Tsunami

(May 1, 2011) There’s been a lot in the news about tsunamis since the incredibly destructive tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, as well as less destructive tsunamis that hit Hawaii, California and other places. Tsunami is a Japanese word coined to describe wave that initially had nothing to do with destruction. The word means “harbor wave” and was coined to describe waves fisherman and other people along Japan’s coast observed. In protected harbors where the surface of the water was mirror smooth, waves would be generated when fishing boats came into the harbor after a day’s fishing at sea. As a wave moved across the surface toward shallow water along the shoreline people noted that the wave slowed and increased in amplitude and they called them tsunami – harbor waves. Some in the west called waves produced by undersea earthquakes or volcanoes “tidal waves”, however they have nothing to do with the tides, therefore, that term is no longer used.  Today the term tsunami is always used with waves that have the potential to be very destructive as was the case recently in Japan. Some coastal cities north of Sendai had seawalls ten meters high and water about two meters deep, or more, breached the seawall which means the tsunami was at least 40 feet high. or the ground near and beneath the seawall dropped about six feet which some say was the case.

Introducing Naho Timson, New Liaison between the SCC and OSU Japanses Students

(Apr. 24, 2011) The Sister Cities Council is pleased to have a new person serving as the liaison between the council and the Japanese students on the OSU campus. Her name is Naho Timson and she works as the Senior Administrative Assistant in the International Students and Scholars Office. Naho is a native of Japan where she grew up in the city of Kakogawa in Hyogo Prefecture that borders Kyoto Prefecture, where Kameoka is located, on the west.  Kakogawa is less than forty miles from the city of Kobe and Naho was awakened early one morning when she was a young girl by the violent earthquake that devastated Kobe in 1995 causing thousands of deaths. Naho, who is the oldest of three children, came to OSU in 2001 as a member of the National Collegiate Network (NCN) class of 2001. She graduated in 2005 with a BS in Environmental Science. She and Ray Timson, an OSU student from Oologah, married in 2007. They are the proud parents of a one year son named Koji. Both Naho and Ray play musical instruments and enjoy playing together. Ray will graduate with his MS this spring and will be employed at OSU so we’re hopeful they will be in Stillwater for many years. In closing, the Sister Cities Council wishes each of you a very Happy Easter.

The Japanese Festival

(Apr. 17, 2011) Last Sunday afternoon and evening there was a very nice fundraising event for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan on March 11. The Japanese Festival was at the OSU Alumni Building on the OSU campus and was the climax of three weeks of fundraising events that has raised more than $25,000 to be donated to the Red Cross for Japan. The program started at 3:00 with an outdoor Summer Festival and an indoor silent auction with around 300 donated items for sale. At 5:30 the approximately 300 in attendance enjoyed a Japanese Cultural Dinner and Show. The buffet-style Japanese meal, catered by the Kyoto Restaurant, was followed by a show presented by the Japanese Student Association.  There was dancing, singing, a fashion show, a taiko drum performance and other entertainment and the students did a great job. The program listed twenty sponsors and donors from throughout the university and the community and there are several restaurants that will donate part of their proceeds on selected nights through the rest of April.  While many people and many organizations were instrumental in the success of the fundraising efforts, one young couple were the real driving force and made it happen. Naho Timson, a native of Japan who lived near the powerful earthquake that caused enormous destruction and  thousands of deaths in Kobe in 1995, and her husband Ray, worked tirelessly to raise funds for the people in Naho’s native country.  Naho and Ray, the two of you did a great job!

