Kenji's Epic Journey

Gion Matsuri! A clash of traditional and modern Japan. 祇園祭

2014-07-18T17:15:00.000+09:00

July is an exciting month to be in Kyoto, because the Gion Matsuri is happening all month long. The 17th and 24th there are huge parades, and the three days leading up to the festival the roads are closed off for vehicles and people set up shops selling shaved ice, squid on a stick, beef tongues on sticks and other delicacies like cotton candy and candied apples.

Also, people dress up in traditional summer garb, the Yukata and the whole scene has a very fascinating and fun clash of identities. People advertising their shops will hand out fans with the direction to their stores. There are huge kiosks set up with multiple garbage cans in order to seperate the plastics from the other trash and, well I am not quite sure how they are organized but its very complicated.

As anyone who has ever been to Japan knows, there are convenience stores everywhere, so, so many. Well, some of the tellers in the Seven Eleven will be wearing Yukatas as well, and some of the customers, and its just really awesome.

One thing that you will certainly not miss are the hordes of police officers directing traffic.

To tell the truth though, they are there for more than general help and are always ready for crowd control. In Japan it is legal to drink and walk around in public and there is a lot of heavy drinking that goes late into the night and there can be a lot of disorder as groups of young people known as "yankees" use the festival as a time to meet their old friends and enemies, to be honest depending on where you go things can get pretty sketchy.

But, the chance you will have a bad time is practically non-existent as Japan is pretty safe and even around the roughest crowds the likelihood that you are mugged or even called out is very low.

So, its a bunch of fun and a great example of modern society in Japan.

Japanese and Western fusion bars in the heart of Kyoto

2014-07-15T19:12:00.002+09:00

Kyoto is known for being small and highly dense, packed full of temples, shrines, ancient Japanese-style houses and beautiful Sakura trees.

However, and accordance to Japanese culture, the center of the city is a jigsaw puzzle of small and classy bars. Along the main roads, you will find foreigner run establishments and larger drinkeries (still small by western standards.) But when you get into the small alleyways that run between the streets where two people can't walk abreast, and you feel like at any moment a Geisha might walk by you (and sometimes they do, also it can get a little awkward in such confined places.) But rest assured, as these are the places that you want to go if you want to see the authentic high class bar scene in Kyoto.

http://photozou.jp/photo/show/197487/74366806

The place that I went recently, was in Pontocho 先斗町 and the tiny space fit maybe 6 customers, all sitting side by side. There is no menu, except for a few appetizers on the wall, but if you want something (that they don't stock) it is the kind of place where the manager will actually go and buy it for you. The drinks have no recipe and if you ask for a Vodka Screwdriver except something different then your usual Vodka, Oj and Grenadine. To be honest, you are probably better off just describing what you want, and letting the bartender work his magic. Also, if you are worried about the cost of the drinks, drink slowly.

For people interested in visiting Kyoto, an all nighter on the town would be remiss without stopping by and checking out the classical Japanese atmosphere, with a western bar fusion, of course the real possibility of seeing a Geisha (or Maiko) outside of a theater performance.

How getting a job in Japan works

2013-05-11T23:38:00.002+09:00

550,200 students graduated from university in Japan this year (2013.) Of that amount 81.7％ (2013) have jobs the rest either start a masters program at a university (a very common occurrence for people who fail in the job hunt) or they continue searching for a job. Today I want to talk about how those people found their job, and something which is incredibly foreign and bizarre to foreigners, 就職活動, in English, Shuushoku-katsudou, or Shukatsu for short.

My business class in Japan

The blackboard depicts a Japanese style job hunting battle plan. It reads as follows.

3rd year of University (Japanese university starts in April and ends in March):
June- Start the internship application process (can start as early as May)
July-August- Short term internship lasting from 5 days to a month
September-November- Start researching companies that you are interested in joining
December- Companies start announcing their employment plans for the coming year
January- Start the company "pre-entry" process through the internet
February- Send your entry sheets to the companies you are interested in (along with your resume)
February-March- The interview process begins, depending on which company you are interested in you may have more than 5 different interviews during this time period.
4th year of University:
April-May- If a company is interested in you they will call you and give you an "Unofficial Invite" to join their company and they will send you a 誓約書 "seiyakusho" and they expect you to sign it and send it back. What it means is that you pledge to join their company at the soonest date possible (meaning next March when you graduate.) What this essentially is is a way that companies try to trap people that are seeking employment from multiple companies. It is considered extremely rude to join a different company than the one that has gotten you to sign their "seiyakusho" but it is not unheard of. -> If at this point you have received at least one "seiyakusho" you have essentially found your place of employment and you are safe.
June-September- Companies will now send you an official letter of employment which when you sign you are required by law to follow.
October- You are required to attend an "unofficial invite ceremony" where you will talk shop with your soon to be employers.
November-March- "Prospective employee training" will occur sometime in between these months. What the training entails is not publicly known, but a cursory look on google brings up stories up people cleaning toilets with bare hands and no tools. It is hard to say if such stories are true or not.

A long hiatus

2012-08-10T07:40:00.000+09:00

Hello anyone that comes to read this blog. Life is interesting. I am not a doctor, but I can recommend that learning new things, new languages, going to new countries, breaking out patterns and making new ones can be very beneficial to your health. So what does that have to do with Japan? Absolutely nothing, but keep it in mind.

