Japan Penguin

Getting Physical

2011-06-29T09:12:00.000-07:00

I’ve been uncomfortable in the teacher’s room before as one of the teachers berates a student for something. Normally it involves some yelling and a kid nearly in tears. Today took things to a new level. I have no idea what was going on, but one of my 8^th grade boys came in and was talking to his homeroom teacher (who yelled at him last week. During that conversation I caught the word “lazy” several times). I left the room and when I came back the two of them were talking to the head teacher. Then the P.E. Teacher, who is also linked to the 8^th grade class got involved. I’ve never seen him so angry.

I was sitting at my desk, desperately trying to distract myself from the spectacle before me. The boy already looked on the verge of tears and I really thought he was going to lose it once the P.E. teacher went off on him. He yelled loudly at him, which any other student walking by the teacher’s room could have heard, and then he pushed him. I was convinced I hadn’t seen that at first. I thought maybe he had just backed up because it was an intense situation. But then he pushed him again. And a third time.

I understand that there are some kids who need the fear of god put into them by someone in order for them to straighten out. But this boy is not that type. He’s a shy, quiet boy. I can’t imagine anything he could have done that excused that kind of behavior.

I know that my reaction to this is greatly colored by my own culture and that it isn’t my place to judge. But it made me incredibly uncomfortable and it was really hard for me to just sit there and not do anything about it. I’ve wanted to go hug kids after they have been berated by teachers, but this was a lot more than that. He did not hurt the student. The pushes were forceful and serious, but only enough to make him take a step back. He bumped into one of the desks and knocked some things over, but that was the worst of it. Still, the idea of a teacher laying a hand on a student who didn’t seem to have it coming really bothered me. I’m almost afraid to ask what he was being yelled at for. I’m not sure if they will even tell me as it could be a private matter.

I’ve only seen a teacher get physical with a student one other time. In my first year here I went with the Japanese teacher up to the 9^th grade classroom for lunch. She asked one of the boys to go downstairs and get my lunch. The boy made a big deal about it and threw out his arms and yelled “Shit!” The teacher, who was one of the nicest ladies I have ever met, promptly smacked him in the head and told him off for such inappropriate behavior. The student calmed down and went and got my lunch. Later, when we were brushing our teeth in the teacher’s room the Japanese teacher told the art teacher about what had happened. She was really embarrassed by the whole thing, mostly because it had happened in front of me. She turned to me and smiled apologetically and said, “Amanda-sensei. Not every day.”

At the time I thought it was a great thing. He had totally deserved it and she had not struck him hard. Just enough to get his attention and let him know that he had crossed a line. But the student today didn’t seem to have done anything that required such a reaction. He wasn’t talking back or not paying attention. He already looked like he was going to cry, implying that he understood the seriousness of whatever was going on. But I have to trust that the teachers involved know the situation better than I do and try to put it out of my mind.

Fire Escape

2011-06-28T08:42:00.000-07:00

So I was sitting in the teacher’s room, chilling out between classes, when I noticed that all of the teachers were gathering just outside on the patio for some reason. I finally wandered over to see what all the fuss was about, and low and behold, I found this:

What’s that you might ask? Well, you probably shouldn’t if you read the title of this post… That’s right, it’s a fire escape! And it just so happened to be the time to test it. I got over there just in time to watch a couple of teacher’s come down it. This was pretty awesome, so I ran to my desk and grabbed my camera. A bunch of my kids were gathered on the second floor taking in the festivities.

Two of my third graders (ninth graders) got to come down it as well. Basically you sit at the edge of the hole and slide down to safety. They were really excited to try it out, despite the fact that the thing was pretty filthy.

I’d seen the fire escape from above a few times, but this was the first time I’d seen it in use. The hatch is located on the second floor balcony, which goes the entire length of the second floor and is accessible from any classroom there. This is what it looks like from above when not in use.

And here are the posted instructions on how to use it, complete with pictures.

It's pretty cool and we certainly didn't have anything like it at my junior high school!

Teachers don’t take sick days

2011-06-27T07:46:00.001-07:00

When I first got to Japan, we were all told that although our contracts granted us sick leave, it might be slightly difficult to use it. Two months went by before I needed my first sick day. I called the school, as I knew I was supposed to, as soon as I knew that I wasn’t going to make it in that day. They said they would inform the BOE for me. So I spent the day sick in bed, and the next I felt better and went back to school.

Later in the month, I noticed something strange on my attendance sheet. It’s a calendar like sheet that I stamp for everyday I’m at work. It’s located at my base school, so I only stamp it on Monday and then on Friday for the rest of the week. I had left the day I had been sick blank. Because I didn’t work that day. The problem was, when the Vice Principal was doing the records at the end of the month, he counted it as one of my vacation days.

I was unsure as to how this had happened, as I had told them I had been sick. If you miss three days or more in a row you have to get a doctor’s note. But one day doesn’t require any documentation. I asked my Japanese English Teacher about sick days and he wasn’t sure what I was talking about. Even when I said the Japanese word for sick day (byokunen) he still looked confused. He thought about it and told me that the principal and vice principal probably didn’t know what that was. He thought that maybe one teacher had taken it years ago, but only when he had had to stay overnight in the hospital.

So now I not only felt kinda bad for trying to take a type of leave that Japanese people apparently reserve for serious illness, but I didn’t know how to fix it. I emailed one of the program advisors and he was able to help walk me through how to fix it. He told me this type of problem was very common. Japanese teachers do not take sick days. They use their vacation days if they absolutely have to miss school.

Japanese teachers are so busy that they often are not able to use all of their vacation days. ALTs however, have nothing to do over the breaks, and need their vacation days to travel back home to visit family. When you consider that basically two days of every trip overseas can be chalked up to travel time, it all adds up. And our employers understand this. It’s the reason we even have sick days in the contract.

