和魂洋才

2008-11-30T21:14:00.004-05:00

Autumn in Kyoto

Last weekend I went to Kyoto for a day to see the fall colours. These three pictures were taken at Renge Temple in the northern part of the city. The temple was constructed in 1662 and is part of the Tendai sect of Buddhists. Travelling to Kyoto to see the fall colours is its own tourist season here and millions flock to the city with their cameras in order to capture the beauty of the leaves. This particular temple was nice in that it wasn't crowded since it is off the beaten path. So I had the chance to sit down and take in the view which was very soothing after being on crowded trains all day.

2008-11-22T00:13:00.003-05:00

Magritte Part 2

I should also add that Magritte is probably better known for his painting The Treachery of Images which Michel Foucault used on the cover of his book, This is not a Pipe.

Or is it....

Of course the question that Foucault asks is what connection can we make between art (language) and the physical realm? We naturally understand that this is not a real physical pipe, only an image of one. And yet, it begs us to ask who is this directed at? Where is it coming from? Perhaps this actually points to the functioning of ideology acting on the subject as we are not entirely interpellated by this image and its statement. We know that the statement is true and yet there is an element of doubt which forces us to ask why are we being presented with this knowledge? As Zizek says,“ideological identification exerts a true hold on us precisely when we maintain an awareness that we are not fully identical to it, that there is a rich human person beneath it.” Thus, it is our cynical distance from ideology which allows us to be interpellated by it to even a greater degree.

I think Rodrigo understands.

2008-11-21T23:23:00.003-05:00

Rene Magritte

I noticed that Google is celebrating Rene Magritte's 110th birthday today. I can't say I'm too familiar with his work, however, I did use one of his paintings as an illustration in my thesis. I used his painting titled Not to be Reproduced (La Reproduction Interdit, 1937), as an example of how the modern nation state allows the impossible gaze into its own past.

" In this painting a man looks into a mirror but his image is not reflected back. As if to answer our doubts whether it is really mirror into which the man is gazing, Magritte places a book in the bottom-right corner of the mirror to prove that this is not an illusion. The only visual problem with the painting is that the reflected image of the man who is gazing into the mirror is the same image as the view from the observer’s perspective. That is,
from the position of the Other we can see the back of the man and in the reflected image we are presented with the same viewpoint. The only visible clue as to what is happening is the book, Edgar Allan Poe’s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, which is the tale of an imaginary journey despite being presented to the public as an authentic travelogue. Thus we are presented with an image that signifies an imagined journey between two points which are the same. The point that I want to make is that this is essentially what Japan as a modern nation state has done in articulating its own past. It has positioned itself as a subject with an eternal essence using the symbolic figure of the emperor as the overlying proof of its analogous existence. This allows the impossible gaze of the Other to form the object of our desire, which, in this situation, is the notion of an eternal Japanese polity. "

2008-11-19T09:24:00.002-05:00

Baby It's Cold Outside...

Well I guess you can only escape winter for so long. Today it was 9C outside which meant it was time to get out my winter coat. It was 20C just a few days ago! But I think the weather has changed for good. In Japan people always say that the seasons change very quickly (as opposed to back home where seasons can't quite decide when to begin or end). So once we get one cold day then winter has arrived.

It won't get that cold here (only -1C or so) compared to back home. However, Japanese homes aren't made for cold weather. I'm in a new apartment building and still the windows are not quite winter friendly. So I think I will need to keep the heater running while I'm at home this winter. Tonight I did treat myself to something special after work though. I went to my favorite Curry house (CoCoIchi) for some spicy and hot food to warm me up.

2008-11-11T03:34:00.003-05:00

Cell Phone

So yesterday I was finally able to purchase a cell phone. Without having a proper work visa or job, phone companies were unwilling to offer me a contract until I got my Alien Registration Card. Thus, after waiting for five weeks to get my card, I'm now able to function as a normal person. That is, I can open a bank account, get a phone, and not worry about being caught on the streets without my passport on me.

Cell phones in Japan are still way ahead of those in Canada in terms of technology but it seems that the price of cell phones here have skyrocketed. New, top of the line models easily cost over $500 CAD but come with very advanced features including a very good digital tv service and a 5 Mega pixel camera. And then there is the new Softbank 823SH Tiffany model which is Japan's respsonse to the world economic crsises. It comes with 537 diamonds and costs 13 million Yen (which is roughly $160,000 CAD).

Needless to say, my phone is not in that class. However, I was able to get a pretty good plan which includes unlimited texting (although in Japan it is actually emailing) for under $30/month.

Still, getting the phone was no easy task. Not only was I required to have my Alien Registration Card (instead of simply the certificate that shows I'm getting my ARC), but I also needed a phone number of a family member or, what they call, the "head of the household". Now I've been caught in this trap before. Technically, I am in the head of my household, however without someone else living in my household to prove I'm the "head", I'm simply just a head in need of a body, so to speak. This inevitably leads to the salesman/clerk to ask me if I have any relatives in Japan that could vouch for me. So, if you are planning to come to Japan on a working-holiday visa without a job in place be prepared to deal with this or you can try to pull off a wedding within your first month. Either way it's a headache.

Anyways, now that I have employment my company was able to 'sponsor' my cell phone purchase so there was a happy ending to almost two hours of 'language training'.

The Japanese Obama

2008-11-09T07:14:00.001-05:00

Courtesy of "anenglishmaninosaka" I bring to you the story of a man named Nocchi who is told that he looks like President Elect Obama. Thus he embarks on a mission to meet the 'other' Obama and tell him that HE is also Obama.

A tear jerker from the start, the story follows Nocchi from Japan to America where he tries to visit Barack's home and office in hopes of meeting him in person. After failing in both attempts he decides to visit Obama's area of town including the barber shop where he is treated to the "Obama Special". Finally, Nocchi finds Obama at a large rally. But will he get to meet the 'other' Obama? Watch the video and find out.

2008-10-30T23:08:00.002-04:00

Pictures of Osaka

Since I've had some free time here I've been able to bike around the city and see some of the sights. Here are a few pictures of the city:

Every major city in Japan needs to have a ferris wheel.

This is the new Kabuki Theater near Nanba Station.

Osaka Dome where the Orix Buffaloes play baseball.

Part of the Yodo River looking towards Kyobashi.

2008-10-29T07:40:00.002-04:00

Welcome back to Japan

I already wrote one entry for today but this story has to be told.

About 30 minutes ago I had a salesman (maybe two or three years younger than me) come to the door trying to sell me a water filter device for my tap (apparently the water in Osaka is not really drinkable). He explained everything to me and I told him that actually I was planning to buy a filter but preffered the much cheaper one that is being sold across the street from me. After a few minutes the conversation turned to me. He wanted to know why I was here.. yada, yada. Then he says that he really wants to learn English and wants to be my friend. So he gave me his phone number and I promised that I would contact him once I get my own phone.

But it doesn't stop there.

I guess with the confirmation that I would contact him later he felt our friendship had already progressed pass all the stages that come before BFF. Thus he showed me his tattoo on his stomach and explained that he was in a band. His girlfriend is also in the band and the two of them are getting married in December, which of course, I'm now invited to.

This guy must make a ton of sales.

2008-10-29T04:12:00.002-04:00

Bling Bling

Well I might as well get my rant out now.

A week before leaving Canada I went to the bank to get a new debit card and I decided to ask what the exchange value was for Japanese Yen. They told me it was about par so, thinking that I would be back later that week, I decided to wait and exchange my money later. Well, as things worked out I was in Toronto for the rest of the week finishing up some school stuff and then was delayed on my way home on a Friday which meant I couldn't get back to the bank. I went again on Saturday but they couldn't gaurantee me the money before Wednesday, the day my flight left for Japan. And the rest is history... I arrive in Japan with a wad of Canadian dollars and the value has dropped almost 30% in the last three weeks. I still kick myself everyday for not changing it before I left.

