Visiting Nishiyama Park and Nishimaya Zoo in Sabae City, Fukui Prefecture!

As we introduced in our previous blog that I visited Echizen Matsushima Aquarium with Mr. Ugyen Dorji’s family.

Mr. Ugyen Dorji is studying at University of Fukui as a teacher trainee from Bhutan since around October of 2017. And at the end of March of 2018, his family arrived in Japan as well.

Today, I would like to introduce Nishiyama Park and Nishiyama Zoo in Sabae City, Fukui Prefecture which I visited with his family.
Nishiyama Park is famous for azalea flowers.
Nishiyama Zoo is well known for lesser pandas (also called red pandas).

We headed for Nishiyama Park and Nishiyama Zoo after visiting Echizen Matsushima Aquarium. It takes about an hour from the aquarium to the park and the zoo. It was such a beautiful day, so it was a perfect day for going for a drive as well.

It was getting so hot that we needed to take a break. We stopped by Michi-no-eki Nishiyama Park (Road Station Nishiyama Park). Mr. Ugen Dorji's son had a soft-serve ice cream.


I had an Azalea flavored soft-serve ice cream. Not only the color was cute, the taste of it was very sweet and nice! (The video above was taken by a GEN staff in May of 2015)

In this building, there is a café and a local product shop (they sell local vegetables, lacquer wares, eyeglasses and so on). Also, there is an elevator which takes visitors to the second floor. On the second floor, there is a small bridge connected to the park and the zoo. The visitors can enjoy walking on the bridge and watching the scenery.

At the zoo, cute animals welcome the visitors.

Squirrel monkeys were very active, and they kept moving around. They were so cute that we could not help watching them for a while.

It was the first time for Mr. Ugyen Dorji’s son to visit the zoo, and of course to see a red-crowned crane was the first time for him as well.

One of the symbols of the friendly relations between Japan and China is lesser pandas (red pandas), and they are very popular at the zoo.

It has been about 34 years since the first lesser pandas (red pandas) were given by the Beijing Zoo in 1984. They’ve been well taken care of at Nishiyama Zoo and they’ve been also loved by many visitors.

As we went on, we saw some beautiful azalea flowers. Mr. Ugyen Dorji’s sister loves flowers and she grows azalea flowers in Bhutan, so she was so excited to see the flowers there.

Nishiyama Park is famous for azalea flowers. It’s stunning when 50,000 of azalea flowers are in full bloom. It looks like a large colorful carpet. The azalea flowers are usually in full bloom in the beginning of May. It was in the end of April when we visited the park and zoo, and not every azalea was in full bloom. It was little too early for all the flowers to be in full bloom.

There is a large lawn and a water fountain in the park as well. Some people were playing with balls, running, having picnics, taking a walk, and some people were just sitting and enjoying the beautiful weather. I saw many people of all ages at the park.

If you have a chance to come Fukui, you must go to Nishiyama Park and Nishiyama Zoo in Sabae City, Fukui! I’m sure it will be a refreshing and fun experience for you.

T.F

Demonstration flight of fully automatic pesticide spraying drone

The other day, after spraying pesticide with drone in Higashiomi City, Shiga Prefecture, I saw a demonstration flight of XAIRCRAFT drone for agricultural chemical spraying in the premises of the drone specialty shop "SORACUL".

It features a precise flight with its own measuring system and does not require human operation from take-off to landing. A strong wind was blowing on that day, but it was a stable flight that made me feel no wind at all.

Even they say it is fully automated, it is necessary to measure the form of the field to be sprayed beforehand with human power, but if you do not need human skills for the flight itself, it seems to be useful for increasing the efficiency of spraying work. T.S

XAIRCRAFT P20 (Propellers removed)
It looks sophisticated that liquid tanks and batteries are cassette type

Currently we use the Kubota MG-1K.

The secret of inspiration and memory

NHK special "Human body”series were broadcasted from last year to this year. Among them, I was particularly fascinated by the feature on “brain”.

The hosts were Mr. Shinya Yamanaka and Tamori.

The first is ‘inspiration’. How can one become a condition to have an inspiration? Unexpectedly, for that purpose, you may want to think of nothing in particular. Such a resting-state is called “Default mode network” and as a matter of fact, even at the time, brain spends 70 percent of its energy. It’s considered that, while you are thinking of nothing, your brain pieces splinters of memory together freely and creates new ideas.

Importance of thinking of nothing in particular, which is said that it is a drastic paradigm shift for brain science. In fact, Shinya Yamanaka had a sudden idea while he was taking a shower vacantly and the idea led to iPS cells in later years.

However, to piece splinters of memory together, it is necessary to store memory strong. Then, what can we do to develop our memory? Actually, to do that, anyone can do it easily, too. The key is in message substance from all organs and it’s important to keep a balanced diet. Also, it’s necessary to develop muscle through moderate exercise. It is said that brain has evolved to insulin secreted when human take food would lead to improve memory. Yamanaka said that indeed, food is necessary for survival, so that may makes sense.

After watching the program, I learned anew that not only concentrating but sometimes being vacant and moderate exercise, not drinking and not eating too much are important. (H.S) 

Visiting Echizen Matsushima Aquarium in Fukui Prefecture!

As we introduced in our previous blog that I visited FPDM (Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum) and Seidaiji Temple to see Echizen Daibutsu (the great Buddha of Echizen) with Mr. Ugyen Dorji and his family.

Mr. Ugyen Dorji is studying at University of Fukui as a teacher trainee from Bhutan since around October of 2017. And at the end of March of 2018, his family arrived in Japan as well.
Today, I would like to introduce the sea in Fukui and Echizen Matsushima Aquarium in Sakai City, Fukui Prefecture which I visited with his family.

