Vol. 13 No.1 |
David Robinson
2002 was a great year and 2003 holds great promise for the Nippon Club. 2002 saw the introduction of Taiko in the Triangle, the biggest picnic ever, great newsletter, the filling of dozens of bags of trash in Raleigh, the consumption of much Japanese food at the International festival, the folding of a lot of origami, the creation of friendships, the exchange of culture, and many other worthwhile interactions and introductions. 2003 holds equal promise. Your Board of Directors needs your involvement and ideas. Please do not hesitate to let us know of your interests, talents and involvement. We are also looking for new directors and officers to help grow your Nippon Club.
* Off the coast of North Carolina tuna, wahoo and marlin are all possibilities in July. Let's plan early for a deep sea fishing expedition the weekend of July 19-20. Anyone with interest or suggestions should email David Robinson (dsrobins123@msn.com). We hope you will come "out to sea" with the Nippon Club this summer.
| President / Legal | David Robinson |
| Secretary | Toshikazu Mizobuchi |
| Treasurer | Frank Sanada |
| Cultural Affair | Francis Moyer |
| Activity | Eiko Goti |
| Activity | Toku Takahashi |
| Membership | Anthony Davis |
| Web Master | Toshi Yamamoto |
| Newsletter | Yoshiko Iwashima |
Toshikazu Mizobuch
Thank you for supporting Nippon Club's mission and activities.
Nippon Club would like to invite all of you to the 2003 Annual Meeting and Picnic scheduled on Saturday May 10th (Registration 12 noon, Start 1 pm) at Apex Community Park, rain or shine. . (see map p.7)
Please bring your family and friends to the meeting and picnic. The picnic includes foods & beverages such as Yakisoba and Soft Drinks, Children's fun activities such as Yo-Yo, Taiko Club's performance, and much more.
There will be a picnic fee to cover expenses for park fee, food, and fun activities. Advance tickets are $5 for an adult (13 and older) and $3 for a child (5 to 12), and on-site tickets are $8 for an adult and $5 for a child. We encourage you to purchase advance tickets to enjoy the discount.
Also, donations and volunteers are always greatly appreciated.
For more information, contact;
David Robinson:dsrobins123@msn.com 919-845-4333
Toshi Yamamoto: yamamoto194@yahoo.co.jp 919-543-9821
Time: May 10 (Sat) 1:00 pm-4:00 pm.(rain or shine)
Registration starts at noon
Place: Apex Community Park (2200 Laura Duncan Road, Apex, NC 27502) (map)
http://www.apexnc.org/depts/parks/facilities.cfm
Admission:
Adult $5 (advanced ticket), $8 (day of the picnic)
Child (5-12 years) $3 (advanced ticket), $5 (day of the picnic)
Children under at 4 years old and under are free
* Please note that the possession, use, or display of alcoholic beverages is prohibited by park rules.
Frank Sanada
| Balance end of 2001 | $3806.26 |
| Total expenditure in 2002 | $8732.13 |
| Total income in 2002 | $8040.08 iDonation:$1150j |
| Balance end of 2002 | $3114.21 |
<Secretary>
Toshikazu Mizobuchi
I moved from Oregon in November 2002, to find a long-term home here in Chapel Hill.
I am living with my wife Beth, daughter Emi (7 years old), and son Ken (3 years old).
Since I grew up in Wakayama, Japan, we still eat Wakayama local foods such as Yuasa Soy Sauce and Minabe Umeboshi even in the US. I also like Mikan Tangerines, fresh Bamboo Shoots, Japanese Peaches, and Narezushi (Very Traditional Sushi) from Wakayama.
I have an MS in Engineering from Japan and an MBA from the US.
I worked for Sumitomo Metals' affiliated Semiconductor Parts and Material companies in the US, mainly in the Customer Technical Service / Applications Engineering area.
I resigned from Sumitomo Metals at the end of 2002, and I am searching for a job in the Triangle Area.
Volunteer work at the International Festival in Raleigh, introduced through the Japan Center, led me to the Nippon Club. I hope I can contribute to the Nippon Club as the Secretary, although I am still new to this area. Thank you.
<Treasurer> Frank Sanada
My wife and I moved in North Carolina from Japan in Aug, 2000. It was the third trip to US in my life, including short business and private travel Though I had many concerns about our life here, everyone helped us so we are enjoying RTP now. Thank you.
Gayle Shimokura
On February 25th and 26th, Nippon Club's Triangle Taiko hosted a taiko workshop conducted by Eiichi Saito and assisted by Masami Miyazaki, both members of the internationally renowned KODO .
Close to 50 taiko enthusiasts from all over the Triangle area and as far as Charlotte NC and the Virginia mountains gathered around a drum circle to learn various drum rhythms by listening and to learn how to create and practice new taiko songs. Many of the workshop participants were inspired to join Triangle Taiko, so we may have some new faces at our next performance! Hope to see you there!
* Triangle Taiko is now accepting new members. triangletaiko@yahoo.com
About activities and upcoming performances: http://home.earthlink.net/~hadavis01/taiko.htm
Eleven members of the Nippon Club turned out on Saturday, March 8, to clean up our section of Glenwood Avenue/US-70 in an Adopt-A-Highway operation. Small numbers led us to cover only one half of our two mile assigned section of the highway, which we completed in just under two hours. (Ideally we need at least twelve and should have sixteen to twenty participants to do the Nippon Club's whole two mile segment. We need more volunteers next time! Please watch the Newsletter for announcements of the next operation and join us.)
