ISSN 0285-9033

OCCASIONAL REPORT No. 32
THE TOYOTA FOUNDATION

February 2002

Shinjuku Mitsui Building 37F • 2-1-1 Nishi-Shinjuku • Shinjuku-ku • Tokyo 163-0437, Japan • Tel: (03) 3344-1701 • Fax: (03) 3342-6911

Using Wisdom to Preserve Natural andCultural Heritage
The Village in Guinea Where Chimpanzees
Live Alongside Humans
Gen Yamakoshi
Research Associate, Kyoto University
Ecologists have longed to study nature in its “untouched” state. Human influences on nature are increasing dramatically, and the best way to predict the“original” condition of species and ecosystems is togather data in locations that have been disturbed as
little as possible. Yet ecologists are also motivated bya romantic and mystical desire to place themselves inprimitive environments as far away as possible fromthe modern world as symbolized by big cities.
Some say that these romanticized spiritual tendencies are closely linked to attitudes from the colonialera. Natural history, the foundation of ecology, wascertainly the legacy of the Great Age of Discovery
that began in the fifteenth century. The research carried out by great natural historians like Darwin andWallace was made possible by the willingness ofaristocrats and capitalists to invest in geographicaland natural exploration.
Few unexplored frontiers remained by the second
half of the nineteenth century, and one after anotherareas of both Asia and Africa were colonized by Europeans. Around the same time, fears that “primitive
nature” would be lost forever prompted the establishment of nature reserves, such as national parks,
initially in North America. These areas provided recreation for the alienated inhabitants of the cities
spawned by the Industrial Revolution. Their purpose was to preserve game animals for hunting andprovide aesthetically pleasing scenery for the enjoyment of visitors. The exotic lands of Asia and Africa
had a powerful attraction for the people of industrial
nations, yet the untamed nature of these places was
being eroded by the exploitative economic activitiesof the colonizers. Almost inevitably, the nature reserve concept was directly applied to these countries.
As storehouses of untamed nature, bigger reserves
are, in theory, considered more functional. In practice, however, it is extremely difficult to set aside vast
areas of land as reserves because of the limiting effectthat this would have on the activities of the people
who live in the areas. Vested interests have prevented large-scale nature reserves from flourishingin Western countries. In Africa, however, it was politically feasible for colonial governments to create
huge reserves on land forcibly seized from inhabitants. In this way, Western countries used their colonies to realize ideals that they could not put into
effect in at home. Under pressure from Western governments and international organizations, the new
governments of the African countries that gained in-

CONTENTS
Using Wisdom to Preserve Natural and Cultural Heritage
The Village in Guinea Where Chimpanzees Live Alongside Humans ..............................1
Creation of a Sustainable-Development Eco-Society Through Partnership .......................4
The Potential of Private-Sector Knowledge ......................................................................5
A Lesson on “Seeing” from a Blind Priest ............................................................................7
Toyota Environmental Activities Grant Program ..................................................................9
Grants Awarded for Fiscal 2001 ........................................................................................10
Recent Publications Based on Foundation-Supported Research ........................................ 11

THE TOYOTA FOUNDATION OCCASIONAL REPORT

dependence around 1960 took over management of
the reserves. The overall pattern of conservation activities did not change, in the sense that they were
driven by external authority in the face of opposition
from local people. Nature conservation in Africa has
thus been largely conducted under external pressure.
A Case Study in Bossou, Guinea
Since 1992 I have been involved in an ecologicalstudy of wild chimpanzees in the Republic ofGuinea, West Africa. Studies of wild chimpanzees
are generally carried out in areas far from humansettlements, such as dense jungle areas designated asnational parks, or in mosaic areas consisting of expansive savanna woodland and riverine forest. The
reason is simple: Chimpanzees are not welcomed indensely populated areas because of the danger thatthey will harm people or damage crops. Yet the
chimpanzees that I studied live in forest that remains
on hills surrounding a village of around 2,000 people
in Bossou. The chimpanzees have been protected by
the village community, and so it was possible to observe chimpanzees who live near a settlement andhave little fear of human beings.
Chimpanzee studies in this area began in the 1960s
with the resumption of field research into primates,
which had been suspended because of World War II.
Researchers from several countries, including theUnited Kingdom, Japan, and the Netherlands, conducted preliminary surveys in various parts of tropical Africa. Their goal was to find locations wherechimpanzees were not afraid of human beings andcould be observed easily. The village of Bossou has
long been known as a community where the villagers protect the chimpanzees. In the second half of the
1960s, teams from the University of Amsterdam visited the village several times to conduct short-term
field studies. Major long-term studies had been conducted continuously in Tanzania since the 1960s, anddetailed reports were subsequently published about
the behavior and ecological characteristics of East
African chimpanzees. This prompted calls for longterm continuous studies of West African chimpanzees to provide a basis for comparison. In 1976 ateam from Kyoto University initiated a long-term
study of the Bossou chimpanzees. This work has
been in progress for over 20 years.
Bossou is located at the southeastern edge ofGuinea in a remote region over 1,000 kilometers fromthe capital, Conakry. Though the region has a longdry season lasting about three months, its averageannual rainfall exceeds 2,000 millimeters, and it was
2

