Fushimi Inari Taisha (Shrine) is located only two stops south from Kyoto Station on JR Nara Line, and the grand gate to the shrine is located right in front of the Station exit. As you go through the gate you will find a shrine pavilion and behind that the main shrine where you make offerings and pray. Behind the main shrine there is a path that leads you to the widely known Sembon Torii (thousand torii). This Sembon Torii was what I wanted to see with my own eyes, and thus the highlight of this trip.
Torii are the gates you find at Shinto shrines or grounds that are affiliated with Shinto sanctity. They are often located at the entrances to the shrine grounds as well as within, and many times in the nature as best represented in rocks and forests/ woods. Torii are made of wood and are in the color of the wood (brown - dark brown) if not vivid vermillion red representing brightness (light, hope, life).
Since these gates are indicators (or even reminders) that are built on the boundary of the sacred and the profane, in most cases the gates stand individually. Fushimi Inari is no exception in terms of the main entrance, but the most unique feature of this shrine is this Thousand Torii where hundreds of them are placed one right next to another creating tunnels of torii. The location appears in many posters, travel brochures, TV commercials, TV dramas and films... and I simply wanted to see this almost insane collection of red.
Probably because a Japanese like myself is brought up tacitly being taught that torii as well as vermillion red for the shrines are something sacred or something apart from our daily lives, these kind of places give me a sense of chilly awe and take my breath away in a different way from standing on top of a mountain and looking across the universe. It was beautiful but at the same time a bit eerie. Would have been much eerier if there weren't any fellow tourists and students on trips.
As you come out to from the narrow vermillion tunnel you reach the Okunoin, and behind it Mt.Inari. Not only the shrine ground and the approach expands to the entire side of the mountain, like many other Shinto shrines the Shrine worships this whole mountain (... is what I learned afterwards. I didn't even know that the visit would be a good 2-hour-hike).
The approach that climbs up the mountain is marked with another set of hundreds of torii, this time larger and placed slightly (only slightly) apart. Moderately steep stairs lead most of the way with partially really steep places, and along the path stand several houses. Many of these houses have rest areas located next to them, offering food and drinks as well as great view. (The picture is of hiyashiame, literally cold candy, a very sweet drink made of malt sugar with ginger. Savior of my soar throat this day.)
Also along the circular route across the mountainside are smaller shrines, all related to the main Inari but each with different purposes. Some are for safe traveling, some others for health around your neck and head, others for health for back and legs, etc. etc.. Some are relatively bigger in terms of size and significance than others, but there were more than a dozen located on the route.
In addition to the shrines are the... heaps (I don't know how to describe them)... called tsuka. At a glance these places look like a mixture of Shintoism with Buddhism as the carved stones look like Buddhist gravestones, but the surroundings are of complete Shintoism. The stones are actually not gravestones but are each gods - households that worship Shintoism carve the sacred (gods') names on the rocks and enshrine the rocks on this mountain as part of the Inari (god of agriculture and harvest) because this is Inari's center of worship.
Overall the visit was a pleasant one, not to mention fascinating... and good exercise. Just one thing though: even though there were fairly many tourists, there weren't too many that actually climbed the route and so I wasn't always seeing people around. When encountering couples and groups I didn't really feel anything, but when I saw some people who were there alone, silent and slow, there were some times when I didn't know if I were seeing real people or not. I don't usually see ghosts and phantoms, but so-thought sacred grounds like this sometimes make me feel... unsure.
My first night in Osaka was my first time to use the internet cafe as an accommodation. It wasn't awfully bad, but perhaps by no means comfortable. Chilly and smokey, plus the flat type rooms were all taken so we had no choice but to take the recliner seats. Well... the seats weren't bad. What bothered me more was the rustling sounds people made throughout the night whenever somebody moved around. It's an internet cafe after all. Can't complain.
