Japanese art and travel

[imaufo]

Nature trail

August 9, 2003

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A quail-framed, elderly Japanese woman pauses halfway up the volcanic mountain of Kurodake, engrossed by a tiny Asiatic chipmunk munching on a piece of fruit. She claps her hands excitedly, then reaches into her knapsack and crouches down to snap the exquisite creature for posterity - with her mobile phone. Seconds later the image is beamed to her friends and relatives back in their big-city offices.

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Here, in a snapshot, is the modern dichotomy of Japan.

On the one hand is a fascination with nature - witness the national preoccupation with the changing colours of spring and autumn. (The progress of the cherry blossom season figures high on national news bulletins.)

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On the other, an almost Faustian pact with technology that threatens not just the serenity but the very survival of the country's natural assets. (Few of the world's economically elite countries have done such a comprehensive job of stuffing up their environment as Japan. Just try counting the high-tension electricity pylons between Tokyo's Narita airport and the city centre.)

Sometimes Japan seems so alien that overseas visitors may wonder if they are still on the same planet. From Blade Runner onwards, filmmakers have used Tokyo as their inspiration for a Mephistophelean future: automated, robotic, inhuman.

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On this trip, I was determined to get as far away as possible from the frenetic, cheerless hustle of Tokyo and to avoid the obvious tourist destinations such as Kyoto. I wanted to see the other Japan, the sedate and rural country which beckons romantically from the famous 19th-century woodcuts by Hokusai and Hiroshige.

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There was one other reason for wanting to steer clear of Toyko. The yen may no longer be all conquering, but the Japanese capital is still one of the world's most expensive cities. But is there such a thing as affordable Japan?

I consulted my guidebooks and concluded that the only way I could afford a Japanese sojourn was to head north, catching the country's famed Shinkansen (or Bullet Train) to the end of the line and beyond to Hokkaido.

Japan's most northerly island is less well known to overseas tourists than the rest of the country. It's a region of imposing mountains and working fishing harbours. Though Hokkaido is the second largest island of the Japanese archipelago, only three million of the country's population of 60 million live there. For much of the last millennium, those on "mainland"

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Japan have paid scant regard to their northern neighbours. It was considered too wild, too rugged and the people who lived there, the Ainu, were dismissed as uneducated hunter-gatherers.

Only in the past few years of the 19th century, when Tsarist Russia began looking to expand into the Pacific, did the Japanese decide to colonise Hokkaido in any great numbers - and then only to thwart their colonial rivals.

Today, little remains of Ainu culture, though Ainus are now regarded as Japan's equivalent to the Native American Indian and revered as such in museums and re-created Ainu villages around the island.

The Ainu may have gone but the environment they inhabited is remarkably unchanged. National parks occupy a large part of the island and feature everything from snow-capped mountains, smouldering volcanic caldera and rugged coastal cliffs to hot springs, bird sanctuaries and impenetrable forests. There's even a lake so deep and mysterious it is reputedly the home of Japan's version of the Loch Ness monster.

My backpacking odyssey began at 6am in Sapporo, the island's capital, after a 12-hour train trip from Tokyo's Narita airport that involved four changes and a journey through the Seikan Tunnel, the 54-kilometre submarine link between Hokkaido and Honshu.

One of Japan's best travel bargains is the seven-day rail pass, which allows foreign visitors virtually unlimited train travel (see panel below). You get greater value from it the further from Tokyo you head.

Sapporo is the fifth biggest city in Japan, with a population of nearly two million. But it is much less frantic and altogether easier to navigate than its rivals. Essentially it's an American-style city, laid out on a grid in the late 19th century when US might, in the form of Commodore Matthew Perry's fleet, forced the Shogunate to open up the country to foreign trade after two centuries of splendid isolation.

Sapporo is a charming city. It doesn't have any great tourist attractions; its best-known "sights" are the TV tower that looks like a cheap imitation of the Eiffel Tower and the Sapporo Beer Museum (Sapporo was the first Japanese city to brew beer, inspired by the influx of Europeans when isolation ended). There are, however, some handsome formal parks and gardens, as many shops as a sane person could wish for and a nightlife area, Susukino, that is reputedly one of the raciest in Japan.

As with much of Japan, the red-light district is also a safe place for tourists to explore. Perfectly respectable bars, clubs and restaurants operate next door to the notorious "soapland" brothels where corporate salarymen take turns to be lathered, and more, by girls who advertise themselves as "Cherry Bomb" and "Vixen Woman". Prostitution is not such a taboo subject in Japan, so it's not unusual to see parties of male work colleagues queuing up for the services of the soapland girls.

Sapporo also has some of Hokkaido's finest restaurants. The island's two main specialties are seafood and thick, steaming bowls of ramen (or thin, Chinese-style) noodles. At the undistinguished little thoroughfare nicknamed Ramen Alley in the heart of Susukino, tourists from other parts of Japan queue outside tiny noodle bars to watch and sample the various delicacies being prepared, enticed by handwritten celebrity recommendations displayed around the walls.

Generally you choose between a miso or a soy broth, topped with either pork, beef or seafood, though I opted for a particular local favourite translating as butter-corn, a rich, creamy sweetcorn sauce with pork and a huge knob of butter that gradually melts into the noodles. It makes a hearty meal, with beer, for about $10.

My room that night was another authentic Japanese experience. In an attempt to keep the trip as cheap as possible, I stayed in one of the hotels opposite the railway station which caters to businessmen too drunk to catch their last train home. For about $45, my windowless room had just enough space for a single bed, an en suite (complete with bidet-action toilet), a TV and, most importantly for hangover-affected clients, a loud alarm clock.

Next day I began my circular island journey in earnest, catching the 7.24am express to Kamikawa, the sleepy little gateway to Japan's largest national park, Daisetu-zan. From Kamikawa, buses regularly ferry Japanese tourists 22 kilometres to Sounkyo Onsen, the park's main hot-springs resort. It lies at the entrance to the Sounkyo Gorge, a 20-kilometre gash famed for its beautiful waterfalls. One good way to see them is by bicycle, rented by the hour from near the bus station.

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Alternatively, you can catch the "ropeway" (cable car), then a chairlift towards the summit of Kurodake, the 1984-metre mountain that towers over the resort. If you're feeling particularly energetic you can join the stream of Japanese tourists heading uphill, through summer snow, to the peak.

Most of my fellow climbers for the arduous one-hour scramble seemed to be spritely septuagenarians. My guide books had promised a spectacular view from the summit, though it was obvious from the low clouds that such a reward was unlikely. Sure enough, once I got to the top I shivered for a few minutes, snapped the view, then set off down again.

Hardier trekkers were heading across the mountain range to Asahidake, the highest mountain on the island, and the park's second resort, Asahidake Onsen. The rooftop route is regarded as one of the most scenic in Japan, but if you want to try it you'll need to organise it well in advance: accommodation in both spa resorts is much in demand.

So in demand that I had to backtrack (one of the beauties of having an unlimited rail pass) to spend the night at Asahikawa, Hokkaido's second biggest city.

I was up early again the next day to catch the train to Bihoro, springboard for Akan National Park . Given I couldn't afford to rent a car, the best way of seeing Akan's magnificent lakeland scenery was to catch the tourist coach which twice a day plies the route between Bihoro and my destination for the night, Akan Kohan, one of Japan's great hot-spring retreats.

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The luxury coach came with a recorded Japanese commentary, which was wasted on me and the only other passenger that day, Angela, a 19-year-old American who was spending the summer in Japan "teaching English" (unsuccessfully, apparently). We spread ourselves out and made the most of our luck as the driver stopped to show us the various splendours.

First, Kussharo-ka, the biggest crater lake in Japan and home reputedly of "Kussie", the local Loch Ness monster. Next, the belching sulfur springs of Io-zan, where enterprising locals attempt to sell volcanically steamed eggs to the tourists. Then Mashu-ko, a perfect caldera lake that plunges mysteriously towards hell (the Ainu apparently called it "the Devil's Lake"). And, finally, Lake Akan, upon whose shores Akan Kohan is built.


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I'd already booked a room at one of the two dozen hotels that cater for Japanese whose idea of a holiday is a damn good soak. The staff at the front desk were prepared for me when I arrived; evidently I was the only Westerner booked in. Most of my fellow guests were staying in Japanese-style rooms, with tatami mats and futons, but I'd been allocated a room with a bed.

Minutes later I was dressed in the kimono and slippers provided and investigating the hotel's communal bath. Ritual bathing is one of Japan's great experiences. The sexes are strictly segregated, and a strict etiquette applies. Bathers strip bare in an ante-room, then head into a large steaming bathroom where they squat on small plastic stools and soap themselves thoroughly. Only when they are spotlessly cleansed do they venture into the piping hot pools, taking care not to pollute the spring water with any soap or shampoo (a cardinal sin).