February 2002

probably originally covered by rain forest. Aboutfive kilometers from Bossou the Mount Nimba Strict
Nature Reserve, which now has UNESCO World
Heritage status, stretches along the border with Côte
d’Ivoire. The foothills of Mount Nimba are covered
with closed-canopy tropical forest. In 1944, when
Guinea was still a French colony, the Mount Nimba
region, which has rich iron ore deposits, was declared a nature reserve to protect its flora and faunafrom the effects of mining. Today the area is protected and managed under the UNESCO banner. The
forest areas around Bossou are tiny compared withthis vast landscape. Here the impact of human activity, especially slash-and-burn farming, has been extensive. The area roamed by the chimps now consists
mainly of a small patch of tall trees around the village. However, the chimps also make frequent use of
farmland and land left fallow after slash-and-burnfarming. At times they even appear near the areas ofthe village where houses are concentrated.
Much has been learned about the Bossou chimpanzees, including the fact that they use a wide variety of tools. However, research findings from Bossou
were sometimes dismissed as biased or unreliable on
the grounds that the area has been the subject of considerable human disturbance. At the very least, there
was a tendency to take the findings less seriously
than reports from field work in areas where chimpanzees could be viewed in more natural surroundings. I believe it is inappropriate to criticize researchon the basis of assumptions like this. However, I often longed to carry out research in a wider naturalenvironment, and sometimes I resented the actionsof the villagers who cut down or burned the forestthat had become the habitat for the chimpanzees.
Once, I participated in a preliminary survey conducted around Mount Nimba. Chimpanzees were

Chimps inhabit the forest around Bossou.

THE TOYOTA FOUNDATION OCCASIONAL REPORT

known to live in the area, but little research had been
carried out. I obtained a permit from the governmentof neighboring Côte d’Ivoire, and my ambition to
study truly wild chimpanzees was at last realized.
Yet what I saw was a place where the chimpanzees
fled without a sound as soon as they became awareof the presence of human beings. Traps had been set
on trails used by wildlife, and cartridge cases fromhunting rifles were scattered around. The location of
the Mount Nimba region, which straddles the borders of Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, and Liberia, makes thetask of controlling poaching extremely difficult.
I abandoned the idea of observing chimpanzees
directly and began to search for their habitats, using
nests and food scraps as clues. These clues were concentrated on a steep slope near a ridge toward thesummit of the mountain, where there were almost no
trails used by people. I marked this area as a promising survey site, yet when I returned a year later
there was considerably less evidence of chimpanzee
habitation. I discovered numerous cartridge cases
dropped by poachers along a trail that I had cut.
From my two preliminary surveys I learned that it isvery difficult to conduct research in areas underheavy pressure from poachers.
Dejected, as I descended from Mount Nimba I
gazed from a vantage point on a ridge at the tiny forest around Bossou, just a few kilometers away. It
looked like a small island in the sea. I would be able
to observe some 20 chimpanzees there with ease. Yetin the vast Mount Nimba Reserve I had not evenheard, let alone observed, any chimpanzees. How
should we interpret this contrast? In one sense, therelationship between humans and chimpanzees in
Nimba represents the standard pattern in Africa,
whereby local people pretend to obey restrictions inreserves forced upon them by outsiders but actuallycontinue to use the areas as before. Yet ever since
Bossou began to appear in Western documents there
have been references to the close relationship between humans and chimpanzees. Observers have reported that no government intervention is required
because the chimps are protected by the villagers.
My intellectual curiosity was stimulated by the
relationship between humans and chimpanzees in
Bossou. What did the chimpanzees mean to the villagers? It is difficult for people who make their living
through agriculture to coexist with wild animals, especially large mammals. Even in Japan, crop damage
by monkeys and attacks by bears are a major social
problem, the seriousness of which has increased withthe aging of rural populations. In Bossou, chimpan-

February 2002

zees frequently appear in fields and damage valuable
crops, such as maize, cassava, cacao, and okra. On rareoccasions they even attack villagers who happen toencounter them on paths near the edge of the forest.
When the victims complain angrily to the village elders about these problems, the elders say that the
chimpanzees are their reincarnated ancestors andthat they should be pleased by their visits since theywould not come to taste the crops if there was something wrong with them. The elders defend their ancestors against claims that the chimpanzees haveattacked people. They explain that the chimps musthave drunk too much palm wine from a nearby palm
grove, otherwise they would never harm the villagers.
Simple descriptions have been made of the folkloric significance of the Bossou chimpanzees, including their status as reincarnated ancestors and theprohibition on hunting totemic animals representing
the village’s founding clan. These beliefs, however,
have not been studied in depth. What role do chimpanzees play in the village’s creation myth? Whatcharacteristics are assigned to the animals in folk
tales and proverbs? How accurate was the villagers’
knowledge of chimpanzee behavior and ecology as
revealed by the Kyoto University research project?
How did the village assimilate the new knowledge
resulting from the research, or was it simply ignored? Are the chimpanzees helping to motivate thevillage as it strives to achieve prosperity in the environment of economic and religious freedom that has
existed since the collapse of the socialist regime in1984? I hope to find answers to all of these questions.
The Mende people of Sierra Leone, which is not
far from Guinea, reportedly fear and loathe chimpanzees, which they regard as evil. It would be interesting to carry out a comparative study of attitudes
to chimpanzees in forest regions of West Africa.
Setting aside for a moment my preoccupation
with “unspoiled nature,” I was able to discover a totally different significance in the thinking and behavior of the villagers, whose presence I had previously
resented, when I considered it more positively. What
I had previously regarded as a village where people
were a threat to the survival of chimpanzees I now
saw as a place where people were successfully living
in harmony with them. I believe this perspective hasmuch in common with the concept of village-forest
conservation, which has become very popular in Japan over the past few years. The efforts of the Bossou
villagers to protect the forest and its animals on theirown initiative are particularly significant for Africancountries, where the concept of nature conservation
3

THE TOYOTA FOUNDATION OCCASIONAL REPORT

has tended to be imposed from outside. As we think
about the problem of harmonious coexistence withmonkeys and bears in Japan, perhaps we can learnsomething from the way in which the people ofBossou coexist with chimpanzees, which are, after
all, crop-damaging and dangerous animals.

