A Cyber-Space Area Studies Forum
-- Peoples And Their Communities In Extended East Asia --

AN INTERNET SEMINAR NETWORK OPEN TO ALL FOR BETTER MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING AND ASIANS' JOINT INITIATIVES
BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR THE BENEFIT OF THOSE WHO JOIN US TO DISCUSS ASIA'S HISTORY, CULTURE AND THE PROBLEMS SHARED BY ALL ASIANS IN OUR "EAST ASIA FORUM"
Prepared by Okamoto International Affairs Research Institute in support of the Virtual Foundation Japan's Projects in Asia
Tokyo, Japan -- May 13, 2001

A Japanese Perspective [No.3 : 5-01]

----> to the Japanese version

AN OPEN INVITATION TO ALL EAST ASIANS AND INTERESTED CITIZENS OF THE WORLD

SEEKING OUR OWN HISTORICAL IDENTITY BRINGS US BACK INTO THE HISTORIES AND LIFE-STYLES BUILT ON PRE-RICE FARMING AND RICE-GROWING AGRICULTURE IN EAST ASIA

[I] GOING BACK TO WHERE AND

WHEN IT ALL BEGAN

The Japanese archipelago situated at the eastern edge of the Eurasian Continent has been exposed, during the past ten thousand years, to the impact of several distinctive waves of diverse cultures coming from the comparable climatic zones of both the northeastern and southeastern regions of the Continent as well as across the sea from Southeast Asia. (Map source: Komei Sasaki, Stratified Structure of the Japanese Culture, Shogakukan, Tokyo, 1997, p. 30)

During the Jomon period, so called by the imprints of the twines of hand-knit ropes on the pottery of this period and roughly overlapping with the 10,000-year period now under review, the archipelago remained an integral, if the northernmost, part of the great evergreen forests of indeciduous trees stretching from the foothills of the Himalayas, through the southeastern part of China all the way up to the western half of Japan as shown by the slanted section on the map to the left.

During this period, the dominant type of farming was "slash-and-burn" clearing the trees of sloping hillsides to grow a variety of grain crops, most commonly the Asian millets along with the collecting of a variety of wild nuts, fruits and greens. This type of farming practice is known to have been common among the peoples who lived, as some still do today, in and around this extensive evergreen belt running through East Asia until paddy rice agriculture took over much of the low-lying areas leaving the slash-and-burn farming alive only in highlands and mountainous regions.

In the millennia that followed, paddy rice culture gradually spread, as illustrated in the chart at left, into the middle and lower tributaries of the great Yangzi River (Chang Jiang) in central China, giving rise to ancient regional kingdoms built on the surplus generated by this highly productive agricultural economy. This highly productive system of growing rice in neatly diked flat paddies with intricate irrigation systems as seen in the picture below spread out in all directions, as also shown in the chart, covering much of East Asia, finally reaching the southern shores of the Japanese archipelago several hundred years prior to the Christian Era. (Map source: Komei Sasaki, Formative Process of the Japanese Culture, NHK Books, Tokyo, 1998, p. 96)

Indeed, the arrival and northward spread of paddy rice farming technology in Japan during the early centuries resulted in the establishment of the ancient state of Yamato in the 4th century AD in what is known today as Nara prefecture in central Japan, as a result of the dramatic political and cultural upheavals that shook the northeastern segments of the Eurasian continent including what is now known as China.

During the same period, the influx into Japan, particularly its northeastern part, of the Altaic speakers of predominantly Tungusic stock was accompanied by a set of agricultural crops and farming practices, many of which were of the Western origin brought all the way across the Eurasian steppe, and therefore vastly different from those which accompanied the paddy rice culture from the south. (Map source: Komei Sasaki, Stratified Structure of the Japanese Culture, Shogakukan, Tokyo, 1997, p. 35)

Thus, not only the ancient ruling aristocracy of Yamato and then Kyoto, but also the rising warriors' class which established the first military government of Kamakura Bakufu to enforce its rule over the land in early 12th century, were both products of the crossbreeding of these two dominant cultural elements from south and north. Our long intellectual journey, therefore, will commence with the visits to the lands to the south where these incipient agricultural developments first emerged, which was destined to several thousand years later to become the most fundamental building blocks of the modern Japanese society and culture.