After an hour of liquid contemplation, I have just enough time to visit the resort's rather tacky little "Ainu quarter" - a short, faux ethnic street full of shops selling identical wooden carvings of bears and owls. Then it's back to the hotel for the Japanese buffet that's included (along with full Japanese breakfast) in my $100 room rate.

At 5am I'm woken by a curious thwacking sound outside my window; it turns out to be early risers testing the hotel's pitch and putt course. Awake, I decide to jog around the lake, and stumble across a lovely forest nature trail which explains - with signs in English - the importance of various trees and animals to Ainu culture.

The rest of the day is spent travelling by bus and train back to Sapporo, via Kushiro. Then it's on to my final destination, Hakodate, which many visitors find the most interesting town on the island. Lying at the southernmost tip of Hokkaido, it is a bustling fishing port nestled on a sandbar spit beneath an imposing volcanic peak. One of its highlights is its ancient fish market, best visited early when you'll see just about every kind of seafood known to man - including the local speciality, hairy crab. (Try the black squid ink ice-cream - it's surprisingly palatable, even for breakfast.)

The town's greatest tourist draw is its well-preserved 19th-century colonial quarter, Motomachi, which dates back to when Hakodate was one of only three ports in Japan that allowed foreigners to operate trading stations. The locals realised that in the Russian Orthodox church, the old British consulate and the other heritage buildings in Motomachi they had something worth preserving.

Today many of the buildings have been converted into galleries or museums (the Museum of Northern Peoples is particularly good), the dockland wharves have been labelled "the historic Docks area", and the marketers portray their city as "Japan's San Francisco" (presumably because it can be cold and foggy and it has trams).

Every tourist to Hakodate will want to get to the summit of Hakodate-yama, the view from which is apparently revered as one of country's finest. Most ascend by cable car, but there's a pleasant track up through a nature reserve if you have the time.

On a clear day it is well worth the effort, even though the summit is scarred by a TV tower. From the top you get a 360-degree view to the volcanoes of Onuma National Park, the sweeping coastline northwards, the straits where the Sea of Japan meets the Pacific Ocean and south to the imposing coastline of Honshu.

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It makes a splendid and relaxing finale to your holiday in Hokkaido before you speed back towards the turmoils of Tokyo.

EASY RIDING

Any budget traveller to Japan should consider pre-purchasing a Japan rail pass, which can be bought only outside Japan. It comes in seven-day, 14-day and 21-day versions and costs 28,300, 45,100 and 57,700 yen ($360, $570 and $730) respectively. It covers most train services except the superfast Nozomis.

In Sydney you can buy vouchers for the passes at JTB, JALPACK/JAL, Kintetsu International Express, Sachi Tours or Price Travel. Once in Japan, you validate your voucher and are issued a pass. (You can validate your pass at the JR office at Narita airport and immediately use it to travel into Toyko on the Narita express.)

Train travel in Japan is effortless once you have mastered the procedure. Reserve your seats in advance (you can do them all in one go at any JR office). Signs at all Japanese stations are easy to read, trains leave precisely on time, they are spotlessly clean, bento boxes of delicious sushi are readily available, and refreshment facilities are provided on all but the most local of services.

DESTINATION

Hokkaido

WHEN TO GO

Though the island can be stunning in winter (you can even take a day trip aboard an ice-breaker at the eastern port of Abashiri), the best time to visit if you want to hike is between May and October, though June is Japan's rainy season and July and August tend to get crowded.

GETTING THERE

Qantas and JAL fly to Toyko with daily connections to Sapporo. JAL is now offering highly competitive fares to Europe, via Tokyo, allowing you stopovers in Japan. If you're on a budget, the JR Rail Pass is the most economical way of travelling.

STAYING THERE

A night in a traditional inn or ryokan is not cheap but it's well worth it. A strict protocol applies - make sure you read about it beforehand so you don't embarrass yourself or the ryokan staff.

MORE INFO

Japan is one of those countries where it helps to have more than one guide book. I used the Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness guide, the Rough Guide and the Lonely Planet: all have their strengths. Consider also taking Samurai William by Giles Milton (Hodder and Stoughton), a fascinating historical account of how Japan was opened up in the 17th century.

Japanese National Tourist Organisation, Level 18, Australia Square Tower, 254 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000. Phone 9232 4522 or http://www.jnto.go.jp


This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/08/08/1060145854891.html

[imaufo]

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Kyoto was Japan's capital and the emperor's residence from 794 until 1868. It is now the country's seventh largest city with a population of 1.4 million people and a modern face.

Over the centuries, Kyoto was destroyed by many wars and fires, but due to its historic value, the city was not chosen as a target of air raids during World War II. Countless temples, shrines and other historically priceless structures survive in the city today, and roughly one out of four of Japan's national treasures can be found in Kyoto.

According to mythology, Japan's first Emperor Jimmu, a descendant of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu, was enthroned in the year 660 BC. While the myths are not considered historically accurate, it is a commonly accepted fact that emperors have reigned over Japan for more than 1500 years, and that they have all descended from the same imperial family.


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Kyoto Imperial Palace (Kyoto Gosho) used to be the residence of Japan's Imperial Family until 1868, when the emperor and capital were moved from Kyoto to Tokyo. It is located in the spacious Kyoto Imperial Park.

The palace burnt down and was moved around the city several times over the centuries. The present reconstruction dates from 1855. The palace complex is enclosed by a long wall and consists of several gates, halls and gardens. The enthronement ceremonies of Emperors Taisho and Showa were still held in the palace's main hall, but the present Emperor's ceremony took place at the Tokyo Imperial Palace.

Temples are the places of worship in Japanese Buddhism. Virtually every Japanese municipality has at least one temple, while large cultural centers like Kyoto have several thousands of them.

Temples store and display sacred Buddhist objects, and some of them used to or still function as monasteries.

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Geisha are professional female entertainers who perform traditional Japanese arts on banquets.

Girls who wish to become a geisha, have to go through a rigid apprenticeship during which they learn various traditional arts such as playing instruments, singing, dancing, but also conversation and other social skills. In Kyoto, geisha apprentices are called "maiko".

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Geisha are dressed in a kimono, and their faces are made up very pale. As a common tourist, you may be able to spot a maiko in some districts of Kyoto, such as Gion and Pontocho or in Kanazawa's Higashi Geisha District.

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Gion is Kyoto's most famous geisha district. To experience the traditional Gion, stroll along Hanami-koji, a street lined by beautiful old buildings, teahouses and restaurants. In the evenings, you may be able to spot a geisha apprentice.

Yasaka Shrine and the Minamiza kabuki theater are some of Gion's other attractions.

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[imaufo]

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Two little Maiko girls posing in front of Heian Jingu Shrine in Kyoto, Japan


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Two Geisha apprentice (Maiko) performing during tea ceremony in Kitano Shrine, Kyoto, Japan


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[imaufo]

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Infiorata is an internationally renowned flower art festival that is held annually in Genzano, Italy. To recreate the flamboyant atmosphere of the Italian Infiorata, an array of carpets made from the petals of some 170,000 roses, stretching for more than 200 meters will appear at the forthcoming Harumi Flower Festival Infiorata 2003 at Tokyo's Harumi Triton Square from Nov. 1 to Nov. 4. During the festival, the flower-made carpets will be illuminated at night.

Featured at the festival will be 15 colorful works by Belgium-born Italian artist Antoine Cesaroni, which he designed along the theme of "'Edo' as viewed from the eyes of an Italian artist." The event is part of this year's celebration of the 400th anniversary since the foundation of the Edo government.

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A scene from last year's Haruimi Infiorata.

Cesaroni is a multi international award winner and is known as one of the top artists of the Infiorata in Genzano. His ukiyo-e (Japanese prints that boomed in the Edo Period)-style designs express his impression of Edo and its culture.
Those that depict the fusion of Edo style and today's Japanese trends, such as a soba noodle shop collaged with fast food, or a kimono-wearing woman using a mobile phone, are especially exquisite.

Dates: Nov. 1-4 (10 a.m.-11 p.m.). Night Illumination: 5 p.m.-11 p.m. Closes at 10 p.m. on the last day.

Venue: Harumi Island Triton Square (a 4-minute walk from Exit A2 from Kachidoki Station on the Oedo Line or a 9-minute walk from Exit 10 of Tsukishima Station on the Yurakucho and Oedo lines).

Admission: Free.

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Last Monday and Tuesday a block of Chuo-dori street was decorated with various flower petals, wood chips, and white and black stones. I went on Tuesday with my mother and, it being a holiday, the place was jam packed with sightseers. This is the second year Nagano has held what they’ve called Infiorata. In order to keep all the petals in place, a team of workers wandered throughout the design spraying what I hope was just water. And a few of them had giant tongs to return to their proper place those petals that were blown in the wind.

[imaufo]

http://www.kyotosightsandnights.com/people_in_kyoto.html

There is no better way to understand Kyoto and it’s people than to hear what they have to say about there own city and it’s culture. We will be doing interviews with various craftsmen and people involved in the traditional arts and have experts on Kyoto writing occasional pieces for us on many different aspects of the city.


