Sunday, July 2, 2006

Symposium to tackle global environment:
A public symposium will discuss global environmental policy at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in Kyoto International Conference Hall in Sakyo Ward.

Part of the third World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists, the event will discuss how to organize an international framework for addressing global warming. Almost 18 months have passed since the Kyoto Protocol went into effect, but the United States, the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has not ratified the treaty, and China and other developing countries are expected to emit more gases in the coming years as they continue to grow. Also, there is a growing interest in establishing a framework that effectively addresses global warming and enables sustainable development in these countries.

Tackling the issue will be an international panel including Joseph Stiglitz, winner of the Nobel Prize in economics in 2001 and a professor at Columbia University.

The discussion will be in English and Japanese, with simultaneous interpretation.

Participation is free. No reservation is required.

The venue is near Kokusai Kaikan Station on the Karasuma subway line.

For more information, call the organizer at (06) 6229-2564 or visit the Web site at www.worldcongress3.org/

Osaka's Umeda Sky Building fetes star fest:
The Tanabata star festival is being celebrated through Friday at Umeda Sky Building in Kita Ward, Osaka.

Tanabata is a Japanese festival that originated in China, based on a legend that lovers represented by two stars can meet each other once a year on July 7, crossing the Milky Way.

To celebrate, people write their wishes on paper strips and tie them to bamboo trees, along with various ornaments and decorations.

The celebration on the building's ground floor and 40th-floor observatory offers visitors the opportunity to tie their wishes to bamboo branches, and view decorations from Sendai, a city well known for holding one of the nation's largest star festivals.

A piano concert will be held Friday, starting at 7:07 p.m.

The venue is open 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Participation is free, but it costs 700 yen for adults, 500 yen for junior high school and high school students and 300 yen for elementary school students to enter the observatory.

For more information, call the organizer at (06) 6440-3901.

Prewar posters exhibited in Kyoto:
A collection of Japanese prewar posters are on exhibit through Aug. 26 at the Museum and Archives facility of Kyoto Institute of Technology in Sakyo Ward.

The institute boasts a vast collection of Japanese posters and is presenting 120 of them to retrace the history and the development of consumer culture from 1900 to 1945.

Advertised in the posters are such everyday articles as food, cosmetics, liquor, tobacco and stationery products. As a reflection of the cultural maturity of the society, an increasing number of posters began advertising magazines, books, trips and expositions. As the country entered into war, posters became a tool to advocate such behavior as austerity and diligence.

Admission is free.

The exhibition is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. but is closed Sundays and national holidays.

The venue is a five-minute walk from Matsugasaki Station on the Karasuma subway line.

For more information, call the venue at (075) 724-7924 or fax (075) 724-7920.

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