They were very excited to visit the aquarium for the first time in their lives.

As soon as we entered the aquarium, his son’s eyes were glued to swimming fish. He kept staring at them.

There is no ocean in Bhutan, so everything was new to them and they were amazed by it.

There was an area where visitors can touch sea animals. They touched a shark and an octopus.
They nervously touched the octopus and they said that it was very soft.
They said that the skin of the shark was rough.

After that, we headed to the sea after touching the sea animals.

Mr. Ugyen Dorji’s sister had seen the sea before when she visited India, but she said that the sea in Fukui is much cleaner and more beautiful.
It was the first time for his wife and son to see the sea. They were staring at the sea quietly and feeling impressed by it.

His son loves fish, so every time he saw dolphins and fish, he was very excited.

At Echizen Matsushima Aquarium, besides watching fish and touching the sea animals, you can also see dolphin performances, penguins marching out to a small park, otters eating lunch, short 3D movies and so on. If you have a chance to come to Fukui, you must go to Echizen Matsushima Aquarium!

T.F

The first half of this Golden Week holidays filled with drone work

BGM: Music Library [ MusMus ]

Since I began using drone for shooting videos, I became involved in various businesses related to drone.

And the first half of this (2018) Golden Week holidays was filled with drone work.

As an instructor of the drone school on April 29th,

on 30th, I worked as a staff member of the drone experiential session for parents and children which was held at a university,

and on May 1st and 2nd, I sprayed pescidide by an agricultural drone in wheat fields.

In those few days, I used various type of drones. Medium sized one often used for aerial photography in the school, tiny toy drone which is smaller than a palm in the experiential session, and a large one bigger than your open both armes for agricultural chemical spraying.

Though there are various kinds of drones as above, actually the smaller is more difficult to control. However, the small one is safe if it hits something or people and it rarely breaks even if it crashes. Bigger one cannot do that, so I often practice with a toy drone even now.
T.S

Visiting Echizen Great Buddha of Seidai-ji Temple -Bhutanese Family Visiting Fukui-

In our previous blog, I mentioned that I visited Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum with Mr. Ugyen Dorji and his family. Today, I would like to introduce Echizen Great Buddha of Seidai-ji Temple which I went with them after visiting the dinosaur museum.

 

Echizen Great Buddha is located in Seidai-ji Temple in Katsuyama City, Fukui Prefecture. It is 17 meter tall in a sitting position and it is 2 meter taller than the Great Buddha of Nara. Echizen Great Buddha is so large that I get scared by its powerful presence.

 

 

Around the large and tall buddha, there are 4 wakiji-butsu (attendant statues of images of Buddha) and there are 1281 buddha statues. And the recorded sutra keeps playing over and over in a loop in the main hall, it creates solemn atmosphere. I felt weak at the knees there.

 

 

Mr. Ugyen Dorji and his family, even his son who is only 2 years old prayed silently. I was impressed by his son’s respectful attitude.

 

 

Outside of the main hall, there is a five-story pagoda with the height of 75 meters, a stone fence with gorgeous dragons drawn on it, and a beautiful Japanese garden.

 

Since the temple was founded in 1987, it doesn’t have that long history as much as many other temples in Japan. Even with a short history, the large Great Buddha and many buddha statues make me feel calm and peaceful.

 

If you have a chance, how about visiting Seidai-ji Temple in Katsuyama City, Fukui Prefecture to see Echizen Great Buddha?

 

 

T.F

Talk show about Japanese solitary confidential agent Kei Wakaizumi

The other day, I went to listen to a talk show about a scholar in international politics, Kei Wakaizumi(1930 – 1996) , who was born in Fukui Prefecture.
Mr. Ryuichi Teshima, who is a foreign diplomacy journalist and knew Wakaizumi, gave a talk.

                                       Mr. Teshima during the talk

At the opening of the show, the host gave a talk that 21 years passed after the death of Wakaizumi and the numbers of people who know his achievement have declined. And four years later, it will mark the 50th anniversary of Okinawa’s reversion to Japan, so he wanted to spread Wakaizumi’s thoughts much more widely for the occasion. He said that Wakaizumi was just like Kissinger in Japan but Mr. Teshima objected to only about it because the two men’s personality was very different.

As I wrote about Wakaizumi on our blog before, Japanese confidential agent for Okinawa’s reversion, he looked quiet, calm and humble despite he was under immeasurable pressure. Also, there is an exhibit like this related to Wakaizumi in Fukui International Activities Plaza.

Mr. Teshima said that Wakaizumi is not history and he still shows a controversy which we should face, and Okinawa’s reversion to Japan would be delayed so badly without Wakaizumi. Also, his thought has been handed down through Mr.　Shotaro　Yachi, who is an early disciple of Wakaizumi and the first head of Japan’s National Security Council.

Coincidentally, a North-South summit was held for the first time in 11 years. If Wakaizumi were alive, what would he think about the situation? What will happen to the U.S. military bases in Okinawa, which Wakaizumi was deeply distressed? I want to see the transition period of this rare international situation carefully. (H.S)

 [Profile of Mr. Ryuichi Teshima]
Former NHK political correspondent. During the Gulf War, he reported from the front line. When 9.11 occurred, he had a live at the site for 11 days night and day. He retired from NHK in 2005 and the following year, he published Japan's first intelligence novel which was a big hit. Now, he teaches younger people about foreign diplomacy and security at university and a foreign diplomacy research institution. 68 years old.