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Shikomi Interview

Recently in Kyoto there seems to be an increase of young women from around the country flocking to the ancient capital to try their hand at becoming one of the most photographed group of people in the city, a member of the geisha community. With the donning of a beautifully silk kimono and a skillfully white painted face, these young women have a chance of becoming instant stars, receiving much more attention than they did in the hometowns. Although it will take about 5-6 years before reaching full-fledged geishahood and hundreds of hours of rigorous training these young girls leaves their families and friends to embark on a new future.

Kyoto Sights and Nights talks with one of Gion’s most senior shikomi (apprenticing maiko) and soon to be newest member of Kyoto’s hanamachi (geisha communities), sixteen year old Yoko Noma (Mao).

KSN: When did you decide to that you wanted to become a maiko (apprentice geisha) and when?

Yoko: Well, I studied traditional Japanese dance for ten years and the shamisen since childhood not to mention some ballet so I have some of the basic training required in the geisha world. I really didn’t like studying at school so it was during my 3rd year in junior high school that I told my parents that I had decided that I didn’t want to go to high school. My personality is not really suited to studying. I am more of a people person. I like performing in front of people. I really like the applause after a performance.

KSN: What did your parent’s think?

Yoko: They were not totally against it but wanted me to take some more time to think it over before committing myself for the next 6 years.

KSN: What did your friends think?

Yoko: My friends said that it would be impossible because of my western personality. I also like hip hop music and dance as well as the traditional Japanese. Even now after almost a year of training, they still ask me when I will be coming home for good.

KSN: Do you miss them?

Yoko: Yes, but I can still call them if I want. They are happy for me and said that will try to come to the Miyako Odori in the spring to see me. I hope they do so I can show them I really did it and was able to stick with it.

KSN: You will make your debut as a maiko very soon. What has been the most difficult part of the training?

Yoko: The most difficult thing to get used to was sleeping on a raised pillow so I would not mess up my ware shinobu (maiko style hair).

KSN: Anything else?

Yoko: Well now I study tea ceremony and a different style of dance (Inoue style) and have to speak Kyoto dialect. These things are all different and new for me.

KSN: Is there any rivalry between the shikomi?

Yoko: There is no real rivalry now. However I don’t really call the other girls “real” friends. We are all from different parts so they are just classmates.

KSN: Have you changed over the past year?

Yoko: Yes, because I felt like going home many times during the training but because I didn’t (go home) I think that I have become less selfish and have learned more discipline when trying to control my feelings and mouth. I now find myself listening to my elders more than before.

KSN: What does the future hold for you?

Yoko: Well, first of all I want to make my debut as a maiko and then work hard to become a successful geisha.

KSN: What about marriage?

Yoko: I am only 16 right now and really have not thought about the future but that is something I want to do. I don’t know when but it will have to be after I am satisfied with my accomplishments as a geiko (Kyoto word for geisha). Maybe when I am about 30. I really don’t know.

KSN: Thank you for your time and good luck with you training. I will be keeping an eye on your progression through the ranks.

Yoko: Ookini. Otanomoshimasu. (Thank you. I am looking forward to it)

[Handy Harry]

I went back to Japan after 21 years in March of 2002. I'd like to share my experience and pictures with you!


turbulent flight in - We experienced some major turbulence, the worst that I have ever been thru, towards the last hour of our flight into Japan but naturally since youre reading this....we made it ok.

Bidet - Got my first experience with the water spraying toilet. The first two times, I used the wrong one - the bidet which is intended for females, squirts a length pattern rather than a straight stream. Basically, I had a lot of drying off to do! I'm sure you females are rolling on the floor right now! The other button had a picture of a spray pattern of a fan so thats the reason why I didnt choose that one first, so for you guys heading to Japan, take note.

train ride/station/cramming-butt rubbing- I always thought to myself how inefficient we are in public transportation. You can take the train virtually anywhere and the trains are pretty much on time. Puts the San Francisco BARTsystem to shame! But the only draw back is that everyone uses it and as many of you have experienced - it sucks during rush hours! It sucks having some dudes ass rubbing up against you as the train bounces on the track. Besides feeling like youre in a sauna.

breakfast/food experience - well after all our ''gourmet'' airline food and checking into our hotel, we had to go hunt for some ''REAL'' food! I had a major craving for katsu (pork cutlet) so we headed down into the Diamond Chika under Y'hama station. The next morning, we awoke at an amazing 6am (yes, while on vacation!) showered up and headed back down to the ''chika'' and found a pastry shop with all the ''usual Japanese style'' pans like koroke, curry, corn portaju, potato au gratin and the likes. I did try all the above except for the corn. In fact, I ended up having the same for the next 2 mornings. All I can say is that I filled my craving (still can eat more) of katsu, curry and sushi!!!!!!

yokosuka – Y’suka was the 1st place we went to. Got off at the Chuo Station and walked it to the gate. We got there about 30 minutes early. Since all contact was done by email, I really didn’t know who was supposed to sponsor us onto base. I asked the guard and all he could tell me was to wait outside the gate. About 11am, a tall, caucasion, dressed in a suit walked up to us, looked at us, then proceeded back towards the gate but stood right at the entrance. I figured this has to be our sponsor so I walked up to him and asked if he was with the Public Affairs, which he was, and by golly….we were on our way on base! We had to fill out the visitors form and the female guard named off "Delta Memorial Hospital". I was like…..whaaaa? That hospital is where I live. Small world, she was born in the same city that I live in! So the sponsor led us up to the small hill facing the gate where the command buildings are and took us for a ride in the van! I was tingling all over as he drove down the hill on the opposite side where the Officers Club used to be. He took me thru the hospital area and exited right in front of the pool (sorry cant remember the name of it…Green something?) Then went down memory alley! First the bowling alley, then McDonalds (yes, there’s a McD’s where Hayaku Inn was about), the cafeteria, and Yohi! Nothing like what it used to be! Had to check out the football fields and Thew Gym! Then he took me around the rest of the base which was totally new to me…..bunch of Towers and new buildings. I guess they had a growth spurt and had to accommodate the increase in population by building more Towers. The other side of the base was pretty much the same. Fleet gym was replaced by a more modern building which is going to include more activities. A-33 building was still there but no longer in use but for storage. All I can say is "wow"!

kamakura - After Y'suka, we headed to Y'suka station (never realized that it was that far, almost as if it moved) and headed for Kamakura. All went smooth until after we saw the Buddah and headed towards one of the many temples....we apparently took the wrong turn and walked......and walked! We ended up at the Kamakura station(if youve been there, you know how far that is!). At the station, we found a mapboard and saw that the temple was 1.1km so we decided to walk....at the end of that distance, there was another sign that said another 1.1km! So what do you think? We looked at each other and said we came this far! By this time, my 5 year old boy says ''he's tired and cant walk anymore''. With 60 lbs on my back, we continued. Then....the last 1/4 mile or so was all uphill! So we saw the temple and headed back down. Towards the end of that street we saw a sign (somehow we missed on the way going) that said another temple 130m.......so what the heck......with my 60 lbs weight back on my back, we climbed.......the last half was all stairs!! Felt as if I was playing the part in the movie ''Rocky'' After a short rest, we made our way back to the station. After that point, the 8 or so temples on the other side of the station were nooo longer interesting....at least on this trip!

marie/hitomi/shibuya

On our second day, we headed out to Meguro to Hitomi (Peters) house. We met up with Marie Cochrane at the station and walked over to Hitomi & Steve's huge house. We chatted for awhile and Steve cooked us up an awesome bbq. After the food settled, Steve took me to an ATM so I could get some yen and apparrantly in the meantime, Hitomi brought out the yearboks. When we got back, we heard bunch of giggling...I'm sure you can imagine the situation! Afterwards, we all headed out to Shibuya/Harajuku.....In Shibuya, we crossed the crosswalk where probably hundreds try to cross all at the same time in every direction, amazing! We checked out KiddyLand, a 5 story (I think or maybe 6) toy store where I had to check out the Godzilla inventory, well my son did too!
condommania -amazingly this store in Shibuya is a major hit! This store was packed with customers!
disney sea – On our 3rd day, we headed out to Maihama where the Disneyland is. Had to take our son there but we decided to go to DisneySea which is their newest attraction. Unfortunately, we went there on a Sunday so all the rides had massive wait times. DisneySea is similar to "California" at the Disneyland in Anaheim. But much more marine oriented. There was a volcano roller coaster ride but had over 2 hour wait times….so we had to pass on that. But over in all, we had a great time! The train ride home was another story! My son fell asleep around 9:30pm and I had to carry him thru half the park and on the train. The trains were pretty busy and to my amazement, no one ever offered me a seat (unJapanlike) and had to carry him all the way to Y’hama station and up to our hotel.

