Japan is a country that takes great delight in the changing of the seasons. It may be the only country in the world where the first day of spring and the first day of fall are national holidays.
October 1 is another important, seasonal day.
Rain or shine, hot or cold, October 1 is Koromo-gae no Hi. This is the day when all uniforms change from the summer version to the winter version, when short sleeves yield to long sleeves, when sandals suddenly disappear and boots are allowed out of the closet.
The weather itself has nothing to do with it. It's October 1. It's time to put on the winter wardrobe.
2008年9月30日火曜日
2008年9月28日日曜日
Sumo--The Times They Are A-changing
It's sumo season in Japan.
Sumo is the sport in which incredibly pudgy--but a muscled kind of pudgy--men try to trip each other up and shove each other out of the ring. First, they face each other and go through ritual motions, stomping and glaring, rather like tomcats hissing and spitting before they get down to brass tacks. They throw a handful of salt into the air to appease the spirits, and then they grapple.
Or try to. Getting one's arms around a very fat fellow is not an easy thing to accomplish.
A round ends when one wrestler steps outside the ring or takes a fall. The spectators show true grit by never flinching, even when 300 or more pounds of sumo wrestler fly out of the ring and land on someone's lap.
The fall sumo tournament just ended.
The giant silver trophy--so big one has to be of sumo wrestler's dimensions to even lift it--goes to the grand champion, or yokozuna. For this most Japanese of sports, the new yokozuna, is not Japanese. The wrestler, who fights under the name Hakuho, was born and raised in Mongolia.
Why not? Shouldn't sports, of all places, have a level playing field and welcome all comers?
There was a time not so long ago when the sumo world went into a hissy fit because the wrestler who earned the yokozuna title came from Hawaii. If Japan's Ichiro can be the cat's pajamas in American baseball, isn't it fitting to give other nationalities a chance to sit in the catbird's seat of Japanese sumo?
Sumo is the sport in which incredibly pudgy--but a muscled kind of pudgy--men try to trip each other up and shove each other out of the ring. First, they face each other and go through ritual motions, stomping and glaring, rather like tomcats hissing and spitting before they get down to brass tacks. They throw a handful of salt into the air to appease the spirits, and then they grapple.
Or try to. Getting one's arms around a very fat fellow is not an easy thing to accomplish.
A round ends when one wrestler steps outside the ring or takes a fall. The spectators show true grit by never flinching, even when 300 or more pounds of sumo wrestler fly out of the ring and land on someone's lap.
The fall sumo tournament just ended.
The giant silver trophy--so big one has to be of sumo wrestler's dimensions to even lift it--goes to the grand champion, or yokozuna. For this most Japanese of sports, the new yokozuna, is not Japanese. The wrestler, who fights under the name Hakuho, was born and raised in Mongolia.
Why not? Shouldn't sports, of all places, have a level playing field and welcome all comers?
There was a time not so long ago when the sumo world went into a hissy fit because the wrestler who earned the yokozuna title came from Hawaii. If Japan's Ichiro can be the cat's pajamas in American baseball, isn't it fitting to give other nationalities a chance to sit in the catbird's seat of Japanese sumo?
2008年9月22日月曜日
The Other Election
Japan has them, too. There was one today. Here, though, the elected representatives elect one of their own to be the prime minister. We the People have to live with their choice, but if the chosen one doesn't keep us happy, we don't have to keep him for four (or eight) long years. Nice!
My favorite US columnist, Thomas L. Friedman of the NY Times, has this to say about political leadership in the US:
"If I were to draw a picture of America today, it would be of the space shuttle taking off. There is all this thrust coming from below [private enterprise]. But the booster rocket — Washington — is cracked and leaking energy, and the pilots in the cockpit are fighting over the flight plan. So we can’t achieve escape velocity to enter the next orbit — the next great industrial revolution, which is going to be E.T., energy technology."
Let's hope E.T.--not the movie critter but Energy Technology--moves up many more notches on the world's scale of priorities.
My favorite US columnist, Thomas L. Friedman of the NY Times, has this to say about political leadership in the US:
"If I were to draw a picture of America today, it would be of the space shuttle taking off. There is all this thrust coming from below [private enterprise]. But the booster rocket — Washington — is cracked and leaking energy, and the pilots in the cockpit are fighting over the flight plan. So we can’t achieve escape velocity to enter the next orbit — the next great industrial revolution, which is going to be E.T., energy technology."
Let's hope E.T.--not the movie critter but Energy Technology--moves up many more notches on the world's scale of priorities.
What's for breakfast?
If you were born and raised in Japan, chances are you will have a traditional breakfast consisting of a small piece of grilled fish, rice, a wafer of nori, a few bites of salad, a slice of fruit, and a bowl of soup made from miso, fish stock, and chopped vegetables. If you opt for a modern, western style breakfast, count on an egg, a thin slice of ham or a taste of bacon sauteed with spinach, a piece of toast, salad, fruit, and soup. Plus milk or juice, yoghurt or cheese, coffee or tea.
Key point? Servings are small, and there are many ingredients covering most of the food pyramid. We are talking about 500 calories, depending on how big the rice bowl is and what dressing goes on the salad.
Except for the rice (which takes an hour and should be prepared in a cooker with an automatic timer), it takes about ten minutes to get it all on the table and another ten minutes to eat and clear away. Twenty minutes, plus a well stocked fridge, and you get kids who pay attention in school and adults who have no interest in donuts and lattes during the work day.
Key point? Servings are small, and there are many ingredients covering most of the food pyramid. We are talking about 500 calories, depending on how big the rice bowl is and what dressing goes on the salad.
Except for the rice (which takes an hour and should be prepared in a cooker with an automatic timer), it takes about ten minutes to get it all on the table and another ten minutes to eat and clear away. Twenty minutes, plus a well stocked fridge, and you get kids who pay attention in school and adults who have no interest in donuts and lattes during the work day.
2008年9月19日金曜日
86% are women
September 16 was Respect for the Aged Day here in Japan. You have to be 65 or older in order to celebrate.
For most of us, 65 is retirement age. An item featured in the news on Respect for the Aged Day said that now there are some 36,000 persons living in Japan who have reached the ripe old age of 100. 100! If you retire at age 65 and manage to become a centennarian, that means you will get 35 more years to fill.
In Japan, some 86% of those who have lived to see their hundredth birthday are women. They are the generation for whom many activities allowed for men--such as smoking and heavy drinking--were socially unacceptable for women. Hmmm... Draw your own conclusion about healthy choices, please.
For most of us, 65 is retirement age. An item featured in the news on Respect for the Aged Day said that now there are some 36,000 persons living in Japan who have reached the ripe old age of 100. 100! If you retire at age 65 and manage to become a centennarian, that means you will get 35 more years to fill.
In Japan, some 86% of those who have lived to see their hundredth birthday are women. They are the generation for whom many activities allowed for men--such as smoking and heavy drinking--were socially unacceptable for women. Hmmm... Draw your own conclusion about healthy choices, please.
登録:
投稿 (Atom)
