How much we enjoy the English class for the youth at Meguro

'In the very early days, there was a request to publish a bulletin. And although the will was certainly there, actually publishing a bulletin was not so easily realised. In the latter term of fiscal 1972, its first publication was attempted, just as a brief note. Mr. Takeshi Kato, the then Vice President, was entrusted with the entire responsibility of its production, and Mrs. Isako Kato, the then director, took care of editing. The first issue was published very soon afterwards, on February 23, 1973. This long-awaited publication created a sensation among the members and was well received. This was chiefly because it gave a great opportunity to hear from members, especially the elderly, those confined to bed and those living at a distance. The publication reported how the members' activities had become richer and more diverse, which was very beneficial for promoting good communication between members.' (Extracted from '20 Years of Meguro UNESCO Association.') The first issue of Meguro UNESCO Short News was just a single B4 size page. It was in the presidential days of Mr. Michio Harada. The publication frequency was about four times a year then, and printed at a shop in Komazawa Road. From 1975, I took responsibility for editing (I was Secretary General in that period), and continued to publish Short News. Occasionally, due to time constraints, it required the addition of quick hand-drawn illustrations. When Japanese word processors became available in the latter part of Showa 50s (1975-1985), we adopted a word processor with a 16 dot-matrix printer, for editing. From this period, we can find the article entitled 'UNESCO open seminar - Education and information-oriented society' in Short News No. 50 (September 20, 1985). This attracted public attention as an innovative activity at that time, and the news was taken up as a major topic by 'Nihon Keizai Shimbun'. The lecture consisted of ①Education and Computer (Mr. Norikazu Osumi; Naruto University of Education) ②Birth of the Japanese word processor (Mr. Yasunori Kanda: Fujitsu Limited) ③Information- oriented society and Education in Japan (Mr. Mikio Hashimoto; Ministry of Education) ④Media Education - Prospects for 21st Century (Mr. Takashi Sakamoto; Tokyo Institute of Technology) ⑤New Media and Lifelong education (Mr. Yasuki Hamano; The National Institute of Multi-Media Education). In addition, there were two lectures in the PART II seminar about word-processor and personal computers. Not a few people became members through these lectures. In Short News No. 100 (October 24, 1993), a brief note on B5 size pinkish paper, there were several topics such as a notice of the 36th Art Exhibition, and an invitation to the lectures on Mohenjo-Daro by photographer Mr. Hiroshi Kasai. It also contained an introduction on the 'Campaign Card' activities, which was the first attempt by Meguro UNESCO Association, and a notice about the publication of Mr. Ryo Kawakita’s ‘Ｂlanc Series’. (Blanc is the name of a dog.) Mr. Kawakita was a young man who drew, even though he was struggling with an intractable disease. He passed away at the age of twenty. Today, Meguro UNESCO deals with many kinds of postcards and the profits from these are donated to global environmental protection projects. These profits also provide relief funds for sufferers of intractable diseases, carrying out Mr. Kawakita's last wishes. Short News No. 150 (November 10, 1998) already had the same layout style as the one currently published. The front-page heading was designed by Mr. Shigeo Katsuoka, a graphic designer. Short News passed through amateurish 'trial and error' attempts for twenty-five years and finally became as you see today. The contents of the 150th issue were 'World Terakoya movement', 'Stories of experiences in Zimbabwe (Youth committee member, Ms. Hiroko Yamamoto)', 'Basic Knowledge of UNESCO (Mr. Shigeo Tajima; an advisor of Meguro UNESCO Association)'. It also mentioned the exchange activities with friendship members, a diary of activities, and notices. It contained a substantial range of topics with Ms. Yukiko Katsuoka as the editor. A year before this issue, the contents of Short News had been little more than 'notices', due to the limited time and space. However, after organisational reform, new committees were set up and a system was structured to enable each committee to take responsibility for individual activities. Thanks to this, the contents of the Short News were enriched. In addition, I would like to mention the English version bulletin, which is published in parallel with the Japanese version. The English editions also passed through a trial and error period before settling down to the current version seen here. They are delivered to people interested in UNESCO, both in Japan and overseas, and to embassies in Japan. They give, I believe, information of not only the activities of Meguro UNESCO Association, but also the activities of the non-governmental UNESCO movement in Japan. Both Japanese and English versions of Short News are published ten times per year at the moment. With Mr. Yukio Okusawa, the Chairperson of Public Relations Committee, six members work on the Japanese version of Short News, and eleven members work on the English version. Short News mailing is taken care of by the office staff with the help of participants of our training programs. Taking this opportunity of publishing Short News No. 200, I would like to share the appreciation with all of you, the value of information conveyed by Short News, the contribution by many members involved with its publication, and the invaluable role this paper medium can achieve.