Tsushinbunka: Lyon

From a column that I put together for the postal service.

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The first time that a movie was screened in Japan was in Kyoto. It was at the Former Rissei Elementary School, a public school on the edge of Kamogawa. Last year’s Kyoto International Film and Art Festival was also held at this now defunct school. Immortalizing film’s culture in an elementary school lost to the ages. Beautiful.

Movies came into the world in 1895, two years before the Kyoto screening. Their birthplace was Lyon, a city in south-east France. Lyon is located at the junction of the rivers Rhône and Saône. This reminds me of how two rivers merge and run through Kyoto.

The brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière are the fathers of cinema. These two great brothers remind me of some of Japan’s own famous brothers, such as the marathon runner brothers So, the baseball player brothers Kaneda, the Hatoyama brothers, and Minamoto no Yoritomo and his brother Minamoto no Yoshitsune.

I decided to take a trip to the holy land. The invention of cinema entertained millions during the 20^th century, making its inventors true heroes. Movies have been around for 120 years now, and in recent years, we are  troubled by the loss of historic works due to film’s natural deterioration. How do we preserve this great culture for the next generation, and how do we extol the heroes that gave it to us?

It turns out that both the house and workshop of the brothers Lumière have been preserved to this day. Unfortunately, the humble abode located on the outskirts of town does not see many visitors.

On that note, I noticed an even more glorified hero when I stepped out into Lyon’s airport. The airport is named after Saint Exupéry, famed author of The Little Prince. That is the name seen right at the entrance. Apparently, the airport was renamed after him in 2000 for his 100^th anniversary. Yet, the airport was not renamed Lumière Airport to commemorate the brothers’ 100^th anniversary back in 1995.

In Place Bellecour, a public square in the middle of Lyon, stands a bronze statue of Saint Exupéry next to one of Louis XIV. Yet, there is no statue of the brothers Lumière.

That reminds me. The French franc was the currency of France before the euro was adopted, and the 50 franc bill featured a cute drawing of The Little Prince together with a photo of Saint Exupéry.  The euro was officially adopted by France in 1999. This means that they changed the name of the Lyon airport immediately after they stopped using francs.

While our money here in Japan has been labeled with famous authors such as Natsume Soseki and Higuchi Ichiyo, no one has had an airport named after them yet. However, looking at examples such as Kochi Ryoma Airport and Yonago Kitaro Airport, we might not be far off from adopting this practice.

Saint Exupéry is considered a hero in France not only for having written captivating stories. He was also an airmail pilot. His job was an honorable one, involving delivering precious messages to their recipients. He continued to fly even during the dangerous era of World War 2, and was never heard from again after taking flight one day.

Letters may seem less important to us than movies do. However, each and every one of those letters was written with someone special in mind, and the words contained within were considered priceless by their writers. Saint Exupéry carried these letters, flying out over the Mediterranean Sea with bullets whizzing past him. That is why he is a hero. Even without the Franc, he lives on through the airport.

I am impressed. Cheers to Lyon.

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The 2nd Digital Manga Campus Match

I was on the executive committee for the Digital Manga Campus Match awards ceremony.

Students submit their works to the contest, which is designed to help discover and raise new manga artists.

This year was the second time that the contest was held.

2064 entries were received this year.

They came from 122 schools, also including high schools in Japan, and schools in both China and France.

Sunday, Magazine, and Margaret are some of the 36 editorial departments that participated.

Machiko Satonaka and a cast of well-known professional manga artists acted as judges.

Awards such as the Grand Prize, Tetsuya Chiba Special Prize, Excellence Prize, and Encouragement Prize were given out.

The Grand Prize was awarded to Calvi Sato’s “Jupiter,” and the Tetsuya Chiba Special Prize was awarded to Moe Machita’s “Tatakai no Hitomaku.”  Congratulations.

This may sound strange considering my involvement, but I believe that this is a truly worthwhile project.

The combination of manga, which is one of Japan’s treasured cultural expressions, with digital technology gives birth to new talents and industries.

Professional manga artists, schools, publishers and those involved in the manga business join together for this project, which many young men and women participated in.

Ms. Satonaka brought up two important points.

