English Cafe! Local News for the World

12:00PM 8/10 on Channel UX21　NUM's instructor makes debut as an actor

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 04:31:00 +0000

Timothy Finney, a part-time English conversation instructor at my university, recently made his debut as an “actor.” A variety show produced by TV Osaka called “Made in Japan” needed two local foreigners to assist them in a production about the history of a local business, Maruto Hasegawa Kosakujo Inc., sometimes called “Keiba.”

“Keiba” produces professional manicure products such as nail clippers and tools such as wrenches and wire cutters. The TV show wanted to dramatize how the company was able to start producing products which met the strict quality standards of the European market. In order to do this, the producers wanted to hire two local foreigners to play German businessmen and they asked Ken Umeda, who works at China Network, a local company that provides foreign language translation and instruction services, to help them out.

“Because the TV producers had scheduled the film shoot to take place on a Monday afternoon, Ken was having a hard time finding someone who was free,” Tim said, “but, since I had helped them out with some classes and the like in the past, they called me and, as luck would have it, I was free that afternoon.”

Tim helped Ken find a second foreigner, Peter Carter, to participate and, dressed in suits and ties on a hot and humid July 1 afternoon, they met the director and his crew at Keiba’s offices. After introductions, the TV crew passed out a Japanese script that told the story of how, 30 years ago, two German businessmen visiting the company were highly unimpressed with the quality of the company’s goods and even physically manhandled the owner to get him to understand that he needed to greatly improve his products in order to sell them outside Japan. The script then had the businessmen give the owner, who was played by another actor, a measuring tool that would allow him to produce a higher quality product.

“I had two lines that I said in English,” Tim noted. “The first one is where, after inspecting their products for the first time, I inform the owner that the quality is terrible and would never sell well in Germany. The second line is where, after inspecting their improved product line, I tell the owner the quality of his product has been greatly improved and that we will be able to work out a deal. In both cases, my dialogue will be dubbed in Japanese by another actor when it is shown for broadcast.”

This is the second time Mr. Finney will have appeared on a Japanese TV show. The first time was when he appeared on a panel that discussed Japanese fans of American comic book characters for a talk show that was broadcast on one of Nippon Broadcasting Network’s (NHK’S) satellite channels. “Well,” said Tim, “I’ve been living in Japan for 23 years now and this is the kind of thing that can happen to foreigners if they live in this country long enough.”
http://www.tv-osaka.co.jp/ip4/wafu/

A "Hachijurigoe" Path is in the Spotlight

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Thu, 04 Jul 2013 07:14:00 +0000

A “hachijurigoe” path is along National Route 289 that runs from Niigata City on the Sea of Japan to Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture. It once played an important role as one of the main horse and buggy routes from the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of the Japan, however, about a century ago, railroads and, later, newer roads for automobiles, made this path obsolete.

http://www.city.sanjo.niigata.jp/eigyo/page00127.html

“Hachijurigoe” means that, though it is only about 20 kilometers long, it was such a rough and tumble route, people felt that they were actually traveling 300 kilometers. As it grew abandoned by normal traffic, the area became even more overgrown. However, because of this, it became a popular nature trail for hikers, campers and mountain climbers.

I was told as a child that a new highway along this route had long been planned as it was the shortest route between the two prefectures. In fact, going back 50 years, there have been many plans to pave the “hachijurigoe” path, but because of many factors, especially Japan’s economic ups and downs, these plans never came to fruition. However, recently, there has been a new push by the City of Sanjo to finally complete the project.

Though it is still under construction in some areas, a limited number of bus tours began driving on the road on June 30 and will continue until November 9. However, it is too late to try and reserve a seat as, surprisingly, all the tours were fully booked in a short amount of time.

For now, only a limited amount of traffic is allowed on the road, however, the long-awaited opening is well within sight. Many people in my hometown of Shitada Village believe that, thanks to this new highway, the local economy will prosper.

Healthcare for Local People

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Mon, 06 May 2013 08:31:00 +0000

The other day, in the Shitada district of Sanjo City, I had a drink with Dr. Mikio Kitazawa and his son, Jiro Okuyama, a dentist, at a restaurant in the Iiyuratei Hot Spring. The spa is located next to one of the doctor’s 12 hospital, nursery schools and senior care facilities where he is both the healthcare corporation director and a doctor.
Physician Kitazawa is a happy-natured self-made man. His main interest is medical care for the aged in rural areas. However, when he was a younger man, he studied to become a Buddhist priest and what he learned during that period influences him still.
His studies lead him to believe that a doctor’s job is not simply to treat ailments, but to holistically help his patients live longer and happier lives and, when the time comes, to provide them with the means to have a peaceful death.