However, on the bright side. Every Yen I make in Japan is now worth a lot more. It means there are some jobs that will pay me roughly $50/hour CAD. While I'm on the topic I should add that I went for an interview today and got one of those jobs. It will be slow at first since I will only have one session/week but they said by the new year I should be working a lot more hours. So my next step is to get some private students who will help pay the bills.

2008-10-28T05:16:00.003-04:00

Japan: Round Two

Well for those of you who don't know this already, I'm back in the land of the rising sun. I was fortunate to get a scholarship from U of T which helped me get here this time which means for the time being I'm unemployed. So I've decided to revive this blog for the sake of family and friends who want to stay in contact with me or for those who simply have an interest in Japan. I have lots to tell from my first few weeks here so I will try to add one post a day for the next couple weeks at least. Enjoy!

2007-07-18T22:06:00.000-04:00

AAS

As of today I'm now a member of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS). Founded in 1941, it claims to be the largest professional organization for people interested in Asia. I hope it will not only be intellectually stimulating but also a good source for making connections with other scholars of similar interests. If I'm lucky I might have even made the mailing list for my first issue of The Journal of Asian Studies coming out in August.

NOVA CM Superior and subordinate

2007-07-15T22:01:00.001-04:00

If only my lessons were like this it would have been a pleasure to teach there. At Nova we did try to encourage all students to work/communicate with each other. However, if you have two young high school students with an older gentleman you can kiss that idea goodbye. There is still a strong stigma towards speaking with your seniors especially if you disagree with them. I'm afraid Nova tomo (friends) to this degree is a little far fetched.

2007-07-14T23:42:00.000-04:00

오 나라 오 나라 (oh nara oh nara)

While walking down Bloor street this restaurant caught my eye. It's not like I can read Korean but the roman alphabet version of this restaurant reads oh nara oh nara and it brought a smile to my face. Now, some of you might find this childish but bear with me. Oh nara in Japanese (おなら) means fart... yes, it's a fart pun. Still naming your restaurant fart fart would make just about anyone laugh. For the record, 오 나라 in Korean means "five countries".

Human Tetris

2007-07-11T23:03:00.001-04:00

Leave it to the Japanese to come up with this entertaining version of tetris.

Racial Propaganda: Popeye vs. the 'Japs'

2007-07-04T18:47:00.001-04:00

This cartoon is a piece of American propaganda made during the war and is a good example of the general representation of Japanese people during that time. As you can see, the Japanese are thin, round-faced people with glasses, who take on sub-human characteristics often likened to that of a monkey (Nazi Germany pictured Jews as snakes or vultures). To see the enemy as less than human was a psychological tactic used by both sides during the war to help people justify violent actions. Today many of these representations still exist but they are more subtle in form--- stereotypes. The cartoon also plays on the attack at Pearl Harbour as the Japanese are always out to trick and deceive the honest, 'peace-loving' American. Of course, American ingenuity and 'produce' win in the end as the Japanese naval flag sinks to the ocean floor.

2007-07-03T21:51:00.000-04:00

Turn Right at the Next Election

According to this article, the granddaughter of wartime Prime Minister Tojo Hideki ( a class A war criminal) will be running for a seat in the upper house in this month's election. Tojo Yuko will be running as an independent since the conservative party would not support her-- despite the fact that many in the conservative party hold some of her beliefs. However, with all the negative press Prime Minisiter Abe's party has attracted over controversial issues already, it was probably wise to leave this far right-winger out of the mix.

Tojo Yuko says that if she wins "she will push to strengthen the military, rewrite the history of the Rape of Nanking and move to censure the United States for dropping atomic bombs on Japan." She goes on to say that "the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki went 'beyond all the savage acts that occurred in history up until that time.' Acussing the United States of being racially motivated, she claims the U.S. would not have dropped such bombs on other 'white' nations." After all, Japan went to war to "liberate people of color from the white nations in the world."

She will find some support from ultranationalists and some conservatives but I can't imagine that there are many others who would find her views appealing. Imagine if Tojo Yuko and Fujimori Alberto gain seats in the upcoming election. Perhaps Japan's swing to the far right is closer than most scholars and observers think.

東條由布子（とうじょうゆうこ）, まずは東京裁判について, 戦犯について

2007-07-02T22:40:00.000-04:00

Bigger or Better

In my teenage years we used to have a church youth event called 'bigger or better'. The idea was to start with something small and worthless and by the end of the evening have something that was either "bigger" or "better". I've heard some pretty successful stories from others who have played it but this article from the Globe and Mail takes it to the next level.

2007-06-29T22:08:00.000-04:00

One-stop Curry Shop

In a previous post I mentioned my love of curry while I was in Japan. Well, just in case some of you get the chance to go to Himeji, Japan, here is a place you have to go to. The atmosphere is set in the 1950s with a great soundtrack on loop and little collector's items, such as our 'Indian' friend at the front door. This was hands down my favorite place to eat in Himeji. And with staff like this, see below, how could I not keep going back for more. I actually talked with the boss a few times while I was there and was delighted to hear that he still remembers me. Thanks to Aki for the taking these pictures for me : )

2007-06-27T23:23:00.000-04:00

We put the "con" in confidence

According to this article, The People's New Party in Japan has recruited Peruvian ex-President Alberto Fujimori to run in the upcoming upper house election. The party chief Shizuka Kamei said, "I strongly hope Mr. Fujimori, as the last samurai, will add vigor to today's Japanese society, which lacks courage, confidence and benevolence." I'm not exactly sure what kind of vigor Kamei is looking for in this guy. Fujimori is currently under house arrest in Chile and is wanted in Peru for bribery, genocide by forced sterilization and his association with death squads for which he could be sentenced under international law. The Peruvian government even refused to accept his resignation and instead voted him out of office on the grounds of being "morally disabled." So, yes, he has all the qualities of a proven politician, but still I have to wonder why a 'democratic' country like Japan would allow this guy to enter the country let alone run for office. It will be a sad commentary on Japanese society if he actually gets a seat in the house.

元ペルー大統領フジモリ氏、参院選出馬を表明 and アルベルト・フジモリ

2007-06-20T22:40:00.000-04:00

Japanese

So I have tried to up my pace of studying the last couple weeks as I prepare for my first formal Japanese language class in the Fall. Having picked up most of my Japanese through casual conversations without any formal direction, I'm finding it hard to gauge my ability. I'm also afraid that my constant use of casual Japanese might be a problem for me.

Casual Japanese is much easier to learn than formal and is much more useful for daily conversation. However, you might say that casual Japanese is grammatically permissive. It is classified as a pro-drop language (a Chomsky observation) and this permissiveness allows the speaker to sometimes drop everything but the verb. For young Japanese the shorter the sentence the better and they are inventing more and more ways to shorten everything (this is done with a lot of foreign words-- for example, 'personal computer' is shortened to 'paso-kon' パソコン which would be the English equivalent of perso-com). I guess I will have to wait and see if my street Japanese gets any credit(s) in class.

2007-06-19T17:38:00.000-04:00

Can We Forget Iwo Jima?

Well, perhaps the real question is will we be able to find Iwo Jima. According to this article from The Mainichi Daily News, the Japanese government has officially changed the name of Iwo Jima back to its original name of Iwo To. In Japanese, the word for island (島) can be pronounced either 'jima' or 'to' --meaning there is no actual change to the characters used but merely the pronunciation is different. My bet is that Americans, not necessarily known for their geography skills, will render this slight change irrelevant and continue to call it Iwo Jima.

