Kiyoshi Kurokawa's blog （en）

Out to the Expanding Blog Network of the World

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Basically, I write my Blog postings in both Japanese and English.  Without English, this Blog would belong to only 2% of the people in the world and although my main target is the Japanese people, I believe that many of my messages have relevance to the world, and to Japan..

Sometimes I receive comments from overseas.

Among them was a recent e-mail inviting me to link to one Blog.  I imagine that this could be partly because postings from Japan are not many.  Understanding that their site is well known, I was happy to accept this invitation.  They seem to choose which of my postings they will link to their site, a good thing.

This is my site in their Blog.  How much increase in hits will this link bring?  I look forward to finding it out.

 

‘Because This is the Time of Uncertain Future, Be More Courageous’

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I often hear people say that young people today are not interested in going abroad.  I sometimes feel that way, too.

However, did those older people who blame the young go abroad by their own will?  I suppose many of them did. But on the other hand I think many ‘had’ to go, or were ‘sent’, for business.  Such was the historical background of their time when Japan was growing in high speed.

In these 20 years, the world has changed dramatically.  I have been telling you about this over and over again.

In this column, please allow me to introduce you (since this is somewhat personal) a recent article about myself which appeared in the ‘Nikkei Business’ as part of the advertisement essay series ‘Clef de Temps’ titled ‘Because This is the Time of Uncertain Future, Be More Courageous’  (in Japanese).
 
The essence of this essay is basically the same as what I wrote in ‘How to Build a Global Career’, a book with Prof. Yoko Ishikura, or what I repeatedly write in this blod postings.  However I am impressed with the way this essay is written - a professional stylish writing.

The world trend difficult to forecast, sluggish situation of Japan economy, rapidly changing world.  ‘Secluded, insular minded’ Japan.

Well, we can begin with having some courage and ‘going outside, abroad’(Ref.1,2).  Especially while you are still young.

Will ‘Japanese common sense’ still work when you are ‘out’ abroad?  You will be able to see, know, feel yourself and Japan much better there.  You will find much, much broader possibilities, different values.  Nobody is sure about what will happen in the future.

Also, I recommend that you listen to the speech by Steve Jobs of Apple, the creator of iPad, at the commencement ceremony of Stanford University.

NHK TV Broadcast: Global Health- Chatham House

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Recently I have posted a report on ‘From G8 to G20’ meeting on Global Health- Chatham House、London.

I also reported that NHK television crew joined us to cover this meeting.

The NHK made two sets of 30 minutes English programs ‘Asian Voices: Global Health’ based on interviews with the main participants of this meeting.

Dr. Shigeru Omi, former WHO member appears as a guest commentator in ‘Part 1’ and I appear in ‘Part 2’, both hosted by Ms Aiko Doden, who speaks very nice English.

This program will be broadcasted on Cable TV at overseas, but in Japan and elsewhere will appear On-line for several times.

Please check the Cable TV and On-line broadcast schedule （in Japanese） of ‘Part 1 and Part 2’.

‘Part 1’ comes in 6 series starting from 11:10 am, August 7th (Sat) through 7:10 am, August 8th (Sun).

‘Part 2’ consists of 5 series starting from 11:10 am, August 14th (Sat) through early morning; 5:10 am, August 15th (Sun).

I was actually a little nervous when the interview was done without any rehearsals so I imagine that there must be several places here and there that make me blush if I see the video clips (though I haven’t seen it, yet).  But after all, in the Global age, what matters in “English is ‘the content’, ‘to speak’ and not in the least ‘pronunciation’”.

I invite you all to see this program.

Students Passionately Driven to Practice ‘Take Leave of Absence from School’

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Since this spring, I have been repeatedly sending out messages concerning the too insular mindset of Japanese youths (actually, the fact is, that older generation is basically insular minded…setting undesirable examples for young people to follow…) and the huge gap which seem to exist between the global world and current status of the Japanese society.  This theme appears regularly in the blog of one of my friends, Dr. Yoko Ishikura.

Starting this year I also talk much about ‘Let Us Take Leave of Absence from School’  （Ref.1) to students and youths who are about to start  thinking of their careers.

Now I see several students responding to my message and taking actions.  In fact I received e-mails from two senior students (undergraduate) who happened to have listened to one of my lectures.  In short they wish to take leave of absence from school for one year to carry out their plans. As expected, they had to face some disagreements from their family, teachers and friends - not to speak of their own inner struggles.

One is a female student planning to go to Moscow where she lived for 2 years with her family as a junior high student (just after the end of the Soviet Union… It must have been a very difficult time…).  She wishes to live in Moscow for 1 year and see how Russia and its people have changed.  She also wants to study Russian.  Another student is a male who, after giving it a lot of consideration, decided to go to Ghana to work with the local NGO.  Both students have worked out and arranged everything by themselves.  I think this is quite impressive accomplishment to these students..