Does anyone around here work? I do, recently. I have some intense insight into how a Japanese sushi boat restaurant is run, because I have been working from the bottom up. Actually the statement above is pretty important to what I am saying, because, well I am not necessarily learning a new language, but the kind of Japanese that you use in a business is a lot different than everyday life. Also, I am learning an absolute ton about making sushi like stuff, its crazy, ask me anything in the comments, seriously.
For example, `What is the special type of rice called that you make sushi with` `Shari of course!` `what is the type of roll that you put ikura into?` `Gunkan!`

So, this is me, not really me, but someone that could be me, making sushi.

He is making a Maki roll, but I am more for roasted sushi (Sushi aburi). Some of you may be saying `What in the world is roasted sushi Kenji?` well you use a mini flamethrower on sushi.
Here is a picture that I have borrowed from the http://sushidaijin.jp/menu,

Roasted sushi is absolutely fantastic! We also roast scallops and clams, and beef and other stuff at my place. Unfortunately there is no horse meat at my sushi restaurant, it is a sort of a novelty item, but if you are foreigner coming to Japan, you should probably try some raw horsemeat at some point.

Ok, so questions go into comments are you can directly email me at my address in the about me section, and I will be writing my next blog soon, so hasta pronto mi amigos.

Aviation Club Pictures!

2012-06-21T23:52:00.002+09:00

Went to the aviation club, and they have a sweet hanger! Picture below of the gliders that they fly, and more!

When the Aviation team member are not out flying the planes or studying (apparently it is difficult to get your license?) they can practice piloting from the safety of a classroom with simulations.

All in all, it looks promising, so i will take a longer peek down this rabbit hole.

The Secrets of Sky Building, Osaka

2012-06-21T15:04:00.000+09:00

I had a small adventure in Osaka today. Pictures were taken and uploaded to the internet. The reason for the journey, was I am going to London for a bit next week, and needed to pick up a passport, anyway. Arriving at Osaka Station I come across this cool mannequin display, and the reason why I though it was cool, is because if you look at the second picture, they were taken right next to each other. The third picture is actually taken directly behind me. I thought there was an interesting juxtaposition, even in the hat and the kimono of the male mannequin.

Huge skyscrapers being built. Osaka is definitely not a small place.

Spider Man 3d!! Was that a thing? I guess I am not keeping up with the times...

Ok, so I managed to get my passport, but I am at this point, in the famous Sky Building, and have heard it is a pretty cool place. If I were to completely explore it I would be there all day, but I decided to at least give it a looksie.

Also, piece of the Berlin Wall.

Welcome to the basement of Sky Building. It's in the style of a cool old traditional street way.

A modern post office, in the guise of an old fashioned post office?

Little Geisha looking dolls.

Amazingly lit alleyways, just remember this is all in the basement, and all of these stores are real restaurants.

This would be a great photo shoot, if only there were real people...

Again, cool alleyways under a 40 story skyscraper

This is where I decided to have lunch, specialty? Cow tongues. Delicious.

Here is my meal, which was absolutely scrumptious. Mugi rice, pickled vegetables, miso soup, cow tongues, the usual.

Some stuff you put on the rice to make it tastier.. not sure what it is?

And a little temple! So cool.

Absolutely amazing building. For those living in Osaka, you should definitely check this place out!

航空部見学　Doshisha Aviation Club

2012-06-20T21:18:00.000+09:00

I decided that I had a bit too much free time on my hands, and that perhaps a school club would be just what I needed. I toyed around with the idea of the Tennis club or a martial arts club ( I am a previous member of the Japanese Kenpou club) but I wasn't sure what would be fun.
So, one day I was eating at one of the school cafeterias, and I saw a brochure for the aviation club. The contact person was the same grade as me and in the same major, so I decided to send her a message and tomorrow I will go and see what it is all about. I can't guarantee we will be flying around, but I will try to get some pictures! For those interested, here is the club website link!

　最近暇過ぎたので、何かのクラブでも入ろうかなと思っていた。テニス部か、なんらかの格闘技部でもいいかな～と思っていた（俺は元日本拳法部）でも、どれがいいかわからなかった。
　そこで同志社の食堂で食べていたら、航空部のパンフを目にした。コンタクトの人は同学部で同い年だったので、運命？まぁ、まだ今ん所で、何もわからんけど、明日は見学なので、飛び中の映像は約束できんが、ある程度の写真を撮るつもり。興味ある人に、サイトアクセスリンクはこちら。

Land of Fish

2012-06-19T23:06:00.000+09:00

Many of you have heard that fish is a major staple of the Japanese diet. Obviously, Japan is an island country, and so the main types of fish eaten are sea fish. If you have never been to Japan, and you don't live buy the sea, it can be hard to imagine all the different types of fish, so I decided to take a few pictures at a supermarket that I went to over the weekend. The fish at the market at known for being very tasty, and inexpensive, so lets take a look!

Salmon, beautiful tasty salmon. Salmon can be fried, grilled, smoked, poached, the possibilities are endless.

For people not used to eating fish, the thought of crunching through bone, brain, face and spine of an animal may be a disturbing thought. In my personal opinion the head is the most delicious part of these small fishies, for you veggie lovers out there, the seaweed to the left is always an option, and is quite tasty.

A glance at a whole lot of fish, all with different names and cooking styles associated. To the bottom right you will see the shrimp, or prawn, which are absolutely delicious.

My personal favorite way to cook prawn, is to get them while they are still alive, and stick a skewer through them, then roast them. In the food world, fresh is best.

Mmm, delicious little squid, and they are labeled "for use in Sashimi" so you can eat them raw! Squid are great fun to eat, and quite tasty. That huge fish on the top right is I think a Maguro Tuna? Should be obvious to many people, but I only ever see maguro's meat.