To this end, he and his family moved from the more metropolitan central Sanjo area to the depopulated Shitada Village 16 years ago to assume the weighty responsibility of providing health care to this region’s mostly aging population. Seeing a need, he built eleven of his facilities in the immediate area and one in Sakae District in Sanjo City.
He runs hospitals with departments of internal medicine and psychiatry, special nursing homes for the aged and care support facilities, all of which had long been requested by the local residents. However, he has not grown complacent. In April, his medical corporation established the Jiro Dental Clinic run by his son.

Jiro too has learned from his father’s philosophies. He told me that many of his patients rarely ventured into the city and many of them had not been to see a dentist in 20 years or more and he added that he felt his hard work in setting up the clinic had been rewarded when he heard his patients tell him that they were now able to more fully enjoy eating.

All in all, while the doctor has created hundreds of jobs and has greatly contributed to the economy, he told me that he feels happiest when he is out talking with the locals, making sure that they are doing okay and satisfied with their lives. So, in his free time, he likes to take strolls out into the fields to see how his patients where they live and work. “A rural life,” he said, “is the life for me.”

SANKO Sanjo High School

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 04:42:00 +0000

Sanjo High School will celebrate the 111-year anniversary of its founding on May 1. I am an alumnus of the school and even taught there until I moved to a nearby university eight years ago.

These days, I am a board member of the alumni association and I make it a rule to attend the annual founding celebration. I hope to see many of my past students as well as older graduates at this year’s ceremony.

NUM's New Computer-Assisted Language Learning Center

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 00:19:00 +0000

Niigata University of Management continues to improve its English education facilities by converting an outdated language laboratory into a state-of-the-art computer-assisted language learning center. We encourage all students who wish to improve their English to use our new facilities to help them meet their goals.

Grown Younger

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 04:51:00 +0000

Take a look at the picture of me giving a lecture that is posted on our school’s website (http://www.niigataum.ac.jp/news/2012_20121218083847.html). I’ve lost more than 10 kg of weight and have been keeping the lost weight off. When all is said and done, I found that a version of the low-carbohydrate diet worked best for me. I would like to recommend my method to those who wish to treat or prevent some chronic diseases and conditions including metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, a stiff neck and shoulders, lower back pain, and diabetes.

It also helped me turn back the clock. I am now what I was 30 years ago in terms of weight. I was suffering from many lifestyle-related diseases and conditions, including a fatty liver, chronic snoring, back pain and skin rashes. However, these have all improved or disappeared since I started my diet in late September.

I was always up and down in the course of my struggle to control my weight. Each time I would lose weight using a certain diet I would relapse and put back on the weight. My former method was basically to diminish the total intake of calories which always proved to be stressful.

My stay in San Francisco last September was sort of my last chance to test if my theory was right. I walked and walked and ate less for two weeks. While I lost a kilo, I felt very stressful and missed a chance to eat a lot of delicious food.

Low-carbohydrate diets, which are dietary programs that restrict carbohydrate consumption usually for the treatment of obesity and diabetes, have only recently become accepted in Japan. You limit foods high in digestible carbohydrates (e.g. rice, bread, pasta), but you can eat foods containing a higher percentage of proteins and fats (e.g. meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, eggs, cheese, beans, nuts, and seeds) and other foods low in carbohydrates (e.g. vegetables, mushrooms, Japanese konnyaku and edamame) as much as you like.

I decided to reduce substantially the amount of rice I eat during each meal and when I drink sake, which is rice wine, I decided not to eat rice at all. The hardest part for me was to decline going to ramen noodle restaurants and drinking beer. Usually, when I drink alcohol these days, I only drink whiskey or other distilled drinks.

Currently, I feel healthier and happier than I've felt for years. The only downside for me is that I had to change all my suits to fit the new smaller me.

Back in San Francisco

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 00:38:00 +0000

I escorted a small group of students to San Francisco again this year. They are attending Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, south of San Francisco, which has an affiliated language school within the campus that offered them a two-week special language course. I am responsible for taking care of them during the program.

The students enrolled are from all over the world – Brazil, Colombia, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Taiwan, China, Russia, Vietnam, etc.