So, I decided to introduce these two students to Vice Minister of education Mr. Nakagawa (Ref.1) (the links are in Japanese) (Top photo)  As you may see from his background, he studied undergraduate years at Georgetown University in Washington DC, which is quite a unique background for a Japanese, so my expectation was that Mr. Nakagawa will instinctively understand the mind of these two students.  I also felt that many officials at MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) had positive feelings for such movements of students.

We had a nice lively conversation with the Vice Minister and I am sure that this opportunity provided a happy experience for the two students.

The female student left for Moscow the next day, and the male student will leave for Ghana in the end of this August.  What kind of career will they follow?  What will their work be like in the future?  Well, for the time being, what I can at least say is that they will without doubt become Japanese of the next generations who have acquired senses to feel Japan from outside and the global point of view (which is very much needed for the global age) and develop their own human networks connected and expanding to the world.  It would be such a pleasure to see them grow.

Japan Wine Challenge Gala Dinner & Charity Auction

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I enjoy wines, not as any expert, in contrast to many of you and friends, thus have posted a few times such occasions when they are exceptional. There are also many gatherings for fund-raising charity I join sometimes with my friends.

Last week, I joined with my good friends, Japan Wine Challenge Gala Dinner & Charity Auction; this year’s charity is for the Tyler Foundation, which has been active in helping children with cancer.

I am not an expert of wine, but enjoy good wines as I posted a few times (Ref.1).

We joined around a table with 10 friends, and one wine expert to guide us. It so happens he knows well not only about wines, but also a very good friend of a couple who owns a wineyard in Baune, Bourgogne, where we stayed for three days in March.

Many surprises, old and new friends, and lots of fun conversations over many bottles of wines and a course dinner. Total money raised through auctions and lotteries came around 10,000,000 Yen, which goes to the Tylor Foundation..

We all had a good time. 

Michael Jackson and My Family: A Life in Encino

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One year has passed since the sudden death of Michael Jackson (MJ).  It was truly a tragedy.  Michael made his first appearance to show business as the lead vocal of the ‘Jackson Five’ in late 60s of the 20th century.  The group’s first singles, (I Want You Back, ABC, The Love You Save, I’ll Be There) became #1 hits in a row in a hit chart (Billboard Hot 100).

In the early 80s he released one after another a new style of entertainment putting together vocals, dances, and visuals; such as ‘Billie Jean’, ‘Beat It’, or ‘Thriller’, which brought about drastic changes to the Pop Music.  He was truly an extraordinary genius.  No wonder people call him the ‘King of Pop’.  Michael created ‘new art of the age’ which is a combination of vocal, dance, and visual that is very popular today.  Yet his works are still shining like a star after all these years.

His sudden and unexpected death came precisely when the whole world was waiting with great expectation his last series of live performance ‘This Is It’.  When you look at the movie ‘This Is It’  which was made from rehearsal clips, you can see and feel his talents, personality, the greatness of true professional performance, hard and uncompromising work he went through and demand to his entire team.  You never get tired of seeing no matter how many times you play it.  His performance is just extraordinary and wonderful.  Since this video is a work edited from rehearsal clips unfortunately he was often not singing in his fullest in the video, so it makes you feel sad when you imagine how the live show would have been or how this whole piece of work would have turned out to be when completed.  I myself am also a great fan of MJ.  I own several DVDs, too.

After a year from his death, ‘This Is It’ continues to move people’s hearts with his personality and I hear that his popularity has become higher then ever since his death.  The total sales of DVDs etc. are said to be over 30 million albums, which is worth nearly one billion dollars.  This is so extraordinary.

In the summer of 1977, I returned to UCLA and bought a house in Encino, a town located 15 min. by car going North on Freeway 405 that runs beside UCLA, over the Santa Monica Mountains across Mulholland Drive （a street also well known in films )(Ref.1) and down the mountain slope facing San Fernando Valley.  16465 Refugio Road, Cul de Sac, was the place.  The view, environment, neighbors…..everything was very nice.

Then only after a short while, surprisingly, Michael Jackson (MJ) came to live in our neighborhood. 4641 Havenhurst Avenue.  He was famous already, but speaking in the context of his career as a whole, I think it was the time when he was searching for the next step.  He then moved in 1988 to Neverland, about 200km west of Encino: when he died last year, the house in Encino was the residence of his parents.

It was during that time when we (my family and I) used to see Michael Jackson every once in a while, at a nearby supermarket - Gelson  (a premier supermarket at the intersection of Havenhurst Avenue and Venture Blvd）.  He was shopping all by himself, and we used to exchange few words for a few minutes. He was a very shy and charming young man.  MJ was 19 years old then.

