Selected quotes from Atheism for Lent 2018 study
8 years ago
I went to a puppet show yesterday. It was pretty good.
It wasn't any old puppet show, would not have gone to see it if it was. I got told about it from one of my students who was working for the makers. Essentially it was preformed by a Japanese puppeteer troupe that specialises in puppet shows for the deaf. This meant, that among other things, I could understand it. It told a tale in mime I suppose with a surprising amount of emphasis on music. But I think that the music used was quite basic and often accompanied by visual prompts, so they had their bases covered.
It told a fairly simple tale about growing up, having a family, and then watching you children have a family. It also told of how they interacted with boxes. Ever increasing amounts of boxes (think tv, washing machine, air conditioner) and how they didn't necessarily help family life. It was a fairly simple message but it was well told. And all in all we are both glad we went to see it.
In a similar vain, I bought myself a new box. It looks a little something like this -
I had this idea a while back for a series of photos. Basically my thinking was that here in the country much of the landscape is dominated by fields of rice. And as the months of rice growing go by the landscape changes hugely depending on the rice fields state of maturity. Like most plants I suppose. Anyway, I thought if I took pictures of a rice field over the months it would help my readers actually understand what this Yosano place looks like (for the most part). Well that was the plan...
Ultimately it failed. I can think of a number of good reasons for this. I don't own an actual camera. I'm not a photographer. And this year was a bad year for rice. The summer was too cool (good for me, bad for the rice), so it never really hit the heights of maturity that it did last year. This means instead of being able to show the changes in rice - from just planted sparse rice fields, through lush green, until finally ending up in light golden yellows - I've instead ended up with a series of different shades of green. Add to this a mobile phone camera and a photographer with no sense of "good lighting" you have a mess of green fields.
Still I did take the shots, and have archived them for your viewing pleasure. I also put together a quick collage of them. Because Picasa can...
We managed to take a much needed holiday over the past weekend. And whilst it was only a few days long it really helped sanity levels. We managed to get in some good eating (beef and bagels) some good site seeing (2 castles, some old fashioned streets and a museum) and some shopping (some might say a bit too much). Today I thought I'd cover the castles, because I like them, and I've talked about Japanese castles before.
The castles in question were Nagahama and Hikone. They lie pretty close to each other on the Eastern bank of Lake Biwa (the biggest lake in Japan). The main parts of the castles looked pretty similar to pretty much every other Japanese castle I have seen (as can be seen below) but the both offered two completely different experiences.
Nagahama castle stands pretty lonely in Nagahama. Its devoid of most of the fortifications that are often present around Japanese castles and is just a Keep. Its a pretty standard keep at that, with unimpressive modern innards and a standard Japanese facade. (As a side note I have now seen about 5 Japanese castles now, so while it might look impressive, it looks less so when you've seen a few). It was filled mostly with old documents and a few old relics. There was no English translations to speak of so I have no idea what they were trying to be showing but it looked a bit boring and piecemeal. There didn't seem to be any attempt at trying to tell a story of the castle or educate the visitor. Fortunately there was one standard thing that Nagahama did have that was a huge bonus. Great views. Most Japanese castles have a parapet you can walk around at the top that often offer the best views of the city surrounding it. Nagahama castles parapet offered wonderful views of Lake Biwa and Nagahama city. It was one of the few times on our trip that we could really see the extend of Lake Biwa. It was stunning.
Hikone castle was a totally different kettle of fish. On arriving in Hikone we stopped off at the tourist information office to pick up a map to the castle. What we came away with was an English guide to being a tourist in Hikone. Complete with walking routes, major sites, and a paragraph or two of information on everything worth seeing. This included a load of information about the castle. It was great. The castle itself is actually a huge complex with a large hill in the centre. The fortifications for the castle were pretty extensive and included a moat or two and a few very large walls and barricades. The guide we were given guided us up the hill along varies paths that lead to the keep at the very top. Then down the other side and through a very nice scenic garden. You can then go further still, walking down a touristy street that has been made up to look more traditional. It was a good place for souvenirs and ice cream. The only let down was the keep itself. Its a great keep because the inside is actually in the style that it used to be (has always been) but there are so many people wanting to see it you just end up shuffling around uncomfortably until you get ejected at the end and are left not quite understanding what you were meant to see. Oh, and there was no view at the top, just ridiculously steep steps.
