Foundation Updates 8Opinion:The long road to rebuilding the Middle

East peace process 10FY2006 Program Agenda 12SPF Publications 12From the Editor’s Desk 12

President’s Message :Thoughts on SPF’s twentieth

anniversary 5Special Reports:Supporting Laos as it aims forgrowth by shifting to a marketeconomy

Project Report

SPF activities complementing public

assistance 6Field Report

Capacity building in economic

research and monitoring for the Lao

PDR 7

No. 50, Fiscal Year 2006, Vol. 2

Women as close companionsof the gods

Setsuya Tabuchi: Today I’d like toask you about various things I’velong wondered about in regard tothe Shinto religion. AlthoughJapan’s streetscapes change rapidly,Shinto shrines aren’t demolished ormoved. Often, when I revisit aneighborhood I haven’t been to for along time, the only thing that hasn’tchanged is the Shinto shrine.Minoru Sonoda: When it comes to

Shinto shrines,place is important,so in principle theyaren’t moved. Inthe past, Buddhisttemples were oftenmoved. During theWarring Statesperiod [1467–1568]of frequent strifeamong feudal lords,for example, tem-ple districts wereplaced near castlesin order to provideprotection in an emergency, andtemples were moved for this reason.But that wasn’t done with shrines.Still, occasionally shrines have beenmoved, too. Hie-jinja shrine, forinstance, in Tokyo’s Akasaka dis-trict, was originally located inMomijiyama, within the groundsof Edo Castle. And Tokyo’s KandaMyojin shrine has been relocatedtwice, I think. But shrines can’t bemoved as easily as temples, sincegods abide in specific places.

The older the shrine, the more thisapplies. Gods are settled in a locali-ty’s source of water or some otherspot that’s important to daily life.That’s why it’s hard to move shrines.Essentially the shrine, and thus itsresident deity, is the focal point of aparticular place, so basically it does-n’t move.Tabuchi: There’s a story that afterWorld War II the occupation forcesdecided to demolish the torii gatemarking the entrance to AnamoriInari shrine, in the grounds of Hane-da Airport, because it was in theway. The American soldiers in-volved in the demolition kept falling

A message of symbiosis from Shinto shrine groves

Transmitting a made-in-Japan philosophyof peace to the world

ON THE INSIDE

Minoru Sonoda, chief priest of Chichibu-jinja

shrine, professor emeritus of Kyoto University,

and professor at Kogakkan University, talks with

SPF Chairman Setsuya Tabuchi

ill, and in the end the torii was leftalone. Finally, in 1999, it wasmoved to a nearby location after allthe proper rites had been carefullycarried out. I don’t know whetherthis tale is true, but the Japanese aresensitive to divine retribution, aren’tthey?Sonoda: One of the characteristicsof religious culture is the existenceof taboos. The idea that there aresome things that mustn’t be casuallytouched isn’t unique to Shinto; it’sfound in all religions. There’s anotion that forcibly moving ortouching something sacred will havebad consequences. So when some-thing untoward happens, peopleblame it on violation of a taboo.That’s why they are afraid to tamperwith Shinto festivals and the like. Ifthey try to change a festival andsomething bad occurs, those respon-sible will be in a difficult position.So an effort is made to changethings as little as possible. As far aspossible, things that go back a longway are done in the same way as inthe past. In this sense, religions tendto be conservative.

For this reason, there are festivalsthat have managed somehow to sur-vive, but that brings its own prob-lems with it. For example, there’sthe custom that during festivalswomen mustn’t touch any of the fes-tival paraphernalia, but essentiallythis isn’t a Shinto concept. It’sthought that the idea of excludingwomen comes from the Buddhistbar against women and the ideas of

the Shugendo sect of mountain as-cetics, a distinctively Japanese blendof Buddhist and Shinto beliefs.Shugendo practitioners engagein austerities in the mountains,and because the mountain deitiesare jealous goddesses, womenaren’t allowed to set foot in the moun-tains. This notion influenced villagefestivals. That’s because Shugendopractitioners did a great deal tosupport festivals. Even now, the ideaof excluding women lingers inplaces that carry out festivals mostenergetically. Whenever we havethe chance, we tell people that womenare close to the gods, but it’s hard toencroach on the territory of thosewho run the ceremonies.

In Japanese myths, though, wom-en marry gods and give birth to theirchildren, and it’s for this reason thatthe gods settle in a particular place.So women are closest to the gods.It’s the same with miko, shrine maid-ens. Unmarried women serve thegods. In fact, since the time of thelegendary emperor Suinin [supposedto have lived 29 BCE–70 CE] thechief priest of Ise Jingu shrine hasbeen an imperial princess.Tabuchi: Even now?Sonoda: Yes. Things aren’t as strictas they used to be, so the chief priestdoesn’t have to be an unmarriedprincess.

The concept of pollution is foundoutside Shinto, too. Shinto is a reli-gious culture that has emerged fromJapan’s natural and cultural environ-ment. It’s different in nature fromthe institutional religions created onthe basis of the teachings of, say,Shakyamuni or Jesus. Because Shin-to is a religious culture that hasemerged from the daily life of thepeople, taboos and customary ele-ments are inevitably deeply rootedand have been passed down largelyintact.

Because of the nature of religion,some elements are resistant tochange, but our duty as Shintopriests is to think about how to adaptreligion to the times and enable it tofully exercise its essential strongpoints. This isn’t easy, since we haveto do so while protecting and under-standing its tradition and its essence.Traditions don’t always perfectly fit

the times. As times change, tradi-tions are sometimes distorted. It’sextremely hard to figure out how tocorrect those distortions and bringtraditions into line with the times.

Peaceable Shinto, born of anagrarian culture

Tabuchi: By the way, what areShinto priests saying when theychant the prayers known as norito?They’re incomprehensible to me.Sonoda: Imperial edicts are calledmikoto-nori. The noun form nori andthe verb form noru refer to wordsuttered by a deity or the emperor ina ceremonial setting; they aren’tordinary words. The word noru,referring to the words (nori) of adivine being (mikoto), appears in theeighth-century Kojiki (Record ofAncient Matters) and Nihon shoki(Chronicle of Japan). A god is hid-den, invisible, so doesn’t speakdirectly. The person presiding overworship of the god—the Shintopriest—speaks the words (nori) ofthe god (mikoto). In short, originallynorito were words of the god trans-mitted to human beings by the priestpresiding over worship of the god.Over time, though, the meaning ofnorito was reversed, so that it cameto mean words addressed to a godfrom a human standpoint.