硫黄島：「いおうとう」に呼称変更　国土地理院

Opera Revival

2007-06-15T18:13:00.001-04:00

Here is something a got from a friend's site. I'm not one to watch these types of shows but this isn't your usual "Idol" episode. In less than a week he has already been Wiki'd.

2007-05-28T18:44:00.001-04:00

Cars

In my 10 years of driving eligibility I have never owned a car. I always thought cars were the worst investment someone could possibly make. After all, they rapidly decrease in value, they end up costing more to maintain, insure and run than the original price you paid, and you become so dependent on them that you will never go back. There are another 106 reasons why I don't own a car (it fluctuates day to day) but I think this picture illustrates it pretty well.

2007-05-26T17:23:00.000-04:00

Toronto Doors Open

This weekend Toronto is sponsoring special buildings around the city to be open for the public. So this afternoon I went to U of T to check out some of the older buildings on campus. My first stop was Burwash Dining Hall which was built in 1913 and is named after Nathaniel Burwash, President and Chancellor of Victoria from 1887-1913. From there I went to the Soldier's Tower on my way to University College. UC is one of the constituent colleges of U of T and was founded in 1853. Inside is a gargoyle statue which students rub for good luck before tests. My final stop was at Robarts Library to visit the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. The interior has six mezzanine floors of rare books ranging from Darwin's proof copy (with annotations) of The Origins of Species (1859) to a Babylonian cuneiform tablet from Ur (1789 BC).

The outside of the Burwash Dining Hall

The Burwash Dining Hall

The Soldier's Tower

A Classroom in University College

The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library

2007-05-25T23:05:00.000-04:00

Crack Down

A previous post of mine relayed a few rules of riding a bike in Japan so now I'm well aware that doubling up on a bike comes with certain risks. Apparently this 15 year old wasn't up to date on Japanese bike laws and was apprehended after a 300 meter getaway attempt (he should have dumped the other guy to lose some weight). The article says that, "Law enforcers said they had not heard of any cases of people being apprehended for riding double in the past 20 years." With the wave of violent crimes that hit Japan over the past week the police have finally decided to crack down on all illegal activities. Beware students!

2007-05-21T17:20:00.000-04:00

From My Dad:

I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.

Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.

A dentist and a manicurist fought tooth and nail.

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like an banana.

Police were called to a daycare where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.

The optometrist fell into his lens grinder and made a spectacle of himself.

2007-05-19T23:10:00.000-04:00

A Full Day

I was invited to visit my Japanese family again today. The day started off with a game of soccer and baseball under a blue sky and a shining sun. Then we all sat down for a delicious meal of Japanese curry on the porch. To complete the day we went to a karaoke place and sang a variety of Japanese and English classics. I was brave enough to pull off a rendition of Roxanne by myself (although some back up would have been much appreciated). A good time was had by all and I look forward to my next visit-- where Naoki and I can finish off our 1-on-1 baseball game!

Mr Yamashiro, Yuko, Naoki and Mrs. Yamashiro

Mrs. Yamashiro, Seiko and Myself

2007-05-18T23:16:00.000-04:00

Quotes:

A good rule of thumb is if you've made it to thirty-five and your job still requires you to wear a name tag, you've made a serious vocational error.
-Dennis Miller

The trouble with unemployment is that the minute you wake up in the morning you're on the job.
-Slappy White

Wise men make proverbs, but fools repeat them.
-Samuel Palmer

2007-05-16T23:32:00.000-04:00

Today's Scariest Quote...

Taken from the Mainichi Daily News:

"A high school boy under arrest for murdering his mother and severing her head said he did it to prove that he could kill in war, police said.

'I can kill people if a war breaks out,' the third-year high school student was quoted as saying. 'But there is no war so I decided to kill a person now.'"

This isn't a stand alone incident concerning children killing their parents.

In other news: PM Calls Constitution Outdated; Wants to Expand the Role of Japan's Military

2007-05-15T22:28:00.000-04:00

Japanese Meetings

Believe it or not, this is actually true to Japanese culture. Every meeting is started with everyone on board with the decisions that need to be made. It's really just a formality. Japanese people don't like confrontations and it's impolite to disagree with people in public or in front of superiors. The Japanese must either hold their tongue or discuss their issues in an informal situation where everyone can save face. The result? A very peaceful society where people spend the majority of their time 'touching their toes'... so to speak.

2007-05-14T18:34:00.000-04:00

Safe at Home

It's good to be home again after an accident filled day. This morning on my way to work a man fainted at the bus stop and fell face first onto the sidewalk. As people looked around wondering what to do I called 911 and tried to see if the man was responding to anything. Thankfully, he regained consciousness after a couple minutes and a minute later a passing truck driver stopped to give me some first-aid supplies. I put on the gloves, held some gauze to his cuts and waited for the ambulance to arrive. Within 20 minutes it was all over although he will need a few weeks for the cuts to his forehead, nose, mouth and chin to heal.

As if this wasn't enough trauma for one day, on my way home from work I saw a man riding a bike down Bloor St. get run over by a car. I wasn't involved in helping but he was taken away on a stretcher with what appeared to be a broken leg or possibly some damage to his back. Needless to say, I'm thankful to be home safe and sound.

2007-05-13T18:30:00.000-04:00

Woodrow Wilson couldn't read until he was age 9 (some sources even say 12), but he became the only president with a Ph.D.

2007-05-07T20:25:00.000-04:00

Sunny Days...

This past weekend was probably the best weather we've had since I got back from Japan. Both Saturday and Sunday were clear skies with the temperature around 22C. On Sunday I decided to go to High Park to see if I could jump into a pick up game of soccer. I ended up playing in two different games and came home sweaty and with very, very dirty feet.

2007-05-04T20:16:00.000-04:00

Foundry Lofts

Living near the tracks has always been synonymous with low-income areas. So why is a new development down the street from me on Lansdowne selling lofts between $200K-500K when they are building them on the tracks (or at least where the tracks used to be)? The conversion of the old Canada Foundry Co. Ltd. building, that dates to the early 1900s, into lofts is being undertaken by E-Park Development Corp. and is already attracting a lot of attention. The main section of the building will be kept as a 16,000 sq. ft atrium with lots of green space while the lofts will branch out along the sides. To be honest, I like the idea of living in an old structure like this and I'm glad that they are converting it instead of just tearing it down.

Here is a picture of a locomotive that was (presumably) produced at the foundry.

A picture of the foundry circa 1918 (looking south down Lansdowne from Davenport).

2007-05-03T23:15:00.000-04:00

Natto

For those of you who have never had the pleasure, natto is a traditional Japanese food made from fermented soybeans. Although it is touted as a really healthy food and a great way to start the day, I could never stomach it. I think Wikipedia can tell you why:

"The beans are mixed with the bacterium Bacillus subtilis natto, known as nattō-kin in Japanese. From this point on, care has to be taken to keep the ingredients away from impurities and other bacteria. The mixture is fermented at 40°C for up to 24 hours. Afterwards the nattō is cooled, then aged in a refrigerator for up to one week to add stringiness. During the aging process at a temperature of about 0°C, the Bacilli develop spores, and enzymatic peptidases break down the soybean protein into its constituent amino acids."

Hmm-mmm, what a treat.

2007-05-01T20:58:00.000-04:00

赤ちゃんポスト (Baby Postbox)

According to the Mainichi Daily News, a hospital will begin to open its doors to pretty much anyone starting later this month in Kumamoto, Japan.

"A hospital has finished building a controversial baby drop-off point allowing people to anonymously drop off newborn babies they do not want to raise... It consists of a hatch measuring 50 centimeters by 60 centimeters that opens to a warmed bed where newborn babies can be placed."

