So, Justin and I made it to Osaka just fine! I was pretty nervous about the whole Shinkansen thing, but when we got to Tokyo station, it was actually pretty easy; pretty much just like getting on a normal train, except this sucker goes super fast and can take you across the entire country, no big deal.
We met the ever-fabulous Kelly O'Hanlon at Osaka Station, and from there she showed us around the ENTIRE city. First, we went to the Aquarium, then checked out the Osaka Castle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osaka_Castle), then went on the Tempozan Ferris Wheel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempozan_Ferris_Wheel), and finally went out to a Chinese Restaurant.
Afterwards, Kelly and I returned to her host-parents house, where I got to meet both her mom and dad. They were really cool people, and before we arrived Kelly warned me that her dad was going to speak a lot of English. He ended up speaking pretty much only English, which was cool, because I would reply in Japanese. The next morning, they pretty much cooked up a feast, including a bowl of rice, some salmon, a plate of vegetables, some amazing nori, miso soup, and they were about to make me some stir-fry, to which I said NO IT'S ALL GOOD THANKS! They said, "But, you are so big, are you sure it will be enough?" So funny, actually. When I arrived at my host parent's house two or so weeks ago, the first thing the host mother said to me was 大きい！！！ (which is BIG!). When I arrived at Kelly's house, her mother said the exact same thing.
Anyways, Kelly and I walked to the department store by her station where I bought various things necessary for survival. After that, I said my goodbyes, and left for doubutsuen-mae to meet up with Justin at the hostel. We had a good day, if not very simple and relaxed. The only thing noteworthy we did was visit the Tsutenkaku Tower (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsutenkaku_Tower). By the way, the tower on the inside was filled with images and statues of this little fella: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billiken).
Today, Justin and I visited Nara (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nara,_Nara). Nara is a super cool city, with tons of temples and stuff of that nature. I was able to take many awesome pictures of the city. Nara is known for having the world's largest wooden building, the Daibutsuden Hall. Inside the wooden building is, just like at Kamakura, contains another Big Buddah (Daibutsu). Also, Nara has TONS of wild deer running all over the place. For 150 yen, you can buy food to feed them. I will upload the pictures and videos I took today and yesterday once I return back to Kanagawa. Tomorrow, we are leaving this hostel and heading over to Kyoto. Until then, I bid you all adieu.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Adventure Thyme
Tomorrow morning, bright and early, me and my compadre Justin Henke will be leaving Tokyo for Osaka, where we will be meeting up with the ever-fabulous Kelly O'Hanlon. After that, he and I will go to Kyoto to see cool temples and stuff. Finally, we will depart Kyoto and arrive at Hiroshima.
I am super excited for this trip; I have never been hostel jumping before, so this should be a cool experience. I am only nervous about the fact that I have never been to any of these stations (besides Shinjuku), and yeah, can't really read a lot of stuff. BUT, I have made a huge list of what trains/times to catch, so even though the situation is a bit precarious, it should still be adventurous. I'll take pictures and what not during the trip, and seeing as I'll be bringing my laptop with me (speaking of which, I bought an amazing messenger bag in Shinjuku especially for the trip), I'll keep ye updated. PEACE
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Hey guys.
I am pretty tired at the moment, and I have a mid-term tomorrow morning. But, I am not here to talk about that nonsense.
Today was a pretty cool day. We got out of Japanese an hour early to visit a shinise. A shinise is a store that has been in business for, well, at least a hundred years or so (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_companies). In one of our business/culture classes, we learned that Japan has the most longest-lasting companies in the world, which is pretty cool. An example of a shinise in Japan would be Mitsubishi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi), and the list goes on and on.
Today, we visited a business that designs kimonos by hand. Here is the website: http://futaba-en.jp/. Before we entered into the building, we could see through windows two gentlemen painting on a long piece of fabric, which will end up being the kimono. We were told that the process for making a kimono takes two weeks. We watched a video on the history of kimono design, which was really cool. At the end of the tour, we all got to paint our own design on a small piece of cloth, which for me, is a super-cheap souvenir!
Sorry, I would write more, but I have a LOT to study for. Wish me luck!
I am pretty tired at the moment, and I have a mid-term tomorrow morning. But, I am not here to talk about that nonsense.
Today was a pretty cool day. We got out of Japanese an hour early to visit a shinise. A shinise is a store that has been in business for, well, at least a hundred years or so (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_companies). In one of our business/culture classes, we learned that Japan has the most longest-lasting companies in the world, which is pretty cool. An example of a shinise in Japan would be Mitsubishi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi), and the list goes on and on.
Today, we visited a business that designs kimonos by hand. Here is the website: http://futaba-en.jp/. Before we entered into the building, we could see through windows two gentlemen painting on a long piece of fabric, which will end up being the kimono. We were told that the process for making a kimono takes two weeks. We watched a video on the history of kimono design, which was really cool. At the end of the tour, we all got to paint our own design on a small piece of cloth, which for me, is a super-cheap souvenir!
Sorry, I would write more, but I have a LOT to study for. Wish me luck!
Saturday, October 22, 2011
The Music of Shinjuku
Hey dudes. Last night was extremely awesome, and if you continue reading, I will explain why!
