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Japan Foundation Cairo Office Mail Magazine

Wavelets no.4
16th November 2011
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For Arabic press here
For Japanese press here

Hello everyone, how are you?

How did you spend Eid al Adha or the Big Eid?
In Cairo, children in their bright new holiday attire amused themselves exploding
firecrackers on the street.
Speaking of holiday attire,
There is an event called Shichi go san (7.5.3)on 15th November in Japan.
Families with children of those ages (7.5.3) visit shrines to pray for the good health and
prosperity of their children.
They buy their children and sometimes themselves - new clothes.
This event does not have a long history since it only became part of traditional
Japanese customs during the Edo period (17-19C).
Incidentally, 3.5.7 are considered lucky & congratulatory numbers in Japan.
The Lucky Seven in western countries is very famous,
In the Middle East, do you have good luck numbers?
We hope you will enjoy this issue till the end.

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Contents
Announcements
Origami Course
Lectures every Thursday Evening
From the Japan Foundation Library
Event Report: Arab Origami Festival @ Alexandria
Column: Post War Memories, which must be handed down to the next generation
Afterword
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Announcements
Origami Course Intermediate Level
From 5th December 2011, we will hold the Origami Course every Monday (three
times: 5, 19 & 26 December) 600 800, at the Japan Foundation
Library. This course is for people who have a previous experience of origami.
More detailed information will be supplied on our bulletin board & website at a
later date.
Fees: 10 LE

Lets attend Lectures every Thursday Evening at JFC!

Dr. Imais lecture on 27 October

Every Thursday evening, The Japan Foundation Cairo office will organize
lectures by experts and scholars or hold screenings of Japanese films.
The lectures on 17th and 24th November will be about The Post War
Reconstruction, the theme of this years Film Week, which will be held from 11th
to 15th December, at the Artistic Creativity Centre - the Cairo Opera House
grounds. Lets prepare for the Film Festival by learning about the backgrounds
of the films which will be screened. We will enjoy the films three times as much!
Lectures about Japanese post-war history will be given by Prof. Isam Hamza,
who has a deep experience in Japanese history and is a Professor of Japanese
Language and Literature at the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University and the previous
Vice Dean for the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University, and Prof. Wael Orabi, the
bright Japanologist also from the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University. We invite you
to attend these lectures at the Japan Foundation Library. (Arabic only, 6:30

8:30 pm)
17th November (Thur.) Reconstruction of a Nation Japan after World War
Two by Prof. Issam Hamza
24th November (Thur.) The Appeal of the Film Cupola, Where the Furnaces
Glow by Prof. Wael Orabi

Announcement from the JFC Library

th
The Library will be closed on the fourth Saturday of the month; 26
November on the occasion of the Islamic New Year.
The Library will be especially opened for the applicants of the Japanese
Language Proficiency Test: 2nd and 3rd December (Friday and Saturday, 10 am
5:30 pm)
The Library (5th floor) has now become a place for cultural exchange after the
opening of the new J-Pop Salon, so conversation is now acceptable. (But on 2nd
& 3rd December please take care to use the Library quietly for the sake of the
examinees.)
Those who would like to concentrate on reading or studying may use the
Meeting room on the 3rd floor as a Study Room. (Only for Library Members and
Student of the Japan Foundation Japanese Language Courses. 2 pm-5:30 pm,
wireless internet connection is available). You need the librarians permission
for taking a dictionary, book, CD or CD player from the Library to the Study
Room. After using any of those materials, please be sure to return them to the
5th floor Library.
Thank you for your cooperation.

Event Report: Arab Origami Festival @ Alexandria

The Japan Foundation Cairo Office participated in the Arab Origami Festival on Friday,
October 28. Below is the report on the Festival written by the Festival organizer and
origamist, Ossama Helmi.