After I got it sorted out the first time, it hasn’t been a problem since. It’s just another interesting example of how the cultures differ.

I actually got sent home once from elementary school. I wasn’t feeling great, but I thought I was well enough to get through two classes. Apparently I looked like I was about to die. This seems to be the case whenever I am slightly under the weather. They took my temperature at the school. It was a tiny bit high, but not a fever. Fearing for the health of the children, I was asked to go home and “take a rest.”

Another interesting cultural difference is that every time I feel a little sick, one of my teachers offers to take me to the hospital. This always strikes me as odd, when I only have a little cold. Who goes to the hospital for a cold? Japanese people apparently. It seems to be the general standard that if you feel sick, you go to the doctor and get medicine. I hate hospitals and will avoid them at all costs. I avoid going to hospitals in Japan because I don’t like not understanding what’s going on.

The one time I did go to the hospital, I had been feeling bad for several days. My doctor who spoke a little English told me, “I don’t think you have Influenza. I think you have the common flu.” I’ll let that one sink in for a moment. I didn’t bother bringing up the fact that, as far as I was aware, InFLUenza was the common flu. I just nodded, assured in the fact that my doctor didn’t think I was going to die. He gave me medicine, including my first ever powdered medicine. That’s right, powder medicine. I was lucky I had seen my teachers take such medicine or I might have been confused on how to take it. You might think that it should be mixed with a drink. But no, my friend. You simply pour the powder into your mouth and then drink some water to wash it down.

A final note on Japanese hospitals. The word for hospital is byoin. The word for hair salon is biyoin. When I learned that I couldn’t help but imagine some foreign guy who had been shot hailing down a cab and desperately asking to go to the nearest hospital, only to be taken to get his hair done. Granted, I’m not sure how you would get shot in Japan, and I’m not sure how the cabbie would miss the fact that you were bleeding all over his seat, but you get the idea.

Rethinking Education

2011-06-26T07:51:00.001-07:00

I do not have a degree in education. The following is just my opinions based on some of my experience in the classroom.

Despite learning English from a very young age, most adults in Japan are completely unable to communicate in English. This could partially be explained by lack of practice, as surely people in rural Japan don’t have occasion to break out their English conversation skills often. But a far more likely explanation is that they simply did not learn it when they were being taught it in school. I’ve written before about how some students leave their tests almost entirely blank with no penalty. And since there is no penalty for failing it seems that a majority of students, who are simply not interested in English, never learn the material at all.

The Japanese government has seen these problems and is trying to change things. During my time in Japan, English education for elementary students in the fifth and sixth grade became mandatory. Many elementary schools already had some English lessons, but they were often only once a month and there was no set curriculum. Now they are every week and there is a textbook to work out of.

I will say now that we’ve seen some great improvement the past few years. The students are coming into junior high with a bit more confidence about English and are more familiar with how the language sounds. But there is a huge stumbling block as well.

Elementary English does not introduce writing at all. Reading is only really hinted at in the sixth grader’s alphabet lessons, but phonics isn’t covered. Only the letter names and shapes are introduced. Elementary English focuses on listening and speaking.

The biggest problem with this is that when the students come into junior high they are immediately bombarded with having to learn to write and spell. These are not easy tasks (I still struggle with spelling). And they have to master writing before they can move on to anything else.

On top of all of this, the speaking and listening skills they honed in elementary school are hardly used at all. Now the focus is on grammar points and memorizing new words. The focus is on the test (which has only one small listening section, and no speaking evaluation at all). So any confidence the students had is slowly drained away as they realize that English class is nothing like what they had before where we played fun communication games and there were no tests or grades at all. And so the students struggle. Some students do keep their enthusiasm, and some do take to the new lessons well. But the classroom moral starts to sink so that by their second year many are back to where we were prior to introducing elementary English lessons.

If Japan is serious about wanting to improve English education there need to be some changes. Junior high schools cannot teach the students the way they always have. The students are coming into junior high with much more English than before, but no changes have been made to accommodate them. Students must be given a chance to use their spoken communication skills in class more often. I’d like to believe that the reason speaking and listening are focused on in elementary school is because those are the skills the students are most likely to use in a real world situation (and not because they are easier).

While reading and writing are important too, the junior high curriculum should really encourage students to communicate verbally. Communicating doesn’t always mean being 100% correct on grammar. It means knowing enough about a target language to make your ideas known. Students should know that it’s okay to make mistakes when trying to communicate. All they really know is that making mistakes on tests is bad. So if they don’t know something they do not try. And when you don’t try, communication is impossible.

But until the test becomes less important than learning to communicate, things will not improve. Teachers will continue to teach English by having the students memorize the textbook. Teachers will continue to talk for 90% of English class. Teachers will continue to teach to the test. Students will continue to be unable to express their own ideas in English. It’s a bit of a sad state, and one that I really do hope improves.

School Lunch Week: The Wrap-up

2011-06-25T11:10:00.000-07:00

So we have reached the finale of School Lunch Week. I hope you’ve enjoyed all the pictures this week.

My biggest problem with school lunch is that everyone is expected to finish what they are served. And there are a lot of days, mostly of the rice variety, where that is a real struggle for me. Not being very hungry or being full isn’t really an acceptable excuse. Neither is not liking something. I get away with a lot more than my kids do, as I often just don’t take the dishes I don’t like, or can ask for a small portion when the food is being served (although it makes me feel like a bad example). But the kids not only have to finish their portion, but if there is any food left once everything has been served, someone in the class has to eat it. I admire the policy of not wasting food, but I’ve seen days where it’s a real struggle for the kids to get through everything.