So, a couple of weeks ago, I was listening to Radio Activity over the internet, chillin', doing some homework, whatever. Then, for some reason or another, I show Steve from Oregon the music that Miles and Chris were playin', and turns out Steve has a pretty cool taste in music as well. He tells me about this guy named Tatsuya Yoshida (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatsuya_Yoshida) that was going to be playing live in Shinjuku and asked if I was game. I was like YEAH DUDE LETS DO IT!
Now, fastword to last night. After getting out of class at 6PM ON A FRIDAY NIGHT, Steve and I hauled ass to Mukogaoka-Yuen. Actually, I lied, we didn't haul ass; we stopped at Family Mart and got a pint of Strong Zero and a corn dog, respectively. Now, before I continue, you might be asking yourself (what is Strong Zero?) My friend, Strong Zero is the drink of choice in Japan. Check it: you're with your homeboys, just chillin', walking around and see a combini, and everyone's like YO STRONG ZERO TIME? Here is a review of the drink: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWlIgUiSp5o
So, we get to the train station, and then he and I, fearing taking these on the super-packed train, each down it like champs. After that, we headed towards Shinjuku!
Just to make things clear for people who have never been to Japan, Tokyo is pretty big. So big, in fact, that if you were to tell someone HEY I LIVE IN TOKYO, that wouldn't really mean much of anything. It would be like saying, "Hey, I'm from Nebraska!", "Cool, which city?", "Uhhh...I don't know, Nebraska?". Anyways, Shinjuku is one of the biggest wards in Tokyo, and Shinjuku station is, in terms of passengers, the busiest train station in the world. Here, you can check out what Shinjuku looks like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinjuku,_Tokyo
So, a little less sober than when we entered the train, we left the station and started looking for this place. He knew the general direction of the place, knew it was between a McDonalds and a Combini, but other than that, we were just kind of following a road that looked like the one he saw on Google Maps. And we had about ten-fifteen minutes till the show started.
But, having faith in The Steve proved to be a good thing, because we found the building, went to the fifth floor, paid ¥2500 (about $25), and went into the floor. The place was pretty small, but for Steve, that made it all the better, because he was as excited as a ten-year old on Christmas morning. The place was not packed at all, either, probably around ten to fifteen people, including us.
The first guys came on. It was the smallest group of the acts that night, which was a singer, bass player, and drummer. This guy was freaking sweet; he started off singing (his melody was in the mixolydian mode), and this dude was unbelievably expressive, including contorting his face often and singing in a creepy voice. Then, after his first song, he pretty much went into singspiel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singspiel). The bass repeated it's phrases often (ala rap music), but the real textural changes were in the drum set and the singer. In fact, I remembered being pretty impressed with the use of the drum set not for being used to give just a beat, but to be used as an instrument to help paint a picture. These guys did about four to five songs, then were finished. I remembered thinking to myself, "Who the hell can follow after these three dudes?".
Then, the next group came on, and they were bigger. My memory is pretty shitty, but I believe it was a bass, two guitars, drums, and a singer. When their first song began, Steve and I were a little disappointing at first, because the song wasn't bad, but it seemed like these guys were more of a standard band. However, their next song was amazing. I feel like with these guys, it was hard to understand their music when they first played. Then, around half-way through the song, the music became less of something that I was listening to and more of something that penetrated my body, making me subconsciously move around not to the beat and music they were playing, but to my own interpretation of their music that started playing around in my head. This is how they were able to hook me in: around half way through the song is when the band finds the "sweet" part of the song they are playing. Then, they repeat, repeat, and repeat. The effect it had, at least on me, was reminiscent to listening to the music of Philip Glass (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalist_music).
The third band was of a similar size, but the singer was a petite girl. She looked sweet, but never said a word on stage. Rather, it was the tall, scrawny bass player that was talking to the audience or staff about setting levels. The real noteworthy thing about this band was the vocals of this chick. Their first song started off with random synth-like noise, and the band started playing randomly to build up to the song. Then, we she started singing, it seemed like I was witnessing a soul being possessed by Lucifer himself. She was EVIL! And man, I have never seen anyone scream so melodically before in my life.
After their band ended, Tatsuya Yoshida came on, the guy Steve came here to see. By this time, the crowd here grew pretty big. In fact, it wasn't just Yoshida playing, but another drum set player as well. Basically, this set included two drum sets. I had never seen such energy in music making before in my life. These guys could be mind-blowingly musical with just drums. Their communication with each other was also interesting to hear. For some reasons or another, these two guys were on the same plane, and knew just how use their instruments to convey a story, emotions. It was sick. Twice, while they were playing, they got up off their drumsets, started hitting the other, and then sat down, fulling swapping battle-stations without missing a single beat or loss of energy. There were times where Yoshida would play the drums with one hand, and used the other to play some synth. The timing for this seemed perfect, and did not seem gimmicky at all. Also, there was a time where he started singing into the mic in his own made-up language, and just like the synth, the timing was natural and perfect. They played for a half-hour, and half-way through, they were sweating. I can't even begin to imagine how exhausting it would be to put all of your physical strength and mental focus into one thing, and funneling it together to make a unique piece of artistic expression. I feel nothing less than honored to have been there in person to witness that.
