16
Vol.5 Issue 1
WINTER
2009
SPECIAL FEATURE
02 A Window to the Past
An Interview with College of Image Arts and Sciences
Professor Tomita Mika
06 RU News Topics
07 APU News Topics
08 Historical Highlights : Myoshin-ji
In the Spotlight : Rooftop Agriculture
A
Window
to the Past
A
Window
to the Past
The Ritsumeikan University College of Image Arts and Sciences opened
in 2007, providing students with access to state-of-the-art equipment
and highly specialized classrooms. In addition, a training complex was
set up in Shochiku Kyoto film studios for use by Ritsumeikan students.
Well known as a center of traditional Japanese arts, Kyoto also has
a long history of film production. College of Image Arts and Sciences
Associate Professor Tomita Mika has spent almost a decade delving
into the history of Kyoto film culture. In this issue, we spoke with Prof.
Tomita about her research related to pioneering, Kyoto-based Japanese
film director, Makino Shozo.
RITSUMEIKAN UNIVERSITY
NEWSLETTER WINTER 2009
The word ritsumei comes from a passage in the
Jinxin chapter of the Discourses of Mencius. This
passage states, ”Some die young, as some live
long lives. This is decided by fate. Therefore,
one’s duty consists of cultivating one’s
mind during this mortal span and thereby
establishing one’s destiny.” Thus, Ritsumeikan
means ”the place to establish one’s destiny.”
Cover Picture
Order of Names
The cover picture, from the ukiyo-e collection of
Ritsumeikan University’s Art Research Center, is
by Toyohara Kunichika, a prolific artist who was
active from the end of the Edo period into the
Meiji period.
In this publication, the name order for
personal names preserves the original order
of the nationality in question. For example,
Japanese, Chinese, and Korean names are
presented in the surname/given name order,
while the given name/surname order is used
for people from Western countries.
Organization of Ritsumeikan
Published by
The Ritsumeikan Trust is the legal entity that operates the entire
Ritsumeikan Academy, which is comprised of Ritsumeikan University,
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, and the affiliate secondary
schools. In this publication, ”Ritsumeikan” is used to refer to the
Ritsumeikan Academy, while RU and APU refer to Ritsumeikan
University and Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, respectively.
Office of Public Relations,
Ritsumeikan University
*In this publication, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Sports, Culture, Science and Technology is referred to as the Ministry of Education.
Designed by
Delights, Inc.
In 2000, RU College of Image Arts and Sciences
Associate Professor Tomita Mika played a central role
in starting up the Kyoto Film Culture Digital Archive
“Makino Project.” The project involved integrated
research and archive activities related to the large-scale
film association Makino Pictures, which is said to have
laid the foundation for the modern Japanese movie
industry. Archive building and digitization activities
continue today, and the project has since expanded in
scope to include material related to Daiei Kyoto Studios
and entertainment in the Meiji (1868-1912) and Taisho
(1912-26) eras, prior to Makino Pictures. Prof. Tomita
spoke with us about Makino Shozo (the so-called “father
of Japanese cinema”), re-evaluating Japanese film history,
working with students on archive activities and Japan’s
first film star, Onoe Matsunosuke.
Prof. Tomita: In 1921, film director Makino
Shozo (1878-1929) moved his studio to a place
near Toji-in (a temple - featured on the back cover
of Ritsumeikan Issue #9 - a minute’s walk from
Ritsumeikan University’s Kinugasa Campus), where
he made a large number of movies.
While it is said that Makino pictures were the starting
point for Japanese cinema, it was really the content
of those works, and what kind of people were doing
what kinds of activities at the studio that interested
us, and since we knew very little about those things,
we started out by investigating them. If we don’t
have a firm understanding of the content of those
films and the people involved in their production,
we won’t really be able to understand Kyoto film
history and indeed Japanese film history as a whole.
Conventionally, Japanese film history, including
the Taisho era (1912-26), Showa era (1926-89)
and today, has been written with a focus on Tokyo
entrepreneurs and Tokyo researchers, a so-called
Tokyo-centric historical view.
For example, the main headquarters
for most film studios were in
Tokyo. The headquarters for
Nikkatsu Corporation and Daiei
Motion Picture Company (now
Kadokawa Pictures) were in Tokyo,
Associate Professor
so basically the historical view of
Tomita Mika
Japanese films focuses on Tokyo.