So here we are, in the Sashimi section, octopus legs, pollock, and amberjack (yellowtail.) All of these fish are meant to be prepared completely raw, and you eat them with Wasabi (or horseradish) and dipped in special sashimi soy sauce. You can also make sushi, if that floats your boat.

Here we have a picture that is hard to look at, but actually has some amazingly delicious things on it. These arrangements of fish are all under 10$ but look at how much fish there is, you could make a ton of sushi easily, and wow are they healthy. We have sea urchin, , squid, the oh so damn tasty sea bream, maguro tuna, salmon, amberjack and pollock.

This picture features one of my favorite types of fish, bonito, which you don't actually eat with soy sauce, but with ponzu sauce, which has citrus in it. To the top are squid, salmon on the right, sea urchin on the left, and maguro tuna on the bottom right. The huge pieces of bonito are selling for under 3$.

This has to be my favorite picture, because it features scallops. Oh lord, are scallops good, and amazingly inexpensive. I keep going on about the cost, but as a university student, it is quite important to me, and hopefully informative to you guys. Then we have some tasty looking roe to the right following by what looks like squid again. Tuna to the bottom, and a good look at an amazing sea bream to the bottom left, which I actually ended up buying.

Wow, I am so hungry, I think I am going to go buy some fish!

Manga in the Front Yard

2012-06-18T18:50:00.001+09:00

Outside my apartment, someone left something like 30 huge tomes of manga. Perhaps a girlfriend was involved?

Ninja Kyoto & Stuff

2012-06-10T11:57:00.000+09:00

It has come to my attention that an amazing thing called http://www.ninja-kyoto.com/ exists. There is a restaurant and a labyrinth. I will definitely need to check this out! In other news, the reason why I haven't been posting as much, is because I am trying to find a part time job in Japan, or an "arbeit" which is actually German. Stapler in Japanese is actually "hochikisu" which is name after some European fellow that introduced staplers to Japan.
Thoughts.

Japan's Children Crisis and Cost of Living in Japan　日本の小児科クライシス＋世界と比較した日本の生活費と平均年給

2012-06-07T21:57:00.000+09:00

日本語は下にある。

Today is a bit of a different topic than usual, Japan has some pretty severe problems regarding children, the making of them or what have you. The bottom line, is that the average age of people in Japan is as follows,

Ages 0-14 = 13%
Ages 15-64 = 63.7%
Ages 65+ = 23.1%

So, that is a huge problem. Children aren't being born. The average fertility rate of women in Japan last year was 1.39. If you compare that to Niger that has a 7.5 fertility rate, or even America at 2.06 that is incredibly low. In fact, according to the CIA Japan ranks #202 for the highest fertility rate. According to Unicharm (a diapers company) the amount of diapers sold for senior use, now exceeds the amount bought for infants.

So what is the problem exactly? This is America's average salary, this is Japan's. For those that didn't read,

America is 42,000$ dollars a year, Japan is 29,000$ dollars a year. So, the pay is not incredibly good. What about the cost of living then? How is Japan and America's living costs? To put it simply, and I am stealing this from the site,

Consumer Prices in United States are 39.58% lower than in Japan
Consumer Prices Including Rent in United States are 36.73% lower than in Japan
Rent Prices in United States are 22.31% lower than in Japan
Restaurant Prices in United States are 17.81% lower than in Japan
Groceries Prices in United States are 33.17% lower than in Japan
Local Purchasing Power in United States is 50.67% higher than in Japan

So what does this have to do with children? Well, people need money to have kids, and if everything is so much more expensive in Japan, people are going to need a lot of money, or at least some special benefits. Lets look at a country that does benefits well, France. This page shows how birthing is handled in France, 16 weeks of paid leave, and you are guaranteed to keep your job when you are pregnant. Parental leave is also available to the father, and the main difference from other countries that have this option open, is that it actually happens in France.

According to the BBC, "At the end of maternity leave, the mother or father can take parental leave until the child reaches the age of three, with entitlement to re-integration into the previous or a similar job. Parents receive a parental leave allowance if they interrupt their employment, totally."

In France, depending on the families financial standings, a family will pay nothing to a standard sum, for full day day-care for their children. In France, single mothers can work full time, because their children are being taken care of by high-quality government funded day-cares (and of course two-parent families as well.)

The reason why Japan doesn't have children, is because of the high prices of living in Japan, as well of lack of benefits from the government, and low average salary incomes. If the Japanese government starts to facilitate some changes, that help families have children then hopefully this situation will be changed, but it is a pretty grim situation.

Comments?

今日のトピックはいつもと違う。日本の小児科は非常に大変な問題となっている。データ的にこの風になっている。

０－１４歳　　＝　１３％
１４－６４歳　＝　６３．７％
６５歳以降　＝　２３．１％

　凄い問題となっている。子どもは作られてないんだ。去年の平均出産率はわずかな１．３９だった。ニジェールは７．５出産率で、アメリカでも２．０６だった。ＣＩＡのデータによると日本は世界で＃２０２となっている。ユニ・チャームによると、老人用オムツは赤ちゃん用オムツより売られている。
　
　何が問題か？ではアメリカの平均年給見よう、サイトは英語になってるが、アメリカは
3343、487円となっているが、日本の方から見ると、日本は230,8381円となっている。では、給料が良くないことがわかる。生活費はどうでしょう。サイトから取って、翻訳したが、

米国の消費者物価は日本より３９．５８％低い
米国の消費者物価＋家賃を含んで見ると、日本より３６．７３％低い
米国の家賃価格は日本より２２．３１％低い米国のレストラン価格は日本より１７．８１％低い米国の食料雑貨量は日本より３３．１７％低い米国では地元の購買力は日本に比べて５０．６７％高い

