JAPAN!japan!JaPan!

AKIHABARA

2007-06-30T00:21:00.000+09:00

Akihabara (秋葉原, Akihabara^?), also known as Akihabara Electric Town (秋葉原電気街, Akihabara Denki Gai^?), is a neighborhood in Tokyo, Japan. It is located less than five minutes by rail from Tokyo Station. Its name is frequently shortened to Akiba in Japan. While there is an official locality named Akihabara nearby, part of Taito-ku, the area known to most people as Akihabara (including the railway station of the same name) is actually Soto-Kanda, a part of Chiyoda-ku.

Akihabara is best-known as one of the largest shopping areas on Earth for electronic, computer, anime, and otaku goods, including new and used items. New items are mostly to be found on the main street, Chūōdōri, with many kinds of used items found in the back streets of Soto Kanda 3-chōme. First-hand parts for PC-building are readily available from a variety of stores. Tools, electrical parts, wires, microsized cameras and similar items are found in the cramped passageways of Soto Kanda 1-chōme (near the station). Foreign tourists tend to visit the big name shops like Laox or other speciality shops near the station, though there is more variety and lower prices at locales a little further away.

DAISUKE MATSUZAKA

2007-02-22T15:32:00.000+09:00

Daisuke Matsuzaka (松坂大輔) born September 13, 1980 in Tokyo, Japan; often rendered as "DICE-kay" or "DICE-keh"), nicknamed The Monster in Japan , is a Japanese professional baseball player who became a member of the Boston Red Sox on December 13, 2006. It is widely anticipated that he will be a starting pitcher. He previously played for the Seibu Lions in Japan's Pacific League.

He throws a four-seam fastball which ranges from 145–154 km/h (90 to 96 mph), with some late movement, as well as a cut fastball. He also throws a splitter, changeup, slider, curveball and shuuto with almost the same delivery,[1] and he has said that he is working on a gyroball.

He was selected the MVP of the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

Janguru wa Itsumo Hare nochi Gū

2007-01-09T22:11:00.000+09:00

ジャングルはいつもハレのちグゥ

The surreal and outlandish comedy Haré+Guu introduces us to 10 year old Haré, a nice little boy who lives with his free-spirited young mother, Weda, in a small, contemporary jungle village. Haré's peaceful daily routine of school, video games, and housework is irrevocably altered when Weda adopts a seemingly innocent and charming little orphan girl named Guu.

After a fun first evening, Haré is shocked the next morning to find that Guu has dropped her pretense of sweetness to reveal her true mysterious and insidious nature. Guu, in fact, seems to be a mind-reading alien being that eats anything and has another entire dimension of off-kilter humans and bizarre animals living in her stomach! And her sole reason for existence is driving Haré crazy by constantly pointing out all of his character flaws and neurosis, wreaking havoc on time and space, and being an utter nuisance in the way that only a super-strong, short tempered, magic using and vaguely unsettling young girl of indeterminate age, origin and physical composition can be.

Created in 1997 by female manga artist Renjuro Kindaichi, the Haré+Guu manga serial continues to headline the monthly Japanese Shonen GanGan magazine. In April 2001, the comic was adapted into a television series that spanned 26 broadcast episodes and two made-for-home-video "OAV" series, all produced by the Shin'ei Doga production studio best known for the international smash hit anime comedy Crayon Shin-chan, and directed by Tsutomu Mizushima (Crayon Shin-chan, Genshiken TV, XXXholic.)

Nintendo Wii

2006-12-19T18:38:00.000+09:00

The Wii is a video game console released by Nintendo. The console was previously known by its project code name of Revolution, and is the successor to the Nintendo GameCube. Although Nintendo states that its console primarily targets a demographic different from that of Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3,as part of the seventh generation of gaming consoles it competes with the other two on some levels.

A distinguishing feature of the console is its wireless controller, the Wii Remote, which can be used as a handheld pointing device and can detect motion and rotation in three dimensions. The console also notably features WiiConnect24, which enables it to receive messages and updates over the Internet, while consuming very little electrical power.

