It is cruel that those kids have to watch the others eating.” So, they have established a sort of child sponsorship. Becoming a sponsor, a supporter in Japan receives a photograph of the child and vice versa, and that’s how they make a bond of friendship.
In their elementary schools, they provide free education and free lunch for kids. They also help the local people to grow agricultural products. Among the graduates from these schools, those who have mastered the language are sent to Japan, trained to be medical doctors and other professionals, and they work in Japan for certain years. They eventually return to Benin and work for their country.
"Suppose, some kids succeed in graduating from universities and become important one day. It is cool if s/he visits Japan to meet a person who has treated to lunches, isn't it?,” Beat Takeshi remarks.
In Youtube, you will see that some Beninese graduates prostrate themselves on the ground to show their gratitude. Humble Takeshi seems to get self-conscious and in order to hide that, he makes a joke, “Zomahon sometimes does the same thing when we meet. And, it makes me look bad like a bully!”
eResearch: Strategies to model and monitor human development
Cette présentation, "eResearch: Strategies to model and monitor human development", a été faite par Sachié Mizohata de l'Université Paris Descartes et Raynald Jadoul du Centre de Recherche Public Henri Tudor au groupe de travail intitulé “Twenty Years of Human Development: The past and the future of the Human Development Index.” Ce workshop s'est tenu sous les auspices conjoints du Von Hugel Institute, du Capability and Sustainability Network de l'Univertité de Cambridge et du Programme de Développement des Nations Unies (UNDP)/Bureau du Rapport de Développement Humain (HDRO) à l'Université de Cambridge, les 28-29 Janvier 2010.
http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2010/events/Résumé
Les notions de qualité de vie et de bien-être humain sont très contestées et leurs définitions ne font pas l'unanimité. Alors que l'AC est saluée comme un nouveau regard en la matière, les chercheurs ont montré que les défis liés à l'opérationalisation de cette nouvelle approche sont nombreux. Nous démontrons comment nous avons utilisé une approche novatrice orientée vers les technologies de l'information et de la communication, appelée eResearch qui alimentée par des modèles adéquats et supportée par des structures organisationnelles inspirées des enquête à très grande échelle tels PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) et PIAAC (Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies), peut surmonter bien des obstacles inhérents à l'évaluation des capabilités et du bien-être. En ce sens, ce document peut apporter une contribution méthodologique majeure en ce domaine. Sur base du même modèle que PISA et PIAAC et utilisant leurs paramètres d'organisation, nous suggérons qu'une entreprise collective à grande échelle devrait rallier tous les infrastructures multinationales et nationales matures tels que les l'ONU, l'OCDE, les institutions nationales, les ONG, etc., pour former un consortium sous la supervision conjointe du Programme de Développement des Nations Unies et de l'OCDE afin de mettre en place un projet d'évaluation du développement humain. Ce projet pourrait être nommé PIHDA (Programme for the International Human Development Assessment).See the whole presentation...
My name is Sachie (phonetically Satchié) Mizohata.