College of Image Arts and Sciences
And there has also been a focus
on directors, stars and particular
works. So for me, rather than focusing on Tokyo, I
wanted to research movie production in each region
and the reception of those movies, in other words,
the creation and reception of regional movie culture.
And in looking at that I started thinking this research
could be done not just in Kyoto, but in other regions
as well. So while researching Makino movies, I
wanted to acquire a regional, non-Tokyo perspective
on film history. The subject of my research was not
only the directors Makino Shozo and his son Makino
Masahiro (1908-93), but also the history of people in
other positions, including assistant directors, movie
prop people and regional filmmakers.
Almost no one who worked with Makino Shozo is
still alive today, but materials will probably continue
to emerge from surviving family members. Regarding
oral history, conversations with people connected
with Makino Pictures have been recorded, and filmrelated materials can be collected from surviving
family members and shared with the next generation.
In that sense, we are also creating an archive.
Another big reason I wanted to do this was because
it’s being done at a university, and students can
participate in the work. In most museums, it’s not
students who do archive creation activities but staff
members. With our project, university and graduate
students can access these materials, input data,
digitize material, and participate in restoration.
So the project can also serve as human resource
development in archive creation. More than anything
else, we hope to provide a valuable life experience
for the students. I wanted to do something different
from individual research and I wanted to be able to
SPECIAL FEATURE
An Interview with
Professor Tomita Mika
: An Interview
with Professor Tomita Mika
A
Window
to the Past
: An Interview
with Professor Tomita Mika
work directly with students and contribute to human
resource development.
Can you talk about collaboration
with other researchers?
We who are concerned with film archives feel that
movies are a form of memory for humanity. The people
and atmosphere of that point in time are contained in
that footage. It’s like a memory capsule.
What’s the significance of the
digital archive?
Prof. Tomita: The ”digital“ part of ”digital archive“
refers to making a viewing copy. Through the creation
of a viewing copy, we can
reduce the number of times
the original is accessed so
that the original is better
preserved.
Prof. Tomita: That’s right. Without a viewing
copy, the original will be damaged. With the digital
archive, we created viewing copies that we can use
in a number of ways while properly preserving the
original. If the original is lost, we only have the
viewing copy, which is lower in quality than the
original, so it’s especially important that the original
copy be preserved.
What is the appeal of Makino
pictures? What’s distinctive about
them?
Prof. Tomita: Well the first thing to note is that
there are very few materials that remain from Makino
Pictures; less than one percent is left. Therefore,
there are more things that we don’t know than we
do, so the more we study this, the more interesting
it becomes (laughs). As for what is interesting about
them, the films being created at Makino Pictures at
that time were different from the prevailing idea now
that movies at that time were all period films and
sword fight films.
What about Orochi (a 1925 silent samurai
picture featuring innovative sword-fighting action)?
Prof. Tomita: Orochi was a work starring Bantsuma
(Bando Tsumasaburo [1901-53], a prominent actor
in silent films) just after he left Makino Pictures, but
Orochi as well is basically a direct descendant of the
Makino line. In Orochi and other films, literary youths
- naïve, slightly frail, young people - were becoming
the protagonists. And there was also some rebellious,
anti-war sentiment, but more than that, from the
Taisho era to the Showa era, so-called popular
fiction was becoming popular. This was being done
outside of Makino Pictures as well, but popular serial
novels were being made into movies. If you ask what
changed at that time, especially in Makino pictures,
it was the assimilation of the fencing-like sword play
style of American films - which had been popular
since before that - and the inclusion of elements
borrowed from popular novels.
How has the project expanded
beyond research on the films
themselves?
Prof. Tomita: Of course the production site and
the contents of the works were interesting, but the
way that entertainment was received by society in
the 1920s was really interesting as well. In the latest
research, being conducted primarily by graduate
students, the state of the entertainment industry
in movie theaters is being converted to data.
Kyoto newspapers from the Taisho and Showa eras,
entertainment industry public relation materials,
documents, all of that is being converted to data,
and not just materials about the movie theaters but
also materials related to theatrical venues in the
Shinkyogoku and Nishijin districts of Kyoto. If we do
that, we can see all the entertainment that was taking
place at one time in the so-called entertainment
industry. Each theater had different characteristics to
their programs and ways of operating. We’re interested
in seeing roughly what kind of people were gathering
here in Kyoto, and what kind of entertainment they
were watching. And for a particular kind of theme,
how was it changing, and how was it received by
people at a number of theaters at the same time. We
are trying to look at these works from the perspective
of the people at that time.