The language school, TALK at NDNU, is a thriving community on the NDNU campus. They have small class sizes and students can therefore work very closely with their teachers. Teachers and staff enjoy spending time with students, taking them on activities, showing them the area, and making sure they get the most out of their experience with them. On Friday after class they are taking all of us to Pescadero, a small beach town. We are looking forward to the trip.

According to the instructors, my students’ English has indeed improved and their vocabulary has improved as well. Thank heavens.

“Hayabusa” Falcons

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 07:54:00 +0000

While the nation gazes at the Japanese crested ibises on Sado Island, I prefer to fix my eyes on the falcons of Mt. Yagigahana. Located in the Shitada area of Sanjo City, the birds are designated as one of Niigata Prefecture’s protected species.

According to a story in May 31 edition of the Niigata Nippo Newspaper, a breeding pair of falcons, who have inhabited the area for years, once again hatched eggs this year. Two young birds have been spotted in the nest on the cliff, but they are not yet fledglings.

In Japan, their nesting location was believed to be along the rocky stretches by the sea, but recent reports indicated that falcons choose to nest on high-rise buildings and iron towers. One such nest has been found on the Niigata Prefectural Government Building.
Still, it is not so usual that falcons inhabit mountainous areas.

When I was very small, falcons actually inhabited the area around my family’s house. In fact, the birds were so famous that many clubs and buildings were named after the “hayabusa.” However, they vanished from there soon after and were gone for a very long time, though there are some who say the birds never really left and were just hidden from view. Regardless, some twenty years ago, they made a comeback and can be seen in plain sight once again. I wish that the two young birds will soon be able to leave their nest safely.

Family Reunion in Venice

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Mon, 21 May 2012 02:31:00 +0000

For many Japanese people, Italy is a dream destination. In Japan, Broadcast Satellite TV programs featuring Italian towns and villages run almost every weekend. Italy has the largest number of World Heritage sites and is one of the most popular destinations for Japanese tourists.

My wife, daughter and I had a chance to visit there and to appreciate its historic and traditional buildings, breathtaking architectural landscapes, natural beauty and rural villages during Japan’s Golden Week holidays. Our tourist guide was my son who has been enrolled at a Venetian university since last September.

He made sure to take us to St. Mark's Basilica (Basilica di San Marco in Italian), which is the most famous of the many churches of Venice and is one of the finest examples of Byzantine architecture in the world. Located just off the Grand Canal, the gleaming basilica overlooks the Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square) and adjoins the Doge's Palace.

Another pleasant trip was strolling along the cobbled streets of Milan. Amongst its splendors were the many types of traditional architecture all about us. However, what most thrilled me in Milan was when I stood within Santa Maria delle Grazie just in front of “the Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci.

A great experience many tourists would rarely get to partake in was a visit to an ordinary house in an Italian village. My son’s roommate was kind enough to take my family to his home and to treat us to a typical Italian lunch with good wine. He also showed us around the historical sites there and I felt as if I were immersed in its culture.

I was so happy we were able to make the best use of the short time we had there and to find such a relaxing place to stay in with my family.

Azaleas are at their best

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:11:00 +0000

My daughter is safely off to college, the weather has become more comfortable, the days grow ever longer and the azaleas are in full bloom. Finally, spring has truly sprung, and one of its most relaxing pleasures is to take in all the beautiful flowers while having a cup of hot black tea on the wood deck in my garden.

However, these relaxing moments seem to happen less these days. We had a very long winter and too much snow this year. Last week our area had unusually strong winds. Not to be outdone, the very temperate central Tokyo area was pummeled by hail. Most unusual of all were the many tornadoes that surprisingly struck the Kanto area in the early part of May, something I cannot ever recall happening before. It looks like abnormal weather is becoming normal in many parts of the world.

Spring has come to my house.

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 05:29:00 +0000

Look at the pictures above. As you can see, all the snow has gone. The buds on the cherry and plum trees in my garden will be ready to bloom in a few weeks.

In Japan, “spring has come” is often used when a son or daughter has passed an entrance examination to an upper-level school. In that respect, “spring has come” to my daughter. After one year of hard work to prepare for and take a series of entrance examinations last month, she is now heading out of our house to enter university in Tokyo.

Last weekend, my wife and I helped my daughter move to Tokyo. We brought a lot of her belongings in my car and we ended up staying overnight. She will be living alone temporarily, but her brother will join her in the near future. He is currently studying abroad, but he will resume his studies in Tokyo soon as well.