We spent the first real day in Osaka in the Namba area. That's probably the busiest and noisiest area of the city, I think. This is where you can find the famous Glico neon board and the Kuidaore figure, not to mention tons of eatouts particularly of Osaka's specialties takoyaki and okonomiyaki. It was a Friday morning but the place was already bustling with mostly tourists and students on school excursions. Busy place. I went back to the area alone on a Sunday after my friends had headed back home. Well, that was quite a crowd. Not just this Dotombori area but even more crowded in the Shinsaibashi area. My impression of Shinsaibashi was Shibuya made into a single straight arcade. Lots of shops and young people. I had heard before that the fashion in Osaka (actually not just Osaka but also big cities like Nagoya and Kobe respectively) is different from Tokyo. I think I would agree. At least for the girls, it looked like Osaka girls prefer gears on the gal side more than the Tokyo girls like. Strong vivid colors and glittery accessories, too.
The following day we went to Osaka Castle and Shitennoji Temple. The temple ground was pretty big though not vast like the ones in the ancient capital Nara. Still the 1,400-year-old temple is preserved well (of course with nummerous refurbishing and restoration) and is a peaceful place to stroll around. The exterior is good enough, but the impressive features of this temple are the religious (wall) paintings and statues stored inside the halls. The paintings tell the stories of Buddha and Asoka and the art is very beautiful.
I stayed in Osaka for another day after my friends have left, and went to see a shrine called Sumiyoshi Taisha. This was another pretty shrine with unique architecture (I like architecture of shrines and temples). An amazing contrast of vermillion lacquer, deep brown of the thatched roofs and white all surrounded by early summer green. I got to see three Shinto style weddings that morning. They were certainly beautiful especially on a day with such perfect weather, but I have to say that although they were three separate weddings, the way the shrine conducted (conducted more like, than carried out) the weddings were kind of systematic. One right after another. Popular place, good day, I guess it couldn't be helped.
Then I wandered into the Shinsekai area. That's where the Tsutenkaku Tower is (every big city has its own tower). Since I already went up the Castle to get a view of the city I didn't go up this one and just walked around the area at its foot. Shinsekai looked like a block of dozens of kushikatsu (fried... pretty much any kind of food stuck through skewers) eatouts huddling together. Most of these places had statues of Billiken in all sizes placed at the entrances. First I didn't know what it was, but later on found out that this is the famous Osaka god of all-purpose luck. Actually, I just found out that Billiken was designed by an American artist based on the inspiration she got from her dream one night, and the figure went popular worldwide, that is to say back in early 1900s. Is that right? At least, not too many of the Tokyoites know of the god. Anyway.
The following day I woke up in the morning and decided to leave Osaka for my personally most exciting destination for this trip, Kyoto. I've been to Kyoto so many times but like many say, you can visit Kyoto one hundred times and not even see half of it. This trip was particularly an exciting one. Will go on to vol.3.
Didn't mean to have a break so long... well I am back to blogger after 6 weeks. Many things happened - or rather, I was engaged in many projects during these past weeks.
I did quite a lot of Tokyo guiding as well as interpreting, went to Australia for a week accompanying a filming crew as an interpreter (now that was one awesome trip: we traveled parts of Cairns, Brisbane and Gold Coast). Then I played in an orchestra for an operetta, and after another Tokyo city tour I traveled around Kobe, Osaka and Kyoto, all pretty big cities as well as tourist attractions in mid-west Japan.
It was my very first time to go to Kobe. Quite honestly I didn't know what to expect.
The overnight bus from Shinjuku (Tokyo) to Kobe was surprisingly comfy with considerably wide space and relaxing recliner seats. Though the price can't exactly be described as cheap, it's a whole lot more affordable than bullet trains when traveling this country for such long distance. The downside of it, however, is that the bus arrives at the destination pretty early in the morning (7:3o-ish) when not many of anything in town are open. Two more friends and I had to kill time in a cafe, but it was okay cuz this way we could plan the route for the day.