Then, I returned to Japan in October, 1983.  MJ was already a big idol, having released ‘Thriller’  in 1982.  In this album, ‘Beat It’, ‘Billie Jean’ were also included.  It was and is a great album!  I recall ‘Thriller’ being played on TV repeatedly in these days.

In 1969, the year we went to US, MJ has been a new idol kid, and in 1983 when I returned to Japan, MJ began his career as King of Pop.  He was without doubt the greatest entertainer connecting the 20th century to the 21st century.

By the way, Google Maps (maps, street views) is an amazingly great tool.  You can find Gelson by tracking about 100m North from MJ’s house along Havenhurst Avenue.  Going south for 400m and you will reach Lanai Road, then go 400m, turn East at Havenhurst Drive, go 300m and enter Balliana Drive, then another 300m to Ballina Canyon Road, go on and on up to the mountains.   After about 200m, turn right to Refugio Road and 5 houses ahead will be the dead end of the street.  Our house was on the right side of Cul de Sac.  You can see the area both by Street Views and Air Views, but see here for a description of my house (in Japanese).  It was during these days when late Mr. Saburo Shiroyama, a great Japanese non-finction writer, visited us and wrote a short article about me  (in Japanese) with some description of the house.

I have written this posting to commemorate the １ｓｔ anniversary of the death of Michael Jackson.

Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Vibrant China

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I came to Shenzhen via Hong Kong.  There were lots of cars running so naturally it took a long time to enter Mainland China via Hong Kong.  New buildings and roads were being built in a great speed.

One of the purposes of my visit this time was to play golf at the ‘Mission Hills’.  It is a huge piece of development with twelve 18-hole courses.  I understand that the Mission Hills is the largest golf resort in the world.  You may have seen this place on TV since the World Cup was opened in 1995 as the official introduction of this facility to the world.  It was in 1997 when Hong Kong was returned to China from the Great Britain.  I played at the World Cup Course.  It was quite a fascinating course.  Please enjoy the place at their web site.

Surrounding the golf course stood many classy huge housings (I was told that a single house was at least 600 square meters large…I wondered what sort of people were going to live in such places), and I saw signs calling for new members.  Memberships and houses must cost a fortune, but I presume that most of them are for investments – I could see only a handful of people in these many houses. …. The view reminded me of Japan 20 years ago but apparently the scale is of no comparison.  I had an impression that the interiors of hotels (built more than 10 years ago) somewhat lacked closer attention in  details compared to Japanese hotels, but it doesn’t matter because what matters is energy.  They don’t worry about small details.   It’s meaningless to point out trivial flaws here and there.

The players from China were four from Beijing, one of them is an executive of a company that purchases mineral resources in Africa, and he just returned from Congo.  Another person was in a ship cargo business - all of them were in their late 40’s and full of energy.

I was invited to a restaurant in downtown Shenzhen but was overwhelmed by the speed in which the facilities and roads were being built.  What was this place like 10 or 20 years ago, I wonder?  And how would it be 10, 20 years from now?

Upon my return to Tokyo, I stayed overnight at the Shangri-La Hotel in Hong Kong.  It is one of my favorite hotels.  Gazing the raining Hong Kong Island lying across the sea, I relaxed for a half day.

Although the weather was a mere rainfall in Hong Kong, I understand that the southern China had a very heavy rain.  I do hope that the rain did not cause much damage.

From Paris - 2

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After the evening of L’Oreal Award, I visited American Hospital of Paris (AHP) next morning to see Madam Christiane Guerlain (famous perfume), a member of the Hospital's Board of Governors since 1977, with other members of the Board, Mr John Crowford, Drs Bloch, the head of the Hospital, Drs Kyhayat, and other staff Drs Bard, Matsushita, Mimura and so on.  After listening to them, I was guided to a tour to its major facilities including the new Dialysis Center.   Dr Mimura, a newly appointed Japanese Doctor at AHP from last autumn to lead its Japanese section, is apparently earning good reputation and I was happy to feel the welcoming mood among his colleagues and staffs.

In the afternoon, I had a 2 hours’ teleconference on Global Health with 10 people or so from Canada and other countries, then from 4 pm, joined two executives in charge of technology from Schlumberger Paris head office (I understand that one of them, Mr Ashok Belani from India is the youngest of all board members).  We had quite a stimulating conversation/discussions over interesting topics including possible international collaboration with Japan on global issues.  Schlumberger has placed a branch office in Japan  30 years ago and has been active in many areas ever since.

In the evening, Drs Jean-Louis Armand and Yves Mieux who used to work at the Embassy of France to Japan, Drs Mimura (husband and wife) and I went out to have dinner at KGB ‘Kitchen Galeise Bis’ (Ref.1), a nice restaurant that is quite popular recently (reservations are full 3 to 4 weeks ahead, I was told).  Menu was original and interesting, and everything was so delicious.  The reputation did not betray us.  So, naturally we enjoyed conversation with high spirits.