I feel very lonely without her, but I hope she will soon find a peaceful life and many good friends in Tokyo as well as success in her academic learning at university.

Gyosei Koko puts some muscle into its English education program

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:13:00 +0000

In the vicinity of my college, there are its affiliated schools, Niigata Chuo Junior College and Kamo Gyosei High School. Gyosei Koko is unique and well known in that it is the single high school in Niigata Prefecture offering a nursing course.

Recently, the school won a grant under the auspices of the Niigata Prefectural Government. The grant, which runs for a certain period of years, is offered to private senior high schools that have plans to foster international human resources and to improve their English education. Programs offered under the grant include special Saturday English classes, access to on-line English education, a school excursion to Singapore and special tutoring to help students pass difficult English proficiency examinations and college entrance examinations.

Another of its programs was a three-day intensive English seminar that was held in early March at Niigata University of Management. I was involved in the seminar, helping design the program. I also collaborated with the high school teachers in charge.

During the course of the seminar, about thirty-five students learned oral English under six native-language instructors of English. The purpose of this program was to “give the students opportunities to express themselves in English and have cross-cultural experiences. It went well, in the end, but it was not without some bumps.

There was a good deal of confusion at first as to what the school was attempting to accomplish. The vague quality of the directions only added to this. To be fair, the school had never attempted such an undertaking in the past.

I was glad to see that Gyosei Koko is trying to strengthen its English programs through this grant, but there is obviously some room for improvement. In the near future, I hope to give the teachers an awareness-raising workshop in English that will encourage the teachers to be even more ambitious in order to take full advantage of this opportunity.

Todai Calls for Fall Enrollment

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:34:00 +0000

Todai or the University of Tokyo could move the start of its academic year from autumn to help it compete with overseas rivals and help students wanting to study abroad.

A school working group proposed in an interim report that the university stop accepting students in April, the tradition in Japan, and shift to a fall enrollment system, which is common abroad.

The university hopes to reach a formal decision by the end of March after each department has studied the proposal. (The Asahi Shimbun, 1/18/12)

I am for the proposal, but my reasoning is a little different than the ones given in the report above. Recently, my daughter has taken many college entrance exams during January and February as her high school life comes to a close and she prepares for her future. In Japan, it is still common for students to take entrance tests to multiple universities.

As her parent, I have had the responsibility to make sure that she gets to these tests at the appointed place and time. However, here in Niigata Prefecture, in winter, there is much snow, trains are often delayed and the roads and highways can be treacherous with ice, snow and slow-moving traffic.

Also, right now, it is cold and flu season. In Sanjo City, where we reside, four public schools have been closed because of an influenza epidemic. Because of this, my family and I have not dined in public or gone anywhere to relax for fear of my daughter getting infected before one of her tests.

In March, things aren’t much better. Not only is there still the danger of snow and infection, but nationally, because of the preponderance of cedar trees, it is the height of the hay fever season. Recently, the amount of pollen in the air has been increasing and some people have had severe problems dealing with this condition.

I’m not sure what kind of pressure my daughter is feeling, but I have felt under pressure just to make sure she is able to perform her best under the most normal conditions as possible. A lot of these problems would be eliminated if the test dates were moved to summer.

The pictures show my house and garden after a recent deep snowfall.

The pictures show a pine tree that has been professionally trimmed similar to a bansai tree and other trees. To protect them from the wet and heavy snows we get here, we had professional gardeners use ropes and long bamboo poles to give them support. Niigata Prefecture is famously known as “snow country.”

Honma Dekka? An Exchange Program

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 03:36:00 +0000

The other day, I met an Australian girl who has come to my home prefecture as an exchange student. She told me she would be attending school in Niigata City for the next two months and was interested in Japanese fashion and culture.

This was her second trip to Japan as she had visited Tokyo, Kyoto and Miyajima on a school-sponsored excursion two years ago. I noticed that she always carried a book with her and she admitted to me that she was something of a bookworm. I found her to be quite engaging and smart.

I immediately liked her. Admittedly, however, I am almost predisposed to liking exchange students. You see, I spent the summer of 1977 in Annapolis, Maryland with a wonderful family whom I am still in contact with to this very day.

Also, my son spent a year as an exchange student in Raleigh, North Carolina. It made such an impression on him that he decided to spend a year in Venice, Italy to study philosophy and international relations at a university there.