[II] VIRTUAL FOUNDATION'S ASIA PROJECTS
AND THEIR HISTORICAL IMPLICATIONS

The moral commitment made by the Okamoto International Affairs Research Institute to support the Virtual Foundation's projects in Asia is based on the realization that, by participating in them, Asians can help fellow Asians cope more effectively with the problems accompanying rapid economic development and industrialization that engulfed this region in the last few decades. In particular, we are concerned over the deteriorating living environment in many parts of Asia with new alarming changes such as deforestation and air and water pollution directly affecting the life of the people.

Thus, we are all for the on-going effort of local communities in Nepal, for instance, to install solar power lighting systems to replace the old wood-burning practice for evening activities, which is known to constitute not only a serious health hazard, but also contribute significantly to deforestation where trees do not grow fast enough due to high elevation. We are also seriously interested in assisting the Asian rice farmers who lose as much as 20 to 30 percent of their grain crops to insect infestation and molding every year because they do not have modern crop storage systems. Most rice farmers in East Asia do have basically the same problem, including such countries as, but not limited to, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines and the southern provinces of China.

In the Russian Far East to the north, there is a set of different problems even though the impact of economic globalization remains essentially the same. The third example is the fact that Japan's home construction market continues to keep pressure on the Siberian Tiga forests, often giving rise to clear cutting practices totally damaging to the environment of the north, including the destruction of the spawning areas of the rich salmonid species. Here again, the very foundation of the traditional economic life of the indigenous peoples is at stake, who continue to depend significantly on the fishing, hunting and collecting activities. For them, the integrity of the Taiga forests is the primary condition for survival at this point in time.

Virtual Foundation Japan supports the self-help effort of the rural communities in the remote areas of East Asia, where there is a dominant indigenous segment in the local population. They are anxious to find a practical way of improving their life both in terms of quantity and quality without damaging the environment. In response to such desire, the Virtual Foundation Japan sent a test ecotour group into the Samarga valley last year, producing a tremendous success in that the visiting Japanese ecotourists did indeed appreciate the pristine nature of the valley while enjoying wonderful camping and fishing expeditions. We remain confident that we can help the peoples in the Russian Far East help themselves to uplift the quality of their life in a way fully compatible with the sustained use of forestry resources. We need to share both our experience and information with all the peoples of Asia, making it possible for all the peoples of Asia to jointly examine the available options of building an information clearinghouse, or digital networking so as to avoid the ill consequences of a widening digital gap and negative consequences of economic industrialization and social modernization. In the Russian Far East to the north, there is a set of different problems even though the impact of economic globalization remains essentially the same. The third example is the fact that Japan's home construction market continues to keep pressure on the Siberian Tiga forests, often giving rise to clear cutting practices totally damaging to the environment of the north, including the destruction of the upstream spawning areas of the rich salmonid species. Here again, the very foundation of the traditional economic life of the indigenous peoples is at stake, who continue to depend significantly on fishing, hunting and collecting activities. For them, the integrity of the Taiga forests is the primary condition for survival at this point in time.

The Virtual Foundation projects help protect the natural environment, promote environment-friendly methods of modernization and economic development, and in so doing, contribute to the improvement of the quality of life in Asian communities.

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VIRTUAL FOUNDATION PROJECTS IN PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION STAGES

[III] PROJECT EXAMPLES

EXAMPLE I (Completed)

ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY SOLAR POWER TO HIMALAYAN NEPAL

[The Virtual Foundation commenced two projects in Nepal in 1998. The primary goal at that time was to assist the highland communities in the Himalayan districts to purchase and install their own lighting systems using clean solar energy as alternate power source.]

Throughout the Himalayan region are hundreds of remote Buddhist gompas (monasteries). As well as being spiritual centers, they function also often as community centers attracting people from the surrounding villages. Traditionally, monasteries provide education for the children of the area; they maintain this role today particularly in areas where access to schools is difficult and expensive. However, these communities and their monasteries rarely have any electricity or light to study by. They commonly obtain light from kerosene or wood.

