Joojifish

5 more days left--you can just tell I'm counting down, can't you? :) I came back from a three-day trip last night and am pretty tired. First I went to Kyoto to see the Gion Matsuri and to visit some friends. I had a good time, but quite honestly, the festival itself was fairly boring. On Wednesday night, my friends and I perused the food stalls underneath several flocks of agitated birds. Perhaps they were excited by the smell of the food, or maybe they couldn't use their roosting sites because of all the stalls, lights, and people. In any event, it wasn't pleasant walking under the sqawking clouds of birds, wishing for an umbrella or some other measure of protection from their 'bombs'. The traditional parade of floats took place on Thursday morning, and both the float riders and the crowd were nearly silent. It felt odd, and I wondered if everyone was being polite or just hungover from the previous night. Actually, Japanese crowds do tend to watch events quietly. I hear that at pro-wrestling matches, the audience refrains from yelling and only claps and oohs when the wrestlers do something exciting.

After Kyoto, I went to Hiroshima to visit the Peace Park, Peace Memorial Museum, and the Itsukushima Shrine. All were very much worth seeing, especially the museum. My words can't effectively convey what it was like, but here's one of its most well-known testimonials.

Shigeru's Lunch Box

Shigeru was a first year student at Second Hiroshima Prefectural Junior High School. Every day with his classmates he was mobilized to help with the demolition of buildings for fire lanes.
On August 6, as usual, taking the lunch his mother had prepared, he left home early in the morning. Because of the general shortages during wartime, that lunch contained only a mix of rice, barley, and soybeans and some sauteed potatoes and daikon. The contents were simple, but it was a lunch his mother had made with love. That morning, he is said to have taken it very happily.
The place where he and his classmates were supposed to work was only about 600 meters from the hypocenter in Nakajima Shinmachi (near what is now Peace Memorial Park).
After the A-bomb fell, his mother wandered through the ruins of Hiroshima looking for him, and early in the morning on August 9, on the bank of the Honkawa River, she found Shigeru's body with this lunch box held tight under his stomach. The lunch Shigeru never ate was charred black.

The lunchbox and its contents are on display in the museum.
joojifish 6:19 PM - [Link]
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Only 2 weeks left until I leave Japan! My lab is giving me a farewell party today, which should be fun.

Earlier today I participated in a tea ceremony [o-sadoo] lesson. This ritualistic serving of tea is an important cultural activity. All movements used to prepare the tea are set: the equipment must be placed just so, and the tea bowls must be presented and cleaned in a specific manner and order. In fact, the book Dogs & Demons uses the tea ceremony as an example of the Japanese need for control. I didn't prepare the tea, but I ended up drinking three bowls, which was more than I wanted. The tea used in o-sadoo is called macha and is far more concentrated than typical green tea, making it rather strong and bitter. Don't get me wrong--I actually like the stuff, but three bowls was still a bit much.

Always accompanying the macha are wagashi, or Japanese sweets. The taste verdict on these sweets is often negative, especially from non-Japanese. They're very pretty to look at (they come in numerous shapes and colors, including orange pumpkins and clear jelly goldfish bowls with goldfish, plants, and gravel), but they tend to taste like pure sugar. Today's wagashi were shaped like the fruit of the Chinese lantern plant.

Finally, I got to try on a kimono for the tea ceremony! ^_^ I have pics, which I'll probably force on some unsuspecting souls after returning to the States.
joojifish 7:51 PM - [Link]
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Last night I finished reading Underground by Haruki Murakami, perhaps Japan's most famous modern novelist. This book was a collection of his interviews with victims of the 1995 sarin gas attack in Tokyo, a departure from his usual fiction. As an addendum, he later interviewed several former and current members of Aum Shinrikyo, the cult that perpetrated the attack. The victims' testimonies were touching--it especially hurt to read one woman's account of her deceased husband. She talked about how they met during a ski trip, about his joy when she cooked him breakfast just before the attack, and finally about identifying his body at the morgue. The staff there yelled at her when she inadvertently touched the corpse, because it was still contaminated with sarin. It was a very sad story. However, the interviews with the Aum members were more informative. Many members appeared to be intelligent people searching for a life purpose beyond the socially-mandated 'get a job and raise a family'. The fact that they had to turn to Aum to find a semblance of what they sought is disturbing. In Japan (and increasingly in the US as well), many people seem shackled by the demands and goals of a materialistic lifestyle. I'm not saying they need to become spiritual, but they should open their eyes to the fact there's more to life than making money. They could consider helping society or the environment, for example.

