Of North Korea

Tensions are increasing over in this region due to the recent threats by North Korea. For those of you who may not be updated on the latest news, first refer to my last post, and then I'll summarize everything here.

All good? Alright, let's continue...

So, as you know, North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong Island in South Korea the other day, killing two marines and two civilians. Japan immediately condemned the act, and is trying to find ways to settle the matter. China is also trying to solve the problem, but in some ways, it is making it worse. This is due to the fact that the US and South Korea are planning to hold naval exercises in the area in order to discourage North Korea from any further action. Unfortunately, North Korea has expressly stated that it considers this a threat on its sovereignty and that if it pushed any further by these exercises, it will not hesitate to retaliate. China, although not condoning North Korea's actions, has also stated that "any military act in its exclusive economic zone will not be permitted." By reading between the extremely passive-aggressive lines, one notices that China is also in a way threatening the US and Korea, and possibly will take serious action if it continues to be baited. Although right now no one is sure what that relation would be, one can guess that China would perhaps stop trade with the States as it did with Japan not long ago with regard to the rare earth fiasco. Although China eventually started trading with Japan again, the US cannot afford to lose China as a trading partner.

Apparently, the US and South Korea have started military drills anyway. The commander of South Korea's marines has stated that South Korea will avenge the deaths a "thousandfold." And that, "We will put our feelings of rage and animosity in our bones and take our revenge on North Korea." North Korea, in contrast, has accused the South's marines of using "human shields" while still calling the civilian deaths "very regrettable."

Apparently, six-way talks were to be held by Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea, the US, and Russia. Although the Prime Ministers and other such representatives of the individual countries have met and are trying to solve the problem one-on-one, the talks that were originally planed have been postponed.

I can't truly say what's happening in other countries right now, but I know Japan is on edge. Although it is normal for North and South Korea to be angry at each other, and even to engage in military actions at each other every now and then, this much animosity still is making people uncomfortable. Kan's Cabinet has been put on high alert here, and has been ordered to stay in Tokyo in case the situation gets out of hand. Hopefully this will end like in the past with just the North and South being angry at each other and without a war breaking out. Honestly, I do think it's possible to prevent that, but considering the China-Korea region is becoming extremely unstable, we will see what happens. China is experiencing some infighting in the government, North Korea is currently changing leadership, and South Korea is upset with its Prime Minister for not doing enough to handle the situation.

To those that are worried, don't worry too much. The North and South hate each other by definition. I would worry more about China than anything else.

If you want more information, check out the Japan Times and the New York Times.

Michelle

Of Movie Theaters

So, before we get to the main event of this post, I decided to give you a little news real quick. Actually, I don't have news of China this time. Although there's still tension between Japan and China, there's nothing really new there, so we'll leave that for now. Instead, I'm sure by now that you all have probably heard of the recent attack by North Korea against Korea. When I say Korea by the way, please keep in mind that I mean what is termed South Korea by other nations. So, North Korea seems to have fired about a hundred rounds at Korea, apparently over some border dispute or other such nonsense. No worries though. Right now, the US is sending over troops to do some drills to try to discourage North Korea from doing anything else. According to people here, this isn't that unusual. North Korea tends to attack Korea from time to time, but it's normally solved pretty quickly. Personally, I'm not sure if this is due to the fact that North Korea is changing leadership (and therefore that was mean that this would be validating the new leader's power), or if this is some sort of resource battle or what. We'll see what happens. As long as North Korea is on its own, things should be resolved pretty quickly, since North Korea doesn't really have the money to sustain a long war or anything. If North Korea gets aid though, I'd be more worried. That's just the update for the day. If anything else comes of it, I'll definitely post about it.

Now, onto our main and more light-hearted event - Japanese movie theaters. Kind of a strange post, I admit, but definitely worth it. So here's the thing. You go into the movie theater and you decide to run into the restroom real quick. It's full of those delightful Toto toilets. And since the weather's getting cold, all those seat heaters are on, so now cold seats in that restroom now! Fantastic! You finish your business, head on to your way to go grab yourself a little Yogi-snack. (P.S. You may not believe it, but I wrote that sentence speaking like Yogi Bear to myself. Read it again. In the Yogi voice. It will make you laugh. Sorry, back to the point).