As my blog mentions, I am the chief of the Niigata chapter of the Experiment in International Living. In fact, the Australian girl I met came here under the auspices of my organization.

http://www.eiljapan.org/index.html

Coincidentally, I was watching a Japanese variety show, “Honma Dekka” (“Is it True?”), which is hosted by the famous Japanese comedian, Akashiya Sanma. One of his guests was a chiropractor, Takuma Usuda, who seemed very familiar to me.

Suddenly, I realized that he was one of the students that I had taken on an exchange visit to Springfield, Illinois some 25 years ago. I was so surprised to see him, I went online and found his email address and sent him a message.

He wrote back that, not only did he remember me, but that he also felt that he owed me a lot. He told me that he attributed much of his success in life to that summer he spent in the States and that it had encouraged him to study abroad.

http://toranomon-chiro.com/

He told me that he owns a practice in Tokyo and that he also teaches part-time at Waseda University. We have since made plan to reunite in Tokyo sometime in the near future and talk about old times, perhaps over a cup of sake.

This is why I have such a passion for exchange programs. I truly feel that they can make a difference in the lives of the students who participate in them. I want students to go abroad and I want to find families who would like to act as host families for these students. If you are interested in hosting exchange students, please feel free to contact me. I would love to hear from you.

KAKURI Corporation

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 07:48:00 +0000

Mr. Mutsuhiro Kato, the vice president of KAKURI Corporation, is like a magnate, attracting the attention of other entrepreneurs in Sanjo City. He often tells people that dreams can become goals if you work hard.

He said he used to dream of selling his wares all over the world, but it now is a goal that has been partly attained. “It takes time,” he said, “but I never give up.”

(The chisels won an award for Good Design from Japan Institute of Design Promotion.）↓

Sanjo City has long been noted for the production of hardware and metal ware tools and goods. KAKURI Corporation, which deals mainly with carpenter tools, such as saws, planes, chisels, knives and kitchen cutleries, stands out amongst its competition.

Mr. Mutsuhiro Kato, who is in charge of the KAKURI Corporation’s factory sector, KAKURI WORKS LTD., said that half of the products made by the factory are sold to overseas clientele. Its high-quality tools are particularly popular in China, where it has shifted much of its production.

While he had some struggles breaking into China’s market, after doggedly negotiating with Chinese buyers for ten years, he gradually gained friendships and trust and slowly built the company’s reputation there.

Mr. Kato, who continues to tirelessly meet with businesspersons from around the world, hopes to expand his company’s global sales even further. His next dream is to increase sales in Europe, and he, along with other young, up-and-coming entrepreneurs in the Tsubame-Sanjo area, make an annual trek to display their commodities at a trade fair in Ambiente, which is in Frankfurt, Germany.

Likewise, when Europeans and other foreign businesspeople visit this area, they often visit his company and he acts as their host. English, he says, is the language they often communicate in.

(Mr. Kato with Chinese students at his factory in Sanjo City.)

He is such a diligent worker that many people ask to hear about his successes; however, he is not reluctant to disclose his failures, and welcomes anyone who wants to learn from him. If he is asked to talk about exports from Sanjo City, he never hesitates. He often gives lectures to business and community groups and sees these as opportunities to volunteer his knowledge.

He loves these opportunities to greet people from all over the world and views these “chance meetings,” as he calls them, as very important. Whether it is in Japanese or English, he loves communicating.

(With consummate skills, KAKURI's accomplished, experienced hand finalizes ultimate-level blades.)

Snowpeak - natural lifestyle creator

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 22:56:00 +0000

He sits down to a family dinner only a few times a month as his hectic schedule takes him everywhere, throughout Japan and overseas. He often works from morning to midnight.

Is Snowpeak’s president Tohru Yamai a typical Japanese workaholic out to get rich? No, he says, he mainly works to make his community wealthier and its people happier. However, he is ambitious and his ambitions have grown bigger and bigger over the years as he has expanded the business that was handed down to him from his father.

His business’s success has allowed him to open a new company headquarters on a hilly ranch site four times as large as the Tokyo Dome baseball park in the Shitada District of Sanjo City in April. The site was chosen because Snowpeak deals with the production and distribution of outdoor gear, and the areas surrounding the new building are some of the best camping sites around.

Along with the new headquarters, 60 of his 130 staff members moved to Shitada, planning, designing, producing, selling and even repairing high class goods there in this all-in-one building. The office building won an award for Good Design from Japan Institute of Design Promotion.

