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July 7, 2009

Star Festival

According to an ancient Chinese legend, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, two star-crossed lovers are able to traverse the sky and meet.

This date in Japan is called Tanabata, also know as the Star Festival, and these days is celebrated as a festive time to make wishes. The two lovers are Orihime, OH-REE-HE-MEH, (Vega) and Hikoboshi, HE-KO-BO-SHE, (Altair), and they are normally on opposite sides of the milky way, but on this one day they intersect.

There are many versions of the story, but there have a few things in common. Basically Orihime is the daughter of the Sky King and somehow she falls in love with Hikoboshi, a mere mortal. One or both of them then do something to piss her dad off and so in anger he separates them across the great river of Heaven and forbids them from ever meeting again. Orihime is so sad that her dad has a small change of heart and allows them to meet one day a year. Nice guy, eh?

Many places celebrate this event on July 7^th, but a few hold to the old Japanese calendar (a lunar calendar) and so don’t celebrate it until August (the day changes every year, but always in August. Check wikipedia for more details than you could ever want). I have no idea when the actual intersection of Vega and Altair happens. Anyone know? Is it really on July 7^th?

People generally celebrate this day by writing their wishes on small pieces of paper and hanging them on bamboo. The bamboo is sometimes set afloat on the a river or burned after the festival, tho this varies with each area.

Some pics from wikipedia:

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May 31, 2009

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Hachiko

Do you know about Hachiko, Japan’s most famous dog? He was so devoted to his master, he waited for him for ten years. What follows is one of the most beloved stories in Japan. Amazingly, it’s all true. Read on, my friends, and let’s learn all about…

The word’s most loyal dog

In 1924, a Professor Ueno bought a small Akita dog and named him Hachiko (hach-ko).

Professor Ueno worked at the University of Tokyo, so everyday he would take the train from Shibuya to work. Hachiko would accompany him to the station and see him off. Hachiko would then return to the station in the evening to wait for his master to arrive.

This repeated every day for a year.

Then one day the professor didn’t return. Unbeknownst to Hachiko, Professor Ueno had suffered a massive stroke at school that day and had died instantly.

Loyal Hachiko returned every evening to wait for his master to return. This went on every day for ten years until Hachiko himself died.

The beginning of a legend

During Hachiko’s ten year wait, his legend started growing. The station staff recognized him as the Professor’s dog. They fed him and took care of him.

At some point, one of Professor Ueno’s former students learned about Hachiko and published several articles about him and his story. This propelled Hachiko into the national spotlight and made him something of a local sensation. People were impressed with his faithfulness and loyalty.

The hachiko statue

Hachiko and his story were so loved that after he died, Tokyo residents voted to build a statue of him. It was unfortunately melted down to make weapons during the war, but it was rebuilt afterward.

To this day it remains at the entrance to Shibuya station. It’s a well known landmark and if you tell someone “let’s meet at Hachiko” they will instantly understand where to meet. (But good luck finding anyone. So many people gather at the Hachiko entrance that trying to find someone there is a little like trying to find a needle in a haystack. )

On a slightly disturbing note — to me anyways — he was stuffed and his remains are kept on display at the National Science Musieum in Ueno, Tokyo.

Final Words

This story is very beloved in Japan and is often used to teach children loyalty. At least two movies that I know of have been made about this story, one Japanese and the other a Hollywood remake, and numerous books have been written about it.

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August 16, 2008

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11 differences between US and Japan

Note 7÷7÷2010 — Wow, I can’t believe this was promoted to one of the most popular articles. Why? Possibly the number in the title… I’m almost embarrassed by the contents. Not that anything is wrong, but the writing is not very good. But since some folks seem to be enjoying it, I’ll keep it around.

