There seems to be a lot of buzz about Obama in Japan. I have heard that a lot of people in China like him, too. I don’t know who I’m voting for yet. I haven’t been good about following election news recently, to be honest. I need to spend more time looking at the candidates…
Yes, that’s right. I wrote “Oink, Oink,” and not “Happy Valentine’s Day.” I feel like a bit of a pig. And not because of what I ate, but because of what I said. It was the “perfect” ending to a “perfectly odd” day.
Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t really a bad day. Sure, a lot of annoying things happened, but what’s new, right? 
By the time I got to my evening company class, I was in a pretty good mood. I have two back-to-back classes, and I’ve been teaching most of the same students for years, so I can get away with a bit of joking. But tonight, I put my foot in my mouth…
Japundit has an interesting post about how the Japanese are not satisfied with only one word for rice. There are many ways to say rice in Japanese, including several not mentioned in the article.
I remember once at my high school, the teacher was translating something involving “rice” from English to Japanese, and he translated it as gohan, (ご飯), which is cooked rice that you eat, instead of kome, (米), which is uncooked rice. Since I have to pretend that I don’t know Japanese, even though the students know I do, I had to wait until after the lesson to correct him. The students didn’t get the correct information, but his delicate “face” was preserved. 
(Just another case of how blindly following a set of arbitrary rules is rather idiotic and counterproductive at times, but I digress…)
Here are the snow pictures I promised. I took these near Ichigaya Station, in Tokyo, after my morning class. There’s a Tully’s that I go to sometimes. I had coffee and read for a while. Then, when it was getting close to time to go to my next lesson, I took a few pictures of the small playground and shrine by the coffee shop.
It was snowing and pretty cold, so I didn’t stay out too long, but I managed to take a few shots. Can you believe I had been meaning to go up and look a at the shrine for a long time, but I never did until the day it was snowing? Needless to say, I plan on going back again, and taking more pictures.
But here are a few I took at the height of the snowstorm. (If you can call it that!) 
Today (January 14th, 2008) was a National Holiday in Japan. It’s called 「成人の日」(seijin no hi), which literally means, “Adults’ Day,” but is usually translated as, “Coming of Age Day.” In Japan, 20 is the age of adulthood, rather than 21, like in the USA. It is a special day to celebrate the coming of age for young adults who turn 20 years old this year. Young people dress up and attend a special celebration in their honor.
It happens several times a year.
I have been teaching at the same high school now for almost two years, and every few months, they neglect to tell me that I don’t need to come. So I go all the way there, and then have to turn around. I think the last time it happened was back in September, and it had very serious repercussions, both financially and physically. As i wrote back then, I was still on crutches because of my leg, and my balance was not very good, so I slipped on the slick pavement near my apartment. Although I didn’t fall down, I slid into a bad position and put my back out, which led to a lot of expensive chiropractic treatment and perhaps the other complications I suffered.
Wow. I have always been interested in Miyamoto Musashi, one of the most famous swordsmen in Japanese history. When he wasn’t winning duels, he was dedicating himself to Zen meditation and producing artwork. He was clearly a fearsome warrior, but he had a sense of poetry and an appreciation of beauty, as well. The subject of countless stories and movies, Musashi has become a legendary figure to millions of people around the world. It is difficult to know where the truth ends and the fantasy begins.
In his latest article, In the Shadow of Musashi, Jeff, an English teacher and martial artist living in Japan, writes:
In the middle of November, thanks to exam week at the university, I had a week’s vacation. I decided to take a trip to Kumamoto to visit the various places connected with Miyamoto Musashi. I had been there a couple of times before, but not since I bought my digital camera. I wanted to take a lot of photos and also just soak in the atmosphere by myself. (It’s hard to do that when you are with a bunch of non-martial-artists who can’t understand why you want to visit some stupid cave in the first place, let alone sit on some rock for half an hour.)
You can read the rest of the article here: In the Shadow of Musashi
This is a great post, and a great idea for a trip that I need to make before I leave Japan.
Copyright notice: the picture above is in the public domain
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(Via Tales of a Budo Bum.)
I have no idea what, if any, significance this duck statue has, but It was sitting serenely on a railing by Iidabashi Station, in Tokyo. In the midst of a very busy and colorful area, its quiet simplicity caught my eye.
It looks great as a grayscale.
In the “I really didn’t need the calories or added expense but I don’t care!” category:
Christmas Cake is a big deal in Japan. In every cake shop and supermarket, and in front of every convenience store, you can see a crowd of people buying cakes for Christmas. This year, I decided to get one, too.
I went to my local Supermarket and got a few groceries. Ginza Cozy Corner, a famous cake shop, was selling cake in two areas of the store. One area, their dedicated shop, had a huge line. But in the middle of the store, they had a special booth set up with just a few people. I walked up to the counter and chose this beauty:
Click the link below to read on and see more pictures!
I ain’t scared of you, Baby!
