tonari no shibafu

James Fallows on David Brooks in China

The last line of the post:

Take a little time and look around, David. The parts that don't fit what you theorized before arriving are actually the most stimulating.

On my radar thanks to Gen.

Journalism

East Asian History resource

Gregory Smits has a very useful and informative site at UPenn. He has created online textbooks for use in his classes.

Worth a look, especially for new profs that have to teach survey history or other courses that dip into realms beyond their past and current research.

via Mutantfrog Travelogue

Academics, Japanese History, History

David Sedaris on the Daily Show

Sedaris was on the Daily Show recently and talked about his experiences living in Japan for three months.

Pictures of Japanese Highway Interchanges

Awesome photos.

via Pink Tentacle

Frontline comparative health care

Frontline has a show that you can watch online comparing the health care systems of six countries including the US and Japan. Worth a look.

Language lesson

雲泥の差

Literally 'the difference between cloud(s) and mud.'

Used to describe things that are very different from each other. Similar to the English 'apples and oranges.'

Language lesson

畳の上に死ぬ。

Literally 'To die on tatami.' This phrase means to die of old age or in a 'normal' fashion. I heard it in the negative (彼が)畳の上に死なない. 'He won't die on tatami.' It was used to describe someone who is considered by his friends to be a bit off and also likely to piss off the wrong person and therefore come to an ignominious end.

Columbia University Press

is having a sale. Lots of Asian history goodies to be had.

via Frog in a Well

The next time you worry about the US falling behind in math and science

you can think back to this. I ordered a pizza from Domino's. the total was ¥3288, I gave the delivery person ¥5508 and she had to take out her cell phone to use the calculator function to figure out my change.

There's now two things better than ruckin'

It's in the news today that some members of the rugby team at Kanto Gakuin University have been charged with cultivation of marijuana. Somehow I had a feeling that foreigners, the root of all drugs in Japan, would somehow be implicated. Checking out the article in the Asahi online, I see that one of the accused claims that he got the seeds from Britain via mail order. Seems he didn't know that they are readily available for sale in Tokyo.

It's unfortunate we can't go back to the time when Japan had no relationship to cannabis<Japanese>.

Technorati Tags: Japan, marijuana, marijuana laws, 大麻

Posted without comment

An interesting post about gendered language in Japanese over at Language Log.

Late notice

Today in Japan is 文化の日 (Culture Day). As such, there will be a number of demonstrations within the grounds of Meiji Jingu. The highlights are:

9:00 am Aikido

10:00 am Kobudo

1:00 pm Yabusame (mounted archery)

Kotowaza

憎まれっ子世に憚る。
にくまれっこ、よにはばかる

Mean (or bad) people flourish.

Americans don't read

According to some poll, 1 in 4 Americans read no books last year. Maybe if more of them spent two hours a day on trains they would.

via the always excellent Vertical Weblog

Neither here nor there but...

I found out a few months back that Adam Smith's concept of the Invisible Hand is translated into Japanese as 「神の手」.

Hmmn...

Today's vocab

The Jubako

A Jubako is a square-ish box, often multi-tiered that holds food. Sometimes that foodstuff is rice -- usually with something on top -- and the square construction makes getting the last grain out difficult. From this, there have come a few idioms having to do with detail.

重箱の隅につつく。
Lit. 'Pick at the corners of a Jubako'
This expression is glossed as splitting hairs in my dictionary, but I don't think that it has the negative nuance that hairsplitting conjures for me.

重箱の隅は杓子で払え。
Lit. 'Swipe at the corners of a Jubako with a (rice)ladle'
To do something sufficient to get the job done, without worrying about it being perfect.

重箱の隅を楊枝でほじくる。
Lit. 'Pick at the corner(s) of a Jubako with a toothpick.'
To stick one's nose into an affair. To meddle.

NengoCalc

An excellent tool for calculating the Western date from the corresponding date using the old Japanese calendar. There is a downloadable version as well.

Sweet.

Trying to get my license

For the past few weeks I've been studying to get my driver's license. My short-term goal is to get a 中型 (medium-sized) motorcycle license -- there are different licenses for different engine sizes -- but I've been told that once I pass the written test, I'll be qualified to take the auto road test as well. Why is this worthy of a blog post and not just a trivial matter you may ask? The answer lies in the study materials that I picked up the last time I was at the DMV.

When I took my driver's test in Massachusetts, lo those many years ago, I studied the rules and regulations of the road (about 100 or so if memory serves), and was able to pass after only a few hours with the manual. Not so here. The study materials, rather than being a list of the rules and road sign meanings, are a set of questions to which one has to answer (the Japanese equivalent of) true or false. What makes it such a bear to study is that the questions are purposefully misleading. For example, rather than a question such as 'You must follow no closer than 200 meters behind an ambulance: T or F?', they are structured like this: 'You are approaching an intersection at which you intend to turn left, and you put on your directional signal 30 meters before the turn, Right or Wrong?' When you turn to the answer key it says, 'Wrong. You must turn on the directional 3 seconds before the turn.' This to me seems to unnecessarily clutter one's mind with the idea, in this case, that distance rather than time might be the important point. Add to this that there are upwards of 500 questions and I think you can see where studying for the test can be quite an undertaking. In addition, nowhere is there a simple list of the road signs and their meanings -- you just have to read through all the questions AND answers to figure them out, and you end up on the verge of going postal after each study session.

