Saturday, June 30, 2007

Word of the Day

trilemma

Yes, it's exactly what you think it is. The definition, from the OED: A situation, or (in Logic) a syllogism, of the nature of a DILEMMA, but involving three alternatives instead of two.

I am currently working on my paper for Professor MacDougall's class and after encountering trilemma in one of my sources, I am seriously considering making an attempt to work the word into my own paper.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Can you hear me now?

Today, I received this message on my phone:
"Thank you for using SoftBank. Your recharge account expired on 2007/06/26. You are not able to make calls. Recharge now and enjoy more our prepaid service."

Interestingly enough, in Japan, most cell phones receive calls for free, but now that my prepaid credit has expired, I can't make calls or send emails. Fortunately, recharging is just a few clicks away on SoftBank's website.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Phrase of the Day

Today, while riding on the bus on my way to school, I stood next to a woman who was reading a book for learning English. The book had one conversation for each day of the year and today's conversation was between a pair of travelers. It went something like this:
A: Beautiful day, isn't it?
B: Yeah it is. You're up early.
A: I had some time so I repacked my backpack
B: I see. Well, I can't hike on an empty stomach so I bought some beef jerky. Want some?
A: No thanks, I'll order room service

I couldn't help smiling at the very Japanese-like English conversation, and be impressed with this woman's determination to learn English. I can only imagine what I look like when I whip out my kanji flashcards on the bus to practice for the next day's quiz.

ザーザー

We are now well into the monsoon season which means it rains all the time. Today's rain is especially intense, having caused a small flood in the walkway next to the Kajiwara's house. Fortunately, because it is much cooler today than yesterday, it isn't as sticky and, as Otousan said, is a good day for studying.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

硫黄島

On June 18, 2007, Japan officially renamed the Island of Iwo Jima, restoring it to the pre-World War II name, Iwo To. The misnomer stems from a mistake made by military officers as they moved in to occupy the island after the Battle of Iwo Jima, understandable since and jima are two pronunciations for the kanji '島', meaning 'island'.

BBC Article

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Don't Use Metric

If you live in Myanmar, Liberia, or The United States, you might not understand this previous post. Here is a map of countries that don't use the metric system, from Wikimedia.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Earthquakes

According to Professor Hayashi, one of the teachers at SCTI, Japan's landmass is only 0.28% of the world's, but Japan has 17% of the world's earthquakes over 6.0 on the Richter scale.

漢字

I've found it much easier to learn and remember kanji here. It seems that seeing them on street signs, store fronts, the bus, and everywhere else helps the pictograph-like characters stick in my mind.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Broken

This is a button on the bus used to inform the driver that one would like to get off at the next stop. It is the only broken thing I have seen in Japan.

Computer

Today my computer arrived from home and is in working condition. The backlog of posts will float onto this blog as I have time to write them.

Saturday, June 9, 2007

Use Metric!

Today, in our quest to answer the question, 'How big is Deni?', I found out that I am 164cm tall.

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Kyoto during World War II

My host father is 77 years old and has lived in Kyoto since before World War II. Kyoto, he explained, was one of two cities saved from the intensely destructive firebombing of World War II. However, on one occasion, a bomb landed nearby. I was very surprised the one time a bomb landed near my house, he said. It was scary.

Japanese Students

One of the best things about SCTI was the opportunity to take a class with a few Japanese students. In Professor MacDougall's class, Japan in Contemporary International Affairs, we had 4 auditing students from Doshisha University and Kyoto University. It was a great way to meet more people and make a few Japanese friends.
I had heard that college students in Japan spend very little time studying, preferring instead to join clubs and participate in recreational activities so I was surprised with how well the Japanese students did in class. Part of our classwork included small presentations; the auditors' presentations were interesting, sophisticated, and at least as good (if not better) than most of the ones given by those of us who were actually taking the class for a grade, even more impressive considering everything was in English. Certainly it seems that Japanese schools are doing something right, especially if they can do so well in a class while studying so little, but I also suspect the caricaturization of Japanese college students as idle and not hardworking is probably not correct.

Monday, June 4, 2007

Birds of a Feather...

On the bus, it seems to me that people attempt to sit next to others who are similar to themselves. For example, middle-aged women sit with other middle-aged women, young salary men sit with other young salary men, elderly ladies out to purchase groceries sit by other elderly ladies out to purchase groceries, and no one sits next to the foreigner.

Saturday, June 2, 2007

Takigi Noh

Occurring only once per year, Takigi Noh is a special performance of the ancient Japanese Noh theater. Kyoto's Heian Shrine serves as a magnificent backdrop for the evening's dramatic performance, drawing a crowd of several thousand. Because Otousan and I arrived over 3 hours early, we were able to get excellent seats in the 2nd row, but even with an hour to wait before the performance began, all available seating and standing room had quickly filled up. This did not stop the continual announcements requesting that we please take up as little space as possible as more people continued to squeeze into the shrine.





Although it was crowded, the weather could not have been more perfect. Pleasantly warm with a refreshingly cool breeze, everyone relaxed, chatting with each other in anticipation of the show. Many people had brought a bento to snack on during the wait. As the sun began to go down, Shinto priests set on fire three large piles of firewood and several smaller braziers surrounding the stage, continuing to refuel them throughout the night to provide lighting for the performance.





Developed in ancient times by courtiers and performed by the cultural high class of Japan, Noh is known for it's attention to minute detail and subtlety; the slightest reach of a hand, turning of the head, or movement of the body is almost always significant. However, the plots were not overly complicated and armed with my English summaries, I was able to follow along quite easily. The Takigi Noh performance is composed of a set of plays separated by short intermissions. Traditionally, one of the intermissions is filled with Kyogen, a comedic and less stylized theatrical art form. This night was no exception. The Kyogen story revolved around a servant whose master had sent him on an errand to deliver sake. The servant encountered and old friend who managed to convince him to drink the sake instead. Both men became drunk and hilarity ensued.


The Kyogen was amusing, but the final Noh performance was perhaps the most exciting. The story, set in China, revolved around three lions who guarded an ancient and special bridge. The lions, dressed in fantastically ornate costumes and masks (the original suGOku kirei), ran and jumped fiercely around the stage, sometimes frantic with sudden gestures and movements, stomping on the floor for emphasis. At the peak of story, as the 12-man chorus reached it's loudest volume yet and the complex rhythms of the Otsuzumi and Kotsuzumi drums rang out into the night air, with the firelight dancing across the stage, one of the actors (in full lion-kimono regalia) did a standing backflip over one of the other actors. It was a suitably dramatic ending for a night whose atmosphere of excitement and enjoyment was unforgettable.


Otousan's Map of Kobe

Today we went for a school field trip to Kobe to visit a museum concerning the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995. Upon hearing of our visit to Kobe, Otousan drew me a map advising me to visit (among other places) the ocean, a monorail, China Town, an onsen on the mountain to the north (via cable car), the section of town built in western style, the longest suspension bridge in the world, Shikoku, and Himeiji Castle. Can you find them all?
Otousan's Map of Kobe
Needless to say, we weren't able to make it to all those places in just the few hours we had after our field trip finished, but we enjoyed strolling through China Town (all of one small block) and eating items purchased from shops along the street.

Friday, June 1, 2007

京都駅

Kyoto Station, perhaps one of the coolest train stations in the world.



You can read more about this awesome structure on Wikipedia.