I get a lot of e-mails from people heading to Japan for the first time and looking for advice. My advice is normally “relax — everything will go much smoother than you think”. But I realize this doesn’t cut it for most people. So in an effort to address this a little, here’s a list of some of the biggest differences between Japan and the US. (note, altho these are numbered, the order is completely arbitrary and meaningless as I am coming up with these on the fly)

Sniff. don’t blow. In the US it’s rude to constantly sniff when you have a runny nose. For God’s sake, just go blow already! But in Japan it is quite rude to blow your nose in public and sniffing is perfectly acceptable, and very common. No they aren’t trying to drive you crazy, the custom is just flipped from ours.
Left side, please. In the US we drive on the right side of the road. In Japan, the left. No this isn’t because of the British. In old Japan, samurai walked on the left side of the road. They just continued to follow this when cars came in.
Cute is in. Now everyone likes cute a little, but in the US we tend to pretend we don’t for fear of being sissy. Women are a little more open to it, but often not much. In Japan, tho, everyone embraces cuteness. Purses, bags, man-purses are all covered with stickers and stuffed animals, cell-phones have about a hundred and one cute animé characters or cartoon animals attached to them, car dashboards are home to so many stuffed animals one wonders how the driver can see, and Hello Kitty is everywhere (along with every other cute cartoon character of which a new one is created daily it seems like)
People only eat fish and rice. Well… No, they eat just about everything we do in the US. If anything, they eat even more meat than we do. This one isn’t a difference at all, but we generally think it’s a major difference so I thought I would mention it. We have this image of Japan as basically vegetarian except for sushi. The reality is almost completely opposite. Meat is everywhere, even in white bread, and is more popular than fish. Also, the attitude is such that if you don\‘t eat meat, you will get sick and die. Seriously. The general consensus is that vegetarians (not that any exist in Japan) are extremely unhealthy and in danger of malnutrition.
Vending machines are everywhere. There are at least 10 vending machines on any given block, often more. In fact, with the birthrate now so low that the population is decreasing, analysts predict that vending machines will outnumber humans within 20 years. They are everywhere. In the city or the middle of nowhere, where you will find vending machines humming alone (fully stocked, mind) with no apparent power source just waiting for the lost traveler. They can contain: water, juice, pop, tea, coffee, beer, cigarettes, ramen, fresh fruit and vegetables, rice, porn, used high school girls’ panties (seriously! scary.…), cute animé characters, cocoa, ipods, Korean slaves. No, just kidding on that last one. Maybe.
School is 24/7. Kind of. School hours are about the same in Japan as in the US, 9 to 3 or thereabout, Monday to Friday. (tho this may be changing, as the government wants to add Sat school). But then students have club activity (basically required for everyone) for several hours after school, then most go to cram school (a kind of test prep school… tests are important here) after that for a few hours until dark and also on Sat and Sun. So basically students are always in school. Yet you see them everywhere, roaming the city at every hour of the day. I have yet to figure out this paradox.
No shoes in houses. Yeah, we all know this one. I wrote about it here if you want to read more. Exceptions are usually at work, department stores, and restaurants, tho even these might require you to take your shoes off if they are more traditional in nature.
Girls avoid the sun like the plague. In the US, everyone wants to be tan. We lay outside cooking, we pay people to cook us, we even buy lotion that makes our skin look more cooked. In Japan, it’s completely opposite, at least for the ladies. Some don’t care and some do actively seek tans, but the vast majority always carry parasols (sun umbrellas), wear hats, wear long gloves that cover the hand and arm, wear long pants (or a long dress), and put on tons of sunscreen anyways, just in case some slips thru. White, pale skin is definitely the ideal that everyone strives for. An amusing side of this is that in the winter women tend to wear less clothes than in the summer. Shorts in the winter, long pants in the summer.… Only in Japan.
Slurp that soup! Slurping is rude in the US; but rather expected here. Weird, eh? More here.
Smoking is everywhere. Y’know that memo the West got a number of years ago that smoking is bad for you? Yeah, Japan missed it. Something like 148% of the population here smokes, constantly, and everywhere. I think Starbucks is about the only smoke-free area in the entire country. This is thankfully changing, but changing at a snails pace.
Drinking is everywhere. In the US, drinking is of course popular, but there is something of a stigma attached to it. Here, nope. Everyone drinks, constantly, even more than they smoke, which is also constantly, so to do this they have to break the laws of physics, but.. well, Japanese are good at math. Beer has displaced sake as the drink of choice, but it is all good to the average Japanese guy. Men are considered weak and untrustworthy if they don’t drink, and can actually lose their boss’s favor and lose out on promotions if they don’t drink with him. This leads to some men who actually don’t drink faking it. They replace beer with tea while their boss isn’t looking, drink it quickly and then act drunk. Often their boss is too drunk to notice anything is amiss so it works.

