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Inamori Foundation E-mail News, Vol. 002-2
December 26, 2009
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This E-mail News is distributed to those who have registered subscription or given us a business card.
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01: Information on Kyoto Prize Week (second half)
- "Never say 'no' and never go on the defensive" - precious maxims from Mr. Boulez in dialogue with youth (Nov.7)
- "Follow Your Heart" - Drs. Peter and Rosemary Grant teach a class at St. Viator Rakusei Senior High School (Nov.13)
- Fun-filled "Kids Science" featuring Drs. Peter and Rosemary Grant (Nov.13)
- "Hold onto Your Dream Every Day" - Dr. Akasaki talks with students at Saikyo Senior High School (Nov.14)
- Dr. Gehring teaches at Horikawa Senior High School - first class taught by a former laureate (Nov.12)
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- "Never say 'no' and never go on the defensive" - precious maxims from Mr. Boulez in dialogue with youth (Nov.7)
On November 7, the Kyoto Prize Students' Forum entitled "Talk with Pierre Boulez" was held at the Institut Franco-Japonais du Kansai. The Forum was moderated by Mr. Dai Fujikura, a young composer who was awarded the Otaka Prize in 2009, and gave youth aspiring to a career in music an opportunity for direct interchange with Mr. Pierre Boulez. It attracted an audience of about 100, who consisted mainly of students of colleges of arts from all parts of Japan but also included students of Kyoto Municipal Senior High School of Music , and was permeated with an air of enthusiastic interest.
When Mr. Fujikura asked him if he had a solid image of the way a tune was to begin and end at the stage of composition, also noting that compositions are sometimes revised and made longer, Mr. Boulez gave a clear-cut reply: "Not necessarily. Take my composition 'Répons,' for example. When I began to compose it, I realized that I could develop it in various directions, and decided on the ending right from the start. In this case, I determined how the composition was to end even before it was written. In this way, when putting components together as a composition, I sometimes have an ending in mind right from the outset and develop the work toward it. But this is not always the case."
To a request for advice about living based on his own experience, Mr. Boulez gave a witty response: "Never say 'no.' Always be open-minded and curious in encounters with thinking and behavior that differ from yours. I always keep my mind open to new talent at the Lucerne Festival. I think that, if I were to stop doing so, I may just as well proceed immediately to my grave and never come back for all eternity."
Asked about the future course of music, he said: "My answer is 'I don't know.' If it were 50 years ago, I think I would have a certain idea and could give you an answer. As I see it, these days, there is not one direction but many. Diversity is extremely important." As his message for youth aspiring to a career in music, he offered the following advice: "If you want to be a composer, work, work, work!"
Mr. Boulez phrased his feelings about his receipt of the Kyoto Prize in the following words: "The approach of interchange with people in the community as opposed to merely appearing at the presentation ceremony struck me as an excellent one. The opportunity to blend into a community was an intriguing one, and I was looking forward to it."
+[Photo News]Mr. Boulez in dialogue with youth (Nov.7)
- "Follow Your Heart" - Drs. Peter and Rosemary Grant teach a class at St. Viator Rakusei Senior High School (Nov.13)
On November 13, there was a special class taught by Drs. Peter and Rosemary Grant at St. Viator Rakusei Senior High School in Kyoto. Besides 220 second-year students at that school, the class was attended by 40 students of Notre Dame Jogakuin (girls') Senior High School.
Illustrated with video footage and photographs, the class took up evolution and described the subject in very simple terms. The laureates had the following message for the students: "Follow your own passion and move forward. Although there might not be any direct connection with your future work, you should follow your heart and do what you like. At times, you may find yourself blocked, stopped, or up against a wall. But don't give up; be sure to continue your efforts."
+[Photo News]Drs. Peter and Rosemary Grant teach a class at St. Viator Rakusei Senior High School (Nov.13)
- Fun-filled "Kids Science" featuring Drs. Peter and Rosemary Grant (Nov.13)
On the afternoon of November 13, the Kyoto Municipal Science Center For Youth was the site of a "Kids Science" program at which Drs. Peter and Rosemary Grant conveyed the joys of the sciences to elementary and junior high school students.
The couple told the children, who were brimming with interest, stories about various animals on the Galapagos Islands while asking them all sorts of questions. They also gave little demonstrations to bring the workings of evolution home to the children. For example, they likened the beaks of finches to cutting pliers of various sizes, which they used to crack beans, right before the children's eyes.
The reactions of the children were expressed in remarks such as "Thanks for teaching us all kinds of things today," "I was happy to learn things I didn't know before," and "I want to study evolution, too!"
+[Photo News]Fun-filled "Kids Science" featuring Drs. Peter and Rosemary Grant (Nov.13)
- "Hold onto Your Dream Every Day" - Dr. Akasaki talks with students at Saikyo Senior High School (Nov.14)
On November 14, Dr. Isamu Akasaki taught a special class at Kyoto Municipal Saikyo Senior High School. In addition to Dr. Akasaki's talk about his research, there was a panel discussion with student representatives. The students took a leading role in the event. They made displays that were exhibited on the school grounds and showed off experiments they had devised to Dr. Akasaki during the class.
Dr. Akasaki furnished polite replies to each and every question from the students while reflecting on his own experience. "Talking with you, it occurred to me that when I was your age, I never thought about myself so seriously," he modestly remarked.
Dr. Akasaki also had the following message for the children: "I hope you will live every day with dreams and hope. I repeatedly failed, but I knew I was doing what I liked and never gave up. Curiosity is another trait you should cherish if you have it. I also would advise you to make friends with various personalities and widen your circle of togetherness and friendship."
At the close of the class, Dr. Akasaki voiced his own thoughts in the following words: "After actually receiving the Kyoto Prize, I realized that it was a larger and weightier award than I had thought. While similar sentiments have already been expressed by Mr. Boulez, who also was awarded the Kyoto Prize this year and experienced interchange with youth before me, I would like to say that the time I spent here today was really worthwhile."
+[Photo News]Dr. Akasaki talks with students at Saikyo Senior High School (Nov.14)
- Dr. Gehring teaches at Horikawa Senior High School - first class taught by a former laureate (Nov.12)
On November 12, Kyoto Municipal Horikawa Senior High School became the scene of a special class taught by a former Kyoto Prize laureate, Dr. Walter Jakob Gehring, who was awarded the prize in 2000 in the Basic Sciences category, on the occasion of his visit to Japan. About 100 students who had done some advance study in an effort to deepen their understanding of Dr. Gehring's achievements and field of specialty listened attentively to his words.
In his class, Dr. Gehring retraced the course of his own research, through which he succeeded in forming eyes on the antennas of fruit flies (Drosophila), interspersed with some comments on the activities of Dr. Peter Raymond Grant and Dr. Barbara Rosemary Grant, two of the laureates this year. Noting that science is a never-ending exploration, he mentioned his desire to research the question of how vision was born, in relation to the origin of species, as his next project.
He concluded his class with the following message: "There are times in life when you must buckle down and steadily persevere, but to exercise creativity, you must relax a little and let your mind play. Creativity is nurtured by catching ideas that suddenly come to mind and doggedly pursuing them."
+[Photo News]Dr. Gehring teaches at Horikawa Senior High School (Nov.12)
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