Creation of a Sustainable-Development EcoSociety Through Partnership
Ryoko Kida
Assistant Program Officer
Hangzhou City, the capital of Zhejiang Province, issituated about 200 kilometers from Shanghai. The
scenic beauty of the area is celebrated in a Chinese
poem: “In heaven there is paradise; on earth, Suzhou
and Hangzhou.” West Lake (Lake Xi) is in central
Hangzhou and is surrounded on three sides by hills.
West Lake is an artificial lake created in the T’ang
Period over 1,000 years ago by isolating a lagoon
from the Qiantang River. The lakeside area is always
thronged with people—older residents practicing Tai
Chi in the morning, strolling tourists in the daytime,and young couples in the evening. While inHangzhou, I enjoyed walking around the lake in theearly morning. Shrouded in tranquil morning mists,
it has a welcoming, soft beauty.
On October 31 and November 1, the Zhejiang
Media News Exchange Center near West Lake wasthe venue for a symposium entitled “Creation of a
Sustainable-Development Eco-Society Through Partnership: The International Conference of Eco-Society,
Environment Education, and West Lake Field Museum in Hangzhou, China.” The conference attracted
environmental protection officials, researchers, elementary and middle school teachers, and students
from many parts of China, including Qingdao,
Guangzhou, and Nanjing. Experts from Japan andSouth Korea also attended. Participants made presentations on a variety of research and activities relating to environmental issues.
The conference formed part of the West Lake Field
Museum Planning Project, a joint initiative launched
in 1998 by Japan and China. The purpose of the West
Lake FM plan is to conserve and utilize the entire
area of West Lake, including its extensive historical,
cultural, and natural heritage and even the way oflife of its people, as a museum. It was decided to holda conference in 2001, the fourth year of the project, toreport on activities to date.
4

February 2002

The journey from Japan to Hangzhou requires athree-hour flight followed by a two-hour drive. Despite the distance, many people from both Japan and
China have contributed time and energy to theproject. The night before the conference there was a
discussion that lasted well into the night, with organizers from two countries with different languages,
cultures, and political systems repeatedly advocating and rejecting a variety of views.
Around 100 people gathered at the venue on themorning of October 31. On every table there werelidded mugs containing Hangzhou’s renowned
Longjing tea. After representatives of each group had
welcomed participants to the conference, the presentation of reports began. A total of 20 people madepresentations. There is not sufficient space to discuss
all of the reports in depth, so I have tried to capture
the essence of a representative sample.
Xia Ling, a researcher with the West Lake FM
Planning Project, described the philosophy behindthe plan and provided an overview. “The Field Museum is an open-air museum. Its purpose is to explore various aspects of the region, including
industry, agriculture, traditional crafts, history culture, artistic culture, lifestyle culture, natural culture,
the culture of Chinese medicine, religious culture,
food culture, liquor culture, and tea culture, all ofwhich provide clues to the harmonious coexistence
between nature and humanity that has evolved in
the Hangzhou region. We aim to preserve and restore these assets at West Lake itself with the cooperation of government agencies, experts, citizens,and tourists, so that they can be handed on to future
generations.” Other aspects covered in Xia’s presentation included the role of the core museum within
the Field Museum and the differences between the
Field Museum and conventional museums.
Ai Li of the Nanjing Environmental Protection
Education Training Center said that after hearing
Xia’s presentation she had had the idea of forming anenvironmental education network with the Environmental Science and Technology Museum in Nanjing
as a core museum.
Sumiko Hasuo of the Gyotoku Wild Bird Observatory, which has worked for almost 30 years to preserve and restore the Shinhama wetland, a vital
breeding ground for water fowl on the far side ofTokyo Bay, spoke about community-based wetland
restoration activities, including the processes and efforts involved, as well as the emotions and passionthat make such activities possible.
Professor Kim Sewnghwan of the Dong-A Univer-THE TOYOTA FOUNDATION OCCASIONAL REPORT

sity College of Engineering described a scheme being
developed to create a large “citizens’ culture park” in
the South Korean city of Busan. The park will consistof one million small plots of land of about 3.3 square
meters, each purchased by an individual citizen.
Shin’ichi Sekiya described a variety of environmental education initiatives using pictorial maps.
School teachers showed considerable interest in thegiant pictorial map of West Lake that Sekiya had prepared for the conference.
Chinese presenters provided overviews of various
subjects, including the contemporary environment
in Hangzhou, the state of the water in West Lake andefforts to improve it, and environmental protection
projects and environmental education activities undertaken by government agencies and schools. Mao
Xiaoyuan of the Hangzhou Environmental Protection Education Training Center described the situation and problems of an environment-friendly“green community” in Hangzhou City, and elementary and middle school teachers presented examples
of environmental education in various schools andthe results they have achieved. Zhang Jie, a secondyear senior high school student at Hangzhou
Zhongce Vocational School, gave a presentation in
excellent English on wastewater treatment by hydroponics in urban rivers.
The reports presented by Japanese participants
focused on activities at the individual level, while
those by Chinese participants dealt with initiatives
by provincial and city governments or schools. In
Japan the individuals who drive community andgrassroots activities struggle to raise their initiatives
to the level of municipal, prefectural, or central government policy, while in China the challenge is totake government initiatives down to a level at which
they become part of the lives of individual citizens.
It is meaningless to compare the merits of these two
approaches in countries that are so different politically and culturally. However, my observations of
this contrast gave me renewed awareness of the significance of the conference and helped me to understand the difficulties faced by those involved.
The day before my return to Japan it rained. The
eleventh-century poet Su Shi wrote of West Lake’s“rippling water shimmering on a sunny day, misty
mountains wonderful in the rain,” comparing it to Xi
Shi, one of China’s four legendary beauties. As I observed the unchanging calm of the lake, I began tounderstand why so many people were working tirelessly to protect its beauty. Perhaps the “West Lake
Field Museum” already exists here. The work that

February 2002

we are doing or plan to do is simply an effort to rediscover what already exists.