This is the first of its kind in Japan but, because of the ease at which someone can dispose of an unwanted baby, I would suggest more will pop up soon enough. Is it in response to the lack of social assistance to single mothers? Or a way to deal with teenage pregnancy? I'm not sure there is an answer that can fully justify this. Either way, another faction of Japan's next generation will grow up feeling alienated and unable to fit in with the 'group' mentality that drives Japanese society.

2007-04-28T20:14:00.000-04:00

For those of you who have already seen the "mother of all" curries, you should probably sit down for this one...

While I was in Japan I often enjoyed a dish of Japanese style curry (as pictured above). The selection of curries there was unending (here is a sample menu) and you could choose your poison when it came to how spicy it was. Here is a picture that I took at one of my favorite curry places, CoCoIchi. I'm still not exactly sure who this advertisement was aimed at but, I can tell you one thing... there weren't a lot of grandmothers to be found in curry joints. Perhaps this was addressing that problem.

2007-04-22T21:56:00.000-04:00

Brain-washing? ? ?

I came across an interesting article today that indicts the Japanese government for their connection with the Tobacco industry. I found out that the Ministry of Finance is the majority shareholder in Japan Tobacco (which just became the 3rd largest tobacco company in the world). The article states that "the idea of a government agency actually promoting consumption by its citizens of a proven cancer-causing product borders on criminally foolish, the travesty is only magnified by the fact that the Ministry of Finance must do so by law. The 1984 Tobacco Industry Law (Tabako Jigyo Ho) mandates 'sound development of our nation's tobacco industry….to ensure stable fiscal revenues'". This helps to explain why it was hard to find a restaurant that was smoke-free or why every street corner seemed to have a vending machine that sold cigarettes. In Japan over 52% of adult males smoke and the number of females who smoke is increasing daily because of advertising that tells them it will keep them thin. Perhaps the difference in government reaction to smoking between Japan and Canada is best observed in these advertisements:

Besides the humour of the Japanese ad, you can see that it has a lot more to do with smoking etiquette rather than the dangers of smoking.

2007-04-18T17:33:00.000-04:00

A Dead End Job

It's not common to hear of gun violence in Japan so when it happens it's a big deal. Yesterday, the Mayor of Nagasaki, Itcho Ito, was shot in front of Nagasaki JR Station by a man who is said to have had "a grudge against him". Ito served as Nagasaki's Mayor for 12 years and was seeking re-election this Sunday (the police have yet to make any connection concerning the murder and the election). Seventeen years ago, Ito's predecessor, Hitoshi Motoshima (a Japanese Catholic), survived an assassination attempt on his life after he was shot by a right-winger who was disgruntled by his remarks regarding the guilt of Emperor Showa during WWII. All of these events are sure to make for an interesting result on Sunday. As of today, there are four candidates still running for this to-die-for position.

2007-04-17T23:10:00.000-04:00

Mr. Matsuzaka Goes to Toronto...

Well, the highly touted Matsuzaka put on quite a show today but wasn't able to pull out a win over the injured Jays. The Jays fought hard until the end to get a 2-1 victory over the Red Sox. It's been almost a year since I saw Matsuzaka pitch for the Lions in Japan but I have to say he looked much more professional tonight. He struck out 10 and had great control for most of the game and it seemed he was unbeatable after the first 3 innings. Nonetheless, a poor 4th inning did him in and the Jays bullpen, which has been very strong so far, finished the game off nicely. There were over 42,000 fans in attendance which provided an excellent atmosphere despite a lot of Red Sox fans and, of course, Japanese fans who were just cheering on Matsuzaka. The Jays have won three 2-1 games in the last week against good teams which is a good sign for the pitching staff. I expect more offensive will come shortly once some big hitters get hot and the IR list is emptied.

These girls were interviewed by the Toronto Star before the game.

2007-04-16T22:12:00.000-04:00

ESL Teachers...

This brings back some memories of kids class in Japan. This goes out to all the Shingos and Kenjis that were unfortunate enough to have teachers like this.

2007-04-15T16:14:00.000-04:00

Jackie Robinson Day

Today is the 60th anniversary of Robinson's debut in the MLB. In honour of him many players, and some whole teams, wore his number, #42, on their jerseys today. Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first African-American to play in the MLB and he went on to a Hall of Fame career. After his retirement in 1957, he was involved in the Civil Rights Movement throughout the 1960s. Therefore, it was kind of ironic that the man who broke the racial segregation of professional baseball was only honoured by black players on the Jays today, in a way, once again segregating them from the rest of the team. I guess some would argue that they are the ones who deserve to honour Robinson for what he did. It just seemed odd to me.

2007-04-13T16:49:00.000-04:00

Fishing for Terrorists

I had to double check my calendar to make sure it wasn't April 1st after I read this article from the Globe and Mail. It seems that our friends down south have found some new allies in the war against terror. Who are these brave souls that would risk their lives for freedom you ask? Dolphins (not the Miami football variety) and Sea Lions...

"Working in unison, the dolphins can drop a flashing light near a mine or a swimmer. The sea lions carry in their mouths a cable and a handcuff-like device that clamps onto a terrorist's leg. Sailors can then use the cable to reel in the terrorist."

I'm not sure what else to say really... it all seems a little fishy to me.

2007-04-11T22:56:00.000-04:00

Blue Jays 2007

So I purchased a pair of season tickets for the Jays this year. Seeing that I will be in the city all summer and that a ballgame is a great activity with friends on a summer's evening, I decided to get a couple seats in the 500 level. So occasionally I'll give some updates here on the blog.

So far I've been to the first three home games of the year. Nothing beats a home opener that is sold out, 50,125 fans, with people who are excited and ready to cheer. However, naturally this doesn't last all season and the place can get pretty quiet... like tonight. Last night there were 22,106 fans but tonight pulled in only 15,218 very lethargic and somewhat uninterested people (not that I consider myself to be the ultimate cheering fan). At least the bats were working tonight and I got to see some of that Blue Jays power which we hopefully can expect all season.

2007-04-06T21:38:00.000-04:00

Pearls on a Pig

Two years ago when I was coming back home to see my family I met a Japanese family on the plane. They were living in Toronto at the time and so we had an interesting conversation about life in foreign lands. Well, last week a received an email from Mr. Yamashiro, who still lives in Toronto, and he invited me out for dinner tonight. We had a great time talking about our experiences, which were surprisingly similar, over some vegetarian dishes. During the conversation, the topic of learning languages, and more specifically idioms, came up. He was kind enough to teach me this new idiom that somehow managed to stick. In Japanese it is 豚に真珠 (buta ni shinju), which roughly translates as "Pearls on a pig!" The context is when an ugly girl puts on expensive jewelry to look good.. however, she can't hide her ugliness with her possessions. Not exactly an idiom that I plan to/should use but an interesting picture nonetheless.

2007-04-02T22:58:00.000-04:00

日本沈没 (Nippon Chinbotsu), 'Japan Sinks'!

Tonight I watched the remake of the 1973 classic "Japan Sinks." The basis of the movie is that Japan will submerge into the sea because of shifting tectonic plates while a host of other natural disasters, a tsunami, multiple volcanoes and earthquakes, render the nation helpless to escape this catastrophic event (it should be noted that all surrounding countries seem to escape these disasters despite their scale). Overall the movie wasn't that bad but was similar to a lot of Hollywood versions where they quickly try to develop some characters, unconvincingly, in order to bring the circumstances of an actual disaster closer to home. However, there were a couple interesting scenes that really stuck out.

The first is when the Prime Minister says that although Japan is sinking he will stay and die with his country (arrrgh, that be the same for all ye pirates out there). Nonetheless, in the following scene we see him in his plane on his way to China to ask for help. While he is in flight, the plane goes down as a volcano erupts underneath of it, perhaps, a judgement laid down on him because of his willingness to request help from China.