Unfortunately, the book couldn't answer the most important question regarding the deadly attack. Why did Aum leaders order the sarin released on those trains? Yes these men were deluded and drunk with power, but what on earth did they think they'd accomplish?
joojifish 4:51 PM - [Link]
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I spent the past weekend in the Kansai area, visiting both Kyoto and Osaka. Didn't do much sightseeing, as my primary objective was to hang out with the Fulbrighters there before returning to the States. One of them, Kristen, had a surprise birthday party organized by her husband. Boy, was she surprised. Someone released a popper as she opened the door, and she thought she was going to be shot.

Chris, the Fulbrighter whom I stayed with in Kyoto, was on the Atkins limited-carb diet. This meant that I had to make a few concessions regarding where we ate (i.e., more fast food within 3 days than I typically eat within 6 months). I took the opportunity to try the McDonald's tofu burger and found it...less than tasty. Imagine someone mushing together onions and paste, frying the result, and sticking the patty into a hamburger bun. Yum. I probably should have gone for the Korean-style calbi-namuru burger instead.

After Kyoto came Osaka. There isn't much for tourists in Osaka besides the awesome aquarium, so I just wandered in music stores and bars with Mike, Simon, and Doug. It was kind of interesting to see the dynamics between them. Simon is fairly serious and intense, Mike gets along easily with almost anyone, and Doug is just weird. Weird in a irreverently funny way though. When I mentioned that I like to draw, he asked if I drew naked men. I answered yes. He then said, "I'll model for you." He was completely joking, of course. This is the same guy who submitted a photo of he and his girlfriend for the Fulbright Handbook, and who's confided that she may be 'the one.' There are two sides to Douggie, apparently.

Anyway, back to work for me. The research student in my lab is taking an exam to become a graduate student, and I've been helping him with English translations. An example of a sentence (out of context) that he has to translate: "The theory of relativity depends, to a considerable extent, upon getting rid of notions which are useful in ordinary life but not to our drugged balloonist." Yeah baby.
joojifish 1:24 PM - [Link]
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Yay, Max is in Japan! I visited him yesterday and returned to Shimizu this afternoon. Although his job with Let's Go Travel Guides sounds cool, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes. Within about two months, he has to personally interview people at all the notable hotels, restaurants, bars, clubs, and sights in the city. A tall order, but Max can handle it.

At least he can speak some Japanese though. Japan is not a tourist-friendly nation by most accounts. It's difficult to navigate public transportation systems and highways without being able to read Japanese, and fancier restaurants and hotels didn't used to welcome foreigners. (Some of these businesses have loosened up and become more accomodating in recent years, however, probably because of the lousy economy.) On the other hand, some plusses for tourists are the helpfulness of most locals and the plastic food displays outside restaurants. I'm not kidding--the displays make it possible for people who can't read/speak Japanese to order what they like. As for native helpfulness, you can ask my cousin Kat about it. Only in Japan could one accidentally leave a laptop at train station and stand a good chance of recovering it.

joojifish 6:08 PM - [Link]
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I realize I have yet to comment on Okinawan culture. I didn't actually meet many Okinawans, but the few I did were tanned, mellow, and friendly. Overall, the atmosphere was pretty relaxed. Even average driving speed (on the one primary asphalt road in Iriomote) felt slow. As for Miyako Island's reputation for drinking, I didn't get to experience it firsthand. A typhoon was coming, so my prof and I left early to make sure we returned to Shimizu in time for his meeting. I did find out, though, that Miyako has 7 breweries for a population of 50,000 people. My prof was disappointed we couldn't stay there.