'Bums, Crepes and Jon Bon Jovi'
Synopsis: From catheter care to crepe creation, Lucy introduces you to a fresh array of colourful characters. And with the music of Jon Bon Jovi, what more could an audience want?
Start time: 17.45 (50 mins)
Prices: £7/£5 concessions
Dates: 24th-29th August
Location: Riddles Court, 322 Lawnmarket
How to get tickets: 0131 225 8961 or get them at the door.
Testimonial: WONDERFULLY WRY. This show is what the fringe should be all about. (Three Weeks)
Testimonial: WONDERFULLY WRY. This show is what the fringe should be all about. (Three Weeks)
This shameless plug was brought to you by a proud brother. He saw the show last year and won't be able to make it to this one. He is most upset. So please go see the show in his stead.
It was Loks year anniversary of coming to Yosano about a week ago. Mine will be in about a month. I'm not sure if I take any significance from this fact.... don't think we have really celebrated it or anything. But it happened and I suppose I should mark the fact.
Perhaps more importantly it has meant that we got a new table for the sitting room. One of the leaving JETs from the town has kindly gifted us with a spare LARGE kotatsu that she had. So we traded our smaller kotatsu for it. Its great, means that I can sit next to my wife and everything. Unfortunately it claimed FIRST BLOOD the other day. I whacked my pinky toe into it right before a lesson and took a chunk of skin off. I'm not entirely sure how I managed it. I'm normally just left with pain when I kick things. After a few shaky days I thing its starting to get better though, no matter how hard it is to bandage a pinky toe (or how stupid it looks).
In related news the leaving of some JETs means the arrival of others. Fingers crossed this leads to more things to do around town.
Summer has come to Japan and I am too hot.
I sit here writing this blog post next to an electric fan. I'm still sweating. The Laptops uncomfortable hot and resting my wrists on it to type a lot is not exactly what I'd call comfortable. Last night we had to move downstairs into the sitting room to sleep as its the only room with air conditioning. No mater how many windows we open during the day we just can get the house cool enough to sleep in the evening. Leaving the windows open during the evening isn't an option as tons of tiny little blood suckers find their way through the bug screens to feed.
Going out during the day is an exercise in endurance. Even equipped with short sleeved linens I find myself sweating like I was in a sauna. I'm just not used to the heat. I've never liked the heat.
All in all Japan weather sucks in the summer, so I'm getting the blog moaning done now. Sigh..... its going to be a long few months.....
So I went to Hiroshima over the weekend. Here are a few of my views on the place.
First off, its an extraordinarily depressing place. I don't think I've been anywhere that oozes depressing vibes in quite the same quantity as this place. As soon as you get off the tram you are greeted by the A-Dome. A spectacular mess of a building that use to be prized by the people of Hiroshima before the bomb went off almost directly above it. The devastating effect that this had on the building is being preserved. Its quite odd.
After this as you head deep into the Park now dedicated to peace and memory of the first Atomic Bombing you are greeted with eery silence. The place is really kinda busy with tourist but is just soo quiet. So full of reverence, its uncomfortable. The park itself is really nice. Lots of nice sculptures and palm trees along side normal trees. But it just doesn't seem right to appreciate it for a park. Its just too plainly a grave at the same time.
Lastly you get to the Peace Museum. A stunning bridged building that houses a large amount of information on Hiroshima before and after the bomb. It really is a great museum. Lots of text to read so that you can learn up on the bits that interest you. Lots of pictures and diagrams and models and video feeds. Its also really cheap (35p) as I think its mostly funded by donations. But it is a little upsetting when you stop to think about it. The first half of the museum mostly informs you about the history and horrors. Unfortunately the second half decides to show you the horrors. Needless to say I spent most of the short time I spent in the museum in the first part. I wish I had more time but considering how uncomfortable it makes you maybe its good I didn't.
Overall I'm really glad I went. I felt a kinda pull to go there, almost like a pilgrimage or something maybe. To see how science can be put to the wrong means. Now I can say I've been, and that I'm slightly better informed. But it wasn't an easy trip to make or come to terms with.
