Gadling

Few tourists and resident foreigners in Japan need to find a reason to visit Kyoto (????)...

Established in 794 AD as the official seat of the imperial court, Kyoto truly is one of the last places in modern Japan where you can sip and savor a cup of green tree while mediating on the finer points of a centuries-old Zen rock garden.

Of course, like any tourist destination the world over, Kyoto has its seasons, which is why the city is jam-packed when the sakura bloom in the springtime, and when the leaves fall in the autumn.

Indeed, Kyoto can be stiflingly hot in the summer, and frigidly cold in the winter. However, if you can get over your sensitivity to the harsh elements, there are some serious deals out there to be had.

For the second year in a row, the city is sponsoring the “Kyoto Winter Special” to lure in foreign tourist dollars. Although the global economy is dropping, and the value of the yen is rising, it’s worth parting with some cash this winter, especially if you want to catch a glimpse of Kyoto’s hidden national treasures.

Keep reading…

As part of the Kyoto Winter Special 2009, which runs from January 10, 2009 to March 18, 2009, the city will be temporarily opening up twelve cultural heritage sights to the public.

We’re not going to lie to you – Kyoto is something of a mountain town, which means that the winter chill can run deep to the bone. However, it’s worth a bit of mild frostbite to catch a glimpse of ancient sights that are normally hidden from the public eye.

So, what’s open you ask? Here are a few of the highlights:

Anrakujuin: An ancient temple that marks the location of the detached Imperial Palace of the Asuka Period (538-710).

Kodai-ji: A Rinzai Buddhist temple built in 1606 to commemorate Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the great unifier of Japan.

Ninna-ji: First built in 888, this temple is now the world headquarters of the Shingon Buddhist sect.

To-ji: This temple houses a veritable treasure trove of ancient books and scriptures of incredible value.

Myoshin-ji: The largest Zen temple in all of Kyoto contains no less than 46 sub-temples.

Myokoji: Completely surrounded by a dense bamboo forest, this is the head temple of the Rinzai Kenninji sect.

Seriously, do you need any more reasons to check out Kyoto?

Book your tickets now, and be one of the few lucky foreigners who gets to view the hidden national treasures of Kyoto!

Special thanks to Bryan Reynolds over at JAPANiCAN for helping to spread the word on the Kyoto Winter Special 2009.

If you’re looking to arrange a cheap package to a generally expensive destination, JAPANiCAN is offering return bullet train tickets from Tokyo and accommodation in Kyoto for around US$145. For more information, check out their promotion at the following website: www.japanican.com/special/kyoto_winter/index.aspx.

** All images courtesy of the WikiCommons Media project **

In honor of the recent passing of Michael Crichton, today’s posting is all about cloning…

Believe it or not, Jurassic Park may in fact be a reality sometime in the near future. Of course, we’re talking about the cloning parts of the books and films, not the Hollywood parts where the dinosaurs rampage, and eat pesky humans in equally horrific and amusing ways!

Last week in Japan, healthy mice were cloned from the cells of dead mice that had been frozen for 16 years. This groundbreaking scientific research raises the possibility that endangered – or even extinct – species could be cloned from old carcasses that have been tossed in freezers or found in permafrost, rather than from living cells.

When asked about the possibility of one day resurrecting a woolly mammoth, Teruhiko Wakayama of the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, who led the research, elegantly stated: “It would be very difficult, but our work suggests that it is no longer science fiction.”

How awesome is that?

Let’s start with the basic question that is most likely on all of your minds – how the hell did they do it?

In simple layman’s terms, the Wakayama team took a nucleus from dead mouse tissue that had been frozen and later thawed, and then injected this into a mouse egg that had its nucleus removed. The resulting embryo was then used to create embryonic stem cells, the nuclei of which were then injected into other eggs to produce clones.

With me so far?

Here is the coolest part: the Wakayama team discovered that it was easiest to create clones from brain tissue, even though clones have never been created from living brain cells. Wakayama believes that freezing and thawing the tissue facilitates the ‘reprogramming’ of the brain cell nucleus.

So what does this all mean?

Most zoos do not have the money or the facilities to collect and cells from every part of every animal, nor to freeze them in such a way as to preserve their viability. However, the Wakayama team has provided evidence that you might be able to simply freeze the corpses of endangered animals, and save their DNA for a rainy day.

Just ask Robert Lanza of Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Massachusetts: “With a kitchen freezer you could store the genetic diversity of every panda in existence.”

And now, the ‘mammoth challenge!’

Bringing extinct animals back to life would be much, much trickier, especially since recovered woolly mammoth carcasses would most likely have frozen and thawed several times over the millennia. These processes cause quite a bit of damage to cell nuclei, and limit the chances that a viable clone could survive.

However, it may in fact be possible, and these latest findings are extremely, extremely positive!

So, it’s very likely that you’ll more about the Wakayama team in the years to come. After all, the Jurassic Park ride at Disney World is pretty cool, but we’re inclined to hold out for the real thing!