Okinawan food is pretty good. They use a lot of pork, fish, bitter melon, and luncheon meat (think SPAM) in their cooking. I'd never had SPAM before and didn't love it, but it tasted okay in stir fries. I also tried two new types of tofu: clam and peanut. I liked the peanut but was less thrilled with the clam since I don't love shellfish. The taste and texture of the clam tofu were akin to those of raw oyster.
joojifish 12:27 PM - [Link]
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Back and tanned from Okinawa. I spent most of my time on the relatively undeveloped Iriomote Island, and it was great. The students doing research there cook, relax, dive, and study together, so they form a tight community. It was fun to experience their lifestyle for a little while. I spent my first night at Amitori, and the facility ran low on power. As a result, we had to do with very little electricity and no running water. It was annoying to have no flushing toilets, but otherwise, things were fine.

I only scuba dove once, and the reefs were nice, though not as pretty as the ones in the Philippines. However, that may be due to the fact that I was simply accompanying my prof and his students on research surveys. We didn't exactly hit the top diving spots. Something that added to the fun, though, was taking kayaks out to the diving locations. We paddled through aquamarine water, gazed at the blue sky, and then submerged ourselves into 26C water. Nice.
joojifish 2:28 PM - [Link]
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I have another movie recommendation: "Avalon." It was filmed with Dutch actors and directed by Mamoro Oshii, a Japanese director who also did the anime "Ghost in the Shell." The two films are very similar, but even if you've already seen GitS, the imagery and music in "Avalon" are worth experiencing. Plus, any of you who thought Uma Thurman's character in "Pulp Fiction" was hot may similarly enjoy watching the lead actor in "Avalon." Big blue eyes and short brown hair.

I leave for Okinawa tomorrow, where I'll go scuba diving. I'll spend 5 days on Iriomote Island, one of the last scantily developed areas in Japan. It should be beautiful and warm. Then I'll go to Miyako Island, where drinking is said to be serious pastime. Don't expect me to get drunk, but I'd like to learn about Okinawan culture. It's supposed to be quite different from that of northern Honshuu, which is hardly surprising. I think of northern Honshuu as being like the US East Coast, while Okinawa is similar to Hawaii.
joojifish 7:43 PM - [Link]
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I've been taking it easy lately. Finishing the next draft of my tuna paper, working on the Fulbright Handbook (important info for new Japan Fulbrighters), and watching the anime series "Hikaru no Go." I'm such a geek, but watching "Hikaru no Go" has inspired me to learn how to play Go, a Japanese game that resembles chess. Being someone who's not good at analyzing possibilities and patterns, I really suck. :D

Speaking of geekiness, the theme for this year's Fulbright Handbook is inspired by the Final Fantasy video game series. For visual interest, I've drawn caricatures of me and the other Japan Fulbrighters as Final Fantasy characters. I was apprehensive about the response I'd get from the other Fulbrighters, but the two who have seen their caricatures seem to find them okay. Whew.

Finally, I watched the anime "Hotaru no Haka", or "Grave of the Fireflies" this past week. It's a movie about two Japanese children struggling to live on their own during World War II. The film is beautiful and made me go through several tissues. I highly recommend it.
joojifish 3:42 PM - [Link]
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My brother Max will be coming to Japan in June for 2 months! He'll be doing research for Let's Go, the publisher of a popular budget travel guide series. This is the first time Let's Go will publish a guide for Japan, and Max will be covering Tokyo, so he really has his work cut out for him. This past weekend, I decided to help him out by looking at guesthouses around Tokyo. (It didn't hurt that I got to buy some used books in English while there. ^_~) It was exhausting but interesting, as I met a variety of landlords and random people. One landlord called me twice after I left the guesthouse to remind me that if I choose to share the room w/ my brother, rent would be cheap. I had to tell him that I live in Shizuoka, so that arrangement wouldn't work.