Working with those fliers and still photos from
that time together, we can understand them more
stereoscopically. And if we do that, we can compare that
information with what was happening in Tokyo and see
the unique characteristics of Kyoto. For example, take
Onoe Matsunosuke (1875-1926, originally a Kabuki
theatre performer, nicknamed “Eyeballs Matsu” for
his expressive eyes), the so-called first movie star
of Japan. A grad student here is doing research on
Matsunosuke. You might think, “Onoe Matsunosuke
was the first movie star, so he only did movies,”--well,
it’s not like that. Actually, Matsunosuke Onoe was
still acting on the stage in the Nishijin district until
just before he died. And Matsunosuke was acting in
plays at night in a place on Senbon-dori in Nishijin,
while at a nearby movie theater, his movies could
be seen. And in Shinkyogoku there were different
Matsunosuke movies being shown. So Matsunosuke
fans in Kyoto could see everything he appeared in. As
those plays were further established as entertainment,
Matsunosuke’s plays proved to still be popular. That is
one of the unique characteristics of Kyoto.
How were these films watched?
Prof. Tomita: From the Taisho era to the Showa era,
each movie theater was not screening just one work at
one time but many. For example in the case of Orochi,
which we just talked about, newsreels and works from
foreign countries were also on the program.
On one screen? Not like a cinema
complex today? A news reel and then
two movies for example?
Prof. Tomita: That’s right. For example, on the
news reel you might have volcano eruptions, world
news, etc. And after the news reel, you’d have Orochi
and then a foreign film. And which was the main
feature was up to management.
If we think about being at the movie theater the way
that we we think about watching television today,
for the audience of that time, among activities like
reading the newspaper or a magazine, a movie was
received as one work among a number of others. If we
limit ourselves to just studying the works themselves,
we won’t be able to understand the way that the works
were received in that era.
If your research subject is limited
to Makino Pictures, you’ll eventually
finish right? What percent have you
finished so far?
Prof. Tomita: But if you talk about Makino Pictures,
there’s also Daiei Kyoto Studios, and entertainment
in the Taisho and Meiji eras prior to Makino Pictures,
so it keeps getting wider in scope.
So there’s no end to it?
Prof. Tomita: That’s right, there’s no end to it.
SPECIAL FEATURE
SPECIAL FEATURE
Prof. Tomita: During the course of archive
creation activities at RU,
teachers and students may
think, “Oh! If we offer the
data that we have to that
place (an institution doing
related research) it can
become more interesting.” For example, if two people
have pictures and footage from one film studio, those
materials can be combined into materials about that
studio that are easier to understand. Therefore,
we want to properly preserve and pass down these
remaining original materials, including raw material,
moving images, oral history, and photographs. We
also want to preserve related goods and texts as well.
In addition, it’s possible to copy and replicate those
materials and create new materials together with
other researchers. For example, materials that show
geographical features such as trees on mountains
which have disappeared may be useful as raw material
for people conducting geographical research. But we
don’t know how to conduct that kind of research.
Therefore, if we offer this material to theaters and
film researchers, we can get more people to see the
value and appeal of this film.
And then a number of people can
do research on it?
RU TOPICS
R i t s u m e i k a n
APU TOPICS
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
U n i v e r s i t y
Fourth Session of the Special
Research Seminar for Administrators
from Chinese Universities in
Chongqing
Research Center of Dalian Municipal Government,
the RU Research Center for Disaster Mitigation
of Urban Cultural Heritage, the Earthquake
Administration of the City of Dalian, and the
Ritsumeikan University North East Asia Research
Center.
The visit, at the invitation of Dalian Mayor Xia
Deren, follows RU’s presentation of an honorary
doctorate to Mayor Xia in September of 2008.
Participants pose for a commemorative photo
At the ceremony, Ritsumeikan Vice-Chancellor
Hongo Masatsugu delivered the following words
of greeting: “I am confident that this seminar will
produce good results, and if it can contribute to the
development of higher education in Chongqing,
a new page will be added in Ritsumeikan’s work
towards friendly relations between China and
Japan.” The head of the training group responded,
“We trainees will cherish this opportunity for
study, gain as much knowledge as possible, and
make use of that knowledge in the development
of higher education in China.”