At the end of the lunch period the students say, “Gochisosamadeshita.” This is also hard to translate, but is basically another way to say thank you for the meal, this time after the fact. After that the kids stack their dishes and clean off their lunch trays. The students in charge of lunch for the day take all of the empty containers and dishes back down to the school lunch room. They also take care of any trash from the bread and the milk cartons. Everyone folds their milk carton down so that they take up a bit less space in the trash.

After lunch the students brush their teeth, which is another example of school here reinforcing a good life habit that is seen more as a parental responsibility in America.

I should also mention that each school has a nutritionist who creates the menu for the school (or group of school in some cases). They make sure that the menu is balanced and gives the kids a good amount of calories that their growing bodies need.

Members of AKB48 on a poster at my schools

School Lunch Week: Fridays

2011-06-24T09:02:00.000-07:00

Friday is again a rice day. We often have curry on Fridays. I hope everyone enjoyed the pictures this week of my various lunches. I'll have some closing comments on school lunch tomorrow to close out School Lunch Week.

School Lunch Week: Thursdays

2011-06-23T08:03:00.000-07:00

I really like Thursdays, and not just because its yet another bread day. My usual Thursday school is a very small junior high school. The past few years we had about 45 students in the three grades. This year we only have 29. With the small size it has a very intimate atmosphere. And most weeks, on Thursdays, instead of eating in the separate classrooms, all of the students and teachers eat together in the hall (as in large meeting area and not hallway). It's really fun and just a great environment to enjoy lunch in.

Just like the packets of topping for rice, some days we get little packets of topping for our bread like jam, peanut butter, or chocolate cream. We get a pretty fun variety of breads as well.

School Lunch Week: Wednesdays

2011-06-22T08:32:00.000-07:00

Wednesday again is a rice day (except for that one random time we had nan). My favorite rice days are when we have curry, which usually happens on Friday and not Wednesday. I prefer the days where we get plain white rice. Sometimes we get rice with things already added, and sometimes we get a small packet of topping to put on our rice. The worst rice days are the ones where the rice comes laced with tiny fish. I don't like eating things with eyes, as I find it creepy. Also, they just don't taste very good.

School Lunch Week: Tuesdays

2011-06-21T07:26:00.000-07:00

Tuesdays are bread days at all my schools. I prefer bread days to rice days.

School Lunch Week: Mondays

2011-06-20T07:30:00.000-07:00

Mondays are rice days at all my schools. Here are some Monday lunches. Keep in mind that many of them are missing the side salad. I am a notoriously picky eater, and all the salads here seem to be either filled with pickles or coated with mayonnaise, neither of which I can stomach. I also will not eat whole fish, as I find food that can look at me creepy. I feel bad about it, as the students have to eat everything they are served, but my schools have all been fairly understanding about it.

School Lunch Week: The Preparation

2011-06-19T11:46:00.000-07:00

Since for a while my post about eating whale was the most popular post on the blog, I decided that people might be interested in what I have for school lunch in Japan. So whenever I remembered to, I took a picture of my lunch tray. And since I have so many pictures, and am trying to post every day this month, I decided I would dub this week School Lunch Week. Be excited!

Today I'll give a general overview of school lunch and then everyday this week I'll post some pictures of lunches that I ate on that day of the week.

In most elementary and junior high schools in Japan there is no cafeteria. The students eat in their classrooms. The students are responsible for all of the preparation for lunchtime. The exact details differ from school to school. At my smaller school where there are less than a dozen kids per class, all of the kids help with set up and serving every day. My larger school divides the students into groups for the different classroom responsibilities and they rotate between the different jobs, one being school lunch.

The students don little coats, caps, and masks and head down to the school lunch room. Lunch is prepared at the school lunch center and the brought to the school. Both of my school lunch centers are located next to the junior high schools, and they drive the food to the elementary school as well. At the lunch center they divide up the food for each class, based on the number of students in the class. The students come to the lunch room and are inspected by a teacher or other students to be sure they are wearing the proper things. A few times students have forgotten their masks, so they tape paper over their mouths, like a mask, so they won’t be breathing on the food. Then they collect all the food and dishes for the day and head back to class.

Meanwhile, a student wipes down all of the desks. Students usually move their desks into groups for lunch, but at my smaller school we make a circle out of the desks so everyone can eat together. If there is a flu outbreak going around, students may be asked to eat with their desks facing forward as they are for class, to try to prevent the germs from spreading. A few of my elementary classes also use this approach for the first and second graders, to keep them from being too distracted while they eat.

Every classroom has a lunch table that the students pull out and wipe down. This is where most of the serving is done. Exact procedures vary from classroom to classroom, but the students proceed to divvy up the food for every student. Many of my classes let one student serve each dish (one on rice, one on soup, one on salad) and the others take the trays, chopsticks, milk, straws, and plates of food to each desk. A few have the students line up with their trays and collect all of the different items assembly line style. It really depends on the class and the teacher.

My tiny little first graders have this on the board to help them remember where to place everything on the lunch tray.

Once everything has been served the kids all sit down and wait for the servers to take off and put away their aprons. Then everyone puts their hands together and says, “Itadakimasu,” together before we eat. Itadakimasu has no direct translation into English. It’s what you say before you eat and is basically a way of saying thank you for the food you are about to eat. This can be thanks to the people who prepared the food, or a more general thanks to god for providing the meal. It’s polite, and if you’ve learned anything about Japan from my blog it should be that politeness is very, very important.

If there is any extra food, due to a student being absent usually, there may be a mad dash to claim it. As with most disputes with children in Japan, if more than one person wants the extra milk or whatever it is the conflict is solved by janken, or rock paper scissors. This is also often also how the students decide where I will sit during lunchtime, with a member of each group competing for me.