Imperial Palace/Asakusa – On our 4th day, we ventured out to the Imperial Palace and as soon as we got there, we were asked to step aside…some VIP’s were formally escorted by horse carriages and police cars. Then we headed out to Asakusa….amazed myself making it out there without getting lost. Out of all the stations that I’ve visited, Asakusa was the only station with full English routes and fares. And probably the most "westerners" I’ve seen besides Y’suka.

y'hama stn – Yokohama station is no where near what I remember it as. I had to ask everytime for the first few days and I’m sure the employees were wonderering if I was illiterate asking stupid questions like how much to "so and so" station in Japanese. Oh well, at least I got to the final destination.

styles/dress/blondes/blue haired elders – there are so many styles…..blonde is definitely the hair color, with elders having blue or red hair due to using the wrong type since blue and red tones are in many colors. Females wearing mini-skirts and leather. School girls wear leg-warmers. The guys are anywhere from the baggy hip-hop to punkish with blonde hair being the color of choice. I joked around with people at my work about not having to worry about losing my wife in the crowd….the joke was on me!

bus ride to honmoku (MyCal), didnt recognize anything till I saw the hills and street configuration. KMS and surroundings is now a shopping mall called MyCal. The field above KMS is now a parking lot. Area 2 still looks similar with large houses and there’s still a park in the middle of Area 2. You would never know you were there unless you look at the configuration of the streets and hills.

bayview- a park now that runs all the way thru to Americazaka (fire station hill). I had to see it, and actually ran by myself from the top of the hill from KMS to Americazaka and back. What a view!

negishi-got a quick jaunt thru, pretty much the same except the P houses are gone. The P house that I lived in was all boarded up ready for leveling and the other two houses that I lived in are gone due to a landslide a few years back.

Motomachi/Isezakicho - Motomachi and Isezakicho is pretty much the same as I remember. The KFC at Motomachi is still there but across the street and the ''New Odeon'' is still there at Isezakicho. My aunt tells me that some of the anchor tenants left due to competing new shopping areas.

Overall, I had a dream-come-true experience, a trip that had me almost sleepless many nights for several weeks before our departure. It was very exhausting but worth every minute of it. Just wish I had more time but I feel that it was plenty for our first time. Now my wife and son know what to expect. My son is a Godzilla-maniac but on this trip, he also became an Ultraman-maniac too! The trip was pretty emotional for me, spent a lot of time reminiscing all the different spots and hangouts.

And now for the pictures below!!!!!!!!!

http://www.intensifi.biz/yohi%20Japan%20Visit.htm

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A primer for Japanese holidays

By THOMAS DILLON

If you're like me, the one thing you need at the end of a long run of holidays is . . . yet another holiday.
Thus, in Japan we have Coming of Age Day, which follows New Year's like a mint after a heavy meal. Ostensibly this day has been set aside to celebrate the passage of youth into adulthood, but the real celebrants are those folks in desperate need of just one more day as they slowly wean themselves back to work.

It occurs to me that other Japanese holidays could stand a bit of interpretation as well. It's one thing to have a day off. It's another thing to know why. And it is even one thing more to care. Yet, ready or not, here it comes: an inside peek at the real meanings behind Japanese national holidays.

New Year's (Jan. 1): This is the champion of all holidays in Japan, with most businesses shutting down from late December into the first week of January. During this time, most people do little more than lie around and eat. They consume "mikan," rice cakes, mikan and mikan, plus a variety of other festive foods, not to mention mikan. But the key word is "consume," a central concept for every Japanese holiday.

Coming of Age Day (second Monday of January): Another reason for this extra day of rest is so that young girls can get decked out in jazzy kimonos. This, in turn, is to satisfy the hungry camera bug that nests deep in the hearts of most Japanese. Venture out at your own risk; both kimonos and camera flashes can be blinding.

Foundation Day (Feb. 11): Foundation Day commemorates the ascending of the throne of the first Japanese emperor around 667 B.C. So this holiday is nothing but unadulterated Shinto -- which is probably not nearly as fun as adulterated Shinto. Regardless, most Japanese are not so devout, and usually save their enthusiasm for more secular events, such as sales of Valentine's Day chocolates.

Spring Equinox (March 23): The Japanese love equinoxes almost as much they love cemeteries, so they have combined these two passions into one wild holiday. Or rather two holidays. For on this day, people tidy up their family headstones so they can be all spic and span for the next equinox/cemetery day in September.

Green Day (April 29): This is also the birthday of the Emperor Showa, who was not green but rather gray, especially near the end. Green -- in Japanese, the borrowed English word can mean nature -- is so far the only color with its own holiday, though if the economy keeps sinking, red may soon follow.

Constitution Day (May 3): Constitution Day honors -- what else? -- the Japanese Constitution. The document itself may be somewhat controversial, but the day off is beloved by all. This day also marks the second of the Golden Week gauntlet of celebrations -- a string of free days that most people want protected more than the Constitution.

Citizens Day (May 4): Also known as "Between Day," this new holiday came about when the Diet finally noticed that lonely, little space between Constitution Day and Children's Day. The rest of the country is now waiting for the Diet to notice the 75 other lonely, little spaces that fall between Golden Week and the next holiday.

Children's Day (May 5): When you have kids, every day is Children's Day, but May 5 is especially famous for those high-flying banners of Japanese carp that designate the number of children in each household -- or, more traditionally, the number of boys. My own boys, incidentally, will implore me to go fly a kite no matter what the day.

Marine Day (July 20): On Marine Day, Japanese pay homage to that which upholds their island nation. No, not the U.S. Marines, the sea -- and its prodigious bounty. It's sort of "Take a Fish to Lunch Day." Just don't forget the scaler and the lemon.

Respect for the Aged Day (Sept. 15): Respect is cheap, and with so many old-timers now, that's about all Japan can afford. Also note how close this is to the cemetery day. Japanese are nothing if not subtle.

Fall Equinox (Sept. 23): This second equinox/cemetery day is known as "Shubun no Hi" in Japanese, while the first is "Shunbun no Hi." Confused? Perhaps the lawmakers were too, which could be why we ended up with two such holidays.

Sports Day (Oct. 10): Most people think Japanese worship sports 365 days a year, but -- nope -- this is the only official day, added to the calendar after the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Culture Day (Nov. 3): Japanese usually spend this day attending school festivals where they stuff themselves with hot dogs on sticks and chocolate-covered bananas. How cultural can you get? This day was also the birthday of the Emperor Meiji, a huge hot dog lover, I'm sure.

Labor Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 23): I have never experienced labor myself, but my wife did twice and seemed thankful only when it was done. Also, on this day I think everyone is supposed to thank me for laboring over these jokes.

The Emperor's Birthday (Dec. 23): Devoid of angels, wise men, shepherds and virgins, this less auspicious of the holiday births at least serves to usher in the Christmas/New Year's season, which means that, yes, once again it is time to eat mikan.

Naturally, Japan has a collection of folk holidays as well. Plus, the Diet has recently established the king of all oxymorons -- Happy Monday -- which yanks certain holidays out of their regular orbits and plants them on Mondays, creating a slate of three-day weekends.

Which shows just how bad we all need that "one more day."

To contact Thomas Dillon, send e-mail to marriedtojapan@yahoo.com

The Japan Times: Jan. 3, 2004
(C) All rights reserved

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Bit of Japanese Music ( Jupiter) (http://www.barks.co.jp/LJ/WatchIt?medium_id=52027064)

[Handy Harry]

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Frozen in time ... visitors walk in front of a large snow sculpture of the Greek Parthenon at the 55th annual snow festival in Sapporo, Japan. Photo: AFP

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TOTTORI
If it's got eight legs, eat it

By SETSUKO KAMIYA
Staff writer

TOTTORI -- Ever felt like traveling just to gratify your tastebuds? To Italy for real pizza, for example, or to India for authentic curry. Well, if your craving is for crustaceans, then you can look rather closer to home. Delicious snow crabs are now in season, and there's no better place to sample them than Tottori Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan coast in western Honshu.

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A lady labels crabs at Karo Port.

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Snow crabs get a different name according to where they are caught. In Niigata Prefecture they are called echizengani, while those landed in Tottori are known as matsubagani.

Tottori City is most famous for its immense sand dunes, which front the Sea of Japan, but this time of year, the kilometers of swept-up sand won't be what first catch your eye. Instead you'll be assailed from all directions by signs advertising matsubagani, on sale everywhere.

Karo Port in Tottori City is the best place to find the freshest of these small crustaceans, which are a type of spider crab with a white underside. Karo boasts the largest catch of matsubagani of any port in the prefecture. The season for matsubagani in Tottori and several other prefectures on the Sea of Japan coast began Nov. 6 and ends March 20. And the peak of that season? Right about now, says Kazuyoshi Murakami, the owner of Kaiyotei, a restaurant in the port.

"January to February is best, because the temperature of the sea water is around 5 to 6 degrees. That makes the crab meat firm," says Murakami.

