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 Voices from Readers (1/1)
NI Club Voices from Readers I had heard that Nature Interface is a scientific magazine, so I had thought its contents would have been difficult to understand. But in fact, the inaugural issue of Nature Interface was easy to read. "A Trip of a Natural Heritage of Japan" was one of the most interesting articles for me. I liked the beautiful pictures in this article. Through the article, I discovered the ownership system of rice terraces and I came to think that even I might have become one of the owners. I also learned of the existence of a research institute which dealt with scientific themes that I had been concerned about. So, this article was quite interesting for me. The picture on page 96 was very impressive and it touched my heart. I also liked the article on insects, though I'm not interested in them particularly. I enjoyed this article much more than insect guides. I thought that the target of this magazine is those who have high-level knowledge in various fields. (W. K.) I haven't ever seen this sort of magazine. Among the articles, I had much interest in the article on rice terraces. In fact, I adore Masashi Sada, a Japanese singer-songwriter, and I even went to a concert at Royal Albert Hall in London. I also went to the 1250th anniversary concert at the water-drawing ceremony at Todaiji Temple in Nara Prefecture. "The Moon Falls on the Village of the Sky" is one of his songs. The first part of this song says that the moon falls on the village with rice terraces and I heard that Kamimura, Simoina County, Nagano Prefecture was the model for this village. I heard this song was made through an encounter with a photo collection entitled "A Country in the Sky." Mr. Sada had never been to Kamimura village, but he was inspired so much by this photo collection and composed this song. This song made me imagine this village to which I have never been and I even came to want to visit there. Kamimura was not in the "List of 100 Rice Terraces in Japan", so I felt kind of sad about that. Still, I felt lucky to know a beautiful place that most people don't know. Kamimura is 300 km away from Tokyo. I want to visit Kamimura on a sunny day during the harvest season. (Sachiko Hirabayashi) Many conscientious scientists have warned society against headlong development of science. I think what they tried to emphasize is exactly the harmony between nature, science, and human beings, which is the main idea of Nature Interface. Moreover, I think human beings exist by the grace of nature and nature is the milieu in which people are born and die, or in another words, nature is our eternal parent. We must not forget that nature exists not only for us. I think this is why this magazine was published. Scientists must increase awareness of their responsibility more than ordinary people do, and must spread the idea of the nature interface to all people. (Kazuyo Masuzawa) I agreed with the opinion written at the book review on "Why Do I Exist?" There's nothing to do to deal with the ignorance and arrogance of natural scientists who try to approach such a theme by 'investigating realistic organisms'. I think they don't know the existence of "problems that should be dealt with religions or philosophy, which are heritages of the human being." They ignore the limit of realistic and empirical scientific knowledge as people before the appearance of Kantian philosophy did. Rapid development of genomics or brain science might have given such an illusion to scientists. Already it is high time to tell people the meaning of Kantian philosophy in the modern world. I expect much from following issues. (Shigeru Aoki) I read the essay of Ms. Ikie Omine. I like the title "Learning to Harmonize Freedom with Nature." Ms. Omine said that freedom doesn't only mean to do whatever you want. When I looked back at my behavior, I had many things to regret. Nature Interface has various articles from nature to engineering and is more interesting than I had expected. (Takashi Sogabe) What a wonderful and beautiful book this is! Nature Interface deals not only with problems familiar to our daily lives but also with problems that I often hear about, but I didn't know much about. The picture of a marine eagle on the cover page was quite impressive. Its eye and beak and the sky behind it seem to symbolize the content of the magazine. The definition of "artifact" was new for me. Lock gates at Isahaya Bay, South Japan, or rivers with artificial banks are some examples of artifacts. Through reading the articles, I understood that they are great threats to nature. In the modern world, people have to fight against what people themselves have made. I feel the sinfulness of our generation that allowed the struggle. Does the human being evolve? I'll read this magazine a little at a time. I wonder if I could finish reading it before the publication of the next issue... (Etsuko Chizumi) In my province, Kumamoto Prefecture, yields of seaweed and fish have decreased in Ariake Bay and the ecosystem has changed because of the dam construction on the Kawabe River. These problems are main articles of the domestic newspapers in Kumamoto these days. I was brought up in a town near Ariake Bay and many of my neighbors are fishermen, so these problems are really familiar to me. Through reading this magazine, I thought, "Now is the time for us to think more about environmental issues." Reading the essay of Ms. Ikue Omine, I remembered what a teacher told us when I was in high school; "You always claim your freedom, but first, you must fulfill your duty." Remembering these words, I regret my behavior. (Mikiko Nagano) What an well-organized magazine this is! Coexistence, the theme of Nature Interface, would be the main theme for the 21st century. Not only young people, but also adults must work on this theme. Otherwise, this society will become much worse. (Naoko Ujima) (1/1)  |
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