As for not understanding what’sbeing said, I think norito are easierto understand than Buddhist sutras.We create norito for specific occa-sions, but they follow a particularformat. First we extol the virtues ofthe god or gods, then we conveywishes and express thanks. Archaiclanguage and an unfamiliar intona-tion are used, but the content is asI’ve described. If you listen careful-ly, I think you can make out the gist,since there are lots of set phrases.Tabuchi: I see. Next time I’ll payclose attention. On another subject,religion and war seem to go togeth-er, but Shinto is different, isn’t it?Sonoda: I have my doubts as towhether we can say that religion isreally the cause of war, including thepresent Middle East conflict. It’sclear that the Wars of Religion andThirty Years War in post-Reforma-tion Europe were clearly conflicts

Minoru Sonoda Minoru Sonoda was born in Chichibu

City, Saitama Prefecture, in 1936. Hegraduated from the University of Tokyowith a degree in religious studies in 1960and completed doctoral studies there in1965. He became a professor at Koku-gakuin University in 1981 and at KyotoUniversity in 1991. He took up the post ofspecial professor in the Faculty of ShintoStudies at Kokugakuin University in 2003.At present he is chief priest of Chichibu-jinja shrine, president of the Associationof Shinto Shrines in Saitama Prefecture,a director of the Association of ShintoShrines, professor emeritus of Kyoto Uni-versity, and special professor atKogakkan University. In addition, he isthe chairman of the International ShintoResearch Association and a member ofthe Japanese Association for ReligiousStudies, the Society of Shinto Studies,and the Shaso Gakkai (Association forthe Study of Sacred Forest). He receivedthe Award for Academic Achievemento f t h e J a p a n e s e A s s o c i a t i o n o fReligious Studies in 1976. His booksinclude The Phenomenology of Festivals,The World of Shinto, Everyone’s Shinto,Dictionary of Shinto History, Shinto asCulture, and The Chichibu Night Festival,all in Japanese.

between old and new versions offaith. But the present conflict in theMiddle East is also a kind of ethnicconflict. I think religion pours oil onthe flames by adding a fanaticalaspect, but I don’t believe religionitself is the cause.Tabuchi: There’s never been a warcaused by Shinto, has there?Sonoda: That’s because basicallyShinto is the product of agrarian cul-ture. The word culture comes from aLatin verb, colere, meaning inhabit,cultivate, protect, honor with wor-ship. It’s a word with sedentary, agra-rian connotations, emerging from anagricultural context. That which iscarried out by people settled peace-fully in a particular place constitutesculture. Shinto is a “heaven-sentchild” of culture in that it emergedfrom a context in which tilling andworship were one and the same.Tabuchi: So Shinto is peaceablebecause it’s an expression of anagrarian culture.Sonoda: Basic to Shinto is the ideaof growing crops and receiving theirlife. Receiving life and giving thanksto life represent Shinto’s fundamen-tal view of life. Myths say this, too.Japanese myths explain the genera-tion of things through the image ofthe birth of animals or the germina-tion of plants. You can see this in themyth of the deities Izanagi andIzanami. They circumambulated theSacred Pillar of Heaven in oppositedirections, then met, exchangedmarriage vows, and gave birth to theland.

According to one myth in theBible, God created Adam in his ownimage from the soil and breathed lifeinto him. This is different from thenatural generation of life. The senseof creation isn’t too different fromthe sense of the manufacture of ma-chines. It’s not the Japanese mind-set of human beings and all otherelements of the natural world beingimbued with spirituality as life forms.

In a sense Shinto is a primitivereligion. It’s a religion that embodiesthe idea that human beings, imbuedwith life by nature, live togetherwith nature. For this reason someoverseas scholars call Shinto a “pri-mal religion.” “Primal” isn’t thesame as “primitive.” “Primitive” has

the connotation of something thatprecedes the development of civi-lization, whereas “primal” has theconnotation of something that’sprimeval, something that’s basic orfundamental. Shinto is primalbecause it’s a basic religion thathuman beings generated when theyfirst developed society. In that sense,I think, it can be seen as the basis ofreligion that honors the preciousnessof life.

After civilization developed, theidea of a genius like Jesus orMuhammad teaching a particulardoctrine led to the emergence ofinstitutional religions. These reli-gions, stripped of the view of life ofindigenous religions, were urbanizedand took on a universal character.And an extremely deductive way ofthinking took hold. Institutional reli-gions regulate behavior on the basisof doctrines and principles. Humanbeings act in accordance with thedivine will or a divinely ordainedmission. This leads to the idea ofwiping out others for that reason.But because Shinto is imbued with amindset rooted in the earth, the ideaof killing opponents in obedience toa divine decree doesn’t arise.

Town plaza versus shrinegrove

Tabuchi: I see. Speaking of beinggrounded in place, Shinto shrinesalways have a chinju no mori, orshrine grove. This is a feature that’snow attracting international atten-tion, isn’t it?Sonoda: That’s right. Chinju nomori have gained high internationalpraise partly because of the currentinterest in forestation. The termchinju no mori itself is gaining inter-national currency. To conduct properresearch on Japan’s chinju no mori,we’ve set up an academic society forthis purpose called the Shaso Gakkai(Association for the Study of SacredForest).Tabuchi: Chinju no mori aren’tdestroyed anywhere, are they?Sonoda: The essential character ofchinju no mori is that people don’ttamper with them. In the Edo period[1600–1868], in order to give shrinesan appropriately numinous atmo-

sphere, villages planted and nurturedgroves, mainly of cedar and cypress.And because there was a strongsense that the gods dwelt therein,these groves were well cared for. ButEdo Castle went up in flames a num-ber of times, and the big trees ofchinju no mori in the Kanto regionof eastern Japan were eyed as asource of timber to rebuild the cas-tle. My own shrine has documentsresisting such requests on thegrounds that the trees belong to thegod. It seems that, thanks in part tothe efforts of the local people underthe shrine god’s protection, theshrine’s grove was preserved.

Basic to Shinto is the idea that thegods dwell in the abundance ofnature. The gods don’t show them-selves, so there’s no idol worship.There have been periods in which,under the influence of Buddhism,images of gods were made. Never-theless, inherent to the Japanesesense of the sacred is the notion thatthe sacred is unseen by human eyes.

In his great treatise on actingFushi kaden (The Transmission ofthe Flower) Zeami [1363–1443],who established Noh as a serioustheater form, wrote, “Hisurebahana,” which means roughly, “theflower (of acting) is sensed whenhidden.” In Japanese aesthetics, whatis hidden is nobler than what isplainly seen, and there’s a sense thatthe divine inhabits this hiddenness.The scholar Tetsuo Yamaori hasdescribed Shinto as a “felt religion.”It can be intuitively felt, but it’s nei-ther a culture nor a religion in whichonly that whose form can be seenand whose existence can be provedis acknowledged. Rather, the sacredis hidden; it lurks in the depths ofthe forest. This is a major feature ofShinto shrines.