The Curse of the Colonel

2011-06-18T12:13:00.000-07:00

This post really has nothing to do with anything, but I was reminded of it earlier and thought that it was interesting enough to share. Many people are familiar with the Curse of the Bambino, dooming the Red Sox after trading Babe Ruth. Well, sports superstitions exist here too.

Back in 1985 the Hanshin Tigers won their very first victory in the Japan Series, the much more accurately named Japanese version of the World Series. The Tigers have a rather rabid fanbase, and when the eternal underdogs of Japanese baseball emerged victorious celebration was clearly in order. A large group of fans gathered at the Ebisubashi Bridge in Doutonbori, Osaka. The mob called out the names of the players and for each name someone who resembled that player jumped into the canal below. However, none of the gathered fans really resembled the series MVP Randy Bass as he was not Japanese.

In their, likely drunken, frenzy they must have decided that since Bass was a foreigner and had a beard he looked exactly like Colonel Sanders. Pretty much every KFC in Japan has a plastic statue of the Colonel outside to greet customers, so they seized the nearest one and threw it into the canal. And while all the people swam out of the canal the Colonel could not be found.

Apparently Colonel Sanders does not appreciate being thrown into a watery grave and so the curse began. After their thrilling success the Tigers spiraled into an 18 year losing streak and were second to last in the league. Although there were some minor rallies during this time they were short lived and the hopes of the fans were dashed.

The legend maintained that the Tigers would not win the championship again until the statue was recovered. So lots of people went looking for it. It was popular on variety TV shows to send celebrities down into the canal to look for the Colonel. Serious divers were also dispatched and the river was dredged, but all attempts failed. Fans apologized to the store manager, hoping to lessen the Colonel’s wrath, but to no avail.

In 2003 the Tigers had a strong season. They won the Central League and qualified for the Japan Series and many speculated that the curse had been broken. With their victory in the Central League more celebrations were in order. Perhaps it had been so long since the Tigers’ fan had had a reason to celebrate but they decided to repeat the whole jumping off of the bridge into the canal thing. There would be no Sanders statue thrown in this time as the replacement statue in Doutonbori had been bolted down and most KFCs in the area hid their statues inside for protection. And this time instead of sending representatives of the players into the canal over 5,300 fans made the leap. Celebration turned to tragedy though when a 24 year old fan drowned in the canal. The Tigers lost the series, proving the curse to still be intact.

Responding to the fan drowning the Osaka city council went to work on the bridge to prevent future fan jumping and statue throwing, just in case the Tigers ever win again.

Finally, on March 10^th, 2009 the statue of the Colonel was finally discovered. First mistaken for a barrel and then for a human corpse it was soon identified as the upper body of the long lost statue. The right hand and lower body were found the next day, but the left hand and glasses are still missing. I totally saw this on the Japanese news when it happened and was really excited that I knew what they were talking about.

So has the curse been broken? Well, the Tigers have not won yet, so it is hard to say. The statue has been recovered, but not entirely, and who knows what will appease the mighty franchise founder’s spirit?

This isn’t the only example of Colonel Sanders statue mistreatment though. In 2002 Japan beat Tunisia in the World Cup. About 500 fans jumped into the canal to celebrate. And in nearby Kobe a statue of the Colonel was stolen and its hands were cut off. I’m honestly surprised by this, as you would think that after the Tigers curse the Colonel would be the most revered mascot ever. But I suppose drunken celebratory logic doesn’t really consider such things.

I remember in the anime When They Cry one of the characters is set on digging a Colonel statue out of the dump. If you are familiar with the anime then you know that it’s a giant creep fest and so I guess the cursing Colonel is appropriate in the setting. I’ll admit that the plastic statues are a bit creepy.

Our local Colonel Saunders, ready to celebrate summer

Photo Friday: The Mystery Painter

2011-06-17T09:23:00.000-07:00

I noticed that all of my schools had really nice paintings. Then I noticed they were all by the same person. I have no idea who he is, or why he painted these wonderful pictures for the schools of Goshoura, but I wanted to share them with you. All the schools have paintings of the school building as it was, I suppose, when the paintings were made. The junior high schools also have landscape pictures. Click to make them bigger!

Goshoura Junior High

Goshoura Elementary

Goshoura Kita Junior High

Goshoura Kita Elementary

Urashima Taro

2011-06-16T07:19:00.000-07:00

So I’ve been reading a lot of old Japanese stories lately. I’ve been studying Japan for so long that I guess I’ve grown used to many of these common stories that every Japanese child knows. But I remember how thrilling and fun it was to hear them for the first time, and while many people reading my blog might already be familiar with them, some may not be and I’m happy to share them. Since these are fairy tales many of them have multiple versions. I’ll admit that I’m going to pick and choose my favorite details of the various versions and combine them into a story I hope you can enjoy.

I’ll include the main story and then some comments about the story, such as cultural factors that may help explain certain things. I’ll also include any pop culture references and comparisons to western stories. And my random thoughts for your amusement. These entries will likely be long, but hopefully they will be interesting and thought provoking.

Urashima Taro

Once upon a time there was a fisherman named Urashima Taro. He was well known throughout his small fishing village for his kind heart. One day he saw some young children tormenting a turtle on the beach. Urashima offered the boys money for the turtle and released it back into the sea. The next day the turtle came back to Urashima. “I want to thank you for saving me,” he said. “Please come with me to the Dragon King’s Palace.” Urashima was very shocked at the invitation. He had often heard of the spectacular palace deep beneath the sea, but in all his years as a fisherman he had never seen it or learned its location. So he climbed on the turtle’s back and they began their journey.

Down they dove deep into the sea. Urashima was surprised that he had no trouble breathing and his clothes never even got wet. Sooner than he expected they arrived at the Palace. It was far more beautiful than anything Urashima could have imagined. All of the Sea Palace’s attendants, who of course were fish, welcomed him graciously. Just then a beautiful woman appeared. She was the Princess Otohime. “Urashima Taro, yesterday you saved a turtle and I must thank you for that because that turtle was me. Please stay with me here in the Sea Palace of the Dragon King and I will be your bride. We will live forever together in happiness.”