Burning these fuels indoors causes numerous health problems, including lung and eye diseases, and the dim light they produce leads to sight problems among many older monks. Tashi Chhoiling Gompa and Pema Chhoiling Gompa serve the inhabitants of 7-8 villages. Tashi Chhoiling Gompa is run by farmer-monks who work during the day and perform religious practices in the early morning (5:30 am) and in the evening after dark. Since the monasteries have no windows, it is always fairly dark inside the rooms. The gompas are also used for religious festivals and for religious teachings that often last for several days. Several hundred people attend these services, and some nights the main hall is filled with over 200 occupants.

Both monasteries are located to the north of Kathmandu in the Sindhupalchowk District. The nearest village accessible by road is Melamchi, which is a three hour drive; from Tashi Chhoiling Gompa, it is a 6-hour walk and Pema Chhoiling Gompa an 8-hour walk.

This solar lighting project will provide a solar electric system to each of the monasteries. The solar electric lighting system will be installed by Lotus Energy. The company will provide training for the monks in maintenance and basic repairs of the solar electric system, and issue warranty for all system components. The company also makes one follow-up visit to ensure that the system is properly operating. Lotus Energy is a Nepal-based company that manufactures, installs, and services solar electric equipment and provides training for solar electric systems users throughout the Himalayas. They have installed over 550 solar electric systems in over 65 districts in Nepal.

Solar electricity offers a clean, bright alternative light source for monks, children, and their families to study and perform religious rituals. Solar electric lighting systems convert the energy from sunlight into electricity. This energy is stored in batteries, and can be used at night to power efficient compact fluorescent electric lights. Solar lights have no smoke or flame, so they are healthier and safer than kerosene and wood. Many Lamas are overjoyed by the fact that no insects are killed by the light as is the case with open flame light.

In the long term, this project hopes to expand to include other monasteries throughout the Himalayas in Nepal, Bhutan, India, and Tibet. Since monasteries play a central role in many a Himalayan communities, renewable energy technologies that are successfully adopted here will facilitate the appropriate adoption of renewable energy technologies for household use. This, in turn, is expected to improve the conditions for health, education and well-being, without negatively impacting the fragile Himalayan environment.

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EXAMPLE II

VILLAGE THANGKA PAINTING ART SCHOOL PROJECT IN A VALLEY COMMUNITY OF THE HIMALAYAS - Preventing Flight of Village Youth and Creating New Employment Opportunities

Let Us Help the Remote Himalayan Villages Help Themselves by Maintaining Their Own Traditional Culture and Life Style

The Himalayas are the highest crest of the earth striding over China, India and Pakistan, across Nelal, Bhutan and Assam reaching out to the northern tip of the Indonesian peninsula. Kathmandu, the capitol of Nepal, therefore, is known as a unique culture of religious tolerance harboring the Hindu culture of the southern flatland bordering on India and the Tibetan Buddhist culture of the northern highland districts of the Himalayas.
Therefore, once one moves into the mountainous terrains of the north, one finds oneself in Tibetan villages clustered around Buddhist temples where people are pious Buddhists and their spoken language is Tibetan instead of Hindi or Nepali.

Japan is the only Asian country which succeeded in industrialization after the Western model during the first half of the 20th century, and again after World War II, grew into one of the world's top industrial nations making contributions to the fellow Asian countries both in direct capital investment and technological transfer. Japan also happens to be an Asian country which has managed to preserve its own traditional culture and religious heritage in spite of industrialization. All this not withstanding, however, Japan finds itself at crossroads today wondering what role it is going to plan in the Asia-Pacific region in the 21st century.

The Virtual Foundation Japan aims to move beyond the conventional mode of international assistance and cooperation, and, (1) support the initiatives of other Asian peoples who want to protect their respective cultural heritages from the impact of economic globalization, (2) assist Asians who want to join the effort of modernization by means of sustainable economic development, and (3) cooperate positively in resolving the growing "digital divide" in East Asia which threatens to increase the already existing gap in living standard between the urban centers and remote rural areas.