Typical matsubagani dishes are simple. The flesh is eaten raw as sashimi and lightly seasoned with soy sauce, or served plain after being either boiled or grilled. Just a mouthful of matsubagani is all it takes to realize they don't really require seasoning of any sort: The meat is juicy and sweet. Some like to dip the boiled meat into some kanimiso (a sauce made from crab intestines); for others, matsubagani is a treat best washed down with a glass or more of sake.

If you're in need of a winter warmer, opt for kanisuki, a kind of crab and vegetable hot pot. And when you've picked out all the meaty treats from the pot, add cooked rice to the remaining crab and vegetable stock, stir in some eggs, and you've a tasty finale -- kanizosui (crab porridge).

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Wakasa Benten Shrine (above) and carp dishes at Restaurant Benten.

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If this leaves you feeling stuffed, walk it off with a brisk stroll round the fish market. There's no escape from the ubiquitous matsubagani, though: At Karoichi Market, which opened November 2002, freshly boiled matsubagani await. These are displayed unusually, stomach-up. "It's to stop the intestines from spilling out," a friendly shop clerk said.

Fisheries professionals can spot a good crab by just looking at its stomach, explained Yukio Amihama, chairman of the board of the fishermen's cooperation that runs Karoichi Market. "But it took me 20 years to tell," said the veteran fishermen of 45 years. Amateurs are advised merely to pick the heavy ones, because they have more meat, Amihama said.

Also keep an eye out for tagged crabs. A matsubagani with a shell larger than 11 cm in diameter is awarded a special label made of local Inshu-washi paper, on which is written the name of the fishing boat that caught it.

In Tokyo stores a single matsubagani sells for around 10,000 yen. They cost less in Tottori City, but the most affordable snow crabs are to be found at Karoichi, where prices start from around 2,000 yen. This is because the market opens directly after the auction at the port, Amihama said.

Doubtless those low prices are to thank for the more than 500,000 visitors who have come to Karoichi in the 15 months since it opened. And a speed-delivery service available at the market enables shoppers to send their bargain buys to family and friends across the country.

If you still haven't had your fill of crabs, take a peek at Tottori Karo Crab Aquarium located right next to the market. Known as Kanikkokan, this small aquarium, which opened last August, displays not only matsubagani and fish and marine life found locally, but also nearly 20 other species of crab from around the world. It's also a good place to brush up on your crustacean trivia.

Some of the questions addressed here are far from trivial, though. Visitors learn, for example, the reason behind the limited fishing season for matsubagani, and why only crabs of a certain size may be caught: It's an effort to preserve the crab population, threatened by overfishing. In the late 1960s, some 5,200 tons of crab were landed in Tottori alone; by 1991 that had dropped to just 300 tons. Careful management of crab stocks has seen that number ease back up to 1,120 tons in 2003. "Crabs are a natural resource," said Kanikkokan's manager, Noritatsu Miki. "That resource can dry up."

Fueling the decline in matsubagani numbers was competition between Japanese and Korean fishermen, an issue that has largely been settled following a 1999 agreement that Korean boats will stay out of Japanese waters, Miki added.

This overdose of matsubagani may leave even the most ardent fan feeling a little crabby. Luckily, there's plenty to do in and around Tottori that isn't crustacean connected.

Sticking close to the coast, a 20-minute drive from the port brings you to Tottori's most celebrated landmark, Hakuto Beach. This beach, which commands breathtaking views, derives its unusual name (meaning "white rabbit") from the Japanese myth that tells how a wounded white hare was saved by Okuninushi no Mikoto, the god enshrined at Izumo Taisha in neighboring Shimane Prefecture.

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The wily hare, so the story goes, fooled a shoal of sharks into letting him use them as stepping stones to the shore from a small island on which he was stranded. When the sharks discovered the hare's trickery, they turned on him and stripped off his skin. Okuninushi rescued the hare and told him to bathe in stream water and dust himself with pollen to heal his skin -- though not before roundly scolding him.

Hakuto Beach is said to be where Okuninushi rescued the hare, who is now enshrined at a shrine that fronts the beach. Today, the shrine draws visitors who pray for the healing of wounds and skin complaints.

Those with time might like to head further out of town. A short trip on the local Wakasa Railway takes visitors deep into the hills of the tranquil surrounding countryside. The train runs between Tottori and Wakasa stations every hour, the trip lasting about 50 minutes. The sleepy railway generally serves a mere 1,800 local commuters a day.

From the final station it's a pleasant walk through cedar forests up to . The mossy path to the shrine winds alongside a stream, and apart from the first Sunday of September, when the locals hold a festival dedicated to Benzaiten, the goddess of literature and the sciences, the shrine is blessed with quietness.

If hunger pangs assail you now that you've walked off the morning's indulgence in crab, why not try another local specialty -- carp. As Wakasa is inland, the fish of choice locally was river-dwelling carp. Though the tradition has faded, you can still try carp at Restaurant Benten, in front of Wakasa Station. As freshwater fish, carp provide almost odorless meat which is light and delicious. At Restaurant Benten they are served in various ways: raw, fried, simmered, grilled and in koikoku carp miso soup. Sampling this rare dish is the perfect way to end a gourmet trip to Tottori.

The Japan Times: Jan. 30, 2004
(C) All rights reserved

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[imaufo]

Jamie finds a very different side to Japan ... and it's quite a hidden treasure.


Watch the video*** (http://travel.ninemsn.com.au/getaway/factsheets/2004/4/factsheet1.asp#)


Mention of Japan conjures up images of the metropolis of Tokyo with its 12 million citizens crowding the streets. The neon city exudes energy and noise and is a place of unexpected experiences.

Seeking something a little different, Getaway took Jamie Durie on a Lost Japan Tour, travelling to one of the country's three hidden regions. The Iya Valley, 10 hours southwest of Tokyo on Shikoku Island, is a calm, green oasis for over-worked city dwellers.

The trickle of tourists who make it there love to cross the famed kazura-bashi (vine bridges) spanning its deep river gorges. The main bridge is 45 metres long, two metres wide and 15 metres above the river. It's very safe, though the faint-hearted or agoraphobic may be content to watch others take the walk!

http://travel.ninemsn.com.au/getaway/factsheets/2004/4/images/japan1.jpg


The bridges, which are replaced every three years, provided great protection during times of threat. Scouts would call from "yelling rocks" when enemies were approaching and the bridges were simply sliced away. Those yelling rocks are still there.

During the civil war of the 12th century, the Iya Valley was a safe haven for the Keike clan when they fled the rival Genji clan. Eight hundred years later, some Keike descendants still call it home.

The mountainsides are dotted with tiny rural hamlets where residents are bent on preserving traditional ways, despite economic pressures to move to the cities or take construction jobs.

A hot spring visit is a necessity, but there are strict rules which must be adhered to. Modesty is non-existent and partakers must be naked. You must also scrub yourself like crazy, as being spotlessly clean before entering the tub is an absolute must. Yukatas, or bathing kimonos, are worn for the post-wash meal, which might consist of fried and locally-grown lettuce, bean curd, mushrooms and chicken.

Another must-see is the Chiiori Project, a meticulous restoration of a 300-year-old farmhouse. Volunteers are encouraged to help with the work and are rewarded with the gentle experience of Japanese country life.

http://travel.ninemsn.com.au/getaway/factsheets/2004/4/images/japan2.jpg


Yuki, the in-house caretaker, gave up a law career to manage the house. His duties including planting crops, roof thatching and co-ordinating tasks for volunteers.

A visit to the Korakuen Garden in Okayama City is an awe-inspiring experience. One of Japan's three most-famous gardens, it was completed in 1700 after 14 years of work. It is 133,000 square metres of garden glory, opened for public visits in 1884.

Careful planning gives the garden a totally different look with each season. Stepping stones and pathways take you meandering at your own pace through the surrounding beauty.

http://travel.ninemsn.com.au/getaway/factsheets/2004/4/images/japan3.jpg


Another architectural wonder is Japan's most splendid and acclaimed castle, Himeji-jô. Built in 1580 and enlarged 30 years later, it is known as Shirasagi, the white egret, as it has a stately form reminiscent of that bird. It has one of the world's most comprehensive castle layouts and has changed hands from lord to lord no less than 48 times. Sadly, when the wife of Himeji, the builder, pointed out a not-quite-straight turret the day construction was completed, his shame drove him to suicide.

Guesthouses, or ryokans, are reasonably priced and offer the authentic way of Japanese life, complete with tatami mats, futons and other customs.



Location

The island of Shikoku


Cost

Intrepid Travel's Lost Japan 14-day tours from Tokyo to Kyoto cost $3490 per person. Some accommodation, most entry fees, some meals and some activities are included.

