Martial arts, lectures
flavor Japanese fair
Festival brings
games, traditions
and arts to UNL.
By Kimberly Coffeen
Staff Reporter
Ritual tea ceremonies and the clat
ter of bamboo swords took the place
of fast food and the electronic sounds
of video games, as a taste of Japanese
culture came to the Nebraska Union
Thursday.
The fifth-annual Festival of Japan
featured guest speakers and demonstra
tions of Japanese martial arts and tra
ditions.
The festival’s keynote speaker was
Tatsuo Tanaka. Tanaka, Consul Gen
eral of Japan in Kansas City, talked
about the relations between Japan an
Midwest United States, especially the
_t t c_
\UUU1UUV VllUU^V 111 iTU^/UUVJV vy IV
lations since World War n.
“I am sure that Japan has become
the U.S.’s best friend,” Tanaka said.
Nebraska has become a good friend
and trading partner of Japan as well.
“Nebraska is Japan’s No. 1 cus
tomer,” he said.
Akira Yamamoto, an anthropologist
at the University of Kansas, spoke
about the importance of language di
versity and the similarities between
Japanese and Native American lan
guages.
“Cultural language diversity has
been the way of human survival and
languages are the most important ways
of expressing our views of the world,”
he said.
Of the 6,000 languages in the
world, Yamamoto said, only 300 are
spoken by more than 1 million people.
Only 50 percent of the world’s lan
guages will survive past the year 2000,
he said.
As the pool of diverse languages
shrinks, Yamamoto said, so do people’s
insights into different cultures.
“When we look at languages, we
see how people think. It is a mirror for
people’s minds,” Yamamoto said.
William Samonides, an art history
professor at KU, showed slides of Japa
nese architecture. Andrew Tsubaki, of
KU’s International Theatrical Studies
Center, spoke about the traditions of
Japanese theater.
Besides the lectures, the festival
featured demonstrations of martial arts
and Japanese traditions.
Shoichi Nagase, Vice Consul of
Japan in Kansas City, and Richard
Schmidt, martial arts instructor at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln dem
onstrated Kendo, a martial art similar
to fencing. The two teamed up with
three other men to perform ancient
martial arts.
An exhibition of the Japanese game
“Go” and a traditional Japanese tea
ceremony, known as chanoyu, rounded
out the seven-hour festival.
Tanaka said the festival was a good
way for UNL students to learn about
the Japanese culture.
“I hope that this festival continues
for years to come because it is a great
way for others to learn more about the
Japanese culture and its meaning,”
Tanaka said.
The festival was presented by the
Department of Modem Languages and
Literatures and the Kawasaki Reading
Room for Japanese Studies. The read
ing room was established in 1992
through a gift from the Kawasaki Mo
tors Manufacturing Corp.
___ Scott Bruhn/DN
SEIJIRO KIYOMICHI, right, charges Hiroshi Notuka during a Kendo Kakarikeiko demonstration
Thursday afternoon as part of the Festival of Japan at the Nebraska Union.
. . ....
, - ' Matthew Waite/DN
U.S. SUPREME COURT Justice Clarence Thomas shares a laugh with former Chief
Justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court William Hastings Thursday morning in Omaha.
Thomas appeared before the Nebraska BarAssociation.
Thomas still enjoys his work
THOMAS from page 1
cases that had been held over from the previous
term because of the vacancy he filled. He also
had to get ready for four other cases to be heard
three days later.
'“It was a heavy docket, and it was one that I
was not prepared,” he said. “Judges should know
their docket.”
His first day of judging was Nov. 1, 1991
— the morning of his investiture. It was there
that Thomas finally realized where he was.
During the investiture, he was asked to sit in
the chair of Supreme Court legend Justice John
Marshall. It was the first moment he had to think
about what had happened.
“I thought ‘Oh my goodness, this is the Su
preme Court,’” he said. “It all converged sitting
there in the John Marshall chair.”
Thomas said with a wry smile that the last
five years of his term on the court is history. He
/ said the sitting justices told him the first five
years on the bench are an adjustment period —
Thomas called them his rookie years.
Thomas said his rookie years have been filled
with challenges.
“You can look at the color of my hair to see
what effect it’s had,” he said.
But the challenges have come from the work,
not the institution, he said. Now that civility is
in fashion in Washington, Thomas said the court
has always had respect for each other.
“In five years, I have yet to hear an unkind
word,” he said. Thomas said more rancor has
come from outside the court about their deci
sions, not inside the court.
“There should be civility,” he said. “But we
agreed long before it was fashionable.
“It was judging. It was what we thought judg
ing was all about.”
Wilson runs unopposed
in NU regents campaign
Lone candidate says higher admission standards,
gender-equity progress among accomplishments
By Erin Schulte
Senior Reporter
After six years on the University of Ne
braska Board of Regents, Regent Chuck Wil
son of Lincoln will run unopposed this year
to regain his position.
Wilson, a cardiologist with the Nebraska
Heart Institute, said he had been a major
player during his time as a regent in enacting
several important campus policies like gen
der equity and open board meetings.
Wilson was a strong supporter of raising
admission standards, and said he emphasized
that it was not an attempt to exclude students,
but an effort to make sure people are pre
pared for university academic work. The
resolution for a stronger core curriculum also
was written by Wilson.
“Students of all disciplines should be ex-"
posed to a common core of science andhu-'
manities,” Wilson said. “I think (journalism-*
students) should know the difference between
a molecule and an atom.”
Wilson also wrote a regents’ policy state
ment on the role of research at UNL. Some
regents had proposed that die university be
restricted to just research that generated prof
its.
“I think that would have been very dam
aging,” Wilson said. ■
The statement led to improvements in
evaluating teaching performance and decid
ing who should receivetenure.
Women on campus have Wilson to thank
for progress in gender equity.
Wilson said he suggested and later was
chairman of an ad hoc committee that dis
■ • - ;5; ''
a-———
Students of all disci
plines should be ex
posed to a common core
of science andhumanU
ties. I think (journals
ism students) should
know the difference
\
l ^
v i
ing gender equity at^NU campuses that will
for things like contract negotiations, he said
there are no longer closed meetings each
month.' .