Japanese Story Teller, Mrs. Hiroko Fujita

(Apr. 10, 2011) Last weekend Mrs. Hiroko Fujita, the storyteller from Japan that delighted hundreds of elementary school children in Stillwater during her annual visits to our community for more than a decade, passed our way again. She was here for a short stay to visit old friends, primarily elementary school teachers with whom she had gotten acquainted during her visits in the past and she had an opportunity to see old friends during two receptions in her honor. Last Monday evening there was a reception where elementary school teachers had a chance to visit with her.  Tuesday for lunch, several friends took Mrs. Fujita to lunch at the Hideaway. After lunch Richard and Marti Dermer taught Mrs. Fujita how to make a very small American kite. Perhaps she’ll build a story around that. Tuesday evening there was a reception at the Presbyterian Church for members of the church, people involved in the sister cities program, friends from former visits and people interested in Japanese storytelling, allowing people to renew acquaintances. Thanks to Mary McKinley, a member of the church, a longtime supporter of our sister cities program, and a longtime friend, and to Nancy Simpson, also a member of the church and a very active member of our Sister Cities Council, for making the arrangements and doing much of the work related to the reception and the meal. Mrs. Fujita had three stops on her itinerary, New York, Los Angeles, and Stillwater so it’s fair to say that the teachers who have worked with Mrs. Fujita and the students who were captivated by her storytelling skills during her previous visits made a very positive impact. Mrs. Fujita was asked to share a couple of her stories at the reception Tuesday evening and we adults also enjoyed them.

Fundraising Events for Japan

(Apr. 3, 2011) The people of Japan are suffering the greatest catastrophe since the end of World War II and people around the world, including many in our country, are stepping up to help them. Each person or organization is helping in their own way. In our own community individuals are donating through the Red Cross, Salvation Army, churches, civic organizations, businesses and other ways. There was a fund raiser at the Sushi House Restaurant on Western last Sunday and there is another at the Tokyo Pot Restaurant on 10^th Street just west of Main Street this afternoon. Donations for the earthquake/tsunami fundraising campaign were accepted at Culture Night on the OSU campus Friday night and last night. All last week students were selling T-shirts, working on a 1000 Cranes peace project, hosting a Japan flag message project, selling tickets for a Japanese Culture dinner and accepting donations on the library lawn on the OSU campus. A Japanese Culture Dinner is being hosted by the Office of International Students and Scholars and will be held in the Conoco Phillips Alumni Center Sunday April 10 from 5:30 to 8:00 pm. The dinner includes performances, fashion show, calligraphy, origami and a silent auction from 3:00 to 6:30 pm. Tickets can be purchased for $10 by calling Naho Timson at 405-744-5482 for tickets or additional information . Naho who is a native of Japan is very involved in many of the fundraising events out of great concern for the people in her home country. I hope you’ll support the people in Japan who are suffering so much in whatever way you see fit.

On another subject, Mrs. Hiroko Fujita, the storyteller from Japan that shared stories with elementary school children in Stillwater for a number of years will be in our community again for only a few days. Tuesday afternoon and evening she will be at the Presbyterian Church for two events. From 4 to 5 pm there will be a Meet and Greet time to go by and say hello and at 5:30 a Baked Potato and Ice Cream fellowship for an opportunity to visit longer. If you would like to attend the fellowship at 5:30 please call Nancy Simpson at 405-880-5306.

OLLI Class on Japanese Kites

(Mar. 27, 2011) The third and fourth weeks of our six-week OLLI course were both educational and entertaining. The topic for the two weeks was Japanese Kites: History and Kite Making and the instructors were Richard and Marti Dermer who most people in Stillwater know as the owners Hideaway Pizza. We know that they know a lot about making good pizza, but as Paul Harvey said for many years “now for the rest of the story”. They know a lot about kites as well! They have an amazing collection of kites from around the world including a number of beautiful Japanese kites they displayed during their two classes. Since the early 1980s they have attended kite festivals across the U.S. as well as South America, Europe, New Zealand, India, China and Japan to learn about, build, fly and collect kites. Richard served three terms as president of the American Kitefliers Association in the 1990s. The second week Richard and Marti were joined by Catherine Gabrel who is also very involved in kiting. She has a web site called Kites in the Sky through which she sells kite kits. The URL is Kitesinthesky.net. Catherine provided a kit for each person in the class and provided step by step instructions as we built our kites.  Each person had the option of using a kit with a predesigned paper for their kite or using a white washi paper and making their own design. All the kites turned out very nice. Catherine, Marti and Richard, thank you for an interesting and fun class.