Nintendo first mentioned the console in the 2004 E3 press conference and later unveiled the system at the 2005 E3. Satoru Iwata revealed a prototype of the controller at the September 2005 Tokyo Game Show.In the 2006 E3, it won the first of several awards.By December 8, 2006, the console completed its launch in three key markets.

source:wikipedia

The world's top 200 universities

2006-01-05T17:55:00.000+09:00

1 Harvard University US
2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology US
3 Cambridge University UK
4 Oxford University UK
5 Stanford University US
6 University of California, Berkeley US
7 Yale University US
8 California Institute of Technology US
9 Princeton University US
10 Ecole Polytechnique France
11=Duke University US
11=London School of Economics UK
13 Imperial College London UK
14 Cornell University US
15 Beijing University China
16 Tokyo University Japan
17=University of California, San Francisco US
17=University of Chicago US
19 Melbourne University Australia
20 Columbia University US
21 ETH Zurich Switzerland
22 National University of Singapore Singapore
23 Australian National University Australia
24=Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris France
24=McGill University Canada
26 University of Texas at Austin US
27 Johns Hopkins University US
28 University College London UK
29 University of Toronto Canada
30 Edinburgh University UK
31 Kyoto University Japan
32 Pennsylvania University US
33 Monash University Australia
34 Ecole Polytech Fédérale de Lausanne Switzerland
35 Manchester University & Umist UK
36 University of Michigan US
37 University of California, Los Angeles US
38=University of British Columbia Canada
38=Sydney University Australia
40 University of New South Wales Australia
41 Hong Kong University Hong Kong
42 University of California, San Diego US
43 Hong Kong University Sci & Technol Hong Kong
44 Carnegie Mellon University US
45 Heidelberg University Germany
46 Northwestern University US
47 Queensland University Australia
48 Nanyang Technological University Singapore
49 Bristol University UK
50 Indian Institutes of Technology India

51 Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
52 Auckland University New Zealand
53 Delft University of Technology Netherlands
54 Boston University US
55 Munich University Germany
56 New York University US
57 Erasmus University Rotterdam Netherlands
58=Washington University, St Louis US
58=Amsterdam University Netherlands
58=University of Illinois US
61 Purdue University US
62=Helsinki University Finland
62=Tsing Hua University China
64 Pennsylvania State University US
65 Vienna University Austria
66 Copenhagen University Denmark
67 Macquarie University Australia
68 Massachusetts University US
69 IEP Sciences Po, Paris France
70 Eindhoven University of Technology Netherlands
71 Brown University US
72 Fudan University China
73=King's College London UK
73=Rochester University US
73=University Wisconsin-Madison US
76 Brussels Free University (French) Belgium
77=Hebrew University of Jerusalem Israel
77=Warwick University UK
79 Lomonosov Moscow State University Russia
80=University of Western Australia Australia
80=Adelaide University Australia
82 RMIT University Australia
83 Durham University UK
84 Indian Institutes of Management India
85 Zurich University Switzerland
86 Vienna Technical University Austria
87 University of Technology, Sydney Australia
88=Geneva University Switzerland
88=Washington University US
88=Pierre and Marie Curie University France
88=Catholic University of Leuven (French) Belgium
92 Ecole Normale Supérieure, Lyon France
93=China University of Sci & Technology China
93=Seoul National University South Korea
95=Catholic University of Leuven (Flemish) Belgium
95=National Autonomous Univ of Mexico Mexico
97 Nottingham University UK
98 La Trobe University Australia
99 Tokyo Institute of Technology Japan
100 Sussex University UK