He said Snowpeak brand goods are more luxurious than those used by most traditional campers, but they are also highly user-friendly and fashionable. Likewise, his camping sites are of a more sanitary-design and are as equally luxurious as the goods he sells. However, his company doesn’t just please those of us who enjoy camping right here in Sanjo, it also has shops throughout Japan as well as foreign countries such as Korea, Germany and the USA.

Mr. Yamai’s unstoppable quest for excellence didn’t just start after he came to be president of the company. Even back in his high school days when he was on the baseball team, he played with the sole goal of playing for the national high school championship at Koshien Stadium. He had dedicated his whole life to that point to baseball.

After entering university in Tokyo, he pursued his outside interests with far more dedication than he gave to his course work. However, as he grew to be a full-fledged member of society, he began to channel the same energy he had spent on sports and partying to helping others. When a devastating flood hit Sanjo City in 2004, he volunteered to help in the cleanup every day for more than three weeks, without ever visiting his office. Likewise, after the great 3/11 earthquake, his company collected a total of 10,000 tents, sleeping bags, mats and rugs from all over Japan and provided them to many victims and many volunteers who were helping out with search, rescue and restoration projects.

These days, a lot of his energy is devoted to sharing his love for nature and healthier lifestyles. When he’s not doing that, he is helping to foster young and energetic entrepreneurs and business people by volunteering his experience and knowhow. When he was still an active member of the Japan Junior Chamber, the older members tutored him and helped him to “grow up” and he now feels compelled to give back.

As for his company, he hopes that it will be able to serve 100,000 customers a year in five years. As a “citizen of the earth,” as he sometimes refers to himself, he simply wants to contribute positively to society.

Time-Honored Classy Onsen Ryokan, Rankeiso

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 03:25:00 +0000

Rankeiso, located in the Shitada area of Sanjo City, is popular among “onsen” lovers young and old as it is one of Niigata’s best hot spring inns. http://www.rankei.com/

When I was a high school teacher in Sanjo, I often volunteered to be an organizer of school parties in order to choose Rankeiso as the venue as it is an ideal setting for relaxing parties.

Recently, I met Rankeiso’s president, Keigo Otake, who is the fourth-generation manager of this family-owned inn. Though he comes across as a bit shy, he is not timid when he speaks about the three points that make his inn one of Japan’s best secluded hot spring spots.

First, he noted, the quality of the inn’s onsen baths is outstanding. The cold spa water is quite rich in minerals and surprisingly tasty. It is a little salty and tastes like seaweed tea. He even uses the water to make Onsen-gayu, a special type of rice porridge for breakfast.

A second factor that makes this inn an unforgettable experience, he noted, is the tantalizing cuisine. Four distinguished chefs turn any of the inn’s traditional country-styled dishes into a high-class banquet. (Having recently attended a family reunion at the Rankeiso where we partook of many of the inn’s best delicacies, I can personally attest that this is no exaggeration.)

The third element, he touched on, and perhaps the most important, is how the inn lies in gentle harmony with it natural surroundings. Scenic woods envelope the inn while the Sumon River runs beside it, allowing those who come there to feel as one with nature.

During our talk, Mr. Otake noted that the “Go” in his given name, Keigo, means “five.” In this way, his parents and grandparents consigned in him five wishes. He didn’t say a lot, but he knows what his family expected of him and he is obviously full of high hopes for his inn.

He didn’t brag about his high ambitions to expand his business, but he did modestly mention that he would like to keep pace with the times. He then concluded my interview by saying he envisions the future of his inn, the village and its people, all the time.

English Lessons in San Francisco

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 03:49:00 +0000

Niigata University of Management, where I teach English pedagogy, sends students to overseas schools each year. Students here have opportunities to visit campuses in China, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States.

Last month from September 4th to 17^th, I escorted a small group of students who wanted to study English to San Francisco. They attended Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, south of San Francisco, which has an affiliated language school within the campus that offered them a two-week special language course.

I was responsible for taking care of them during the program, but while I stayed at a local motel in Belmont, the students were staying with host families in San Francisco. It was good for them to be able to meet and learn how American students spend their home and campus lives.

The language school, named TALK, offers English courses to meet the needs of a wide variety of students. My students took a placement examination at the beginning of the course, and were put into suitable small-sized classes.

http://www.talk.edu/intl/

Notre Dame de Namur University was founded in 1851 and is one of the oldest universities in California. (http://www.ndnu.edu/) The campus is located about twenty minutes south of San Francisco. The famous Silicon Valley, home to Google, Yahoo, Intel and Apple, is ten minutes away, and it is also a close neighbor Stanford University. Like San Francisco, Belmont’s weather is gorgeous, always mild, cool and clear, though walking around in the sun can still leave you sweaty.

