Annual Memorial Service (Ireisai,慰霊祭) For Animals Sacrificed At Tsukuba University`s Medical School (again)
The tremendous advances made in the medical sciences over the past few centuries have been simply astounding. Much of this progress can be attributed to the efforts of diligent, talented, and sometimes just-plain-lucky researchers who set about looking for solutions to medical questions by applying the scientific method — which depends heavily on observing the results of controlled experiments to prove hypotheses.
Animals, in their forced role as experimental subjects, have played a crucial part in this March Forward, as many important medical studies from the times of Pasteur and Pavlov to the present day, have been made with the use of test animals. Every year at least tens of millions of vertebrates (and so many more invertebrates) are used around the world in tests which end with these creatures being SACRIFICED.
At Tsukuba University Medical School, as well as at other research institutes in Japan, the role that animals play in scientific progress, and the suffering often involved in their making a CONTRIBUTION to humanity (and sometimes to their fellow animals as well) does not go unrecognized or unacknowledged (for whatever that is worth) .
Once a year, usually in the first week of November (when the climate is most comfortable), an announcement is made throughout the medical school complex, that a special memorial service (ireisai, 慰霊祭) will be held at the IREIHI (慰霊碑), a memorial tablet which is tucked away in the shadows of the small woods, just east of the hospital’s power plant. The IREIHI itself was made 20 years ago by a student of the university and the inscription on it reads “JIKEN DOBUTSU IREIHI”, or “monument for consoling the spirits of experimental animals”.
On the day the ceremony is announced, hundreds of doctors, researchers, administrators, office staff and representatives of the companies which supply the animals attend, many bringing flowers, or foods which the animals might like. Since Tsukuba University is a government institution which must abide by rules separating church and state, incense, which would usually be offered on such an occasion, is not used, because of its overtly religious (Buddhist) connotations. Usually, a distinguished researcher or administrator makes a short speech about the number of animals sacrificed and the need to reduce this number and alleviate suffering. Those assembled then close their eyes for a moment of silence. I am told that many of those who attend this ceremony feel a sense of satisfaction or solace in having shown their respect and gratitude to the sacrificed lab animals.
Some laboratories in Tsukuba affiliated with private companies hold more elaborate and overtly religious IREISAI. For several reasons, I, myself, do not like the idea of using animals for experiments (when it is not absolutely necessary to do so). But since millions of creatures ARE being used (and abused) in the name of science, I think it is a good thing to give them a little (even if it’s only on one day) RESPECT.
Thanks to Dr. Sugiyama, director of Tsukuba University’s Center for Experimental Animals for giving me his time and for showing me his dedication to providing the best conditions possible for the animals under his care. Still I get THE WILLIES every time I pass his building. If anyone would like to attend the ceremony please let me know and I will inform you about it (on the day it is held).
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Autumn Leaves Fall Away- Sometimes Revealing the Shrikes`Macabre Handiwork- MOZU NO NIE (鵙の贄)- Tsukuba`s ( and Japan`s) Shrikes- birds with a very curious habit!
By Avi Landau
Since LIFE was somehow first came to be generated in the primordial cosmic soup, it has taken on countless shapes and forms. Competing for nutrients and shelter, living creatures have fanned out to occupy every possible niche, from deep under the sea or under the ground, to high up in the atmosphere and everywhere else in between. In the struggle for species survival it also happened that each creature developed its own unique behaviors with all possible time and seasonal slots being taken up by the various activities of these organisms. The result is a natural world so diverse and AMAZING that many have been (and some even still are!) tempted to conclude that this could only be the work of an intelligent and omnipotent being.
For the Japanese, autumn had always been a time to admire some of the animal world’s most awesome spectacles. The aristocrats of the Heian Court composed some of their greatest poems on the migrations of KARI, wild geese, and of course the non-Yamato inhabitants of Eastern and Northern Japan were filled with religious awe with the mysterious return of salmon (like manna from heaven for them) to the rivers and streams where they were spawned.