Qantas flies daily to Tokyo, starting at $1978 from Darwin, $2130 from Perth, $2133 from Melbourne and Brisbane, $2149 from Sydney and $2166 from Adelaide, per person. Prices include charges/taxes and are current at time of writing, but may vary at time of booking.
Please note prices are valid at time of filming.



http://travel.ninemsn.com.au/getaway/factsheets/2003/40/images/kyoto1.jpg

[imaufo]

March 20, 2004


http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2004/03/19/stuart_ridley,0.jpg

The editor of Gaijin! magazine, Stuart Ridley, in his Redfern office.
Picture: Ben Rushton



To be truly cool you have to have partied near Mount Fuji. Picture 8000 young Japanese in a field within sight of that snowy horn. Think of robots and light shows. Imagine geometric sculptures - pyramids within pyramids - which, spinning in unison, suggest infinity. Then add trance music.

Stuart Ridley has done it.

Two years ago, he boarded the 4.30am train from Tokyo for an equinox party near Mount Fuji and hasn't looked back.

http://www.gaijinmag.com/

Now, as editor of the newly launched Australian magazine, Gaijin! (the Japanese word for foreigner), Ridley is at the commercial edge of "Cool Japan", a movement that has Australian popular culture in its grip.

You can see it on the streets, on television, in bookstores, toy stores, electronics shops, fashion boutiques and at the movies.

And yet it is discreet. If you know about it, then you're cooler than you thought. If you didn't, it's because the trend has not had the McJapan treatment. That alone is a plus, say those tracking it.

Gaijin! is an example of the way it works. The magazine's launch was low on fanfare, with the word going out first at Animania, a convention of anime (the Japanese term for animation) hosted last year at the University of NSW involving anime clubs from universities throughout the state.

"It is like stealth publishing," says Ridley of the marketing strategy.

"Let people discover it and then, by discovery, they evangelise it."

The first issue of Gaijin! sold 10,000 copies in the first two weeks, exciting advertisers anxious to catch the 18 to 21 age group. A breakdown of the magazine's readership illustrates what's behind the trend; about one-third of the readers are Asian students who are studying in Australia or have moved here with their parents, and the rest just want to be on top of Asian trends.

"They see anime as cooler than anything Disney produces," Ridley says.


If you know about it, then you're cooler than you thought.

"They see the Asian influence in films, particularly cult movies like Kill Bill, is loads cooler than what's coming out of Hollywood. They see the clothes, particularly from independent designers but also the massive streetwear designers like A Bathing Ape (which can be seen in Chinatown streetware shops), is cooler than the American and European brands. And then in dance music, there is a huge influence from India and Japan."

Cool Japan is more than a vibe. The retail market in Japanese DVDs - mostly anime games and movies - is estimated to be $40 million in Australia, according to the founder of the Madman/AV Channel Group, Tim Anderson.

His Melbourne-based company, started eight years ago, has a catalogue of 700 Japanese DVDs and videos. It supplies 95 per cent of the Japanese DVD market in Australia and is about to branch into magazine distribution with English language manga comics. Through a subsidiary, Eastern Eye Asian Cinema, it controls the rights to film classics including Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai.

Such is the demand for more, Anderson has struck a 10-film distribution contract with Japan's biggest animation house, Studio Ghibli, whose most successful international film, Spirited Away, won an Academy Award last year. Anderson thinks that the adult themes tackled in Japanese animation is responsible for wider interest, particularly among 15 to 25-year-old males.

"There is starting to be a shift in perception with films like Spirited Away, and even to an extent Finding Nemo and Toy Story, but I think we've still got a reasonable way to go before we are like Japan where animation is widely accepted and where people of all audiences and all ages read comic books and watch cartoons," Anderson says.

The wider audience for anime has had a ripple effect in other places. Graphic designers and fashion labels were among the first to take up the strong colours, intricate detail and sharp definition. And there were immediate spin-offs for the toy industry.

Australia's oldest hobby store, the Sydney-based HobbyCo, has had success with sales of Japanese robot figures - called Gundam - since signing an exclusive distribution agreement with the Japanese manufacturers last year.

Norman Mak, co-owner of Hobby Japan Box Hill - which sells Japanese animation-related merchandise - has seen a shift in consumer patterns since the store opened 10 years ago.

"Then we served as a cult market. Until the last three or four years, Japanese animation was always a cult thing - then it got a lot more exposure and it's become a much bigger thing," he says.

"It's still partly a cult thing, but in the past only Asian kids grew up with this stuff, but now European kids are, too."

Anime appeals to a broad spectrum of consumers, Mak says.

"Cartoons used to mean things like Disney but Japanese cartoons cater for a broader market - there can be violence, there are adult markets. And look at the mainstream market of the cartoon network; you'll find Japanese animation like Dragon Boy and Pokemon dominates the cartoon channel."

Craig Norris, who has recently completed a doctorate in the globalisation of Japanese popular culture at Monash University, says anime and manga is increasingly being adopted by a young Anglo-Australian audience keen to be seen as cutting-edge.

"They want to place themselves on the cusp of Japanese consumer culture, and they gain cultural capital in then communicating that to their friends," Norris says.

"In the same way a magazine like Gaijin! will be popular with Asian Australians because it is a recognition of their culture as important as anything coming out of the West."

Another place where the temperature has risen in response to Cool Japan is the Japanese-owned Sydney bookshop, Kinokuniya. There is a buzz to the store's atmosphere - especially at lunch time in the manga and magazine sections - that makes it feel like a club.

While the Natsume Soseki humorous novel, I am a Cat, is one of the shop's best-selling books, the favoured choice of most Australian readers dipping into Japanese literature is the vast 11th-century novel, Tale of Genji. Manager David Hayden, who is Irish, says that it is like Japanese tourists to Ireland wanting to read Ulysses.

Dramatic things have also happened at the Cartoon Gallery in Sydney's Imperial Arcade, which sells Japanese anime DVDs, books in English on how to draw anime and collectable film cells from animated movies and cartoons.

When he started the gallery in 1991, Michael Heins was selling Disney, Warner Bros, Hanna Barbera, and Twentieth Century Fox. Today it is almost 100 per cent Japanese.

He attributes part of the reason to changes in television, with children now watching Dragon Ball GT, Yu Gi Oh!, Pokemon, Digimon, Hamtaro, Sailor Moon, among other Japanese cartoons.

But it is also significant that children - particularly boys - don't seem to grow out of anime. They keep watching it at least into their 20s.

Reflecting on the TV habits of his two young sons, he says that it's the Japanese cartoons they enjoy the most.

"When they get older and start getting a bit nostalgic about the stuff they watched in childhood - the pop culture stuff - I've got a feeling that their nostalgia is not going to be Western-based at all. It's going to be largely Japanese-based.

"To them it doesn't matter whether it is Hungarian or Hawaiian, but they are watching it because they like it and it's a coincidence that everything they are watching comes from Japan. I haven't seen the Mickey Mouse clubs for a long time."



This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/19/1079199422887.html

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Royal family ... Japan's Emperor Akihito (bottom left) leads his imperial family with Empress Michiko (bottom right) to greet guests at a garden party at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo. Photo: Reuters

[imaufo]

Hokusai Katsushika (1760-1849)


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Hokusai was born in the autumn of 1760 at Honjo Warigesui, in Katsushika of Shimosa Province, very close to old Edo, now Katsushika ward of the city of Tokyo. In later years, Hokusai called himself "the farmer of Katsushika" and often used Katsushika in place of his family name.


http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/ukiyoe/fuji10.gif


Details surrounding his earliest years are uncertain; it is thought that his family name was Kawamura at birth, and that he was adopted when he was four or five by Nakajima Ise (possibly his natural father), a mirror polisher working for the Tokugawa Shogunate. He was first given the personal name of Tokitaro, but at the age of ten this was changed to Tetsuzo. Even at that age he was learning woodblock carving. He was soon apprenticed to a book-lending shop, and continued his study of painting and drawing from the picture books he found in the shop.

At the age of nineteen, he was enrolled in the school of Katsukawa Shunsho, one of the leading woodblock artisans of the time, who specialized in portraits of popular actors. At this time, he was given the nom de brosse of Shunro. While using this name he was mainly engaged in doing book covers and actor portraits.

After the death of Shunsho, the Katsukawa school (perhaps studio is the more apt word) head, in 1792, Hokusai left the establishment because of a disagreement with the master's successor, Shunko. This was a major turning point in his life.

http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/ukiyoe/fuji9.gif

Though reduced to poverty, he continued his studies, concentrating on the techniques of the schools of Kano Yusen, Tsutsumi Torin, and Sumiyoshi Naiki. He was also greatly interested in the examples of Western art that filtered into Japan through the Dutch trading establishment in Nagasaki. He frequently changed his artistic name, in fact, more than thirty times in his career, and we find the names Shunro, Sori, and finally Hokusai.

