Friday, August 15, 2008
Let's enjoy sparklers!
On Thursday night, my friend Ayako invited me to her family's celebration of Obon. I thought it was just her family and parents, but her sister and cousins and their kids came from out of town. It felt much like an American family reunion - lots of kids running around, the women in the kitchen preparing for the barbeque later. But then we went to the cemetary to pray at the ancestors' grave. And back in the house, next to the Buddhist altar, there were large framed photos of their ancestors and wrapped gifts for them.
My friend's daughter and niece, rinsing their mouths before entering the cemetary.
After the cemetary, Ayako took me to the nearby temple where she learned tea ceremony as a girl. The priest's wife made tea for us and then took us on a tour of the temple buildings.
Then we went back for the barbeque which didn't include hamburgers or chicken. There were hot dogs on sticks for the kids and corn on the cob but also squid, many kinds of shrimp, beef, cabbage, onions, tofu - all grilled. We just took the pieces we wanted and dipped them into our bowl of sauce.
After dinner, we headed to the local park for the kids to light off fireworks (which, by the way, can be bought at any store).
(But let me back up a bit, to a party we had at Shirasagi about a month ago. We invited our boss and his family. In the parking lot, we lit some sparklers and other fireworks and our boss' two kids got in on the action. But later, his wife was overheard telling him that Americans were very lively with fireworks. We laughed that off, but now I know exactly what she meant. Back to Obon...)
At the park, the kids (all between the ages of 3 and 7) all sat down nicely on the curb. One of the dads went down the line passing out sparklers and then came back down the line to light them. The kids stayed seated and held their sparklers absolutely still, just watching them!!! If you don't believe me, see the photos!!
After their sparklers went out, they put them in a big bucket of water and sat back down to wait for another! Amazing! I told Ayako about what my boss' wife had said about Americans and sparklers. Ayako's response: "Japan is safety". Indeed. But for all this safety, they don't buckle their kids up in the car! In fact they often don't use car seats. It's not uncommon to see someone sitting in the front seat holding a baby in her lap. Anyway, I digress.
THIS will be my last posting from Japan, as I leave in just a few hours. I am awaiting reverse culture shock, which I expect to be severe as I drive on the wrong side of the road, am unerringly polite to everyone, speak very slowly and clearly, and leave my wallet on a table at a restaurant to reserve a table. And gain a lot of weight eating everything I haven't had this year!!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
One man's treasure is another man's...
Gomi was one of the first Japanese words I learned when I arrived. It means garbage, generally. But there are all kinds of gomi, as I sooned learned! The garbage system is very complicated here, so I have been waiting to post this blog until I figured it out. For the most part I think I have.
Garbage is so complicated it needs its own poster which I keep on the fridge for frequent reference! (You can click on the photo to zoom in.)
To give you an idea of the complications, here is the schedule for garbage pickup:
Burnable garbage - Wednesday and Saturday
Plastic garbage - Friday
Paper garbage - 1st and 3rd Friday of the month
Large garbage - every two weeks
Things like TVs and other electronics cannot be put out. You have to pay to recycle those.
With a schedule like that, I wonder most nights which garbage I need to put out for the next day: "is tomorrow paper?" And we here at Shirasagi remind each other: "don't forget, it's dai-gomi night".
First is the burnable garbage. It has to be put in special garbage bags which we buy at the grocery or drug store (they're very cheap). I like to think that the bags are made of some special plastic that won't release dioxin when burned... but that might just be wishful thinking. Japan doesn't have much space for landfills so most garbage is burned if it can't be recycled.
Plastic garbage is pretty straightforward, though there is a lot of it. The Japanese LOVE packaging. It's common to buy, let's say a package of cookies, something like Chips Ahoy for example. Every single cookie inside the package is wrapped individually!! Every cookie! And there is usually one of those crystal packets to suck up moisture in the package too! So you can easily generate a LOT of plastic waste every week. Plastic garbage also has a special garbage bag that has to be bought (cheaply) at a grocery or drug store.
Paper garbage is a bit complicated for me, having been used to the ever-changing paper recycling rules at the Q. I'm still not sure if magazines or glossy paper or colored paper can be recycled... Paper garbage is to be put into a paper shopping bag (from any major department store).
Then there's the "large garbage" (dai-gomi). It's the most confusing of all for us foreigners, because it includes little things like tin cans, plastic PET bottles, newpaper, cardboard, batteries, milk cartons etc. But it can also include big things like bikes, furniture, and used clothing.
It's perfectly acceptable to go dumpster diving on dai-gomi day. You never know what you might find! And each neighborhood sends a representative to oversee the collection. Our apartment building custodian gets that task on our behalf!
Here are a couple photos of our dai-gomi collection point.
And here's a photo of my garbage collection system in the hallway kitchen - there's the poster for easy reference; the green bag is for plastic; the black bins below are for dai-gomi; the paper bag for paper; and the garbage can for burnable. It gets really complicated and often I don't know where something ought to go.