You move on your way to grab some food. They have the normal movie theater food: hot dogs, nachos, that sort of thing. They also have some delicious churros. I know they're delicious because my friend let me try hers, and hers was amazing. After all of this, you go into the movie theater. This is where the real fun begins. They show the previews as normal, and then you know those little "Don't do this in the movie theater" advertisements that they show to make sure that everyone is respectful? Yeah, those are a lot more fun here. "Please make sure your phone is on silent." Ok, no problems there. "Please do not talk in the theater." Yup, no problems there either. "Please do not kick the seat in front of you?" Ok, that's a nice addition. And then, "Please do not film and distribute the movie." Wait...what? I mean, I know people do that, but it's the first time I've seen it. Interesting.

Well, the movie begins. It's Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows: Part I by the way. Tickets here are exceptionally expensive. Around 1500 yen ($15 US) a ticket. On ladies' night, Wednesday night, it's cheaper for women, but it's still expensive for men. Sorry, guys. You don't get a special movie night. Here's the interesting thing about the movie. We went to an English showing with Japanese subtitles. There were Japanese showings too, but since we went to one of the first ones, it was only in English. But when Harry starts speaking the snake language, I think it's called Parseltongue, am I right? Anyway, when he starts speaking that, you have to read those subtitles. Because there are no English subtitles. So you gotta' read the Japanese ones. Do you know how weird that is? To be listening, and not understanding. And then you have to read your foreign language to understand the "foreign" language? Bizarre.

So the movie finally ends. Good movie by the way. I recommend it. The movie finally ends and the credits begin. Well, we had heard rumors that here in Japan the Japanese tend to wait until the end of the credits to leave, but you hear a lot of rumors about Japan that aren't true. So, the movie ends, and we look around, and no ones moving. Not a single person. The credits go on for five minutes; one person leaves. My friend next to me is dying. She really wants to get out of the theater, but no ones moving. Another five minutes. Two more people leave. This goes on for 15 minutes. And during that time, maybe 10 people in the entire 200 person theater or so left. So if you hear that rumor, I'm telling you its true. Until those lights come on, don't even try to leave the theater. Sit quietly and enjoy the credits. It's kind of nice though in a way. You sit there and think about it and you come to appreciate the movie a little bit more. But if you're an impatient person, I don't recommend going to the movies.

Take care all! And I'll write again.

Michelle

京都御所 (Kyoto Gosho)

Today, we all decided to head out to catch a look at the 紅葉 (momiji), or the fall colors. Honestly, I was thrilled to get the chance to do this. I always love watching the leaves change, whether its in my home country or here in Japan. So with a few friends, we took off to the mysterious palace of 京都御所 (Kyoto Gosho) - Nothing less than the Kyoto Imperial Palace.

Surrounding the palace is the Kyoto Park Grounds. These are phenomenally beautiful. Open to the public year-ground, people are able to come and enjoy the grounds while having a picnic, playing games with friends, or just enjoying their time outside. The fall colors were in full force when we arrived.

Tomoyo enjoying the leaves

After walking around the grounds, we decided to enter the palace. This palace is only open to the public three days a year, so I'm really lucky to be in Kyoto right now. Although this palace is no longer really in use, it is still maintained as a historical site.

First, we have the 諸大天の間 (Shodaibunoma). This large building is composed of three anterooms, and its purpose was as a waiting room for visiting dignitaries.Depending on the dignitary's rank, he would be placed in the appropriate chamber. These are amazingly beautiful with images of waterfalls, cherry blossoms, and cranes. Honestly, if I could live in this waiting room (and I want you to know, I'll never say that again), I would. It was beautiful. Notice that the floors are also all tatami mats.

Next is the 新御車寄 (Shinmikurumayose). This was built for the Emperor Taisho in 1915 as his carriage entrance. Also very beautiful, the ornamentation on this is extremely intricate. Note the gold leaf.

This is the 日華門 (Nikkamon) gate. It's oddly interesting because it's orange instead of red. Normally, these tend to be more red. Crowded.

This is the 紫宸殿 (Shishinden). It was the main building used for important ceremonies (i.e. coronation of the emperor). The roof is made of cypress bark; there's a garden of white gravel; and a cherry tree to the east and a tachibana mandarin tree to the west. 

This is 御内庭(Gonaitei). It's the Emperor's Private Garden. I want a garden like this. In fact, I'll settle for just a little waterfall. It can be electric. But it would still be cool. 