Our Club's thanks go to those who did participate in the March 8 action: Anthony Davis, Toshi Yamamoto, Toshikazu Mizobuchi, Mitsue Nagafuchi, Tetsuya Kobayashi, Toku and Junko Takahashi, Yoko and Taki Iwashima, and Frances and Tony Moyer.
* For more information, Tony Moyer at the Japan Center 919-515-3450
There were two Japanese Speech Contest.
Tally Student Center at NCSU on April 5 and Bryan Center at Duke University on April 6. Winners are:
(Japanese classes at the NC Japan Center)
Robles Carlos, Hardin Kyle and Holbert John, Beth Aarhus, and Joshua Fennell
(Japanese classes at Duke University and representatives from Wake Forest University, Univ. of Virginis and NCSU)
James Pineda, Tina Chang, and Anindo Mukherjee
Under the title "More to Come", the February 6 edition of The News &Observer reported that Japanese companies, which had been hurt following the "bubble economy", are showing renewed interest in investing in North Carolina. According to the article, in 1988, sixty-five Japanese firms employed approximately 4,700 individuals here, but that has grown to 160 companies employing 16,000, and representing a total investment of $3.3 billion. This year, alone, there have been such favorable signs as an expansion by Honda Power Equipment in Swepsonville, and the establishment of a new factory in Oxford by NT Techno.
Tony Moyer of the North Carolina Japan Center was quoted as explaining that "Japanese firms are attracted to this area by the availability of good workers and a wealth of supportive community services such as the Japanese Language School."
* Incidentally there are about 30 Japanese firms in the Triangle Area.
Sarah Weiss
On 25 February 2003, members of KODO, the taiko ensemble that recently
offered workshops in the Triangle, visited my world music class at UNC.
The class has about 200 students in it and there were many guests as well. Chie Otsuka presented a lively lecture, introducing the ensemble and the role and development of taiko drumming in contemporary Japanese culture. She was a fluid translator and had good stage presence. The energetic drummers demonstrated several types of drumming styles, including one from Korea, and then encouraged the class to learn some of the verbal patterns used to memorize the striking sequences. KODO's performance was wonderful. They really managed to convey their enthusiasm and knowledge. Class members asked interesting questions and were thoroughly engaged, with many emailing me after the event indicating that they really enjoyed the opportunity to hear KODO. Our thanks to Gayle Shimokura from Triangle Taiko for helping to bring KODO to our class. Triangle Taiko will perform at the Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence, Graham Memorial Building on the UNC Campus in the Thursdays at Noon concert series on 3 April 2003. (Sorry it was finished.)
* Professor Sarah Weiss is currently teaching at the World Music Class at UNC.
None of audiences raised their hands when the presenter asked them at the very beginning of the class; "Have you seen Taiko before?" or "Have you ever heard Taiko drumming?" When one and half hour class was over, everyone stood and gave a big praise.
* Many attendees said, "Taiko is really fun", who participated the KODO workshop hosted by "Triangle Taiko" the evenings on February 25 and 26. Many of them didn't know Taiko, either.
* At the workshop on April 3, Ms. Joy Preslar, P-to-P driver at UNC, expressed her feeling; "I read about the performance. I saw Kabuki and Koto concerts in Japan. (in 1972) I ended up as a performer, an innocent passerby!"
Eriko Baxter
American law schools, unlike legal education in Japan, regard students as future lawyers. As part of their educations, American law schools require students to argue for both plaintiffs and defendants, because they feel that a view from only one side does not show the whole picture. In international disputes, knowing both sides requires knowledge of the backgrounds of all nations involved.
In 1988, an American law called "Super 301" caused a flutter in Japan. A short description of this law is that if a foreign nation's trade practice causes unreasonable restriction on U.S. trade, the United States will start negotiations with the foreign nation, and if the negotiations do not reach an agreement, the United States will unilaterally retaliate against the foreign nation. At that time, many TV news programs in Japan broadcast about this law, and newspapers wrote thoroughly about it. I had assumed that many Americans would also know about this law, a law that one foreign student in an American law school even called "notorious," but later I discovered that I was wrong. When I took a class on international business transactions in law school two years ago and the professor taught us about Super 301, several American students asked questions such as, "is that a provision in GATT?" I thought law school students, at least, would know about Super 301, but I was amazed to discover that they don't know anything about it. At last, I raised my hand and asked the professor a question: "I'm sorry to say this, but this law is very infamous in my country, Japan. What is the policy behind this law?" I cannot forget even now; the professor smiled at me and said, "the purpose is to open Japan's markets." That was an unexpected response. I didn't know much about Japan's closed markets at the time. The next year, I had a chance to research the nexus between Super 301 and closed markets in Japan, and it became clearer to me what had been happening between the United States and Japan.
I noticed that until I had researched both countries' perspectives, I had a very one-sided view and an incomplete picture. For the first time, in my final year of law school, I realized that if you can look beyond what you have always taken to be common sense and not shut your ears to something foreign to you, but carefully listen to these opinions and investigate them, you may be able to reach a broader understanding that encompasses both points of view.
* Ms. Eriko Baxter was a chief editor of the Nippon Club of Triangle and is currently a low student at UNC Chapel Hill
*America and Japan teach law in different ways. In Japan, many students study law as an undergraduate major, but very few become attorneys. In America, law is taught at specialized graduate schools, and it is assumed that all law school students plan to become attorneys.
* Graduate Law Schools (Houka daigakuin) will start in Japan in April, 2004.
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