Tomorrow John and I will be attending the Tokyo Anime Fair (TAF). Anime is the short word for Japanese animation, marked by it's distinctive often fantasy story-lines, buxom characters, and don't forget the variety of talking animals. If anyone has ever been to an anime convention in the US, it is....well....unusual. People dress up as their favorite anime characters and all manners of social awkwardness ensues as anime attracts a decidedly more geeky crowd.
In Japan though, anime is serious business. TAF has actually been happening this entire week. The first part of TAF is closed to the public. It's the "business" part and is designed for executives in the animation field to have round table discussions and panels. You won't find any green-haired teenagers dressed as Sailor Moon (a popular anime character), only men in business suits exchanging business cards and being extremely formal with each other.
This weekend, TAF opens to the general public. Like anything Japanese, attendance comes with a strict set of rules. No one is allowed to dress as their favorite anime characters. Many locations are off-limits for picture taking. The people who will be dressed up have been pre-approved by the TAF committee.
I don't really know what to expect at this point. TAF was cancelled last year due to the March 11th earthquake and some disagreement with the mayor of Tokyo over how much anime should be censored. The event usually attracts over 10,000 people in the two days it is open to the public. I'll take lots of pictures and do a follow-up post.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
One year...
March 11th marked the 1 year anniversary of the 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami in northern Japan. It's one thing hearing about it on the news, but it's another to come here and hear the stories of people who lived through it.
One lady's young daughter was home alone and scared to death when the earthquake happened. Another lady told me you were constantly scared [about the nuclear power plant meltdown] and you never knew what would happen from one day to the next. To this day, there is still tons of debris from the disaster. Japan has done a good job of clearing most of the disaster area, but much remains to be done. Residents are still living in temporary housing units, which are no bigger than the size of an American walk-in closet.
There's some serious talks that an earthquake that size can strike right underneath Tokyo (and close to us) and Japan has made some amazing predictions regarding this potential devastating quake.
It's just all so scary and so sad. I wish (as I do most of the time), that I had something deep and profound to say....but I don't....just know that Japan is still working to recover.
One lady's young daughter was home alone and scared to death when the earthquake happened. Another lady told me you were constantly scared [about the nuclear power plant meltdown] and you never knew what would happen from one day to the next. To this day, there is still tons of debris from the disaster. Japan has done a good job of clearing most of the disaster area, but much remains to be done. Residents are still living in temporary housing units, which are no bigger than the size of an American walk-in closet.
There's some serious talks that an earthquake that size can strike right underneath Tokyo (and close to us) and Japan has made some amazing predictions regarding this potential devastating quake.
It's just all so scary and so sad. I wish (as I do most of the time), that I had something deep and profound to say....but I don't....just know that Japan is still working to recover.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Classes are almost over!!
One thing I would recommend to any American out there with free time on their hands is to take a Japanese language course. They offer them for free on most bases, or if you're an academic learner (i.e., you do better when you are under pressure) then most of the colleges on base offer a Japanese language program with some extremely valuable scholarships available to military spouses.
I put hours and hours of time into studying for my Japanese course. I made flashcards, sought online help to supplement what I was learning in class and practiced out in town. I even gave up derby for a few weeks to focus on my classes. As a result, I passed the class with an "A"! I had to write the final exam almost entirely in Hiragana, which takes me twice as long as it takes me to write anything in English. This summer, I will be taking Japanese II, but I want to give the online format a try.
When I first saw they had language classes online, I ps-haw'ed the idea. How can you possibly learn a language online? However, halfway into my Japanese class, I remembered why I can read and write Spanish so much better than I can speak it (Spanish was my undergraduate minor, by the way)....classroom courses focus almost entirely on reading and writing. So, while I can read and write Hiragana with confidence, my speaking skills are less than confident. In the online course, you have the opportunity to record yourself speaking Japanese. So, I'm hoping the online format will help me be more confident in my speaking abilities.
On Wednesday, I take my final exam in my Japanese literature course. What a course! When I first got the books for my Japanese literature course, I thought they all sounded depressing. One was about Hiroshima, one was about a man who wants to kill his mentally retarded son, and so on and so forth with the serious themes. The Japanese writers were surprisingly delicate and delightful in their handling of these serious issues. I read each novel with enthusiasm instead of the usual burdensome duty I reserve for assigned class readings. I churned out three extremely insightful papers for this class and loved every minute. The Japanese are so subtle and weave such intricate stories about man and nature being one, instead of the man conquering nature themes we see in the West.
I'm going on vacation to the States soon and I have loaded up my Kindle (one of the best gifts my Mom and Dad ever gave me...thanks guys!) with more Japanese literature.
I can't wait for my summer semester!
I put hours and hours of time into studying for my Japanese course. I made flashcards, sought online help to supplement what I was learning in class and practiced out in town. I even gave up derby for a few weeks to focus on my classes. As a result, I passed the class with an "A"! I had to write the final exam almost entirely in Hiragana, which takes me twice as long as it takes me to write anything in English. This summer, I will be taking Japanese II, but I want to give the online format a try.