Disaster Strikes Japan

(Mar. 20, 2011) I think it would be almost impossible for me to write this week’s article about anything other than the enormous tragedy that struck Japan last Friday. The news-coverage almost all of us have watched for hours the past several days has shown video and told stories of tremendous devastation and deep despair along with some marvelous stories of survival from the earthquake and tsunami that followed a few minutes later. The epicenter for the 9.0 magnitude earthquake was about 80 miles off the coast east of Sendai, a city of about a million people. Oklahoma sometimes has earthquakes around 4.0 which may break a few windows, cause thing to fall off shelves and shatter peoples’ nerves. The Sendai earthquake had energy about 20 million times greater than a 4.0 earthquake so it’s easy to see why it plus the tsunami was so devastating.  With the tsunami traveling about 500 miles per hour toward the coast the people had, at most, about ten minutes warning along the coast north of Sendai and maybe 20 minutes in Sendai.  Because of our wonderful sister cities relationship with Kameoka for more than 25 years and work with students and others from all over Japan, there are many friends, as well as family members of some including my wife and I, that people in Stillwater are very concerned about.  We’ve contacted several friends in Kameoka that said they felt the earthquake, but there was no damage in our sister city, just great concern and sadness for their fellow citizens. My wife, Kayo, contacted her family in Kyoto Friday evening who also reported feeling the quake. Kayo’s sister’s granddaughter lives in Tokyo and they had not been able to contact her at that time. When they finally made contact she said all trains in Tokyo were out of service after the quake and that she walked three and a half hours to get home.  That’s like walking to Perkins but in a city of some 20 million people, many also walking home. Mrs. Fujita, the storyteller that visited the elementary schools in Stillwater for quite a few years lives in Kashiwa just on the northeast outskirts of Tokyo and reported that she could not stand during the quake. However, her real concern was for her son and his family who live in Sendai.  After many nerve wracking hours she was finally able to contact him and they were okay.  But there is still great concern about friends in Sendai. A year ago a group of high school girls from Sendai were here through a Wings of Rotary short exchange program. Two were homestay guests in our home. We finally made contact with one after several days. She said she and her parents were staying with relatives near Tokyo. Their home sustained some damage but the family is okay. We have been unable to contact the other girl and are very concerned about her and her family. I have talked with Bob Burk and Mel Miller who are trying to contact a friend of the three of us without success so far.  I also talked with Dave McCroskey who works with Wings of Rotary groups coming to Stillwater from the Sendai area. A group that was scheduled to arrive last Wednesday cancelled the trip. Members or family members are missing or homes are damage or destroyed for every member of the group.  Please remember all of these as well as the people throughout Japan in your prayers.

About Japan's Political System

(Mar 13, 2011) On February 24 the Sister Cities Council’s OLLI course had their second class in the scheduled six-class course on Japanese Culture and Customs. Harold Sare, Professor Emeritus of OSU’s Political Science Department presented the class titled The Japanese Political System and he did a great job. He presented  an overview of about fourteen centuries of history including the role powerful family clans played in very early history, the 250 year rule by successive Tokugawa Shoguns when the country was closed to the outside world, the creation of a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary system of government in the late 1800s and events leading up to WW II. He also spoke about the U.S. occupation of Japan and his experiences as a member of the occupation forces and about the constitution rewritten in 1947 to establish a new government with the Prime Minister as head of government and the Diet made up of a house of Representatives and a House of Councillors. Harold concluded his presentation talking about present-day economic problems and some of the issues that have brought about the problems. He talked about the size of the country, the very homogenous and aging population, immigration and the makeup of the labor force, overpriced land and outsourcing of jobs. The aging population is a serious problem and is likely to continue to be a problem for the foreseeable future.  It was a very interesting and thought-provoking presentation and the Sister Cities Council thanks Harold, the very first chair of our council twenty-five years ago, for presenting one of the classes in our course.

Introducing Sister Cities Council Intern, Jeff Blose

(Mar. 6, 2011) When a member of this year’s Stillwater Leadership class expressed a desire to serve an internship with the Sister Cities Council we were very pleased and excited. When two members of the class chose the council for their internship the level of excitement went up exponentially. We are very honored that two members of a class whose members were selected because of the leadership skills chose to intern with us. The Kameoka Corner article a couple weeks ago was about one of the two, Latasha Wilson. This week’s article is about the second person, Jeff Blose, who along with Latasha grew up in this area.        