At school, I've joined an informal workout group consisting of me, the two full-time English instructors, and a 4th year student who studied abroad in Canada for a year. It's been fun, and it feels good to have sore muscles.
joojifish 6:49 PM - [Link]
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April 28 to May 5 was Golden Week in Japan. Golden Week actually includes 4 national holidays, which, combined with a weekend, creates a period of 7 days when most people don't have to go to work. Some towns take advantage of this fact and hold festivals at this time. I attended the Hamamatsu Kite Festival on May 4. Hamamatsu is the largest city in Shizuoka Prefecture and home of Yamaha and Kawasaki. It thus produces a lot of motorbikes and musical instruments. Even without bringing out the bikes and instruments though, the festival was pretty crazy. Individual townships within Hamamatsu formed 'teams' that flew kites during the day and pulled floats in the evening parade. The kites were interesting, square-shaped and constructed of wood and paper. Although I didn't get to witness any, there are suppposed to be 'kite battles' where the teams try to cut the strings of opponents' kites using a blade attached to their own kite.

Besides attending the festival, I mostly relaxed during Golden Week. The only other 'major' thing I did was watch X-Men 2 with my host brother. It's a fun movie, but if you choose to see it, don't expect more than action and beautiful actors in tight (or painted-on) costumes.
joojifish 1:19 PM - [Link]
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My birthday was on the 22nd. Go me! Hehe, anyway, I spent my pre-bday weekend with my host parents in Tokyo. They're wonderful people, and I've been in contact with them since they hosted me about 7 years ago. They took me to their house in Yamanashi prefecture, where we soaked in a hot spring and went strawberry picking. The next day, they bought me the cutest birthday cake I've ever seen, chocolate with three buttercream doggies sitting on the top. On my actual birthday, my host mom and I went to Kamakura, one of the former capitals of Japan. One of the most famous sights there is the Daibutsu, a giant metal Buddha. A local udon shop has capitalized on the monument by selling "Buddha Udon." The dish is a bowl of handmade udon decorated with green onion, hard-boiled egg, pickled ginger, and a single bean to resemble Buddha's face. Cheesy, and perhaps disrespectful, but it was delicious.
joojifish 7:00 PM - [Link]
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One of the topics I've been researching is tuna aquaculture, and the day before yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit one of Japan's primary tuna aquaculture research facilities. The facility is operated by Kinki University and houses Pacific northern bluefin tuna raised from both artifically-hatched and wild-caught seedlings. (Yes, Kinki University is the school's actual name. No bad jokes asking about what they do there, please.)

One of my advisors at Tokai University arranged the visit and drove me to the place, which took 12 hours going and 8 hours returning. The facility was located off of Kushimoto, the southernmost town on the main Japanese Island of Honshu. A lead scientist took me and my advisor out to the tuna sea cages at feeding time. The largest fish we saw were 6-7 year-olds that had an average weight of 200kg each. They were amazing to watch--huge, sharply colored, and above all, fast. The tuna often broke the sea surface as they charged up and snapped up the mackerel tossed to them. I was fishstruck.

The visit was also highly educational, as I learned about potential international conflicts associated with tuna aquaculture. For example, countries such as Australia and Mexico want to adopt Kinki U's aquaculture techniques, but the methods will most likely be used to produce fish to be marketed to Japan. Japanese tuna farmers will be hurt by the increased competition, so they don't want Kinki U. to release the information. This is only one of many considerations brought up by the development of tuna aquaculture technology.
joojifish 12:49 PM - [Link]
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It was nice to see the much of the Tokaido-line scenery at a relaxed pace. For those not in the know, the Tokaido rail line follows the historical road between Kyoto and Tokyo built by the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu in the early 1600's. As I traverse it by train or shinkansen (bullet train), I often wonder what it would have been like to follow the path by foot.