The Potential of Private-Sector Knowledge
Shiro Honda
Program Officer
The Toyota Foundation held its 2001 grant-award
ceremony on October 10. In the afternoon of that day
a panel discussion was held on the theme of “ThePotential of Private-Sector Knowledge” at the Century Hyatt Hotel in Tokyo. The panelists were
Yoshitaka Tanaka of the Foundation of Agricultural
Development and Education, the film-maker andexplorer Jun’ichi Nakanishi, and Masatake
Matsubara of the specified nonprofit corporation
Mongol Partnership Institute. Takeo Funabiki of Tokyo University participated as commentator, and themoderator was Ryuho Hayama, an editor.
A survey of recipients of Toyota Foundation research grants reveals that some are engaged in research and surveying activities based outside ofuniversities. Mr. Tanaka, Mr. Nakanishi, and Mr.
Matsubara are good examples. Their projects falloutside of the framework set down by the Ministryof Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) for Grants-in Aid for Scientific Research,which requires applicants to state the nature of theirresearch based on a highly detailed classification.
Moreover, their projects have clear, practical goals
that do not end with the presentation of papers atconferences. The decision to hold the panel discussion was prompted by a desire to explore thethoughts of people engaged in such private-sector
research. We were fortunate to have the support ofMr. Hayama, who was previously involved in the
publication of Shirizu: Minkan Gakusha (The PrivateSector Scholars Series) (published by Libroport), and
Mr. Funabiki, who heads the selection committee forcategory A research grants. It was Mr. Hayama whochose “The Potential of Private-Sector Knowledge”
as the theme for the panel discussion. And as theeditor of such books as Chi no Giho (Techniques ofKnowledge), Mr. Funabiki is well-versed in the current state of scholarship in Japan.
During the panel discussion the venue was almost
full with an audience of nearly 100 people. After awelcoming speech from Managing Director Chimaki
Kurokawa, Mr. Hayama opened the discussion by
explaining the reasons behind his choice of theme.
5THE TOYOTA FOUNDATION OCCASIONAL REPORT

Mr. Tanaka, Mr. Nakanishi, and Mr. Matsubara thenpresented their reports. Mr. Tanaka, who lives in
Bangkok, is surveying the botanical resources of ethnic minorities in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), and Vietnam while building up a network of
agriculturists in these countries. He argued that establishing a base close to the area concerned in the
country itself meant for lower travel, personnel, andcommunications costs and more rational project
management compared with large-scale projects
implemented by international organizations anduniversities based in developed countries. He also
noted that this approach was effective as a way ofproviding feedback on survey results to local people.
Film-maker and explorer Jun’ichi Nakanishi isworking with local people in the Kham region, located in the eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau, topreserve woodblock prints of Tibetan Buddhist
scriptures at the Dege Printing House. He said thatthe photographic methods used by the average researcher for such work were inadequate for the taskof preserving, in image form, the traditional
woodblock printing methods. In fact the task necessitated the involvement of an experienced filmmaker. Furthermore, the rugged Kham region is
known for its transport problems and is hardly suited
to researchers used to working in libraries. Field research in Kham requires the abilities of a trained andexperienced explorer. Such testimony confirms why
Mr. Nakanishi is the ideal man for the job.
Unlike Mr. Tanaka and Mr. Nakanishi, Mr.
Matsubara does not devote all of his time to field research. He is renowned for his studies of Turkish
nomads and has numerous books to his credit, andtoday his primary occupation is as director of the Japan Center for Area Studies, National Museum of
Ethnology. We were hoping that he would explain
why someone in such a lofty position decided to establish the Mongol Partnership Institute to achieve
the practical goal of assisting Mongolian nomads. In
his youth, however, Mr. Matsubara was involved infield studies in Afghanistan. He was unable to suppress his deep concern about the situation in thatwar-ravaged country and focused much of his talkon this topic. He expressed his fear that the crisis
would escalate into a global conflict. Many audience
members have told us that they were deeply moved
by Mr. Matsubara’s report.
The commentator, Mr. Funabiki, used the term
“public-sector knowledge” to describe knowledge inand around Japanese universities. Researchers who
belong to this world of public-sector knowledge are
6

February 2002

given exclusive access to the massive Grants-in-Aid
for Scientific Research program run by the Ministryof Education, Culture, Science, Sports, and Technology (MEXT). However, the end products of their work
are frequently papers published in media targetedsolely at academic insiders, such as the journals andbulletins of academic societies. In effect, according to
Mr. Funabiki, “Public-sector knowledge consists ofknowing about public-sector knowledge,” and theresearch community does little to pass on the benefits of their work to the outside world. Mr. Funabiki
argued that the public-sector knowledge system, likethe bureaucracy, exists to feed itself. Private-sector
knowledge, meanwhile, because of its position close
to the front line, can be applied flexibly even though
the investment may be small. It also allows researchers to return the benefits of research directly to local
people through film and other methods. The Toyota
Foundation could be described as being in a position
to support such potential uses of private-sector
knowledge. Meanwhile, Mr. Funabiki maintainedthat it was foolish, from the perspective of the long
history of universal human knowledge, to draw aline between public- and private-sector knowledge.
The reports presented by Mr. Tanaka, Mr.
Nakanishi, and Mr. Matsubara differed in terms of
the issues covered and the methodologies used. In
this sense, it is unlikely that a unified image wasformed in the minds of the audience. Yet the diversity of formats and methods used and the fact thatthe presentations cannot readily be classified canperhaps in itself be seen as an indication of the impact, force, and potential—as well as the issues—inherent in private-sector knowledge. Unusually,
every member of the audience who completed aquestionnaire at the venue said that the presentations were “interesting.” Each of the three presenters
has taken up the task of absorbing and preserving
knowledge that exists in the private sector—aboutfood plants, Buddhist scriptures, and nutrition—andacting as a channel for the return of that knowledge
to the wider public. To paraphrase Mr. Funabiki’s
earlier comment, private-sector researchers havemade knowing about private-sector knowledge an
important issue for private-sector knowledge.
In fiscal 2001 MEXT will disburse Grants-in-Aid
for Scientific Research totaling ¥158 billion. In fiscal
1991 the Ministry spent ¥58.9 billion, so the amount
has risen by almost ¥100 billion over the past decade.
Only those in the world of public-sector knowledge
can access this money. It is encouraging to see theemergence of field workers who have the courage toTHE TOYOTA FOUNDATION OCCASIONAL REPORT

turn their backs on this system and choose the pathof private-sector knowledge. It will be interesting tosee how these seeds grow and to observe the type ofworld that these people open up for us.