Community is physically orga-nized in a completely different wayin Japan and Europe. In Europe,there’s an open space, a plaza, at thecenter of the community. The centeris a sacred space and a public space.A big church is erected there. InJapan, however, the sacred space—the psychic center—is behind thecommunity, not in the middle. In atraditional Japanese house, the mostimportant room is at the rear of the

dwelling. The rear is a sacred space;indeed, there’s a sense that it’ssacred because it’s in the rear. There-fore the Shinto shrine is behindthe community or at the foot of amountain behind the community.Even when, because of urbanization,a shrine ends up in the middle oftown, it’s surrounded by trees and thusbasically remains in the rear, in themidst of nature.Tabuchi: Also, there doesn’t have tobe an object of worship as such.Sonoda: Yes. A single rock or a sin-gle branch of the sacred sakaki treewill do. There’s the sense that evenif Japan’s gods don’t have form, theydwell within pure objects as spirits.

Life as a continuum

Tabuchi: For decades I’ve visitedHikawa-jinja shrine, in Tokyo’sMeguro Ward, every month. I makea monetary offering and say “Thankyou very much” aloud 5 or 10 times.And because I used to be in the navyI often visit Yasukuni-jinja shrine,which honors Japan’s war dead.Sonoda: I don’t know what willbecome of Yasukuni-jinja in future,but I think it would be hard tochange it from a religious corpora-tion to a nonreligious corporation, assome have suggested. Even if itwere called a nonreligious establish-ment, the fact that it exists to con-sole the spirits of the dead in itselfhas religious significance. Othershave talked about separately enshrin-ing the spirits of those convictedof class-A war crimes after WorldWar II, but doing so wouldn’t removethem, just divide them from the rest.It would simply mean dividing thespirits enshrined in the main shrine;it wouldn’t mean they ceased to be.Tabuchi: I see. On another subject, Iunderstand that you’ve formed ascholarly society aimed at gettingthe world to understand Shinto.Sonoda: The International ShintoResearch Association is an organiza-tion for research exchange with peo-ple overseas who are studying Shin-to and Japanese religion in general.In September this year the fifty-ninth conference of the UnitedNations Department of Public Infor-mation and NGOs will be held. As

part of it, there’s to be a simple sym-posium on Shinto and chinju nomori. The president of OISCA-Inter-national—the Organization forIndustrial, Spiritual and CulturalAdvancement–International, anNGO that’s energetically engaged inforestation projects in South Asia—and I are to lead a panel discussion.*Tabuchi: I suppose you’ll talk aboutJapan’s “forest culture.”Sonoda: I believe telling peopleabout the merits of chinju no mori isa kind of message, so I want to carryout activities, including those of theShaso Gakkai, to inform the world.Tabuchi: Because Japan was suc-cessfully isolated from the outsideworld during the Edo period, its dis-tinctive culture, including chinju nomori, was preserved, but lately, tocope with the shortage of localwomen willing to marry into farm-ing families, more and more farmershave been marrying foreign women.If this continues for three or fourgenerations, the very culture willchange, won’t it?Sonoda: If brides bearing foreigncultural baggage create families,things may change considerably.Japan’s Civil Code is based on thatof France, but it differs in one areaalone—succession rights. Japan isthe only nation in the world whoseCivil Code stipulates the right toconduct ancestral rites. Since this isthe obligation to carry out rites hon-oring the ancestors, I think it’s rightand proper to have successionarrangements to underpin it. Today,though, there’s no such underpin-ning. No consideration is given tosuccession when the right to conductancestral rites is transferred.

There’s no provision for the allo-cation of an appropriate portion offamily assets to the person carryingout ancestral rites. Even if the eldestson’s wife has earnestly honored theancestors, when the parents die andthe question of succession comes up,other family members who’ve neverdone anything for them insist on anequal share of the estate. I think theperson who has honored the ances-tors and taken care of the parentsshould be provided for when itcomes to succession. These days thebirthrate is falling, so this sort of

thing may cease to be an issue.Tabuchi: It’s a difficult area, isn’tit?Sonoda: We constantly point outthat life isn’t something that lastsjust one generation. Life is life pre-cisely because it’s passed on fromparents to children. The sameapplies to other animals. I believethis is the most valid way for humanbeings to perceive life. The conven-tional wisdom now, though, is thatlife belongs to oneself alone. It hasnothing to do with either parents orchildren. This way of perceiving lifelimits it to human beings, and to thepresent period. That’s why crimeslike parents killing their children andchildren killing their parents occur.

Essentially, linkage is inherent tolife, so parents and children shouldbe linked in solidarity. People killtheir own parents and childrenbecause they consider the life oftheir parents and children to be sepa-rate from their own life. We end upwith the tragedy of parents killingchildren, and vice versa, from self-serving motives. That’s a lower viewof life than even other animals have.I believe we need to rectify this.Tabuchi: Well, whenever the pendu-lum swings to an extreme it rightsitself. This is the view of life I’vegained over many years of living.Sonoda: I hope you’re right.Today’s children seem to see life asa game, confusing reality with virtu-al reality. They’re under the illusionthat even if they kill someone, theperson will spring back to life if theyjust reset the game. Children who,feeling this way, impulsively killpeople are in a sense themselves vic-tims rather than perpetrators.Tabuchi: That’s why we have poli-tics and education, but they’re pow-erless in the face of this phenome-non. Still, when the pendulum swingsto an extreme it rights itself.Sonoda: These days, I think, thependulum is approaching anextreme. Even ordinary people, whoso far have regarded the kind ofthing I’ve been talking about as hav-ing nothing to do with them, havebegun to feel that things can’t beallowed to go on this way.*This conversation took place on August 10,2006.—Ed.

Thoughts on SPF’s twentieth anniversary

high praise from people working inthe nonprofit sector around the worldas a highly distinctive foundation.

When SPF was chartered in 1986,its first president said, “Linkinghands with the many internationalexchange foundations that share ouraims, we will work for world peaceby addressing various problems sur-rounding international relations,developing nations’ nation building,the formation of internationalexchange networks, assistance forresearch and educational activities,the internationalization of Japan, anddialogue with other cultures andsocieties.”

This basic stance has not changed.Making the major turning point of 20years a new starting line, SPF’s staffmembers are united in the resolve tocontinue striving to contribute to thebest of their ability to the Founda-tion’s ultimate objective, the achieve-ment of world peace.

I wish to thank all who have sup-ported SPF’s activities. It is theiradvice and assistance that haveenabled us to greet our twentiethanniversary. We ask for their contin-ued assistance as we move forward.

The 1985 Plaza Accord marked amajor turning point for Japan interms of its international environ-ment. To deal with the sudden appre-ciation of the yen vis-à-vis the U.S.dollar, Japanese businesses—espe-cially big corporations—were forcedto ensure international competitive-ness through foreign direct invest-ment. Awareness that the nation’sviability depended on internationalcooperation and understandingspread rapidly. This also promptedrecognition of the need, like it or not,to live within a globalizing interna-tional environment.