The second scene is when they show a newscast stating that foreign countries are unwilling to take in Japanese refugees. Pictures of people jumping on the Japanese flag are shown as the newscaster then states that people in America, China and the EU are complaining about the influx of refugees and how they are disrupting daily life. Once again Japanese people are given the impression that they can't look for outside help and that they need to get through this on their own.

In the end the viewer is left with the idea that the destruction of Japan is the least of their fears. Having to start a new life in a foreign country is far more disturbing and challenging for those Japanese who escape. After all, with Japan being so insular and having strict immigration policies, what could be scarier than a forced integration into a foreign society.

2007-03-30T15:28:00.000-04:00

Who are they protecting?

More controversy about wartime acts committed by Japan during WWII have surfaced in the nation's history textbooks. I've written about this before but it seems that it is a topic that the government will not back down on. Over the last month, newspapers from around the world reported Prime Minister Abe's comments about "comfort women" and whether or not they were coerced into service by the military. It ended with Abe offering an apology but refusing to admit the government's role due to pressure from conservatives in his party. The result?Another spoken apology is recorded by the Japanese Government, however, the world remains unconvinced.

Today an article from the Mainichi Daily News reported that the Japanese Government has "ordered history books to remove references to forced wartime suicide." In Japan all textbooks need to be passed by a government panel in order for it to be used in classrooms. The controversy this time is over the fact that the books say "the Japanese army -- faced with an impending U.S. invasion in 1945 -- handed out grenades to residents on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa and ordered them to kill themselves rather than surrender to the Americans." The reason behind the censorship: "Some of the high school textbooks ... are based on incorrect perceptions of history," the statement said.

This despite the fact that, "accounts of forced group suicides on Okinawa are backed up by historical research, as well as testimonies from victims' relatives. Historians also say civilians were induced by government propaganda to believe U.S. soldiers would commit horrible atrocities, thereby killing themselves and their families to avoid capture."

With the war 60 years behind us and those who were held "responsible" already convicted and punished, who is the government protecting? What is there to gain by publicly denouncing historical research and further alienating yourself from your neighbours? Welcome to the conundrum that is Japan.

2007-03-28T22:14:00.000-04:00

MLS in Toronto

Will professional soccer be popular in Toronto? At least 14,000 people think so. Toronto FC announced that they have officially sold all their season tickets for the 2007 campaign. At one point I had thought about getting some with my brother but that isn't an option any more. They say it will also be pretty tough to get any tickets this season, especially when the LA Galaxy are in town with Beckham. I still hope to see a game or two this summer as long as I don't have to donate any body parts to do it.

U2 - Where The Streets Have No Name

2007-03-27T20:35:00.001-04:00

20th Anniversary

Today marks 20 years to the day that U2 played their famous rooftop concert in Los Angeles.

2007-03-26T21:19:00.000-04:00

Colour-OK?

It was fun listening to sportscasters try and pronounce the name of the Boston Red Sox's new Japanese import, Matsuzaka Daisuke, last December. Most came up with the typical '-e' sound found in other Japanese import words like 'karaoke' or 'karate'. As I snubbed my nose at these uncultured jocks, I was somewhat intrigued to find that his new 'nickname' is now "Dice-K". For those who haven't already figured this out, this is how his name is pronounced in Japanese. I'm sure with all the media hype around this guy "Dice-K" will become a household name . Then we will start saying lets go to 'colour-OK' as a Friday evening activity at the local bar.

For the record, I had the chance to watch Daisuke pitch last year in Japan. He pitched 4.1 innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits... I think Boston will expect more than that.

2007-03-25T23:50:00.000-04:00

Happy New Year!

Until 1752, England rang in the new year on March 25th.

2007-03-24T23:28:00.000-04:00

Work

You have to love a job with perks. Here is just one of them that I receive weekly at my new job with Tatham Group.

2007-03-21T22:40:00.000-04:00

The Livedoor Trials...

So it seems that my concern over the legitimacy of Horie's guilty verdict is gaining some 'stock' in the Japanese papers as well. People are starting to question the judge's unprecedent ruling and are asking why others are not being treated the same way. After all, Livedoor isn't the only company facing legal battles right now and it is interesting to see how some of the other trials are unfolding. Currently the verdict in the Nikko Cordial case is raising eyebrows. Here is a quote from the Mainichi Daily News:

"Nikko Cordial is accused of falsifying more than 40 billion yen (US$340 million) in profits, far greater than some 5 billion yen (US$42.5 million) in alleged trumped up profits at Livedoor. The brokerage admitted last year that it had improperly booked proceeds from derivatives trading to inflate earnings for the fiscal years that ended March 2005 and March 2006.

Livedoor, meanwhile, is accused of setting up what prosecutors called several "dummy" funds to carry out stock swaps and buy up shares of Livedoor and subsidiaries especially to jack up earnings. Both companies are legally facing the same charges of falsifying earnings reports, which comprise violation of securities laws in Japan."

In the end, Nikko Cordial wasn't even delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange (in fear of instability in the market) and was only fined $4 million (US).

2007-03-21T21:05:00.000-04:00

Liberty Foods Inc.

During WWII, the German-sounding sauerkraut was renamed "liberty cabbage". Hmm... I'll have that with a "liberty sausage" and a side order of "liberty fries". Better get a "Baileys liberty cream" to wash it all down.

2007-03-20T22:17:00.000-04:00

The Problem with History

After three short months, hopes of writing a shared history of East Asia, by Chinese and Japanese scholars, has been abandoned because of "huge gaps in their views". Honestly, what did these people expect? The reason this group was assembled was to somehow bring two differing opinions together and find a compromise that would at least show a sign of mutual respect between two neighboring nations. Instead the systematic propagation of 'national myths' continues to hinder any efforts of reconciliation.

So what is the next step? As the article states "the scholars agreed each side will separately write its own versions of bilateral history texts and exchange written comments if they disagree on controversial points." So nothing changes. Each country will continue to indoctrinate their youth with their own nationalistic opinions. Exactly what will resolve this tension, I'm not sure, but, history would say economics is the key. From the earliest of "diplomatic" ties between these two countries, the exchange of information and resources was central to any type of communication. Perhaps the idea of an Asian Community (like the EU) would allow for more cordial relations to resume and then an attempt to deal with past history could be undertaken. However, such a community in Asia is far from being realized. Whatever happens between now and then will have to be less comprehensive in scope and should be focused on building relations between the common Japanese and Chinese person.

2007-03-19T17:39:00.000-04:00

The dot over the lowercase letter "i" is called a "tittle."

2007-03-18T18:16:00.000-04:00

Ottawa Civic Hospital was declared Dutch territory when Princess Margriet was born there in 1943

2007-03-17T11:15:00.000-04:00

Business Maverick 'Horiemon' gets 2 1/2 years

In a landmark decision by Judge Toshiyuki Kosaka, Livedoor Co. founder Takafumi Horie has been sentenced to prison for falsifying financial statements. This is big news for Japanese businesses and could be a sign of things to come in a country where white-collar crimes are a common occurrence. Some say that this ruling is indeed a message to companies that they need to reform their own business practices. However, is this the real story here? After all, Horie, despite breaking the law, is the one who has transformed the business landscape by disregarding the traditional practices of the big firms. Instead he created an empire through mergers, acquisitions and stock splits. Horie was ostracized by the business community because he didn't play by their rules, but by doing so, he proved that entrepreneurs can exist in the strict, closed business culture of Japan. So is this really a sign of a reforming Japan or are they just taking out the garbage? In the end, corruption is still prominent in Japanese business- the status quo is maintained.