A Lesson on “Seeing” from a Blind Priest
Akiko Nagai
Part-Time Lecturer, Fukuoka Women’s University
A shadowy human figure suddenly emerges fromthe darkness and walks slowly toward me. As hepasses under a street lamp, I notice that he holds awhite cane. This must be R, the blind priest. It is early
on a winter’s morning. The streets are deserted, andthe only other people in view are those coming andgoing at a market in the distance.
I first visited South Korea in 1988. A two-year
grant in fiscal 1995 and a research report grant in2000 from the Toyota Foundation allowed me totravel extensively there, visiting blind priests whorecite scriptures and practice divination. South Korea
has a tradition of blind religious figures dating backto a blind priest who appears in the Koryosa (the History of Koryo). They have been known by various
names, including blind diviners, pansu (blind fortunetellers), and blind sutra chanters. In modern times
they have formed a national organization called the
Korean Society of Divination Art of the Blind.
My most recent journey began in Seoul. My aim
was to interview R, a member of the Korean Societyof Divination Art of the Blind in Chonju City, Cholla
Pukdo Province. R agreed to be interviewed during
his morning walk, and we arranged to meet in frontof the main gate of a school.
R walked on into the darkness, apparently unwilling to waste time on the greetings usually associatedwith first encounters. He walked ahead of me, canein hand, with an accustomed stride. I had to follow
behind with my assistant, Ms. Kim, a student at Inha
University. We had no idea which direction he would
go. After following him for some time, we arrived ata look-out point on top of a small hill. The surrounding hills became visible as silhouettes as dawn approached. The scene was incomparably beautiful as
I physically experienced the start of a new day heralded by birds singing in the clear, cold morning air.
R told us that he had frequently visited this vantage
point both before and after he became blind. He

February 2002

gazed intently at the dawn, and we stood silently
beside him, watching the color pour into the sky. In
the end, I was lucky enough to be able to spend therest of that day with R until late at night.
R is 48 years old and has lived in Chonju for mostof his life. After graduating from a technical highschool, he worked for a civil engineering firm. At theage of 21 he became embroiled in a dispute over aroad construction project and was beaten by a gang.
It was this beating that cost him his sight. For sometime he was unable to recover from his mental andphysical pain, but eventually he began to visit
temples, guided by his mother, in search of a place toundertake religious study and recuperate his bodyand mind. He was allowed to enter Seongbul
Temple, which is located on a hill on the outskirts ofChonju. There he spent the next three years restoring
his health and cooking his own meals.
At that time the Seongbul Temple was a hermitage
for a shamanistic religion dedicated to the mountaingods. There was another blind priest, P, who madehis living by reciting scriptures and telling fortunes.
As R gradually regained his mental stability, he began to learn Zhou divination and other knowledge
from P by ear. It was in this way that he acquired his
fortunetelling skills. R also learned a variety of folk
religion scriptures, and eventually he took over P’s
work. After learning Braille, R began to study Buddhist scriptures in earnest.
In the 1970s the government initiated a campaign
to eliminate superstition through its Saemaul (newvillage development) movement. Though the Seongbul Temple was affected by this campaign, it escaped
destruction by adopting T’aego Buddhist practices.
Though he does not have a shaven head, R has been
given the priestly title “Dogan.”
I had heard that many ordinary people in SouthR taking a walk in Chonju.

7

THE TOYOTA FOUNDATION OCCASIONAL REPORT

Seongbul Temple, on the outskirts of Chonju.

Korea retreat to mountain temples or hermitages formental and physical recuperation or study, so I asked
R if I could visit the Seongbul Temple. The temple is
not far from the city and can be reached by a 30minute taxi ride, followed by a 30- or 40-minute walkup a mountain track. R walked confidently, nevervarying his pace, though he stopped from time totime to wait for us as we lagged behind. He musthave walked up and down this hill countless times
since he began to live in the temple. As I observed
him leading us, I found it hard to believe that he wasblind. I can only assume that he had developed a
map in his head.
Though his eyes cannot see, R made full use of his
senses of hearing, touch, and smell. He sensed the
movement and scent of the breeze, the chirps of birds
and insects, the rustling noises of trees and grass, andthe feel of the stones and soil on the road. He musthave used that information to learn about the areaand build an invisible map. Though he experienced
the surroundings in a different way, his map was thesame as the ones we see with our eyes, or perhaps it
was even more detailed. It began to seem inappropriate to talk of R as being “blind.”
R lives alone in an office-apartment located in a
downtown shopping district. It is a simple one-roomdwelling equipped with a telephone, and the Braillebooks that R uses in his work are neatly arranged. R
told us about his impressions of Japan, which he had
recently visited as a member of an organization for
the visually impaired. While in Tokyo he visited theJapan Braille Library in Takadanobaba. In Asakusa
he tasted tendon (tempura served on a bowl of rice)for the first time, and he also had the opportunity to
exchange views with Japanese organizations for thevisually impaired. By actually walking in Tokyo andriding buses and taxis, he also learned about govern8