Jeff attended Skyline Elementary School until the 5^th grade when his family moved southeast of Stillwater in the Ripley school district and Jeff graduated from Ripley High School. After high school graduation he attended OSU and during his senior year at OSU he had an opportunity to take an intensive language course in Japanese at Indiana University. He graduated from OSU with a BS in Business Management and minors in Japanese and International Business. After graduation he worked for a few years in Tulsa during which time he met and married his wife Shelli and they celebrated their 20^th wedding anniversary less than two weeks ago. They lived for about a decade in Tacoma, Washington before returning to Stillwater in 2006 when Jeff took a job with Flintco where he was one of the project managers on Boone Pickens Stadium and is presently working with Flintco on the OSU Student Union remodeling project. He and his family have traveled to Mexico, Canada and Norway and hope to visit other countries. In the meantime they have set a goal of visiting the county seat of each of Oklahoma’s 77 counties and to eat at a local family-owned restaurant in each county seat.  Sounds like a great plan! Jeff, thank you for choosing to intern with the Sister Cities Council and we look forward to working with you. Also, congratulations on your 20^th wedding anniversary!

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Program

(Feb. 27, 2011) The Sister Cities Council is very pleased to be able to participate in the spring semester OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) program and our course got off to a great start last week. Nancy Wilkinson,  a faculty member in the Art Department at OSU and a former member of our sister cities council  presented the first class titled Japanese Art and she did a great job.  A significant part of the class was devoted to the history of Japanese woodblock prints over nearly two centuries, from the late 1600s to the late 1800s. She had a beautiful power point program with wonderful photos covering the entire time frame starting with black and white prints up through some of the great Japanese artists whose work had a significant influence on European artists whose work we see in the famous art museums across Europe.  The subject matter of many of the early  creators of  woodblock prints were geisha and actors from the Kabuki theaters in the entertainment district  of Edo (present day Tokyo) known as the floating world and the woodblock prints were called ukiyo-e. It was not until the 1800s that some of the great artists concentrated on landscapes and scenes from everyday life, but the prints are still usually referred to as ukiyo-e rather than simply woodblock prints. Nancy, thank you for a very interesting and enjoyable class.

Introducing Sister Cities Council Intern, Latasha Wilson

(Feb. 20, 2011) For more than twenty years the Sister Cities Council has sponsored the local Youth Art Competition for high school and junior high school students. We have enjoyed working with every single young person that’s participated and some of the artwork has been exceptional.  The local winner in the 2001 competition was a very talented high school student named Latasha Wilson. Suddenly ten years later the Council members have crossed paths with Latasha again much to our delight, and we hope to Latasha’s delight as well.  During the intervening ten years Latasha has spent a year as a Rotary Exchange Student in Germany, studied in China and Mexico as well as traveling to other countries.  She has also completed her B.S and M.S Degrees at OSU and presently works for the Oklahoma Oral History Research Program at OSU. Last fall she was a member of the 2010 Stillwater Leadership Class. Upon completion of that class each member is asked to choose an organization in Stillwater with which they would like to serve a three-month internship to work with and learn about that organization.  Latasha chose the Sister Cities Council and we are delighted! Latasha, thank you for choosing the Sister Cities Council and we look forward to working with you. 

Japan's Rail System

(Feb. 13, 2011) During our trip to Japan in November and early December my wife Kayo and I rode probably more than fifty trains. The rail system consists of three classes of trains which are the Shinkansen high speed trains, often called the bullet trains, limited express trains and local trains. The Shinkansen lines run the entire length of the main island of Honshu  and across part of the southern island of Kyushu and are sort of the spine of the system. The limited express lines use many of the same stations as the high speed trains but different lines that go off at an angle and carry passengers to places well away from the Shankansen lines and stop at only major stations on the limited express lines. The local trains use the same tracks as the limited express trains but travel shorter distances and stop at almost all stations on their route. We rode the bullet trains, the limited express and local trains and every train arrived and departed within seconds of the scheduled times. But there’s more involved to maintaining the precise schedules than pride. For example, on the Shinkanses lines there are three kinds of trains that use the same tracks. The trains called Kodama stops at all stations along their route from start to finish, the Hikari stops at a few more stations and the Nozomi stops at only one or two stations the entire way. After departing from its starting station the Kodama will stop at a couple stations and then wait at the third station for a couple minutes for a Hikari that started twelve minutes after the Kodama started to pass. Then the Kodama will go on to one more station and at the second station stop for a couple minutes for a Nozomi that started twelve minutes after the Hikari started to pass. With all three classes of trains traveling at more than 100 miles per hour on the same tracks it’s easy to see that keeping absolutely on schedule is very critical and they do it amazingly well.

