HOME > Art & Culture > What's New
 |
2009
Kansai Sites and Insights
Discover the singular culture and history of Kansai through the unique insights of resident experts from the area's foreign community.
|
Social Distortion
Christopher Stephens finds out how Osaka became badDec 1, 2009 It hardly bears repeating. The people of Osaka are impudent, impatient, and ill-mannered; they talk too loud, don’t stop at red lights, and when it comes to money, are incredibly tight. Or are they? Kuroda Isamu, professor of Mass Media Studies at Kansai University, has been watching the way Osaka and its residents are portrayed in print and broadcast media for over 15 years. He argues that much of what we, and more recently Osakans themselves, believe about the city is little more than a stereotype that was perpetrated by Tokyo in the 1980s, and through constant repetition, has come to be accepted fact. |
|
|
A spirit of place
John Dougill traces Kyoto's special atmosphere to Emperor KammuJun 17, 2009 In terms of climate, Kyoto has one of the worst locations in Japan. Unbearably hot in summer, it also has a piercing cold wind in winter that comes down from Mt. Hiei. In one season you're muttering mushiatsui (humid) all the time; in another, it's useful to know the word sokobie (literally, “cold at the bottom”). River basins have their own micro-climate and that of Kyoto is far from ideal. |
|
|
Trashy tunes
Colin Smith whistles the themes of the garbage collectorMay 22, 2009 If you live or work in Osaka and find the city to be sorely lacking in trees, flowers or other greenery, it might interest you to know that even the drab, gray Osaka of today contains eleven times more parkland foliage and 90 times more streetside trees than it did in 1964. This was the year of the Tokyo Olympics, the year the Shinkansen began running, and in Osaka, the year of the Ryokka 100-nen Sengen (or 100-Year “Greenification” Proclamation). This was an official designation of the ensuing century as one in which Osaka would gradually be turned into a green urban paradise, full of lush foliage bordering its crystal-blue rivers and the twittering of little birds filling the air. |
|
All Rights Reserved. Copyright(c) Organization of Kansai Unity(KU)