On 28th October, the Arab Origami Centre, in cooperation with the Anna Lindh
Foundation organized the 1st Arab Origami Festival - which is the first of its kind in Egypt
and the Arab world - in Alexandrias Saint Gabriel School as part of the Art for Social
Change Initiative.
The Festival included many activities related to origami (or the Japanese art of
paper-folding) which were suitable for all ages, such as workshops, an origami
exhibition, a black theatre performance and specialized lectures on Art Therapy Using
Origami and The Art of Origami and its Relation to Architecture. The first screening
in Egypt for the film Between the Folds was held, and some animation films were
also screened. Members of the Arab Origami Centre folded 2m x 2m paper in front of
the audience to produce large size models.
Almost 500 people visited the Festival, including children from NGOs and public and
private schools, as well as adults, young people, and seniors. This confirms the role
played by origami as a language which connects all elements and levels of society.
http://araborigamicenter.org/

Column: Post War Memories, which must be handed down to the next generation
It is said that most of the Japanese felt relieved when Japan was defeated in World War
II. I cannot forget the stories I heard from my parents and late grandparents about the
disastrous confusion after the war.
My grandfather on my mothers side was conscripted and went to China, then
transferred to Okinawa (southern isles of Japan), where he was killed in action after
fighting in many battles. He received a salary as a soldier, but the Japanese government
paid him in a specially issued currency which could only be used in Japan-occupied
China. So when Japan withdrew from China all the money he had saved became
worthless scraps of paper. And my grandmother had to go out and earn a living in

order to support her three children.

During the war food was strictly rationed and grocery shops were always short on
supplies, so people used to plant vegetables in gardens and empty patches of land and
raise poultry for themselves, and to get provisions they had to go to the agricultural
areas on the outskirts of big cities.
At that time, my father was not yet old enough for school, so he used to go around
with my grandmother to farmhouses bartering any valuables such as kimono or other
items in exchange for small amounts of rice or potatoes since there wasnt enough
money. Then they would go home in trains so crowded, that people would ride in the
luggage cars or on the roof. This situation continued for some years after the end of
the war.
How Japan managed to rise out of the ashes after it lost the war and become an
advanced country in less than half a century is, of course, a question with no easy
answer. For Japanese people themselves, when they look back over that period, that
achievement seems nothing short of a miracle.
However, I think that the answer to that question lies in the hope which was born
inside the Japanese people when they were able to speak freely after the end of the
war. They had gone through a horrible experience of living in a rock bottom economy,
international isolation, and life in a society where the very air was rife with suspicion.
But after the old suppressive regime lost its power and it was guaranteed that anybody
who worked hard enough would prosper financially and spiritually, the Japanese
people were able to endure those hard times and that is why they managed to build
present day Japan.

Image: Stills from films which will be screened in the Film Week; 11 15 December
Left: Cupola, Where the Furnaces Glow, the heroines young brother sells pigeons to earn
pocket money
Right: Best Wishes for Tomorrow, the main character is being questioned about the alleged
crime of killing prisoners of war.
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Afterword
The weather in Cairo is becoming colder, isnt it?

It is really cold at dawn, and every morning when I wake up I miss the hot springs in
Japan!
The JFC is organizing many activities and exhibitions this winter and the following
spring. Please check our homepage and notice boards for regular updates.
See you & take care!!
Yori-Pop The Japan Foundation Cairo Office
Image at right is for Kusatsu Hot Spring, Gunma Prefecture
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Web: www.jfcairo.org
Blog: http://jfcairo.wordpress.com/
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Twitter: @jf_cairo
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Back Number: http://www.jfcairo.org/periodical.html

Web: www.jfcairo.org
Blog: http://jfcairo.wordpress.com/
Facebook:www.facebook.com-groups/14674702182
Twitter: @jf_cairo

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no.4 16th November 2011

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357
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1-
12 5 19 26 3 600-800
JFC 10L.E.) HP

2- JFC
Dr. Imais lecture on 27 October

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JFC

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Back Number: http://www.jfcairo.org/periodical.html
Web: www.jfcairo.org
Blog: http://jfcairo.wordpress.com/
Facebook:www.facebook.com-groups/14674702182
Twitter: @jf_cairo
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