We only had one day in Kobe and that day had been pretty miserable weatherwise. It poured and poured and poured all day and I got myself soaked on the first day of my trip.
Kobe I imagined prior to this trip was a classy stylish town: the impression I actually got was that the town resembled a lot of the int'l port town of the east, Yokohama. Of course these two cities are different, and if I had more time to explore the town I probably could have gotten more different impressions, but it seemed to me that the types of attractions... or districts they have are quite similar. The former foreign (western) residential area, China town, the shopping/commercial district, the port area - I thought that the two cities shared a lot of common elements.
What interested me the most, or gave me the biggest impact, was the remains of the dock located in the port area. The dock known as Meriken Hatoba had been damaged severely (almost destroyed) just like how the entire region was by the Hanshin Awaji Earthquake back in 1995. As a remembrance of the tragic disaster of more than 40,000 casualties the dock is preserved in exactly the way the earthquake left it.
Afterwards we went to a Chinese temple (by chance, kind of) and made an interesting observation on Japanese uni students and professor. I looked like a class on religious studies or art or sociology or one of the kind was visiting this temple, one professor and about a dozen students. At first they were just looking around the small temple and its grounds, but (unfortunately, to them at least) they were caught by an elderly (yet more energetic than any of the class there) worshipper who literally started a lecture that went on for half an hour. The lecture was actually pretty good, though the attitudes of the students were by no means nice. They looked like they as well as the teacher were terribly annoyed and wanted to leave asap. No comments, no questions. My two friend coming from overseas were amused by the situation. They said they couldn't believe what they were seeing, the silent and annoyed group, because if this was the case in their country there would definitely be a shower of questions and the professor would have to stop them because otherwise they'd run out of time, not because they wanted to leave any second.
The day ended with good Indian dinner followed by a businessy conversation with the Indian owner of the restraunt, and after relaxing in a jazz bar with live performance we left the city for Osaka.
So much for today. I will write about Osaka in the next entry.
At the same time as writing articles and editing them for the website I automatically do some JPN-ENG translations because the base data for these articles are in Japanese, and every time I try to write something very Japanese I hit a wall of language differences. For more professional translators and interpretors this wall of language differences (and I say wall, not a barrier... I feel like they're somewhat different) is probably close to nothing, but for a person like me who understands both languages pretty well but not well enough to accomplish the task without almost no difficulty, the little things about the language differences bother so much. The differences of the languages are the differences of cultures and I can't be adding footnotes everytime I do translations. I feel this especially strongly when translating sentences that have to do with senses of beauty and comfort.
Good examples (which means I have to deal with the following rather frequently) are as follows:
- yuugen: subtle and profound, ethereal
- mugen (yumemaboroshi) : illusory, dreamy
- shimpiteki: mysterious, unearthly
- gensouteki: fantastic(al), magical, translunar(y)... (it's more... dreamy and nice)
- iki: chic, edgy, nifty, stylish
- shareta: chic, classy, fancy, stylish
- joucho yutaka: exotic, emotional... (I don't think this's right)
- fuzei no aru: taste, flavor, appearance, attractive
- joushu afureru: sentimental, spicy... (haha! "spicy")
- okuyukashii: discreet
- ryuugi: style, way, fashion, tradition
- yuusou: gallant, valiant
- hanayaka: gaudiness, pomp(ous), gorgeous
- jojou: lyric(al)
- yuruyaka(na): mild, gentle, relaxed, moderate
- miyabiyaka / jouhin / yuuga: elegant, refined, ethereal
- seijaku: quiet, tranquil(ity), composed, relaxed, silence
- wa: Japanese
- kokoro: heart and mind
- kyoushuu / natsukashii: nostalgia, nostalgic, reminiscence
The nastiest one for me personally is "kokoro" which according to the dictionary is "heart and/or mind". It's not wrong, but it's neither exactly heart nor mind, nor is it feelings, emotions or spirit. It's like a mixture of everything mentioned but is indescribable in other words. Kokoro is kokoro.