February 2002

ment policies toward the visually impaired and thesituation of disabled people in Japan. Most of those
who participated in the visit thought that policies forthe disabled in South Korea were not as adequate asin Japan and that disabled people in South Korea
were very unfortunate. R disagreed. He thought that
continued exposure to the consideration shown in Japan would rob disabled people of the will to live independently and of the satisfaction of achieving
things for themselves in the face of adversity.
Today R reads scriptures and practices fortunetelling only on weekends. He devotes the rest of histime to counseling blind people at the Blind Welfare
Alliance Center. He started that work because hethought it would be helpful if someone with thesame disability could listen to the pain and frustrations of the visually impaired.
As I listened to R, I became aware that it was already becoming dark and that I could not see wellenough to take notes. I asked R to turn on the light.
Those who are used to living without darkness arehelpless in such situations. We ended the day with alate dinner. R told me that I must try pibimbap (ricewith vegetables) while in Chonju. Of course, it was R
who led the way to the restaurant. Soon the table wascovered not only with pibimbap but also with several
varieties of kimchi and other Korean delicacies. R
happily recalled his experiences in Japan. When hetried tendon in Asakusa, he had expected that there
would be a variety of accompanying dishes, but all
he received was two slices of pickle!
Finally R asked about my age. I told him to guess.
When he said “late 50s,” I realized that the voice reveals all and that everything was visible to R. Thiswas somehow reassuring, and I relaxed for the rest of
the meal. Afterwards R declined my offer to escort
him back to his home, so we shook hands and parted
in front of the restaurant.
My idea about R’s “invisible map” was probably
not entirely wrong. I realized that when I read Tori ga
Oshiete Kureta Sora (The Sky the Birds Taught Me) (Japan Broadcast Publishing Co., Ltd.), a collection of
essays by Mayuko Sannomiya.
Sannomiya became blind at the age of four. She
subsequently discovered a rich sensory world aftercoming into contact with nature through bird-watching. As she learned to distinguish bird calls, shefound that the songs of birds provided her with athree-dimensional awareness of the scenery. Eventually she became aware of the times of nature throughthe sounds made by plants and insects, and in thisway she was able to “see” the world around her

THE TOYOTA FOUNDATION OCCASIONAL REPORT

through sound. To reach this stage, it is necessary to
open all of the senses at once. This is different fromthe simplistic notion that blind people have goodhearing. Sannomiya writes that she had to climb one
step at a time until she was able to perceive scenerythrough all of her senses.
The experiences of Mayuko Sannomiya provide
us with the opportunity to think anew about themeaning of the word “see.” Of course, sight is simply a process in which stimuli reaching the retina aretransmitted to the brain. Yet the way in which R and
Sannomiya perceive the world around them cannot
be seen simply through our visual organs, the eyes.
They seek information using all of their remaining
physical senses. They combine that information tocreate an image of their environment. This task involves a constant expenditure of energy and requiresconsiderable perseverance. Perhaps that is why they
are so physically determined to “see” deeply. This
leads me to believe that the experience of seeing isessentially linked very closely to physicality. In thisway, seeing goes beyond accepted concepts and becomes a richly expanded experience.
In the past, people in Japan and Korea believedthat blind priests had been granted sacred powers by
virtue of their blindness and that they were able tosee into the future. These beliefs assigned a positive
significance to blindness. From a modern perspective, we can interpret this as signifying that blindness
gives people access to hidden physical perceptions
and allows them to develop special abilities.
In retrospect I realized that it was always thepriests themselves who led me during my visits insearch of blind priests. I met many blind priests, andeach time I simply followed where they led me. My
eyes can see, but I wonder now if I truly see the world.

Toyota Environmental Activities Grant
Program
Kyoichi Tanaka
Program Officer
The Environmental Activities Grant Program is administered jointly by the Toyota Foundation andToyota Motor Corporation. The selection process forfiscal year 2001 has now been completed. The basic
theme for the program is “social investment in sustainable development.” In early April the Founda-

February 2002

Toyota Environmental Activities Grant Program:
Projects Awarded Grants in Fiscal 2001(* indicates a continuing project from the previous fiscal year.)

Environmental Technology•Protecting the Terrestrial Biodiversity of the Island of
Pohnpei, Micronesia
Conservation Society of Pohnpei (Micronesia)•Substitution of Conventional Cooking Fuels with Plant
Oils in Guatemala: A Practical Test for Implementation
Institute for Agricultural Engineering in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Hohenheim (Germany)•Compatible Production Systems for Sturgeon andShrimp Aquaculture in the Caspian Sea
Atyrau Regional Government (Kazakhstan)•Commercialization Project for Medicinal Plant Resourcesin Central and Western Himalayan Communities
Society for the Conservation and Development of Himalayan
Medicinal Resources (Japan)•Biomass Gasification to Provide a Gas Supply in Rural
China
Institute for Thermal Power Engineering, Zhejiang University(China)•Rehabilitation Project for Devastated Tropical Peatland
Ecosystems in Central Kalimantan
Hokkaido University Graduate School of Agriculture (Japan)
Next-Generation Human Resources•Production of an Environmental Education Guide in theCentral Highland Region of the Dominican Republic
Moscoso Puello Foundation (Dominican Republic)•“Green Packs” for Environmental Education in Schools
in Bulgaria and Hungary*
Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern
Europe (Hungary)•A Practical Education Program Aimed at the Preservation and Improvement of the Steppe Environment inInner Mongolia
Imin Soum Environmental Problem Research Group (Japan)•The “Roots and Shoots” Environmental Program
The Jane Goodall Institute Japan (Japan)•“Youth to Youth”: Peer Education for a Sustainable Future
Pronatura Península de Yucatán, A.C. (Mexico)•Environmental Education in Laguna del Tigre National
Park, Guatemala
Conservation International-ProPeten (Guatemala)•Participatory and Active Learning About the Management of Local Resources for Young Thais
Eco-Community Vigor Foundation (Thailand)•A Leadership Program for the Environment and Development*
LEAD Japan (Japan)•Building and Implementing Environmental Awarenessby Promoting the “Midori no yubi” (Green Finger) Logo
Tsurukawa Community Development Citizens’ Group (Japan)