In response to this worldview inJapan, the Sasakawa Peace Founda-tion was chartered on September 1,1986, with contributions from TheNippon Foundation and the motor-boat racing industry. Its stated aimswere to carry out a range of programsto promote international understand-ing, exchange, and cooperation, andthereby do its part to enhance thewelfare of humankind and foster ahealthy international society whileultimately contributing to the further-ance of world peace.

Not long thereafter, the worldunderwent drastic change. Europesaw the fall of the Berlin Wall and theend of the cold war. The political andeconomic frameworks of the formersocialist countries changed, andmany countries were required toundertake reforms: politically, theshift from socialism to democracy;economically, the shift from a closedcontrolled economy to a marketeconomy. In Asia, the TienanmenSquare incident occurred in China in1989. Many Asian countries, too,were required to embark on reform oftheir social systems.

Recognizing the need to put inplace institutions to address such

change, withfurther sup-port from themotorboat rac-ing industrySPF set up fourspecial funds:the SasakawaPacific IslandNations Fund(established in1989 with anendowment of¥3 billion);the SasakawaJapan-ChinaF r i e n d s h i pFund (1989,¥10 billion);the SasakawaCentral Europe Fund (1991, ¥4 bil-lion); and the Sasakawa SoutheastAsia Cooperation Fund (1992, ¥4billion). Beginning in fiscal 2000 theSasakawa Southeast Asia Coopera-tion Fund received four grants fromThe Nippon Foundation totaling ¥8.5billion, which boosted its endow-ment to ¥12.5 billion. Thereupon thefund expanded its target region, andin June 2002 it changed its name tothe Sasakawa Pan Asia Fund. At pre-sent SPF’s total endowment stands at¥79.5 billion, making it Japan’slargest foundation in terms of assets.

The world is facing many prob-lems due to rapid change. Theseinclude social-system reform inmany countries following the col-lapse of the Soviet Union; the rise ofChina, India, and other Asian coun-tries; and frequent ethnic and reli-gious conflicts in various parts of theworld. SPF is constantly mindful ofthe need to address such changesflexibly and respond to the demandsof the times. We pride ourselves thatthanks to our guiding principle ofseeking methods of improving soci-ety rather than seeking to improvesociety as such, SPF has maturedinto an organization that has won

Number of projects

Number of projects

By Akinori SekiPresident The Sasakawa Peace Foundation

SPF Project Expenditures and Number of Projects, 1986–2005

Note: Project expenditures exclude personnel and other operational costs.

Vanthana Nolintha on p. 7.)Meanwhile, the project Enhancing

the Agricultural Economics Resear-ch Capacity in Laos, which haslinked the Faculty of Agricultureand the Faculty of Economics andManagement of the National Uni-versity of Laos in joint researchactivities for the first time ever, hasprovided key young teachers in bothfaculties with an invaluable opportu-nity to broaden their knowledge andperspectives. In addition to enablingthem to strengthen links amongthemselves, it has served to widennetworks of researchers in Laos onthe one hand and Japan, Thailand,and other countries within the regionon the other through the involve-ment of Professor Masahiko Gemmaof Japan’s Waseda University, Pro-fessor Mya Than of Thailand’s Chu-lalongkorn University, and otherexperts. It is hoped that this projectwill lead to qualitative improvementof research connected with the agri-cultural sector, which accounts forclose to 50% of the GDP of Laos.

The Fund is also implementing aproject focused on NPOs, which areattracting mounting interest in Laos(Promoting Development of theLaotian NPO Sector). This project isundertaking initiatives to strengthenthe nonprofit sector in Laos, makingthe most of SPF’s experience in thisfield. (For details of all these pro-jects, see www.spf.org/e/)

Making use of SPF’s uniqueresources while remaining cognizantof the purview of activities comple-menting those of public assistanceagencies, the Fund will continuecontributing to the socioeconomicdevelopment of Laos. We hope toachieve this through synergies gen-erated by collaboration with activi-ties assisting other Indochinesecountries, always bearing in mindthe broad context of the stability andshared prosperity of the East Asianregion.

By Nguyen Thi HanhAssociate Program OfficerThe Sasakawa Pan Asia Fund

Tackling economic develop-ment and the shift to a marketeconomy together

Since introducing its chintanakhanmai (new thought) policy in 1986Laos has been endeavoring to shift toa market economy. The nation hasundertaken a variety of initiatives foreconomic development—not onlythrough domestic reforms but alsothrough integration into the regionaland global economy, includingaccession to ASEAN in 1997. As aresult, economic standards havesteadily risen; in recent years percapita GDP has reached about $420and GDP has been growing at about6.5%. In addition, as development ofthe Mekong River basin has pickedup, including construction of an east-west corridor stretching from Viet-nam to Thailand, expectations forthat region have been mounting.

Nevertheless Laos, as a landlockedcountry on the Indochinese Peninsu-la, faces geopolitical constraints andvarious other challenges as it strivesfor socioeconomic development. Inview of the fact that development ofthe Indochinese Peninsula and theMekong River basin economicregion is essential to the growth ofEast Asia and of the need to redressthe economic disparities amongASEAN countries, the Sasakawa PanAsia Fund has always identifiedLaos as an important target countryfor support.

So far, in order to complementassistance from the Japanese govern-ment, international organizations,and other public bodies, the Fund hascarried out activities in Laos centeredon the development of humanresources to support the shift to amarket economy and democratiza-tion. Specifically, we have conductedor supported capacity-building train-

ing of bureaucrats and policymakers,including economic policymakers,as well as researchers and others ininstitutions of higher education.

There have been 21 Laos-relatedprojects since the Fund’s establish-ment in 1992. In particular, based onour realization of the importance ofencouraging regional cooperationand shared prosperity in ASEANand East Asia as a whole, we haveactively promoted the sharing ofexperiences and the strengthening ofnetworks between Laos on the onehand and Japan, Korea, Malaysia,the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam,and other countries in the region onthe other.

Using SPF’s unique resourcesto complement public aidagencies

At present the Fund is supportingresearch activities connected witheconomic policymaking, includingmacroeconomic monitoring by theNational Economic Research Insti-tute, an organization under the juris-diction of the Cabinet Office’sCommittee for Planning and Invest-ment (the project StrengtheningEconomic Research and Monitoringin the Lao PDR), and research activ-ities connected with agriculturaleconomics by the National Universi-ty of Laos (the project Enhancingthe Agricultural Economics Re-search Capacity in Laos).