Chancellor Kawaguchi Attends
“Northeast Asia Disaster Prevention
Technology and Human Resource
Development International
Symposium” in Dalian, China
Ritsumeikan Chancellor Kawaguchi Kiyofumi,
College of Science and Engineering Professor
Yamasaki Masafumi, Ritsumeikan Global Innovation
Research Organization (R-GIRO) Professor Suzuki
Yoshiyuki, and Visiting Professor Taniguchi Hitoshi
visited Dalian, China from November 25th-27th,
2008, to attend the “Northeast Asia Disaster
Prevention Technology and Human Resource
Development International Symposium.” The
symposium was sponsored by the Development
The 2009 Council Meeting is scheduled to be held
at Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy.
Administrative staff
from some of the 11
universities from 9
countries that make
up the INU
Completion Ceremony for Study in
Kyoto Program
A completion ceremony was held for this winter’s
graduates of RU’s Study in Kyoto Program (SKP) on
January 22nd, 2009, in Igakukan #1 Hall at Kinugasa
Campus. The ceremony marked the graduation of
46 international students from America, Australia,
Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany,
Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines,
South Korea, Sweden, and Taiwan.
In the fourth and final seminar for the municipality
of Chongqing, 24 administrative staff members
from universities and institutions arrived in Japan
on October 23rd, 2008, and a course-opening
ceremony was held on the 24th.
Chancellor Kawaguchi delivers his opening remarks at
the symposium
2008 INU Council Meeting Held at RU
The 2008 Council Meeting for the International
Network of Universities (INU) was held at the RU
Kinugasa and Suzaku campuses from November
11th-13th, 2008.
The INU is a cooperative international organization
that works towards the internationalization
and advancement of education, research and
administration at member universities through
the promotion of international exchange between
students, faculty and staff members. At present,
INU membership includes 11 universities from 9
countries (America, Australia, England, Hungary,
Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Sweden)
with the INU Secretariat located in La Trobe
University, Australia.
Student Group "APU Tridat"
Selected for Toyota Foundation
Grant Program
In addition to the graduating students, the
ceremony was attended by their “buddies”
(Japanese students who volunteered to assist the
international students with their life in Japan), the
current SKP students, and many RU faculty and
staff members.
The ceremony began with opening remarks from
Nakagawa Ryoji, Director of the International Center
at Kinugasa Campus. This was followed by a short
address from Koezuka Hiroshi, Vice President of
Ritsumeikan University and Vice Chancellor of the
Ritsumeikan Trust. After his address, Vice President
Koezuka presented a completion certificate to Xu
Xiaoling, the representative for the SKP students,
who then gave an address on behalf of her fellow
graduates.
To conclude the ceremony, ten graduating students
performed shamisen pieces and traditional
Japanese songs under the instruction of Tokiwazu
Tokizo, a shamisen teacher in Kyoto’s traditional
Gion district. The students had studied the
shamisen as part of the cultural component of the
SKP.
The meeting brought together representatives
primarily comprised of presidents and vicepresidents from ten member universities
who discussed recent events at their
universities, the state of higher
education in each respective country,
reports on and appraisals of the year’s
various exchange projects, methods
of acquiring funds for new activities,
the development of the Dual Master’s
Tokiwazu Tokizo introduces the shamisen performance as his students look on
Members of
Tridat pose for a
commemorative
photo
Student Group "APU Tridat" has had their project
entitled "Finding Asia's New Possibility - Creating
an Approach to Asia by Diversity and through
Sharing" selected for the "Asian Neighbors
Network Program" – a 2008 Toyota Foundation
Grant Program. This is the first such selection for
APU undergraduate students.
The adopted project looks at the negative legacy
left by the damage caused by the use of Agent
Orange during the Vietnam War. Project activities
will include holding exhibitions in Japanese and
Vietnamese universities about the Vietnam War
and damage caused by Agent Orange, forming
an international student network, and holding
workshops about the damage caused by Agent
Orange.
Prof. Lee speaks with President Cassim
'Brain Circulation' cycle."
Following this, Prof. Lee presented a seminar
entitled "Global Efforts for a Sustainable Future"
in which he discussed how the world has to
work together as one - not as many separate
government bodies - to solve the problems the
world is faced with.
Republic of Malawi Minister of
Foreign Affairs Pays Courtesy Visit
to APU
The "Asian Neighbors Network Program"
operates under the principle that "Connections
between people open up Asia's possibilities" and
is working towards solving the problems Asia is
facing.
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Prof.
Lee Yuan Tseh Visits APU
On Thursday, December 18th, 2008, Prof. Lee
Yuan Tseh, Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry
(President Emeritus and Distinguished Research
Fellow, Academia Sinica) visited APU, spoke
with President Cassim and delivered an RCAPS
seminar.
