University Times

$5,000 donated toward creation of Japanese nationality room

The Japanese city of Omiya, through a visiting cultural exchange delegation, has donated $5,000 toward the construction of a Japanese nationality room in the Cathedral of Learning.

According to Yoko Tai, design committee coordinator, the room is tentatively planned as a Katsura, or "detached palace," patterned after a summer home used by the Emperor of Japan.

Pittsburgh's Japanese community and the University, however, will have the final say on design.

Building a Japanese nationality room has been a popular cause in Omiya since a group of citizens from that city visited the Cathedral of Learning several years ago and noticed there was no Japanese room.

When told the history of the Cathedral of Learning, and how money for its construction in the 1920s was collected from local school children, they returned to Japan and informed their local school district, which began a similar fund drive.

To date, students, parents and faculty in the Omiya school district have raised a total of $21,000 for a Japanese nationality room.

Funds for the Japanese nationality room also are being collected in this country. Anyone interested in donating to the project should contact Maxine Bruhns, director of the Nationality Rooms Program, at 624-6150.