Kyoto: A Doll in the Making

　　　Japan is regarded as a treasure house of dolls,and Kyoto, the center for doll-making. Kyo-Ningyo (京人形) or Kyoto-dolls are an important part of the formalized displays that are the focus of individual household festivities during the Girls' Festival (Doll Festival: Hina-matsuri) on March 3rd and the Boys' Festival (Children's Day: Kodomo-no-hi) on May 5th. While Life in Kyoto has reported on these festivals on previous occasions, this time we would like to introduce kyo-ningyo in more detail. Mr. KATAOKA, a local doll-maker based in Nishikyo-ku, told us about kyo-ningyo and his 40 years experience in the industry (see below).
　　　Mr. Kataoka's father,an eminent doll-maker in Kyoto for many years, hoped that his son would not follow in his footsteps. He knew all too well how difficult it was to make a living in the doll-making industry and encouraged his son to seek work in another field. Despite following his father's wishes for several years, after realizing the pleasure of making dolls Mr. Kataoka decided to take up the challenge. Since then he has dedicated his life to doing what he loves most, creating the aesthetic beauty of kyo-ningyo.
　　　The origin of kyo-ningyo goesback to the Heian Period (794-1185), when they started out as popular toys among children of the nobility. It was not, however, until the Edo Period (1600-1868) that doll-making truly flourished with the introduction of sophisticated design techniques and attention to detail. This brought general appeal and dolls were increasingly seen as ornaments for display rather than playthings. Although there are many kinds of Kyoto-dolls produced, most are made from paulownia wood (桐 - kiri) and powder, and dressed in elegant costumes. Moreover, as Kyoto is also the center of high-class weaves called Nishinjin Weaves, it has always been the ideal place for making doll costumes.
　　　Dolls are grouped into various categories based on their use. Hina-Ningyo (雛人形), for example, are a small, exquisite pair of dolls exhibited during the Doll Festival, while Gogatsu-Ningyo (五月人形), also called Musha-Ningyo (武者人形: Warrior-dolls, see below), are displayed on Children's Day. Another popular type of doll are the Jidaifuzoku-Ningyo (時代風俗人形), which reflect the customs of a particular period by their appearance: clothes, hairstyle, and/or accessories. Admittedly the designs are not always completely accurate for each period, as a doll maker's own ideas and imagination may come into play.
　　　Generally speaking, two processes are used in making dolls. One is where the production of doll parts is divided into areas by labor. For instance, a sculptor (首師-Kashira-shi) makes the head, a hairdresser (髪付け師- Kamitsuke-shi) the hair, while the limbs are made by yet another specialist (手足師- Teashi-shi). Furthermore, depending on the type of doll, the final stage will entail the dressing of the doll in kimono by a costume designer. The other process of doll-making involves only the craftsman, who is responsible for creating the entire doll from start to finish. These "original dolls" are called Sosaku-Ningyo (創作人形).
　　　Mr. Kataoka mainly focuses on creating three types of dolls, and utilizes both of the above methods. He makes hina ningyo and gogatsu ningyo using parts made by specialists, and puts them together to make a finished product. When he makes an entire doll by himself, he usually makes large dolls, which can take up to 12 months or more to complete. But, regardless of the method used, he strives to make his ningyo as creative as possible. Having put his heart and soul into every doll he produces, Mr. Kataoka is understandably a little sad whenever one of his works is to leave his studio. Dolls, he insists, are more than mere decorations and playthings, giving people peace of mind and making them feel happy.
　　　Mr. Kataoka's is a volunteer member of the Kyoto City International Foundation Home Visit Program run by the International Community House in Keage. He welcomes non-Japanese to his home and enjoys talking about doll-making. His workstudio and shop are located at Kawashima Arisugawa-cho 99-1, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto. Tel: (075) 381 5823.
　　　If you are interested, please visit his premises and admire the aesthetic value of kyo-ningyo.

Y. Matsuda

Kyoto Wastewater Treatment

　　　Take a deep breath. Did you know that human waste was utilized as an organic fertilizer in Japan up until quite recently? In some areas of Kyoto it was used up until just 30 years ago. While the idea of using human generated fertilizer was surely no 'breath of fresh air' - the rich quality of soil produced as a consequence was sufficiently laudable. These days you breathe pollutants instead, what's worse? When Japan's population was much smaller, it had been possible for domestic wastewater (household tap water) to be drained directly into rivers where it was purified naturally, causing minimal environmental repercussions. However, with the advent of industrialization (beginning from the Meiji period: 1868-1912), Japan's population increased significantly and it was no longer possible to continue doing so. Furthermore, the use of human waste as a fertilizer was gradually reduced along with the practice of storing toilet wastewater in tanks below the home. Sewers were built out of necessity to drain away the increasingly large quantities of domestic (tap/toilet wastewater) and industrial wastewater to what is now known as "treatment plants", where it could be purified artificially. And so the sewerage system was born: ad hoc as it may have been, it is now seen as one of the most important and indispensable urban infrastructures.
　　　As Kyoto City is situated half way along the Yodo River (which flows into Osaka Bay), the 11 million or more people living further downstream use river water that is mixed with wastewater treated in Kyoto. Purifying wastewater is therefore a vital process. Kyoto City began construction of its first water treatment plant in 1930. Four years later, the Kisshoin Wastewater Treatment Plant began operation, and three other plants were constructed successively: Toba (1939), Fushimi (1973) and Ishida (1981). The treatment capacity of these four plants has been expanded step by step and now the total capacity amounts to about one and a half million cubic meters per day. This is almost sufficient to fully service the Kyoto urban area.
　　　Perhaps the only thing most of us think about with regards to wastewater is that we want as little to do with it as possible. For this reason it is likely that many people have only a vague idea of what happens at wastewater treatment plants, and even less of an idea of the important a role this infrastructure plays. LIK decided to visit the Toba Wastewater Treatment Plant, the biggest of the four plants in Kyoto (see above), to get the nitty-gritties on what goes on at the plant. The Toba Plant covers more than half of the total service area of the city and accounts for about two thirds of the total sewerage capacity at present. Even given these figures, it came as a surprise to find that the huge reservoir-plant complex took up something like 50 hectares! This is what they mean by "large-scale". We tried in earnest to calculate how many baseball fields you could fit in the compound but gave up in despair. We were given a guided tour around the facility where we could observe up close the various wastewater treatment processes.