　子どもとどういう関係かと聞くと、人はお金がないと子どもを作ることができない。日本では何でも高いのに、給料が安い、では、政府からの扶助が必要だろう。フランスはこのようなことについてよく案を立てているから、それについて話す。

　フランスはでは最低１６週間の有給休暇が父にも母にもある。そして、法律によって、妊娠している間は絶対にクビされることはない。子どもを出産してから、３年間仕事を止めても、いつでも戻れる。そして、その３年間休んでいる間、やっぱり前の仕事止めたいと思っていたら、必ず育児休暇手当貰うことになっている。

　家族の財政状態によって、フランスの公立保育園は無料になることもある。毎日８時間以上の保育園は無料のなると、母子家庭も、普通な家庭でも全然違う。

　日本の小児科問題は生活費、政府の扶助がないことと、年給が安いからだ。最低でも、日本政府は少し対策を変えれば、状態が変わると思うが。今の状態はこうだ。

　コメントなどあったら、書いてね。

A fad at my school 学校での流行

2012-06-04T21:18:00.001+09:00

Just a quick blog today, Competitive Jump Rope is big at my school! I took some pictures!

縄跳びは学校で流行ってる、それだけ。

Kagura Performance 1 　神楽の舞１

2012-06-03T19:16:00.000+09:00

Hello all! I uploaded the next 2 installments of the Kagura Performance 1, check em out! I also used youtube's subtitle thingy to make the subtitles so give me feedback!

こんにちは、又アップしちゃいました。字幕についてのフィードバックちょうだいな。

Attacked by a demon! 鬼に襲われた！

2012-06-02T19:53:00.001+09:00

Hey all! So, don't worry about the delay of the Kagura videos coming out, as I am working on it, and here is a demon for you, it is a present.

やあ皆＾＾神楽のアップが遅れてしまって、心配した？では～送るぞ

Miyoshi Winery, Taste Testing 三次ワイナリー味見！

2012-06-01T21:19:00.002+09:00

Over the weekend, I headed over to Hiroshima to watch some Kagura, and on the way, went to a wine tasting in Miyoshi City. Miyoshi City is home to the famous Miyoshi Winery, so I had to go take a look, and try some wine out for myself. The funny thing about this wine tasting thing, is that it is actually a tourist attraction. People come from different parts of Japan to try out these wines. If anyone in Japan is interested, the winery's store hours are from 9:30 to 6:00. and if you go anywhere near Miyoshi then you will see signs for the Winery. SPOILER ALERT: Japan isn't known for it's fine wine.

週末の間、神楽見に広島へ行った。ついでに三次市に行ってワインの味見をした。三次市のワイナリーが日本で有名だから、行ってみニャ！と思った。面白いことに、三次ワイナリーは観光地になっているんだ、ワイナリーが観光地になるなんて、ちょっと可笑しいじゃない？日本中から来客するようだ。日本に居る人はもしワイナリー見に行きたかったら、営業時間は朝の９時半から午後の６時。三次市に行ったら、どこらでもワイナリーの看板あるから、見つかり易いでしょ。

The first wine I tasted, the is a Merlot style wine. Probably my favorite out of the bunch (the tasting wines) it sells for around 18$. Over all, I would say OK with cheese, probably not a steak flavor, but very slow sipping while playing chess and romancing. Definitely not an exciting wine, but mellow.
初めて味見したワインはメルロー種だった。味見した中の最も好きだったワインだった。チーズを食べながら飲むと良い、恐らくステーキ系じゃないと思うが、ゆっくり飲みながら、チェスかロマンスをする時のワイン。興奮するほどのワインではないが、マッタリ。

This wine, is absolutely horrid. Apparently is a rosé style wine, but it tastes nothing like. This wine is entirely too sweet, and really quite hard to drink. Imagine strawberry jam flavored wine. Very very hard to drink, especially when I think of how delicious rosé wine is when mixed with lemons, mmm. This wine costs 12$ or so, but you only get 500ml, when most wines have 720~750ml.

このワインは最悪。ロゼのワインだとは書いてるけど、味が全く違う。このワインは甘すぎて逆に飲み辛い。ストローベリージャム味するワインを飲んでいることを想像したら当たる。飲み難い。特に、ロゼはレモンとの混ざりはあれほど美味しいと思い出したら、このワイン見てゲっする。

White wine was never my favorite, but I have had occasion to enjoy it in the past. This wine is called "Karakuchi" in Japanese which means spicy. Most white wines fall under this category, so if you can wrap your mind around the idea of spicy white wine, then there you go. This wine is nothing special, a table wine that doesn't taste much different from other 12$ wines. Nothing really to say.

ホワイトワインは昔から好みじゃないが、たまに美味しい。辛口となっていて、まぁ、普通な感じかな、千円のワインって感じだね。

You might recognize the picture of the woman on the bottle as being the same woman that was on the picture in my Miyajima article, it relates to some Japanese TV Drama that is currently airing in Hiroshima. So everyone is jumping on the band wagon. The drama is called Taira no Kiyomori and it's about a historical figure. So, this wine is a Chardonnay but it is in a blue bottle, which is a little odd. The wine will set you back around 18$, it is a "spicy" wine again, with a tint of sweetness. That sounds pretty good, but it is just a normal white wine, nothing really to see here. It is just dressed to impress.