Until 2004 there were no surveysof short-term economic trends inLaos. Now, however, thanks to theproject Strengthening EconomicResearch and Monitoring in the LaoPDR, undertaken with the coopera-tion of the Malaysian Institute ofEconomic Research, consumer sen-timent and business trend surveysare conducted quarterly. These areproviding important data formacroeconomic monitoring at boththe central- and local-governmentlevels. (For details, see the article by

SPF activities complementing public assistanceInitiatives to address rising expectations and diverse challenges

In the past, the Lao economy fol-lowed a centrally planned system.In 1986 the New Economic Mecha-nism was introduced, and sincethen the country has been workingon the transition toward a marketsystem. This has led to the liberal-ization of prices and markets, theopening up of the economy to for-eign investment and trade, andincreased integration with theregional and global economy. Torespond to this, there is an urgentneed to enhance the country’scapacity to monitor economicmovements and conduct researchon both social and economic issuesfacing the country so that the LaoPDR can meet the challenges andchanges that have arisen from thistransition process.

The National Economic ResearchInstitute (NERI) was established in1997 as the think thank and secre-tariat of the Committee for Plan-ning and Investment. NERI’s majortasks include research, macroeco-nomic monitoring and forecasting,and the formulation of long-termprovincial, regional, national, andsectoral policies. Although itsresearch capacity has improvedgradually through co-research withinternational experts, furtherstrengthening is needed so thatNERI can meet all the challengingactivities demanded of it.

Initiation of the project

In July 2005 SPF launched theproject Strengthening EconomicResearch and Monitoring in theLao PDR. The project’s aim is tostrengthen the capacity of NERIresearchers, which will contributeto improving the country’s capacityto conduct research and monitor theeconomy.

The project’s objectives areto enhance NERI’s ability tomonitor the economy, andbroaden NERI researchers’knowledge of the market econ-omy, macroeconomic manage-ment, and other developmentissues, and to strengthen theirability to conduct independentresearch. In pursuit of theseobjectives, the project orga-nizes in-country researchmethodology workshops, withinternational experts invited to lec-ture NERI researchers and super-vise their research. The project alsosupports the continuation of quar-terly consumer sentiment and busi-ness trend surveys (CSS and BTS)conducted by NERI researchers andthe collection of statistics fromsample provinces. Finally, the pro-ject organizes training programs forNERI researchers at leading univer-sities and research institutes indeveloped Asian countries.Independent research

In the first year of the project,independent research focused oncommercial production in the LaoPDR. Promotion of commercialproduction is one of the govern-ment’s priority programs to securefood sufficiency and reduce pover-ty. Many promotion programs havebeen conducted, but the results arenot yet satisfactory. There is a needto review the current state of com-mercial production, identify goodsand services with potential, and for-mulate policies to promote strongproducts and sectors.

To strengthen the research capac-ity of the research team, the projectinvited Professor Rajah Rasiah andDr. Tan Eu Chye of the Universityof Malaya. They conducted aresearch methodology workshop tobroaden the team’s understandingof the research methodology neces-sary for the research topic andrelated theoretical background.

At the beginning of the study, the

research team reviewed existingpolicies on commercial productionpromotion. The review revealedthat although there were alreadymany good policies that supportedcommercial production, there wereproblems with policy implementa-tion. Businesses were not suffi-ciently informed about the promo-tion policies, hence they had not yettaken full advantage of them.

Because the study topic was veryimportant for the country, theresearch team decided to conduct alarge-scale survey covering 1,003enterprises representing 63% ofmedium and large enterprises in thecountry. Since the business ownerswere not accustomed to participat-ing in surveys, it was very difficultfor the team to collect information.Thanks to good cooperation fromdepartments of planning and invest-ment across the country, however,the survey managed to collect 80%of the study questionnaires. In addi-tion, four case studies were con-ducted to gain in-depth understand-ing of some outstanding enterprises.

The findings of the study suggestthat there are few significant differ-ences between successful enterpris-es and others. Successful enterpris-es, however, tend to realize theimportance of providing training tothe workforce, constantly upgrad-ing technology, and improving costefficiency. Businesses that are ableto reach foreign markets are stillconcentrated in primary sectors.

Capacity building in economic research andmonitoring for the Lao PDR

By Vanthana NolinthaResearch OfficerNational Economic Research Institute, Lao PDR

Visiting a coffee processing plant during a survey

Enterprises that are integrated intothe global economy tend to be rela-tively volatile, and it is unclearwhether they can be more success-ful than domestically orientedfirms. In addition, the private sec-tor’s knowledge of current regionalintegration is still very poor. There-fore, it is recommended that infor-mation dissemination to the privatesector be improved; before any newpolicies are formulated, relevantorganizations should review theimplementation of existing policiesand adjust them as necessary; train-ing in entrepreneurship and otherbusiness-related issues should beprovided to broaden the knowledgeand skills of business owners andmanagers; and promoted sectorsshould be in line with the trend ofworld demand, not just the coun-try’s potential.

This year, research will focus onsaving behavior and some implica-tions of saving rates in the LaoPDR. So far, our understanding ofsavings in the Lao PDR has beenlimited, and this has had a negativeinfluence on the accuracy of ourmonetary policy as well as macroe-conomic policy in general. There-fore, the project would like to gainmore understanding of this topic.Consumer sentiment andbusiness trend surveys

CSS and BTS aim to enhancemacroeconomic monitoring. Thesesurveys were initiated from 2002 to2004 under another project sup-ported by SPF (Developing an Eco-nomic Forecasting Model in Laosproject) through the MalaysianInstitute of Economic Research.Because of the importance of thesesurveys for the Lao PDR, the pre-sent project decided to supporttheir implementation for an addi-tional three years. The main objec-tives of the surveys are to providequarterly economic indicators toserve as a basis for macroeconomicmonitoring and forecasting and toprovide quarterly consumer senti-ment and business trend outlooksto help policymaker design appro-priate policies to promote businessactivities and growth.

Each quarter, the project orga-nizes a briefing workshop on theresults of the surveys, inviting par-ticipants from many organizations

that are potential users of the infor-mation, including the NationalUniversity of Laos, the Bank ofLao PDR, the Ministry of Finance,the National Statistics Centre, suchinternational organizations asUNDP, the Asian DevelopmentBank, and IMF, and line ministries.This year, the project organizedfollow-up workshops in all threeregions of the country to review theimplementation of the surveys. Theparticipants—field operators andprovincial supervisors—were veryactive in providing comments andsuggestions for improving the sur-veys. Provincial policymakers alsoshowed overwhelming support forthe surveys and said they wouldlike NERI to assist them in con-structing these types of surveys atthe provincial level. Overseas training

Another important component ofthe project is the organization oftraining programs at leading uni-versities and research institutes tobroaden the knowledge of NERIresearchers. In February 2006 agroup of NERI researchers led byDr. Leeber Leeboaupao, actingdirector general of NERI, attendeda training program on strengthen-ing economic research and moni-toring organized by the Center forAsia-Pacific Studies (CAPS), KyungHee University, South Korea. Thetraining program consisted of lec-tures on both research methodolo-gy and the roles of research insti-tutes. The lectures gave NERIresearchers an understanding ofvarious advanced research method-ologies and the roles that differentresearch institutes play in assistingthe government of South Korea toformulate appropriate social andeconomic policies.