2007-03-16T20:30:00.000-04:00

Hillary Clinton was once a Republican, and campaigned for right-winger Barry Goldwater in 1964

2007-03-16T17:59:00.000-04:00

Sleeping in the Pews

Dovenco and BWA architects have 'converted' a United Church into loft apartments here in Toronto. The concept is quite fascinating and avant-garde. As the brochure says, "the church is a loft conversion carved from a century old neo-gothic church, a rare commodity in today's real estate landscape." A rare find indeed.

2007-03-15T15:54:00.000-04:00

For 209 days, a Canadian, Andrew Bonar Law, was prime minister of Britain.

*the 'hamlet' of Bonarlaw, ON, is named after him despite the fact he was born in New Brunswick

2007-03-14T17:00:00.000-04:00

France has been ruled by Charles the Fat, the Bold, the Simple, and the Well-Served

2007-03-13T22:46:00.000-04:00

Sino-Japanese Conference 2007

Last Friday I had the opportunity to attend the inaugural Sino-Japanese Conference at U of T. There were five presentations mostly dealing with modern relations between China and Japan. Most of those in attendance were either Chinese or Japanese making the conference very personal and, at times, intense. The motto, "Justice Forbearance Understanding Peace", was the leading topic throughout the day and many of the presentations focused on one of these ideas. Instead of touching on all the presentations, I think I will focus on just one.

In the morning session, Prof. Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi gave a lecture on "Chinese Criticism of Yasukuni: Helpful or Harmful?". Obviously he had chosen the short straw and was left to tackle one of the more touchier issues in East Asia. Prof. Wakabayashi is Japanese and presented his material from his own point of view. He is, in my estimate, a moderate conservative who disagrees with Koizumi's visits to the shrine in recent years but was glad to defend his actions if the Chinese took issue with it. He backed Japan's right to rule in its own country and slammed the Chinese for trying to make Yasukuni into a political hoo-ha. In some ways I share his opinions about Japan's sovereignty and domestic politics but he failed to point out that Yasukuni is no longer an internal issue (as it was earlier in the post-war era). Yasukuni has become the focal point of dissension in East Asia and needs to be dealt with in order for normal diplomatic communication to resume. Needless to say, his presentation incited a heated response from many Chinese students in the audience. It dawned on me that it will take more than a few papers or conferences to hammer out these issues and that the road to reconciliation won't contain any shortcuts.

2007-03-13T22:40:00.000-04:00

Daylight Saving Time

One thing I really missed while I was in Japan was daylight saving time. I remember playing soccer in the middle of the summer and it would get dark around 7:30 and we had to stop by 8pm. It always seemed that we had so little time after work to enjoy the sunshine in Japan. Well, here in Toronto today it didn't get dark until 7:30pm and it's only March! I look forward to the summer when I will be able to enjoy the outdoors long into the evening.

2007-03-10T09:18:00.000-05:00

And now for something completely different...

... a man playing an oratorio with his cousin's orchestra. Or something like that. The Globe and Mail reported today that Eric Idle and his cousin, Peter Oundjian- the TSO music director, have put together a new show based on one of Monty Python's infamous movies, The Life of Brian. The title of the show, Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy), will sound familiar to Python fans and might hold a hint as to what kind of classical music we can expect the show to be based on (a preemptive sorry for any Handel fans). The idea was to create something funny but using an orchestra without any visuals such as costumes, said Idle. The jury is set to convene June 1st at Roy Thomson Hall.

2007-03-05T10:49:00.000-05:00

Japanese T-shirts

While browsing some other blogs I came across some interesting ideas for some Japanese T-shirt designs. Although the language that is written on it is correct (unlike most Jenglish attempts), the idea or humour wouldn't necessarily be picked up by Japanese people because the language is really too blunt. Here are some samples:

Nihonjin kanojyo boshuchu (Now accepting applications for a Japanese Girlfriend)

Hen na Gaijin (I'm a strange foreigner)

This design is made to look like an eye-chart but in fact is an invitation out on a date

2007-03-01T22:35:00.000-05:00

Back to School

As some of you might already know I have applied to attend Graduate School next year. My main reason for coming home in November of last year was to give me time to put together my applications and re-familiarize myself with the academic life (ie, reading academic materials and writing papers). In mid-January I made the move to Toronto in order to put myself in a more accessible location for this purpose. With that said, I am pleased to announce that I received my first acceptance letter. The Department of East Asian Studies at U of T has offered me admission to their program in the fall (although I haven't accepted it yet). I look forward to examining the topic of reconciliation in East Asia and, more particularly, the role of civil society in that process. A big thanks to those professors and friends that helped me with my application.

2007-02-21T23:45:00.000-05:00

American "General" Meets Emperor in Japan.... Again

Vice President Dick Cheney was in Japan the last couple days meeting with Emperor Akihito, US military leaders as well as members of the Japanese Government and military. Cheney was there to give support to the troops and discuss Japan's role in Iraq. Some say he was there to help bolster some support from the Abe government after some comments made by high-profile cabinet members in the last month. Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma said that the war in Iraq was a "'mistake' because it was based on the erroneous assumption that weapons of mass destruction existed." Japan's Foreign Minister, Taro Aso, also criticized U.S. policy in Iraq by calling it "immature" just days after this. Perhaps these comments are signs that Japan might indeed be trying to distance itself from America and reshift its focus to developing stronger foreign relations in Asia.

2007-02-14T22:37:00.000-05:00

Blubber

I know Valentine's Day is a bad time to talk about blubber, but, it is that time of the year again for whaling. I'm sure many of you have heard about Japan's scientific whaling efforts in the Pacific. Recently this has sparked outrage from many different organizations, most notably Greenpeace, as well as other governments. I don't think Japan is fooling anybody with their "research" (this year they are targeting 945 kills) as their own law stipulates that the meat is then sold for commercial use. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has refused Japan's constant requests to lift the ban on commercial whaling. However, according to Greenpeace, Japan is recruiting other countries to help their fight:

"Japan is gaining allies by recruiting new countries into the commission which then vote with Japan and help them gain their objective of resumed commercial whaling. This recruitment process involves offering fisheries aid to poor coastal countries in exchange for their support for Japan's whaling policies."

For those who know me well, I was quite discouraged to see that St. Lucia had agreed to join Japan in their efforts back in 2001. CDNN reported that,

"St. Lucia Prime Minister, Dr. Kenny Anthony, told CDNN that St. Lucia and several other countries will be voting along with Japan. But he refused to comment on allegations that Japan has bribed St. Lucia politicians with expensive SUV cars and is pouring money into various pork barrel projects in return for votes against the whale sanctuary."

Japanese protesters aren't sitting back though and today sent Health Minister Yanagisawa a Valentine's Day treat of white, whale-shaped chocolates.

2007-02-09T10:30:00.000-05:00

Next Stop Tokyo

How important is public transit in Japan? Here is a headline from The Mainichi Daily News:

34,000 commuters inconvenienced after man run over by train on JR Chuo Line

2007-02-08T17:37:00.000-05:00

Japanese Diplomacy: 'External or Internal' Motivations

In 1868, Fukuzawa Yukichi founded a school of Western studies in Tokyo which later became Keio University. It was Fukuzawa that phrased the term 和魂洋才 wakon yosai (Japanese Sensibility, Western Knowledge) in the 1880s describing Japan's ideological departure from Asia and its determination to be associated with the West. The next few decades focused on learning and imitating ideas from America and Europe, and trying to adapt these ideas into a deeply rooted culture. However, this was not easily done. The novelist Soseki later remarked that because Japan's culture was 'externally motivated' it left a sense of dissatisfaction and anxiety in its people. The Second World War increased this anxiety as Japan became an invader in Asia, further isolating their relations with Asian countries politically, socially and culturally. From this point on, Japanese diplomacy, having lost all influence in Asia, was directed West.

