And it begins~

I was going to hold off until December 1st to start counting down the days till I head back to Canada for Christmas but, what's one more extra day, eh? 15 Days and counting.. :)

Click on the flag to learn more about Canada!

And I thought this was over..

Another student in Yamagata Prefecture has jumped to her death in what appears to be another bullying-related suicide. However, the focus of the newspaper article wasn't about the bullying problem itself, or the conditions that led to her suicide rather, the article focused on the conduct of the school staff following the incident (they went partying).

The superintendent of the school board told reporters that the reason he didn't cancel the event was because nobody suggested it. Pretty lame if you ask me.

As a foreigner working in Japan, while I disagree with how Japanese officials handle certain situations, it is not my place to act self-righteous or arrogant and respond in a way that certain individuals or "an employer" would regard as inappropriate. No foreigner can, or should, intervene in what is, without a doubt, a domestic problem.

Ultimately, the recent string of bullying-related suicides is a Japanese problem and only the Japanese people can find a solution to it that they're comfortable with. So far, however, it seems that Japanese officials are more "comfortable" behaving the same way they always have (the media as well) and until there is enough civil response demanding otherwise, nothing will change (Japan is a democracy after all.. well, sort-of .. but that's for another post).

I sincerely hope that something meaningful will come from all this. The fact that so many students felt it was necessary to end their lives because of this specific problem is not only unsettling, but tragic. You can read the full article HERE.

Japanization

It's been awhile since I went to my Saturday morning Japanese class. While I'm thankful for all the cultural stuff they organize, waking up early on a Saturday isn't exactly something I'm gung-ho about nowadays (Saturday is usually the only day I can sleep-in because, for some reason, I've had to work on quite a few Sundays this year.. unbelievable!). That being said, I promised my Japanese language teacher that I would attend class today because he was going to lead the class in making soba noodles.


Some tools of the trade. To be honest, I didn't really make soba today. Instead, I spent the morning photographing other people making soba. I used to think to myself, "Isn't it better to actually -do- something rather than just take a picture of it?" That's a good question, eh? Somebody wanna help me out? :)


After we, or rather, my cooking-mates finished making the soba, it was promptly cooked and served, slightly chilled, with a special soba soy-sauce. I know a lot of foreigners that despise cold soba noodles but I actually like the stuff.


After class I headed to the cultural capital of Kyushu: Daizaifu. I wanted to get an early start on some Christmas shopping and my friend recommended that I check out the main street in Daizaifu for some "Japanese-y" stuff. However, that wasn't my only reason for going there. The other reason I wanted to go to Daizaifu was to check out Komyozenji temple featured on my friend Shannon's blog awhile back. I felt her photos of the place didn't do it justice so, I decided to rectify that (lol.. I'M JOKING.. I would never have known about this place if it wasn't for Shannon :)


The temple, and the zen garden, was spectacular. All my comments about Japan being one giant concrete playground I will retract -- for now.


Just testing the depth-of-field setting on my camera. Practice, practice, practice!


I received this email last week from a fellow Canadian. I think somebody has been in Japan for far too long and definitely needs to go back home for a little bit. And if you're curious about the part of the message that I blotted out, it was an inappropriate comment about "other" people and therefore, entirely inappropriate for this blog. :)


平穏無事

Sumo

Today is Thanksgiving Day in Japan. I've asked Japanese people what they do on Thanksgiving or what is the cultural significance of this day and so far, I have yet to come across a meaningful response. Most say it is just another holiday and therefore, they don't have to go to work (although some will still go!). I guess it is no different for Canadians when one mentions "Boxing Day" or "Labour Day". I bet most Canadians don't know the cultural significance of either of those days.

However, I wasn't going to let this holiday go to waste so, I had planned a trip to the yearly Sumo Tournament in Fukuoka.


Interestingly enough, most Japanese people I've talked to have never been to Sumo. Although it -is- the national sport of Japan, I think baseball is -far- more popular here (especially for the younger generation).


The matches are about 10-15 minutes each. However, the vast majority of that time is spent "posturing" or mentally preparing for the fight which, from what I've observed, last no more than a few -seconds-. Needless to say, it is not the most exciting sport in the world (well, neither is baseball but hey, that's just me. :)


I couldn't figure out what they were doing but my initial reaction was that they were preparing to play "Janken" (Rock, scissors, papers for those of you that don't know Japanese). I think I've been teaching elementary school children for far too long.


At the end of the tournament, mayhem ensued! People started throwing their seat-cushions towards the stage! It was absolute chaos! I'm joking. Actually, I was told beforehand this would occur and that it is a tradition, at least in Fukuoka, to do so.

Enjoy the videos!

文化祭 / Culture Festival

Today I went to my school's Culture Festival. Culture Festival is like a school concert in Canada; there is music, singing, plays, speeches, etc. It was a pretty standard festival: lots of group activities (individual performances?! No way~), humour (which, thankfully, is universal some of the time), choral competition (compulsory and free categories, of course), certificate-giving (lots of bowing there), crying (it seems Japanese people are allowed to cry only in two situations: during school ceremonies and at the end of sports events) and really cheesy presentations (someone cue the background piano music, please; I mentioned this observation to my JTE and she didn't look too happy.. haha~). And all of this sandwiched between layers and layers of suit-and-tie formality.

Despite all this, I still think it was worth going to. Culture Festival is another one of those "Japanese things" that every person in Japan does from elementary school to the end of high school. Although the Cultural Festival wasn't as student-led as Sports Day was, many of the presentations and whatnot were completely created and performed by the students. I'm just glad I got to experience and partake in some of the festivities today (I was interviewed on stage for a little bit and I helped judge the singing competition) despite it being a -Sunday-. Thank goodness for "compensatory days" (I'm not 100% sure of the English equivalent for 代休).