In addition, the training programallowed NERI researchers to learnfrom and establish network withmany leading research institutes,such as the Korean DevelopmentInstitute, the Korea Institute forInternational Economic Policy, andCAPS. The participants also visitedmany important places, such as theKorean Stock Exchange, theNational Assembly, and SamsungElectric. Overall, the training pro-gram was very productive, broad-ening our understanding of

research work and the importanceof research institutes and, veryimportantly, helping us establishnetworks with researchers fromother institutes. On our return,some ideas on managing researchinstitutes were actually incorporat-ed into changes at NERI.

Conclusion

I have been involved in the pro-ject from the beginning as a projectcoordinator and researcher. I havehad the opportunity to work withand learn from many internationalexperts. At the same time, I havebeen able to share my experienceand my work with governmentofficials from line ministries andprovincial agencies. I strongly be-lieve that transferring knowledge andexperience to the provincial levelis essential to enable our countryto narrow the human resourcegap and enhance the understandingof grass-roots issues by policy-makers and policy influencers .

I have witnessed the develop-ment of the project and the way ithas helped NERI in monitoring theeconomy and has strengthened theresearch capacity and broadenedthe knowledge of our researchers,myself included. The project hasalso given NERI the opportunity toestablish networks with line min-istries, academia, officials at theprovincial level, the private sector,international organizations, andoverseas research institutes. Suchnetworks are very important forNERI’s work. Overall, the projecthas achieved its main objectives.The challenge ahead is to betterutilize all the activities of the pro-ject to take the objectives of theproject to the next level.

Vanthana Nolintha was born in 1980.He graduated from Monash University,Australia, with a Bachelor of Businessand Commerce degree in 2003. Since2004 he has been a researcher in theMacroeconomic Research Division ofthe National Economic Research Insti-tute (NERI) of the Lao People’s Demo-cratic Republic. As a specialist in inter-national business and management, hehelps prepare NERI’s business trendand consumer sentiment surveys.

A press conference by Japanese and Chinese participants in theTokyo-Beijing Forum

was the first such gathering in Southeast Asia. South-east Asia and Central Asia and the Caucasus are farapart both geographically and psychologically, andexchange—including scholarly exchange—betweenthe two regions is minimal. There is a big gap inmutual knowledge and understanding. Even if thewish to bridge that gap exists, there has been no forumproviding an opportunity for Southeast Asian special-ists to deepen their understanding of the issues affect-ing Central Asia and the Caucasus.

This conference was highly significant in bringingtogether specialists from both regions and enablingSoutheast Asians to enhance their understanding ofCentral Asia and the Caucasus. SPF intends to contin-ue providing forums for exchange and dialogue byspecialists from Central Asia and the Caucasus andfrom East and Southeast Asia.

SPF and the Asian Dialogue Society cosponsoredan international conference in Bangkok July11–12 as part of the project Central Asia and

South Caucasus/Phase II. About 35 specialists fromCentral Asia and the Caucasus and from East andSoutheast Asia attended. Under the overall theme“Central Asia: The Contemporary Geopolitical Con-text,” specialists delivered lectures on the sub-themes“Central Asia and China: Economic Relations,” “FreeTrade and FTA,” “Central Asia and China: Viewsfrom Central Asia,” “Central Asia and South Cauca-sus: A View from Southeast Asia,” and “Imperativesfor Economic Takeoff in Central Asia: Observationsfrom East Asia,” followed by lively question-and-answer sessions featuring deep discussion anddebate.

Although SPF had earlier organized specialists’conferences in Central Asia and the Caucasus, this

For several years now Japan-China relations havebeen tangled. Unlike economic ties, politicalrelations have been deadlocked. In both coun-

tries, national sentiment vis-à-vis the other country hasdeteriorated and mistrust has deepened. Believing inthe need to discuss the desired shape of Japan-Chinarelations on the basis of an accurate grasp of nationalattitudes toward the relationship, SPF supported a sur-vey of Japanese attitudes toward China by GenronNPO, which was conducted during the same period asa survey of Chinese attitudes toward Japan by PekingUniversity.

The Japanese survey covered the attributes ofrespondents, their level of interest in and sources ofinformation about China and Japan-China relations,their basic understanding of China, their impressionsof China, and their attitudes toward Japan-China rela-tions, the issue of differing historical perceptions, Chi-na’s influence, Japan-China exchange, and other sub-jects.

The survey revealed that about 90% of respondentshave never visited China and rely on the news media

The Bangkok conference onCentral Asia and the Caucasus

Announcement of results ofJapan-China opinion poll

for information. It also showed that most respondentssee China as nationalistic and economy driven, andview the rise of China with trepidation. Forty percentregard China as a military threat, and over 30% see it asan economic threat.

The Chinese survey yielded similar results. Over 90%of respondents depend on the news media for informa-tion. More than 50% see Japan as militaristic andnationalistic. Both surveys reveal that people in eachcountry have a very different image of the other countrythan they have of their own country.

The detailed results of the two surveys wereannounced at the press conference held in Tokyo, onAugust 2, the day before the second meeting of theTokyo-Beijing Forum, cosponsored by Genron NPO,the China Daily newspaper, and Peking University. Thesurvey data provided the basis for lively discussion anddebate at the forum, which evoked a large response.

By Akira MatsunagaProgram OfficerThe Sasakawa Pan Asia Fund

By Yoshiyuki KobayashiResearch AssociateThe Sasakawa Japan-China Friendship Fund

A scene from the international conference held in Bangkok July 11–12

The long road to rebuilding the Middle Eastpeace processThoughts on the dying Dead Sea during a trip to Jordan

were told that in winter one can seeJerusalem, 50 kilometers away. Onthe peak of Mount Nebo, I askedTayful, “Essentially, the God ofJudaism and the God of Islam is oneand the same. Why, if God promisedthe people of Israel the land nowknown as Palestine, are Arabs andIsraelis fighting over it?”

Tayful replied, “As for God’s sup-posed declaration that Palestine is thepromised land of the people of Israel,the prophet Moses either misheard ormisunderstood. Not only Moses butother prophets, too, such as John theBaptist and Jesus, only partially sawGod. Later, the Prophet Muhammadsaw God fully and heard God’swords correctly. The land betweenthe Mediterranean Sea and the RiverJordan rightfully belongs to thePalestinians.”