And there you go. An abbreviated version of the Kyoto Imperial Palace.

Michelle

Ritsumeikan Gakuensai

The 立命館学園祭 (Ritsumeikan Gakuensai) occurred over the weekend. This is a really big school festival, and when I say really big, I mean huge. Basically, every organization sets up a stall and does something for the festival. Here we have the SKP buddies (Study in Kyoto Program) trying to sell their delicious corn soup. Business was a little slow at the time, so we have Juri posing with a Free Hug sign if you buy the soup. Keep in mind it's really cheap, like 150-200 yen. The idea was for all of their foreign friends to hold these signs because "Ooh la la. Free hugs from foreigners." Amazingly, it was a superb market strategy and the soup sold quickly.

Organizations like the wrestling club and the judo club were also present. Remember the previous post? Yeah, they got their rink set up and wrestled for days. The judo club did demos and taught some.

I enjoyed the a capella circle though. They were really good!

And to top it off, we had some serious dancing going on a gigantic stage. I was only here for like 2 minutes though because I was getting hungry.

Here are some pictures of the stands and an advertising duo in Stitch and Tigger costumes.

Other cool things included crafts like making your own pottery, caricatures, and live spray paint art.

In other news, the leaves are beginning to change color. If the weather stays nice, I'll load some pictures of that up soon.

Also, unfortunately, not all news can be good news. Due to the recent attempted terrorist attacks on the US, Japan is having to take some fairly strict measures. Getting in and out of Japan is getting to be a little more difficult. The screening process is taking more time than usual, even for native Japanese and permanent residents. Packages cannot be shipped to the US if they weigh more than 1 pound now as well. This is surely a temporary measure, but no one is sure how long it will last. So I apologize to anyone who wanted something. I currently can't ship anything to anyone in the States.

Michelle

Of Trains and (Un)Manliness

Another post. Who knew? Told you I would make it up to you all. Well, this post will discuss the rush hour trains and (un)manliness.

I got on the train at rush hour the other day, unintentionally hitting the "just-off-work-and-trying-to-get-back-home" crowd. So, I get on the train, and I'm with a friend, and we only have four stops. Four. That's it. First stop, we though, "Wow, it's a little crowded. Luckily, we only have four stops." Second stop came and a mass of people rushed in. The doors barely closed. Third stop came up. More people came in. We were against the doors. There was no way that we could move. Business man behind me is falling asleep standing up. Business man behind my friend is falling asleep too. Girls on the other side of us are pressed against the doors like sardines. Would have loved to see their faces from the outside pressed up against the glass. I'm sure it was comical. It took about 10 minutes for the doors to close. People were in the way, you know. But you can ALWAYS fit another person. We got off at the fourth stop and were like "Wow, we can breathe again." So, lesson learned. Don't ride the train at rush hour. Just wait till later. There will be another train in 10 minutes. You can wait.

And now, onto the main theme of this post. (Un)manliness. Don't get me wrong. Japanese guys are very kind, and they make wonderful friends. No problems there. But sometimes you just have to question the guy's gender sometimes. No joke. I saw a person the other day who had a nice shiny black purse. Man bags are currently in style. So are big purses for girls. Useless. They were wearing small boots. Both girls and guys wear small shiny boots. They're fashionable, and fashion is very very important. They were also dressed fashionably. Definitely not helpful. Everyone must be fashionable, or the world will end. Finally, they had on tight pants. And when I saw tight, I mean tight, my friends. And this is the ultimate bane of my existence. You see, Japanese men don't really care if they reproduce or not. So they wear these ridiculously tight pants, and it's a pain in the butt. Because that's normally your last resort. Ended up it was a girl. But it took 20 minutes to decide. Consider this the norm. And now, onto the main event.

