リンリン RIP

This morning the panda, named “Ling Ling”, at Ueno Zoo died.

It was on the news. He was 22 years old.

There are eight other pandas in zoos in Japan…but Ling Ling was the only “Japanese” panda. I mean he was the only panda that Japan owned…the others are on loan from China.

Many people went to the zoo to leave condolence messages.

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A couple people have expressed difficulty in finding particular Guest Comments on my site…so I added “Most Recent Comments” links to the column on the right (click on the name of the post (ie: the word after “on“)).

Does that help?

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Yesterday my youngest daughter played in a お琴 (O-koto) concert at a local festival.

The “Koto” is a traditional Japanese stringed instrument that my daughter studies. She’s pretty good…actually, the leader in her class!

She wants to stop taking Koto lessons and start taking piano lessons like her older sister, though. So, yesterday’s concert was her final Koto concert, it seems.

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Just an observation…

Anytime that they show Americans on TV (here in Tokyo), they seem to be dressed in a Polo style shirt tucked into Chino style pants. And have their cellular-phone in a case clipped to their belt.

Is that accurate?

I ask because it’s quite different than the way people dress in Japan.

藤

Yesterday we went to see the 藤 (Wisteria) flowers in bloom.

These flowers grow like vines over the bamboo frames that are built specifically for these flowers and they hang down like bunches of grapes.

It looks nice.

Maybe after reading my recent posts about the 桜 (Cherry Blossoms) and now about the 藤 (Wisteria), you think that I really love flowers.

I do appreciate flowers…actually nature, in general.

But when I was younger, I didn’t care much at all about that. I’ve never even heard of “Wisteria” or even “Cherry Blossoms” growing up.

Maybe it’s because I’m getting older or because I have a wife and three daughters…and girls love flowers (at least, my girls do).

So, now, due to my wife and daughters’ interest, I know the names of more flowers in Japanese than I do in English. For example, I knew that the flowers we went to see today were 藤　(Fuji) in Japanese…but I had to check a dictionary to learn the English name of the flower (which is, as I mentioned above, Wisteria. So I learned a new English word today! (^_^). )

Other flowers that I know that names of in Japanese (some of which I don’t know the English name for):

桜 (Cherry Blossom), 藤 (Wisteria), たんぽぽ (Dandelion), バラ (Rose), チューリップ (Tulip), 菊 (‘Mum), ボタン (I don’t know what this is called in English), 梅 (Plum (blossom)), ひまわり (Sunflower), スミレ (Violet), ツバキ (I don’t know this one’s English name either), ユリ (Lily), ひなぎく (Daisy)…

That’s all I can think of off the top of my head…but you get the idea. Since having three daughters, I could probably get a job in a flower shop now!

Anyways…it’s good for me. I’ve learned to appreciate nature.

And I enjoy going out with my family regardless of where we go. Personally I enjoy going to festivals best…but my wife and children have taught me to stop and smell the flowers too!

鎌倉

Today we went to 鎌倉 (Kamakura).

Kamakura was once, long ago, the capital of Japan. It’s not too far south of Tokyo in 神奈川県 (Kanagawa Prefecture).

Kamakura is my favorite part of Kanagawa Prefecture.

It’s still very “traditional” Japan. There’s a nice beach, 大仏 (Great Buddah), many shrines and temples, lots of great souvenirs and food to buy, and 江ノ島 (Enoshima) and 横浜 (Yokohama) aren’t far.

One reason we decided to go to Kamakura today was because they were having a 流鏑馬 (Horseback Archery) show (like the one I watched in Tokyo yesterday) today.

My wife’s aunt wanted to join us today. So we woke up early and met her at the train station at 7:30AM and the six of us (my wife and I, our three kids, and my wife’s aunt) got to Kita-Kamakura Station at 8:45AM.

From there, we walked to 浄智寺 (Jyouchiji Temple).

Then we walked to 源氏山 (Genji-yama Mountain) and followed the hiking course.

And we walked to the 高徳院 (Koutokuin Temple) with the 大仏 (Great Buddah).

At the 高徳院 (Koutokuin Temple), there were some children dressed in kimono who were learning 茶道 (Tea Ceremony) (In Japan, preparing and serving Green Tea properly involves an elaborate ceremony). The children and their　茶道 teachers were preparing and serving tea for free. So we decided to have some.

It was very good!

The tea ceremony teacher:

From there, we walked over to 長谷寺　(Hase-dera Temple), which is a beautiful temple with a beautiful garden and Koi (Carp) pond.

The temple is up on a mountain with a beautiful view of Tokyo Bay.

In addition to that view, on the way up to the temple we were able to see 富士山 (Mt. Fuji).

At Hase-dera Temple, we ate a picnic lunch.

After lunch we headed to the 長谷駅 (Hase Station) on the 江ノ電 (Enoden Train Line) and rode the train to 鎌倉駅 (Kamakura Station) and then we walked down the 小町通り (Komachi-doori) shopping street which is lined with many great traditional Japanese shops. We bought some freshly cooked おせんべ (Rice crackers) at a shop here.

