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A pre-conference survey was sent to all course participants
to learn the current state of pest control in their organizations,
determine what information they would require in exercises,
and gauge their knowledge of IPM. We used the latter to ensure
a good balance of experience and perspectives across the five
work-groups we created.
One aspect of the course that took considerable design effort
was the development of an opening exercise. It had to introduce
people to each other, educate them, and be fun. The creation
of “Mushimeishi” was a fortuitous intersection of
this need, Japanese card cultures, and my sometimes overheated
mind. “Mushi” is Japanese for insect. “Meishi”
means business card, for which the Japanese are famous. But
Japan has another extensive culture in game cards, fractionally
known to Western parents through the phenomenon of Pokemon and
Yu-Gi-Oh. “Mushimeishi” were therefore cards that
contained images of insects along with information on their
systematics, material damage, life cycle, and hazard ratings.
Each participant received a selection of these information-dense
profiles of the top pests with a synopsis of their capabilities,
and had to trade with others to obtain a complete set. Booster
packs on IPM and control topics rounded out the participants’
decks collected through the following days.
The workshop was eventually presented at Tobunken in Tokyo
on October 12–14, 2004; there were 22 participants from
Japan and one from Korea.
Morning sessions mixed short lectures and related exercises.
These sessions covered introductions to the pests; pest risks
to cultural property; pest capabilities and how they can be
exploited in IPM; building and storage vulnerabilities; surveying
for pests (from comprehensive visual to trap sampling strategies);
pest databases; and mapping. Presentations by participants who
had experience with applying elements of IPM were also incorporated
to broaden the network of expertise available to all participants.
Afternoon sessions were activity based. The first afternoon
was spent identifying pests from live specimens and their signs;
we were fortunate to have Dr. Katsuji Yamano of the Japan Institute
of Insect Damage to Cultural Properties (Bunchuken) to lead
this activity. The second afternoon involved working with oxygen
absorber, humidified nitrogen generator, and carbon dioxide
fumigation systems, as well as low and elevated temperature
control methods. These sessions gave participants an opportunity
to try alternate control methods and critique them, handle samples
that had been treated, and understand the hardware and logistics
of systems demonstrated by our industrial partners: the Mitsubishi
Gas Chemical Company, the Ryoko Chemical Company, and the Ekika
Carbon Dioxide Company.
The third day was an on-site practicum where the five work-groups
were introduced to real pest problems at the National Museum
of Japanese History (Rekihaku) in Sakura. They were then despatched
with staff members who could facilitate their investigations,
and were required to survey, analyse, and design IPM solutions
for a given task. Five laptops were provided for the groups
to create Powerpoint presentations on their findings and present
their proposals to us all. Ideas from this experience have since
been integrated into Rekihaku’s operations.
We thank the management and staff of Tobunken, Bunchuken, and
Rekihaku, as well as the participants who travelled between
typhoons, for their enthusiastic support of this prototype training
event.
Although this project was focused on Japanese pest management
problems, the new IPM techniques and improved training methods
that resulted from this collaboration will have tremendous long-term
benefits for Canadian collections.
Doumo arigatou gozaimashita.
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