And so the Princess and Urashima Taro were married. There was a celebration in the undersea kingdom as there had never been before. Urashima was very happy and three days passed very quickly. He seemed to forget about his life before as he was so blissfully happy with his new bride. But then his mind came back to him and he began to worry. He had left his elderly father and mother at home. Surely they must be very worried about him. He was a good and devoted son and resolved immediately to return to them.

When he told Otohime of his wish to return she protested and cried. “Are you not happy here Urashima? You wish to return so soon? Will you not stay just one day more with me?” But Urashima had remembered his parents and the duty he owed them was stronger than ever his desire for pleasure and love. “I do not wish to leave you, but I must go. Let me return to them for one day only and then I will come back to you.”

Otohime saw that he would not be persuaded and agreed to send him back to his parents. “Please take this token of our love with you,” she said and she presented him with a beautiful lacquer box tied with a red silk cord. “What is this, my love?” Urashima asked. “This is the Tamate-Bako (Box of the Jewel Hand). It contains something very precious. But you must not open it, no matter what happens. You must promise me that you will never open the box.” Urashima promised and said goodbye to Otohime. Atop another turtle he returned to the beach near his home.

But things were strange when he arrived. He recognized no one and the people stopped to stare at him. The hills and the shore still seemed familiar but the people were all strange. Quickly he returned to his home to check on his parents. When he arrived his parents were nowhere to be found. “Perhaps they have moved in my absence,” Urashima thought. He found the new owner and said, “My name is Urashima Taro. I lived in this house until a few days ago. Can you tell me where my parents have gone?” The man looked surprised. “Urashima Taro? It’s true there was a man who used to live here by that name, but that was three hundred years ago. He couldn’t possibly be alive now.” “But I am Urashima Taro! This is my house.” “That’s impossible,” the man replied. “I’ve lived in this house my whole life,” and he went away.

Urashima looked around and began to fear that what the man said could be true. Everything looked somehow different from when he had left. What he had thought had been merely days had actually been hundreds of years and his parents and everyone he had ever known were gone. He made his way back to the beach but he could not find the way to the Dragon Palace on his own. He began to despair, but suddenly remembered the box that the Princess had given him.

“I have lost my home and my family. I am alone and my heart is heavy with sadness. The Princess said that this box contains a precious thing. Surely if I open the box I will find something to help me find my way back to her. There is nothing else for me to do now!” And so he resolved to break his promise. He slowly untied the red silk cord and carefully lifted the lid. All that the box contained was a small cloud of purple smoke that washed over Urashima Taro. Until that point Urashima had been a strong handsome youth, but he suddenly became very, very old. His face filled with wrinkles, his hair turned snowy white, and he fell down dead on the beach, never to return to the Sea King’s Palace and his beautiful Princess.

-------------

The moral of the story seems to be to listen to warnings that other people give you and to keep your promises. It does surprise me a little that his dedication to his parents isn’t rewarded at all. That’s a big deal here in Japan and if he had just been a bad son he could have avoided the whole mess at the end.

Apparently the Sea Palace doesn’t always make time skip around strangely. The Palace appears in several stories I’ve read and in one they made it a point to mention that time didn’t pass any differently from the mortal world. In all likelihood the story of the beautiful undersea palace came first and then different stories used the location in different ways. But it is always difficult to find and incredibly beautiful.

The time Urashima spends in the Palace is sometimes different. I think the first version had him spend one year at the Palace which turned into a hundred years back home. But I like this version better as it doesn’t take him a year to think that maybe he might want to check in back home. Also, in the first version I read I don’t think he marries the Princess. I think they just partied for a year and then decides he should go home and check on mom.

I have never liked the idea that the Princess doesn’t just tell him what has happened. If he knew it had been 300 years then he wouldn’t want to leave anymore. He would have just stayed with her and they could have stayed happy. And the whole box test also strikes me as unfair. I assume she knew what he would find back home. This would clearly be rather upsetting and could lead people to make bad decisions. He clearly wanted to go back to her. He didn’t have anything else left for him. It’s a little less cruel in the version where they aren’t married because she just tells him not to open the box and it isn’t a test of their love or anything. In that case it was almost merciful because he had nothing left for him and the box aged him 100 years to the age he would have been if he hadn’t gone. At least in that version it felt like it was somehow restoring the balance or something. Here it’s just mean.

This story bares some similarity to the story of Rip van Winkle.

This story is really well known in Japan and is referenced a lot. I remember a Lupin the Third movie that had beautiful women who gave you a box that killed you.

I think my favorite reference to this story is in the video game Okami. Get used to seeing references to this game in this kind of article because it makes use of a lot of them. In Okami you meet a young man who is trying to convince an old lady that he is her husband who was lost at sea years ago. He was hurt and Otohime saved him and nursed him back to health. But because he ate the food there he has eternal youth (or life, I can’t remember). He returned to his wife as soon as he could but she doesn’t recognize him since he’s way too young to be her husband. When you visit the Dragon Palace you meet Otohime and she gives you the box. When you return to the surface you give Urashima Taro the box. He opens it and ages to his proper age. His wife recognizes him and they are able to spend the rest of their days together. It’s really sweet and a nice twist on the otherwise downer ending.

Fortune slips

2011-06-15T07:34:00.000-07:00

Back in January, Eric and I went to Fukuoka to meet some friends. The next day we were wandering around looking for places to shop and instead found a shrine. As you do in Japan. Kushisa Shrine to be exact. We wandered around and took a bunch of pictures, which may be posted at a later date.