Even after 60 years of open diplomatic relations with Asian countries, Japan still faces these same challenges. So what shape should Japanese foreign policy take in Asia? Should Japan continue to focus their policy in relation to America or become more geographically oriented? Can Japan become a leader in Asia with its past history of colonialist expansion? Personally, I think Japan should focus on building an Asian community as North America and Europe has already done. Stronger relations in Asia would create a more politically and economically stable environment, and evolve into a stronger presence internationally.

Kazuo Ogoura, a political science professor at Aoyama Gakuin University and a former Japanese ambassador to Vietnam (1994-95), South Korea (1997-99) and France (1999-2002), recently wrote an article regarding this issue. Although he favours continuing relations with the US over building a stronger Asian community, Ogoura does give some examples in which Japan could help develop Asian countries in their ability to contribute to the international community. He writes that:

The first element of this option is for Japan to take the initiative in transcending the limits of growth and of the logic of capital. Environmental policies based on the spirit of mottainai (a Japanese word meaning "Cherish things!") is one example of this.
The second element is Japan's role in building peace around the globe. This would encompass encouraging further efforts to undertake United Nations reform, disarmament including the ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons and participating actively in U.N. peacekeeping operations.
The third element of this course is the role that Japan could play in reviving morality. In the world today, and especially in Western societies, moral breakdown has become a major social problem, as seen in such phenomena as classroom chaos, rising crime and rampant political corruption. For Asian countries to play a leading role in a global restoration of morality, we must seriously consider whether Japan cannot take the initiative in first bringing about a moral revival in Asia and then sharing this with the rest of the world.

Although I am somewhat skeptical of these initiatives and how they will help other Asian nations contribute to the international community, it is the third point that surprised me the most. Concerning Japan's past history, to invoke upon oneself the role of reviving morality in Asia seems a bit presumptuous. In fact, it is this kind of thinking which continues to intensify the current political problems that Japan is inept at resolving. If Japan wants to have influence and become a leader in Asia, it will have to focus on 'internal motivation' in order to escape the mask of colonialism.

2007-02-06T19:37:00.000-05:00

Here lies...

A few epitaphs taken from Uncle John's Bathroom Reader:

George Bernard Shaw- I knew if I stayed around long enough, something like this would happen.

Alexander the Great- A tomb now suffices for him; for whom the world was not enough.

Here lies an atheist
All dressed up
And no place to go.

Here lays Butch,
We planted him raw.
He was quick on the trigger,
But slow on the draw.

2007-02-05T11:58:00.000-05:00

Why the Jellyfish has no Bones (くらげの骨なし)

Here is a shortened version of a classic Japanese children's story:

Long, long ago, in a certain place, there was a monkey whose best friend was a tortoise. Everyday they would play on the beach until the sun set. One day the monkey remarked to the tortoise that the sea was a mystery to him and that he would like to visit the Dragon Palace (the underwater kingdom).

It soon came to pass that the Dragon King's only daughter, Otohime, became ill. Even the Royal Doctor was unable to improve her condition and told the King that the only thing that would save his daughter was if she ate the liver of a live monkey. The king summoned the tortoise and commanded him to retrieve a monkey. If he was successful the king would give him riches beyond his imagination. The tortoise quickly swam to shore thinking of nothing but the reward the king had promised.

The monkey was thrilled at the news and jumped onto the tortoise's shell. The monkey was in awe as they made their way into the castle. The sound of music and the scent of food excited the monkey and he quickly joined in the festivities. After much drink the monkey became drowsy and the palace guards, a jellyfish and a flatfish, were ordered to take him to his room. Thinking that the monkey was passed out the two guards remarked how easy it was to trick this monkey and that soon they would be able to take his liver and save the princess. Of course, now the monkey knew why he was invited to the Dragon Palace that day. He had to think of something quickly. Once the guards left his bedroom he let out a loud moan. The tortoise heard his friend's cry and came to help. The monkey then explained that he had left his liver on land to dry and that if it rained his liver would be ruined. The tortoise, realizing how horrible this situation could become, offered to take the monkey back to land to find his liver.

Once on dry land again the monkey climbed up to the top of the nearest tree. At the top he yelled down to the tortoise that he had heard about the king's plans from the jellyfish and the flatfish and that he didn't want to see the tortoise ever again. The tortoise sadly made his way back into the sea to tell the king. The king was furious and took his rage out on the two guards for revealing his plan to the monkey. He ordered the flatfish to be cut in half so that he would live his life on the bottom of the sea. As for the jellyfish, the king ordered that he be skinned and that all his bones be taken out. Having nothing to weigh him down the jellyfish floated to the top where his descendants can still be seen bobbing up and down in the waves. Both never to return to the Dragon Palace ever again.

2007-02-02T17:50:00.000-05:00

Guilty as Charged

Today I read an article from The Japan Times and learned that I broke the law many times while in Japan (although concerning a certain umbrella theft I will only admit being guilty by association). According to the article here are a list of rules concerning the proper use of bicycles:

Operating a cell phone while riding is prohibited.

二人乗り運転 futari nori unten = two people are not allowed on one bike unless it is an adult with a child under 6 (who is in a proper seat)

傘差し運転 kasasashi unten = riding with an open umbrella is against the law

飲酒運転 inshu unten = driving under the influence of alcohol is also applicable to bicycles

Check, check, check... and check.

2007-02-01T14:59:00.000-05:00

ええ漢字 (Eekanji)

Calligrapher Kunishige Tomomi has created a new art form when it comes to writing 'Chinese characters'. Calligraphy in Japan has a long tradition and with it, many strict rules concerning stroke orders. By freeing herself of those constraints Kunishige discovered that many characters could actually be written using the English translation and alphabet. It does beg a little creativity from the reader but these three examples, 花- flower, 海- sea and 夢-dream, are proof that it can be done.

2007-02-01T14:43:00.000-05:00

Flower

2007-02-01T14:39:00.000-05:00

Sea

2007-02-01T14:37:00.000-05:00

Dream

2007-01-31T21:41:00.000-05:00

7 NOVA teachers arrested for possessing cannabis, cocaine

I couldn't pass up the chance to give a salute to all those NOVA teachers out there who are giving the rest of us such a wonderful reputation. I only hope those professors who are now reviewing my graduate school applications have the time to google search "NOVA" and see where I'm coming from. However, I will say this: they must of had the best "TUNE IN" exercises ever!

2006-11-03T13:19:00.000-05:00

Final Thoughts

So I'm sitting in my room at 3 am in the morning still having to pack a few more items and thinking that I should put some final thoughts down. These last few weeks I've been able to spend more time with Japanese people in a casual setting than I probably have in two years. I've enjoyed many conversations with friends, students and coworkers and now at the end of it all, after saying goodbye for two weeks, I'll have 15 lonely hours to put everything together.

For now, here are some thoughts that I posted last year, about Endo's novel Foreign Studies, in September but somehow seem more relevant today than ever.

Foreign Studies deals with the difficulty of living as a foreigner and the experiences of alienation that they succumb to. Early after the war, Endo lived in France to study foreign literature when few Japanese even travelled abroad. Because of this, he does a great job of putting many of his own experiences and thoughts into the story and he captures the torn emotions of life in another country. His characters deal with what he calls "the great flow" of culture and to what degree a foreigner can truly participate in that culture. Endo believes, and illustrates with his characters, that those who are foreign can participate in culture but can never fully understand it. We can only get a taste of what a culture entails and with that taste we are left either fooling ourselves into believing that we have experienced it fully or we are captured by the despair of knowing that we can only skim the surface of such mysteries.