The last band was three chicks (ala Shonen Knife), and they were pretty sweet! After their set, they had to play three more songs for encores. They seemed to be pretty famous or something, because the crowd was yelling a lot of stuff at them when they finished, which I think were the names of songs that they wanted to hear. I don't remember too much of this band, because by this point, I was pretty tired from standing and having my mind constantly be blown. Dare I say, I grew a bit jaded with exhaustion?
Also, we became sober, so Steve and I set out to change that! We left the building, but took a wrong turn and accidentally went into the red light district. Now, Steve and Justin had a pretty bad experience here a couple of weeks ago, and they were right: Shinjuku gets pretty creepy at night. There were all these guys in suits on the streets, accosting tourist-looking people for "free pussy, free pussy". Could they have been Yakuza? Maybe. So, Steve and I went into a Family Mart, got some drinks, and got out of there pretty fast (mostly at my digression).
Night was really good after that. Steve and I talked a lot about stuff, I got to walk around one of the biggest cities in the world, and afterwards, managed to make it safely back to the dorms with him where I fell asleep on a desk for a bit.
I really enjoyed seeing the music scene in Tokyo. It was nights like those that remind me why I came here in the first place. Before I finish, I would also just like to give a shout out to Radio Activity. Thanks for the chill music, guys!
Timmeh
So, a couple of weeks ago, I was listening to Radio Activity over the internet, chillin', doing some homework, whatever. Then, for some reason or another, I show Steve from Oregon the music that Miles and Chris were playin', and turns out Steve has a pretty cool taste in music as well. He tells me about this guy named Tatsuya Yoshida (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatsuya_Yoshida) that was going to be playing live in Shinjuku and asked if I was game. I was like YEAH DUDE LETS DO IT!
Now, fastword to last night. After getting out of class at 6PM ON A FRIDAY NIGHT, Steve and I hauled ass to Mukogaoka-Yuen. Actually, I lied, we didn't haul ass; we stopped at Family Mart and got a pint of Strong Zero and a corn dog, respectively. Now, before I continue, you might be asking yourself (what is Strong Zero?) My friend, Strong Zero is the drink of choice in Japan. Check it: you're with your homeboys, just chillin', walking around and see a combini, and everyone's like YO STRONG ZERO TIME? Here is a review of the drink: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWlIgUiSp5o
So, we get to the train station, and then he and I, fearing taking these on the super-packed train, each down it like champs. After that, we headed towards Shinjuku!
Just to make things clear for people who have never been to Japan, Tokyo is pretty big. So big, in fact, that if you were to tell someone HEY I LIVE IN TOKYO, that wouldn't really mean much of anything. It would be like saying, "Hey, I'm from Nebraska!", "Cool, which city?", "Uhhh...I don't know, Nebraska?". Anyways, Shinjuku is one of the biggest wards in Tokyo, and Shinjuku station is, in terms of passengers, the busiest train station in the world. Here, you can check out what Shinjuku looks like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinjuku,_Tokyo
So, a little less sober than when we entered the train, we left the station and started looking for this place. He knew the general direction of the place, knew it was between a McDonalds and a Combini, but other than that, we were just kind of following a road that looked like the one he saw on Google Maps. And we had about ten-fifteen minutes till the show started.
But, having faith in The Steve proved to be a good thing, because we found the building, went to the fifth floor, paid ¥2500 (about $25), and went into the floor. The place was pretty small, but for Steve, that made it all the better, because he was as excited as a ten-year old on Christmas morning. The place was not packed at all, either, probably around ten to fifteen people, including us.
The first guys came on. It was the smallest group of the acts that night, which was a singer, bass player, and drummer. This guy was freaking sweet; he started off singing (his melody was in the mixolydian mode), and this dude was unbelievably expressive, including contorting his face often and singing in a creepy voice. Then, after his first song, he pretty much went into singspiel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singspiel). The bass repeated it's phrases often (ala rap music), but the real textural changes were in the drum set and the singer. In fact, I remembered being pretty impressed with the use of the drum set not for being used to give just a beat, but to be used as an instrument to help paint a picture. These guys did about four to five songs, then were finished. I remembered thinking to myself, "Who the hell can follow after these three dudes?".
Then, the next group came on, and they were bigger. My memory is pretty shitty, but I believe it was a bass, two guitars, drums, and a singer. When their first song began, Steve and I were a little disappointing at first, because the song wasn't bad, but it seemed like these guys were more of a standard band. However, their next song was amazing. I feel like with these guys, it was hard to understand their music when they first played. Then, around half-way through the song, the music became less of something that I was listening to and more of something that penetrated my body, making me subconsciously move around not to the beat and music they were playing, but to my own interpretation of their music that started playing around in my head. This is how they were able to hook me in: around half way through the song is when the band finds the "sweet" part of the song they are playing. Then, they repeat, repeat, and repeat. The effect it had, at least on me, was reminiscent to listening to the music of Philip Glass (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalist_music).
The third band was of a similar size, but the singer was a petite girl. She looked sweet, but never said a word on stage. Rather, it was the tall, scrawny bass player that was talking to the audience or staff about setting levels. The real noteworthy thing about this band was the vocals of this chick. Their first song started off with random synth-like noise, and the band started playing randomly to build up to the song. Then, we she started singing, it seemed like I was witnessing a soul being possessed by Lucifer himself. She was EVIL! And man, I have never seen anyone scream so melodically before in my life.
