JET alum encounters Lady Murasaki, scoops NYTimes
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After a recent business trip to Tokyo, Seattle JET alum David Kowalsky spent the weekend in Kyoto. He snapped this shot of the Lady Murasaki statue (a tribute to her authoring of The Tale of Genji), along his walk from Uji Station to the impressive Byodo-in Temple. Upon returning to the U.S., he subsequently noticed this article in the NYTimes — “Kyoto Celebrates a 1,000-Year Love Affair” — though he points out that while the NYTimes article mentions fans shooting photos in front of the statue, in his own experience there was nary a Genji fan to be found.
Note: Look for David’s book review of Natsuo Kirino’s Real World in the upcoming issue of the JETAA NY Magazine, due out at the end of January.
Ozawa and Obama: Michael Auslin comments in WSJ Asia
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JET alum Michael Auslin (Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, former Professor of Japanese History at Yale University and one-time judge on Iron Chef America) has a new article in today’s Wall Street Journal Asia titled Ozawa and Obama that analyzes the state of Japan’s economy and political situation and discusses the ways that Japan and the U.S. need to work together.
WIT Life #16: Home for the Holidays
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). In her recent posts, she’s been watching the news in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
Today’s news discussed Japanese travel trends during the New Year’s holiday, and it turns out that 2.87 million people passed through Tokyo’s domestic Haneda Airport during this time. Many were taking part in what’s called the u-turn rush, or the phenomenon of people returning to Tokyo and other big cities from their hometowns at the end of a holiday season. According to the survey, 84% were u-turning and 16% were coming back from places like Guam and South Korea where they could take advantage of the strong yen.
This piece did a check of what kind of omiyage people had received from their families. A young man from Okinawa had two large cheesecakes his mother had baked for him. A man from Kagoshima held Read More
Film maker seeks info on Japan
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Via JETAA UK:
Hello JETAA members,
Below is an email from Joe Johnson from Plum Pictures:
‘I work as a researcher for Plum Pictures, an independent television production company, and we are currently making a documentary film for the BBC about festivals and food in Japan, specifically the Inazawa Hadaka Matsuri (Naked man festival) and the Nakizumo (baby sumo wrestlers). I am currently trying to find out as much as I can about the history, meaning and significance of these festivals and about Japanese foods from Nagasaki and Inazawa. I am also interested in finding out more about the conflict between the ancient and the modern in contemporary Japan and where we can visualise this for the purpose of the film.’
If anyone has relevant experiences of either of these festivals, places or foods and would like to help Joe then please email him before Fri 16th of Jan joej@ hattrick. com.
Thanks,
Anne Grieve
JETAA Chair
WIT Life #15: Power Spots
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). In her recent posts, she’s been watching the news in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
A visit to a shrine, or hatsumoude, is an essential part of Japan’s oshougatsu. This year’s visits incorporated the idea of power spots, or places from which you can receive special energy. Depending on what sort of wishes people hoped to fulfill, they made visits to “power spot shrines” targeted to their desires. The third most popular request was for success in business, and one temporary worker interviewed expressed hope that work would continue to come to him. Currently laborers such as himself make up 1/3 of the work force, and their protests have received much news coverage.
The second most popular request was for luck in love, with one woman insisting that the shrine she had been visiting for the last couple of years during oshougatsu was the reason she was able to get married last year. Incidentally, the idea of searching for a marriage partner in the same way as searching for a job has become so prominent in Japan that the expression “konkatsu” has come into vogue. This phrase derives from Read More
WITLife #14: Mooooooooo….
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). In her recent posts, she’s been watching the news in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu! Welcome to the year of the cow. I hope it is a happy and healthy one for all! I received some electronic New Year’s greetings from friends in Japan, and the noise a cow makes in Japanese (「モー」) was often used as a dajare (pun) in the phrase: “Kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu.” Gotta love Japanese humor!
Social woes are already plaguing Japan in early 2009. During the end of the year a provisional “Toshikoshi Haken Mura” was set up in Hibiya Park for temporary employees who have become jobless/homeless due to premature cutting off of their contracts. This was a village where they could live over the holidays, and on the eve traditional toshikoshi soba (extra-long soba connecting the new year to the old) with mochi in it was served. One 40-year old recipient said that it was the first proper meal he had had in two weeks. When asked about his prospects for the new year, Read More
WITLife #13 – Emperors, Towers and More Nesting
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). In her recent posts, she’s been watching the news in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
Today (already yesterday in Japan) celebrated the birthday of two of this country’s fixtures, the Emperor and Tokyo Tower. The former turned 75 and the latter 50, and both have been showing slight signs of aging.
In the customary palace visit open to the general public, Emperor Akihito apologized for causing people to worry regarding his health, as he is still fighting a cold. Because of this, many of the usual events surrounding his birthday will be canceled or postponed.
Tokyo Tower has recently undergone renovations such as a new elevator and new illumination, and author Lili Frank was on hand to offer greetings at its 50th anniversary party. He wrote the 2005 best seller Tokyo Tower, later made into drama and movie versions (which I liked so much that I’m now reading the book and enjoying it just as much).
*News of this year’s nesting phenomenon continues, and two trends regarding Christmas cakes are “mini” and “luxurious.” Mini cakes as small as 5-10 cm in diameter are wildly popular, as people would rather be able to try several different kinds instead of just one. On the other hand, high-end Christmas cake is also selling well. Whereas your typical strawberry shortcake goes for 500 yen, these luxury cakes are as much as 2,500 yen each.
As one consumer explained, “This is something I buy only once a year so I might as well go all out!”