Weather in Kameoka

(Feb. 6, 2011) With the big snow and blizzard-like conditions we experienced last Tuesday it seemed like a very appropriate time to write about Kameoka’s weather.  I received an e-mail from longtime friend Takeshi Kusuhara who lives in Kameoka a week or so ago and he said it was very cold and there had been snow on the ground most of the time since about Christmas. I don’t know what the temperature was but it rarely falls below about 28 degrees Fahrenheit, however because it’s always very humid the temperatures always feel much colder than they actually are. And because the islands are surrounded by water the temperatures don’t tend to fluctuate much. The climatic conditions are such that along the Sea of Japan coast the average snowfall is the highest in the world at that latitude and we heard that the town of Kumihama where my wife and I  spent a week last November received more than two feet of snow recently.  Kameoka is not too far from the coast and each winter has several significant snowfalls. However, since the temperature is usually just a couple degrees or so below freezing, the snow usually doesn’t last more than two or three days. If the snow has been on the ground most of the time since Christmas, Kameoka must have received several significant snows or the temperatures are indeed colder this winter than during most winters.

Visit to Otsu

(Jan. 30, 2011) Most of the last week of my wife and my five-week trip to Japan last fall was spent in the old capital of Kyoto visiting my wife’s family. However, one day we went to the city of Otsu about 15 minutes by train to the east of her family’s home. We met in Otsu in the mid 1950s when I was stationed at Camp Otsu with the U.S. military. Not long before I arrived at Camp Otsu Columbia Pictures made a movie about a soldier stationed there. A couple years ago I was trying to find a copy of the movie and was directed to several people including a woman whose husband was stationed in Japan for a period with Britain’s Royal Air Force. Her name is Hiroko Ukai Palmer and she grew up in Otsu. Some years ago she and her husband returned to Otsu and has made their home there. She didn’t have a copy of the movie but as we exchanged e-mails I learned that her husband  who passed away several years ago had taught conversational English at Kyoto Gakuen University in Kameoka .Upon learning that we were going to be in Japan last fall she invited us to lunch at the Otsukan Convention Center, formerly the historic Biwako Hotel within walking distance of the camp where I was stationed. Part of the old hotel is now a museum and lists some of its former guests including Emperor Hirohito, Olympians from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and actor John Wayne who was filming a movie in Japan at the time of his visit. After a very nice lunch and visit, Hiroko and her friend, Mitsuko Nakajima, took us to Seikyoji Temple on the lower slopes of Mt Hiei to tour the temple. Mitsuko’s son is a Buddhist monk at the temple so we were given a very nice tour. It was a very old, very large and very beautiful temple and we had a wonderful visit and a great day as our time in Japan began to come to a close. In closing, I did get a copy of the movie from another person and it’s a really nice movie.

Castles in Japan

(Jan. 23, 2011) I want to write one more article about our time in Beppu on Japan’s southern Island of Kyushu. During that two-week stay we visited three sites of the historic old castles scattered around Japan. The first visit was to the town of Nakatsu to visit Nanatsu Castle located barely more than a stone’s throw from the shore of the Inland Sea on the northeast side of the island. Construction on the old five story Tenshu or main structure started in 1588 and was the residence of warlords for about 300 years until it was burned in an uprising against the government in 1877. The second site we visited was Kumamoto Castle in the city of Kumamoto. This old castle which is one of Japan’s most impressive castles is built on a hill overlooking the city and is a beautiful sight from almost anywhere in the city. Work on the six story main structure started in 1607. There are a several watchtowers along the massive stone walls that protected the castle making it one of the most impenetrable castles in the country for several centuries. The third and last castle site visited was the ruins of Oka Castle in the town of Bungo Taketa in the very heart of the mountains on the island of Kyushu.  The castle was built in 1185 on a mountaintop. The castle must have been an impressive sight and the view from the castle no doubt equally impressive. It’s an impressive and beautiful sight today even though only the massive stone walls remain and I thoroughly enjoyed the visit.