The other ones that are hard to tell are those related to other-worldliness like yuugen, mugen, shimpiteki, gensouteki, etc. There was a translation in the dictionary, "ethereal" but because I've never really used that vocablulary in my daily life when I lived in the States, I have no idea what it means exactly. Can somebody tell me if it's an appropriate word to describe other-worldy beauty, or the quiet and profound atmosphere that makes you feel a sort of sacredness???
Shimpiteki is another tricky one that I can't completely agree with the dictionary. The kanji says, "god(s) - secret" and the Jpn-Eng dictionary gives "mysterious" as the English translation, but it's a twist different from mysterious. It certainly implies mysteriousness, but it also carries the meanings of sacredness or holiness. Something sacred and holy, something that makes you feel the presence of the gods is mysterious. I think that point is more or less common in any culture or religion. Well, the traditional Japanese religion (Shinto) believes that there are gods in pretty much everything existing in this world and worships especially the nature. Therefore the term "shimpiteki" is used many times with descriptions on nature, scenery, art and atmosphere. When the term is used it does denote holiness, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it's a sanctuary that the outsiders are prohibited connection. It's just the description of the atmosphere.
So. My point. How much of these translations are credible? Most of the above, I have been using every once in a while because I cannot find alternatives, but honestly I do doubt if they're actually correct. They are Japanese-unique expressions that perhaps can be translated better into Chinese and Korean more than English because we share part of the writing systems as well as having similarity in the cultures. How can I tell precisely the most delicate nuance of the difficult language in a different language?
If there's anyone out there who understands both languages perfectly, I am dying for your suggestions!
As I was writing about the "Japan Boom" in Japan today, I came across the idea of Japanese aesthetics in the old days. Things people see as "beautiful" differ from culture to culture, and I'm not sure for other cultures but at least for Japan what people consider "beautiful", or the value of certain things, have changed or forgotten over time.
There is this concept in Japan, wabi-sabi, and is an expression of simple refinement. The expression contains a rather lone, simple, quiet and decaying meaning, but for some reason the ancient people considered this aesthetic and sought refinement in things that were lone, quiet and decaying. In a similar sense, there is an adjective hinabita which means rural and rustic. This too is associated with a sad, quiet and lone image, but is a word used most times to compliment the place.
During the years when it was fairly peaceful (before and after the Sengoku civil war era), Japanese people had much affection to nature, time and space. A slow life was a luxurious life, and the most luxurious and refined practices back then were to read poems and appreciate the nature. The tradition of blossom viewing, moon viewing and autumn leaves viewing are thought to come from those days. People, especially those in high rank in the courts, spent time looking at the smallest lives on earth like grass and bugs, and let their imaginations run. Sometimes they put those imaginations and emotions into words, and a thousand years later those poems become legacies of the history.
Traveling was another leisure, though more costly and dangerous in a way. Even in the peaceful days, roads were neither smooth nor lighted at night. There were wild animals and thieves. But there were people who spent years traveling without a particular goal or a purpose, and recorded what they saw or felt on the way. I was writing about Matsuo Basho, a poet and a writer during the early Edo whose haiku poems are very famous, and he too wrote about the most silliest things with little value - that is to say, in our sense. But the words he use and the nature of haiku or tanka of compressing sentences worth of expressions and emotions into 17 or 29 syllables attach ancient aestheticism to whatever he has written about.
Slow and qualitatively rich life is grabbing attention of Japanese people these days. It's probably the counter-reaction to the time-pressed, busy and stressful lifestyles that's been here for half a century. It may be the time we look back on our culture in the older days when people were more relaxed and laid back. And that's probably why Japan is the trend right now in Japan.
Today's update on Japan Mode: Trends in Japan <> - it's basically about the details of what I wrote here.