Oh yea, it's -cold- nowadays! I was literally freezing my arse off in the gym during the festival! Brr~ That's another thing I'll be looking forward to in Canada: central-heating. :)

Please be patient with the video. It is a 4-minute clip of the Taiko performance. Taiko drumming is probably one of the koolest, and definitely one of my favourite things, about Japan.

Photo Update

I haven't done a photo update in awhile so, here are some of my favourite photos of the past month or so.. well, actually, these are the photos still on my computer after burning most of them onto DVD a few weeks ago. I'll have to do some digging to showcase some more.

The photo featured above is probably the sharpest/clearest image I have of the famous JAL hotel (well, just the logo actually) in Fukuoka at night. My camera takes terrible night shots and seeing as I don't have a tripod, when I stumbled upon this photo I was pleasantly surprised it turned out so well.


This shot is of the giant Ferris wheel at Kagoshima Station.


Ever play Super Mario Bros. 2 (for the original NES .. I'm talking old-skool people) and wonder what those white turnip things were? Well, here's the answer: Giant Daikon! Everything makes sense now. The photo-effect was to simulate the desert world in the game. :)


A day at the park. This photo looked pretty chaotic in colour so, I applied the B&W-effect to try to focus it a little bit. I'm not sure if I like the end result but it'll suffice.

Kyushu: Complete

I finally did it. 1.5 years after arriving in Japan, more specifically Kyushu, I managed to visit every prefecture on -my- island. Over the weekend I headed down to Kagoshima to check out, what the local JETs call, "The Kag".


It was an awful 4-hour bus ride down but it was well worth it once we got there. Kagoshima is far more countryside than Fukuoka but it definitely has its charms. The sun felt a little bit more direct and the temperature fluctuated greatly between the night and day; but, for the most part, it was great weather all weekend.


Unexpectedly, we stumbled upon this sign while in Kagoshima. We never quite found this "Canada Place" but for a second, and I mean just a second, it felt like we were in Canada.


This building looked terrible during the day. It was old, weathered and dilapidated -- in other words, it looked like any other Japanese building (minus the obvious European architectural influence). However, by night it was somehow transformed into quite the masterpiece.


Ever see the Last Samurai? (obviously James hasn't or he'd realize what a great movie it is!) Well, this guy is the real deal. Apparently there is some dispute within Japan as to whether he is originally from Kagoshima or Kochi (on Shikoku Island) but, seeing as Kagoshima has a statue erected in his honour, I'm gonna go with Kagoshima.


No trip to Kagoshima would be complete without seeing Sakurajima Volcano -- Kagoshima's most famous landmark. This is one of the world's most active volcanoes and, despite my hoping it would spew some ash or lava to enhance this shot, it remained pretty quiet during our stay. When we got on Sakurajima we rented bikes and rode around the island for a couple of hours. The weather was, as you can see, perfect.


You can find the weirdest crap in Japan -- this being one of them. I have absolutely no idea what or why this statue is on Sakurajima. I'm sure there is a story behind the construction of this -thing- but none of us could make out the Japanese enough to understand it. Nonetheless, it was interesting. I call this photo: Rock Star. Haha~


I can explain this photo. I was trying to give the -illusion- that I was carrying the mountain (you know, like the Greek god Atlas) -- but, it didn't turn out quite the way I wanted. Obviously I blame the camera-person. :) My next attempt will be at Mt. Fuji.


All in all, I had a great time in Kagoshima. It had been well over a month since I travelled somewhere in Japan and I was getting restless. Next stop: Canada. In exactly one month from today, I will be heading back to Canada for the holidays. I can't really say I miss home (I actually miss -real- Western and Chinese food more than anything else.. lol, I'm such a glutton) but I am looking forward to seeing everybody and everything again as well. :)

New Direction?

After 12 years, the Democrats have finally managed to take control of the House of Representatives; and, if things go the way they seem to be going, the Democrats might even seize control of the Senate as well. Talk about a shift in power. Let's not be naive and assume that there will be a monumental shift in policy but, this change certainly speaks volumes of Bush's second-term in office. American politics, while never boring, certainly got a lot more interesting.

Karatsu Kunchi / 唐津くんち

This weekend I was fortunate enough to attend Karatsu Kunchi -- a three-day festival in Saga Prefecture. This festival reminded me of Fukuoka/Hakata's own Yamakasa Festival except it wasn't as big. Nonetheless, the streets were still packed and there was definitely a lot of energy and excitement going around.


Surprisingly, each float takes about two or three years to complete and costs about 150 million yen each!


Each float is pulled along a parade route by about 100 people. Most of the adults pulling the floats were drunk and everybody was chanting "Enya, enya, enya!". I'm not entirely sure what it means but I guess it's just a traditional Japanese chant.

Below is a clip of all the floats in the parade.



And here is a clip of the actual parade.

Work, work, work!

My office likes to hold meetings. Lots and lots of meetings. Usually there are at least one or two (sometimes three or four!) meetings a month for us "Fukuoka Board of Education" ALTs. I'm not always sure what we're supposed to be doing or why we need to have so many but it just seems like these meetings are an integral part of Japanese business-culture. There are welcome meetings, pre-event meetings, post-event meetings, mid-term meetings, workshop meetings, monthly meetings, school meetings and, my favourite, drinking meetings. Heck, I have a meeting next week so we can discuss what we need to talk about during our next, and arguably more important, meeting! i.e., A meeting about a meeting! Who would've thought that was possible .. :)


Some of us sorting hand-out material for yesterday's meeting -- a job that could have been done by one or two people but, for some reason, required four. That was definitely a "Yep, I'm in Japan," moment. Enjoy the long weekend!