In today’s Japan, we unfortunately have little opportunity to observe these phenomena. In all my years of birdwatching here, I have never seen a LARGE FLOCK of geese. In contrast, I am often saddened by the lonely sight of a solitary duck flying off on what looks like a solo migration. As for salmon, pollution, dam construction and overfishing have reduced the upriver runs of autumn to a mere shadow of what they once were.
In Tsukuba (as well as most other parts of Japan) one UNIQUE and startling form of animal behaviour can still be encountered in late autumn, though in fact the animal involved actually performs it in early fall. It is only when the foliage falls away, however, that evidence of this creatures activity is revealed. I am talking about the MOZU (鵙 ) or (bull-headed) shrike, which because of its startling (for us) habit is often called the BUTCHER BIRD.
What the MOZU does is impale its prey on thorns or the tips of branches. In my neighborhood, the most common victims are lizards, though I have heard that frogs, grasshoppers and other insects can be found hanging out to dry in people’s gardens. I have also seen photos of mice and sparrow chicks which have been skewered by these birds. Actually coming upon these macabre leavings can be upsetting. The phenomenon has made a strong impression on the Japanese and the expression for the impaled prey, MOZU NO NIE (the shrike’s sacrifices) has become a KIGO, or seasonal keyword for Japanese HAIKU poetry.
Ornithologists are not exactly sure of why shrikes do what they do. There are several theories.
They do it to preserve food to be eaten later (the leavings are never come back to in my garden).
They do it to mark out their territory.
Or, most logically for me, they use the thorns to pin their prey while they rip off pieces with their sharp curved beak (shrikes it seems have weak legs).
Whatever the reason for this behaviour, the MOZU NO NIE (or mozu no hayanie) can’t help but fill one with amazement with the fast disappearing natural world around us .
Listen to the mozu’s call at here. (For those who can’t read Japanese, the shrike is the ninth bird featured. Click the blue link at the bottom of its square.)
Watch a mozu in action on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lj0w9jWcio&feature=player_embedded
Or have a look at more OFFERINGS at this site. Just keep scrolling and clicking away at the links.
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Bird Rescue Stuck in the Mud
By Avi Landau
Those of us involved in trying to have Tsuchiura's lotus root farmers take down their deadly bird-ensnaring nets have been making efforts to rescue as many birds as possible from slow starvation, until that end is achieved.
We have become, however, metaphorically and quite literally, stuck in the mud. First, there are the technical problems which need to be dealt with. These are: slogging through waist high muck which in this season is covered with a sheet of ice and makes the going very slow and dealing with the entanglements themselves which can be amazingly complex and even more time consuming as we do not want to damage property by cutting the nets.This is exacerbated by the weight of the birds themselves with makes the nets harder to deal with.
Maurice, who drives the long way from Iwama to look for and save living danglers has applied his ingenuity to making our activities more efficient. He has bought chest-high waders, has found tools useful for untangling knots, has found that covering the birds with a sack calms them down, and has developed a sling which takes the birds weight off of the entanglement.
Even for Maurice, the going is still very slow and we need more volunteers. We thought that an article in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper would give some publicity which would help our cause. Even though the reporter showed an interest in the problem and in what we were doing and was generally quite sympathetic, the subsequent article left us highly disappointed in that it didn't mention many of the crucial points related to the issue. There was also no mention of our volunteer activities.
One reason for this might be that many Japanese are currently upset and emotional about the foreign protesters who boarded their whaling ships. If this is the case, it was very bad timing for us.
Though we have had many disappointments, we are not about to give up. We will continue to push for changing the situation. Many other publications besides Asahi Shimbun have shown an interest in this problem and we will continue to appeal to the public. If you have any good ideas, PLEASE contact us.
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Bird Rescue Underway! Six saved, thousands to go…..
By Avi Landau
Something MUST be done about the senseless and cruel slaughter of birds in the nets around Lake Kasumigaura. And because Maurice, a Canadian living in Iwama has gotten involved, the beginnings of a volunteer rescue movement have started to germinate.