In talking to some folks, I've learned that it's not uncommon for people to fail multiple times before finally passing. Not hard to believe.

Well, that's enough kvetching about this for now, but expect another post if I end up failing...

April 19th...

...is act like you live in Japan National Hanging Out Day in the States

via Treehugger

A gender gap...

in Japanese corporations? Who knew?

via Japan Economy News Blog

Heso

The latest issue of Heso magazine is out. My boy Ry is one of the contributors and an all around cool guy. You can check it out for yourself, tell me, who's not interested in Food and Sex?

Any of you arty types that are interested in contributing should go to their contact page.

Lunch

Today, rather than going out somewhere, which we often do on Saturdays, I decided to make sumthin'. So I decided to go for samiches.

Fried up some chicken breasts, finishing them in a mix of water, rosemary, mandarin oranges, ketchup, some Chinese sauce that Misa has, onions for some earthiness, and of course, salt and pepper. Before doing the chicken I sauteed onions and some white mushrooms (w/o oil) to put on the top. Und on the side, oven roasted potatoes. I've become a convert to roasting since I've tried my hand now at turkey a few times. I have to say that I've always been much more of a top of the oven guy -- control is an illusion you egomaniac -- but I think because I have no oven, when I get to Misa's I'm often inspired to use hers. Anyway, it's also kinda nice to have something cooking without you.

Duh

It has always seemed to me that the majority of stuff on tv here falls somewhere along the range that runs from contrived to completely fabricated, so I can't see anyone being surprised when a network admits to falsifying their data. One of my favorite shows, which I would venture to say is representative, is based on the premise that some famous person (a different one every week) rides a train line (a different one every week), gets off at arbitrary stops, and goes into places that he/she finds while walking around. The week's host (as well as the shopkeeper/person in the midst of some odd hobby) then have to go through the obligatory step of pretending to act surprised. I have a few friends that run restaurants/cafes here and every time one of these shows has come to do a piece, they are told about it weeks in advance. For some reason, though, the 'look what I found' format seems set in stone, and people just take it for granted.

Anyway, because so much of Japanese tv is either premised on deception -- similar to those shows that are called reality television in the states -- or thinly veiled infomercials for something or other, I could never believe that, for example, natto would help me lose weight.

Foreigner crime file

I have been trying to avoid it, but I take a turn as the dutiful expat and report on the Foreigner Underground Crime File. This is a small book that someone found in stores (Family Mart convenience store chain) a few weeks ago. The book apparently uses some inflammatory rhetoric, tells half-truths about foreign residents' propensity towards crime, with downright mean-spirited and unfair portrayals. I can't say much about it as I haven't read it (yet) myself, but here is a sampling of the discussions that have been going on in the Japan-related interverse.

James' empty blog finds out about it. Then he learns that evidently, 'nigger' is not considered an offensive word in Japan. This comes on the heels of many stern words from the resident foreigner community, and the resultant decision by Family Mart to pull the books from the shelves. James' third? post on the ongoing issue.

Mutantfrog Travelogue talks about some reactions to this book, and includes some perspectives from predominantly Japanese sites mixi (a Japanese SNS) and 2-ch.

Japan Probe has excerpts from the response by the editor of the company that publishes the book. The response is originally from Metropolis.

Japundit points readers to a scanned copy of the book on the web.

I may have more on this later. Still waiting to see a (legal) copy...

Hole-in-one insurace

A few weeks ago, the subject of golf came up in one of my classes. As a warmup exercise and while waiting for the occasional straggler I often ask the students in my classes what they did during the weekend. This gives a decompression period for everyone to get their English caps on and also provides opportunities for people to create original utterances with familiar, back-pocket-variety vocabulary. During one of these discussions someone mentioned that they saw on the news that A father and son hit back-to-back (one each) holes-in-one. One of the other students made a remark about how that was an expensive afternoon for the duo and that he hopes to never sink a hole-in-one. I thought this strange and pressed him only to learn that it is customary to buy gifts not only for the rest of your foursome on the fateful day in question, but for all one's 'golf buddies'. As the gifts are meant to be on the nice side, a stroke of luck can come with a price tag into the thousands of dollars. But, no matter, you can always buy hole-in-one insurance. It was explained to me that for a few hundred dollars per year in premiums, you can indemnify yourself against the misfortune of getting it in the cup in one.

Does this happen elsewhere?

Technorati Tags: golf, Japan

Why did they have to tell me...