私の宮島についてのポストをみていたら、この女の写真見たことあるはず。平清盛のドラマの宣伝見たいなもの。シャルドネ（ホワイト）ワインで、辛口ワインで少し甘味がある。美味しいように聞くけど、本当は平清盛より、平らのワインと読んだ方がいい。普通。

Wow, so this a sweet white wine. I could be a bit biased, but what is the point of sweet wine? I like dry, fruity and sometimes sour-y cocktail wine, but sweet is just too much. Imagine going out to a great seafood dinner and ordering white wine. After eating your calamari, you take a sip of your wine and... it is sweet. Talk about ruining your pallet.

マタマタ、甘いワインだ。今回は甘いホワイトワインだ。ちょっとひいきするかもしれないけど、甘いワインって意味ある？私はドライ、フルーティ、酸っぱいカクテルワインでも美味しい、けど甘いのは無理。高いレストランで魚介類を食べに行って、ホワイトワインを注文することを想像して。そこで、タイのカルパッチョを食べて、ワインを飲む。。。そこで甘い。白ワインは魚介類と組み合わせがあれほど良いと言うのに、甘かったら、食べ飽きるでしょう。

This last wine is another red, but it is a "light red." This is the type of wine you drink at a party or when you want to have fun. The taste is fresh and clear, but unfortunately, like all the wines on this list, not very good. Another 12$ wine so you can't expect amazing things, except for 12$ in California you can buy some pretty tasty wine. Actually, you can buy California Wine in Japan for 12$ and it be pretty tasty. I am afraid I couldn't recommend this to anyone that has ever drank good wine, maybe a highschooler or college student would find it acceptable.

最後のワインは又赤、けど今回のは”ライト赤”。上の赤ワインと違って、これはパーティーか元気良く楽しみたいときに飲むワイン。味は爽やかでクリア、けどこの箇条書きで載せられているワインはどれも普通か、それより駄目。勿論、千円で良いワインはなかなかないが、カリフォルニア州で千円払ったら、かなり美味しいワインは手に入れると思う。美味しいワイン飲んだことある人にこのワインをお勧めすることができません。高校生か大学生が飲むワインだろう。

In conclusion, Miyoshi wine should probably be avoided, at least for the 10~20$ range of wine. There was a list of the most popular Miyoshi wines but for some reason none of those items were available for tasting. I went into the wine tasting excited and interested in what different flavor's etc. the wines had, but was sorely disappointed. There was also a "tour" of the facilities that you can go on, but it was about 3 minutes of walking through a wine barrel room, that you only saw through glass, so not incredibly impressive.
For all of those in Japan, unable to get cheap wine, sure, try some Japanese wine, but don't get your hopes up. Maybe in the future I will check out a Sake Brewery, and then we can get some real Japanese specialty.
Also, I didn't drink any of it, but apparently there was some Miyoshi Soda at the Winery, and that tasted pretty good. I am a little sad I didn't drink it.

結論で、三次ワインは避けるべし。少なくとも千円から２千円の範囲は良くない。三次ワインの中でもっとも人気のワインのリストはあったが、なぜか、そこに掲示されたワインを味見することができなかった。三次ワイナリー行くときに元気良く行ったけど、結局ガッカリしてしまった。工場のツアーもあったが、窓ガラスの外から、ワイン作りの設備を見るぐらいだった。
日本に住んでいる人々、日本ワインは試して良いと思うが、期待せざるべき。これから、日本酒蔵元に行くかもしれない。そこで日本の酒力はわかるでしょう。
最後に私は飲まなかったけど、三次ワイナリーで三次ジュースがあったようだ。どんなワインよりも美味しいと聞いた。飲めば良かった。。。。

About This Week 今週について

2012-05-30T23:54:00.004+09:00

Hello my avid readers, or even newcomers, welcome. I have a lot of great footage of Kagura that I want to get rolling, and some opinions on my wine tasting I did at the famous Miyoshi Winery. Only problem is, that I am also a University student and I have a couple speeches to do this week, so I will be a little be slower than usual in getting out my content, but please be assured, it will come. If you are interested, I am currently doing a speech on Polysemy, so check that out.

日本語の皆、ようこそ。神楽の動画や三次ワイナリーの味見についての意見などがあって、アップしたいものが様々であるが、私は大学生でありながら、ブログを書いているので、ポストすることが難しくなる時もある、ご了承下さい。ちなみに、今発表の準備をしている、興味あったら、「多義語」について調べてみて。

Kagura Village 神楽村

2012-05-28T23:42:00.001+09:00

Hey people! Kagura is amazing, it is fun, and traditional. Translated from Japanese, it is "God Entertainment" and is a Shinto based Japanese theater. The Kagura that I went to go see was based in Hiroshima Prefecture, at a place called Kagura Village. The theme of this post is Kagura Village, so let's get started.

皆殿、今日は。神楽は素晴らしい、楽しい、伝統的な物じゃ。私が見に行った神楽は広島の神楽村だった。今回のポストのテーマはその村なので、早速入りましょう。

Here is the brochure that I received upon entrance to the "Kagura Dome" as it was called. I put the brochure on a tatami mat (the provided seating) if you are curious.

これは俺がもらったパンフレットだ、かなり格好良いと思うが、皆殿は？

The entrance to the Kagura village. The tiling on the roof is traditional, and the entrance is quaint, Japanese style.

神楽村の入り口.

A museum of sorts in Kagura village, ropes have a very symbolic meaning in Shintoism. In the past ropes like these were used in temples to seal demons, or spirits. The rope dragon to the right is incredibly cool.