101=Glasgow University UK
101=Curtin University of Technology Australia
103=Leeds University UK
103=School of Oriental and African Studies UK
105=Virginia University US
105=Technical University Munich Germany
105=Osaka University Japan
108 Wageningen University Netherlands
109=York University UK
109=Case Western Reserve University US
111 Trinity College, Dublin Ireland
112=Humboldt University Berlin Germany
112=Queen Mary, University of London UK
114=Vanderbilt University US
114=National Taiwan University Taiwan
114=Gttingen University Germany
117 Dartmouth College US
118 Queensland University of Technology Australia
119 Liverpool University UK
120 Utrecht University Netherlands
121=Chulalongkorn University Thailand
121=Michigan State University US
121=Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne France
124 University of Southern California US
125=La Sapienza University, Rome Italy
125=Texas A&M University US
127=Basel University Switzerland
127=University of Newcastle Australia
129 Nagoya University Japan
130 Bath University UK
131 University Louis Pasteur Strasbourg France
132 Université de Montréal Canada
133=Lausanne University Switzerland
133=Maryland University US
133=HEC Paris France
136=Tohoku University Japan
136=St Andrews University UK
138=Leiden University Netherlands
138=Aarhus University Denmark
138=Oslo University Norway
141 Emory University US
142 Frankfurt University Germany
143=Korea Advanced Inst of Sci and Tech South Korea
143=Sheffield University UK
143=Birmingham University UK
143=North Carolina University US
147=Hiroshima University Japan
147=Georgia Institute of Technology US
149 University of Alberta Canada
150=Nanjing University China
150=St Gallen University Switzerland
150=Rice University US
150=University of Minnesota US

154=University of South Australia Australia
154=Technical University of Denmark Denmark
154=Technical University Berlin Germany
157=Hokkaido University Japan
157=Maastricht University Netherlands
159=Bologna University Italy
159=Georgetown University US
159=University of Waterloo Canada
159=University of California, Santa Barbara US
163 Colorado University US
164 Tufts University US
165 Innsbruck University Austria
166=Tasmania University Australia
166=Chalmers University of Technology Sweden
168 Newcastle upon Tyne University UK
169=Shanghai Jiao Tong University China
169=Novosibirsk State University Russia
169=Malaya University Malaysia
172=Free University Berlin Germany
172=Kobe University Japan
172=Aachen RWTH Germany
175=State Univ of New York, Stony Brook US
175=Alabama University US
177 Nijmegen University Netherlands
178 City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
179 Notre Dame University US
180=Toulouse 1 France
180=Lund University Sweden
180=Uppsala University Sweden
183 Madrid Autonomous University Spain
184=Korea University South Korea
184=McMaster University Canada
186=Free University of Amsterdam Netherlands
186=Otago University New Zealand
188=Tel Aviv University Israel
188=Massey University New Zealand
190 Gothenburg University Sweden
191 University of Western Ontario Canada
192 Jawaharlal Nehru University India
193 Pittsburgh University US
194=Helsinki University of Technology Finland
194=Technion - Israel Inst of Technology Israel
196=São Paulo University Brazil
196=Royal Institute of Technology Sweden
198 Showa University Japan
199=University of Florence Italy
199=George Washington University US
199=Wake Forest University US

SAMURAI (サムライ）

2005-12-17T01:45:00.000+09:00

Samurai (侍 or 士, samurai?) was a term for the military nobility in pre-industrial Japan.

Most samurai were bound by a strict code of honor, the famous Bushido (武士道, bushidō?) and were expected to set an example for those below them. Notably, a disgraced samurai could regain honor and respect by committing Seppuku (切腹, seppuku?), suicide by a gruesome and painful means: slicing his stomach horizontally from left to right, typically in a ritualistic manner, using either his wakizashi (short sword) or more commonly, his tanto (dagger). When time was available, samurai would have a friend or student, called a kaishaku (介錯, executioner), decapitate them after the initial cut across the abdomen. A woman, when commiting seppuku, would thrust the blade into her throat. Before she did this, her legs were tied with rope to retain her elegant posture when she died. Even in death, samurai were beholden to honor.

However, the bushido code was written in peace-time, and the reality somewhat darker. Today, many Japanese uphold the belief that the samurai fought nobly, for instance, not striking an attacker from behind, nor employing sneaky tricks, or otherwise fighting in a manner normally attributed to the Ninja. However, as anyone who has studied Kobudo and Samurai Budo can testify, they were as practical on the battlefield as any European knight.