9THE TOYOTA FOUNDATION OCCASIONAL REPORT

tion began to accept applications for projects relating
to “commercializing environmental technology” and“developing next-generation human resources.” By
the deadline in early May, the Foundation had received 76 applications from universities, research institutes, community and environmental NGOs, andother organizations in 21 countries, including Japan.
The eight-member selection committee chaired by
Keiko Nakamura convened in early August. After
careful deliberations, the committee decided toaward 15 grants totaling approximately ¥160 million
in the current financial year.
The criteria applied to applications relating tocommercializing environmental technology included consideration of regional characteristics, thereliability of applicants, the real potential for commercialization, and the need for private-sector support. Particular importance was placed on thecultural, social, and economic characteristics of thelocations in which projects were to be implemented.
The committee selected three projects to be implemented in developing countries by organizations indeveloped countries. There was debate over why
these projects were to be run by organizations in developed countries rather than local organizations.
The projects were selected because committee members recognized that the plans reflected the strong
commitment of the organizations toward the regions
concerned and the strong desire of local people thatthe projects should be implemented.
The results of the selection process also reflect thefact that projects designed to localize existing technology for use in developing countries were seen as
having greater value than the development and commercialization of the very latest technology.
The criteria for projects relating to developing
next-generation human resources included the appropriateness of project goals, the issue of whether
the project leaders and participants would learn
from each other, the potential for future development, and the need for private sector support. In environmental education projects in particular, thecommittee looked especially hard for evidence thatproject leaders and participants would be working
and learning from each other on an equal footingwith a shared perception of their objectives, rather
than having the leaders simply teach existing concepts and methods of environmental education to
the participants.
Two continuing projects from the previous financial year were selected. Applicants are required tosubmit progress reports in the case of continuing
10

February 2002

projects. In both cases the selection committee wasvery impressed with the content of the reports.
Balance among the regions of the world has beena priority since last year. This has been achieved in thecurrent financial year, with projects selected in Japan,
North America, Latin America, Asia, and Europe.
This program was established in fiscal 2000 andwill continue for three years. In fiscal 2002 the application period will again be the entire month of April.
Those wishing to apply should address inquiries tothe Environmental Activities Grant Program Department, Toyota Foundation Secretariat. Details can befound on the Toyota Foundation website: <http://
www.toyotafound.or.jp/etop.htm>.

Grants Awarded for Fiscal 2001
The ninety-sixth meeting of the Board of Directors
was held on September 14, 2001. The following decisions were made regarding the Research Grant Program and other grant programs for fiscal 2001.
On October 10 a grant award ceremony was heldat the Century Hyatt Hotel in Tokyo. The following
is a summary of the various grant programs.
Research Grant Program: 72 Grants, ¥185.97 million
Applications were solicited from April 1 to May 20,
2001. The record final tally of 1,091 applications
topped the previous year’s total by 75. As in the past,
the Foundation sought proposals for projects concerned with the program’s core theme, “Creating aSociety with Pluralistic Values.”
After studying the applications, the selection committees chose 40 individual research projects for Category A grants worth a total of ¥53.84 million, and 32
collaborative research projects for Category B grants
totaling ¥132.13 million.
As usual, the successful proposals included a highproportion of projects involving overseas fieldwork.
The selection panel expressed the view that applicants should think more carefully about their reasonsfor undertaking fieldwork in a particular location as
they develop their research plans.
Southeast Asian National Research Program: 68
Grants, $563,100
This program supports local researchers in Southeast
Asia engaged in research relating to the program’sTHE TOYOTA FOUNDATION OCCASIONAL REPORT

theme, “Cultural Issues in Contemporary Society.”
As in the previous year, the Foundation received
over 400 applications for this program. Initial selection produced a list of 119 applications that met theFoundation’s criteria. Foundation staff then interviewed applicants and made supplementary inquiries, after which proposals were examined by theselection committee members responsible for eachcountry. The grants were approved at the Board of
Directors meeting. Grants were awarded for 11
projects in Cambodia, 18 in Indonesia, 1 in Malaysia,
2 in Myanmar (Burma), 9 in the Philippines, 6 inThailand, and 14 in Vietnam.
Young Indonesian Researchers Program: 1 Grant,$25,000
This program is currently under review. One grant
was awarded to a project whose aim is to provide a
training program to improve skills in the area of academic thesis writing. The leader of this project is
Yunita Triwardani Winarto, editor-in-chief of the journal Antropologi Indonesia (Indonesian Anthropology).
“Know Our Neighbors” Translation and Publication Programs: Japan, 5 grants, ¥9.58 million; other
Asian countries, 17 grants, $100,700
These programs promote mutual understanding
among Japan and South and Southeast Asian countries by supporting the translation and publication ofa broad variety of works in such fields as history,
humanities, politics, economics, and literature.
This year six applications were received for the
program in Japan. Grants were awarded for translations of five books on the humanities and social sciences in Cambodia, China’s Yunnan Province (SipSong Phanna), India, and Vietnam.
A total of 28 applications from Southeast and South
Asian countries were received for the program inother Asian nations. Grants were awarded for 17
projects, including books on the humanities and social
sciences and literary works. One of the projects isbased in Cambodia, 5 are based in Indonesia, 3 in
Nepal, 3 in Pakistan, 3 in Sri Lanka, and 2 in Thailand.
Foundation Initiative Grant Program: 6 Grants,¥18.41 million
This program, unlike others, does not publicly solicit
applications. The Board of Directors approves theawarding of grants after an internal screening process
by Foundation staff. This year grants were approved
to support projects including a website to provide
Japanese-language information services relating to