I was thinking about what's hot in Japan - like what the social/ cultural trend is right now. It's actually a bit hard of a task because you tend not to notice a trend when you're in the midst of it but only realize it to be a "past" trend after the heat has gone. Some of the trends are pretty visible, especially fashion, but keeping your eyes open for cultural trends is kind of hard. At least for me. Also, even though you're aware that one thing is pretty hot at the moment you feel like it's settled down, kind of stablized as something "normal" rather than a transient trent. Maid cafes are one example. There are so many of them that it's not as worth giving attention to as the earlier days.
A couple of ideas came up in my mind, and they were LOHAS (life of health and sustainability) and the health related boom (food, yoga, etc.) and the other is JAPAN. They kind of intertwine, but since the former is half an imported trend (it's not particularly Japanese) so I decided to focus on the latter - which is actually a very deep observation and discussion if you start thinking about it.
The JAPAN boom is in Japanese called the WA boom (wa=adj. Japanese) and is about the revival of Japaneseness in various aspects. For example, it can be food like so many other countries are experiencing Japanese cuisine trend, tea like I talked about before (see here also), fashion (maekake mentioned a little while ago) or wearing yukata to fireworks, learning the traditional arts (calligraphy, flower arrangement, tea, etc.) or acquiring the essence of bushido (way of the samurai) etc. etc. It's visible in daily life and also on TV, like a number of traditional / cultural Japan related TV dramas and films get high viewership and the Japanese films doing well last year in terms of box office.
Part of this social trend comes from freshness and exoticness especially for the younger generation, rather than the idea of treasuring the good old things. For many people the beautiful patterns of the kimono are pieces of art that can be added to and blended with the latest fashion, the prints of the maekake aprons a stylish design to make into bags, yukata (summer kimono) a season-limited fashion specialty. The other part of the trend, especially for older people, comes from the spirit behind the Japanese designs and act. For instance, having tea in a relaxing and strain-free cafe is a time to treasure the quietness in your mind. Learning the ways of art is acquiring the spirit of art or the way, of concentrating, of emptying your mind. This is in a way related to the idea of LOHAS and having a life of good quality.
I think I will not reveal too much of it here at once. May continue some other day, but for the meantime read here for details (which also turned out to become a series to my regret).
Since I started this little corner on Japan Mode introducing cultural and traditional festivals (in advance) I came to realize how so many of them are out there. Only a handful of them are featured on country guides and news and sometimes I think it's such a pity that the majority of them are not known, or if worse, fading as a tradition because there aren't enough attention given.
It is kind of true that a lot of the tourism-wise unknown take place in locations that aren't as easy to access, and I guess the most important part about having them - since they are after all rituals and ceremonies related to one religion or another to some extent - is to practice them not with reluctancy but with sincerity.
Well I'm running out of time so I'll keep this super short.
Today's update on Japan Mode (go figure)
A number of spring festivals are being held literally all over Japan and it was very very hard to pick out just a few to introduce on Japan Mode. Spring events are graceful and beautiful with lots of decorations in bright yet soft colors. Enjoy!
Visit Japan for traditional beauties? The awe-inspiring nature and history? Fashion trends? Manga and anime?
There is this long running campaign called the "Visit Japan Campaign" aka "YOKOSO JAPAN" which I bet many of you reading this have seen once or more on other websites. In a word it's a campaign that encourages increase of inbound tourist traffic (details here ). When it started there were about 16 million Japanese travelling overseas but the number of tourists coming into Japan is (actually "was") less than one third of that and the govt wants to narrow the gap for --- well, good reasons.
The Japanese government (according to my personal observation) is rather on the conservative side - serious and conservative (plus unclear)... a typically Japanese quality one may say - and would have included only the traditional, historical and natural beauties to the Japan's beauty list, maybe joined by a glimpse introduction to the manga and anime industry... that is to say if it were a decade ago. It wouldn't have approved the manga+anime+game industry as something the country can be proud of and in that sense, never the herd of the so-called "otaku".