In practice, there were disloyal samurai. Japanese history is filled with examples of samurai that were treacherous (e.g., Akechi Mitsuhide), cowardly, brave, or overly loyal (e.g., Kusunoki Masashige). Samurai were usually loyal to their immediate superiors, who in turn allied themselves with higher lords. These alliances to higher lords often shifted, however. For example, the feudal lords allied under Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣秀吉) enjoyed the loyalty of their men; however, the feudal lords themselves might shift their backing to Tokugawa. This did not mean that the lower-ranked samurai were disloyal, though. Their allegiance was to their immediate superior.

FATAL TRAIN　(満員電車）

2005-12-15T00:46:00.000+09:00

If you want to visit TOKYO,1 of the important thing is you must try japanese train.the train is almost same like the other countries' train,but the situation is very very diffrent and frightening.not believe it?i'll show you!

this is the train in normal hour:

then,you want to take a look the diffrent during the rush hour?here you are....

WORLD CUP 2006

2005-12-13T22:04:00.000+09:00

The Final Draw for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™ will take place in Leipzig on 9 December. The draw will begin at 20:30 (Local Time) and you here is the グルプ分け:

TOKYO-SHIBUYA 渋谷

2005-11-24T20:51:00.000+09:00

Shibuya is one of the twenty-three city wards of Tokyo, but often refers to just the popular shopping and entertainment area around Shibuya Station.

Shibuya is one of Tokyo's most colorful and busy districts and birthplace to many of Japan's fashion and entertainment trends. Most of the area's large department and fashion stores belong to either Tokyu or Seibu, two competing corporations.

A prominent landmark of Shibuya is the large intersection in front of the station (Hachiko Exit), which is heavily decorated by neon advertisements and giant video screens and gets crossed by amazingly large crowds of pedestrians each time the traffic light turns green.

Below is a map and list of some of Shibuya's other major attractions:

Points of Interest:

Hachiko Statue
A statue of a loyal dog named Hachiko. According to a famous story, the dog waited for his master every day in front of Shibuya Station, and continued to do so for years even after his master had passed away. It is one of Tokyo's most popular meeting points.

Koen Dori
Koen Dori, lit. "Park Street", is a popular shopping street leading from the Marui department store to Yoyogi Park. It was named after Parco department store (parco is Italian for park) and the fact that the street leads to Yoyogi Park.

Shibuya 109
Shibuya 109 is a trend setting fashion complex for young women with more than one hundred boutiques on ten floors. Usually pronounced "Shibuya ichi maru kyu", the complex's name can also be read as "Shibuya to kyu", identifying the complex as part of the Tokyu Group.

Shibuya Mark City
Shibuya Mark City is a small city within the city, located just next to JR Shibuya Station. It consists of a wide range of stores and restaurants, the Shibuya Excel Hotel Tokyu, office space, a bus terminal and the terminal station of the Keio Inokashira Line

PSP - Winning Eleven 9: Ubiquitous Evolution

2005-11-23T10:53:00.000+09:00

Winning Eleven 9: Ubiquitous Evolution features the utter realism, intuitive play and fast-paced action of the ever-popular series. The handheld version is almost identical in terms of available clubs and international sides, with 57 national sides lining up alongside 136 club teams.Winning Eleven 9: Ubiquitous Evolution also benefits from a number of exclusive features designed to showcase the PSP's capabilities. The highly-competitive multi-player aspects of the game are highlighted using the hardware's wireless systems. Using this, players within a certain network radius can challenge rival Winning Eleven 9: Ubiquitous Evolution fans to games, with all data related to match results goals for, goals against, wins, etc retained in a running tally.Solo players can also hone their skills within six different leagues and a host of cup tournaments, and the PSP™ game can also be linked to the PlayStation2™ version of Winning Eleven 9 for data exchange. Using this, players can import teams they have created within the PlayStation2™ game for use against friends on their PSP, or swap teams with other PSP users.

FUNNY! 笑いは一番ベストな薬剤！

2005-11-22T00:10:00.000+09:00

If you are in a car and your friend is asleep, carefully pull up into a rest stop and park right in front of a tree. (it helps if it's a little slanted) Then, clutch your face and scream bloody murder as if you had been shot.Your friend will no doubt wake up and be horrified at the tree and the semmingly bloody death!!!