It has already become patently obvious that Japan cannot hope to reconstruct the touted economic model of "flying wild geese" and make it work a miracle again in the 21st century. The sustainable development of East Asia as a whole can no longer afford to collide head on with its total environment at the expense of its rich biodiversity. Furthermore, East Asia's economic development in the 21st century must be designed to allow a productive cohabitation with its diverse cultural traditions.
The Virtual Foundation Japan's project to support the Darshan Art School was constructed was based on just such new concept of development. And, as an initial step, the team of specialists shown here was sent to Nepal in the summer of 1999 in order to find out more about the problems where they arose so that a realistic plan can be developed for assisting the school to reopen its doors. What follows is a digest of the personal account of this trip prepared by Yutaka Okamoto of the Virtual Foundation Japan.

Hilltop A Casual Impression of A Visitor
Kathmandu is located on a plateau well above the sea, and I felt, upon arrival at the airport, as if I were one of the main actors in the drama of James Hilton's "Lost Horizon." Kathmandu is a city nestled in a Himalayan plateau where one finds it exceedingly difficult, as one strolls around looking at the ancient buildings, temples and shrines, to tell what is Hindu and what is Buddhist. One feels a strange sensation that competing world religions can still coexist in perfect peace and harmony. Hilltop
But, all this is peculiar just to a large urban center like Kathmandu, and, just as soon as one moves into the countryside, one begins to see a clearly discernible cultural, linguistic and ethnic differences. For one who comes from Japan, for instance, it may be that one feels more readily familiar with the Tibetan Buddhist culture to the north rather than the Hindu life style in the southern flatland. As one moves further away from Kathmandu into the steep Himalayan ranges and come close to the Chinese side, one finds that there is no clear borderline drawn with China or India, and the Tibetan people still trade with Tibet trekking the mountain paths as they have done for many centuries past.
We drove a vehicle eastward from Kathmandu passing through several small towns and villages looking at the distant Himalaya ranges to the left until we took a muddy side road to the right toward low-lying mountains. About an hour's rough drive took us to a small village at the foot of the mountain across a ravine, where we prepared ourselves for a rough trekking trip and walked across a narrow suspended bridge.
As the picture to the left shows, many sections of the mountain paths looked almost like steep dry rocky river bed because the rainy season keeps washing away much of the red bed soil. In other sections where there is less incline, the slippery red soil was quite treacherous unless one wears good trekking shoes. From time to time, we experienced exciting moments encountering young boys with strange looking farm animals, farmers taking home backpack-fulls of grain crops and shamans walking with attendants curing the sickin remote villages. Here again, we were reminded of the ancient East Asian roots of Shamanism harkening back to the remote past before the arrival of Buddhism, which still remains alive also in the countryside Japan.
After enduring several steep uphill climbs, we finally reached what seemed to be the highest ridge around us. There, lo and behold, we stood in sheer joy of looking down on the wide-screen panorama of a beautiful green valley. A little boy was sitting at the foot of a lone tree as if welcoming our party. The valley was dotted with white mud walls of farm houses glistening in bright afternoon sun. Here again, I for one was struck by a mysteriously vivid image of Shangli La described in James Hilton's book.
From then on, we only had to take a steep continuous descent into the valley to be greeted by a small army of children and young ladies who somehow knew we were coming that afternoon. Upon arrival at a modest gompa located atthe center of the small village,
across from which stood the Darshan Thangka Painting School with gleaming white walls. The party was met by the principle who led us first into the gompa, where the chief lama had the stage set to give us a welcoming ceremony. All of us listened to the sutra-chanting and gongs surrounded by countless Buddha images and other deities little known to us Japanese, perhaps because Buddhism came into Japan filtering through the Chinese civilization and cultural heritage.
The ceremony came to an end, and we were invited into the art school where several young students were eagerly moving fine-tipped brushes on their silk canvasses. For all of us, it was the first-ever experience to see miniature painting in progress. We were told by the art instructor that, depending on design complexity, it may take a student anywhere from six months to a year to finish a good thangka painting. It looked like a miracle to us to see a really young lady in her teens could miniature-paint an intricate mandala even after taking a technique course, but then, we felt that the ancient cultural heritage and the echos of distant memories must have been written into the genes of the Tibetan people.
Upon our departure from the school, the chief priest and the school principle together with many villagers came out to see us off. As the day was slowly falling into dusk, we walked through crop strips on the hill sides with all the local varieties of millet and red rice were nearing the rich harvest season. We passed through large patches of what looked like our Japanese bush clovers in full blossom arousing a strange sensation as if we were in the fall season in Japan.
[Footnotes]
During 2000, the students of the Ryukoku University in Kyoto worked with private citizens in western Japan to raise the fund needed to reopen the Darshan Thangka Painting School, and with the commitment by the Virtual Foundation USA to provide a matching fund, the targeted sum of 3,482 US Dollars was finally collected. As a result, the school was reopened in the fall, and our current project goal for the year 2001 is to help identify the realistic options of finding a fair market for the art products that are expected to become available this fall. It is our opinion that we must somehow bring the art school in direct touch with the outside market. And, in order to doso, we must capitalize on the latest information technology to help develop an entirely new marketing strategy.
Reported by: Yutaka Okamoto
The Virtual Foundation Japan -- March, 2001