Islam insists that Muhammad wasthe final prophet, who receivedGod’s correct and comprehensiverevelation. Incompatible religiousviews underlie all Middle Easternconflicts. In the twentieth century,British and French intervention inthe Arabian Peninsula fueled the fireof conflict.

World War I was a struggle bet-ween Britain, France, and their alliesand Germany and its ally Turkey.Britain carried out operations againstTurkey on the Arabian Peninsula,which was part of the OttomanEmpire. Britain proposed the “ArabRevolt” to Hussein ibn Ali, theHashemite sherif and emir of Mecca,from whom the present royal familyof Jordan is descended, pledging toguarantee the independence of aunited Arab state if he was victori-ous. An Arab army rose in revoltagainst Turkey, and after fierce fight-ing routed the Turkish army from thestronghold of Aqaba and from Dam-ascus, in Syria. This campaign iswhat the British intelligence agent T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)wrote about in Revolt in the Desert

Amman, a stone’s throw fromstrife-torn Lebanon

This summer I made my secondjourney to the Dead Sea. The firstwas 12 years ago, when I viewed itfrom the Israeli side. This time Istood on the Jordanian side. Aftervisiting a university in Istanbul,Turkey, on Sasakawa Pan Asia Fundbusiness (the project Central EurasiaLeadership Academy), I went on tothe Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

SPF has close links with Jordan.For almost 10 years the Foundationhas awarded grants to the round tableon Middle East peace sponsored byHis Royal Highness Prince El Hassanbin Talal, a descendant of the ProphetMuhammad and a man renowned asan enlightened leader.

I had been told beforehand thatPrince Hassan would be overseas, butI determined to visit Jordan anywayto gain a firsthand sense of the diffi-culty of Middle East problems forthis country, separated from Israelonly by a narrow river. Accompany-ing me was Akira Matsunaga, nick-named “Scholar Matsunaga,” an SPFprogram officer who is a specialist onWest Asia. Prince Hassan, concernedfor our safety, had arranged for a cardriven by an army captain to meet usat Amman’s airport when our planetouched down before dawn.

Amman is situated on hills 900meters above sea level. It was muchcooler than Tokyo. In southernLebanon, only 150 kilometers away,Israel and Hezbollah were locked inbattle. Although there was no dangerof missiles hitting Amman, a tensemood enveloped the city. A barricadehad been erected in front of theentrance to our hotel to prevent vehi-cles from approaching, and evenguests had to go through the same

kind of X-ray checkpoint used in air-port security.

In November 2005, suicide bomb-ings at two Amman hotels orderedby Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, alQaeda’s second in command, hadkilled 60 Jordanians. Jordan, as amoderate Middle Eastern state, isengaged in painstaking diplomacy asa balance between the West andArab states; but 70% of its peopleare Palestinian refugees, and Jordanis struggling to achieve national uni-ty. I was told that a significant num-ber of Jordanians were sympatheticto Zarqawi.

British and French interven-tion, pouring oil on the trou-bled waters

The focus of our trip was how to per-ceive the Palestine problem, the lega-cy of grievances dating back to thetime of the Old Testament. Matsuna-ga and I had included investigationof biblical sites on the Jordanian sideof the border with Israel in ouritinerary. Fortunately, we wereblessed with the ideal guide. AkefTayful, 50, is fluent in English andalso speaks Japanese quite well.After graduating from Cairo Univer-sity, he earned a master’s degree inphysical education from the Univer-sity of Tsukuba and has the rank offifth dan in judo. He is now a profes-sor of physical education at theHashemite University.

We asked to view Israel from Jor-dan. First we were taken to MountNebo, 30 kilometers south ofAmman. According to the Old Testa-ment, Moses, who had led the peopleof Israel out of slavery in Egypt, diedon this mountain, having been told toclimb it by God and view the landthat God had promised to theIsraelites.

Despite the summer haze, wecould see the city of Jericho on theother side of the Jordan River. We

By Reizo UtagawaMember, Steering CommitteeThe Sasakawa Pan Asia Fund

and Seven Pillars of Wisdom.Behind the heroic tale concocted

by Lawrence, however, lay an egre-gious betrayal. Unknown to theArabs, the British governmententered into two secret pacts. Onewas the Sykes-Picot Agreement,whereby Britain and France agreedto divide the Turkish domains on theArabian Peninsula between them.The Hashemites, who had taken theSyrian throne, were driven out byFrance on the basis of this document,and the dream of a united Arab king-dom disappeared.

The other secret pact was the Bal-four Declaration. It promised Britishsupport for “the establishment inPalestine of a national home for theJewish people,” who had dispersedthroughout Europe and elsewhereafter the fall of the ancient Jewishstate. That allowed Jewish settlementin Palestine, paving the way for theestablishment of the state of Israel.

This epitomized Britain’s infamous“two-faced diplomacy.” Ingratiatingitself with both the Arabs and theJews, Britain made conflictingpromises to both. And that sowed theseeds of the Palestine problem andMiddle Eastern conflict.

“The Americans are pro-Israel, butthe Japanese are neutral. Why isthis?” Tayful asked me.

I replied evasively, “It’s not somuch that they’re neutral as that theylook that way because they don’tknow anything.” On this trip, Mat-sunaga and I concluded that it isimpossible to understand the prob-lems of the Middle East unless oneknows their historical background.

The stalled project to revive theDead Sea

We traveled to the east bank of theJordan River (Jordanian territory).There was only one place on theriverbank where we could venture,mines left over from the third MiddleEast war having been cleared away.This is the sacred site where Jesuswas baptized by John the Baptist, asdescribed in the New Testament.There is a church for JordanianGreek Orthodox Christians on thesite. The width of the river separating

Jordan and Israel is a merefive meters. “This littlestream is the Jordan Riv-er?” exclaimed Matsunagain amazement on his firstsight of the world-famousriver.

On the opposite bank wecould see a white buildingfrom which the Israeli flagwas fluttering. It was soclose that if one shouted,one would be sure to getan answer. Apparently,Palestinians who have set-tled in Jordan in the course of themany Middle Eastern wars and rela-tives left in Israel meet across the riv-er at this spot, having arranged thingsin advance by phone.

In ancient times the river waswider, and its waters flowed rapidly.The Old Testament relates that whenthe people of Israel reached the Jor-dan River, its waters miraculouslyparted to let them cross. This river isIsrael’s only source of fresh water.We were told that much of its wateris drawn off by the Sea of Galilee,only 10% flowing into the Dead Sea.