Teacher: Tell me a sentence that starts with an "I".
Student: I is the...
Teacher: Stop! Never put 'is' after an "I". Always put 'am' after an "I".
Student: OK. I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.

Two cows are standing in a field.One says to the other "Are you worried about Mad Cow Disease?"
The other one says "No, It doesn't worry me, I'm a horse!"

A guy says to his friend, "Guess how many coins I have in my pocket."
The friends says, "If I guess right, will you give me one of them?"
The first guys says, "If you guess right, I'll give you both of them!"

Teacher: Today, we're going to talk about the tenses. Now, if I say "I am beautiful," which tense is it?
Student: Obviously it is the past tense.

LOL!!!

TRAVEL JAPAN - ODAIBA (お台場)

2005-11-21T01:27:00.000+09:00

Daiba, literally meaning "fort", refers to some of the man made islands in the Bay of Tokyo, which were constructed in the end of the Edo Period (1603-1868) for the city's protection against attacks from the sea.

During the extravagant 1980s, a spectacular redevelopment of the islands into a futuristic business district was started, but development was critically slowed down after the burst of the "bubble economy" in the early 1990s.

It was not until the second half of the 1990s, that Odaiba developed into one of Tokyo's most interesting tourist spots and the highly popular shopping and entertainment district, which it is today. Further development of the area is still underway.

Attractions:

Among the attractions of Odaiba are several shopping and entertainment centers, theme parks, museums and the futuristic architecture and city planning. Even access to Odaiba can be considered an attraction (see "How to get there").

interesting places in odaiba-->

Fuji TV Building
This is the headquarters of Fuji Television, one of Japan's private, nationwide TV stations. You can see some exhibitions on popular programs, buy Fuji TV goods at the souvenir shop and access the futuristic looking building's observatory deck.

Tokyo Big Sight
Also known as Tokyo International Exhibition Center, Tokyo Big Sight is Japan's largest exhibition and convention center and one of the bay islands' boldest architectural creations. A wide array of events are held at the Big Sight throughout the year.

National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation
This well done, highly interactive and bilingual science museum includes exhibits about environmental issues, robots (starring Asimo among others), information technology, biology and space exploration.

Museum of Maritime Science
Housed in a cruise ship shaped building, the Museum of Maritime Science displays seafaring related exhibits from the past and future. Two actual ships, including the Yotei Maru ocean liner, are moored in front of the museum.

JAPAN UNIVERSITY RANKINGS 2005

2005-11-20T12:46:00.000+09:00

OVERALL RANKING

1-(16)Tokyo University　東京大学
2-(31)Kyoto University　京都大学
3-(99)Tokyo Institute of Technology　東京工業大学
4-(105)Osaka University　大阪大学
5-(129)Nagoya University　名古屋大学
6-(136)Tohoku University　東北大学
7-(147)Hiroshima University　広島大学
8-(157)Hokkaido University　北海道大学
9-(172)Kobe University　神戸大学
10-(198)Showa University　昭和大学

JAPAN'S TOP SCIENCE UNIVERSITIES

1-(8)Tokyo University 東京大学
2-(16)Kyoto University 京都大学
3-(50)Tokyo Institute of Technology 　東京工業大学
4-(52)Osaka University 　大阪大学
5-(58)Tohoku University 　東北大学
6-(94)Nagoya University 　名古屋大学

JAPAN'S TOP TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITIES

1-(8)Tokyo University 　東京大学
2-(11)Tokyo Institute of Technology　東京工業大学
3-(19)Kyoto University 　京都大学
4-(53)Osaka University 　大阪大学
5-(81)Tohoku University 　東北大学
6-(100)Nagoya University 　名古屋大学

JAPAN'S TOP ARTS AND HUMANITIES UNIVERSITIES

1-(16)Tokyo University 　東京大学
2-(18)Kyoto University 京都大学
3=(56)Hiroshima University 　広島大学
3=(56)Hitotsubashi University 　一橋大学
5-(89)Waseda University 　早稲田大学

JAPAN'S TOP SOCIAL SCIENCE UNIVERSITIES

1-(14)Tokyo University 　東京大学
2-(39)Kyoto University 　京都大学
3-(87)Keio University 　慶應義塾大学
4-(96)Hitotsubashi University 　一橋大学