** Mammoth image courtesy of the WikiCommons Media project. Jurassic Park images are copyrighted by Warner Bros., and are presented here for the purposes of identification and/or critical commentary. **

Disclaimer: I grew up playing horrifically violent video games such Mortal Kombat and Doom, and I certainly turned out fine (at least I think so!). On that note, today’s column is all about whether or not violent video games make kids aggressive…

I’m certainly not one of those archconservative types who thinks that Grand Theft Auto is the harbinger of the apocalypse, and that the Nintendo Wii remote is too phallic for young girls to play with.

Feel free to disagree with me, but I really believe that it’s the job of parents and not Playstation to raise the next generation, which is why I’m hesitant to wag my finger at the video game manufacturers for the increasingly violent content in video games.

Furthermore, everything in my opinion is alright in moderation, and so long as children are taught the difference between real and virtual, a few splashes of blood across the hi-def TV screen really isn’t all that bad.

Of course, there are people who disagree with me, and they’ve got a few things that I don’t have, namely doctorate degrees!

Keep reading as you might be surprised by what you learn…

According to a new study sponsored by Iowa State University’s Center for the Study of Violence, both American and Japanese kids became more aggressive after playing video games over a period of 3-6 months. Specifically, it was found that exposure to violent video games was a causal risk factor for aggression and violence.

According to Dr. Anderson: “Basically what we found was that…a lot of violent video game play early in a school year leads to higher levels of aggression during the school year…”

The study has drawn its fair share of international spotlight, especially given that Anderson has recently started to collaborate with a number of prominent Japanese research bodies. Anderson is of the belief that Japan’s cultural differences with the U.S. make it attractive for the comparison studies.

Dr. Anderson explains: “The culture is so different and their overall violence rate is so much lower than in the U.S. The argument has been made…that all our research on violent video game effects must be wrong because Japanese kids play a lot of violent video games and Japan has a low violence rate.”

He continues: “Is it the case that Japanese kids are totally unaffected by playing violent video games?’ [They] aren’t. They’re affected pretty much the same way American kids are.”

Once again, it’s worth emphasizing that violent video games are not the sole cause of dysfunctional behavior in kids, and that ultimately, good parenting can make all the difference in a child’s self-actualization.

However, these recent studies do suggest that violent games are a part of the puzzle in understanding rising rates of aggression in both America and Japan.

What do you think? Feel free to chime in on this highly controversial but equally fascinating topic.

** All images are copyrighted by Rockstar Games, and are presented here for the purposes of product identification and critical commentary. They were sourced from the WikiCommons Media Project **

Americans abroad haven’t had an easy time these past eight years, though all of that is about to change…

America might be divided between Obama and McCain supporters, though most of our foreign allies are turning green (or blue?) with envy. Indeed, Obama’s historic election might just be the first step in repairing America’s tarnished image abroad, both amongst our allies and perhaps even our enemies.

One of the most peculiar election celebrations last week took place in the city of Obama (???, literally Little Beach), a sleepy little town in the middle of the Japanese countryside. In honor of the US President-elect, local women performed the hula dance, a tribute to Obama’s early years as a child in Hawaii.

Dubbed ‘The Obama Girls,’ the hula troop told reporters that they now have plans to travel to Washington for the inauguration in January, and are hoping that they will have the opportunity to perform in front of Obama himself.

Hilarious…sometimes you really can’t help but love the Japanese (^_^)

When the presidential results were made official, a huge media circus descended on the town of Obama to cover what was arguably Japan’s craziest election party.

While the Obama Girls were certainly eye-candy, the night’s other highlight was the performance of a local pop group, who recorded the soon-to-be smash hit, ‘La La La La La Obama!’ The song also had some choice lines, such as this lyrical bit of brilliance: ‘Obama is beautiful man!’

Interestingly enough, it’s not just the town’s namesake that has local Japanese supporting President-elect Obama. In fact, they’re hoping that their increasing interest in American politics will help in their case against North Korea.

During the 1970s and 80s, North Korean agents kidnapped a number of Japanese citizens, including some from the city of Obama. One of them is still being held prisoner, and Obama’s patriotic citizens are hoping that President Obama can succeed where President Bush failed.

Of course, it’s worth pointing out that not everyone in the Land of the Rising Sun is celebrating an Obama victory. On the contrary, a good number of Japanese politicians in Tokyo are sounding the death knell on their attempts at luring the Olympic games to Japan in 2016.

Currently, Tokyo, Chicago, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro are the four cities in the running to host the 2016 Games. However, Japanese Olympic officials fear that the election of Obama as president could make his home city of Chicago the favorite.

According to Japanese Olympic Committee President Tsunekazu Takeda: “I wonder how the International Olympic Committee (IOC) members will react when Mr. Obama appears in a presentation for Chicago. Obama is popular and good at speeches, so things could get tough for Japan.”

The IOC will name the 2016 host at its general assembly in October next year, which means that quite a number of Japanese politicians are planning to watch Obama’s first 100 days with intense interest.

Regardless of what happens to Japan’s Olympic aspirations, at least the Obama Girls will get their well-deserved share of the international spotlight!