After a long search for this true métier, he settled on landscape painting around 1798, apparently much inspired by engravings brought in by the Dutch. It was at this time that he gave the name Sori to his most promising pupil and took for himself the name of Hokusai. From this point in middle age, he avidly observed and sketched everything in the world about him, publishing the results, starting in 1814, in a series known as the Hokusai Manga (sketchbooks). During his lifetime, the series ran to twelve volumes.

http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/ukiyoe/fujioffk_tiny.gif

From about 1823 to 1831, he was engaged in creating and publishing the epoch-making series of woodblock prints known as The Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. These became masterpieces in the history of Japanese landscape pictures, and were considered to be most typical of this style of pictorial representation.

http://www.mikegerhardt.com/static/hokusai/images/hokusai_07.jpg

This series was accomplished when Hokusai was between the age of 64 and 72 and shows proof of his remarkable energy during his advanced years. He was then doing his best work, and during this period one can see the changes in his style from the earlier pictures through the latter ones in the series. He was at the height of his creative powers during this period, and in addition to The Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, he also put out such masterpieces as the series Chie no Umi (One Thousand Seas, 1826), Shokoku Taki Meguri (Journey to the Waterfalls, 1883), and Ryukyu Hakkei (Eight Views of the Ryukyus, 1829). We can't help but be surprised at his energy as shown in these works.


http://www.mikegerhardt.com/static/hokusai/images/hokusai_05.jpg


Even after reaching the age of eighty, he was busy producing many fine prints. He often expressed his desire to live beyond the age of ninety, and just before he died on April 18, 1849 at the age of 89, he sighed and said his last words: "If heaven gives me ten more years,", paused, then continued, "or an extension of even five years, I shall surely become a true artist."

Sometimes calling himself "the mad painter", he was an eccentric man with a limited vision. He changed his dwelling place 93 times during his live, and turned out around 30.000 works of art before his death.



http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/ukiyoe/fuji7.gif

gallery (http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/ukiyoe/hokusai.html)

gallery 2 (http://www.artchive.com/artchive/H/hokusai/grt_wave.jpg.html)

[Handy Harry]

Sometimes the journey is the destination. This can certainly be the case for the Tokyo Subway.

Covering one of the biggest metropoles in the world, it is probably the most effective way of transportation in Tokyo's urban area. And even for a foreigner it is surprisingly easy to find your way around - also if your knowledge of Japanese is non-existant. Actually it can become a challenge to find your way around and arrive in the right place!

At first when you have a look at the map of the subway system you are definitely overwhelmed by all the lines and stations, especially if you happen to see the map in Japanese. It all looks like a huge bowl of noodles of different colours. But then, with the help of an English map, you start to recognize lines and colours. Afte some time you are able to locate your position and decide where ou have to go and how to go there.


The Japanese have sought to make using the subway easy and straightforward in many ways. It starts with the vending machines where you have to deposit sufficient coins, press the right button (among many possible buttons!) and get your ticket and your change. A person on the display of the machine even bows to thank you! Waiting times for the trains are never long and inside the more modern ones you find electronic displays which show you exactly which station you are, also in English, so you can't get wrong.

[Handy Harry]

http://traveladventures.xs4all.nl/continents/asia/images/sapporodome04mini.jpg

From a distance, it is impossible not to see the Sapporo Dome, a huge, grey, metallic and round building in the outskirts of the city. It claims to be unique in the world because it can actually change the sportsfield inside. Thus, it is possible to shift from baseball to soccer and back to baseball. Matches are always held inside. When I visited, the baseball field was inside and the soccer field outside.


http://traveladventures.xs4all.nl/continents/asia/images/sapporodome06mini.jpg

As you get nearer the Dome, you gradually understand the enormousness of the complex. It also looks very futuristic. And when you finally arrive at the entrance, you are completely dwarfed by it. Once inside, you can walk around to see the field, admire this piece of architecture, and wonder how the fields will be shifted. It is also possible to get up to the roof by escalator. From here, you get a truly impressive view of the stadium.


http://traveladventures.xs4all.nl/continents/asia/images/sapporodome05mini.jpg


Once outside, you can visit a botanical garden, and a small park where some pieces of art are on display. And when you reach the other side ot the soccer field, you see that the shape is how you would imagine a flying saucer to be. It is here, while relaxing in the sun, that I met a very friendly Japanese family with a small daughter who even gave me some sweets. It reminded me that, while the Dome is another product of high-tech Japan, the Japanese remain a friendly people.

Visited: June 2001


http://www.traveladventures.org/continents/asia/sapporodome.shtml




http://traveladventures.xs4all.nl/continents/asia/images/sapporodome04.jpg

[imaufo]

Hi all

I have just returned from two and a half weeks in Asia, more specifically Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Was able to visit the racetracks in all these places.

I was in Japan for the Japan Cup on the 26th of November. Fuchu is a large elaborate racecourse. Somewhat similar to a Flemington or a Randwick. The races were run on both dirt and turf.

The main event, the Japan Cup, as you all would know by now, take out by the local hope T M Opera O. This was quite a good win, as he travelled 3 deep for the journey. In a tight finish, the minor placings went to another Japanese runner, Meshi Doto and the Frankie Dettori ridden, Fantastic Light.

The winner paid 150 Yen for the minimum 100 Yen investment, prevailing odds of 2/1 ON. This was incredibly short, i am led to beleive he started somewhere around 2/1 against on most totes over here.

Betting at Fuchu, as with all the tracks i visited is through the on course tote. One particular difference i noticed was that the punters at the track have to fill out tickets as we would in TAB agencies, where as on course home here we simply call our bets to the on course operator.

Another difference with betting is that it closes for each race as the tune is played for the horses to begin moving into the gates.

The parade ring at Fuchu is out the back of the course similar to that at Mooney Valley, and it is nearly impossible to get a seat around the ring, of which i would estimate there is a thousand odd seats.

This was about all to report from JAPAN, follow on to part 2 for HONG KONG

Todd B

[imaufo]

JAPAN LITE

Want to be royalty? Try a home stay

By AMY CHAVEZ

When it comes to hospitality, the Japanese are champions. In Japan, hospitality is like an Olympic sport and requires rigorous cross training in fields such as politeness, modesty, unconditional giving and overall self-sacrifice.

There is no better display of this hospitality than in the Japanese home stay, which it appears that most Japanese people have taken a college course in.

If you're a "gaijin," by all means arrange a home stay for yourself in Japan, because it is the closest thing you'll ever get to royalty in your life. You'll be waited on, fussed over, given the best seat at the table, the most delicious selection of food and the biggest portion.

You'll be the first into the bath at night, even before the father, and your every request, no matter how big, will be painstakingly attended to. This is because the houseguest is all important. In the case of a house fire, the Japanese would get the guests out first, then jump into the fire themselves.

When I first came to Japan, I came as a college student on a one-month tour of Japan. We each had two home stays, a weekend stay and a four-day stay. Here are just a few of the "incredible home stay stories" that were told among our group.

One girl said that when she arrived at her host family's house, her host brother was videotaping her as soon as she walked through the door. The videotaping never stopped throughout her stay. He videotaped her eating meals and sightseeing, and with every person she met along the way.

It was quite embarrassing for her, as she could never let down her guard. But her host family insisted the video was for "good memory of home stay." At the end of the weekend, not only did they give her the videotape, but they sent it to her home in the U.S. by express mail so it wouldn't take up space in her suitcase.

Another girl was enjoying her stay at her host family's house when suddenly the doorbell rang. When the host mother opened the door, there was a delivery man standing there holding a fancy square box with handles. The box had a plastic window, so she could see what was inside: a melon with a ribbon tied around the stem. The delivery man, wearing white gloves, very carefully extracted the melon from the box. The whole family oohed and ahed at the sight of this exquisite, um, melon. "Such absurd behavior!" thought the home-stay girl.

What could possibly be so awe-inspiring about a melon dressed up like a poodle? It was only later that she found out that in her honor, as a special treat, the family had ordered this Yubari melon, one of the highest-quality melons in Japan, with a cost of over 10,000 yen.

Perhaps one of the best stories that shows the Japanese concern for the guest is my own. I arrived at my host family's house with a cold. No big deal, just a common head cold. But my home-stay family was so worried about my health, they filled me up with cold medicine, and that night put me in a futon in the tatami mat room. Unbeknownst to me, they had closed the storm windows around my room so I wouldn't be awakened by the slightest morning light.

As you can imagine, it was the longest night of my life -- waking up every six hours or so thinking, "It's not morning yet?" When I finally got up and went out to the living room, the family was all eating dinner. "What's going on?" I asked, still shaking off the effects of the cold medicine. "We wanted to make sure you got enough rest," they said. I had slept the entire weekend!

Get "Amy's Guidebook to Japan: What the Other Guidebooks Won't Tell You" at the One Dollar Bookstore at the Web site www.mooooshop.com/ MooooBooks/order/index.htm

The Japan Times: Sept. 11, 2004

(C) All rights reserved



Second Edition with over 20 updated links!



Amy Chavez offers a candid glimpse into Japanese society rarely captured in other books or media. With over a decade of experience living in Japan, the author humors you through getting to know Japan through her commentary, cultural tips (called "Sword Tips"), and Japanese language quips (called "Sparring Japanese"), to make learning about Japan as fun as possible.