After their band ended, Tatsuya Yoshida came on, the guy Steve came here to see. By this time, the crowd here grew pretty big. In fact, it wasn't just Yoshida playing, but another drum set player as well. Basically, this set included two drum sets. I had never seen such energy in music making before in my life. These guys could be mind-blowingly musical with just drums. Their communication with each other was also interesting to hear. For some reasons or another, these two guys were on the same plane, and knew just how use their instruments to convey a story, emotions. It was sick. Twice, while they were playing, they got up off their drumsets, started hitting the other, and then sat down, fulling swapping battle-stations without missing a single beat or loss of energy. There were times where Yoshida would play the drums with one hand, and used the other to play some synth. The timing for this seemed perfect, and did not seem gimmicky at all. Also, there was a time where he started singing into the mic in his own made-up language, and just like the synth, the timing was natural and perfect. They played for a half-hour, and half-way through, they were sweating. I can't even begin to imagine how exhausting it would be to put all of your physical strength and mental focus into one thing, and funneling it together to make a unique piece of artistic expression. I feel nothing less than honored to have been there in person to witness that.
The last band was three chicks (ala Shonen Knife), and they were pretty sweet! After their set, they had to play three more songs for encores. They seemed to be pretty famous or something, because the crowd was yelling a lot of stuff at them when they finished, which I think were the names of songs that they wanted to hear. I don't remember too much of this band, because by this point, I was pretty tired from standing and having my mind constantly be blown. Dare I say, I grew a bit jaded with exhaustion?
Also, we became sober, so Steve and I set out to change that! We left the building, but took a wrong turn and accidentally went into the red light district. Now, Steve and Justin had a pretty bad experience here a couple of weeks ago, and they were right: Shinjuku gets pretty creepy at night. There were all these guys in suits on the streets, accosting tourist-looking people for "free pussy, free pussy". Could they have been Yakuza? Maybe. So, Steve and I went into a Family Mart, got some drinks, and got out of there pretty fast (mostly at my digression).
Night was really good after that. Steve and I talked a lot about stuff, I got to walk around one of the biggest cities in the world, and afterwards, managed to make it safely back to the dorms with him where I fell asleep on a desk for a bit.
I really enjoyed seeing the music scene in Tokyo. It was nights like those that remind me why I came here in the first place. Before I finish, I would also just like to give a shout out to Radio Activity. Thanks for the chill music, guys!
Timmeh
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Chillin' with Otousan and Okaasan
Hey guys, sorry for not updating in awhile. Either I have been too busy, tired, or just had nothing interesting to say. Actually, this last week has been pretty crazy. For our business class we visited the Panasonic building in Tokyo for a bull-shit tour of the facility and what they are doing. I say bull-shit because, originally, we thought we were going to talk with some business men that are high up in the company and tell us cool stuff. Instead, we went on a standard tour which, in summary, was just a PR front to get people to feel good about buying Panasonic products. In retrospect, I shouldn't be too surprised, but for the four and a half hours we spent going there, getting toured, and heading back, it wasn't worth it because I NEED SOME TIME TO CHILL AND NOT BE HERDED AROUND LIKE A SHEEP.
Hahaha, OK, I'm done venting . The next day, we participated in a traditional tea ceremony for our cultural class. Unlike the field trip the day before, this one was actually worth it!
And then, the weekend came, which is when I did my homestay. I met my host father first, and together we made our way to the train station, went two stops south, and walked to his apartment. Before the homestay, I was extremely nervous, because I can barely hold a conversation for ten minutes, and now I was going to be with a family for two days. We arrived at his apartment a full hour before his wife and son, who were returning from swimming. I asked him (in Japanese, of course) if he could speak any English.
I will never forget this moment. After I asked him, he was silent for a moment, and then looked at me and said , impeccably, "Yes, I do speak English. In fact, it is not too bad, either. However, because my wife and son do not speak English, we will speak in Japanese for the weekend." Yeah, it got pretty real for me after that.
There place was real small, but I still had my own room. Essentially, it was part of the living room, but with a sliding door to separate it from the area with the TV. As I was scanning the room and talking with my Otousan (father), I asked if he listened to any music. He said no, but he showed me some of the CD's they have. We listened to a Beatles album, something else, and I noticed they had a CD of ballets transcribed for piano. I asked to listen to it, and while listening to it, I told him I really loved the CD.
Then, my Okaasan (mother) and Tomoki (their son) arrived. After introducing myself, she started making dinner (it was around six in the evening at this point). Now, one thing I was not expecting about doing a homestay with a family that has a ten-year old son is that there is a damn good chance they will have a video game system.
Tomoki and I played Brawl like there was no tomorrow! Then, we had dinner (WHICH WAS WONDERFUL), and we just stayed up and chilled. Apparently, my Otousan and Tomoki both play recorder, and they were playing me their music that night!