The Hachiman Shrine

(Jan. 16, 2011) During our time in Beppu in November my wife and I visited a small town which the sign at the train station identified as USA. Actually, the name of the town is capital U which rhymes with Sue and lower case sa which rhymes with ha, or Usa. We went there to visit Usa Hachiman Shrine. It’s the headquarters shrine for the several thousand Shinto Hachiman Shrines throughout Japan, including the Hachiman Shrine in Kameoka, and it’s very impressive. The large number of bright orange structures spread across more than a hundred acres are very pretty but the setting on the lower slopes of a heavily forested mountainside is beautiful. As one crosses the orange, arched bridge and walks beneath the large orange torii with another only a short distance away and others dispersed along the way for couple hundred yards you sense that you’ve come to a special place. After walking under several large torri the slope on the path gets steeper and the forest becomes much more dense. All along the main path there are smaller paths leading off through heavy shaded forest to sub-temples .As one continues to climb very green, velvet moss seems to cover everything. You know there are others around but you feel alone in the very dense shade with the only sound being that of trickling water off in the woods. After some time the very large, orange, main structure of Hachiman Shrine comes into view in a clearing on the mountainside and it too is beautiful. The visit to Usa Hachiman Shrine was another very special day on a trip filled with special days.

Visit to Yufuin

(Jan. 9, 2011) This week we’re going to re-visit Japan, this time visiting the southern island of Kyushu where my wife, Kayo, and I spent two weeks in November. We stayed at a resort in the city of Beppu, a world famous hot springs resort on the Pacific coast in Oita Prefecture. My concern as we arrived in Beppu was that we were going to need to take some fairly long one-day trips  because I was of the opinion there wasn’t much else to see in Oita Prefecture besides Beppu. As it turns out, I was wrong, as there’s some very very nice places to visit. Our first excursion was into the mountains, via an hour and a half train ride, to the much smaller hot springs resort area of Yufuin. The little town is filled with luxury hot springs hotels and the main street is lined with nice little shops, restaurants and coffee houses. As Kayo shopped I enjoyed the beautiful Christmas music in several of the shops. For lunch we went into a small restaurant where the main item on the menu was a Yufuinburger which was served in a sort of cone-shaped paper holder. The burger stays in the cone as one eats it to catch the juices dripping from it. It was juicy and tasty!

I knew as we boarded the train for the ride back to Beppu that we would return to Yufuin and we did only a couple days later. This time the highlight of our time in Yufuin was a ride around town in a horse-drawn, sort of modern day, covered wagon. During the ride we visited a very old temple and a shrine among other things. After visiting the temple and waiting to re-board a small pickup loaded with bales of alfalfa hay passed by. They were the first bales of hay I had ever seen in Japan. The trees at the shrine were probably the tallest trees I have ever seen in Japan. There were also several trunks of trees that had blown down in typhoons that were about seven feet in diameter. The trees are called Sugi and are of the cypress family. The tallest known Sugi in Japan is a little over 230 feet tall. 

We hope to visit Yufuin again.

Graduating Japanese Students

(Jan. 2, 2011) On Friday evening, December 17, the Sister Cities Council hosted graduating students from Japan at a reception in the Wes Watkins Center on the OSU campus with some forty people in attendance. Eleven students from across Japan who graduated this semester and members of their families were special guests but there were other students from Japan and elsewhere who came to say “goodbye” in attendance as well. During the reception each graduating student was asked to tell about their plans for the immediate future. All said they were leaving for their home country within a few days and nine of the eleven said they had a job waiting for them, most with very good companies. One has been accepted into a master’s program in the U.S. and one is not actively seeking employment at the moment. Ninety percent of those seeking employment have found employment in an down economy in both Japan and the U.S. which is better than the fall 2010 graduating class at OSU or for students graduating from universities across Japan. That speaks well for the education the students have received at our university and it speaks very well for the students who have been very successful while studying in a language other than their native language. Ten of the eleven students had family members here for their graduation which speaks well for their close family ties and family support. One young man enjoyed the presence of three generations of his family here to show their support; a brother, his parents, and his grandmother. We know the new OSU alumni will do well and wish them the very best. The Sister Cities Council also hopes 2011 is a great year for each of you.