Latest Report on the Progress of the Art School
A BUDDHIST ART SCHOOL MAINTAINED BY THE VILLAGES OF A NEPAL HIMALAYA VALLEY AS A COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND YOUTH EMPLOYMENT PROJECT

Buddha Darshan Art School
Finally Re-Opened

Thanks to your support and contributions, the thangka painting school in the Kabre District of Nepal has finally been reopened as of the last week of December, 2000. Here are some of the pictures taken by the members of the Lotus Energy solar panel/lighting system installation team of the opening ceremony and classroom activities.

New Improvements
In the process of reopening the school, the Lotus Energy and the Himalaya Light Foundation have worked together to make all the necessary preparations. Here are two pictures of the field work, the first one that of the solar panel installation and the second one the wiring work inside the school building, which is shown above as part of the head of this page.
As a result of the installation of the pollution-free solar lighting system, it became possible for the school to offer an evening class, which has always been wanted by some of the young people who worked during the day, or had to help their parents by taking care of the household chores.
Evening Class Added for Students
Mr. Yadav R Gurung who is in charge of this project at the Himalaya Light Foundation reports in his recent e-mail correspondence that "currently there are altogether 35 students who are regularly in the class." Of the original 48 applicants, 13 have found it difficult to remain in school due to a variety of reasons including "personal and home problems." As a result, he says there are 25 boys and 10 girls left regularly attending the classes. He says the instructor, Mr. Gyurme Norbu, is doing fine. According to him about 75% of the students are doing well. Among them 3 are the best. This is according to his evaluation. The class is running in 3 shifts. The first shifts starts at 7:00 in the morning till 10:00 with 17 students. The second shift starts from 10:00 ends at 12:00 noon with 7 students and the last shifts from 6:00 to 9:00 in the evening with 11 students.
The next three pictures are those of the opening ceremony. The first shows the chief instructor at left being officially greeted at the opening ceremony. He is said to have been carefully selected as a highly qualified thangka painting instructor having in possession the necessary knowledge about Tibetan Buddhism. According to the instructor, there already are a few students whose artistic skills are excellent, and therefore, it seems likely that by the time the late summer season arrives in this highland valley, there are likely to be more than a few finished paintings of marketable quality.
We must remember that one of the principal causes for the failure of the school to keep its doors open last year was its inability to market the finished products at fair market prices. The Japanese donors have discussed this problem since last fall and are seriously considering the merit, with the Virtual Foundation Japan's assistance, of assisting the school set up a direct marketing system which will enable the students and/or their school representative to come in direct contact with the perspective buyers in Japan and elsewhere on the internet to negotiate fair direct purchase prices even before the completion of the art work.
Advanced Digital Communication Technology
In order to make this happen, considerable research has been undertaken by the Virtual Foundation Japan, and as a result, it has been identified that there are a set of technologies which, when combined, promise to make it possible to build a digital bazaar on the internet where such direct encounter and dialogue between sellers and buyers will really become possible.

