Economist.com Cities Guide: Tokyo Briefing - November 2005

News this month

Cult crisis

Trouble is brewing within the Aum Supreme Truth cult, whose devotees staged a gas attack on Tokyo's underground in 1995 that killed 12 people and injured thousands. The still-active remnants of the group, based mainly in a suburb west of Tokyo, are forming two distinct sects: those who support Fumihiro Joyu, who has called for an end to the cult’s fanaticism, and those who remain loyal to Chizuo Matsumoto, the group’s more radical founder, commonly known as Shoko Asahara. Mr Matsumoto is in custody, appealing against a death sentence handed down by the Tokyo District Court last year.

Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police, who still view the cult as a potential threat, are wary of the public impact of this feud. Both sides are said to be planning recruitment drives throughout the capital and the rest of Japan.

A cure for the common sneeze

Tokyo residents complain bitterly about hay fever, and more so with each passing year. With good reason: Japan’s cedars are now releasing their pollen weeks earlier than they did in the past, and the cedar population has mushroomed because so few of the trees are cut down. Some 20% of Japanese people suffer from pollen allergies. So many were delighted in early November, when Japanese researchers announced a product that may help. Members of the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Shimane University and Tokyo University have worked together to develop genetically modified rice that may reduce sensitivity to pollen. It can be cooked and eaten like normal rice, and would make a tempting alternative to messy eye drops and nasal sprays. But it may be some time before Tokyoites enjoy a respite: so far the rice has been tested only on mice, and researchers say they need time to ensure it is fit for humans.

A not-so-royal wedding

Imperial pomp will be kept in check when Princess Sayoko marries Yoshiki Kuroda, a commoner, on November 15th. This marriage will cost the 36-year-old princess her royal status, and the couple's wedding will duly blend imperial traditions with common ones. Both the ceremony and the party will take place at the Imperial Hotel, where hundreds of ordinary Japanese marry each year. The princess will wear a modern, white wedding dress before changing into her mother's kimono for the reception. And like other modern couples, Ms Sayoko and Mr Kuroda will dine (on French cuisine) with their guests, rather than behind a vast gold screen as is imperial custom. Once she is married, the princess will have to live on the meagre salary of her husband, an urban planner, though her parents' parting gift of over ¥150m ($1.3m) should ease the transition.

The wedding comes as momentum builds for Japan to change an Imperial House Law barring women from ascending to the throne. Last month, a government panel recommended that the law be changed. The imperial family has produced nine princesses in the last 40 years, but no male heir.

Corporate education

Japan is good for Louis Vuitton, accounting for 30% of its global sales; now, the French luxury brand plans to show its appreciation by promoting higher education in the country. In late October, Louis Vuitton announced it would fund a series of social-science seminars at Keio, Tokyo's elite private university. The one-year series will compare French and Japanese models of governance, tackling everything from global business management to sustainable development. The seminars, which will begin at the start of the academic year next April, will be taught by French scholars.

Louis Vuitton is not the only corporation taking interest in Japanese education. Executives of Toyota, Chubu Electric Power and Central Japan Railway are preparing to launch Kaiyo Academy, modelled after Britain's Eton school, in April 2006. Kaiyo's principal said the academy would “infuse vitality into Japanese high school education” and mould a generation of future leaders. The concept seems likely to take off: 250 people attended a school presentation in early November, and more meetings are planned. The first class will have only 120 students; the school will expand enrolment in 2007.

Bitter medicine

Tokyoites, always fond of health fads, have developed a keen obsession with vinegar. Drinking small shots of flavoured vinegar has a long history in rural Japan, but its revival in Tokyo has much to do with alleged health benefits, which range from promoting circulation to losing weight. The craze has become particularly strong as Tokyo enters the flu season, which is always worse in the capital because of cramped trains and other crowded places.

Vinegar's most avid consumers are women in their 20s and 30s, who often drink it with water or milk to ease the acidity. A variety of ingredients are now used to produce health vinegars: some are made from fruits, others from rice or barley, and the array of vinegars continues to grow. Japan's largest vinegar-maker said that sales for drinking vinegar between March and August in 2004 were ¥21.5 billion ($183m), three times what they were in during the same period in 2000. While vinegar is being touted as the big answer to the flu this year, it has not yet been heralded as a useful defence against bird flu.

Catch if you can

November 2005

The Pushkin Museum’s Shchukin and Morozov Collection

Until December 18th 2005

This exhibition offers the chance to see masterpieces from Moscow’s Pushkin Museum, one of the world’s finest modern galleries. On loan from Russia is the Pushkin’s renowned Shchukin and Mozorov Collection, which features art from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Sergei Shchukin (1854–1936) and Ivan Morozov (1871–1921) both came from wealthy merchant families, and amassed a remarkable collection of modernist masterpieces from Western Europe.

The 75 oil paintings, water colours and prints on display include paintings by Monet, the young Picasso and Matisse, as well as Cezanne’s rendition of Mont Sainte-Victoire and Renoir’s “Girls in Black”.

Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Ueno Park 8-36, Taito-Ku, Tokyo. Tel: +81 (03) 3823-6921. Take the Hibiya or Ginza line to Ueno Station, Park exit. Open: Tues-Sun, 9am-5pm. For more details, visit the museum’s website.

More from the Tokyo cultural calendar