During his conversation with President Cassim,
Prof. Lee spoke about the 'Brain Drain, Brain
Gain and Brain Circulation' phenomenon. "Many
developing countries are concerned about the
richer countries attracting their best and brightest
brains (Brain-Drain). However, these ‘brains’ can
gain education and expertise overseas (BrainGain) and then go on to play a major role
in their home country’s development (BrainCirculation). Therefore, for developing countries
this phenomenon also has great benefits." In
response, President Cassim replied, "At APU we
have students from 87 countries and regions so
we feel that we are playing an important role
in 'Brain-Gain.' We hope that our international
students can make a great contribution to their
home country’s development and complete the
Ms. Banda speaks with President Cassim
On Wednesday, December 17th, 2008, Joyce
Banda, MP, Republic of Malawi Minister of Foreign
Affairs, paid a courtesy visit to APU and spoke with
President Cassim, Professor Sanga-Ngoie Kazadi,
who serves as Dean of International Cooperation
& Research, and APS Professor Kondo Yuichi. There
were many high-level diplomats in attendance
including The Republic of Malawi Ambassador to
Japan, Roosevelt L. Gondwe and Ambassador of
Japan to Malawi, Motoyoshi Noro.
During their conversation, President Cassim said,
"APU has students studying from a range of
African nations and we hope to continue to build
bridges with Africa through student exchange and
by developing African human resources so that we
can make our contribution to the development
of African nations." In response, Foreign Affairs
Minister Banda said, "Recently Malawi has made
a great deal of progress and we hope to maintain
this success by developing human resources
and technical experts who can make a great
contribution to our country. I am sure that there is
much that our students can learn at APU." Three
APU international students from Malawi also
attended and chatted with Ms. Banda.
RCAPS Seminar on Japanese
Popular Culture
On Wednesday, December 10th, 2008, Do Thi Thu
Phuong (Master's Candidate, GSAPS, Vietnam)
presented an RCAPS seminar entitled "Japanese
Popular Culture in Vietnam - The Impact of
Japanese Manga and Anime on Vietnamese
Youth" as an opportunity to gain feedback from
her peers as she works towards the completion of
her research.
Ms. Do discussed the findings of her research
into the impact of Japanese manga and anime on
Vietnam. During her lecture Ms. Do described the
reasons why Vietnamese youth enjoy Japanese
manga. "One of the main reasons why manga
is so popular is because the readers can dream
and hope – they can nurture their dream of
someday studying in Japan and studying the
Japanese language. Vietnamese youth want to
learn Japanese so that they can read the original
Japanese text, not the Vietnamese translation
version."
At the conclusion of her talk there was a lively
discussion about the implications and reaction
from society to such a phenomenon. The lecture
was attended by many students who gave Ms. Do
some constructive feedback.
RCAPS conducts seminars inviting lecturers from
within and outside APU with the aim of network
building and sharing information on Asia Pacific
Studies.
Ms. Do presents her research findings
APU NEWS TOPICS
RU NEWS TOPICS
Ritsumeikan University has been conducting the
“Special Research Seminar for Administrators
from Chinese Universities” as one of the yen loanfinanced “Higher Education Projects in China”
since 2004. The first such seminar was a ten-week
long session for administrative staff at universities
and institutions in Chongqing.
In China, interest in the earthquake resistance of
public structures is increasing as a result of the
2008 Sichuan Earthquake that occurred this past
May, and a large number of structures in Dalian
are becoming subjects for protection as historical
structures. This joint symposium was held in
recognition that, as ensuring the earthquake
resistance of these structures becomes an issue,
there is a need for collaboration in human resource
development and the strengthening of urban
disaster mitigation systems, including structural
earthquake resistance diagnosis.
Degree Program in Global Citizenship and Peace,
and work plans for the next year. As the scope of
INU activities rapidly expands, it was significant and
timely for RU to host and successfully conclude the
Council Meeting.
Visitors who enter the
Yokushitsu can explore the
inside of the bathhouse
M
yoshin-ji, “Temple of the Wondrous Mind,” is a massive complex of temples
located just a ten-minute walk south from RU Kinugasa Campus. It serves
as headquarters for the Myoshin-ji school of Rinzai Zen Buddhism, which is the
largest of the fourteen schools of Japanese Rinzai Zen, with 3,000 temples across
the country.