“The Dead Sea is dying,” said Tay-ful. Descending some 1,000 metersas we drove along the king’s high-way, we came to the shore of theDead Sea. A sign informed us thatwe were 394 meters below sealevel------the lowest point of land in theworld. This is an old measurement;today the spot is 410 meters belowsea level, we were informed. That isbecause much of the river waterflowing into the Dead Sea evapo-rates, so that the water level is fallingby the year. If things proceed thisway, in 50 years the Dead Sea willgo dry, Tayful told us.

If the Dead Sea dies, the dried saltwill be blown around. This will rav-age agriculture in Jordan and, on theother side of the border runningnorth to south through the middle ofthe sea, in Israel and the PalestinianAuthority area. Both Jordan andIsrael are studying a proposal to diga 250-kilometer canal from the RedSea to the Dead Sea, desalinate thewater from the Red Sea, and channelit into the Dead Sea. But so far, wewere told, the joint project has not

gone beyond the talking stagebecause of the intensification ofMiddle Eastern conflict.

Hearing this, I had a sudden pre-monition: Even when the Dead Seadies, the squabbling between theArabs and the Israelis, both “peopleof the Book,” will continue. In 50years the Dead Sea will dry up.When that happens, salt damage willmake the area unlivable for both.

After returning to Japan, Matsuna-ga and I had an opportunity to meetPrince Hassan in Tokyo. We heardhim deliver a lecture, cosponsored bySPF and The Nippon Foundation, onrebuilding the Middle East peaceprocess. The prince said, “I may becalled an idealist, but I have beenadvocating the importance of coexis-tence-----not by overcoming religionbut by respecting one another’sfaiths.” He concluded, “There areominous signs. Armaggedon couldcome in our lifetime. Men may notwant war, but war wants men.” Hisface was deeply troubled.

The site on the banks of the Jordan River where John theBaptist baptized Jesus, seen from the Jordanian side of theriver

Reizo Utagawa was born in 1934. Aftergraduating from Yokohama NationalUniversity with a degree in economicshe joined the Mainichi Shimbun News-papers. He served as a foreign corre-spondent in Washington, D.C., and asmanaging editor before leaving thecompany. He helped former Prime Min-ister Yasuhiro Nakasone establish theInstitute for International Policy Studiesin 1988 and became a distinguishedresearch fellow there. At present Uta-gawa is a member of the board of direc-tors of the Tokyo Foundation and a vis-iting professor at Tama University. Hehas been a member of the steeringcommittee of the Sasakawa Pan AsiaFund since 1996.

SPF Newsletter No. 50, FY 2006 Vol.2• Published: October 2006 by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation

• Publisher: Akinori Seki • Editor: Yoshihiko Kono

©2006, The Sasakawa Peace Foundation

Tel: +81-3-6229-5400 Fax: +81-3-6229-5470

E-mail: spfpr@spf.or.jp URL: http://www.spf.org

THE SASAKAWA PEACE FOUNDATIONThe Nippon Foundation Bldg., 4th Fl., 1-2-2 Akasaka, Minato-ku,Tokyo107-8523 Japan

Please note: The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect those of theSasakawa Peace Foundation.

If you’d like to stop receiving SPF Voices or have a change of address, please contact us at: SPF Communications Department (E-mail:spfpr@spf.or.jp, FAX: +81-3-6229-5473)

• Towards an Asian Economics Community: An Agendafor the East Asia Summit ----- published by Research andInformation System for Developing Countries/Institute ofSoutheast Asian Studies. Outcome of the Toward an AsianEconomic Community: The Way Forward project. • Kolkata Consensus ----- published by Centre for Studies inInternational Relations and Development. Outcome of the

Possibilities for a Comprehensive Economic Partnershipbetween BIMST-EC Countries and Japan project.• A Map for Achieving Islam and Democracy ----- lectureproceedings by Anwar Ibrahim, published by SPF (Inter-net on-demand publishing BookPark [www.bookpark.ne.jp/spf/ english.asp]).

S P F Publ i cat ions

F Y 2 0 0 6 Program Agenda (Projects approved September, 2006)

Project Name

Japan-China Security Symposium

Implementing Agency

China Association for International Friendly Contact

Type

G

Year

1/1

Budget (¥)

10,900,000

The Sasakawa Japan-China Friendship Fund

Note: G=Grant Project; SO=Self-Operated Project; C=Commissioned Project

Project Name

Exchange Program between Vietnam and Japan at the Local Level

Exchange and Experience Sharing between Non-Profit Sectors of Japan and Vietnam

Exchange and Experience Sharing between Local Government Officialsof Japan and Vietnam

Enhancement of Information and Publishing Capacity for the Academyof Finance

Developing Business Teaching Materials in Vietnam

Developing Business Cases for an MBA Course in Vietnam

Implementing Agency

SPF, Japan Center for Area Development Research (Japan),The Vietnam Peace and Development Foundation (Vietnam)

Type

SO•G

Year

1/3

Budget (¥)

13,600,000

(4,800,000)

(6,000,000)

10,800,000

8,000,000

(4,800,000)

The Sasakawa Pan Asia Fund

From the Ed i tor ’ s Desk

For the time being, at least, a cease-fire has beenreached at in the conflict in Lebanon touched off by thecapture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah. Unfortu-nately, this does not mean the way has been paved fortrue resolution of the problem.

This issue of SPF Voices includes a report on the Mid-dle East by Reizo Utagawa. Originally, he had planned tovisit Israel as well as Turkey and Jordan, but because ofHezbollah rocket strikes on northern Israel he had tocancel the final leg of his trip. Utagawa’s report discussesdivergent views based on religious differences, the his-torical legacy of British and French intervention on theArabian Peninsula, and the worsening of Middle Easternconflict despite the prediction that the Dead Sea will dryup in 50 years and the anticipated worsening of environ-mental damage from salt. He concludes with Prince ElHassan bin Talal of Jordan’s gloom over the future. All

in all, the article conveys the complexity of the problemand the sense of anguish over its intractability.

The lead article is a conversation between SPF Chair-man Setsuya Tabuchi and Minoru Sonoda, chief priest ofChichibu-jinja shrine. Sonoda offers readers a rareinsight into Japan’s indigenous Shinto religion. He notesthat the Shinto way of thinking has no place for the ideaof killing opponents in obedience to a divine decree.

As SPF President Akinori Seki notes in his essay, thisyear marks the Foundation’s twentieth anniversary. SPFaspires to contribute in its distinctive way to the achieve-ment of world peace. One way to do this, I think, is toaddress the task while making the most of Japanese andAsian ways of thinking that can be positively assessedfrom a contemporary viewpoint, such as respect fordiversity.

Yoshihiko Kono

The Vietnam Peace and Development Foundation (Vietnam)

Japan Center for Area Development Research (Japan)

Academy of Finance, Ministry of Finance of Vietnam

SPF, University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City (Vienam)

University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)

G

G

G

SO•G

G

1/3

1/3

1/3

1/3

1/3