Maurice is an experienced environmental activist whose approach to getting things moving is to engage the farmers in friendly discussion in order to win them over to our side. Then if farmers refuse to or are not available to free birds entangled in their own fields, Maurice takes action, but strictly within the bounds of the law. He has purchased a pair of chest-high water-proof waders, and rubber gloves, and carries tools which are not used for cutting. He refuses to cut any nets in order to free birds (as the farmers themselves would do), because that could be considered an illegal act. Instead, he patiently and painstakingly untangles the ensnared wings legs and necks. He also takes precautions against bird flu by wearing a protective surgical mask. This approach is extemely time consuming, and we were only able to rescue six birds today. I felt impotent, standing on firm ground as Maurice plodded, like an astronaut on a planet with a strong gravitational pull, through the waist deep muck, slowly toiling to free the struggling survivers which he spotted with his uncanny eagle eyes.
Birds are continually being caught. Saving a handful of birds has no effect on the big picture and our ultimate aim is to have the nets come down as soon as possible. However, it was still extremely heartwarming and relieving to see birds that would have hung until starvation set in swim freely out into the lake.
We DEFINITELY need more people to get involved and we need more input and ideas.
Please contact us if you are interested in making a difference and doing THE RIGHT THING.
Thanks alot
Avi Landau
avi[at]tora.email.ne.jp
090-4221-4194
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Birds Of a Feather Flock Together
At 1:30 pm on a sultry Saturday July 12th, we gathered in front of the Sakura Gymnasium. The heat was intense and the air itself was like pea soup and seemed to pulsate with life. There were 28 of us in all, nature lovers, who had gathered from near and far to have a look at the cultural, historical and natural treasures of Nakane Konda-Dai (中根 金田台), an area which is slated for a complete bulldozing so as to be turned into another DANCHI housing development.
As I have mentioned in a previous entry, this surprisingly large area of unused land located in the very heart of Tsukuba, received a temporary stay of execution when Kayoko Takahashi caught the construction company involved with the project red-handed as it attempted to secretly wipe out a hawk's nest whose existence she had previously reported to the city office. Because of this incident, Ibaraki Prefecture has given the area a three year lease on life.
Takahashi-san has been working feverishly to make local residents aware and to get the local government to reconsider the future of this remarkably complete ecosystem. This month's event was organized in order to give anyone interested a look at the richness of the Konda woods, which have made it possible for its resident hawk couple to successfully raise ALL THEIR YOUNG over the past three years. Not an easy feat, and one that shows the ecological strength of the Kondai-Dai woods.
Professor Satoshi Ohori, an ornithologist at Waseda University drove all the way to Konda to have a look at our local hawks, and give us some advice regarding how to go about a grass roots movement to protect the area.
We started with a walk through the village of Konda. As we shuffled along in the cruel heat, the wooded hill where Hanamuro Castle used to stand was directly behind us, while the forest under which the ruins of Konda Castle now rest lay dead ahead. These were wooden fortresses, or palisades, which were built to dominate the area in the Kamakura Period.
We stopped to examine a Batto Kannon Sacred Stone which stands at the head of a path leading to an ancient and beautiful stairway which ascends through a thick bamboo grove. At the top is the site of the old manor which was the residence of the court official who used to oversee this area in the Nara Period. I pointed out the rare sacred stones which are still carefully tended to by the local villagers.
We then headed into the woods where the hawks live. The three chicks are doing fine and fortunately did not seem to mind the large group of intruders. We tried to be as quiet as possible and quickly left filled with the excitement of a dramatic wildlife encounter.
We then returned to the Sakura gym where we had reserved a room for Professor Ohori's talk. We stressed how it would be possible to save a portion of the woods which would allow the hawks to remain in the area if we got enough people involved, by signing petitions and calling the city and prefectural offices. He said that if enough people raised their voices, some of this forest might be saved.
With those encouraging words Ohori-Sesei rode off into the sunset leaving us with a sense of mission.
We will be having more meetings about the future of Konda-Dai in the near future. If you are interested, or would like to get involved contact Takahashi-san at kayoaro[AT]pd6.so-net.ne.jp or me, Avi Landau at avi[AT]tora.email.ne.jp. (Change the [AT] to an @ sign.)
And yes, that is Mt. Tsukuba in the background in the wood-block print of a bird of prey by Utagawa Hiroshige. It is almost the exact same scene that I see when I watch the hawks from my bedroom window.
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