We went to the 鶴岡八幡宮 (Tsurugaoka-hachimanguu Shrine) which is where the 流鏑馬 (Horseback Archery) show was. Since it was extremely crowded and I watched Horseback Archery yesterday, we didn’t stay for the entire show.

After that, we went back to the shops and got a few bottles of “Kamakura Beer” and some famous “Hato Sable” cookies from the 豊島屋　(Toshimaya) store for souvenirs.

Then we headed home. It was a fun day.

Yabusame

Today in 隅田公園 (Sumida-kouen) in Tokyo, there was a 流鏑馬 (Horseback Archery) show.

I have been to 流鏑馬 (Horseback Archery) shows a few times before, including the one at Sumida-kouen…but it’s not too far from our house. So I decided to go to today’s show too.

In 流鏑馬 (Horseback Archery), the archers and the others who assist by setting up the targets, etc are dressed as Samurai because it was the Samurai who trained in horseback archery centuries ago.

After the archers parade past the audience, the targets are set up. There’s three posts spaced out along the horse running track and various targets are set up for the archers to try to hit with arrows while galloping down the the track on horseback at full speed.

The targets are usually pieces of plywood first, then plywood with packets of confetti inside (for visual effect when the target breaks), ceremic targets and various others.

It’s quite exciting!

Here are couple pictures I took of archers hitting the targets as they sped by:

I also took a short movie of an archer hitting a target. You can see the confetti fly when he breaks the target:

風邪

Not much has happened since my last post which was on Monday, April 7.

Because that Monday to Friday, I just went to work and the kids went to school (it was the first week of the new school year…my kids are happy that many of their friends are in the same class as them this year), then on Friday night I started to feel sick and I had a 39°C fever.

I went to the doctor for some medicine on Saturday morning because I felt even worse, but I didn’t feel better until Monday. So I stayed in bed the whole weekend.

It’s Wednesday (April 16) evening now. I am fully recovered (I’m happy to say…because I felt like a truck hit me while I was sick), but it’s just another work-week now. I won’t be going anywhere special until the weekend (although it is forecast to rain on Saturday. I’m hope it doesn’t…but either way, Sunday’s supposed to be a nice day).

I did do one thing today. On the way home from work, I stopped by the local “TSUTAYA” (DVD / CD rental store) and rented a movie.

Have you ever seen 「ザ・スナイパー」 (“The Sniper” (actually, I think the U.S. title is “The Contract”))? Is it good?

I’m gonna watch it tonight or tomorrow.

横浜

Yesterday was the last day of my kids’ Spring Vacation from school. Today’s the first day of the new school year.

So, yesterday, we decided to go to Yokohama again.

Actually, we originally planned to go to the “Friendship Day Festival” at the US Navy base. It’s been a long time since I’ve been there. But we heard that they were canceling the event due to the recent crimes by US servicemen.
Since we were gonna go down to 神奈川県 (Kanagawa), we decided to re-visit Yokohama.

As I mentioned in the post below, we hadn’t been to Yokohama in awhile and alot has changed there over the years. And the last time we went, we didn’t have time to visit all the places we wanted to go.

So, yesterday, we went to the 「横浜アンパンマンこどもミュージアム」 (“Yokohama Anpanman Children’s Museum”).

“Anpanman” is a Japanese young children’s cartoon character of a superhero made of bean-stuffed bread named “Anpan-man” (“Bean-paste Bread Man”). He, and his friends (who are all different food characters), battle the villians who are led by “Baikinman” (“Germ Man”) using good nutrition, soap, and kindness (it is a cartoon for young children, after all).

My kids have long outgrown any interest in Anpanman. So we didn’t go into the museum…but visited the bread store and gift shops.

Here’s a picture of some bread made in the image of some of the characters from the show:

After we left there, we walked past a road that is semi-famous in Yokohama because it has a wall the entire length of the road that is covered in elaborate graffiti.

Here are a bit of the art that caught my attention:

From there, we headed over to a park and ate a picnic lunch that my wife and daughters prepared and then we walked over to the 野毛山動物園 (“Nogeyama Zoo”).

The 横浜動物園 (“Yokohama Zoo”) is the main zoo in Yokohama and it’s a great zoo. But the Nogeyama Zoo is nice too…and it’s free!

For a free zoo, I was surprised how nice it is, actually. They have reptiles, birds, penguins, monkeys, giraffes, tigers, lions (the male lion had died recently), a camel and a petting zoo with small animals (chicks, guinea pigs, mice, etc) that kids can hold.

It was nice and we enjoyed it.

After we left the zoo, we went to 山下公園 (“Yamashita Park”). We hadn’t been there in years…I was surprised that they built a convenience store there. It’s a good location for one, though. I bet they get alot of customers.

“Yamashita Park” is near 横浜中華街 (“Yokohama Chinatown”), so we headed there.