The next day, Tomoki and I were playin' Brawl and Kirby's Epic Yarn. Afterwards, we came back to Mukogaoka-yuen (my train station) to go the the town hall, which was having some sort of community cultural exhibition of some kind. Anyways, every room had paintings, shodo exhibition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_calligraphy), pictures, and lastly we went to the auditorium to listen to the various groups performing traditional Japanese music. Many of these groups consisted of people singing, playing shamisen, and shakuhachi. After that, the dance portion began. Because the auditorium was hotter than hell's kitchen (Japan is conserving electricity), we left and returned back to their apartment, where we played a Pokemon version of Life, had dinner, and perhaps gave me a little too much wine ;) The next day (Sunday), we visited a shrine near their home, which is always a good experience (about the third time now for me). For the entire weekend, I could basically only speak Japanese, with every now and again saying just one word in English to my Otousan when I didn't know the word in Japanese.
The homestay was a wonderful experience. Since last weekend, I can't stop thinking about my host parents and Tomoki, and how interesting it is to see a Japanese family from within. I went in with the notion that all Japanese families are super strict, and possibly characterless. However, underneath my Otousan's Salaryman exterior, he was indeed an extremely loving father. It's so weird seeing their family unit function compared with what I'm used to. I am used to having both parents who work, and families that have divorced parents. However, their family (which is the norm in Japan) is something that does not really exist anymore in our country, where the father works and the mother raises the child and does housework (ie housewife). Before we left for our homestay, on almost all of our sheets with our family's information, they said "Father: Company Worker. Wife: Housewife".
Time for bed, too tired to write anymore. PEACE
Hahaha, OK, I'm done venting . The next day, we participated in a traditional tea ceremony for our cultural class. Unlike the field trip the day before, this one was actually worth it!
And then, the weekend came, which is when I did my homestay. I met my host father first, and together we made our way to the train station, went two stops south, and walked to his apartment. Before the homestay, I was extremely nervous, because I can barely hold a conversation for ten minutes, and now I was going to be with a family for two days. We arrived at his apartment a full hour before his wife and son, who were returning from swimming. I asked him (in Japanese, of course) if he could speak any English.
I will never forget this moment. After I asked him, he was silent for a moment, and then looked at me and said , impeccably, "Yes, I do speak English. In fact, it is not too bad, either. However, because my wife and son do not speak English, we will speak in Japanese for the weekend." Yeah, it got pretty real for me after that.
There place was real small, but I still had my own room. Essentially, it was part of the living room, but with a sliding door to separate it from the area with the TV. As I was scanning the room and talking with my Otousan (father), I asked if he listened to any music. He said no, but he showed me some of the CD's they have. We listened to a Beatles album, something else, and I noticed they had a CD of ballets transcribed for piano. I asked to listen to it, and while listening to it, I told him I really loved the CD.
Then, my Okaasan (mother) and Tomoki (their son) arrived. After introducing myself, she started making dinner (it was around six in the evening at this point). Now, one thing I was not expecting about doing a homestay with a family that has a ten-year old son is that there is a damn good chance they will have a video game system.
Tomoki and I played Brawl like there was no tomorrow! Then, we had dinner (WHICH WAS WONDERFUL), and we just stayed up and chilled. Apparently, my Otousan and Tomoki both play recorder, and they were playing me their music that night!
The next day, Tomoki and I were playin' Brawl and Kirby's Epic Yarn. Afterwards, we came back to Mukogaoka-yuen (my train station) to go the the town hall, which was having some sort of community cultural exhibition of some kind. Anyways, every room had paintings, shodo exhibition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_calligraphy), pictures, and lastly we went to the auditorium to listen to the various groups performing traditional Japanese music. Many of these groups consisted of people singing, playing shamisen, and shakuhachi. After that, the dance portion began. Because the auditorium was hotter than hell's kitchen (Japan is conserving electricity), we left and returned back to their apartment, where we played a Pokemon version of Life, had dinner, and perhaps gave me a little too much wine ;) The next day (Sunday), we visited a shrine near their home, which is always a good experience (about the third time now for me). For the entire weekend, I could basically only speak Japanese, with every now and again saying just one word in English to my Otousan when I didn't know the word in Japanese.
The homestay was a wonderful experience. Since last weekend, I can't stop thinking about my host parents and Tomoki, and how interesting it is to see a Japanese family from within. I went in with the notion that all Japanese families are super strict, and possibly characterless. However, underneath my Otousan's Salaryman exterior, he was indeed an extremely loving father. It's so weird seeing their family unit function compared with what I'm used to. I am used to having both parents who work, and families that have divorced parents. However, their family (which is the norm in Japan) is something that does not really exist anymore in our country, where the father works and the mother raises the child and does housework (ie housewife). Before we left for our homestay, on almost all of our sheets with our family's information, they said "Father: Company Worker. Wife: Housewife".
Time for bed, too tired to write anymore. PEACE
Monday, October 10, 2011
Chillin', sippin', and listenin'
It's been a pretty good weekend. Monday is some sort of holiday in Japan, so we got the day off. Today Alanna and I went to Shibuya to visit a really unique kissaten. A kissaten is a Japanese style coffee house. Before we visited it, we were very hungry after arriving in Shibuya, so we ate at a very, very tiny Indian restaurant ran by two Indian fellas. They made the naan right in front of us, and man, that curry was HOT. I dug it a lot! Then, we walked around and visited the Hachikou statue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachikou) right in front of the station. Anyways, after that, we made our way to the kissaten.