After watching Anthony Bourdain chow on blanched cow stomach in China and all manner of other unappetizing things the world over, I've started thinking that maybe I should give some Japanese foods another stab. I'm not a big fan of 'guts' 内蔵, connective tissue 軟骨, or most of all (in terms of frequency with which I have to turn it down), roe. I just don't like the saltiness, and it tastes like seawater to me. Imagine my chagrin when I was offered some shirako, lit 'white child', which is considered a delicacy and is quite expensive. Now apart from shirako not looking anything like any other roe I have ever seen, I just assumed it was from some exotic fish species. It turns out that the difference in form, texture, and taste was due to the fact that it is not roe, but fish sperm.

via Gawker:

Boro Boro Friday

Woke up incredibly sore this morning. Feel like I was in a car crash.

One of the many benefits from working out, though, is that I sleep the sleep of the dead. The past week or so I have hit some definitive, yet unforeseen wall every night after which I literally can't keep my eyes open. This has found me sleeping on Misa's couch more often than not this week, after which I do my best zombie impression as I shamble off to bed proper. I have to say that I'm a little surprised by how much even a small increase in activity saps my overall strength, but I guess that that means that I am doing my body good. This morning I felt the heavy blanket of exhaustion and soreness more acutely than the other days, and was unable, therefore, to roust my sorry behind until around 6:00. The 5:00 alarm was laughed out of the room. The 5:40 ringing was accorded only cursory acknowledgment.

The saving grace is that as it has been raining for the last few days, I took the train this morning and got to sit down and slowly join the waking world. I think that weather aside, I might have opted for the train just because I didn't feel alert enough to battle it out with the cabs this am. So, now I am at work and waiting for my first student(s) to arrive. Only 4 hours of teaching today and I'm done at noon.

This after' I'll be (weather permitting) heading out for the first day of the Setagaya Boroichi flea market. Boroichi is held every December and January on the 15th and 16th of those months. It is a large street fair where all manner of people sell all manner of things. According to some of my friends that have lived in the area for decades, it's not what it used to be as it has become dominated by outside stalls of local businesses, and has lost it's grassroots feel. Still it's a great opportunity to people-watch, and it has become a darling of expat bloggers in Tokyo. Later today I'm supposed to hook up with Ramsbottom-Isherwood for our own mini-Bonenkai.

Should be a good day.

Directions to the fair

Place marker

I really love some of the prints available on textiles over here, and as such have a growing cache of tenugui, and handkerchiefs. One of the cool customs that I have seen here also is that of giving gifts wrapped in cloth rather than paper. Now don't get me wrong, there's some damn cool paper widely available here as well, but there is something pretty nice about getting a gift wrapped in a gift.

Furoshiki are not only used as wrapping, but are a pre-Timbuk 2 way to carry things around. Every now and again (even in modern day Tokyo), old folks can be seen with impossible loads on their backs, secured with naught but a large furoshiki, ala dung-beetles. So in my quest to ape all things antiquated, how useful to come upon (via Lifehacker) this guide to different ways to tie up these textiles.

furoshiki [DOT] homepage [DOT] jp (In Japanese)

All kinds of parties heard from

This weekend into the beginning of next week is the moreorless official beginning of the o-bon holidays.  It is the time of year when, as tradition has it, one's ancestors return from the world beyond and are feted by their still-living progeny.  In practical terms this means that many companies have scheduled vacation for their employees and people, like their feathered counterparts who take wing for Capistrano, head off to visit their hometowns.  Right now I am on a bus for my apartment that usually takes about 15-20 minutes and I have been on it for 45 already.  Pretty much all of the roads are choked with cars full of people trying to escape the singularity-esque gravity of Tokyo.  One of the contraindications side effects of this season, is that you often hear from folks that you haven't heard from in a while.  About a week or so ago I got an email from Ma-chan.

Ma-chan is one of the first people that I became friends with 5 years ago when I got here.  At the time she was Bun-chan's roommate and he and his then-girlfriend-now-wife-and-mother-of-his-children Rie were trying to fix us up.  Nothing romantic ever materialized, but the four of us, really five of us once Todd moved out of the sticks, were thick as thieves.  But, as way leads onto way, Bunshi and Rie moved out of Tokyo and eventually all the way back to Sapporo and, even though Ma-chan now lives about a 5 minute bike ride from here, I've only seen her once in about 3 years.  That streak ends tonight.

Then there's my friend Aya.  We worked together for a few years at the job that ended for me in June.  She quit there last year and then went to France for two months.  Since she's been back we've gotten together two or three times, but I haven't seen her since February or March.  Anyway, I got an email from her this morning as well. 

I've also been contacted by Redouane, Mehrab, and my boy Shai.  While they aren't Japanese, I think that the predetermined nature of the holiday seasons, infects all who stay here for more than a year or two.  To be fair, I've contacted a few people out of the clear blue sky as well, so I'm no less a part of this phenomenon than anyone else. 

So, in the next 12 days I'll be trying to see a bunch of folks before my America trip. 

I know that it's been a long time, so I wanted to tell you all to expect pictures.  They're coming.

Where I come from...

...we call 'em Gorilla Bars