Then I noticed people inserting money and taking papers out of a little box. These papers are fortune slips or called omikuji, and for a small offering, you can take one and see what kind of luck you will have. Since this shrine is in a big touristy city, it not only had slips for native Japanese speakers, but also had sections for English, Korean, and Chinese fortune slips. I should also mention that this is entirely on the honor system. The sections containing the fortunes are not locked or latched in any way, but I can’t imagine anything being worse luck than stealing something from a shrine.

So Eric and I each inserted our 50 yen (about 50 cents) and drew a fortune.

Our results are as follows.

Mine:

Eric's:

If your luck is bad you can tie the fortune slip onto a nearby tree or metal wire on the shrine grounds to wish for your luck to be better. Ours were good though, so we kept them.

Different Roles

2011-06-14T06:24:00.000-07:00

In America it is up to the parents to instill values into their children. If a child turns out bad people assume that they were not raised “correctly” by their parents or guardians. Here in Japan the responsibility of raising children and turning them into productive adults is divided a little differently. My students take classes in moral education as part of their normal school lessons. Important daily habits like always brushing your teeth after eating and eating balanced meals are strongly reinforced at school. I have heard that if a student gets into serious trouble the police go first to the school and then to the parents. Here, if a child were to behave badly I think that people would ask what school they went to and would think that it was a bad school for not teaching the children how to behave properly.

One day, while I was sitting in the teacher’s room at junior high one of the first grade (7^th grade) girls came into the teacher’s room to talk to the English teacher. He was also one of the first grade homeroom teachers. All of the teachers at my schools are assigned to one of the homerooms. I don’t know what all their duties are, but at this school those teachers handle the homeroom periods in the morning and before the kids go home or to club activities, eat lunch with that class, check their daily diaries, make announcements that concern that class in the morning meeting, accompany that group on school trips, and are just generally responsible for those kids and their activities.

So this little girl comes in and before long I realize that she is being yelled at. Now, he wasn’t shouting, but he did raise his voice (which is rare for this teacher) and sounded really mad and went on for quite a while. She looked like she was about to cry and I just felt really uncomfortable sitting there at the next desk. I was wondering what she could have done to deserve such a talking to. And I couldn’t understand enough to really tell. At the time I thought it might have to do with English class (where she is one of the weakest students), but now I’m not so sure. Because a few weeks later it happened again.

This time it was the Japanese teacher who was yelling at her. And she is one of the nicest ladies ever so it was really odd to see that side of her. This incident happened right after the students took their term tests. From what I did pick up on in the one sided conversation I can only assume that she did abysmal on most if not all of her tests. Again the student stood there and looked miserable and responded on cue and averted her eyes. And it was at that point that I realized why I felt so uncomfortable. I felt like I was watching a parent scold a child.

I felt like one of my friends had just been called over by a parent and was being severely scolded for something. Or that I was watching one of my friends eat into one of their kids for something I didn’t understand or didn’t think was all that bad. I’m sure everyone has been in this sort of situation. Watching someone scold their children in public is never fun and always makes me a little uncomfortable (unless they are being scolded for annoying you, then it is slightly satisfying). That’s something you expect to happen at home, not out in the open.

And the same was true here. I didn’t expect to see something like that at school. Now she wasn’t being paraded around in public or anything. She was in the teacher’s room and it was after school so there were fewer students about. They weren’t doing it to publicly embarrass her. It also seemed out of place to me because I don’t normally associate that kind of tough love with teachers. I expect it from parents or a guidance counselor. And then I remembered that we don’t have counselors in schools in Japan.

I started thinking back to my high school days and how much work my counselor did for us. On top of general encouragement for all and individual attention for those in need of someone to talk to, she did a TON of work in order to help us all succeed in college. She gave us scholarship handouts and reminded us of deadlines. The teachers here have to do all that kind of work themselves on top of their normal teaching duties. I already knew that sometimes my teachers have to miss a day of school to go deliver forms for my students to take high school entrance exams. But it didn’t dawn on me until then that that was the kind of thing I would normally associate with a counselor’s job and not a teacher’s.

One of my third grade students asked me the one day, “What were you doing yesterday?” I told her I was reading a book and asked her the same question. “I was taking a test,” she answered and by that she meant her entrance exam for a High School in Kumamoto City. “Was it difficult?” “Yes.” Then she turned to the English teacher and asked him the same question. He laughed and said “I was waiting for you!” She smiled and said, “Thank you for yesterday!” It was adorable.

Everyday my students write in their school diaries. Each afternoon they write the next day’s schedule in the notebook, along with any preparations they are supposed to have done for that class (homework and such). Before they turn them in the next morning they also write a little note to their homeroom teacher about how they are feeling and the other things going on in their lives. Concerns, hopes, achievements, progress they are making, that kind of thing. And every morning the home room teacher collects them, reads them, and writes a response to every single one of the students.

Now this isn’t optional; the student’s have to do it or they get in trouble. But to me, it seems to help the teachers play the role of parent. An actual parent would probably talk to their child over dinner or during some other family time, but the teachers are almost always busy. They certainly don’t have time to seek out every student for some quality conversation time. But the teacher’s really connect to the students through these journals.

This week several of my schools let out early to allow for parent teacher conferences. In Japan, it is not the parents who come to the schools. Instead the home room teacher goes and visits the student’s homes in order to meet with the parents. I’m not exactly sure how these meetings go but I imagine it really lets the teachers see what the home life of their students is like.

Not funny

2011-06-13T08:08:00.000-07:00

So…I had a kid make a September 11^th joke recently. Needless to say it was not funny. I debated about posting about this at all, but it provided me with some reflection so I decided to share.