Now, this kissaten is a little unique. Their specialty is playing classical music. Upon entering the kissaten, the atmosphere is very dark, and all the chairs and tables are facing in one direction to emulate a concert. In the front of it are two gigantic speakers that hand from the wall, with an endless amount of records and CD's of music! You are not allowed to talk in this kissaten, to add even more of a concert atmosphere. The cheapest coffee was 500 yen (five bucks), but it was worth it. We arrived a little after the beginning of a Mozart piano concerto (I'm not sure which one, or if it's even Mozart, but I'm pretty sure it's him; sounded familiar from music history). After that, they played Ravel's arrangement of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, followed by something I didn't know, followed by the fourth and fifth movements of Mahler's Fifth, then a Dvorak piano trio, and then Adam Khachaturian's Spartacus. As a piece is playing, the worker props up the record sleeve on the wall so you can tell what is being played. At the end of the piece, the worker gets on the loudspeaker and speaks in a very low voice over what was just played, ala Alec Baldwin. It's really cool because it's totally chill to bring a laptop, homework, or just chill while listening to excellent music. Listening to the last piece was cool because I never even heard of Khachaturian, but we decided to leave during the middle of the piece because it was growing late. However, I wrote down the composer's name and work so I can listen to it later!
I was told (by Joe, I believe) to never go to the same place twice, so as to maximize the experience of where you're at. And in Tokyo, this advice is very important because you can live here an entire lifetime and still not visit everything. But, I will make an exception with this kissaten :)
Now, this kissaten is a little unique. Their specialty is playing classical music. Upon entering the kissaten, the atmosphere is very dark, and all the chairs and tables are facing in one direction to emulate a concert. In the front of it are two gigantic speakers that hand from the wall, with an endless amount of records and CD's of music! You are not allowed to talk in this kissaten, to add even more of a concert atmosphere. The cheapest coffee was 500 yen (five bucks), but it was worth it. We arrived a little after the beginning of a Mozart piano concerto (I'm not sure which one, or if it's even Mozart, but I'm pretty sure it's him; sounded familiar from music history). After that, they played Ravel's arrangement of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, followed by something I didn't know, followed by the fourth and fifth movements of Mahler's Fifth, then a Dvorak piano trio, and then Adam Khachaturian's Spartacus. As a piece is playing, the worker props up the record sleeve on the wall so you can tell what is being played. At the end of the piece, the worker gets on the loudspeaker and speaks in a very low voice over what was just played, ala Alec Baldwin. It's really cool because it's totally chill to bring a laptop, homework, or just chill while listening to excellent music. Listening to the last piece was cool because I never even heard of Khachaturian, but we decided to leave during the middle of the piece because it was growing late. However, I wrote down the composer's name and work so I can listen to it later!
I was told (by Joe, I believe) to never go to the same place twice, so as to maximize the experience of where you're at. And in Tokyo, this advice is very important because you can live here an entire lifetime and still not visit everything. But, I will make an exception with this kissaten :)
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Lost In Translation; Visit to Yasukuni Shrine
Hello everyone, I apologize for not having posted in awhile. We have been kept extremely busy at the Kenshukan; we have Japanese class from 9-12:50, and depending on the day, can have class from 2:50-6 pm. When I'm not doing homework, shopping for groceries, or practicing Japanese, all I want to do is sleeeeep.
Prior to today, for our business class, we had to select two places in Japan we want to visit and give a presentation on. Why they call it business class, know one will ever know. To quote Paul, it is more like an anthropology class. Anyways, the places I selected were the Yasukuni Shrine and Shibuya, the city which has the famous statue of Hachikou.
I have a personal interest in both these places. My Sophomore year in college I stumbled upon the Wikipedia page for the Yasukuni Shrine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasukuni_Shrine) and discovered it's significance. In it is enshrined the spirit of every person and animal who has died in service for the empire of Japan. However, controversy has surrounded the shrine when it was found out not long after WWII that those who were found guilty of various war crimes are enshrined as well. After doing a little bit of research, I decided to write a small wind ensemble piece about the concept of good and, perhaps, not-so-good spirits enshrined in the same tomb. Lastly, for my recital last spring, I wrote a piano piece about the story of Hachikou. You can check out the wikipedia page if you want, it's a pretty easy read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachikou
So, for today, we had to visit the first place we selected, and for me that was the Yasukuni Shrine. Then, before we left on our own from the Kenshukan (dorm), I had a panic attack when I realized that A) I did not look for directions on how to get there and B) even if I had, I couldn't read the train system if someone pointed a gun to my head and said to get to Shinjuku. Luckily, we were paired with a Japanese student who would help get us there, and then I began to return to chill mode. Also, the only Canadian in our group, Vince, also chose to go to Yasukuni Shrine, which was cool because I hadn't had the opportunity to really talk to him.
So, the party consisted of Hiroaki, Vince, and myself. We left the Kenshukan and departed for Mukougaoka-yuen station, about a fifteen minute walk from dorm. Now, every time I had went out on the town, or talked with Japanese students, I had been in one of two situations. Either I was with Paul or Ben, who's Japanese skills far surpass mine (they are practically fluent, to be honest), or I am with a Japanese student who's English is far better than my Japanese (which meant that to me, they were a living dictionary). However, with Hiroaki, his English is, perhaps, the same as my Japanese. And Vince, the Canadian, is in Japanese level 1. So, you can probably tell where this is going...
