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The citizen participation process on independence has kicked off at 9am on November 9 despite the temporary suspension of the Constitutional Court. Finally, the 1,317 voting centres hosting 6,695 polling stations have opened their doors without major incidents, as has been confirmed by the Catalan Government. Long queues of voters were waiting to cast their ballot in a festive atmosphere from early morning. The vote is being run by 40,930 volunteers, but the Catalan Executive is actively behind the process. During the day it will offer turnout figures and it should announce the results on Monday. The ballot boxes are located in high-schools run by the Catalan Government or in municipal centres in small towns and villages. A delegation of international observers is monitoring the process. Several Spanish nationalist parties and organisations have filed judicial complaints asking for the vote to be stopped and members of the Catalan Government to be arrested. In addition, the Public Prosecutor Office – obeying the Spanish Government –asked the Catalan Police to identify the volunteers opening the voting centres, but the Catalan Government refused to do so as they had authorised volunteers to access public venues.

938 of the 947 existing municipalities in Catalonia will host polling stations for the alternative consultation vote on independence scheduled for the 9^th of November, which replaces the original non-binding referendum. According to the Catalan Government, this represents 99.9% of Catalans being able to vote in their own neighbourhood, town or village, without having to go to a nearby municipality. The Catalan Government will be using its own venues to host the polling stations (mainly high-schools), but it lacks them in small towns. For this reason it requested that town halls cooperate and make municipal venues available for voting. 4 additional municipalities could be added to the final list. In addition, civil societies and parties will be able to campaign in 305 Catalan Government's venues between the 30^th of October and the 8^th of November.

From April 2014, thanks to an agreement signed with the Institut Ramon Llull (IRL), the public body in charge of promoting Catalan culture abroad, the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS) will offer a comprehensive course dedicated to the Catalan language and culture. The TUFS, one of the most prestigious institutions for language studies in Japan, will be the second university in the country to provide such training after the Hosei University - also in Tokyo - implemented a similar course in 2010. In the coming months, the TUFS will also host several events to strengthen the bonds between Catalonia and Japan, notably the symposium ‘Facts and fiction about independence, a plural view on Catalonia’.

Top Catalan chef Carme Ruscalleda and her husband Toni Balam run the Sant Pau restaurant in Sant Pol de Mar –near Barcelona- awarded with three Michelin stars. They also own the Sant Pau in Tokyo and the Moments in Barcelona each awarded with one Michelin star. Ruscalleda was raised in a family of farmers and began cooking as a girl. Although she has succeeded in the world of gastronomy, cooking was not her dream as a teenager. In this exclusive interview with CNA Ruscalleda’s eyes shine when she explains how cooking has become her philosophy of life.

The organisers stated that Barcelona’s Japanese twin festival of electronic and advanced music will take place despite the tsunami and the nuclear crisis. In addition, Barcelona’s Sonar Festival and its Galicia twin will give 25% of the money made at the box office to Japan’s Red Cross.

Some of the confirmed performances are M.I.A, Janelle Monáe, The Human League and Baraka Som Sistema. The music festival will be held in Barcelona from the 16th to 18th June. The festival will keep its Galicia showcase, scheduled on the 17th and 18th of June.