神楽村の博物館のような所だ。信徒では縄には特別な精神的な意味がある。鬼などを封印（あってますか？）させるための役目をはたした。右側の縄龍はいいね

These are some traditional Kagura Masks, that portray Oni, or demons. Demons are a huge part of Kagura performances and you are almost assured of seeing them if you plan to to see Kagura. The masks are quite fierce looking, or more plainly spoken, extremely badass.

伝統的な神楽仮面。神楽では鬼がよく出演するので、鬼の仮面がかなりメーンになってる。

Mannequins, although quite realistic. The kimino that they are wearing are things of beauty, and super shiny. More importantly, something to note in this picture, is that the woman on the right looks incredibly masculine, there is a reason for that. Kagura is traditionally men only, and so men will dress as women to play the roles, the masks that they use can be quite comical.

人間に見えるが、マネキンだ。着物は素敵だね。この写真で見て欲しいのは、右側のマネキンは女装しているが、男に見えるよね。その理由は、神楽では女の人の参加は禁止された。男だけで女の主役せんやいけんかったんで、かなり面白い仮面などを使ったりしていた。

Some traditional Kagura paintings, the colors are absolutely fantastic, I wish I had a better camera to give the picture justice.
神楽の絵だ。もっと良いカメラで取れたかったけど、残念～

Again, some absolutely beautiful artwork. The whites rising into mist, etc. stunning.

又、美しい絵

And much much more Kagura art.

Have you ever heard of traditional Chinese medicine? Well, it is still popular in Japan in certain circles, here are snakes. Snakes are apparently used to treat skin diseases, pain, and intestinal hemorrhage, so there's that.

漢方のこと皆知っているね？ハミはどうやら皮膚の病気、痛み、腸の痔などに使っていたようだ。

Other Chinese medicinals, lemons, and other goodies.

Some cool Kagura styled snacks, available at the gift shop.

Kagura promoted wine, which carries the Miyoshi label which is a famous brand in Hiroshima. I actually visited the winery this last Sunday, and you will have my full opinion on that in the near future. As for now, I thought that this was a pretty awesome poster for wine.

三次ラベルの神楽ワイン。三次ワインは広島県では有名だ。この前の日曜日に実は三次ワイナリーで味見したが、又今度、それについて色々と話すつもりだ。ワインのポスターではかなりいいと思う。

Ok, everyone, I have some great videos that I took of two different Kagura performances that I will start uploading, I want to have to ancient Japanese translated into English and hardsubbed so that all my viewers will understand so it might take a while, but it is coming! Also, I got attacked by a demon while I was filming, no joke. He jumped off the stage and attacked me. It is on film, so stay tuned..?
皆殿、二つの違う神楽のビデオをこれからアップして、ポストにする。古い日本語を英語に翻訳したり、したいので、少し時間はかかる。撮影中、俺は鬼に襲われた。本当だ！ビデオに出てるから、是非見てください：０

Kagura 神楽

2012-05-27T11:14:00.001+09:00

Today I watch some Kagura, take a video or two and a picture or four. 今日は神楽みにいく！写真やビデオ取ってくる

What to drink 何を飲むか

2012-05-23T21:52:00.000+09:00

Japan has been known to have some very strange drinks, well I don't know how strange they are, but there sure are a lot of them. Starting from the top-

日本では様々な変な飲み物があることで世界的に有名。変かどうかわからないけど、とりあえずようけいあることは確か。外人の為に今回のポストアップしたけど、日本語少しでも書こうかな？トップから見て～

Here we have Western Tea, milk tea, straight tea and lemon tea.

ここには欧米茶がある、左から見て、ミルクティー、ストレートティ、アンドレモンティー

And here, we have different types of Eastern Tea, green tea, roasted green tea, and roasted barley tea. Keep in mind that there are hundreds of different bottled teas sold in Japan, these are a select few.

ここにはいくつかの東洋茶がある。普通の日本茶、それからほうじ茶、アンド麦茶。てか、読めるじゃろ？書く意味あるかな。。。。

Japan is famous for it's Sports Drinks, especially Pocari Sweat, which is in left hand side. Pocari Sweat is famous in the West because of its odd name, and well known in Japan because it was one of the forefronts of the Sports Drink phenomenon, then we have Aquarius which is way better than Pocari, and Dakara which is my favorite.

スポーツドリンクです。ポカリスエットは英語にするポカリ汗になるので可笑しい。それぐらいかな？ダカラは美味しい。

Here are all drinks that you should know, Fanta, Pepsi, Coke, and Canada Dry.

欧米ドリンク

Here are some soft drinks that you may now know. C.C. Lemon, Calpis Soda, and Mitsuya Cider. Note that Calpis comes in three forms, the original Calpis you had to manually mix with water in order to drink, the second type which is already mixed for you, and the last~ which is Calpis in Soda. Calpis is an awkward name. Out of this lot, I would take the C.C. Lemon.

日本流ドリンク。カルピスは英語の発音にすると、非常に「牛の小便」に近い。ちょっと飲みたくなくなる。

Chu-hai which is the main "juice" alcohol in Japan. Flavors range from mango to watermelon and lemon. While chu-hai is normally considered a girls drink because it tastes way better than beer (and having good taste is so feminine) I like it a lot because if you get the Strong version it has 8% alcohol which is twice as much as your average beer.

チューハイは、美味しいけど、普通のは３％だから女の飲み物だと呼ばれる、けどストロングを飲んだら、実はビールより遥かに強い。飲んでみ

I made the picture a little bigger to show you all the different kinds of beer. On the top are some more chu-hai, and below that is the beer. Starting from the left, is Yebisu which is my personal favorite type of Japanese beer, although it is super expensive. Then you are Asahi Super Dry, and Asahi Super Dry Black, which are both really good and expensive. Other than these that I have mentioned so far, every other beer in Japan is bad. That might just be personal taste, but Kirin is incredibly bitter, and normal Asahi is too not bitter? Anyway, I only go for Asahi Super Dry or Yebisu, hands down.