Today, for the first time, I experienced the feeling of being lost in translation, and it is frustrating. At first, Hiroaki and I could talk about basic stuff, but during the long train ride to Ichigaya Station in Chiyoda, I realized that there was no way for me to really communicate with him, and vice-versa. Even with the Denshi-Jisho that Akagi-Sensei let me borrow, I couldn't really understand a lot he was saying. And when he went out on a limb on his English, I found myself not being able to understand him, and he, too, would be at a lost for words.
On-wards, we arrived at the Yasukuni Shrine. It was surreal, to say the least, to finally be standing in the place that I had read about so many times. I don't really have any pictures because I didn't take any, nor did I want to; I wanted to concentrate on the moment and allow my senses to not be bothered (also, my battery died :p). Hiroaki gave us a tour, and there were moments that I could understand, maybe at best, 30% percent of what he was saying.
Yasukuni Shrine is in Chiyoda, which is a very big part of Tokyo. However, inside the shrine, there were moments that you could forget you were in the biggest city on Earth. In fact, much of it is more like a park than the actual shrine; there are footpaths that are encircled in trees, benches are everywhere if you want to sit and read the paper, and even a beautiful water garden filled with koi.
The coolest part was where the statues were. There was a statue and memorial for many different things, including a statue of a horse and dog to commemorate the many animals who died in battle. There was a statue of a woman holding a child, with more children at her legs, to commemorate the hardships women and children went through while their husbands were off fighting wars. There is also a statue that I know exists, but couldn't find, of a Kamekaze pilot to commemorate their sacrifices. There was a scaled version of the Japanese battleship Yamato (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_battleship_Yamato), the largest and most powerful battleship ever constructed on the planet. Behind it was a plague with all the names of ships that were lost in war. Although Yasukuni Shrine is dedicated to all conflicts and wars fought during the empire's reign, it seems that many of the commemorations were constructed for what happened in WWII.
The most interesting thing I saw was a memorial for the Justice Radhabinod Pal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radha_Binod_Pal), who was the Indian member appointed as a judge to the International Military Tribunal for the Far East trials. He was the only judge who did not find any of the accused defendants guilty of war crimes. At his memorial plaque, you can get a sheet of paper that is both in English and Japanese, and this is where the surprise for me came in. Here are two passages:
"Dr. Pal detected that the tribunal, commonly known as the Tokyo Trial, was none other than formalized vengeance sought with arrogance by the victorious Allied Powers upon a defeated Japan."
"With, as the concluding part of his judgment foresaw, the Allies' craze for retaliation cooling down and the biased outlook on history being corrected, the insightful view presented by Dr. Pal has now gained recognition which it should deserve in the academic circle of international law."
It is hard putting into words my reaction to reading this. This is an example of the old saying, "Ask ten different churches and you'll get ten different answers." Surely, in America, we would remember the trials as great justice being served, while not mentioning much about the amount of civilian deaths we were responsible for in destructive carpet bombings and two horrific atomic bombings. Every country will create justifications and reasons for what happened to suit how they want their history to be remembered, and tonight, I had the uneasy experience of reading their account of what happened, not biased by American hindsight, but by Japanese hindsight.
Anyways, Vince, Hiroaki, and myself continued our walk through the shrine. After walking past the statue of Omura Masujiro, we decided to call it a night and returned to Ichigaya station. After tonight, I made many realizations. Most importantly, while I'm in Japan, I need to study ten times more than I am currently. I am in another country and I can barely speak their language, and especially cannot read it. How am I supposed to get around if I can't communicate with other people? Before I came to Japan, I had this weird mind-set that even though I was going to another country, every person would speak English, and no matter where we go, there will always be a translator!
Nope. The truth is, you have to be your own translator. At UNL, there are many students that come from all parts of the world, yet the faculty at the foreign affairs office (such as office workers, clerks, etc) most likely only speak English. Every time I go to the foreign affairs office at Senshu, the office workers there only speak Japanese, and for some reason this was a shock for me. The feeling of realizing that the language you had been studying for the past three years in nothing compared to what it should be is nothing less than earth-shattering. However, I know that I am in the best place to get better. With that, I bid ya'll night!
Prior to today, for our business class, we had to select two places in Japan we want to visit and give a presentation on. Why they call it business class, know one will ever know. To quote Paul, it is more like an anthropology class. Anyways, the places I selected were the Yasukuni Shrine and Shibuya, the city which has the famous statue of Hachikou.
I have a personal interest in both these places. My Sophomore year in college I stumbled upon the Wikipedia page for the Yasukuni Shrine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasukuni_Shrine) and discovered it's significance. In it is enshrined the spirit of every person and animal who has died in service for the empire of Japan. However, controversy has surrounded the shrine when it was found out not long after WWII that those who were found guilty of various war crimes are enshrined as well. After doing a little bit of research, I decided to write a small wind ensemble piece about the concept of good and, perhaps, not-so-good spirits enshrined in the same tomb. Lastly, for my recital last spring, I wrote a piano piece about the story of Hachikou. You can check out the wikipedia page if you want, it's a pretty easy read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachikou
So, for today, we had to visit the first place we selected, and for me that was the Yasukuni Shrine. Then, before we left on our own from the Kenshukan (dorm), I had a panic attack when I realized that A) I did not look for directions on how to get there and B) even if I had, I couldn't read the train system if someone pointed a gun to my head and said to get to Shinjuku. Luckily, we were paired with a Japanese student who would help get us there, and then I began to return to chill mode. Also, the only Canadian in our group, Vince, also chose to go to Yasukuni Shrine, which was cool because I hadn't had the opportunity to really talk to him.