A collection of over 100 columns that have run in The Japan Times paired with over 200 links to the best websites on Japan (from the educational to the bizarre), this book is a vast resource of information.


After reading this book you'll know how to:


Order "spaghetti hold the seaweed" :confused:

Ask someone to arrange a marriage for you :rolleyes:

Sumo wrestle with your TV :)

Draw a Samurai sword :eek:

And most importantly, how to use a Japanese-style toilet :o

Chavez offers an entire chapter on off-beat, free things to do such as attending Shinto fertility festivals and visiting the Parasite Museum. Many of these activities can be done from your own home by simply following the world wide web links provided. It's fun--it's interactive!

Ever thought about getting a job in Japan? A special section on teaching in Japan tells you what jobs are available, how to get them, and how much money you'll make. In short, all the things you need to know, told by someone who has done it herself.

http://www.mooooshop.com/images/GTJ_bookcover%5B1%5D_sml.jpg

[imaufo]

Japan's high-tech tourist trap

By Deborah Cameron in Tokyo

February 26, 2005

Get your passport stamped, collect your suitcase and snap up the new incentive to visit Japan - a free personal digital assistant.

Pre-programmed with maps, a navigation system, an electronic tour guide, language help and doubling as a telephone, the devices are being lent to tourists arriving in Tokyo until the end of next month. Last year the city of Kyoto gave out mobile phones.

The scheme is part of a drive to lure foreign tourists and ignite a sector that is surprisingly dormant for a country that sends out millions of travellers to see the rest of the world each year.

The personal digital assistant giveaway is unique, says the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and could become permanent if the trial is a success with telecommunications firms. (Tourists can apply for one by emailing e-navi@e-airport.jp)

In the competitive world of international tourism, the devices are just one trick in a new campaign called Yokoso! Japan, translated as Welcome Japan, devised to correct one of the more glaring imbalances in the country's trade performance.

Compared with the 16 million Japanese tourists who go abroad each year, only 5 million visitors arrive. Tourism industry analysts point to the imbalance as a problem, particularly for airlines.

Two years ago the Government called a cabinet-level meeting about the shortage of tourist arrivals. Last year it allocated ¥5.2 billion ($63 million) over two years to a secretariat that is charged with fixing the problem. And it set an ambitious target to double the number of arrivals by 2010.

The campaign has been greeted favourably everywhere including Australia, which last year had about 700,000 tourists from Japan.

"The more that people travel in either direction the better," said Brian Boote, strategic marketing manager Japan and Asia of Tourism Australia. "It bodes well for all destinations and we think that it has great potential to increase airline capacity."

Japan's international tourism campaign gives a telling insight into the country's broader economic troubles. It has a severe trade imbalance with several of its main trading partners and domestic consumption is slow as cautious consumers keep their money in the bank.

Figures last week showed that the economy had slipped into recession last year, technically at least. And while economists and the Government say that the situation is improving, the tourist industry has been told to do more.

The public relations director at the Hakuba 47 ski resort, Kanako Yamamoto, was optimistic about international tourist arrivals to Japan.

She said that the resort near Nagano, site of the 1998 Winter Olympics, received 20,000 international travellers a year.

It was 10 per cent of the resort's business, the biggest sources being Taiwan and South Korea.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Japans-hightech-tourist-trap/2005/02/25/1109180112024.html

[imaufo]

Snow and sashimi

Japan has many popular ski resorts, but Niseko is white-hot and jumping, writes Tam Leach

September 24, 2005

DURING the past few years, Australians have discovered one of the best ski resorts on the planet: Niseko, tucked away on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. This snow-smothered northern island is where the white stuff seldom stops falling and teepees are built around smaller trees and shrubs to protect them from the sheer weight of snow.


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The powder is simply there for the taking, right off the lift, pillow after pillow of the most forgiving, bottomless, feather-light flakes. The slopes are graced with views of Mt Yokei volcano, the locals are unswervingly polite, the bars and restaurants glow with mellow style and the prices are surprisingly affordable.

Naturally, the Japanese were here first, and still comprise nine out of 10 visitors. Yet even in Japan, Niseko is a rank outsider. Of the 400-plus ski resorts in the country – many born in the 1980s financial boom when skiing was high fashion – those of Nagano prefecture, in the Japanese Alps, are far more popular. Revealed to the world during the 1994 Winter Olympics, these bustling slopes serve the urban centres of south-central Japan.

Just a couple of hours from Tokyo by shinkansen (bullet train), it's in Nagano that some of the wackier aspects of skiing in Japan flourish: a McDonald's perched halfway up the slopes, music piped out across the pistes, hordes of Japanese decked out in the latest snowboard gear, politely lining up to throw themselves offjumps.


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But though cute in their own way, and with respectable snow at times, Nagano resorts are not a patch on Niseko. In Nagano, off-piste is strictly off-limits, and it's off-piste that has pushed Niseko into the limelight. That, and the almost constant supply of fresh powder.

Our group finds the volcanic pistes a little too tame for their tastes. Mellow and rarely icy, Niseko's groomed slopes are perfect for intermediates who like to cruise but don't come close to the sheer faces of the alps.

However, once we scoot just off the marked runs and duck into the silvery, spectral trees, we find ourselves in a glade-skiing wonderland, taking endless runs of untracked, bottomless fluff. With years of hiking and heli-skiing experience among us, this is effortless, abundant off-piste on a whole new level.

We have the trees almost to ourselves. Japanese skiers keep resolutely to the pistes. Popular lore decrees this is so spirits who live in the woods remain undisturbed though, in truth, most Japanese youths don't keep abreast of the spirit world. Expats who run guide services in the area claim inexperience among ski patrols is a prime factor. Regardless, it means that the powder remains untouched. For now, at least. As more shots of Hokkaido's powder make it into the ski and boarding magazines, Niseko's reputation is rapidly growing.

It's not just expert skiers hungry for off-piste who are making the trip these days. For Australians, Niseko is closer than the Swiss Alps or the Rockies, has more consistent snow, and the time difference is minimal. And as long as precipitous black slopes are not your deal, it's a resort for all abilities. With 38 lifts and five linked ski areas, there's plenty to keep beginners and intermediates busy. Most of the mountain is lit at night, and lifts are open from 8.30am-9pm. Lessons with native English speakers are available from locally based Australian tour operators and guide services, who also run day trips to less-developed ski resorts in the region.

Back-country expeditions are another option, with guided cat-skiing offered at the stupendously low price of $37 a session. A resort doesn't make superlative status just on its skiing. We have come to Niseko for the snow, but are bowled over by the apres-ski. No dancing on tables in ski boots or Europop here: at the base of the mountain, the cosy village of Niseko Hirafu is dotted with funky little places to eat and drink, all discreetly tucked down quiet, pretty lanes. With the ocean close by (the resort sits practically at sea level, rising in elevation to more than 300m), there is delicious fresh seafood and sushi.

We dine on Asian-fusion dishes in the Mongolian tent of the Genten Cafe and sit cross-legged on tatami mats in a private dining room at Maru. Lunch is a huge bowl of ramen or soba noodles from one of the on-mountain cafes, costing $13; splashing out means spending more than $25. The preconception that Japan is unaffordable is long out of date.

Exhausted from days on the mountain, we occasionally drag ourselves on to expat-heavy Happy's, a converted truck from which beer is served. Hot buttered rum and puds are on the menu at Gyu, a bar with hay-stuffed walls and an old fridge door serving as the entrance; under Yummy's pretty pizza parlour is a white-washed cavern-like DJ bar that would look quite at home in New York.

Should visitors tire of the village, the karaoke bars, pachinko halls (full of deafening Japanese-style fruit machines) and giant supermarkets of the curious railroad town of Kutchan are a 20-minute free bus ride away.

But most nights, making it to one of Niseko's peaceful onsen (hot springs) is all the entertainment we can handle. Onsen are gender segregated and beautifully appointed, sheltered from prying eyes by tall fences. Lying under the stars, steam floating off the silvery pool, feeling like an elephant among naked water nymphs – this is activity enough.

Besides, our beds are calling. A handful of large luxury hotels crowd the base of the slopes, but the heart of Niseko lies in the many inexpensive minshuku (family-run guest-houses). Some are stylish, like low-key boutique hotels. Increasingly, new luxury chalets are available to rent; it seems crazy, though, to pass up the opportunity to stay with Japanese hosts. All those we meet seem to dedicate their existence to improving the lot of their guests, emissaries of Japanese culture with beaming smiles and impressive culinary skills.

Niseko is changing as expatriates establish bars and restaurants, and apartments spring up. Right now, the development is in keeping with the atmosphere: a fusion of stylish, elegant Japan and sunny, easy-going Australia. But as the package tourists descend, Niseko will lose some of its charm. And, as for that powder, it won't stay untracked forever.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16691888%255E33975,00.html