That’s all for now. To all you expats who keep finding this site, be sure to add any in the comments if I missed anything important (which is likely).

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August 13, 2008

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Daruma (or, the monk with no arms!)

All over Japan one sees these round red faces seated everywhere people might look, sometime with only one eye colored in, sometimes both. Er.… what?

This:

There are everywhere because they are good luck. Typically you buy these with no eyes filled in. At the New Year, you make a wish and fill in one eye. Thru the year, if your wish comes true you will in the other eye. Thus when you see these at people’s houses, if both eyes are filled in you know they have achieved success of some sort.

Daruma is the Japanese name for Bodhidarma, the monk credited with bringing both Zen (Chan) and Shaolin Kung Fu to China. Supposedly, he went into meditation for 9 years because the Emperor of China wouldn’t recognize him. He wouldn’t move or talk to anyone. During that time his arms and legs atrophied after sitting so long without moving, which is why the Japanese doll only has his face. (another more grizzly part of the legend is that after 7 years he fell asleep, and he was so angry at himself for this that he cut his eyelids off… that’s one serious monk!)

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A traditional japanese story of kindness

Kasa-Jizo

July 30, 2008

(Originally posted 7/2008. Updated 11/2010¹. )

One thing I’ve been doing to help improve my Japanese is reading. This really helps get a feel for a language, so even if you don’t know the grammar sometimes, you know when a sentence just feels right. Not only is this good language practice, but it is also introducing me to different aspects of Japanese culture that I may not have otherwise been exposed to. Like folk tales. Here’s one I rather like that shows some of the Japanese love for Jizo, called Ojizo-sama for respect (O is added to words for politeness and –sama is the very polite form of –san).

What’s a kasa?

Before we start, there is one thing here that is I don’t think we have a word for in English. A Kasa is a hat farmers and monks wear that is cone shaped to allow rain to run off of it so they can be outside in rain storms. We probably typically think of Vietnam when we see these. Here’s a pic:

Kasa-Jizo

Anyways, so here’s the story, called “Kasa-Jizo”

A long time ago there was an old man and an old woman living alone together. They didn’t have any money, but were happy. One day, on the last day of the year, the old woman told the old man, “Grandpa, tomorrow is New Years Day! I want something good to eat!”

“Is that so?” He replied. “Then lets make some kasa, grandma, and I’ll sell them in town to make us money for food.”

She agreed with his idea and so they made 5 kasa for him to sell. As soon as they finished, he put on his own kasa and set out for town. On the way there, he passed six stone Jizo statues. He paused and offered a brief prayer – “Ojizo-sama, thank you for everything!” – then continued on his way to town.

It was very busy in town. There were many, many stalls selling everything one might imagine. And there were tons of people, most of them drunk on sake, celebrating the New Year early. The old man called out, “Kasa! Kasa for sale! Does anyone want to buy a kasa!” He called out for a long time, but no one wanted to buy one.

That evening, as he returned home, a snow storm started. There was very strong, cold wind, and tons of snow. The wind was very powerful and the old man had a hard time walking through the snow. But he pushed on.

He soon came to the six stone Jizo statues he had passed eariler on his way to town. Again, he stopped to offer a prayer of thanks, but first seeing that they were covered in snow, went to clean them. Wiping the snow from their heads, he noticed how cold they were. Remembering his five unsold kasa, he decided to use them to cover the Jizos’ heads. But there were six Jizo and only five kasa. He thought about this problem for a moment, then decided to donate his own kasa to the sixth Jizo.

“There you go,” he explained to them. “These kasa will keep you warm.”

He then offered a small prayer of thanks and continues home.

When he got home, his wife exclaimed. “My, you are covered in snow! You must be cold.”