I got an e-mail the other day from the office at Ritsumeikan saying something the lines of, "Honorable person, please understand honorably that the foreigner benches will be moved. We hope this does not inconvenience you." After wondering why on earth they decided I needed that e-mail, and whether I should be offended or not, I decided to move to head over to the foreigner benches to go get a nice show. The wrestling team comes up. No. I'm not joking. The wrestling comes up. All 20 or so of them and 12 of them move to one table. These are picnic tables, guys. They're like maybe 20-30 pounds. Nothing. I can move one. By myself. Without trying. But no, 12 guys for one table. And they heave up the table with a shout of "Let's do it!" and they carry it away, grunting the entire time. Honestly, if they weren't tripping over each other's feet, it probably would have been a bit easier. But really, 12 guys. 12! Why do you need 12 guys to move one stinking table? I decided it was an exceptional amount of teamwork. After moving all three tables around the corner of a building, they decided to start setting up their wrestling rink. A U-Haul drives up. It's full of the most random crap I've ever seen in my life. Random metal pillars, 60 or so planks of wood, and other odds and ends. They carry out all the metal pillars. No problems there. Then, they move to the wood. This is when it gets even more ridiculous. Each plank of wood must be carried separately because we cannot damage it. Best of all. Each gets two guys, one on each end to cradle it carefully. Every now and then, you get up to three pieces, but normally, it's one to two. They actually look like they're having trouble moving these, and they're all dog-tired by the end because they've made about 50 trips to the stinking U-Haul. Now, I try not to make US-Japan comparisons, but I really can't help it here. In America, those 60 planks of wood would have been carried in maybe 10 trips. Maybe. That's the max there. It's likely be more like 5. Because here's the thing, US guys would have been like? "60 planks of wood? What the hell? That's too much!" And then they would have tried to be as lazy as humanly possible by getting it down as quickly as possible. So, they would have taken six or so at a time. Since girls were watching, that means they would have been placing bets, and rooting each other on to take more--all while shirtless. But this is not America. Every piece of wood gets tender loving care.

Ah well, till next time.

Michelle

Kansai-ben

I apologize for the delay. I've been busy with other things, which has kind of prevented me from updating this, but I'll make it up to you. I promise.

Today's topic is the Kansai dialect, 関西弁(Kansai-ben). Kansai is the Western region of Japan. It's composed of places like 大阪 (Osaka) and 京都 (Kyoto). Kansai-ben is thought to sound funny, more open, and perhaps a little rude to non-speakers of the dialect. In contrast, we also have 関東弁 (Kanto-ben). Kanto is the Eastern region of Japan. Mainly, we think of this as standard Japanese. It's spoken in 東京 (Tokyo), on the news stations, and taught around the world. Tokyo-ben (the dialect specific to Tokyo) is thought to sound too polite, monotone, and robotic to non-speakers. These are just two of the main dialects though.  So, now that we've got the history pinned down, we could move on to the fun stuff. I'd promised little language tips every now and then. Please keep in mind that I am not an expert on the Kansai dialect. I am definitely still learning it, but these are just a few observations.

Kansai-ben differs from Tokyo-ben in its choice of words. For example, we have the word アカン (akan) in Kansai-ben. This means approximately "no good" or "hopeless" or just plain "wrong." The Tokyo-ben equivalent is だめ (dame). We also see the word アホ (aho) pretty commonly in Kansai-ben. It's meaning is "idiot" or "fool." In Tokyo-ben, you would say バカ (baka). Some others that are different include ほんま（に） (honma(ni)) in Kansai-ben and ほんとう（に） (hontou(ni)) in standard Japanese for "really." めちゃ (mecha) versus とても／チョウ　(totemo/chou) for "very," and おおきに (ookini) instead of ありがとう (arigatou) for "thank you."

Occasionally, some words are also shortened. For example, 面白い（おもしろい） (interesting) becomes おもろい in Kansai-ben. 違う（ちがう）(chigau) becomes ちゃう (chau) for the word "wrong."

Conjugations are also a little different. 食べない（たべない）, "I did not eat," becomes たべへん (tabehen). だ (da), the shortened form of です (desu) meaning "to be" becomes や (ya).

Kyoto, like all cities, also has its own particular form of the dialect. In Kyoto, people tend to add -haru to their verbs to make them a little more polite. For example, 行きます（いきます) (ikimasu), "I'll go" becomes 行かはる　（いかはる）(ikaharu).

Of course, please keep in mind this is all just an overview of the Kansai dialect. This by no means includes everything. People have written books on the topic, and this is only a measly little post, but hopefully it was of some interest to you. In order to fully learn the Kansai dialect though, you have to just listen to the people around you and repeat what they're saying. After all, since each city is different, if you're not careful, you still won't sound like a local.

Michelle