Myoshin-ji was established in 1337 through the conversion by cloistered emperor
Hanazono (1297-1348, reigned from 1308-18) of his imperial villa. Zen master
Kanzan Egen (1277-1360) served as first abbot. In the Onin War of 1467, almost
all the buildings of the compound were destroyed, but they were later restored by
the sixth abbot of the temple, Sekko Soshin (1408-1486).
There are 47 sub-temples on the grounds, although few of those are open to the
public. Visitors walking from Kinugasa Campus can enter through the north gate.
Admission to the temple grounds themselves is free, and they are open 24 hours
a day. Indeed, many local residents use the paths of the complex as a short cut on
their way through the neighborhood.
Well-manicured hedges line the
path to one of the sub-temples
Myoshin-ji
The primary buildings of Myoshin-ji are located in the central, southern part of
the complex. Following the main path from the north gate, visitors will be able to
peek in at parts of the complex that are not open to the public. Statues and quiet,
hedge-lined paths can be seen framed in dark wooden doorways.
The main area of the complex consists of a wide space with three buildings lined
up within it, the Hatto, the Butsuden and the vermilion Sanmon. Visitors who opt
for the tour (500 yen, 9-5 pm) can gain admission to the Hatto. Inside they will
be able to see Unryuzu (雲龍図 - cloud dragon picture), a painting of a dragon on
the ceiling which took eight years to create and appears to follow one around the
room with its gaze. Visitors to the Hatto can also see Japan’s oldest bell, cast in 698
(but now cracked), and hear a recording of its thunderous peal. The tour concludes
at the Yokushitsu (浴室 - bathhouse), located just southeast of the three main
buildings. A white building with bell-shaped windows,
the Yokushitsu is also known as the Akechiburo for
its link to Akechi Mitsuhide, the man who betrayed
legendary warlord Oda Nobunaga.
The Hatto houses several important
cultural properties
Rooftop Agriculture
P
NCI Rooftop Agriculture Division is an RU student group engaged in
Kyo-yasai (京野菜 - Kyoto Vegetables) rooftop agriculture. Rooftop
gardening is an effective method for dealing with the “heat island”
phenomenon, and in recent years there has been substantial publicity
concerning Japanese agricultural issues and food safety. We spoke
with PNCI Rooftop Agriculture Division members Morisaki Masaki and
Tatematsu Yuki (Third-year students, College of Policy Science).
★What kind of challenges and
rewards have you experienced
through this project?
Originally we were members of the Peer Nest (PN) student
organization but this Peer Nest College Incubator (PNCI) Rooftop
Agriculture Division was started when we got together with other PN
members to participate in a student
venture business contest. I’ve been
interested in agriculture for some time,
and was pleased that we were able to
advance to the finals of the contest.
MM : AAs soon as we started the
project, it was determined that
the Kyo-yasai restaurant Tawawa, Morisaki Masaki
which has a store on the seventh Third-year student, College of Policy Science
floor of RU Suzaku Campus, would Tatematsu Yuki
receive orders of our vegetables. Third-year student, College of Policy Science
It was tough finding a place to
grow them, so I felt overjoyed when we finally found a place for our
agriculture project and I was excited to actually start cultivation. Growing
the plants was a lot of hard work, but there was a tremendous feeling
of accomplishment when we harvested the plants, and it was also
gratifying to see that members who knew nothing about agriculture
were able to learn cultivation methods.
We needed funds to get the
project running, so we applied for and
received entrepreneur support incentives after
passing through the first round of the contest
and conducting a presentation related to rooftop
agriculture.
We had a request from a teacher at a city junior high wanting to
hold a class with us during integrated study time. Thinking that it was an
excellent chance to popularize Kyo-yasai, which is one of our goals, we
planted Mizuna (potherb mustard plants or Japanese greens) with the
junior high students. We were able to learn anew the power of agriculture
from seeing normally quiet students physically expressing their feelings.
★What led you to think of rooftop agriculture?
The Ritsumeikan “R” Communication Mark
1 Nishinokyo-Suzaku-cho, Nakagyo-ku
Kyoto, JAPAN 604-8520 TEL: 81-75-813-8146
The concept of the “R” communication mark comes from a passage in the Ritsumeikan Charter which
states, “Ritsumeikan will foster learning and the development of individual talents in order to nurture
just and ethical global citizens.” This image of the ideal student at Ritsumeikan is expressed by the capital
letter “R” in the gothic font, and through this mark, Ritsumeikan aims to project strength and confidence.