“No one wanted to buy any kasa,” he told her. “We won’t be able to have a good New Years meal.”

“Then, what happened to all the kasa you had?”

“The 6 Jizo statues near here were covered with snow, so I gave them the kasa we made.”

“Ah, that was good.” She decided after suppressing her disappointment. “Well, then let’s go to bed.”

Around midnight they were awoken by a loud sound, like something being dragged through the snow outside.

“What’s that? Is someone outside?” The old man and woman asked each other.

They listened closer and then heard singing. “The old man is so kind and nice. Thank you for the kasa, grandpa.”

The voices were coming from in front of their house. The old man and old woman crept out of their beds and went to their bedroom door. As they approached it, there was a large sound, like something big hitting the ground. After a few minutes, they carefully opened the door. The ground was covered with food!

They quickly ran outside and off in the distance they could see 6 Jizo with 6 kasa on their heads walking away. “Thank you very very much” They called. Then they went in and had a great meal. It was a very good New Years.

Nice story, eh?

Nothing much new, just fixed some misspellings and added the drop-caps. ↩

January 11, 2008

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Japanese Bedding: Futons

Sleeping on the ground with the Futon

The futon is something everyone knows about, but yet don’t know about. I’ll try to fill you in some of the details here. First, why? Well, space is at a premium in Japan. Something like 85% of the country is mountains and uninhabitable, so that doesn’t leave much for living room. As a result, houses and apartments are typically much smaller than they are in the West. Because of this, the Japanese have devised all sorts of ways to save space. One of them is the traditional Japanese bed – the futon.

As you can see in the photo, it really doesn’t bare much resemblance to the American version. I imagine the one we in the States came from an ex-army guy who was here during the war and saw the Japanese beds and decided to borrow the idea, but then took it in a somewhat… cheaper direction.

So… what is a futon?

It’s basically a bed that you put on the floor when it’s time to sleep, then pack up and stick in the closet during the day so you can reclaim that space for other use during the day.

Simple, eh?

It typically consists of a padding to lay down first, a mattress, a thick and extremely warm blanket, and a pillow filled with a special kind of beans that conforms to the shape of your head and keeps it warm at night.

There are other add-ons you you can buy too, including in the winter a large water bag for keeping your feet and legs warm (fill it with hot water before going to bed), a fleece blanket to attach to the mattress so you can lay on something warm instead of the cold mattress, and so on.

Is it comfortable…?

It may not sound comfortable sleeping on the floor, but actually they are really nice. This of course varies depending on the quality you buy, but even the cheaper variety I’ve bought are very soft and comfortable to lay on.

Other benefits

In addition to being comfortable, being able to pack up your bedand reuse the space for other things during the day is very handy. When you see how little space Japanese apartments and houses have, you realize just how handy that is.

Also, since they are relatively light and portable, they are easier to keep clean than regular beds. It is common to see futon shanging out windows and from balconies during the day. This airs out the mattress and blankets and lets the sun kill any germs on them. There is also a special beater (it looks like the old carpet beaters) that housewives use to furiously beat at them as they hang outside, trying to get rid of every molecule of dust, any bed bugs, and all that kind of thing. Or maybe just to get out their anger. Either way.

Current trends

From what I understand, many kids these days don’t like futons and beg their parents to buy them “Western Beds”. Often a few years later when they get their own apartments they see the advantage of Japanese beds and switch back.

A disadvantage

The only real disadvantage is that modern floors of woodor vinyl are very cold in the winter; as a result, the futon can becomes quite cold without things like extra padding beneath it.

Traditional Japanese houses used tatami (tah-tah-me) for the flooring.

Tatami is basically a thick straw mat. It is very soft, and also in the winter it absorbs heat during the day, so is warm even in very cold nights. Modern houses still have one or two tatami rooms, but modern apartments usually don’t. At the most, they will have very small tatami rooms that aren’t large enough to sleep in.

Conclusions

For most people the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages, and so today the futon still remains more common and popular than a Western-style bed. I know I love my futon!

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Newer posts →

Star Festival

Hachiko