Call it setsubun or call it risshun, February 3 is the day spring begins, at least on the calendar.
Just like the Roman calendar before Julius Caesar added his July or Augustus Caesar added his August, the old Japanese calendar is a little out of whack with the actual seasons as we know them. February 3 is too soon to get out your spring wardrobe, even in the southernmost part of Japan (Okinawa). It is a day for fun, nevertheless.
Fun consists of putting on your monster (oni) face for protection and flinging dried beans all around the house. Those beans can hurt, so be sure to wear the cardboard face mask that comes with the sack of beans. Buy extra, so everyone can have a mask. (cheapskates: rush the season even further and get out the swimming goggles)
You also have to say the magic words. The words are: Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi! (Devils get out! Good luck come in!)
Then comes the hard part, picking up the beans.
They are edible, a little like dry peanuts but not quite as sweet. You have to eat the same number of beans as your age if you want the charm to work.
Bon apetit!
2009年1月31日土曜日
2009年1月27日火曜日
What is a donation?
The Buddha says a donation is something that is yours to give, given freely. That makes sense, doesn't it?
So how about a political donation? If you are ordered to give it, and it's not your money but something that your boss pilfered from company funds and told you to deliver to the company's preferred politician, would the Buddha approve?
Right now the Buddha is seriously frowning on the DJP's Chairman Ozawa.
He accepted money from a major construction firm in the guise of donations from employees who were reimbursed for their generosity by their boss--from company funds.
So how about a political donation? If you are ordered to give it, and it's not your money but something that your boss pilfered from company funds and told you to deliver to the company's preferred politician, would the Buddha approve?
Right now the Buddha is seriously frowning on the DJP's Chairman Ozawa.
He accepted money from a major construction firm in the guise of donations from employees who were reimbursed for their generosity by their boss--from company funds.
2009年1月22日木曜日
How much is "4 oku" yen?
Money scandals aren't new in Japanese politics, but this one is hot stuff because it's the first time the evidence implicates the slippery DPJ leader, Chairman Ozawa, by name.
Oku is a figure that is hard for normal people to relate to. If you had an oku to spare, you could buy four single-family suburban houses and have a little left to pay for landscaping. One oku is a hundred million yen.
Mr. Ozawa didn't get the full four hundred million yen. His share was 2400 X 10,000 yen. The largest bill in circulation in Japan is the 10,000 yen note. Can you picture a pocket big enough to carry away that much cash?
His office is saying it's nothing, not even a pecadillo. Nothing. How many people would love to have a similar bit of nothing in their pockets and not even have to pay taxes on it?
Oku is a figure that is hard for normal people to relate to. If you had an oku to spare, you could buy four single-family suburban houses and have a little left to pay for landscaping. One oku is a hundred million yen.
Mr. Ozawa didn't get the full four hundred million yen. His share was 2400 X 10,000 yen. The largest bill in circulation in Japan is the 10,000 yen note. Can you picture a pocket big enough to carry away that much cash?
His office is saying it's nothing, not even a pecadillo. Nothing. How many people would love to have a similar bit of nothing in their pockets and not even have to pay taxes on it?
2009年1月16日金曜日
Back to Okinawa
The new year is well and truly started, and everyone is back at work. At least, the people who still have jobs are back at work.
Then this happens.
You show up at the job site sharply by 8 AM. You power up your back hoe. You dig into the construction site, and blam!
Who knew an old land mine from your grandfather's war would choose that very moment to blow up in your face?
This happened in Itoman yesterday.
Wars are easy to start. They are impossible to finish.
Then this happens.
You show up at the job site sharply by 8 AM. You power up your back hoe. You dig into the construction site, and blam!
Who knew an old land mine from your grandfather's war would choose that very moment to blow up in your face?
This happened in Itoman yesterday.
Wars are easy to start. They are impossible to finish.
2009年1月10日土曜日
Tokyo Tower and the 147 Buttons
Tokyo's 50-year-old red and white landmark is doomed. You may have seen it under attack by the monster Godzilla in an old movie, but that was fiction. Actually, its purpose is to transmit analog TV broadcasts, and the analog format is being replaced by digital TV.
This means the largest self-supporting steel structure in the world has outlived its usefulness. That doesn't mean it isn't still an iconic landmark and a neat place to visit. The aquarium downstairs and the observation platform upstairs are two good reasons to see it.
I feel a great deal of sympathy for that tower, having the digital world passing it by.
We just traded in our ten-year-old analog TV for a shiny new digital one. It comes with three remote controllers--the regular TV one, the cable TV one, and the one for the deck that handles the DVD, etc.
Do you realize that means I have 147 dot-sized buttons to choose from whenever I want to make the TV do something for me? One hundred forty seven!
This means the largest self-supporting steel structure in the world has outlived its usefulness. That doesn't mean it isn't still an iconic landmark and a neat place to visit. The aquarium downstairs and the observation platform upstairs are two good reasons to see it.
I feel a great deal of sympathy for that tower, having the digital world passing it by.
We just traded in our ten-year-old analog TV for a shiny new digital one. It comes with three remote controllers--the regular TV one, the cable TV one, and the one for the deck that handles the DVD, etc.
Do you realize that means I have 147 dot-sized buttons to choose from whenever I want to make the TV do something for me? One hundred forty seven!
2009年1月2日金曜日
An Old Poem
Manyoshu is the oldest poetry anthology in Japan. The title can be translated as Ten Thousand Leaves, and it is kind of a wikipedia of verse. It's not the work of professional writers or famous poets, just people-poets who contributed their lines. Flowers mentioned in the Manyoshu is the theme of the calendar I chose for this year.
January's flower is the plum blossom. Loosely translated, the verse goes:
The first flower to bloom is the plum; to see it is to feel the coming of spring.
The "wax plum" at the entrance to my driveway is already blooming, wafting its fragrance into the icy air. The red plums will be next, and then the white fruit-bearing ones will blossom. When they are done, it will be spring.
That's a promise.
January's flower is the plum blossom. Loosely translated, the verse goes:
The first flower to bloom is the plum; to see it is to feel the coming of spring.
The "wax plum" at the entrance to my driveway is already blooming, wafting its fragrance into the icy air. The red plums will be next, and then the white fruit-bearing ones will blossom. When they are done, it will be spring.
That's a promise.
2009年1月1日木曜日
Happy New Year!
Welcome 2009!
May it be a wonderful year!
With a jubako filled with fantastic food and enough mikan to last a week, now let us welcome the new year (as the poet Rilke wrote) filled with things that have never been.
Last night's NHK music special was the best ever.
This morning's sunrise in Tokyo was as perfect as a sunrise can be.
The greeting cards delivered early this morning are waiting to be read.
Yes, this year is off to a great start.
May it be a wonderful year!
With a jubako filled with fantastic food and enough mikan to last a week, now let us welcome the new year (as the poet Rilke wrote) filled with things that have never been.
Last night's NHK music special was the best ever.
This morning's sunrise in Tokyo was as perfect as a sunrise can be.
The greeting cards delivered early this morning are waiting to be read.
Yes, this year is off to a great start.
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