This week (or at least the last 5 days) has been a huge public holiday here in Japan. This means that the roads are packed, the tourist resorts are teeming, and the hotels are all fully booked. However we opted to avoid these common pit falls by doing small day trips with friends. Overall it has worked out quite well. What follows is a brief run down of the highlights.
On Saturday we went off to Ine with some friends/ my students. Ine is a seaside town nearby where we live. It is in a well protected bay so is filled with very calm waters. It has a history of Whale fishery and many of the houses are old and show the traces of this past. The entire area is considered protected because of this, so whilst many of the old buildings can appear a bit run down and the roads are narrow and winding, it does lend the place a kind of charm.
On Sunday evening we went off to a local festival, filled with traditional floats. The floats contained Children with flutes and drums, so it was kinda noisy. But there was a pretty lively atmosphere in general so it was okay most of the time. We followed the floats for a bit watching them navigate the streets and back alleys of the town. Then headed home. See pictures for more details (taken before it got too dark).
Yesterday (Tuesday) we headed off to Amino with more friends/ Loks students. Again its a seaside town fairly close by to Yosano. When there we visited a nice beach which was REALLY clean, and had sand that made a sort of musical noise if you played it right. I think this was down to the coarse and dry nature of the sand (special to that area I suppose). We then went somewhere for some nice lunch and were fed even more after a trip to the friends parents. The insisted on getting us to try all the seasonal bamboo shoots and seaweed (it was nice for the most part). We returned home with a bucket of bamboo shoots and more seaweed than we know what to do with.
Finally this evening we are seeing more friends/ students of ours and going out for some cheep Sushi. The local conveyor belt sushi place recently dropped there prices to 94¥ a plate. Such a deal is too good to miss.
I literally just found this website. Normally I wouldn't post something like this but it really is quite impressive.
http://openstreetmap.org/
At first glance this may appear to be just another street map page but zoomed in close there is quite a bit of extra data to be found. For example - Post box locations, Foot and Bike paths, Bus Stops, tourist spots, and Pubs. Something for everyone I think. Think I'll be bookmarking this one.
Just thought I'd do a quick update on the weather. Mainly as I haven't posted in a while and figured I should. It's not like I haven't been up to anything, more that I just haven't felt like posting. So now you get to read about Japanese weather. Deal.
Anyway, to sum it up in a single word its been "Changeable". About a month ago it was still pretty cold, as we were just seeing off the last cold spell of the winter. Then about a weekend later I was out at a local festival (see pictures of festive activities in Lok's Pics to the side). The weather by this time had changed to a glorious 25 degrees. And to be honest that's a little hot for me but it was pretty nice non the less. This good weather continued on till the next weekend and spring was looking like a good time to be in Japan.
Unfortunately, this weekend past saw another change in the weather. The cold came back and it brought a couple of days of almost solid rain with it. During a local festival no less. And whilst this front will pass soon I think the thunderstorm I am experiencing during writing this can't pass soon enough. The problem with thunderstorms in this old wooden house is that it tends to shake the house. Needless to say I find this a little disconcerting.
Still, it could me nice this weekend coming. So I have my fingers crossed for that.
Its that time again. I found another crazy advert to share with you all. So without further ado here it is in all its Japanese glory.
If there is one thing that Japan is famous for besides Samurai, Geisha and Technology it would be Sakura or Cherry Blossoms. And this weekend past I got my first opportunity to see the Sakura first hand.
Lok and I took a trip to Kyoto to have some Indian curry, do some shopping, and go to Gion to see the cherry blossoms. They are only out for about a week and are usually insanely popular. You only had to see the queue for the bus to Gion at the station to realise it was going to be packed..... Fortunately its a bit enough place and we got to see some pretty trees covered in whites and pinks.
After the success in Gion and not quite done with the weekends viewing we took a trip from Kyoto to Kanazawa. Kanazawa contains one of Japans top 3 Gardens so was a perfect spot to see some Cherry Blossoms and generally appreciate spring. It was a very nice way to spend a couple of hours and we are both very happy that we went. Honestly I can't say that much about it but there are more pictures to the side and they explain things much better than I can.