So now you know about garbage in Japan. I think you know everything I wanted to tell you about Japan now! Just in time, because this might be my last posting, except perhaps for one last good-bye blog. And especially timely since I'm almost out of space on blogger!
August 12 on 12 - Last memories
One of my favorite signs - it's at the entrance to a local grocery store:
No cameras, no smoking, and oh yeah, no bombs.
Underground bike parking. I've never actually parked here though. I think it costs about a dollar a day.
Top fashion in swimsuits this year - Pez Candy and Kellogg's Frosted Flakes.
Three more of my favorite no smoking signs. I recently realized that these actually give some good insight into Japanese culture. In each, the message is to think of other people, whereas in the US, no smoking messages usually focus on your health or your children's health.
Me playing Pachinko. Pachinko is sort of a combination between pinball and slot machines. It's not technically gambling because you don't win money. You win tokens which you take across the street to cash in for money. So you see, it's not gambling at all.
Check out this site for a great description of pachinko!
I didn't really figure out how to play because all you do is try to get a ball into a specific hole. I thought that was pretty pointless, but that's just me. No fear of me losing all my money gambling, I guess.
Article about how Japanese cell phones are becoming too complicated! I plan to bring my cell phone back home. It won't work there, but I can show off its dictionary, converters, TV, and other features.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Nagasaki (August 1 and 2)
The 63rd anniversary of the atomic bomb drop on Nagasaki was just the other day. When I was there on August 1st and 2nd, I could see preparations being made for memorials on the anniversary.
Nagasaki was particularly unlucky, because on August 9th, they were actually the second choice as a target for the atomic bomb drop. The first target was the city of Kokura but it was too overcast that morning. So the planes flew on to Nagasaki where a break in the clouds allowed them to drop the bomb over Urakami suburb of Nagasaki.
I visited Hypocenter Park to see a marker of the hypocenter and remnants of a church wall.
The black column (hard to see) is the hypocenter of the atomic bomb
A wall of a church that survived (not its original location)
Chains of origami cranes which symbolize peace (and health and long life)
Just a block away from Hypocenter Park is Peace Park.
Water fountain at Peace Park. The water is in the shape of a pair of dove wings.
The sign in front of this statue read: "... dedicated as an appeal for lasting world peace and a prayer that such a tragedy would never be repeated. The elevated right hand points to the threat of nuclear weapons, while the outstretched left hand symbolizes tranquility and world peace. Divine omnipotence and love are embodied in the sturdy physique and gentle contenance of the statue, and a prayer for the repose of the souls of all war victims is expressed in the closed eyes. Furthermore, the folded right leg symbolizes quiet meditation while the left leg is poised for action in assisting humanity."
Half of this torii (entrance to a shrine) was knocked down by the atomic bomb blast, but half remained (and remains) standing.
After a sombering morning seeing the sights related to the atomic bomb, I moved on to less recent history: Nagasaki's role as Japan's primary link with the outside world. In 1542, the Portugese accidentally landed in Nagasaki. Of course, the Portguese had brought along Christianity and, soon enough, missionaries. In 1587, Christianity was outlawed in Japan, and ten years later, 26 European and Japanese Christians were crucified in Nagasaki.
Monument to the 26 Christian martyrs (three of them were boys).
During this period of persecution, Japanese Christians made statues of Mary that looked like the Buddhist goddess of mercy, Kannon.
I checked out Glover Garden and Dejima, both tourist sites with replicas of buildings that the early foreigners lived in in Nagasaki.
It was too hot to be bothered with taking photos at Glover Garden (plus the buildings just looked like Western buildings, so to me they weren't especially interesting). But I learned that the opera Madame Butterfly is set in Nagasaki and may be based on actual events.
Dejima is the artificial island where the Dutch had a trade port from 1641 until 1853 during Japan's period of isolation. The island was originally built for the Portuguese traders and priests. But then the Portuguese were thrown out of the country for trying to convert the Japanese to Christianity. Then the Dutch were forced to move onto the island. It was attached to the mainland by a small bridge that was heavily guarded by the Japanese. The video shown said that business must have been very lucrative for the Dutch to have stayed on during the imposition of these strict rules.
The island is now within the city (much of Nagasaki was built on reclaimed land it seems).
One last famous sight in Nagasaki: Megane-bashi (Spectacles Bridge). The water level was a bit low, but when it's right, the bridge and its reflection look like a pair of spectacles.
More photos of Nagasaki
Saturday, August 9, 2008
the DMZ and North Korea (July 29th)
All in all, the most interesting day I spent in Korea.
Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung Palaces in Seoul, Korea (July 28 and 30)
The throne room. The painting of the five peaks was a standard scene around the palace, as well as behind the throne at Changdeokgung.