February 2002

articles by Inter Press Service, a nonprofit news
agency based in Rome (representative: Suvendrini
Kakuchi), about issues in developing countries thathave not been widely reported in Japan.
Award Ceremony
The award ceremony began with comments from theselection committees for the Research Grant Program, the Southeast Asian National Research Program, and the “Know Our Neighbors” Programs
about the selection process and the projects chosen to
receive grants. This was followed by the awarding of
the grants. Foundation President Shosaburo Kimura
presented lists of grants to representatives of recipients in each program. Tatsuya Orita represented individual research project grant recipients (Category
A research grants), Jun’ichi Nakanishi the collaborative research project grant recipients (Category B research grants), and Yasuyuki Tsuboi (an editor at
Akashi Shoten) and Emiko Fujioka (a translator) therecipients of the “Know Our Neighbors” Translation
and Publication Programs.
After the ceremony a party was held at which specially invited members of the Asia Leadership Fellow Program gave speeches. The gathering provided
a chance for lively exchanges of views between selection panel members, grant recipients, and guests,
boosting the motivation of recipients.

Recent Publications Based on
Foundation-Supported Research
In Our Own Words: Filipino Writers in Vernacular Languages. Isagani R. Cruz, ed. Manila: De La Salle University Press, Inc., 2000.
The Toyota Foundation has for some time provided
grants to recipients in the Philippines to support the
study, translation, and publication of vernacular literature. The grant that supported this book fits into
this pattern. The book is a record of the lives andworks of Filipino authors born in the 1910s, 1920s,
and 1930s who wrote in vernacular languages. It consists of interviews with 24 authors who wrote in various vernacular languages, including Bikol, Cebuano,
Hiligaynon, Ilocano, and Tagalog, and works bythose writers. The editor himself is a noted writerand literary critic. He used the oral history method to11

THE TOYOTA FOUNDATION OCCASIONAL REPORT

complete his book and spent two years visiting provincial writers.
Through these biographical accounts and works
the book vividly depicts the atmosphere of the period when these authors were writing, as well as issues that have remained current in the Philippines
down to the present day. How do writers who intheir younger days loved Steinbeck, Hemmingway,
Poe, and Keats choose which language to use in theirown works? How does the choice of language affectmotifs? How can literature drive out narrow factionalism and regionalism and create awareness ofnation-building? As artists of a country that has experienced colonization, what can poets do for thatcountry? This book overflows with the profoundlove that the writers have for their cultures, and for
the Philippines as a country. It is also a record ofwhat they have perceived and expressed in society.
Many Japanese people today may find it hard to
imagine the reality of life in the polyglot society of
the Philippines. To quote one of the writers: “Cebuano
has even more wit than English. In typical Cebuano
fashion, I fill my poetry with the wit, wisdom, andsense of humor that I have been familiar with since
my childhood. That would not be possible for someone who had grown up in the United States.”
The professions of the featured writers are diverse,
including a construction worker and a teacher, andthe interviews with them reveal fragmentary episodes in their lives. These episodes provide insights
into the fates of provincial cultures since the end ofWorld War II and the thoughts of the writers toward
them. If we follow the perspectives of the writers, we
also become aware of an impassioned plea that their
beloved languages and cultures should be inheritedby the next generation of young writers.

The Methodology of Relic Engineering: How to Use Historical and Cultural Resources. Nobuo Endo. Tokyo:
Kajima Institute Publishing Co., Ltd., 2001.
The words “relic” and “engineering” form an extremely incongruous pairing. However, through thisbook one learns that this odd mixture has actually
produced a new methodology.
What is engineering? On the website of Toyo Engineering Corporation, for which the author of thisbook worked for many years, it is described as a verybroad field: “Based on consistent concepts and policies, the diverse and complex operations required to
12

February 2002

ensure the success of a project are implemented on
an integrated basis starting from feasibility studies
and basic design, and including detailed design, procurement, construction, and operation.”
In 1986, several years before the achievement ofpeace in Cambodia, the author happened to become
involved in a project to preserve the Angkor ruins.
He applied these concepts to produce a master planfor the project. Basically, his plan was to treat the ruins as a cultural “resource” and to make that resource
available for a wide range of purposes, including thepromotion of learning, education, and tourism.
This book provides a detailed description of the“relic engineering” methodology developed by theauthor. It also records the application of the method
to ruins in Thailand, Cambodia, and India and theresults that were achieved. Of particular interest is
the author’s discovery of fundamental differences in
the criteria applied to profit-oriented corporate
projects and cultural projects. With the former theemphasis is on productivity and economic returns
over a limited period, while with the latter greater
importance is placed on spiritual and scientific aspects that transcend time. It is fascinating to readabout the process by which the author adapted engineering concepts to the criteria of cultural projects.
Perhaps this type of engineering could be applied
not only to ruins but to all types of cultural projects.
The Toyota Foundation supported the project onwhich this work is based—“Research on Creation of
a Model for Coexistence of Human Beings, the Natural Environment, and the Angkor Monuments of
Cambodia,” led by Shinji Tsukawaki—through a fiscal 1995 Research Grant and provided a Research
Report Grant to facilitate the publication of the book.

The Toyota Foundation welcomes responses fromreaders of the Occasional Report. Comments andquestions should be addressed to the International
Division, The Toyota Foundation, Shinjuku Mitsui
Building 37F, 2-1-1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku,
Tokyo 163-0437, Japan. The articles in the Occasional
Report reflect the authors’ opinions and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Foundation.
Coordinating editor: Shiro Honda. Production: Japan Echo Inc., Tokyo.
Copyright ©2002 by The Toyota Foundation; all rights reserved. Printed
in Japan.