But the latest situation is different. Actually, a lot of thing have changed about the character of the govt during the five years under the Koizumi administration. Now that we have a new prime minister, I come to realize the changes in the country that I have never noticed during Koizumi's politics. Things have become more... how should I describe... modern? The clinging to the old systems and styles seem to have loosened a bit.
One of the "modern" elements that I think is the acknowledgment of many things that the country didn't want to turn their eyes on, including the existence of the otaku. Otaku, as you may already know, in a word are geeks particularly those who are deeply into the fictious world of manga (comics), anime or video-/computer games. It is still to some extent, but until a while ago these people were looked at with disapproving eyes from the society because the general impressions of otaku, as the non-otaku claim, are weird, obsessive, unsociable, immature, etc. and a good adult deeply amused by 2D characters or young idol girls was kind of a shame to have or to be one.
In truth, there are many that are over-obsessive and extraordinarily passionate about particular things, but then the Japanese society is full of otaku from school to office because anyone can have a passionate hobby or two. In fact, being just a tad bit otaku (referred to as "choi-ota") is even considered as being cool. Let me get back to this sometime later.
Going back to deep otaku, it has been found out a couple of years ago that these otaku have the power to really heavily influence the Japanese economy towards a positive vector. A little while ago one research & consulting company said that the market has not just escaped being a niche but also have become of the very largest in the country, and so it seems because the govt can't keep turning their eyes off of it.
The govt certainly cannot and I doubt they ever will encourage people to become an otaku of a kind, but have started to make use of this millions-population of otaku and their activities as well as entertainment spots (chiefly Akihabara) as attractions to invite international tourists. Now they have a free "Akihabara tour", a tour going around major otaku attractions scattered across Akihabara districts with an English speaking guide, and not only do they came up with such tour, the tour is actually one of their top features for the campaign. It's not clearly written as part of the tour but otaku themselves are clearly attractions. So there are otaku tourists coming for goods and just to breathe the air of the otaku capital, and there are the non-otaku tourists coming in curiosity to have a glance at the Japanese authentic otaku. In just five years or so, the govt has turned from neglecting the otaku to making them one of the highlights of Japan. This is quite amazing.
So this is how the govt is reacting to the expansion of the otaku market - but I wonder how much non-Japanese are actually interested in the Japanese otaku culture. I mean, the sense has numbed quite a bit amongst us Japanese at least in Tokyo. Seeing people crowding over Akihabara doesn't amaze us nor do the existence of the maid & butler cafes that have become a huge fad and quickly stablized - stabilized but not gone. Is the otaku culture still something Japan can boast as a uniquely Japanese specialty? And if so, how long is this whole otaku craze is going to last?
So much for now... ended up with no point again :p
Today's update on Japan Mode: This Week's Events in Tokyo - March 2nd Week
There was a very striking article in the news today. It said, "All five ICUdoctors of the National Cardiovascular Center (NCVC) resign at the end ofMarch." Even for a person like me who at least for now have no business withthe center nor cardiovascular related matters, this news appears to be agreat shock moreover a very grave situation.
The NCVC is known as and is the country's foremost institution forcardiovascular treatment, undertaking more than 1,100 heart transplantoperations operated in Japan (that's more than half of the total) includingthose of children and those that are the severest. They have at least thebest systems and facilities in the country of taking care the patients withsuch of health issues, completely separating the operation team and thepost-operation treatment team (ICU) so that they can support the patients24/7. For the moment there are five doctors in the ICU of whom all areexperts in the field, and all five of them including two of the bestcardiovascular doctors in Japan. These two doctors explain that they aretotally worn out mentally and physically from their jobs at the hospital,and the 3 others are resigning because the resignation of the two disenablesthem from further tutorship.