Also of note is that it is indeed spring here now. Finally. The weather has suddenly become very nice indeed. It was about 20 degrees yesterday, a nice change from the 5 degrees of last week. All things considered it is a good time to be here. Shame about the impending rainy season though....
I have created another blog of the above title, though I'm yet to post on it. This is going to be a more erm... geeky blog for friends. Its not going to really interest you if you don't like technology/ comics/ rpgs/ other similar things. You have been warned. If this still hasn't frightened you away then you can find a link in the blog list to the side.
Being in a small town with little to do a lot of the time has a few advantages. One of these is that it has allowed me to get some reading done that I have been meaning to do for a while. The current title I am on is "Bury My Heart on Wounded Knee" by Dee Brown.
In short its a factual book on the history of the American Indians from 1860 to 1890. I'm only half way through it at the moment but it has already proven itself to be a well written and enjoyable affair. It has also proven to be one of the most difficult reading experiences I have had in recent memory. Not because its hard to read, far from it. And while its dense with information it doesn't slow you down much. What does make the book a difficult one is the subject matter and its often graphic nature. It pulls no punches in explaining all of the atrocities of the time period in detail. How the author feels about the demise of the Indians during the time period is quite clear, and within a few chapters its obvious that your reading a book about Genocide.
But for me, reading about the wiping out of innocent Indian Villages isn't the hardest part. What I'm finding particularly tough is the rays of hope. The people who see whats occurring and try to stop it. Who try to help the Indian cause in anyway they can. To see these good people promptly pushed aside and broken by powers beyond there control. That's whats really tough to read.
However if you have the stomach for it, and enjoy history books in general or the wild west, then you should consider searching this one out in the history section of your local bookstore. It really is quite good.
What follows is a few bits of news of my life in Japan. Some people already know some of it, so this is for those that don't.
It has recently become clear/ I have recently decided that I will be staying in Japan another year. This decision took a lot of hard thought and anguish. My wife made up her mind some time ago that staying in Japan for another year was the best way to pursue a career which I had to agree with. As I haven't really been able to find the work here I had hoped to there was a chance that I would go back the the UK to better further my own career goals. However with the financial crises and many other points in mind I eventually decided that staying here for around another year is best.
In a related note I have decided that I need another Blog/ 2nd Blog. This Blog has served me well for my observations on Japan and trials and tribulations of living here, and it will continue to do so. But I have decided I need somewhere to vent items of a more personal interest which may only relate to friends and not to family (read Geek stuff). I'm fed up of having something I want to chat about with like minded Friends and not actually having any nearby to chat with, so I think its time to make a new Blog for it. So if you'd be interested in reading me ranting about these things/ have any ideas for what I can call the new Blog (I'd prefer to keep "Moose" in the title) then please let me know.
A few things have happened of note lately. The first was my wedding anniversary which was on Thursday. Yes it really has been that long, it shocked me too. The second was that I was stuck down by a particularly spiteful cold/flu/bug thing. Which practically immobilised me on Thursday and Friday, then proceeded to do the same to my wife on Saturday and Sunday...... bugger.
On a lighter note, here is a shamelessly cute Japanese advert.
I've been meaning to sort out the photos on this site for a few months now as I felt the format they were in was a bit off. So with some re-tagging and a lot of shuffling I have reorganised my photos into a format that should make it easier to find the newest ones. The simpler layout also means its easier for me to copy the photos to the Laptop so I should get round to updating them more (fingers crossed). Some of the new photos of note are a Snowman and some deer. Enjoy.
I went to Nara this weekend past, just for a day really, and so had the chance to wander around this Japanese City rich in History and large impressive old buildings. But instead of doing that I decided to try find the Nara City Museum of Photography, because it seemed more interesting.
My starting point on this quest was Nara Park. From there I managed to follow numerous park maps out of the Park area and into a more residential area. Undeterred by a few misled detours I finally came upon a sign that seemed to point the way to the building I desired. I followed this one deep into the aforementioned residential area and just as I was about to quit found a similar sign. Realising I was on the right track I followed this sign, and the next, until finally (about 30 minutes walk from Nara Park) I reached the odd modern/ traditional building that is the Museum.
