Violence and Atonement in the Postindustrial Age: Minamata Patients, Hongan no Kai, and the Carving of Jizō Statues

Presented at the Numata Conference in Buddhist Studies / “Violence, Nonviolence, and Japanese Religions: Past, Present, and Future,” held in Honolulu, Hawaii, March 20–21, 2014This paper explores patients’ responses to the Minamata disease, which resulted from the water’s contamination with methyl mercury, a substance released from the Chisso factory between 1937 and 1968. Methyl mercury is produced in the process of making plastic products and tends to accumulate in the brain, affecting the nervous system and often leading to death. First, I discuss Hongan no kai, a Minamata patients’ group, whose members carve bodhisattva statues out of stone and place them as tokens of atonement on land reclaimed in the city. This follows the account provided by this group’s leading figure, Ogata Masato. Then, I analyze Ogata’s religiosity as observed in his thoughts about “life-ism,” which he explains as, “reverence for, and a sense of humility toward, all life.... something larger than ourselves, a force before which we can only prostrate ourselves and pray” (Ogata Masato, Oiwa Keibo. Rowing the Eternal Sea, 164). While it is necessary to impute legal responsibility to the corporations that discharged hazardous substances into the environment, I also suggest that the ethical examination of environmental disasters should not be confined to the judicial process. I rather argue that we need to take into consideration the ways in which the patients deal with the disaster. Since their thoughts and actions provide insight into the form of violence done to their body, to the environment, and beyond, this appears to provide a more constructive path toward environmental justice

Metamorphic conditions of garnet-bearing gneisses from Niban Rock in the Lutzow-Holm Complex, East Antarctica

The Tenth Symposium on Polar Science/Ordinary sessions: [OG] Polar Geosciences, Wed. 4 Dec. / Entrance Hall (1st floor), National Institute of Polar Researc

Highly porous melamine-formaldehyde monoliths with controlled hierarchical porosity toward application as a metal scavenger

We report a new synthetic strategy for melamine-formaldehyde (MF) monoliths with controlled hierarchical porosity toward metal-ion scavengers. The obtained MF monoliths possessed micro-, meso- and macroporosity, which allowed efficient adsorption performance of precious metal ions in water. Applications such as recovery/removal of metal ions are expected

Psychometric properties of the Japanese version of the Recovery Attitudes Questionnaire (RAQ) among mental health providers: a questionnaire survey

The Japanese version of the 7-item Recovery Attitudes Questionnaire (RAQ). (DOCX 31 kb

MYB-mediated regulation of lignin biosynthesis in grasses

Recent analyses of cell wall components of various grass mutant and transgenic lines have provided information on characteristic transcriptional regulation of cell wall formation in grasses, although its knowledge yet remains limited compared with that for eudicot cell wall formation. MYB transcription factors, which are regarded as downstream regulators operating under NAM, ATAF1/2, and CUC2 (NAC) domain transcription factors, have been suggested to be involved in direct regulation of cell wall biosynthesis. In this review, we discuss MYB-mediated transcriptional regulation of the biosynthesis of grass lignins, including grass-specific lignin components such as γ-acyl groups and flavone tricin units. Grass mutant and transgenic lines harboring modified cell-wall-associated MYB genes display altered composition of the γ-acylated and tricin-incorporated lignin units and/or modified expression of enzyme genes involved in the formation of these grass-specific lignin components along with conserved monolignol biosynthetic genes. These findings implicate important roles for MYB transcription factors in coordinated regulation of grass lignin biosynthesis including γ-acylated and tricin-incorporated lignin biosynthesis

Symmetrically dimethylated histone H3R2 promotes global transcription during minor zygotic genome activation in mouse pronuclei

受精卵の発生に重要な因子を発見 --ヒストンのアルギニンジメチル化が重要--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-05-13.Paternal genome reprogramming, such as protamine–histone exchange and global DNA demethylation, is crucial for the development of fertilised embryos. Previously, our study showed that one of histone arginine methylation, asymmetrically dimethylated histone H3R17 (H3R17me2a), is necessary for epigenetic reprogramming in the mouse paternal genome. However, roles of histone arginine methylation in reprogramming after fertilisation are still poorly understood. Here, we report that H3R2me2s promotes global transcription at the 1-cell stage, referred to as minor zygotic genome activation (ZGA). The inhibition of H3R2me2s by expressing a histone H3.3 mutant H3.3R2A prevented embryonic development from the 2-cell to 4-cell stages and significantly reduced global RNA synthesis and RNA polymerase II (Pol II) activity. Consistent with this result, the expression levels of MuERV-L as minor ZGA transcripts were decreased by forced expression of H3.3R2A. Furthermore, treatment with an inhibitor and co-injection of siRNA to PRMT5 and PRMT7 also resulted in the attenuation of transcriptional activities with reduction of H3R2me2s in the pronuclei of zygotes. Interestingly, impairment of H3K4 methylation by expression of H3.3K4M resulted in a decrease of H3R2me2s in male pronuclei. Our findings suggest that H3R2me2s together with H3K4 methylation is involved in global transcription during minor ZGA in mice