From April at least for a while NCVC will have to refill the vacant posts ofthe ICU with doctors from other departments, but the surgical team wouldhave to take care of serious situations after the operation if there occurany. Though the center admits that complete separation of the surgical andtreatment teams would become impossible and also that the replacement of thetwo greatest authorities of the field is even more impossible, they will notdecrease the number of operations nor would affect the patients in any way.
Well, all the knowledge I have on Japanese medical circumstances are thoseobtained from (comic) books and TV dramas which in most cases areexaggerated to some extent I believe, and I know nothing by experience aboutthe reality of the world. But then, the reasons these two doctors gave leftme with a serious and heavy impression that it really must be very hard tobe doctors, perhaps even more so in this country where things behind thescenes are still very feudalistic and factions have greater power thanabilities or skills. While I learn about the half-fiction situations ofJapenese hospitals and doctors from manga and from TV I always liked tobelieve they're really half-fictious but perhaps they are more true than Iwant to think.
We don't have enough doctors, we don't have enough nurses, the systems arerather unclear, the people are aging and less children are being born partof it because of the downside of the medical systems of the country. This isonly creating a vicious cycle. What is our future to become of?
Today's update on Japan Mode: Ladies Fashion Spring 2007 - it's pretty muchthe repetition of the entry I had a few weeks ago, maybe just a bit moredetailed. Will have men's fashion up sometime soon too.
As I was reading through the news on the Internet I found an article titled like "Princess Aiko Becomes Ill with Tonsillitis". I clicked the title and the news was as plain as the title with only three lines. Moreover, the content of those three lines were to me, not so significant but rather personal. It said that Princess Aiko came down with a fever of 38dg and was diagnosed acute tonsillitis, but the fever became better with prescribed medication and even though her fever cooled down she was absent from kindergarten today just to be on the safe side.
I'm not really trying to criticize the writer or the paper about publishing news as little as this, but am just wondering if they need to or not. Well, sure, a tonsillitis can be more serious than a cold but isn't always life threatening but is it really necessary for the entire nation to know the details of the health status of the Imperial family?
Judging only from my childish knowledge gained from TV shows and news the royal and imperial families overseas especially in the West seem to be more open than that of Japan. Um, I don't know if the term "open" can best describe the situation, but at least the barriers between the royal and the lay seem to be lower and closer in a friendly way.
As compared to such barriers in some of the countries, Japan's is extremely high, thick, hard and unclear completely secluding the former away from the others. We don't know what their daily routined are like. We don't know what they're like behinf those walls and the treed and gardens. But we need to know their health conditions because they are the symbol of our country and of its people i.e., us.
Having written this far I don't want to go any further with this topic because it's way to controversial and is a huge huge topic for me to discuss here. There was about a week ago a news about the publication of this book called "Princess Masako" which perhaps the controversy regarding a few passages from this book has reached overseas. I would say that yes, some of those expressions seemed to be inappropriate, but at the same time agree with the author of having to want to used those words to describe the structure of this country. The Imperial Household Agency is pretty angry with the book and we can't get them inside Japan at least not the Japanese editions.
So that's about it. Sorry it ended up messy and sort of unfinished.
Today's update on Japan Mode: Tokyo Event February 4th Week - since there weren't as many events to pick up I decided to give you a couple of ideas of where you can try FRESH strawberries picked from the fields with your own hands in and around Tokyo.
I was watching a TV show the other night. It's a weekly show in which an actor/actress or somebody in the show/entertinment business in Japan goes abroad for a week and experiences homestay as well as helping the job of the family member. The desitination could be anywhere outside of Japan from major cities to tribal villages and for almost every time the experience ends up as a moving Drama.
Anyway, the destination for the last show was Barcelona, Spain, and a young Japanese actress was experiencing candy-making for the first time in her life. What I found interesting about it was that it wasn't traditional Spanish candy-making that she was challenging but traditional Japanese candy-making! We call it "kintarou-ame" (Kintaro is a character in a Japanese folk tale and "ame" means hard candy) and I don't know what it's called in English, but it's a candy-craft that has designs inside so when you cut the candy you always see the same design on the sections.
