Archive for August, 2009

Christopher Hitchens on Obon and historical reconciliation

In his latest Slate column, Christopher Hitchens describes the Obon festival held by the Japanese-American community in California, commenting on how people have come to deal with painful memories of internment camps and the war. Here’s the main point he makes:

…under the azure blue skies that prevailed all of last weekend, you would not have known that any of the bitterness and misery had ever taken place. There were old people present, Japanese and non-Japanese, who had a real memory of it. And there were young people to whom, if it occurs at all, it must seem prehistoric. But there was no awkwardness; no “making nice,” no pretense of a false coexistence. All could meet under the great roof of a secular multiethnic democracy, and all did, sharing the food and the music and admiring one another’s children. And if this of all reconciliations can occur, without it even having to call itself a reconciliation, then perhaps we are not all heading for hell on a sled as fast as we sometimes think. Ernest Renan said that to form a common nation, people had to agree to remember a few things but also to forget a few things. Without undue amnesia, and without being mandated or enforced or policed, this maxim seems to have been followed naturally in this case.

Read the rest here.

[hat tip to Buddhas Bath]

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Cool yourself off with ice-cold cup ramen

Can’t stand eating hot food in the middle of summer? Why not make yourself some cool cup ramen:

1. Put hot water into the cup to cook the ramen, but don’t fill it up to the recommended line. Leave a few centimeters of space.
2. Put some ice cubes into the cup.
3. Enjoy your cold ramen!

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Where the hell is Matt? On Japanese TV!

Matt Harding of “Where the hell is Matt?” fame appears in his second Japanese VISA commercial:

Last time it looked like the Japanese actors may have been added to Matt’s generic dancing footage via blue screen, but this time they clearly filmed some scenes of this commercial for just for a Japanese audience.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Australian girl gets sumo training in Japan

A news video about Samantha-Jane Stacey, a teenager from Australia who is receiving sumo training at a high school in Tottori Prefecture:

Since arriving in Tottori, the bubbly teenager has battled the language barrier, a tough new training regime and a quest to find Australian-esque cooked chicken sushi.

Now able to communicate in basic Japanese, Stacey is a hit with her peers, who are helping her learn the language by explaining in English but insisting she respond in Japanese.

Being Australian, Stacey struggled at first with the concept of not being able to talk freely with her seniors at the school’s sumo club, given the fact that where Stacey comes from you can talk to anyone.

The teenager has learned to reign in her Australian tendencies and adopt a Japanese sense of respect toward those older than her, including her training partner, 17-year-old Yuka Ueda.

Back on the Gold Coast where Stacey grew up, she trained for five to six days a week for 2-3 hours a day.

Now she completes a grueling seven-day-a-week training regime which sees her doing 4 to 5 hours a day after school.

“It’s just a different behavior, it’s very strict, a lot more disciplined,” Stacey told Kyodo News during her recent trip to Australia.

Three coaches train the group of two girls and 20-25 boys, however, the girls are not allowed to wrestle the boys.

Stacey said the ramped up training has left her feeling much fitter.

“In Australia we’d do 30-50 shiko during a training session and now I’m doing 500-600 during a training session,” she said.

The shiko exercise sees a sumo crouch, raise a leg and stamp it down and is thought to pacify evil spirits and cleanse the ground.

Stacey said she is enjoying living in a country so starkly different to the laid-back Aussie culture, adding that she does not miss the closed-minded intolerance of some Australians.

According to Gold Coast, Samatha-Jane dreams of the day when sumo wrestling becomes an Olympic sport and she can compete on behalf of her country. Past attempts to obtain Olympic status have not achieved much because professional sumo does not allow female wrestlers and considers bans all women from entering the sacred wrestling ring.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Dinosaur Expo 2009

A Reuters video report about the Dinosaur Expo 2009 taking place at Makuhari Messe International Convention Complex in Chiba Prefecture:

The official homepage of the event can be found here (in Japanese). The Japan Times also has an English language write-up about the expo.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Japanese baby vs. dog

An adorable clip showing a Japanese baby’s crying interrupted by a dog:

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)