So, the party consisted of Hiroaki, Vince, and myself. We left the Kenshukan and departed for Mukougaoka-yuen station, about a fifteen minute walk from dorm. Now, every time I had went out on the town, or talked with Japanese students, I had been in one of two situations. Either I was with Paul or Ben, who's Japanese skills far surpass mine (they are practically fluent, to be honest), or I am with a Japanese student who's English is far better than my Japanese (which meant that to me, they were a living dictionary). However, with Hiroaki, his English is, perhaps, the same as my Japanese. And Vince, the Canadian, is in Japanese level 1. So, you can probably tell where this is going...
Today, for the first time, I experienced the feeling of being lost in translation, and it is frustrating. At first, Hiroaki and I could talk about basic stuff, but during the long train ride to Ichigaya Station in Chiyoda, I realized that there was no way for me to really communicate with him, and vice-versa. Even with the Denshi-Jisho that Akagi-Sensei let me borrow, I couldn't really understand a lot he was saying. And when he went out on a limb on his English, I found myself not being able to understand him, and he, too, would be at a lost for words.
On-wards, we arrived at the Yasukuni Shrine. It was surreal, to say the least, to finally be standing in the place that I had read about so many times. I don't really have any pictures because I didn't take any, nor did I want to; I wanted to concentrate on the moment and allow my senses to not be bothered (also, my battery died :p). Hiroaki gave us a tour, and there were moments that I could understand, maybe at best, 30% percent of what he was saying.
Yasukuni Shrine is in Chiyoda, which is a very big part of Tokyo. However, inside the shrine, there were moments that you could forget you were in the biggest city on Earth. In fact, much of it is more like a park than the actual shrine; there are footpaths that are encircled in trees, benches are everywhere if you want to sit and read the paper, and even a beautiful water garden filled with koi.
The coolest part was where the statues were. There was a statue and memorial for many different things, including a statue of a horse and dog to commemorate the many animals who died in battle. There was a statue of a woman holding a child, with more children at her legs, to commemorate the hardships women and children went through while their husbands were off fighting wars. There is also a statue that I know exists, but couldn't find, of a Kamekaze pilot to commemorate their sacrifices. There was a scaled version of the Japanese battleship Yamato (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_battleship_Yamato), the largest and most powerful battleship ever constructed on the planet. Behind it was a plague with all the names of ships that were lost in war. Although Yasukuni Shrine is dedicated to all conflicts and wars fought during the empire's reign, it seems that many of the commemorations were constructed for what happened in WWII.
The most interesting thing I saw was a memorial for the Justice Radhabinod Pal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radha_Binod_Pal), who was the Indian member appointed as a judge to the International Military Tribunal for the Far East trials. He was the only judge who did not find any of the accused defendants guilty of war crimes. At his memorial plaque, you can get a sheet of paper that is both in English and Japanese, and this is where the surprise for me came in. Here are two passages:
"Dr. Pal detected that the tribunal, commonly known as the Tokyo Trial, was none other than formalized vengeance sought with arrogance by the victorious Allied Powers upon a defeated Japan."
"With, as the concluding part of his judgment foresaw, the Allies' craze for retaliation cooling down and the biased outlook on history being corrected, the insightful view presented by Dr. Pal has now gained recognition which it should deserve in the academic circle of international law."
It is hard putting into words my reaction to reading this. This is an example of the old saying, "Ask ten different churches and you'll get ten different answers." Surely, in America, we would remember the trials as great justice being served, while not mentioning much about the amount of civilian deaths we were responsible for in destructive carpet bombings and two horrific atomic bombings. Every country will create justifications and reasons for what happened to suit how they want their history to be remembered, and tonight, I had the uneasy experience of reading their account of what happened, not biased by American hindsight, but by Japanese hindsight.
Anyways, Vince, Hiroaki, and myself continued our walk through the shrine. After walking past the statue of Omura Masujiro, we decided to call it a night and returned to Ichigaya station. After tonight, I made many realizations. Most importantly, while I'm in Japan, I need to study ten times more than I am currently. I am in another country and I can barely speak their language, and especially cannot read it. How am I supposed to get around if I can't communicate with other people? Before I came to Japan, I had this weird mind-set that even though I was going to another country, every person would speak English, and no matter where we go, there will always be a translator!
Nope. The truth is, you have to be your own translator. At UNL, there are many students that come from all parts of the world, yet the faculty at the foreign affairs office (such as office workers, clerks, etc) most likely only speak English. Every time I go to the foreign affairs office at Senshu, the office workers there only speak Japanese, and for some reason this was a shock for me. The feeling of realizing that the language you had been studying for the past three years in nothing compared to what it should be is nothing less than earth-shattering. However, I know that I am in the best place to get better. With that, I bid ya'll night!
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