JAPAN'S TOP BIOMEDICINE UNIVERSITIES

1-(12)Tokyo University 　東京大学
2-(27)Kyoto University 　京都大学
3-(82)Osaka University 　大阪大学
4-(96)Hokkaido University　北海道大学

no in the bracket(??) shows the world's ranking

Data compiled for The Times Higher by QS (http://www.qsnetwork.com/), published October 28 2005

Anime-Beck

2005-11-18T21:05:00.000+09:00

こんな主人公のモノローグから始まるこの物語。
主人公は趣味も特技もとくにないふっつーの中学生：田中幸雄、通称・コユキ。
このコユキ、ある日偶然道で出会ったヘンな犬を助けたことにより犬の飼い主である冒頭モノローグにでてくる「あの男」に出会ってしまう。

助けた犬の名前は「BECK」。後にコユキが活躍するバンド・BECK の名前の元ネタとなる犬。
飼い主男の名前は「竜介」。人を引きつける魅力を持つ不思議な男。
帰国子女であり、天才的なギタリストでもある彼は、今全米の若者に一番影響力があるカリスマ・バンド「ダイイング・ブリード」のギタリストとかつてアメリカでバンドを組んでいたという。
沖縄出身のアイドル「国吉ちえみ」を最高の音楽と信じて疑わなかったコユキは、「ダイイング・ブリード」の音楽を聴くことでロックに目覚め、竜介が作ったバンド・BECK に巻き込まれていく。その後、主人公であるコユキはただの平凡な中学生ではなく、本人に自覚のないまま実は飛び抜けた音楽的才能を持っていることが後々判明する。
コユキの歌声は聴くものを震撼させるほどの素晴らしいものがあったのだ！

そんなコユキの成長と BECK というバンドの奮闘物語をこの漫画の「メインストーリー」とするなら、「サイドストーリー」となるのがコユキの日常（学校）生活。
幼馴染の先輩でミス東中の「泉」と竜介の妹でサバサバした帰国子女「真帆」との恋愛模様。ギターを教えてもらうと同時に水泳をコーチしてもらう、さえない中年独身貴族・斎藤さん（44）との交流。学校でのイジメ、アルバイト等々…。そういった出来事がコユキの音楽中心の生活と並行して、「イベント」ではなく「日常して描かれていくストーリーである。

this is one of the best short anime(26 episode) i ever seen.this anime is about a junior high school boy named "KOYUKI" whos very like to play guitar.this boy had a dream to performed with his band in AMERIcA.but before they can perform in AMerica,they have to compete with other popular band in japan.

BECK is the dog's name that owned by KOYUKI friends.actually,this dog is belong to a GANGSTER's BIG BROTHER which base in america.

ENJOY!!!

Seppuku - Ritual Suicide -　切腹

2005-11-18T01:10:00.000+09:00

Seppuku, (Sape-puu-kuu) the Japanese formal language term for ritual suicide (Hara-kiri (Har-rah-kee-ree) is the common language term.), was an intregal aspect of feudal Japan (1192-1868). It developed as an intregal part of the code of bushido and the discipline of the samurai warrior class.
Hara-kiri, which literally means "stomach cutting" is a particularly painful method of self-destruction, and prior to the emergence of the samurai as a professional warrior class, was totally foreign to the Japanese.

The early history of Japan reveals quite clearly that the Japanese were far more interested in living the good life than in dying a painful death. It was not until well after the introduction of Buddhism, with its theme of the transitory nature of life and the glory of death, that such a development became possible.

To the samurai, seppuku--whether ordered as punishment or chosen in preference to a dishonorable death at the hands of an enemy--was unquestionable demonstration of their honor, courage, loyalty, and moral character.

When samurai were on the battlefield, they often carried out acts of hara-kiri rapidly and with very little formal preparation. But on the other occasions, particularly when it was ordered by a feudal lord, or the shogun (as was directed of Lord Asano in the Tale of the 47 Ronin. ) , seppuku or hara-kiri was a very formal ceremony, requiring certain etiquette, witnesses and considerable preparation.

