Anatomy of a Non-Governmental UNESCO Movement

Although this is not well known inside Japan itself, Japan's advanced technology is well appreciated in many parts of the world. For example, makeup brushes produced in Kumano-cho (in Hiroshima prefecture), which has been called the 'Hometown of brushes' since the Edo Era, are well sold in Europe. This is also the case for Satake Corporation, which devised and produced Japan's first power driven rice-milling machine in 1896 (Meiji 29). With making progression in its research and development over the one century since, the corporation became a general food trading company, which has the most advanced technology of grain processing systems in the world, including its production of 'magic-rice'. Evidence of its remarkable progress is that the corporation now exports to 140 countries.

Making a continuous effort is a specific characteristic of Japanese. In addition, they are not likely to boast about their achievements, even if they have made any. Thus, there must be a lot of achievements hardly known inside the country but well appreciated in other countries.

The non-governmental UNESCO movement is surely one of such examples. Only the members of UNESCO Associations and those concerned in this field know the movement. The movement's publicity is still low. Most Japanese do not know that after World War II Japan was admitted to the UNESCO, the specialised agency of the United Nations, five years before its affiliation to the United Nations, and that this was chiefly because of the spontaneous rise of the non-governmental UNESCO movement. The name of UNESCO has gradually been spread in Japan recently, due to the accomplishments of Mr. Koichiro Matsuura (former Japanese Ambassador to France, who is now actively working at the UNESCO's headquarters in Paris as the first Asian Director-General) and the publicity of the 'World Heritage' appointed by the UNESCO.

The UNESCO Study Session for the Kanto District was recently held at Edo Tokyo Museum. Japan has approximately 300 UNESCO Associations including clubs. The National Federation of UNESCO Associations opens an annual national convention and an annual study session for individual blocks (9 blocks in the country), with the co-operation of local UNESCO associations. The UNESCO Study Session for the Kanto District is organized in rotation, each prefecture in Kanto taking turns, so the Tokyo Liaison Council of UNESCO Associations takes the duty once in six years. The materials distributed to the participants are the same among the study sessions of all districts. The materials include the examples of activities of UNESCO Associations in Japan and data concerning present conditions of individual associations. Meguro UNESCO Association was introduced twice in the summation of the materials. One is for its membership - one of the largest (average membership is 100 per association), and the other is for its highest financial turnover (the turnover of 47% of all associations is between 500,000yen and 2,000,000yen). These facts surely surprised the members of our association who participated the study session for the first time.

Meguro UNESCO Association, supported by the community, has grown into an organisation which can conduct diverse activities. This growth also owes to the generous efforts of the individual members of the association. Every activity is achieved through the ingenuity of many members. This is really appreciated. However, we should not judge our activities by its size. I would like to suggest, now we have obtained the approval of NPO certification, that we should reflect ourselves with modesty. Any association, irrespective its size, can conduct individual 'warm-hearted UNESCO activities'