Near Chinatown, there were many 人力車 (“Rick shaw”) drivers offering rides around the area (Rick-shaw can be found in many traditional areas of Japan offering rides to tourists). (“Rick-shaw”, by the way, comes from the Japanese word 人力車 (jin-riki-sha ) which translates, literally, to “Man powered vehicle”).

Here’s the entrance to Chinatown (can you tell the difference between Japanese and Chinese style? Both countries have torii gates, temples, shrines, paper lanterns, etc…but they look quite different.):

A closer look:

After we looked around Chinatown a bit, we went for dinner at a favorite restaurant of ours and then headed home.

The girls had school in the morning.

Time flies by!

This is the last couple days of my kids’ school Spring Break.

In Japan, the school year ends in March and the new one begins in April…so on Monday, my kids will be in 6th, 8th, and 9th grades (actually they’re called: Grades 小６年、中2年、 and 中３年 (“Elem 6th”, “Jr High 2nd”, and “Jr High 3rd” grades). In Japan, elementary school is grades 1 – 6, the junior high is grades 1 – 3, and high school is also grades 1 – 3.

I can’t believe how fast they grow up!

Next March (2009), my youngest will graduate from elementary school, and my oldest kid will graduate from junior high (Japan has Graduations and Opening Ceremonies for every school a child attends…from pre-school to college).

Then, next April (2009), my oldest will start high school. So this year she’ll be taking “high school entrance exams”. Not only college, but Japanese high schools also have entrance exams.

Stressful.

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In the news, there have been alot of violent crimes against Japanese people commited by American military servicemen stationed in Japan.

It doesn’t help the image of foreigners in Japan.

The most recent was a sailor in the US Navy stationed near Tokyo who stabbed a taxi driver in the neck with a kitchen knife.

Then there was the case in Okinawa in which a group of children of US servicemen attacked and robbed taxi drivers.

And a 14-year old school girl in Okinawa claimed an American Marine raped her.

There have been numerous other cases like these over the years…but it seems like there’s been a rash of them recently.

Hopefully, the pattern stops.

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Here’s a couple more videos I put onto my YouTube page (they’re both very short…and not very high quality. I’ll try to put better videos up in the future):

A sumo match at the 国技館 (I took this video with my cell-phone camera…it’s much clearer on a small phone screen):

And here’s a short clip of 流鏑馬 (Horseback Archery). It’s hard to capture with a camera…it goes by quickly—but “Yabusame” is very fun to watch. You should check it out in person if you ever get a chance (it happens a few times a year in Japan…actually one is coming up this month):

Ueno Hanami

One of the most popular places to go for 花見 (Cherry-Blossom Viewing) in Tokyo is Ueno.

We decided to go there yesterday before the end of Sakura season came (which is soon…when Sakura bloom, they don’t stay long).

Here is a video of the Sakura trees and the crowd appreciating the view:

And here’s another video of the Sakura petals falling in the breeze like snow falling:

We were lucky because while we were there we happened to catch a お稚児さん(O-chigo-san) procession.

This is a parade of Buddist monks and local children dressed up in special kimono and make-up to bless the opening of a new temple.

(My kids actually did this once a number of years ago).

Here’s a video we took of the O-chigo-san in Ueno yesterday (The monks who are wearing what appear to be baskets on their heads are hiding their unshaven heads before Buddah. This looks odd even to most Japanese people)

Anyways, here it is:

チンドン屋

In Japan, sometimes (if you’re lucky) you will see “Chindonya”.

Chindonya is like a Japanese traveling band for hire.

They used to be a common sight…but have become quite rare nowadays.

They dress in an over-the-top version Japanese traditional attire (although occasionally one member may wear something like a clown suit), and the women wear their hair and make-up like a geisha and the men often have their hair in a ちょんまげ (a top-knot that like those of samurai and sumo wrestlers).

The are paid by a store or restaurant to advertise a grand-opening or a sale.

The leader wears a sign board advertising the shop and might hand out flyers as well. Meanwhile, the whole band plays a distinct type of “music” that everyone knows is the sound of Chindonya.

Their name comes from the sound of the music the make. I guess “Chindonya” could best be translated as “Bing-bang group”.

Anyways, I took a short video of a two-member Chindonya group that were advertising the grand-opening of a “Pachinko” parlor.

“Pachinko” is a popular game in Japan that is often called a cross between a slot-machine and a pinball machine.

It’s not technically gambling, since gambling casinos aren’t legal in Japan (there is legal gambling in Japan though…horse racing, bike racing and the lottery). Pachinko, though, is still basically gambling.

To win at Pachinko, you have to aim the BB type balls that you purchase into the holes that are in the upright pinball-looking machine. If you succeed, you are rewarded with a jackpot of the same balls. You can take the balls to the back of the parlor and exchange them for prizes (not money, otherwise that would be “gambling” and therefore illegal).

The loophole, and why pachinko is popular with many people, is that outside every Pachinko parlor is a “seperate” shop that buys the Pachinko prizes from the customers for cash (and they end up back in the Pachinko parlor).

Anyways…here’s my video of Chindonya: