Sunday, Oct. 1, 2006

Tour to Buddhist ceremony in Kyoto:
A guide interpreter is organizing a one-day tour for English-speaking foreigners to see a Buddhist ceremony in Kyoto on Oct. 15.

Participants will visit Sokujo-in, a subtemple of Senyuji Temple in Higashimaya Ward, to observe a procession of children representing when the Bosatsu, or Bodhisattva Buddhas, come to this world to save people and lead them to Buddhist paradise.

Participants will meet guide Paul Satoh at 9:30 a.m. in front of the Kyoto City Tourist Information Office on the second floor of the JR Kyoto Station building.

Participants are required to pay the actual cost of the tour, which will be around 1,500 yen including bus fare and lunch. Another 1,000 yen will be accepted as a gratuity.

Advance reservations are required. The event is reserved for non-Japanese only.

For reservations, fax Satoh at (072) 831-2797.

German School Kobe celebrating Oktoberfest:
German School Kobe/European School is holding an Oktoberfest celebration from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday at the school in Nada Ward, Kobe.

The festival for families and friends will feature such German foods as sausages and sauerkraut, beer, homemade cake, amusements for kids and a brass-band performance. There will also be a raffle.

Admission is free. The school is an eight-minute walk northeast from Rokko Station on the Hankyu Line. No parking facilities are available.

For more information, call the organizer at (078) 851-6414.

An evening of noh, kyogen in Kyoto:
An evening of noh and kyogen will take place at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 12 at Kyoto Kanze Kaikan theater in Sakyo Ward, offering some aids for English-speaking members of the audience to better appreciate these traditional theatrical arts.

On the program is "Kiyotsune," a noh production, and "Futari Daimyo," a kyogen performance, both from the popular repertoire. "Kiyotsune" tells the story of a husband and wife, in which the ghost of the warrior Taira no Kiyotsune, who has just committed suicide, appears before his grieving wife and consoles her by telling her the reason for his death. "Futari Daimyo" is a comic play depicting two feudal lords who are made fun of by a man of the servant class.

English speakers will be offered two kinds of written material, one that introduces the plots of the plays and another containing a verbatim translation of the noh performance.

Tickets are 2,000 yen for students and 3,500 yen for others, which are being sold at the venue or at the Japan Foundation Kyoto Office, which is organizing the event. To reserve tickets by phone, call the venue at (075) 771-6114.

For more information, call the Japan Foundation Kyoto Office at (075) 211-1312.

Symposium on Asian regional integration:
Osaka City University is hosting an international academic symposium on Asian regional integration from Oct. 27 to 30 at Osaka International Convention Center in Kita Ward.

Co-organized by the Delegation of the European Commission to Japan, the meeting will discuss "Asian Regional Integration by Learning from Europe and the Euro: The Possibilities of the East Asian Community (EAC)."

The three-day symposium will be opened by speeches and keynotes by such renowned speakers as Hugh Richardson, ambassador and head of the delegation of the European Commission to Japan, and Marco Buti, deputy director general of the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission.

A total of eight sessions will be held, and leading European and Asian authorities will discuss the topic from economic, political and historical perspectives.

English and Japanese interpretations will be available.

Participation is 1,000 yen for students and 2,000 yen for others.

Those wishing to attend must send an application with your name, age, address, phone and fax numbers, e-mail address and occupation to the secretariat of the organizing committee of the symposium, via e-mail at ocuis2006@pac.ne.jp or fax at (078) 366-5051. The application deadline is Friday.

For more information, call the organizer at (078) 361-7223 or visit the Web site at www.pac.ne.jp/ocuis2006/

We welcome your opinions. Click to send a message to the editor.