The next day was Sunday.  HE Ambassador Hattori of OECD invited me for lunch at his residence which was a very relaxing experience.  I have had the honor of knowing him since he was the Ambassador of Japan to Vietnam when he supported us in many ways at Science Council of Asia which we held at Hanoi.  It’s been a very long time since then, and I thank him so much for his unchanging kindness

After leaving his residence, I spent time at Musee Bourdelle  (Ref.1) enjoying the exhibition of ‘Isadora Duncun’.  Musee Bourdelle is a compact but beautiful art museum.  Ms Duncan is a highly unconventional dancer born in San Francisco having performed mainly in Europe and Russia.  I assume people may describe her today as ‘a scandalous, eccentric woman’.

Duncan socialized with Rodin, sculptor, and his close friend Carrier, painter so the exhibition included sculpture of Isadora by Rodin as well as sketches by Carriere and Bourdelle.  The fact that Rodin and Carriere were very close friends is well known and I have mentioned it in my keynote lecture on ‘Molecular Imaging’.  I also summarized the lecture in a essay.  
 
Next noon I took a flight from Charles de Gaulle CDG airport heading to Accra, Ghana via Heathrow, London.

Paris is always beautiful.  There are so many interesting places to visit.  It is such an attractive city.

I have traveled for more than two weeks, visited two African countries, worked in Paris, and had some private time in Bourgogn to enjoy (which I haven’t have had for a long time).

From Botswana to the Center of French Wine

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Romanee Conti

After spending 5 full days in Botswana, I said farewell to this charming nation to the next destination in the evening of February 28th.  By the next morning, March 1st, I was at Paris CDG airport via Johannesburg.  Took TGV to Dijon（photo 1） then from here to the center of Burgundy wine.   Then got on a car to run throughRoute des Grands Cru stopping by at ‘Romanee-Conti’ （only about 1.8 hectare…）（photo top and 2）, everybody’s dream, and finally arrived at Savigny les Beaune, the heart of Burgundy wine .  Here the vineyard spread for more than 40km!

In the afternoon, relaxed at one of the local wineries ‘Simon Bize et Fils‘ (Ref.1) (Photos). Time passes slowly here.  We enjoyed various good tasting wines.

Next day, we spent half day at Beaune ‘The Center of the Burgundy Wine’ （Photos）  This town had good soothing atmosphere, good food, sweets, chocolates…  We had lunch at ‘Caves Madeleine’.  As you can imagine from her name Mrs. Rika is Japanese.

 Photo１To Dijon by TGV

 Photo ２ Romanee-Conti

 

Caves Madeleine、Madame Rika and her husband Monsieur Rawland.

Food is all nice and fresh here and wine is of course local product..  Here, life is so nice.  I saw several Japanese youths in apprenticeship of wine making and other jobs.  There were some who even plan to stay here for living.  It is encouraging to see those focused and determined young people.

‘Hospices les Beaune’ (Photos)  a hospice known throughout the world, was established in 15th century in this town.

And of course this place is famous for Dijon Mustard.

I will stay here for two nights before leaving for Paris, my next destination.

‘Medicine and Art’ Exhibition Opens

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An exhibition‘Medicine and Art’ opened at Mori Art Museum. It is the fruit of nearly 2 years of planning, collaborating with Wellcome Trust  and will be exhibited until the end of next February.  Since I knew that Wellcome Trust is the largest foundation in the United Kingdom supporting medical research but is also making efforts to promote arts related to medicine, I was very happy to support this project - although there was not much that I could do to contribute.

Mr. and Mrs. Mori, the owner of Mori Art Museum, Mr. Nanjo, the Director of the Museum, and the museum staffs, His Excellency Warren, the Ambassador of UK to Japan, Mr. Kan Suzuki, Vice Minister of MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), (in Japanese) attended the opening ceremony and reception.  I also gave a speech to congratulate the opening.

Among the exhibitions were several valuable drawings of anatomy by Da Vinci.  The words were written in ‘mirror writing’.  Also at display was a sketch by Michelangelo - a rare piece from the collection of The Royal Collection.  Since Michelangelo was a sculptor, he had a habit of burning sketches away one after another so only about 200 pieces are left, the fact which is unbelievable.  The paintings at the ceiling and the Last Judgment of Sistine Chapel in Vatican, are widely known as his masterpiece.  I remember having an opportunity of seeing some 90 of the sketches by Michelangelo in an exhibition 3 years ago (in Japanese).

A variety of special programs including lectures are offered at ‘Medicine and Art’.  I recommend you to visit this special exhibit.