I also had the chance to re-watch "Sen to Chihiro," a Japanese animated film by the acclaimed director Miyazaki Hayao. (It won the Oscar for best animated feature this year.) In Miyazaki's translated commentary on the movie, "Chihiro is a heroine, because of her power not to let herself be eaten up. She is a heroine, (but) not because she is beautiful or because she has a matchless heart. This is the merit of this film, and this is why it is a film for 10 year old girls." While I agree, I feel that "Sen" also contains significant social commentary for adults as well. For instance, gluttony, environmental destruction, and the spoiling of children are highlighted as vices. Fortunately, the fantasy elements kept the story from feeling too preachy. While I don't consider "Sen" the best of Miyazaki's films, I recommend it for anyone interested in some of the social problems arising in modern Japan. References may be difficult to spot for those who haven't lived here, but I'd be happy to discuss them with anyone who's interested.
joojifish 12:45 PM - [Link]
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It's a crazy time. Every time I look at a newspaper, I cringe and think to myself, "Where on earth is the US headed?" While I certainly don't support Hussein and would like to see him removed from power, the long-term effects of the US administration's 'bullying tactics' will be negative, by and large. The message Bush and his advisors are sending seems to be, "We know we're right, and since we have a strong military, to hell with everyone else's weak pussyfooting." Such an attitude will only lead to continued condemnation from other nations, and rightfully so. It also sets up a precedent that I don't want to see followed.

At the same time, I support the US troops and their allies. To those of you with friends and/or family in the military, I hope they all remain safe. And please take care of yourselves as well.
joojifish 2:30 PM - [Link]
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Yesterday I attended one of the craziest musical performances I'd ever seen. I went to Osaka to see Takarazuka, a uniquely Japanese type of theatre that features all-female casts performing 'western' musicals. I use the term 'western' loosely because the scriptwriters seem to take a lot of liberties with the stories. Yesterday's musical was "Mercenary Pierre," a complete retelling of the Joan of Arc story. According to this version, Jeanne D'Arc was a naive but cute nut who was repeatedly rescued by the dashing womanizer Pierre. Pierre was so moved by Jeanne's innocence that he fell in love with her and ended up marrying her. Complete romance-novel plot with a Moliere ending. It was still fun though. The two male friends I watched the show with called it the "gayest" thing they'd ever seen. I apologize if you object to my usage of the word gay, but it's an apt term in this case. All Takarazuka performances consist of two segments, and the second segment was called "The Stardust Party." It was comprised of disjointed dance sequences, including one with women in chinadoll dresses and machine guns. Anyway, the whole phenomenon was something that has to be seen to be believed. I want to go again at some point before I leave Japan. ^_^
joojifish 3:28 PM - [Link]
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Ok, the paper isn't done yet, but I've still made good use of my time. Last week I went scuba diving in the Philippines with my advisor, a grad student, and 7 other people. The coral reefs were absolutely gorgeous, and I saw 6 sea turtles. According to the other divers in the group, I'm spoiled for diving in that most other locations are not nearly as pristine and teeming with marine life. I was the least experienced out of the group by far, having only gone on 5 dives before the trip. Next came someone who had gone diving 80 times, and the three divemasters in our group have gone on thousands of dives. It was reassuring to be among so many experienced divers, and I had a great time.

After returning to Japan, I spent about three days in Tokyo and attended the Fulbright mid-year conference. While it was greating seeing and hearing from the other Fulbrighters in Japan, the meeting was so loosely structured that it felt like we were just discussing random feelings. It was also sad to know that I probably won't see some of these other Fulbrighters again. Even though I haven't become close to most of them, I don't like goodbyes.

One thing I did learn from the conference, however, is that I'm actually quite lucky in being a foreigner who appears Japanese. People don't automatically try to speak with me in English or regard me with suspicion. Many Japanese who have limited contact with foreigners view them as potential criminals, not without some reason, but it is still sad to see. For example, one Fulbrighter talked about how mothers sometimes tell their child 'abunai' (danger!) as he walks by. Japan and its people are incredibly isolated in many ways.
joojifish 3:41 PM - [Link]
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Oog, I've been sick since Feb 8. After some initial confusion as to the cause of illness, the doctor I consulted yesterday decided that my stomach is producing too much acid due to stress. He prescribed me some ulcer medication, which has helped so far. I'm sorry if you didn't want to hear about my medical condition, but it's my excuse for neglecting this blog. :-D

Some interesting things have happened since my last entry. First of all, my host dad and brother took me to Tateshina in Nagano prefecture. They were going skiing, but since I knew I couldn't keep up and didn't want to rent equipment, I went to a neighboring aquarium instead (reputedly the world's highest above sea level). I tried some cranberry mochi and went home with a big stuffed panda. Not a souvenir I was expecting, but the aquarium is actually affliliated with a teddy bear factory.