The museum was essentially formed when the prominent photographer Taikichi Irie donated a ton of his work to Nara. So they built a museum to put it all in. Most of his subject are Buddhist ceremonies so I spent maybe 30 minutes to an hour browsing over some obscure customs and generally pretty photos. Unfortunately google image search didn't really find a great deal of his work so you'll have to take my word for it that it was pretty interesting (or at least I found it a nice change). As an added bonus the museum also had a guest exhibits for the Nara branch of the Japanese Photography Society or some such. Which meant I didn't have to just look at Buddhists and over sized tea cups the entire time and could instead look at dogs with bubbles and a picture of family planting vegetables (which I was informed was to show that they wanted the plant to grow up strong, and their kid to grow up strong).
I really enjoyed getting away from the main hubbub and finding a different thing to gawk at. I seem to be making a habit of finding these weird places to see as opposed to more museums filled with pots.
No more photos today as they are a bit of a mess at the moment and I haven't got round to fixing them yet. Arg.
Japanese society is still quite a bit more chauvinistic in its tendencies. More than I am used to anyway. The woman's place is still primarily considered to be in the home and discrimination for jobs and such is less frowned upon. But this fact is no more apparent in my mind than in the Japanese adoption of Valentines day.
As you might have guessed, Valentines day in Japan has been taken over in order to favour men. It is a day where women give chocolates to the men in their life. This not only includes loved ones but also work colleagues. The later of which is termed “duty chocolates”. February 14th is not a good day to be female.
Technically its not really a one sided exchange. Japanese women get their rewards (more chocolates) on March 14th, so called “White Day”. But I think this is beside the point, the actual day is February 14th, Japanese just twisted it to suit them and added an extra day on the end to keep their other halves happy. There inventiveness never seizes to surprise me.
Anyway, enough of this, I have chocolates to eat......
I have quite a few posts backed up at the moment with things I want to talk about or mention, but for one reason or another they won't be the topic of today. Today your just going to get rice.
To say rice is important in Japan is a bit of an understatement. Its difficult to comprehend just how much power this simple foodstuff holds over the culture without coming here. Here are a few random facts that show its importance.
- The word for rice is "Gohan", of which the "go" part is an honorific.
- The literal translation for breakfast, lunch and tea are morning rice, afternoon rice, and evening rice.
- Rice is often used in the kind of expressions that bread is used in UK culture. "Daily Bread" etc.
- Its also bad etiquette to leave a single grain of rice in your bowl.
- Whenever there is a problem with bad rice, it gets a news story. Its that big a deal.
- Everyone owns a rice cooker, and the majority of people eat rice about 3 times a day. Morning, Noon and Night.
- A Japanese family of five (one we know) goes through about 10kg of rice a week.
To put it bluntly Japan=rice. To make it worse the Tango area we are in is one of the top areas for rice growing and rice quality. We just can't avoid the stuff.
Whilst living here we have upped our rice intake considerably, and we now find ourselves eating rice about twice a day. When we came we bought 10kg's of the cheapest rice we could find, its rice right? A few weeks ago while dining out however we got the chance to sample some top quality local rice (that happened to be produced by our hosts uncle). We were very impressed. Its hard to explain how the rice was better than the one we bought for ourselves but it was, undoubtedly, in every way better. Tastier, silkier, softer, harder, it sounds a bit double negative but it really was good rice. In a single meal we were converts and aimed to get this better rice next time we ran out.
About a week ago our rice supply ran low and so we asked for some advice on where to get this good rice. One thing led to another and in a few days the same friend had polished some of his uncles rice and sold us a 10kg bag for a very reasonable price (about what we paid for the cheap stuff, knowing the right people has its advantages). Now we can look forward to happily tucking into 10kg of the finest Japanese rice for the next 6 odd weeks. We have already realised it makes for a good fried rice, next week maybe I`ll get a chance to use it in a risotto.
On my previously mentioned trip to Osaka I also got the chance to go to 2 Japanese Castles, Osaka Castle and Okayama Castle (a City about 50 minutes away from Osaka by Bullet train).
I found both Castles to be very informative (which is good). The tours of both take you to the tops floors of the Castles from which you can view the surrounding area. This is good for Site seeing and picture taking. Then as you walk down all the levels of the Castle you are slowly told about its history, along with seeing any accompanying artefacts. There are also often chances to get your picture taken wearing old style clothing etc. Not of much interest to me but of note to some.