When I first saw they had language classes online, I ps-haw'ed the idea. How can you possibly learn a language online? However, halfway into my Japanese class, I remembered why I can read and write Spanish so much better than I can speak it (Spanish was my undergraduate minor, by the way)....classroom courses focus almost entirely on reading and writing. So, while I can read and write Hiragana with confidence, my speaking skills are less than confident. In the online course, you have the opportunity to record yourself speaking Japanese. So, I'm hoping the online format will help me be more confident in my speaking abilities.
On Wednesday, I take my final exam in my Japanese literature course. What a course! When I first got the books for my Japanese literature course, I thought they all sounded depressing. One was about Hiroshima, one was about a man who wants to kill his mentally retarded son, and so on and so forth with the serious themes. The Japanese writers were surprisingly delicate and delightful in their handling of these serious issues. I read each novel with enthusiasm instead of the usual burdensome duty I reserve for assigned class readings. I churned out three extremely insightful papers for this class and loved every minute. The Japanese are so subtle and weave such intricate stories about man and nature being one, instead of the man conquering nature themes we see in the West.
I'm going on vacation to the States soon and I have loaded up my Kindle (one of the best gifts my Mom and Dad ever gave me...thanks guys!) with more Japanese literature.
I can't wait for my summer semester!
Monday, March 5, 2012
Well it happened...
Yep, in Tokyo there were a few bars we tried to go in, but we're told it was full or locals only. Once again, I need to bring up that Japan has no discrimination laws. Many bars (and high-end sushi restaurants) in Tokyo are not foreigner friendly. If they do let you in, they'll ignore you or overcharge you or rush you through your meal to make room for regulars or other Japanese people. I had a friend who just came back from the Sapporo Snow Festival who said he and his friends had a difficult time trying to find a place to eat, simply because they were foreigners.
I don't normally miss the US too much, but things like this make me miss it a whole lot. Japan, up until recently, was a closed society. They didn't allow anyone onto their land who was a foreigner. They all more or less practice the same religion and abide by the same cultural standards. The US is a land of immigrants. We have built a society around accepting people regardless of their racial background. Sure, it's an uphill struggle, but we're definitely not allowed to kick people out of a bar based on the color of their skin.
We did find places to go that were more than happy to have us as customers. So, it wasn't a total bust. It's just disheartening to be told you can't do something and they're only basing their judgment of you on the color of your skin. I could be the politest, quietest American in the world for all they know....
Anyway, here's a REALLY good newspaper article (a little old, but still relevant) about how Japanese society classifies people who are different and tends to shun them.
Outcast Status Worsens Pain of Japan's Disabled
It's a good article and shows that it's not just foreigners Japanese society tries to ignore. The Japanese value obedience and uniformity....anything different than their cultural norms is a bit scary to them.
I don't normally miss the US too much, but things like this make me miss it a whole lot. Japan, up until recently, was a closed society. They didn't allow anyone onto their land who was a foreigner. They all more or less practice the same religion and abide by the same cultural standards. The US is a land of immigrants. We have built a society around accepting people regardless of their racial background. Sure, it's an uphill struggle, but we're definitely not allowed to kick people out of a bar based on the color of their skin.
We did find places to go that were more than happy to have us as customers. So, it wasn't a total bust. It's just disheartening to be told you can't do something and they're only basing their judgment of you on the color of your skin. I could be the politest, quietest American in the world for all they know....
Anyway, here's a REALLY good newspaper article (a little old, but still relevant) about how Japanese society classifies people who are different and tends to shun them.
Outcast Status Worsens Pain of Japan's Disabled
It's a good article and shows that it's not just foreigners Japanese society tries to ignore. The Japanese value obedience and uniformity....anything different than their cultural norms is a bit scary to them.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
A few pictures from our Tokyo trip
Our small room.
Lunch at an interesting place...
Famous Shibuya crossing.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Starbucks and Updates!
The snow all melted today. It's about 55 degrees outside and you would never know there was two inches of snow in our front yard yesterday. I had a response to my last post saying there was six inches of snow further inland and closer to Tokyo. What a crazy day, yesterday!
Today things are back on track. One of the things I learned recently was the coffee tumblers at the Japanese Starbucks are much more collectible and nicer than the coffee tumblers at the Starbucks back home.
The Starbucks on base, just unveiled their spring cherry blossom collection, which is beside their Japanese city tumbler collection. Each large Japanese city has a Starbucks tumbler/travel mug dedicated to them. The designs are intricate and beautiful and are supposed to represent the highlights and history of each city.
I went there today and got a coffee tumbler/travel mug from their spring collection. It's small and holds about one regular mug of coffee. It cost me a whopping $18 dollars. It is pretty though. It's taking every ounce of strength I have not to go back and buy the entire spring collection, which includes a tea thermos.
Today things are back on track. One of the things I learned recently was the coffee tumblers at the Japanese Starbucks are much more collectible and nicer than the coffee tumblers at the Starbucks back home.
The Starbucks on base, just unveiled their spring cherry blossom collection, which is beside their Japanese city tumbler collection. Each large Japanese city has a Starbucks tumbler/travel mug dedicated to them. The designs are intricate and beautiful and are supposed to represent the highlights and history of each city.
I went there today and got a coffee tumbler/travel mug from their spring collection. It's small and holds about one regular mug of coffee. It cost me a whopping $18 dollars. It is pretty though. It's taking every ounce of strength I have not to go back and buy the entire spring collection, which includes a tea thermos.
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