Step One
First, we begin with the establishment of an internet bazaar accessible by PCs in Kathmandu as well as the rest of the world, while the thangka painting school will still have to remain at this stage in isolation from the internet world. The school can bring the pictures of the paintings taken with a digital camera to Kathmandu to be displayed in the digital bazaar, but between the school and Kathmandu, we must depend on "trekking" delivery man from the school, making it impossible for the school to "negotiate" business with the perspective buyers in foreign countries.
This step, however, is a necessary precondition for the second step, and, thanks to the donations by Ms. Michiko Kuge of Kuge Embroidery and the Soroptimist International of Musashsino, both of Tokyo, Japan, the "pump-priming" fund is already in place for this two-step project which is destined to become an important undertaking of the Virtual Foundation Japan in Nepal this year .
Step Two
The second stage involves the deployment of a cutting-edge technology in satellite communication. We will explore the possibility of installing a ground station terminal at the thangka painting school, which will enable the instructor and students to send and receive e-mail every day and seven days a week just like they are using PCs in Kathmandu. At this stage, they can go back and forth with the perspective buyers in foreign countries just as if they are in a big city. With this setup, therefore, the school can expand and get more student enrollment so that they will produce enough marketable thangka paintings to more than pay for the expenses of the school operation, and the multi-village project will finally take off the ground to become a self-sustaining local enterprise.

What's Next?
Well. At this stage of the game, the Virtual Foundation Japan and its supporters/donors will have finished the project, won't they? They will then move on to something else inventing some new local business working with the thangka painting school and its board as partners, perhaps. Or, they may move onto somewhere else in Nepal Himalaya to get into something entirely new for other communities.

Some Parctice Works of the Students: Samples from the Class Room

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EXAMPLE III (Under Way)

LET US DO WHATEVER WE CAN TO ASSIST THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST WITH WHOM WE SHARE A COMMON ANCESTRY FROM THE DISTANT PAST

The village of Agzu nestled in the beautiful Samarga valley does possess a unique combination of resources for a sustainable ecotour business development

(1) What are the requisite conditions for locally controlled and sustainable economic development in the Russian Far East

The trial ecotour conducted last summer taught us a number of lessons. First of all, it was found out that no matter how beautiful the nature is, and in spite of so many wonderful things you can do there like catching the trophy-size cherry salmon and sea-run chars, if a small piece of metal parts of your outboard engine breaks down during the day and rain drops fall on you through the holes in the tent roof in the evening, it creates a tremendous pressure on the ecotourists.

The river boats used by the Udehe people, a branch of the Tungusic people, are narrow with a shallow bottom built for negotiating the rapids of the Samaraga river, but all of us were so impressed by the perfect skill of the local men handling their boats through rapids and shallows all the way down to the mouth of the river opening into the Sea of Japan. During the 2000 summer ecotour, we went down the river on seven boats forming a long line of a flotilla stretching far beyond your eyes' reach. If some of them had mechanical problems, therefore, rest of us were kept in suspense not knowing what had really happened.

The key to solving these problems is the ability for all the boats to stay in communication with each other as well as the village. If this were possible, there wouldn't have been these relatively minor problems combining into a major obstacle. If we can quickly ask someone in the village to bring down the spare parts, or stay in touch with the village, and through it with the hotel in Khabarovsk, and ultimately with friends and families in Japan, we could have even enjoyed the experience of weathered in out in the wild for an extra day, or lie on the floor of the lodge for a couple of extra days in the village doing nothing waiting for the helicopter from Khabarovsk.
The hybrid power generating system donated to the village commune (cooperative) by the Virtual Foundation Japan as the first step toward fighting the problem of total isolation wouldn't as yet be of any help last summer because of the financial collapse of Iridium, an American corporation offering satellite communication services.

In fact, we were stuck in Agzu for two extra days last summer because of bad weather without any means of communicating with either our hotel in Khabarovsk or families and offices in Japan. By the time we finally got picked up by helicopters, our hotel in Khabarovsk was beginning to receive telephone calls from Japan, and we barely managed to forestall a certain panic in Japan. Since our return, therefore, the Virtual Foundation Japan has made every effort to explore the technological and economic feasibility of utilizing the cutting-edge digital technology to construct a viable system of communication with the Agzu village, being fully aware that a success in the Samarga valley will go a long way toward more effectively implementing many other projects involving the rural communities in the remote areas of the Asia-Pacific region.