In my junior high second grade (8^th grade) class the students were learning the grammar for, “I _____ to ______.” We had them use “I study English” as their start to provide not only a grammar lesson but to get them to think about why they were learning the language. I had some great sentences pop up from this such as, “I want to study English to go to America,” “I want to study English to help people in trouble,” and “I want to study English to be an English teacher.”

Once they wrote that sentence we asked them to add to it with other “I want to” sentences. For example one student wrote, “I study English to read English books. I want to read Harry Potter in English.” And this was where the trouble started. One of my boys had written “I study English to travel on planes” assumedly because he wants to travel. But he was having trouble with the second sentence and I don’t think he knew how to say whatever he really wanted to say. Most of my students would just have sat there or asked the teacher for help. Unfortunately this is one of my most creative students who is very good at thinking about what he is able to say in English, even though it is often ridiculous.

And then I heard him say, “I want to attack.” “Attack?” I asked confused, and even slightly amused by this point as I had no idea that this thought was connected to his previous one. “Yes,” he said, “I want to attack biru by plane.” Biru is the Japanese word for building.

My initial reaction was just to say no and look sad and turn away. I was shocked that he had said it. He is one of my best students, and certainly not one who I feel would say hurtful things to me purposefully. So, as with other inappropriate things that pop up in English class from time to time, I ignored it and went to focus on other students.

The English teacher also overheard this exchange and immediately came over and told him that that was not an acceptable thing to say or even joke about. I appreciated it, as I know I would not have been able to express the seriousness of the matter in terms he would have understood. He talked to him for a bit and I think that the student really started to think about how I felt when he said that. He didn’t say anything like it again.

Looking back, I’m really glad that I didn’t freak out about the whole thing. My student is too young to remember the September 11^th attacks. He doesn’t really understand how serious of a thing it is. It’s something he probably read about in history class, but it’s detached for him. And then I remembered students in my high school classes making jokes about the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Those jokes weren’t funny either, but they could make them and laugh because they didn’t really understand it. They knew what had happened but again it was detached and far away.

I’m glad I kept my cool and let the English teacher handle it. I really do think it was one of those speak-before-you-think situations and know he didn’t mean anything by it. He was trying to be funny, which he failed at miserably, but the words were said without any malicious intent. Hopefully he learned something from it as well and won’t make a similar mistake somewhere where it could really get him in trouble. I think the worst thing I could have done would have been to freak out and let it jeopardize my relationship with one of my favorite students.

Compulsory Volunteering

2011-06-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

One day at school my JTE approached me and let me know that in the afternoon the students would be doing volunteer activities. They would go to the homes of elderly people and help clean. They do this twice a year, but this was the first time I had been invited to go along.

The group I tagged along with was washing windows, but I saw other groups with gardening tools and other cleaning supplies as well. My JTE and I were supervising two groups of three students. We followed the first group through the maze of little alleyways to a nice looking house. In Japan the front area just inside your door (known as the genkan) is seen as public domain. So we just opened the door and the kids took a step inside and called out to the woman who lived there. They identified themselves as the volunteers from the junior high and waited for a response. We could hear a TV, but no sound of movement. So we waited and kept trying. After a few minutes we finally heard someone moving about. Since Japanese houses seem to be made of doors I’m not sure if she had stepped out and just returned or if she had been in the back of the house and hadn’t heard us.

She greeted us cheerfully and we got right to work cleaning windows on the inside and outside. The house was a very traditional Japanese house and it was really cool. Both my JTE and I were marveling at it, probably because we both live in tiny apartments. After a while my JTE and I stopped cleaning and told the woman that we had to go check on another group of students. Our departure was delayed however when she revealed she was making us coffee. We didn’t want to be rude, so we sat down and drank a little of the coffee before we skedaddled out of there.

We met the other group of students on our way to the house they were supposed to be at. They had waited a very long time, and, besides a loudly barking dog, no one seemed to be home. We went back to the house to check again, but still no one was there. So we headed back to the first house and basically started looking for some windows that were dirty so the kids could wash them. After they did at least a little work we headed back to the first house.

The wonderful elderly lady welcomed all of the kids and, since work was over, sat them all down in her living room. It was cold, so we were all huddled under the wonderful warmth of the kotasu (a magical little heated table that makes winter so much more bearable) and she served us all snacks and drinks. She was excited to talk with the students and kept bringing out food for everyone. We found out that her daughter had done the English recitation contest when she was in junior high school and that she now lived in Tokyo.

After a pretty long while we all packed up and headed back to school. I commented to my JTE how nice it had been. He told me that while the cleaning is the reason they go out, he feels that visiting with the older people is much more important. He told me that every year it’s the same, a little time cleaning and then a lot of time sitting and talking. He wasn’t sure if the students really appreciated the experience but I think that a good number of them did. They all had big smiles and really listened when the woman shared her stories with us.

In America I had some similar experiences with Girl Scouts and Sunday School, but I can’t remember doing volunteer work as a part of school. The student council did some volunteer work, but it was optional. The only required volunteering I can think of was, just before high school graduation, we went and helped put out flag in the cemetery for Memorial Day. This is just another example of how Japanese schools teach things that I wouldn’t traditionally think of as school subjects like morals and values. I’m glad the students seemed to enjoy their out of classroom lesson and I enjoyed taking part in it with them.

The Dreaded Visit of the Board of Education

2011-06-11T08:19:00.001-07:00

Every year members of the Board of Education visit all of the junior high and elementary schools in my city. And everyone proceeds to freak out.

Last year my junior high was the very first school visited, and they were in a frenzy. The day before the BOE people came, all of the teachers and students spent an extra hour cleaning the school trying to make everything spotless and perfect. Now the school is not normally dirty. We have cleaning time every day after lunch. But this was a big enough deal to require using what could have been class time to prepare for it. We washed windows, dusted, took stuff off of bulletin boards that was old, moved stuff around, pulled weeds, and all sorts of things. All of the teachers were super nervous and we spent the afternoon compiling packets for the visitors. The packets had all sorts of information about the students and their achievements. It was probably close to 100 pages. And the school only had about 45 students.