Christmas Song for JETs
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Back in the mid-1990s, a weekly humor/lampoon-style magazine called The Alien began publishing in Nagoya. A lot of the humor was just cynical gaijin jokes recycled in different forms (which of course we loved). But occasionally there were gems like a verse from a song parody they ran at Christmas time that did a good job of capturing at least one relatively common Christmas memory for most JETs.
Workers’ Wonderland (sung to the tune of Winter Wonderland)
Have to work
On Christmas
For lunch plain rice
De-licious!
We’re slaving away
Day after day
Wilting in a workers’ wonderland
Note: I just did some Internet research and found a Wikipedia entry explaining that The Alien has evolved into the present day Japanzine. I also found a blog post on Jason’s Random Thoughts: Yet Another Gaijin in Japan that opines on Japanzine and, more importantly, has various posts in the comments section by a couple former writers for The Alien plus references to a couple of the great gaijin bars from the Nagoya scene back then. Natukashii!
WITLife #12: Net Café Refugees and More Auto Protests
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). In her recent posts, she’s been watching the news in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
The phenomenon of “net café refugees” became a hot topic in Japan last year, when it was estimated by the Health Ministry that 5,400 people with no fixed addresses, mostly those in their 20s, slept at 24-hour Internet cafes for as little as 1,000-2,000 yen per night. These legendary facilities house small cubicles equipped with reclining chairs, computers and TVs, and many cafés allow free soft drink refills. Some even have showers.
In this dismal economy, usage of net cafés has been on the increase. A café profiled in this morning’s news said that it offers a rate of 59,520 yen per month for those staying longer than 30 days, and that out of its 58 rooms, 50 were occupied long-term.
One such resident who volunteered for an interview said that he had been there for over six months. After losing his real estate job two years ago when his company went bankrupt, he has been struggling to make ends meet as a day laborer. However, being 39 prevents him Read More
Haiku Challenge #3 – “Pop”
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Welcome to the JetWit Haiku Challenge! The challenge is to submit one or more haiku using the designated word. The best haiku submitted wins the prize.
This challenge is courtesy of Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S., published by Palgrave Macmillan. You can also follow Roland on his blog japanamerica.blogspot.com.
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Designated word: “Pop” (you must use this word in your haiku; multiple submissions welcome)
- Deadline: Thursday, January 8, before 5:00p.m. EST
Prize: Free copy of Japanamerica + Susan Napier’s Anime: From Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle mailed to you.- Form: Haiku are typically 5-7-5 and have a seasonal reference. (Though the form actually has a fair amount of flexibility.)
- E-mail responses to: jetwit /atto/ jetwit /dotto/ com
WITLife #11 – Nesting with Osechi
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). In her recent posts, she’s been watching the news in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.
It looks like Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso will be getting a lump of coal in his stocking. The Cabinet approval rate is currently at 16.7%, down 22 points from last month, and the disapproval rate is up 30 points to 64.7%. Further probing into sources of dissatisfaction revealed that 40% had no hope in the government, 27.6% criticized its bad policy, 26.5% faulted its lack of leadership and 26.4% said it could not be trusted. In addition, in response to the question “Who is more suited to being a politician?” 23.9% picked Aso but 34.8% picked Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) leader Ichiro Ozawa.
As a result of the “New Year’s Nesting” phenomenon, expensive osechi are a hot item for Japanese department stores. Whereas in previous years osechi selling at 10,000 yen or more were popular, this year meals in the 30,000-50,000 range are the best sellers. A customer shopping for osechi said she had planned to go to Hawaii for the holidays, but with the high fuel surcharge could no longer afford it. After deciding to spend New Year’s at home, she will put her plane fare/trip money toward a deluxe osechi. I guess you could call this practical pampering? Another factor is that prices of fish and other osechi ingredients went up this month, so the one-stop shopping that osechi packages offer seems like a deal compared to having to purchase all the necessary items yourself.
Gaijin-a-Go-Go Interview
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Gaijin-a-Go-Go band member Saiko Mikan recently shared a link to an in depth interview with the band from J-Pop World. Definitely worth a read.
Roland Kelts on NPR’s The World
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Listen to Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99) being interviewed on NPR’s “The World.” http://www.theworld.org/?q=node/23341 Summary below:
As a global power, Japan is fading, but increasing numbers of people outside the country are opting to learn Japanese. What’s fueling the new interest is a growing obsession with Japanese Manga comics and Japanese animation. The World’s Patrick Cox has the story.
WITLife #10 – Creative Dating
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). In her recent posts, she’s been watching the news in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.
This morning’s news profiled how the faltering economy has affected couples and their date courses. They carried out two surveys, one on how date spots have changed and one on how much money is spent per date. For the first survey, the top three answers were:
Stay at home
“Zero yen” spots
Window shopping
Many couples are seeking ways to spend time together without spending a lot of money, and as might be expected relaxing at home is the most popular method. They profiled a couple who hung out in the girl’s room while she surfed the internet and he Read More
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). In her recent posts, she’s been watching the news in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.
While watching the Japanese news this morning, the story that headlined hit a bit close to home. It profiled a recent scandal regarding takenoko (bamboo shoots) that took place in Kumamoto City, where I served as CIR for three years.
This vegetable was being marked as “Made in Kumamoto,” when in fact supplies had come from China. Even worse, when representatives of the parent company came to visit the local supplier, Kumamoto Cannery, they made three employees pose as farmers and had them take a commemorative photo in a bamboo grove. This picture was then used on the packaging with the caption “Kumamoto Prefecture Bamboo Grove Farmers,” creating a wholesome image for a product that was different than what was being advertised. They claim that their bamboo shoots were selling so well that they had to resort to other sources as their own production couldn’t keep pace.
Food safety is a topic of immense concern in Japan, though in the beginning of the year the threat was largely from abroad. Now that the scandals are domestic in origin it will be interesting Read More