(2) A unique satellite communication concept being tested this spring

Making use of the hybrid power system already in place in Agzu, the Virtual Foundation Japan has finally come up with a system of multilingual e-mail communication system via satellites which will enable the people of the remote rural communities to talk directly to the urban consumers in Japan who are already their friends as ecotourists of the last season as well as those who might be interested to come in the future.
The system uses low-altitude small satellites orbiting around the earth, and a compact, easy-to-operate and portable ground station terminal in the remote area can enable the local residents to latch onto the limitless world of the Internet and communicate with anyone in the world. The Virtual Foundation Japan can provide both the custom-designed hybrid power generator and multilingual translation service solving all of the major obstacles, which keep these remote areas permanently "remote" by forcing them to remian helplessly behind the progress of digital technology.

The first trial project shall be launched in the mountainous region of the Negros Island of the Philippines this spring, whereby the harvesters of wild bananas for export to Japan can talk directly with the Japanese consumers who buy their eco-bananas, and they in turn can ask the Negros islanders how they care for and harvest their bananas. The same setup is planned between the village of Agzu and the Japanese consumers interested in ecotourism in the Russian Far East.
Given the time factor in our favor, the ecotourists, both Japanese and American, who plan on visiting the Samarga valley this summer are very likely to be able to stay in contact not only from where they camp with the Agzu village, but also through it or even directly, with the outside world including their friends and offices in Japan.
Just look at the pictures of camp fires at a point, merely 1-hour boat ride from the Sea of Japan, and see the giant cherry salmon and char being baked whole! You know they go extremely well with your vodka. And, this might well be the place, surrounded by virgin forests sitting on a drift wood lying on crisp dry sand bank, where you can send your e-mails in Japanese or English out to anybody in the world - nothing but a real fruit of the IT revolution!
The Virtual Foundation Japan is also working with the Agzu village commune to design and build a small, but high-quality, fish-processing facility so that the Agzu village can proudly make the catches of the visiting tourists into fine smoke products to be taken back home and brag about their wonderful experience.
Reported by: Yutaka Okamoto
January 19, 2001

Those who want to find out more about the ecotour in the Russian Far East should contact Our Office by e-mail

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EXAMPLE IV (Not Yet Launched)

ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY JAPANESE GRAIN STORAGE TECHNOLOGY FOR RICE FARMERS OF EAST ASIA

[As much as 30 percent or more of rice and other food grains are being lost every year in East Asia due to inadequate storage facilities. The Virtual Foundation plans to assist the Japanese rice farmers help their counterparts in Asian countries with the transfer of the environment-friendly new storage technology developed in Japan.]

Obviously, Myanmar lies in the heart of the monsoon belt with a very high humidity and temperature. The country's rice-growing activities are concentrated in the southwestern region, where there are the most favorable combination of climatic factors.

But, the fortune of the Myanmarese rice farmers is far from being assured because of the post-harvest grain storage problems. Generally speaking, in most Southeast Asian countries, as much as from 30% to 40% of the rice crop of the year is lost by molding and insect infestation. When spoilage by high temperature and high moisture are added to this, the actual loss could be as high as half or more of the actual crop. This indeed is nothing but a loss not only for the Asian rice farmers themselves, but also for the entire mankind. It's a global issue that is perhaps more serious than occasional armed conflicts and must be addressed by all Asians to say the least.

Located at the extreme northern edge of the rice-growing belt in East Asia, Japan has traditionally been forced to come up with the most sophisticated system of rice farming as a result of the need to deal with marginal climatic conditions. The highly developed technological basis of rice farming, which began more than two millennia ago, has provided the material foundation for Japan's unique cultural development right up to the modern times. Japan's rice production knowhow is more than matched by its cutting-edge technology in the storage and distribution of rice gains. And it is in this area that Japan does have a really significant role to play in bringing a vast improvement to Asia's existing grain storage and delivery system by eliminating such painful storage losses. Strong need is felt in a country like Myanmar, where the existing rice storage infrastructure obviously calls for improvements. If the Japanese technology can be transplanted, it will literally result in an almost twofold increase of rice supply without expanding production effort.