At first I thought, "oh, I thought it's something Japanese but maybe I was wrong and it's originally from Spain" but then the show said that when the owner of the store came to study in Japan he fell in love with this candy and studied and brought the skills back home. He and his staffs make really pretty and artistic candies and it was amusing even just looking at how they make them and the finished candies on the TV screen... I could easily see why the shop is so popular there because I wish I could try some of those... and guess what! I just found out that there's a branch in Tokyo!
Going back to the point (not that there's really a point, but): Japan in Spain and Spain in Japan - I know that in a world so globalized like today it's not so rare to see Japan-related restaurants & shops outside of Japan and vice versa, but seeing a culture originating in Japan developing in its own way abroad blending into the culture makes me kind of happy.
Link: the shop's name is papabubble and those who live in Barcelona, Amsterdam or Tokyo have higher chances to appreciate their sweet delicacy ;-)
Hello to everybody, to those who came from Japan Mode, through blogspot and those who just coincidentally stumbled upon my page. Like the brief description says, this is a blog on my random thoughts and observations on the city and country I live in - that's Tokyo, Japan - and I also hope to cast a spotlight on little daily-life trends in Japan as well as feature some "Made in Japan"s in other cultures.
I think I'll start with a self-introduction for today.
My name is monamie and I am one of the writers for Japan Mode, a website on Japanese culture and entertainment. I am a Japanese in my early twenties, a travelholic and a photography-lover. I have been working with Japan Mode for almost a year.
Ummm, what else...? I have been living in the heart of Tokyo for most of my life but have some experiences abroad.
What I like about Tokyo... it's a mess as many times describes by non-Tokyoites, but it's reeeally convenient, from my point of view. The city's overwhelmed with people and material, but I guess that's what I like about the city - the mess.
As for what I see and feel and observe about this city and country, I'm going to post them randomly in the following entries which I hope to update everyday so be sure to check back if your eyes and ears can't miss the name TOKYO or JAPAN ;-)
Fushimi Inari Taisha (Shrine) is located only two stops south from Kyoto Station on JR Nara Line, and the grand gate to the shrine is located right in front of the Station exit. As you go through the gate you will find a shrine pavilion and behind that the main shrine where you make offerings and pray. Behind the main shrine there is a path that leads you to the widely known Sembon Torii (thousand torii). This Sembon Torii was what I wanted to see with my own eyes, and thus the highlight of this trip.
Since these gates are indicators (or even reminders) that are built on the boundary of the sacred and the profane, in most cases the gates stand individually. Fushimi Inari is no exception in terms of the main entrance, but the most unique feature of this shrine is this Thousand Torii where hundreds of them are placed one right next to another creating tunnels of torii. The location appears in many posters, travel brochures, TV commercials, TV dramas and films... and I simply wanted to see this almost insane collection of red.
The approach that climbs up the mountain is marked with another set of hundreds of torii, this time larger and placed slightly (only slightly) apart. Moderately steep stairs lead most of the way with partially really steep places, and along the path stand several houses. Many of these houses have rest areas located next to them, offering food and drinks as well as great view. (The picture is of hiyashiame, literally cold candy, a very sweet drink made of malt sugar with ginger. Savior of my soar throat this day.)
In addition to the shrines are the... heaps (I don't know how to describe them)... called tsuka. At a glance these places look like a mixture of Shintoism with Buddhism as the carved stones look like Buddhist gravestones, but the surroundings are of complete Shintoism. The stones are actually not gravestones but are each gods - households that worship Shintoism carve the sacred (gods') names on the rocks and enshrine the rocks on this mountain as part of the Inari (god of agriculture and harvest) because this is Inari's center of worship.