ビール。エビスとアサヒのスーパードライ以外はパス。

And here is the liquor. The particular super market that I was at has an incredibly abysmal selection, Japanese Whiskey at the top, which is not my favorite, Japanese brandy, and wine on the second row. Then we have Khalua, and rum and Smirnoff's and some Korean alcohol... this is the only super market near where I live, so ya, I stay pretty sober during the week. Ugh

レベル低いお酒バッカリ、ちょっとがっかりする。俺の家の唯一の近いスーパーだ。。。この為、平日は飲まないね。。

That pretty much concludes the drinking section at my super market. More importantly, it shows off a lot of Japanese drinks and hopefully all of you at home now have an idea of what people are quaffing in Japon. See you next time~~

A Country of Waste 資源の無駄

2012-05-21T23:14:00.000+09:00

　Something that bothers me a lot in Japan, is the amount of packaging that happens. I will show you a picture to better explain my feelings on the matter.

　日本に居て気に食わんことは大きく一つある、それはお菓子などの包装だ。気持ちを表す為に写真を見せる

So this is my desk, and my 5 yr old laptop with a mac sticker, that isn't the point of this rant. First observe to the far right, the box that I bought the mini-donuts. I opened up the box, to find a secondary bag inside. Then, inside the bag each little donut is wrapped individually. How much garbage does this create? How horrible for the environment is it when you need 6 plastic bags for a small box of donuts. And yes, there are only 6 donuts in the box, and when you look at the scale of the box, it looks like it holds about 30 of the donuts. What the hell man.

　これは俺の机だ、そして５年間古かした（日本語作り）ノートパソコン。でも今日の話したいことはそれじゃない。写真の右の辺に御覧下さい。俺が買ったミニドーナツの箱がある。その箱を開けると大きなビニール袋がある。その袋を開けると、ドーナツが一個ずつ包装されていた。これほどの包装でどれほどのゴミができる？六つのミニドーナツの為に、これほどのビニールを使うと言うのは自然界にどれほどのダメージがあるのか？？そうだ、六つしか入っとらん、ドーナツと箱のスケールを見ると、箱に３０個も入れると思うだろう？何だよこれや

So, I get home, and I open the box, and there are 6 donuts, which is a shocker, and it just brings back memories of buying a bag of candy and having everything in like plastic bags, which is absolutely infuriating, it is impossible to eat these things with any sense of leisure because you need to open the damn plastic bags.

ドーナツを買って、家に帰ったときに箱を開けて六つしかない、そしてショックをうける。日本では何でもこの風に一個ずつ包装されていることが思い浮かぶ、食べる時に毎回ビニール袋を破れないのいけない気持ち。気軽に食べることは不可能。

Japan has an extremely good recycle rate for everything, 80%, 90% all the information is on this site, The Site You Wanna Hit For Info, but seriously, I wish they didn't waste so much plastic on individual donut, and other sweets/pastries.

日本のリサイクル率は非常に良いといわれている。日本人だけのリサイクルサイト！クリックミーというサイトをポチっとして見ると、日本のリサイクル率が見れる。でもね、日本ははなっからこれほどのビニール消耗なかったら、良いと思うね。まぁ、参考にして下さい

Miles of Bicycles

2012-05-20T13:07:00.002+09:00

This is one of the lots where you park your bicycle before going to school. It can get a little difficult to find your bike if you have 1) a metallic colored bike or 2) forgot where you put it.

Climbing Mount Misen　弥山を登山し

2012-05-19T17:52:00.000+09:00

Hello all, these are the pictures that I took with Tres when we climbed Mount Misen.

The hike is beautiful and the whole experience is fantastic.

これがトレスと一緒に登山した弥山だ！登りが美しいし、経験しだいが素晴らしい。

凄い可愛いお坊さんの像がおる

This guy is absolutely fantastic, he lives on the walkway up to the top of Mt. Misen

This little section isn't actually part of the official climb, but it's there, so I climbed it. The structure is actually a dam, and while it is probably the easiest thing to climb in the world, even an 8 year old climbed it, it is pretty fun.

ハイキング道の近くにあったダムをちょこっと登って見た。

Some absolutely gorgeous views, and beautiful pictures taken by Tres。

トレスが撮った美しい画像じゃ

トップからの眺望、素敵
A beautiful view from the top.

When you get to the top of the mountain, there are these huge boulders to play around on, which is also pretty fun.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures, not much to talk about, but it was an amazingly fun experience, and I definitely recommend for anyone going to check out Miyajima, in Hiroshima (which is a Unesco Heritage Site) to climb the mountain, because it is definitely worth your while. There is also a ropeway for those less inclined to the steep inclines.
写真で喜んでもらったら幸い、とても楽しい経験だった。広島の宮島に行く人には是非登山を進む！山登りが駄目な人にはロープウエーもあるので、絶対にトップの眺望を見てください!