The language school provided a lot of extra activities, such as sightseeing trips to downtown San Francisco, tickets to a San Francisco Giants’ baseball game and a bicycle outing that took us across the Golden Gate Bridge. As a proponent of international exchange programs, I believe programs like this truly expand a student’s knowledge and provide the kind of perspective and experience needed in today’s global society.

Iiyuratei Spa Reopens in Novemeber

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 02:48:00 +0000

Two months have passed since a dreadful torrent washed away several places in the Shitada district. Most of the devastated areas have been restored, but there are still many places along the mountainous roads and rivers that have not been. Full restoration will take more time.

One such area is Shitada’s most popular resort facility. Its name, Iiyuratei, is a pun based on a local dialect, meaning “It’s indeed good hot water.”

The spa, which looks down from the spectacular view atop Mt. Yagigahana, just upstream from the Ikarashi River, was damaged to a great extent and will need another month of repairs before reopening. Once it does, I highly recommend going there as it is in walking distance of the beautiful rice terraces of which I am particularly fond. The hot spring and health facility, which welcomes Onsen lovers throughout the year, is also connected to the Hayabusa Sports Center and is in the vicinity of the Yagigahana Auto Camping site. I think it is an ideal place to spend a weekend. http://www.iiyuratei.com/

We’ve had enough natural disasters.

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 06:46:00 +0000

In Japan, everywhere, except Hokkaido, experiences “the rainy season” before summer. Traditionally, we have had very steady rain during that time. We have also tended to get our fair share of typhoons in summer and fall. These rains have made our country rich in water and crops.

However, recently, it never rains but it pours. This week, another big typhoon, the second in a month, rampaged through Japan. It is now common to read in the reports of the Meteorological Agency phrases like “the most powerful typhoon on record,” “the warmest day/summer/year on record,” “the largest storm in recorded history,” and so on.

The Ikarashi River in Sanjo City, famous for its beauty, was believed to have been rendered harmless after its banks were reinforced following what was believed to have been a 100-year flood that damaged large portions of my hometown seven years ago.

However, on July 31, we experienced rainfalls so heavy that even this new infrastructure was overwhelmed and the overflow again destroyed many houses, buildings, roads and even the terraced rice paddies that I mentioned in a previous blog. “A natural disaster strikes when people lose their memory of the previous one” is an often quoted Japanese saying. These days, with the last disaster still fresh in our minds, another one comes without mercy. If these recent abnormal weather patterns represent my country’s new normal, then we truly need to learn how to live with disasters.

These pictures show Sanjo City in 2004.

http://www.mlit.go.jp/river/pamphlet_jirei/bousai/saigai/kiroku/suigai2004/hokuriku.html

This one was taken this past August. http://www.kenoh.com/2011/07/29rain.html

Himesayuri Lilies and Tanada Rice Terraces

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 04:25:00 +0000

On a fine sunny June day, I went to admire the official Sanjo City flower, himesayuri, and tanada, the terraced rice fields at Kita-Imogawa. This hamlet, which is located on the outskirts of Sanjo City, faces the eastern side of the cliff off Mt. Yagigahana (see the picture shown with the title of this blog article).

Himesayuri, my most favorite flower, literally means “princess lilies,” but is translated as “star lilies” by Sanjo City officials. Its alternative name is otomeyuri, “maiden lilies.” They are listed as endangered, and can be found only in a limited number of places in Japan, but they are ubiquitous around the ruins of Takajo Castle and its surrounding hiking trails.

Around this area, the somewhat dainty flower is known to bloom from mid-May to mid-June. The flowers in the pictures below were not from Takajo, but were unexpectedly found along the paths of the paddy fields at Kta-Imogawa. When I saw them, I wished they had been protected by ringed fences.

Look at the beautiful photos of Tanada below.
The Kita-Imogawa’s tanada is listed as one of Japan’s top 100 terraced rice fields by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Japan. The rice-planting season was just finished a few weeks ago, and I believe this is the most beautiful time of the year to view them.

I feel so serene looking down at the village from the top of the tanada.