This technology was first developed by a research and development team headed by Professor Hisateru Mitsuda of Kyoto University and is commonly called "carbon dioxide hibernation storage method," and is known not only as one of the lowest-cost and most-efficient grains storage methods ever invented. Besides, it has also come under new light in recent years as an environment-friendly technology in comparison with the methyl bromide storage method still widely used in today's Japan. Because of this, the Japanese government is now in the process of eliminating the latter method due to its proven adverse effect on environment. The Myanmar government has already tested the hibernation method with an aim to introduce it extensively to the rice-growing regions of the country by installing new grain storage centers in fifteen strategic locations across the country.

The project idea now under serious consideration by the Virtual Foundation Japan is to bring the Japanese rice farmers together with their counterparts in Myanmar for technical, social and cultural exchange. As the first step toward this goal, an Internet discussion program is to be organized between the university and high school students of both countries with an aim to develop common knowledge on rice culture and the related problems while they train themselves in English language communication so that they can act in the future as volunteer translators/interpreters for the rice farmers of the respective countries. This will mark an important beginning of a region-wide effort of bringing all Asian rice farmers together so that they can work hand in hand in launching new agricultural improvement projects as well as other worthy community undertakings through better mutual understanding and cooperation.

Dr. H. Mitsuda's Remarkable Grain Storage Technology Now Pronounced As Most Environment-Friendly

"Hibernated rice? Do rice grains hibernate? You may wonder and try to recall what you may have learned in biology class." ...........from Dr. Mitsuda's speech

Hibernated Rice: This unique name is given to polished rice grains stored under carbon dioxide (CO2) atmosphere in a gas-tight container. The unique idea of storing rice grains under carbon dioxide atmosphere was first conceived in 1967 by Dr. Hisateru Mitsuda, then Professor of Nutritional Chemistry at Kyoto University, Japan, who is now Professor Emeritus of the same university and a member of Japan Academy of Science. He became convinced that the main cause of the deterioration of rice quality during storage was oxidation as he obtained some hints for resolving this problem from his basic research on enzymes of the organic life that hibernates in winter.

This novel method of rice grain storage consists of rather simple procedures: pouring polished rice grains into a bag made of three-layer, laminated and strengthened plastic sheeting specifically developed for this purpose, replacing the air inside with jet stream of carbon dioxide gas, and quickly heat-sealing the bag. Then, a very interesting phenomenon takes place. Bags containing grains and carbon dioxide gas gradually shrink and become skintight packages within 8 to 24 hours as if it were packed under vacuum as shown in the picture.

This novel method of carbon dioxide exchange and hermetic, skintight packing method aptly called "Rice hibernation method" has been proven to be applicable not only to polished rice grains, but also to almost all other grains (including brown rice) and powders containing protein, such as soybeans, wheat grains, wheat flour, and so on. The above-described skintight packing results from adsorption of carbon dioxide by proteins. Besides, adsorption is reversible. Once the hermetic package is opened and the "hibernated" grains are exposed to the air, they gradually release carbon dioxide gas, and almost all the absorbed carbon dioxide gas can be retrieved within 24 hours.

Packages used for "Rice hibernation method" have been proven sturdy enough to withstand rigorous tests under varying conditions including underwater storage, underground storage, and long distance transport. "Rice hibernation method" has number of merits over the conventional storage methods: During storage and transportation, (1) permeation of vapor and gases from outside is completely prevented, (2) the quality of rice grains is maintained high even at ordinary room temperatures so that the cost of refrigeration can be drastically reduced, (3) the growth of insects, molds, and bacteria are almost completely prevented, and (4) handling of packages is easier and slipping-down troubles in loading of the packages are prevented because of their skin-tightness.

Thus, "Rice hibernation method" is the method of choice for the storage of polished rice at ordinary room temperatures without using insecticides or other harmful chemicals.

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Copyright and other related source information of the pictures used: Sources of Photos in this text, (1) � Thomas Kelley, (2) OIARI, (3) By courtesy of Peter Riggs, RBF, New York, (4) OIARI, (5) ibid.,(6) � Thomas Kelley, (7) ibid., (8)By courtesy of Peter Riggs, RBF, New York, (9) Dietary Life of Rice-Eating Populations, October 24, Kyoto, 1987, (10)Advancement of Application of Agricultural and Food Chemistry Award,Kyoto, 1981, (11) ibid.