A number of tenmoku tea bowls[1] were brought to Japan from China during the Kamakura period (1185–1333) and have been carefully passed down ever since. Among them, the most highly valued are the small number of “Yuteki Tenmoku[2]” and “Yohen Tenmoku[3]” tea bowls, designated as national treasures, which have unique oil spots and luster. This luster has been a great mystery not only to the potters who have tried to reproduce it, but also to researchers. In contrast to the previous theory that the luster is actually thin-film interference on the surface of the tea bowl, RIKEN researcher Ebizuka Noboru has proposed a new theory that the luster of the national treasure Yuteki Tenmoku tea bowl can be reasonably explained by the overlapping of light (multiple interference) caused by two-dimensional sine curve wrinkles. Discovering the National Treasure Yuteki Tenmoku tea bowl Whenever a ... ... [Read more]

  Takagiwa Miyuki (Mayor of Toshima City), interviewed by Kiyono Yumi, journalist   In 2014, Toshima City (Toshima Ward) was included in the list of “cities at risk of disappearing” announced by the Japan Policy Council (chaired by Masuda Hiroya), becoming the only one of Tokyo’s 23 wards (special wards or cities) to be included. Toshima City has now escaped from the “cities at risk of disappearing” list, but how has it fared over the past 10 years? And what is its goal? “Toshima City is disappearing!” ——How did you react to Toshima City being named as a city at risk of disappearing in 2014? I remember that time well. It was when I moved from the position of Director of the Planning Section, Declining Birth Rate Countermeasures Division, Welfare and Health Bureau, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, to the position of Director of the Private ... ... [Read more]

  Seki Takakazu (also known as Seki Kowa, ?–1708) is known as a Japanese mathematician of the Edo period (1603–1867) who studied traditional Chinese mathematics and made great advances in Wasan (native Japanese mathematics). He was also the first mathematician in the Sinosphere (China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam) to emphasize the importance of general theory. In traditional Chinese mathematics, which Seki inherited, there was only one way to describe an unknown in an equation. However, he devised a way to describe equations with many unknowns, and completed the general theory of eliminating unknowns in high-order simultaneous equations, the theory of resultants, which had introduced determinants independently of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716), before Western mathematics. He also made equations, which had previously been seen only as tools for solving problems, the subject of mathematical research, completing a numerical solution method for equations using assembly division before ... ... [Read more]

Japan’s security cooperation “for the benefit of the armed forces and related organizations (of the countries),” which could not be achieved through ODA, has begun. Provision of equipment and supplies, such as patrol boats and radar systems, is being made, and as a “next step,” attention is being given to military infrastructure assistance. This article explores the significance and challenges of the new tool for security cooperation that Japan has acquired.   Nishida Ippeita, Senior Fellow, Sasakawa Peace Foundation With the establishment of Official Security Assistance (OSA), Japan’s foreign aid is entering a new phase. In 2012, Japan introduced Capacity Building Assistance (CBA) to train military personnel of other countries, but CBA is not accompanied by a policy scheme to provide material support to defense authorities of the recipient states. This has been problematic. Official Development Assistance (ODA) cannot be used to address security ... ... [Read more]

The approval ratings of the opposition parties are still not rising. If the opposition parties want to change the government, they should not compete with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on the conservative-progressive axis. A leading political scientist discusses the strategy the opposition parties should adopt. Is it “the eve of a change of government”? The Kishida LDP (Liberal Democratic Party), which was not very popular to begin with, has been in turmoil since the end of last year, 2023, due to the so-called “slush fund scandal.” According to a survey by Jiji Press (the same source for the figures in the following polls), the Cabinet’s approval rating at the time of writing (April 2024) was at an extremely low 16.6%, and the LDP’s approval rating has also continued to decline over the past six months, falling to 15.3%. If this trend continues in ... ... [Read more]