It is definitely easier to plant rice in plain fields, but the lack of space in the mountainous villages made farmers decide to reclaim heavy slopes, creating graduated terrace steps. These turned to be some of the most delicious rice produced in Japan as these mountainous areas are rich in pure waters from melted snows, a determinative of the quality of rice.

Niigata prefecture is the largest, sometimes second largest, producer of rice output in Japan. For that reason, Niigata is also the biggest sake and rice cracker producer as well.

If you get the chance, why don’t you hike along Shitada’s trails?

My colleague is appearing in the TV program

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Mon, 30 May 2011 02:37:00 +0000

On the set of NHK's Netchu Stadium

My colleague, Tim Finney, visited NHK Studios to tape an episode of Netchu Stadium. Tim, an English language instructor at Niigata University of Management, was included on a panel of thirty guests that talked about American comic book heroes who are popular in Japan. During the taping, he was situated right behind the special guest panelists. He said, "We filmed two 45 minute shows. This (picture) shows the set as it was during the first show, which was primarily about the Marvel Comic characters, Spider-Man & Iron Man. See if you can spot me amongst my fellow ‘otaku’ (nerds)!”
The shows run on 6/9 & 6/16 on NHK's BS Premium at 11:30 p.m.
https://www.nhk.or.jp/n-stadium/23thm/thm_s_mail.html

Harpsichord producer restores medieval music

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 03:42:00 +0000

Living in a tranquil and snow-deep countryside, Shitada, in Sanjo City, a serene artisan sedulously has produced cembalo, an Italian word for harpsichords, and clavichords for many years. Yashushi Takahashi, now a half-century old, is also my old high schoolmate.
The harpsichord was believed to be invented in the late Middle Ages. European harpsichord makers were making the instrument as far back as the Renaissance and Baroque music eras. Due to the rise of the piano in the late 18th century, it lost popularity. However, after gradually making a comeback in the 20th century, it is once again resurgent today. Players now perform both older works and contemporary music with the harpsichord.

The clavichord is also a European stringed-keyboard instrument. Its history is a little longer and was mainly played for practice purposes and as an aid in composition.
Surprisingly, Yasushi collects materials, designs the instruments and, with the exception of such things as nails, screws and strings, he makes and assembles everything in his studio workshop.
He is normally reticent and genial, but if you get him talking about his instruments and music, he becomes impassioned. When it comes to his craft, he is even willing to bring (drag) his harpsichord across oceans and continents, to show off his wares as he did at an international exhibition and convention in Italy in 2009. There, he spoke at length in English about both his large masterpieces and production activities in Japan and received the applause and adulation from those in attendance. (The subject of his speech was “A Study of Clavichord Scale Design.”)
He is now dreaming of holding a small concert and gathering in Niigata for devotees of older musical instruments to exchange and share knowledge, ideas and love of music. Please feel free to visit his website and learn more about medieval musical instruments. http://www2.plala.or.jp/clavier/
Of course, you can also buy one.

Hanami Season Coming Up!

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 03:43:00 +0000

Spring has come to my house at last.

Japanese people enjoy tracking the "sakura zensen" (cherry-blossom front) as it moves northward up the archipelago in concert with spring's warmer weather. Sakura usually come earlier here in my city, but, while cooler temperatures have delayed them, "hanami" (cherry blossom viewing) season is finally upon us!

In fact, the ones in my garden are almost at their best. Adding to my enjoyment are the bush warblers singing beautifully in the trees in a neighboring small shrine.

Symbolic to us is the fleeting beauty of the cherry blossom. Because of their short blooming time, extreme beauty and quick death, they represent the transience of life. Let’s go on a cherry blossom viewing picnic.

Doll Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Kiyotaka Ichishima) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 10:48:00 +0000

March 3 marks the “Hina Matsuri” or “Doll Festival.” It was formally called “Momo no Sekku” or “Peach Festival for Girls.”

The following two pictures show a typical doll display set up in houses with daughters. The dolls are customarily handed down from mother to daughter and often go back generations. Usually the set includes dolls representing the emperor and empress, three court ladies, five musicians, two ministers and three servants situated on five to seven stepped-shelves covered with a red cloth.

After the display is set up, daughters dress in a traditional-styled Japanese kimono. Afterward, family members gather in the room and enjoy drinking shirozake, a sweet, non-alcoholic sake made from rice malt, and eating sweetened puffed-rice crackers while listening to or singing a song written specifically for the festival.

This custom became popular after the Meiji Era near the end of the nineteenth century, however it is believed to have its origins in Heian court practice, about one thousand years ago.