I leave Japan feeling very much like the latter. I've experienced so much and yet only enough to know that there is much more beneath the surface of mainstream culture. It's this 'despair' that might someday lure me back to these islands but for now I have a lot to digest. At best I've been an observer here while the "great flow" passes me by. As one of the Japanese characters in the novel says (commenting on his life in France), "There's something quite pitiful about someone who is neither Japanese or French. Quite pathetic. I feel just like a weed with no roots."

2006-10-23T22:07:00.000-04:00

For hundreds of years the public wedgie was banned from the "Forbidden City"--- until this fine day in April....

2006-10-23T12:43:00.000-04:00

Here is our route around the island including the ferry (red)

2006-10-23T12:25:00.000-04:00

Biking Trip

After the adventurous Mark Sinke biked from Tokyo to Himeji I've had it in my mind that I would like to undertake such a trip while I was in Japan. I've previously done some day trips on my mountain bike around Himeji but prior to this trip I've never considered myself much of a bike enthusiast.

Shikoku is a beautiful island south of Honshuu and east of Kyushuu. It's famous for its 88 temples built by the Buddhist Saint Kobo Daishi, founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism. This path (1400 km long) is still travelled by pilgrims on foot known as henro and it's said that it will lead the person to enlightenment. I'll leave you with some words of wisdom from the Daishi-- "Do not just walk in the footsteps of the men of old, seek what they sought."

2006-10-23T08:29:00.000-04:00

Day 1

Mic and I ran into some trouble right from the start. I arrived in Japan from Thailand this morning around 6:30am and the plan was to leave on our trip around 2pm. Our course was to take a train to Akashi and then head to Awaji Island in order to get to Shikoku but my bike proved to be a little difficult to dismantle in order to get on the train. Plan B was to go to Himeji port and take a ferry to Shodo Island and then across to Takamatsu.

We arrived on Shodo Island around 5pm and took the north road along the coast to get to the western side of the island in order to catch our next ferry before 8pm. It was a really tough climb for me since I had spent most of the last week eating good food and getting massages on the beach. However, it gave me a good idea of what I would face on Shikoku. We had to make a long climb up a hill but enjoyed speeds of 60 km/h on the way down. In total we travelled roughly 50 km in just 85 minutes before boarding the ferry to Takamatsu.

Arriving in Takamatsu I took my first steps on the main part of Shikoku Island (Shodo Island is technically part of Kagawa-Ken). It was raining and our first priority was to find someplace to stop for the night. After being turned down at a couple of hotels we started heading out of the city on route 11. Here we found a group of Japan's infamous love hotels--- often recognized by their neon lights and strange names. The first love hotel we tried the staff made it clear that he would not let two men stay there... despite our efforts to tell him that we were simply looking for a dry place and not.... well, you know. Our next hotel was the classic no-staff, push a button on the wall love nest which meant we were in luck. The only problem was figuring out how to pay for it. There was a machine on the wall where I was supposed to out money in but it wouldn't take my money (!?!). Eventually, I talked to the manager (saying it was my first time in such an establishment) on the phone in the room and he explained that I paid upon leaving the room. With that settled we got out of our wet clothes, got cleaned up and then Mic went out to pick up some food. My first night in a love hotel turned out to be pretty uneventful... which was fine with me.

2006-10-23T08:27:00.001-04:00

Starting another trip--- the ferry to Shodo Island

2006-10-23T08:27:00.000-04:00

My first love hotel

2006-10-23T08:08:00.000-04:00

Day 2

Today started with a light rainfall which lasted the whole day. We set the alarm for 7am and were on the road by 8 after finally paying for our room. Since we were going to miss the Naruto whirlpools we decided to head straight to Tokushima instead of making the detour. In the end we were able to keep up a good pace all the way to Tokushima and travelled roughly 70 km in 3 hours. The road was fairly flat and followed the coast which gave us a good view of the Inland Sea. A long but very satisfying lunch at 'Gusto', a family restaurant, warmed us up with some hot food and hot chocolate. After that we did another 85 km to Ikeda and arrived there just before dark. Ikeda is a very small town so once again our hunt for a hotel led us to some more neon lights. This love hotel was on the outside of the city and it looked like we were the only customers for the night. The lady there didn't seem to shocked to have two foreign men arrive for the evening and was very helpful in helping us find a restaurant for dinner.

This hotel topped the one from last night by far! It had an automotive motif as the bed was a car with real rubber tires and it even had a benz symbol on the front. It was definitely a night of luxury with a view of the NYC skyline on the wall. Once again we got out of our wet clothes, showered and then got some food into us before getting into bed by 9pm. In total we travelled around 160 km today.

2006-10-23T08:07:00.002-04:00

Another rainy day

2006-10-23T08:07:00.001-04:00

The "love bug"

2006-10-23T08:07:00.000-04:00

Mic poses in the tub-- yes that's the 'wall' for the bathroom...

2006-10-23T08:06:00.000-04:00

NYC skyline on the wall

2006-10-23T07:46:00.000-04:00

Day 3

We awoke in our love bug around 7:30 but took our time packing. Most of my clothes got wet the day before so they were spread out drying--- today I made sure everything was waterproof. Once again it was raining as we started on our way at 9am. We expected it to be only 20 km from Ikeda so we took our time and enjoyed the view. However, it was about 30 km when we finally turned off highway 32 onto 45 and started to make our climb up to get to Iya Valley. Highway 45 started off with a 6 km climb that took us roughly an hour to get to the top. However, on the other side it was a steep drop with some tight corners so we had some fun manoevering our way down. About halfway down we saw a noodle restaurant and stopped to eat Sanuki udon--- a specialty in Shikoku. It felt good since we were wet and cold because the temperature in the mountains was around 16 degrees.

After lunch we made our way through the valley to Chiiori and our last climb of the day. Chiiori is a 320 year old traditional Japanese house that was bought by two foreigners. It is currently set up as a guesthouse that offers a chance for people to experience how life was hundreds of years ago. The house is situated 700 m up another mountain and this climb took the rest of my energy to get up. We arrived around 2pm and jumped into the bath to warm up and get into some dry clothes.

That evening we ate around the open fire inside the main room. Most of the food is grown around the house and the homemade bread was delicious. There were 4 others-- 3 from England and 1 from Tasmania-- staying there that night so we enjoyed a few hours telling stories and soaking in the atmosphere. Then it was off to bed on our futons as the last few coals of the fire burnt out.

2006-10-23T07:45:00.000-04:00

The view along highway 32

2006-10-23T07:44:00.001-04:00

Chiiori

2006-10-23T07:44:00.000-04:00

The main room at Chiiori

2006-10-23T07:43:00.000-04:00

Dinner around the open fire at Chiiori

2006-10-18T23:38:00.000-04:00

Day 4

Today we decided it would be a good day to rest and do some sightseeing in Iya Valley. We woke up around 8 and the air was very crisp and cool in the mountains. By 9am we were back on our bikes on our way to Oku-iya kazurabashi. Unfortuantely on our way down the mountain Mic took a little spill on his bike and did some damage to his front cog. Luckily for him he was unhurt and his bike was still functional. It was roughly 28 km to the bridges and the way there was a steady climb so we took our time and arrived around 11. The view was great and we met some very kind Japanese people who offered us part of their picnic lunch as we sat under the bridges.

The way home was much more enjoyable as it was all downhill and we stopped at Iyashi onsen and relaxed for a couple hours. We returned to Chiiori around 5pm for dinner and our last evening at the old thatch house. Another group of people arrived for the night so it was time for more conversations around the fireplace. In the end, our relaxing day off took us another 60 km.

2006-10-18T23:35:00.000-04:00

Mic bent his front cog-- luckily it follows the contour of his leg

2006-10-18T23:33:00.001-04:00

Oku-iya kazurabashi

2006-10-18T23:33:00.000-04:00

Our new friends from Kochi