Treatment Processes
　　　Wastewater initially collects in massive underground sewer pipes and flows into large pre-treatment ponds where refuse and sand are removed and it becomes supernatant water. It is then p umped into Primary Settling Tanks. In these tanks, the water is slowly forced around by a rotating device, thus allowing the small pieces of trash and sludge to settle. Subsequently, the water is transferred to the deep Reactor and churned vigorously with bubbling air for 5-7 hours. This allows bacteria to decompose any pollutants or organic substances (such as fat and protein) present in the wastewater. From the Reactor the water then flows into the Final Settling Tanks where it is again mixed around. Here the lumps of bacteria, also called "active sludge", settle at the bottom leaving the water transparent, while the BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand - a measure of water purification) value is significantly lowered. The last stage of the treatment is at the Chlorination Tank where sodium hypochlorite is added to kill any remaining bacteria. The purified wastewater is then pumped into the Yodo River and mixes with the natural river water, which is later purified and used as drinking water. Treated wastewater is a very important resource, particularly in summer when the natural river water level is low due to modest rainfall.
　　　The sludge collected in the above mentioned process is pumped into large Digestion Tanks where water is then removed. The remaining "sludge cake" (300-350 tons a day) is subjected to continuous combustion at 800-900 degrees Celsius in a huge incinerator. Part of the resultant ash is then processed to make, for example, water-permeable bricks for pavement, building blocks or artificial gravel, etc., with the remainder dumped in the sea.

Ongoing Issues
　　　As construction of wastewater facilities in Kyoto is in its final phase, focus has switched from quantity to quality improvement. There is room for development in the following three areas:
1) Sewer systems fortified against flood
2) Advanced treatment
3) Recycling of ash
　　　Kyoto currently has two types of sewer systems in place. One is the Separate Sewer System (60% coverage) in which wastewater is pumped to treatment plants by sewer pipes and stormwater is drained into rivers through underground ditches. The other is the Combined Sewer System (40%) in which not only wastewater, but also stormwater, is caught and forwarded to treatment plants via the same sewer pipes. After heavy rains, however, combined pipes have a tendency to flood due to over-capacity. In response to this problem, the construction of new trunk sewers, reservoirs, storm waterpipes and pumping stations has been vigorously pursued with the aim of creating a flood-free city. The city has completed 80% of wastewater infrastructure and can currently cope with freak rainfalls of up to 52mm per hour. It is concurrently aiming toward safely dealing wit h rainfalls of up to 62mm per hour and working hard to complete under-serviced areas.
　　　Advanced treatment has the ability of purifying wastewater up to BOD 1-2 mg/l (the cleanest rivers in Japan are 0.3/l - 0.5/l mg). Kyoto City has already gained BOD 3 mg/l at all plants, while most other cities only purify their wastewater to BOD 10 mg/l. In addition, when Kyoto's current plants are overhauled, advanced treatment plants will replace them. Various changes are already underway. At the Fushimi plant, a new type of processing system - the anaerobic-aerobic process - has been introduced. The main advantage of this system is that it can remove phosphorus from wastewater. As there are many factories and industrial companies in the Fushimi area, high concentrations of phosphorus in collected industrial wastewater had been a problem for some time. Similarly, the Kisshoin Plant has also taken on a new approach to deal with its local environment. It employs an ozonation process to remove colors diluted in the water due to the many dye-works in the Kisshoin district.
　　　At present, more than half of the ash produced from sludge is abandoned in the sea. The reasons for doing this include an insufficient demand for the types of recycled goods currently produced, the fact that it is much cheaper to dispose of ash then recycle it, and that the cost of subsidizing recycling (by the City) is already considered quite high. While the government has made a substantial commitment in this area (you have probably noticed the new recycled-brick paths that keep appearing around the City), there is a distinct lack of interest shown by the private sector. Realistic new ideas must be devised to address this issue in an economically viable way. In other words, to produce products that are not only demanded and useful, but are also priced competitively. This is not an easy task.
　　　From a personal perspective, what can we as individuals do to reduce the negative impact of wastewater on the environment? As a first step, we can refrain from draining oil or oil related products (including ramen soup) down the sink. Such products dirty domestic water by an unbelievable amount. Furthermore, we must endeavor to minimize the amount of wastewater we produce. Wastewater treatment will continue to play an essential "behind the scenes" role in our lives, and it will increasingly be up to communities and business to actively support these endeavors for a safe and clean future.

M. Amanuma & T. Fujii

Kyo-Kotoba
Words & Expressions in Kyoto Dialect

　　　Kyo Kotoba or Kyoto dialect developed in Kyoto's own innately refined culture many years ago. While Kyoto dialect is grouped within "Kansai-ben" (Kansai dialect), it has its own unique vocabulary and subtle pronunciation. Moreover, the implication of a word may change according to place, time, and relationship between people. Today, the use of Kyo-kotoba has unfortunately been reduced to a select few working in the entertainment district and some elderly people. Therefore bare this in mind when using the following words, as you may find many young people have no idea what you are talking about!

T. Fuji