Second, I visited a tuna sashimi factory in Shimizu, courtesy of a former Tokai University student who works there. I got a thorough and fascinating tour, watching workers de-eyeball fish heads and stepping briefly into the -50C freezer. (If you want an idea of how cold -50C is, it froze the top layer of mucus lining my nostrils almost instantaneously.) One thing I particularly appreciated was how clean the sashimi packing rooms were. The rooms and equpiment are sterilized every 1-1.5 hours since consumers will be consuming the raw fish directly. Nice to see after reading about the frightening conditions of meat-packing factories in the US.

Finally, I'm trying to finish writing my tuna research report by Feb 28. I've written a good deal of it but am trying to make it come together now. Wish me luck!
joojifish 2:34 PM - [Link]
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As mentioned in my previous entry, my grant sponsor, the Japan Economic Foundation (JEF), invited me and another grad student Fulbrighter they're sponsoring to lunch on Jan 24. I expected it to be a fairly straightforward meeting, but since every other attendee (including the director of the Japan Fulbright program and two Japanese Fulbright alumni) spoke Japanese fluently, all discussion took place in Japanese. The president of JEF started out by asking me my position on human cloning, and the conversation continued on to genetically modified organisms. At that point, I could follow what was being said and respond. However, the discussion soon escalated to economic/social topics I could not comprehend at all. I sensed that the JEF people were noting my limited language ability, but fortunately, the Fulbright Program Director, Sam Shepherd, explained that my grant requirements and goals (including learning Japanese) were different from those of the fluent grad student. That gave me some sense of relief, but it was still a somewhat stressful meeting. On the positive side, I was impressed that the JEF president was willing and interested in taking the time to meet the two Fulbrighters his company was sponsoring.

As a side note, Jon sent me the link to http://www.blackpeopleloveus.com today. It's worth a look.
joojifish 6:36 PM - [Link]
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Yowch, I've been a bit busy as of late. First of all, I'm translating one of my professor's papers into English, along with the help of a Japanese labmate. Second,　I'm meeting with my grant sponsor, the Japan Economic Foundation, on January 24. Thus I'm trying to get more done on my Fulbright research paper.

For lack of other exciting happenings, I guess I'll continue along the lines of my last blog entry and talk about bread. Japan is a country full of nice food and entertainment venues, and many television programs and magazines are solely dedicated to describing and reviewing fun places to visit. Last week I bought a magazine reviewing the best bread/pastry shops in my area of Shizuoka prefecture. (As a side note, there was even a 2-page spread ranking the 5-best breads sold in six major convenience stores.) Then yesterday, I went on a quest to find two of the closest bakeries listed in the magazine. I only found one of them and bought some white table bread. It was really good. Anyway, the whole point of this story is to give you an idea of how I'm creating my own entertainment. Boring? Maybe. But when you're living in an area where you have to bike at least 30 minutes to get to any sort of shopping district, you make do.
joojifish 12:21 PM - [Link]
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I'm relaxing at home right now. It's been great seeing my family and chatting with friends, so I'm glad I took the 8-hour flight. I slept through half of it, but at one point I watched a little bit of Disney's Beauty & the Beast. I understood some humor that I hadn't when watching the movie as a kid, namely the lyrics in the "Gaston-is-wonderful" song. When Gaston sang about himself being as large as a barge, I nearly laughed out loud on the plane.

Speaking of cartoon humor, there's a fun kids' cartoon in Japan called Anpan Man. It's about a little superhero named Anpan Man, who has a red-bean pastry (anpan, in Japanese) for his head. His rival is the nefarious Baikin Man, i.e. germ man, who terrorizes Anpan Man's other bread-headed friends. When I was watching an Anpan Man cartoon with my labmates, I kept laughing at parts that weren't supposed to be funny. For instance, there was one character who had a giant cake for his head, and I thought it was the most hilarious thing. My labmates were quite amused.
joojifish 1:13 PM - [Link]
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