She mentioned that although people grow, although schools do exist to help them, the problem is the “exit.” It is equally important for these youths to have a place and an industry in which they can spread their wings and fly as professionals. I recognize that it is our job to provide them with both an “entry” and an “exit.”

The second point that she brought up is that manga is a composite way expression. It involves not only drawing pictures, but also writing a scenario/story. Anyone can participate in the creative process. I was told, “That’s why you should make your own manga too,” but I have not quite gotten around to it yet. It is a task for another day.

Ms. Satonaka finished with a speech for both industry members and students.

“There are still many talented people out there who want to draw. We need to provide more exits for them. Pay mind and foster young talents. Giving talent water and fertilizer is important, but so is waiting patiently for them to blossom.

To our award-winners, I would like for you to understand that this is only the very beginning. You have to discover what it is that you want to draw. Trying to calculate and draw only what will be popular or what your editor will like is to climb up the short staircase. What you should be really aiming for is the long staircase.

Many artists have shown promise in their teens only to give up around the age of 25. It is a waste of your talents to give up just because of a little bump in the road. There are some things that you can only achieve by persevering through hardship. Persevere.

Even if things do not work out with your debut work, remember that there are many other publishers out there. There is nothing to be afraid of. The big scary company that you fear is just a figment of your imagination. Make your mark on the world with your own two hands. Everyone out there is equal. From one manga artist to another, good luck.”

Good luck.

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Students, the bureaucrats are not concerned about that.

 The following occurred during a lesson where an IT bureaucrat was invited to speak to the class.

After they gave an explanation of the government's policy of "promoting the development of 4K8K super high definition technologies to enhance realism and empathy" to the class, one student asked, "Why are they choosing to focus on high definition for that purpose?" Their question hit the bullseye.

From the point of view of students working with media technology development, there are various approaches available for enhancing realism and empathy other than super high definition technologies, such as 3D presentation, touch transmission, and social media sharing. Even teachers at school would be found scratching their heads if a student wrote about super high definition technologies as a way of enhancing realism and empathy on an exam. "Why 4K8K?" is a natural question to ask.

The public office responds to this doubt by providing a logical explanation about how 4K8K technologies are expected to enhance realism more than other technology. Otherwise, they would never be able to make it through budget negotiations with the Ministry of Finance, let alone budget inquiries from the National Diet. Their position is one where you are trained to give explanations like a true professional, so it is only natural that they would expect this question to be asked and prepare for it in advance.

However, students. While they would never actually admit it, the government does not actually want to enhance realism. Their objective is "promoting 4K8K," and "realism" exists as a reason for it.

So, why 4K8K? Thinking about that is the theme of this class on IT policies.

The answer is because there’re “industries” who want it to happen, who are supported by the "National Diet” through policy, and because bureaucrats believe that it can contribute to national interests such as international competitiveness. In other words, the policy is more of an industrial policy than it is a utilization policy.

"Does this mean that industrial policies are favored over other ones such as utilization, technology, culture, and international policies?”

No, students, that is not the answer either. If the demand for it as a utilization policy was strong enough, the bureaucrats would follow in accordance.

If the demand for a Safe and Secure Internet Use for Young People is strong enough, despite the demand being unfavorable for the communications industry, the bureaucrats would take the National Diet's intentions into consideration and proceed with its systematic implementation.

Do you think that realism will be considered important for a utilization policy?

Simply ask the people what they want. More likely than not, they will ask for you to lower the communication fees or the NHK license fee before they even mention realism.

Does that mean that realism should be abandoned?

No, because then people would begin to question the bureaucrat's professional foresight.

A skilled bureaucrat is able to make an order of precedence when making a policy, balancing users, businesses, technology trends, and international situations.

Figuring out what to do where requires a sort of creativity. Of course, all jobs require creativity, and bureaucracy is no different.

This class is not aimed at students who want to become bureaucrats. It is a class for media innovators. Be it with a company, a NPO, as an entrepreneur, or any other path chosen, we always need to consider the public interest. Think about what form the public interest will take when turned into a policy, what mechanism it will become, and how the other party will react to it.

Of course, it is equally beneficial to simulate services, businesses, and positions involved with companies,  entrepreneurs, and other entities as it is to simulate making policies as a bureaucrat. When doing so, join in and learn from real business persons and entrepreneurs. The school's job is to provide a place to make that happen.

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