10. Sports

          Various sports are enjoyed in Niigata prefecture. Of course snow sports are very popular, but other sports are also popular.

Edora Theodor von Lerch

In winter, many people enjoy snow sports, such as skiing and snowboard, in Niigata prefecture. People of other prefecture also visits snow resorts of Niigata prefecture to enjoy snow sports, so snow resorts are very crowded in holiday. Niigata Prefecture is the birthplace of skiing. In 1911, Edora Theodor von Lerch, who was an Austrian Army Major, taught the techniques of skiing to people of the army of Japan in Joetsu city of Niigata prefecture. It is said that this is skiing originated in Japan. The technique of skiing at that time was a technique that uses one ski pole. The technique that uses one ski pole was replaced by a technique that uses two ski poles because players who were using two ski poles won an overwhelming victory to players who were using one ski pole in First All Japan Ski Championships in 1923. Not only ski pole but also ski has changed. Technology of skiing has changed significantly with the appearing of the ski called the carving ski. It is short and has a steep side curve compared to conventional skis. It is easy to turn, and there is no need to shift the skis at the time of the turn as conventional skis. Thank to this, turn speed is significantly faster. Snowboarding is also popular among, especially, young people. Recently most of the young people have been snowboarding, but I want young people to know fun of skiing.

carving ski (left) and conventional ski (right)



Members of Albirex Niigata



There is a football team named Albirex Niigata in Niigata prefecture, and the team has been active in J. League Division 1 of Japan. The predecessor of Albirex Niigata was a soccer team named Niigata eleven soccer club born in 1955. In 1996, it was renamed to Albirex Niigata. It was promoted to the Japan Football League in 1998 and entered J. League Division 2 in 1999. In 2003, it won the J. League Division 2 and was promoted to the J. League Division 1. There is also a team of other sports in Albirex, such as basketball team, baseball team, and so on. Many people are supporting these teams.

In this way, various sports as well as snow sports are popular in Niigata prefecture. I want many people to visit Niigata prefecture and enjoy snow sports in winter.

 

I used the following website.
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B9%E3%82%AD%E3%83%BC
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%AB%E3%83%93%E3%83%AC%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B9

 

9. Famous People



Ken Watanabe

       Ken Watanabe is Japanese actor, and he was born in Uonuma city of Niigata prefecture in 1959. He has appeared in movies and dramas in Japan and overseas. He wanted to become musician until he graduated his high school, but he had to give up the dream for some reasons. When he watched the performance of the theater company, he was impressed, and he became a research student of the theater company in 1978. Then he was promoted to company members in 1982. He appeared on television for the first time in that year, and he made his debut as a movie actor in the two years after. Then he appeared in various movies and dramas and became a popular actor. But he developed acute myeloid leukemia in 1989. He continued the treatment, and he was completely returned in 1995. He appeared in the American movie titled "The Last Samurai" in 2003. He was nominated for the 61st Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actor Award and the 76th Annual Academy Awards Best Supporting Actor Award for the year. Moreover he appeared in many foreign movies such as "Batman Begins", "SAYURI" and "Inception". He is a very famous actor in Japan and overseas.

     

Kentaro Minagawa

       Kentaro Minagawa is an alpine skier, and he also was born in Yuzawa city of Niigata prefecture in 1977. There are a lot of ski resorts in Yuzawa city. He is a petite player in the alpine skiing players. The size of the body is directly linked to time in the slalom competition. But he is challenging the world with his original techniques that was born from his own idea. He took part in the Nagano Olympics as a Japanese representative. He won the sixth in the World Cup of slalom in 2000 and joined the ranks of the top players in the world. Although alpine skiers used skis about 200 cm up to that time, a short thick ski called short carving skis was developed at that time. It had some advantage but also had some disadvantage; so many skiers selected the long skis. But Minagawa selected the short carving skis. He proved its combat power and was featured in a variety of media as "revolutionary of ski" that changed the history of the slalom. Then he took part in Salt Lake City Olympics, Turin Olympics and Vancouver Olympics as a Japanese representative. He married Aiko Uemura, who is an alpine skier, in 2009.

 

Aiko Uemura

 

I used the following website.
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B8%A1%E8%BE%BA%E8%AC%99
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%9A%86%E5%B7%9D%E8%B3%A2%E5%A4%AA%E9%83%8E

Amiri Baraka

     Amiri Baraka died in January 9, 2014. Amiri Baraka is United States writer of poems and plays about racial conflict. He is famous as black radical thinkers and activist in United States. He was born in United States of America, Newark, NJ in 1934, and his maiden name was Leroy Jones. He became interested in poetry and Jazz in high school. In 1961, he published his first major collection of poetry, Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note. And he wrote a play named The Dutchman, which addressed racial tensions and American blacks’ repressed hostility toward whites.

The assassination of Malcolm X was a turning point in his life. Malcolm X is a civil rights activist. Afterward, he changed his name to Amiri Baraka. He became a black nationalist, moved to Harlem and founded the Black Arts Repertory Theatre. After a few months, he moved back to Newark and became a leader of the city’s African-American community. In 1984 he became a full professor at Rutgers University.  In 1989 Baraka won an American Book Award for his works as well as a Langston Hughes Award.

Amiri Baraka died on January 9, 2014, at Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, New Jersey. He was 79 years old.

8. Culture

        There are a variety of cultures in Niigata prefecture. One of the cultures is a traditional craft, for example, hemp fabrics, chest of drawers made of paulownia, cutlery and Buddhist altar. 

Echigo upper fabric

 

Echigo upper fabric is a typical hemp fabric of Niigata prefecture. It is designated as an important intangible cultural asset of Japan and registered in the intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO. There is a characteristic steps called Yukizarashi in the process of Echigo upper fabric. Cloth which is woven is spread on top of the white snow in a sunny day. By doing this, dirt which stuck in the middle of production and the original color of the raw material is removed, and the cloth becomes pure white, and pattern of the cloth will be vivid. This principle is that ozone with a bleaching action occurs when snow is melted by the heat of sun and the cloth is bleached by the ozone. Moreover, it is possible to remove the dirt which stuck when using the Echigo upper fabric that was completed by Yukizarashi. So the cloths that became a product and extended to the hand of man sometimes come back again in order to be cleaned. A hemp fabric called Ojiyachijimi is also famous and designated as an important intangible cultural asset of Japan and registered in the intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO.

Yukizarashi

Kamo city of Niigata prefecture is famous for chest of drawers made of paulownia. The production of the chest of drawers made of paulownia in Kamo city accounts for 70% of the national production. Paulownia has several good points as a material for chest. Expansion and contraction due to drying and moisture of the leaf of paulownia is small. So it is possible to make a chest no gap and protect clothing from moisture. And thermal conductivity of the plate of paulownia is the smallest in the wood. Thanks to this, it can be protected clothes from heat when fire occurs. Moreover, plate of paulownia contains a large amount of tannin, Pauronin and sesamin, and these　substances protect from insect damage to clothes. Growth of paulownia tree is early compared to other trees, and the chest which was produced is used for many years. So the chest of drawers made of paulownia is also good for the global environment.

Chest of drawers made of paulownia

In this way, there are various traditional craft in Niigata prefecture, but there are a lot of good things in addition to the traditional craft.

I used the following website.
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%8A%E5%BE%8C%E4%B8%8A%E5%B8%83
http://www.chuokai-niigata.or.jp/kiritansu/ja/index.html