A Moniker in Japan!: November 2007

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Some Fun Pictures

Funky mirror=funky camera!

Slightly distorted Tori and Miko.

At Koto-In, drinking mattcha (traditional style green tea). Bad picture of David, so-so picture of Leyre. For some reason I like it :-)

Halloween costume! (HEY, PINHEAD!! haha) He said he found the thing at a thrift shop and then just cut the hole in the front.

With Tom on his visit from Kyushu.

Funny glass design at the funny restaurant/bar at Hirakata Station.

The End

One thing I will *not* miss about Japan is its cuteness. Kawaii (the word for cute) is up at the top of the list for one of the most overused words in the Japanese language. Everything---from company advertisements, billboards, to clothing, accessories and cell phones, have to catch one's eye. And the way to do that in this country is to make everything cute. Boy, am I sick of it...Here are a few examples I've actually taken pictures of:

This was outside a travel agency office at Hirakata Station. Look, doesn't this make you want to make a reservation for your next vacation? Oh, yes. You know it does :-) Need I say more about Japanese women being small, cute, pigeon-toed and stylish? :-) "Travel to America! Fly to Europe!"

I actually like this one. It says "Stay out of here!" as the English translation, but the Japanese version is a bit softer---something along the lines of "Please don't go in here. OK? (Thanks)".

Incorrectly displaying their store as being closed. This was a Mexican place, if I remember correctly.

I don't know why I chose to post this, but I should note that it is a child's sweatshirt. It creeps me out. I don't know exactly why. Perhaps because I hate McDonald's and the shirt is saying it's wonderful...

This is in the train station I walk through every day. It's an advertisement for a clinic. (Can't you tell? See, the elephant's a doctor! You wanna go see your elephant doctor? )

A sign warning about taking your dog into the temple/shrine.

Halloween advertised with a ginormous Cookie Monster.

Thomas The Tank Engine Train. This is pretty cool, I have to admit---because, it's an actual train.

Kitty-chan. Sold everywhere in every form humanly thinkable. Yeah, she's cute, but, ugh! Enough already!!! You know this mouthless cat is never going away when you see nicely dressed business women toting their Hello Kitty shoulder bag to and from work on the train...Pretty much EVERYONE loves her. I don't get it.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Koto-In

Koto-In is a sub temple of Daitokuji in Kyoto, one of the largest temples in Japan (due to its large number of sub temples). This place is SO GREEN, the pictures do not capture the colors. The place has a traditional tea room, and I actually had whipped green tea and sat looking outside with some friends. Also, the entrance with the stone path and the bamboo railings is pretty famously photographed, and it also had a nice stone garden.

I will try to label the pictures soon. For now, just enjoy looking at them....

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

The Super Sentou Experience!

My experience tonight confirmed that my favorite thing about Japan is still the public bath houses. I came home after the prison trip to be informed that we were going out to dinner and then going to a bath house together. I got pretty excited, since I hadn't gone to once since returning to Japan.

Well, I was in for quite a surprise! In the past ten years or so, the popularity has gone way up for these really fancy Suupaa Sentou bath houses. They are still tradition Japanese bath houses, in the sense that it is a communal bathing place with different temperature baths and a cold water bath. What makes the suupaa sentos different, however, is that they have an outdoors area as well, complete with a TV and natural water springs, a place where you can sit and have hot water fall down on the back of the stone wall you are leaning against, one where you can lie down on your back with hot water around you...then the insides have tubs with all sorts of jets in them...IT WAS AMAZING! We spent an hour there, and Shun-chan, who usually clings to Masayo, insisted on going with Satoshi and Kouji to the men's side---so it was just the two of us! It was awesome. Young people, kids, elderly and those in between, all walking around naked without a care. It's something you must do when you visit Japan!

As I lay out with the cool breezes on top of me and hot water on my back, looking up at the trees, I kept thinking what an awesome memory it was that I will be able to take back with me, so relaxed and content in that moment. Even now, as I type this, my body is still completely relaxed after having gotten home 30 min. ago....And what's the last thing on the entire planet that I want to do now? Study fora 9am exam tomorrow. That's right, folks, I have work to do! Goodnight!

Monday, November 12, 2007

"Wave Goodbye to the Warden!"

The front entrance as seen from the bus (no cameras allowed inside)

I can now say I have been to prison and come out of it on the same day! We had another field trip for our "Peace, Development and Democratization" class---to go see a men's prison. This prison was near Lake Biwa, on the other side of Kyoto in a place called Chiga. The facility was very clean, and we got to do a question and answer session with the warden, a very charismatic man, after a short tour of the place. The prison holds men, ages 26 and up (the oldest inmate being 82), for those who have committed their first offense---robbery is the most common offense. They stay in small eight tatami (straw mat)sized rooms, unless they request to have a room to themselves. The place is very over crowded, and there are often six to seven people in a room meant for four or less.
Some things I learned about the Japanese prison system, I will list them since it is easier for me:

1. The inmates work in factories everyday from 7:40am until 4:30pm, 5 days a week. Working these hours allows them three meals a week. If they want to eat more they can work extra hours. They learn to sew (the uniform and shoes the warden was wearing were all made by inmates), cut hair, or make things such as bento boxes and others.
2. There is no heat in the facilities, as it is expensive and is a fire hazard.
3. The inmates shower three times a week---unfortunately, we were not able to visit the bath areas today since it was occupied.
4. The facility has two main missions: most importantly, to punish the inmates for their crime; second, to give them the skills needed to be able to find work and assimilate back into society after their sentence, and to remind them they are people, not just prisoners.
5. The men are allowed 30 min. of exercise a day.
6. There are vocational classes for those who wish to work towards a degree.
7. One third of the inmates have only had schooling up through middle school (the required amount of schooling in Japan).
8. Crowding of the prisons across Japan has become an issue, due to the increase in the elderly population---many elderly people find prisons to be a safe haven for them if they have no one to take care of them.
9. The guards do not carry weapons of any kind---surprisingly,there is hardly ever violence to the extent of a riot (there is, however, fighting between the inmates, often due to the crowded spaces).
10.Only two or three prisoners tried to escape last year from a Japanese prison; it is not really an issue.
11. The crowding in the prisons can also be attributed to the increase in foreigners who commit crimes in Japan.
12. There is a TV in each cell; many men watch it daily during their free time from 5-9pm.
13. One is allowed to receive mail four times a month. All letters sent out must be hand written, and no computer access is allowed. Of course, everything is censored.
14. Pornographic material is allowed in the inmates' cells if they wish, with the exception of those who have committed sexual crimes.
15. Religious accommodations are made for the Islamic population, giving them time to pray each day and adjusting meals accordingly during Ramadan. Since most Japanese do not identify with a specific religion, there are no daily or weekly religious services, although Christian and Catholic priests visit once a week.

That's most of what I remember. As we were leaving, the warden stood outside and bowed to our professor inside the bus, who, in reply told us, "Wave goodbye to the warden!" :-)

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Satoshi's Birthday Party

The family celebrated Satoshi's 5th birthday yesterday at the grandparents' house. It was a fun night with cake and tea, fruit and lots of gyoza (dumplings). Satoshi got a new bike and when we got home around 8:30pm he tried it out and rode around the block a few times like a pro!