Rockmelt, my new passion

2012-05-17T23:06:00.000+09:00

I have to thank everyone that visits my site using Rockmelt. I have analytics for what browsers people use when viewing my site, and some people use extremely strange browsers, like seamonkey and Rockmelt. When I saw these browsers being used, I got curious and looked them up, and wow. I still have checked out seamonkey, mostly because I think it's a scam, but Rockmelt is an amazing browser. It is basically Chrome with a bunch of featured added on. You can still use the same Chrome extensions, but Rockmelt is made for social networking, all twitter or facebook things, email stuff pops up, reddit stuff, it is all super easy to see and use. So now I use Rockmelt, check it out!
http://www.rockmelt.com/

World Heritage Sites　ユネスコー世界遺産　厳島神社

2012-05-16T10:30:00.000+09:00

Hey all! Last week I said I was going to Miyajima Island (Itsukushima Shrine.) Well I finally got a bunch of the pictures taken, still a bit more, but there are enough for a post or two! Some background information on Miyajima, can be seen through the link.

こんにちわ！先週宮島に行くと言うったけど、あれ以来なんもアップしてないけん、どうしたん？と思った人はおるじゃろ。実はカメラマンのトレスから今もらったばっかりで、まぁ半分ぐらいの写真はあるんでアップしてみようと思った。

Here is me, being super touristy! As far as I can tell, these women just kind of hang out near the entrance, and people get their picture taken with them. Normally, I don't go for the ultra tourist, but hey! I am making this blog for you guys, so here you go.

この写真では俺は超観光客になっている。普通なら、ここまでせんけど、皆さんの為に恥を知った。恥かしいよ！

This is a huge rice scooper. I don't know the exact size of it, but I do know that the largest one that you can get in Miyajima is 135cm, which is huge. This one is probably twice that. So, maybe 10 feet long? Damn.
しゃもじってわかる？宮島にはおそらく200cm以上のしゃもじがある。かなりびっくりする。欲しかったら（似たようなのを）買えると思うよ。

Miyajima is known for its deer. There are deer all over the island, according to Shintoist beliefs, deer are the messengers of the gods. In the past, deer food was sold at stalls, but recently a ban on feeding the deer has made many deer starve to death, because they have been trained to accept food from hand. Get this sorted out Japan.
宮島では鹿が名物だ。島中に鹿がやまほどある、信徒の観念では鹿は神様の使者である。昔は鹿の餌が買えたけど、最近は食べさせるのは禁止されてる。鹿は自分で飯を探す本能がないので餓死している。なんとかせんの日本？

And here is the beautiful picture of the Torii, National Cultural Property of Japan! Oh wait, never mind. The gate was under construction! What? Well, apparently the wind was intense enough on the days before I went to Miyajima, that something broke. Well, that is really quite unfortunate. Those people that would really like to see it and some information the link is here.

これだ！有名な宮島の大鳥居！なんつてね、激しい風によって鳥居にダメージがかかって、修理するためにこのような設備がおいている。かなり残念だね。まぁ、言えることは、他のブログではこの写真はなかろう！

This set of pictures that I have up here, are not about the temples and shrines of Itsukushima, instead they are about this crazy horse! Yes, this red-eyed demon horse is in a little horse stall right on the main path. Absolutely bizarre. The history behind this, is that there used to be a real horse, but the cost of maintenance on the horse became too high, and so they got a fake one after the old one passed on. Seriously though, they should of just scrapped the whole thing, this horse just scares me and serves absolutely zero purpose.

俺がアップしている写真は寺と神社と関係ない。その代わり、この怒れ馬の写真がある！この悪馬はメーンパスの横にあって、すごく微妙なものだ。何故馬があるかと言うと、前は本当の馬がおったようだ、しかしメンテナンスが高くて、馬が亡くなったらプラスチックの馬に変えた。意味にないもので丸々捨てた方がいいと思うけどね、なんのメリットもないものだ。。。ただ奇妙。

I am here for your soul! - Demon Horse

This monk guy, is cool. He warbles and does Buddhist chants and stands there all day. His shoes are the thing that catch my eye. Those are the shoes of a warrior.
お坊さんの靴が素晴らしいかな。なかなかいけてると思う。

This guy is so cool. He carts people around all day in his rickshaw, I saw one guy get the number of the female passenger, like a player. Also something interesting to note, rickshaws in Japanese are known as Jin-rikusha (human-powered-vehicle) so, I guess that is where that word comes from.

人力者のお兄さんはけっこうプレーボーイがおると思うよ。乗客から電話番号をもらっている人も見た。ちなみに英語では人力者は英語でリクシャーと呼ぶ。日本語がこっそりと英語に入ったね。

And here is my friend, the demon looking, but actually god statue. This picture is about as templey as I will get in this post, and he is just here to show us out. I have more pictures coming from Tres which I will post when I receive them. I also climbed Mt. Misen, because that is a cool thing to do, and I will post a few highlights from the climb.

神様の像で、バイバイ。トレスからもっと写真をもらったら、それをアップするけど、その他に弥山登ったから、あれも間も無くアップするけん、お待ちな。

The Well of Life, in Japan

2012-05-15T13:44:00.000+09:00

In Japan, convenience stores are big money. They sell things ranging from clothing (tights, socks, shirts) to garbage bags and energy drinks. I took some pictures, so have a look!

From the outside, you would never expect the kinds of goodies there are in store for you inside... the store

When you walk in, you have energy drinks to the right, cashier to the left and bento (food stuffs) to the front

Hard left from the entrance brings you to the ATM! This ATM accepts foreign credit cards, thus cementing Seven-Eleven into the daily life of an expat

Hard right from the entrance are the energy drinks, cleaning supplies, tissues, axe deodorant.. lots of stuff

Lots of magazines, and then the "Adult only" mags at the end, some convenience stores will have adult magazines all over the place, it is pretty disturbing

Booze and snacks!

And ice-cream.

And there you go folks, that is all you will ever need. Seven-Eleven has it all. Not to mention the different convenience store chains, Lawson, Family-Mart. This is Real Japan.