I should perhaps mention that Japanese Castles tend to differ a bit from their western counterparts. Instead of oft Gothic stone buildings they are high rise wooden structures with a slight Pagoda style to them. There defence tends to be in the form of huge ramparts and moats built in many cases with massive stone slabs. However the wooden nature of the internal buildings does mean that they have a tendency to burn down. Indeed both the castles I looked at were 1960 reconstructions as the originals were burnt down during WW2 bombing.
Osaka Castle is surrounded by a quite impressive park, due in part to the equally impressive footprint of its surrounding defences. Once you have walked for 20 odd minutes to get to the Castle you can start to learn its brief history. I'm not going to go into much detail here but essentially it was built by the Son of a farmer who grew to great providence. So much so he had the Political power to go to war with Korea. After his death though his son promptly buggered it all up and Tokagawa came along and burnt the Castle to the ground. It was rebuilt afterwards but never again reached any state of importance. Its kinda funny that such an impressive Castle had such a short time in the lime light.
Okayama Castle, or the Crow Castle, is of particular note for its dark exterior. I don't have as much to say about this one, but it does have a prominent history of use for a few hundred years (complete with a portrait gallery). One tower is still original but another few towers, gates, and the main building all burnt down in WW2. Still they have done a pretty good job of restoring the Castles I think. Also of note for this Castle was that although the majority of the information contained in it was not in English, I did receive a pamphlet which was packed with useful info about the Castle. This was so much better than Fukuchiyama Castle which has no English and is little more than a small museum with no theme.
Finally here are a few pictures. More can be found in my Albums to the side for those interested.
I'm posting this up before I have had a chance to look over it again and decide to delete it (as I do many other posts of this nature). I felt I should give this one a chance though. Consider this a warning.
In a recent trip to Osaka I yet again ended up in Den Den Town (the Electronics district). We were looking for a new laptop, which pretty much meant I was left to my own devises for a couple of hours to see what I could turn up. During my wanderings though I spent allot of time again in shops focusing (often entirely) on computer parts. I think I have previously mentioned on my blog how I have found this to be enticing but I was finally able to come up with the right words for the exact feeling.
I used to be heavily into computer hardware for a time. Building my own, tweaking parts for extra power, using extravagant cooling, and buying new parts when I could afford them. More recently, however, I made a pointed decision not to do this any more. In a nutshell it was because I realised I was putting allot more effort into computer than I was getting out of it. I was left with a well spec'ed machine that I hardly ever got the chance to use as I was changing it all the time. So, I bought my first laptop and haven't looked back since. I was able to play a few games on it (HL2, Portal, and more recently World of Goo) and I grew to love how it just worked. I didn't have to worry about all its innards. It was quiet, it did what I wanted it to do, and my new laptop and me got along famously.
Flash forward again to Den Den Town and I find myself surrounded by fancy graphics cards and motherboards in abundance. The place would make building a PC easy and a joy to do (instead of the pain of having to source all the stuff online without being able to see it). It made me feel so envious, it made me feel like I wanted to do it all over again.....
......It made me feel an ex- addict. Craving something I had long since left. Sure it was good for me at the time I suppose but it turned bad. And seeing it all there before me, tempting me, made me feel really oddly dirty. Fortunately when I figured this odd feeling out it helped me work through it. Reminded me of the reasons I left PC building (mostly) behind.
So now I look forward to a new laptop (though not technically mine), a more portable affair with less graphics and more practicality. Free am I from the shackles of worrying about the right PC hardware to play Crysis or some such game. In short I feel freshly liberated, and that's a far nicer feeling than that other one I've previously mentioned.
Happy New Year all.
Its finally happened. I've been looking forward to this day with dread for months. The snow has finally fallen on Yosano and its a pain. The cold is bad enough but trying to walk around outside is an exercise in futility. It take 3 times the amount of time to go anywhere and the snow isn't even very thick yet. Things don't look good for us getting out and about in this weather. We went out briefly today to go to a shrine (a Japanese new year thing), but since then we have been hiding in doors. Oh well.... I did get the opportunity to take some pics.
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