Not all Japanese samurai or lords believed in, even though many of them followed the custom. The great Ieyasu Tokugawa, who founded Japan's last great Shogunate dynasty in 1603, eventually issued an edict forbidding hara-kiri to both secondary and primary retainers.

The custom was so deeply entrenched, however, that it continued, and in 1663, at the urging of Lord Nobutsuna Matsudaira of Izu, the shogunate government issued another, stronger edict, prohibiting ritual suicide. This was followed up by very stern punishment for any lord who allowed any of his followers to commit harakiri or seppuku. Still the practice continued throughout the long Tokugawa reign, but it declined considerably as time went by.

Honor for the samurai was dearer than life and in many cases, self destruction was regarded not simply as right, but as the only right course. Disgrace and defeat were atoned by committing hara-kiri or seppuku. Upon the death of a daimyo loyal followers might show their grief and affection for their master by it. Other reasons a samurai committed seppuku were: to show contempt for an enemy; to protest against injustice, as a means to get their lord to reconsider an unwise or unworthy action and as a means to save others.

The ritual for disenbowlment was to be performed calmly and without flinching. If condemned to death, it was held to be a privilege to execute the sentence on one's own body rather than to be a disgrace and die at the hands of the public headsman.

The location of an officially ordered seppuku ceremony was very important. Often the ritual was performed at temple
(but not Shinto shrines), in the garden or villas, and inside homes. The size of the area available was also important, as it was prescribed precisely for samurai of high rank.

All the matters relating to the act was carefully prescribed and carried out in the most meticulous manner. The most conspicuous participant, other than the victim, was the kaishaku (kie-shah-kuu), or assistant, who was responsible for cutting off the victim's head after he had sliced his abdomen open. The was generally a close friend or associate of the condemned.

Although suicide is deplored in Japan today, it does not have the sinful overtones that are common in the west. People still kill themselves for failed businesses, involvement in love triangles, or even failing school examinations, death is still consider by many as better than dishonor.

WHAT IS KANJI? 　漢字って何だ。

2005-11-17T01:02:00.000+09:00

Kanji (漢字 ▶(?), literally "Han characters") is the name of Chinese characters in the Japanese language. Kanji are one of the three main forms of Japanese writing, the other two being hiragana and katakana, the kana.
This article focuses on the Japanese use of these characters; see Chinese character for a general discussion of Chinese characters, which are also used in several other languages.

There is some disagreement about how Chinese characters came to Japan, but it is generally accepted that Buddhist monks brought Chinese texts back to Japan in about the 5th century. These texts were in the Chinese language and would have been read as such at first. Over time, however, a system known as kanbun (漢文) emerged; it essentially used Chinese text with diacritical marks to allow Japanese speakers to read it in accordance with the rules of Japanese grammar.The Japanese language itself had no written form at the time. A writing system called man'yōgana (used in the ancient poetry anthology Man'yōshū) evolved that used a limited set of Chinese characters for their sound, rather than for their meaning.Man'yōgana written in curvilinear style became hiragana, a writing system that was accessible to women (who were denied higher education). Major works of Heian era literature by women were written in hiragana. Katakana emerged via a parallel path: monastery students simplified man'yōgana to a single constituent element. Thus the two other writing systems, hiragana and katakana, referred to collectively as kana, are actually forms of kanji.In modern Japanese, kanji is used to write parts of the language such as nouns, adjective stems and verb stems, while hiragana is used to write inflected verb and adjective endings (okurigana), particles, and words where the kanji is too difficult to read or remember. Katakana is used for representing onomatopoeia and non-Chinese loanwords. The usage of katakana to write loan words is a very recent phenomenon dating to after World War II. Originally loanwords were written using kanji, either used for their meaning (煙草 or 莨 tabako; "tobacco") or to spell the word phonetically (天婦羅 or 天麩羅 tempura). For example, many Japanese words of Portuguese origin borrowed from the 16th century onwards, have kanji forms.

STREET MAGIC IN JAPAN

2005-11-17T00:18:00.000+09:00

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