Later, the Board of Education came to one of my elementary schools. I didn’t know they were coming, but I knew something was up when I got to school. In the teachers’ room, the desks were all unnaturally clear. Few people even had their computers hooked up. I had a feeling we were getting some sort of visit at that point. But it seemed silly. Does the Board of Education really think that that is how the school looks every day? Do they really care if the teachers have books or papers on their desks, proof that they do in fact work there? It just seemed so sterile and fake to me, like I had wandered into a movie set. It didn’t feel real. Also, most of my teachers were wearing suits. If you’ve ever worked with elementary school kids you know that most days a suit just ain’t gonna fly. It’s going to get dirty and gross and won’t be easy for you to move in. They all put their suit jackets on just for the intro, and I guess if they had one of the demo classes. It was icky humid and I would have died in long sleeves.

When the representatives of the BOE arrived after lunch, we all gathered in the teachers’ room. They had to come get me because I was busy playing with my fourth graders. We all stood in a little line more or less by rank (I was last). The visitors were in the principal’s office and, once we were all assembled and lined up, the vice principal (who stood over on the side away from the rest of us, as sort of a master of ceremony) went and told them we were ready. Then the visitors all lined up facing us (with one of their own off to the side as well). Our principal joined our line, at the front, and the vice principal began the exciting task of introducing all of us. He went down the line saying each person’s job and name. Once you name was said you took a small step forward, bowed and said “Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.”

That is a really difficult phrase to translate. You will often see it as “Nice to meet you.” It is commonly used upon first meetings in order to start off the relationship right, so that isn’t a bad translation; there is just a lot more to it than that. Many things you say in Japanese are kind of shorthand for a whole bunch of feelings and polite expressions that the situation calls for. When you say “yoroshiku onegaishimasu” to someone you are telling them that you value your future relationship and you will work hard to maintain a strong bond and you hope they will help you and guide you (if you are a lower rank) and you appreciate all of the work they have already done and are thanking them in advance for all of the things that they will do for you during your time together and so on and so forth. It has different meanings in other situations, such as “thank you in advance,” making it even more complicated to translate.

Anyway, as each of us bowed and said it, their whole line bowed and said it back. Once we finished going down the line and the vice principal introduced himself, the visitors did the same thing. Then the head visitor made a short speech. And then they went to observe some classes and I’m guessing tour the school or something. I’m not sure since I wasn’t included in that part.

A few weeks later I was surprised to find out that I had a class at my other elementary school during a BOE visit. They had to move my schedule around because it was on a day when I don’t normally go to that school. I was pleased by this, because I know other schools have just done the lesson themselves in the past and not invited me to be part of it. It’s nice that they feel comfortable leading the class alone, but it isn’t a very good representation of what our classes are usually like.

I know the teacher was really nervous as the head of the English department from the BOE would be observing the class. But that fifth and sixth grade class we were teaching is amazing and one of my favorite classes ever. I was never worried at all. I knew they would do great. There are a few classes that I might worry about making me look like I don’t know what I’m doing, but this class is always excited and engaged in the lesson.

As I thought, the lesson went fine. The kids were pretty nervous too, as there were extra people staring at them, but after a while I think they forgot that the observers were there and just had fun with the lesson. Now I’m assuming that at some point the teacher received some feedback about the lesson we did, but I never heard anything. I was mostly just happy that it was over so that my teachers could stop freaking out.

Photo Friday: Terrific Train!

2011-06-10T08:22:00.000-07:00

If we want to go anywhere that is not Amakusa, we usually go to Misumi, the first town off of the Amakusa islands and about an hour away, and catch a train. The train is usually a tiny two car thing that isn't super cozy or comfortable.

So imagine our surprise when we got to the station and found this!

Not only is a newer train, but its completely Amakusa themed! The Amakusa islands have recently begun a new tourism campaign that divides the different areas of the islands into "Ocean Roads" based on themes. So without further adieu, here are the different Amakusa Ocean Roads and their adorable mascots!

First up is a dolphin apparently named Captain Kaido-kun. He's advertising the Kaido, or Ocean Road, Expo. There are several places in Amakusa well known for dolphin watching.

Next is Amakusa-shiro, a famous historical figure from the area, inviting you to visit Gateway Ocean Road, which is, obviously, the first area in Amakusa that you would visit, seeing as how there is only one road to get to Amakusa.

Next is an adorable octopus inviting you to come and catch a few of his friends on Fisherman's Ocean Road. This includes Ariake, which is where Eric lives.

This slightly confusing mascot wants you to visit the Amakusa village area, where many churches are.

This spunky girl wants you to visit Ushibuka, famous for the yearly Haiya dance festival.

And last is a mischievous looking dinosaur who wants you to come visit me! Goshoura is part of the Adventure Ocean Road. You can come and dig up fossils yourself and maybe find some of his friends.

What's that sound?

2011-06-09T06:16:00.000-07:00

Today was interesting from a language perspective. We are still working on teaching my junior high first graders (seventh graders) how to write all the letters of the alphabet and doing a bit of phonics with them. It’s tough because, even though the kids have had English class in elementary school, we’re not supposed to touch on reading or writing until junior high. So it’s a bit of a jump from what they are used to. They have a chapter on the alphabet in the 6^th grade, but it’s pretty brief and tends to get rushed through a bit.

In class my teacher was working with the kids on how to write Japanese words in roman letters. Most of the Japanese syllables translate fairly easily into roman letters. But there are a few tricky exceptions. Today we were discussing the letter ん, which usually sounds like the letter n. When I was studying Japanese we learned it as n and were warned that it could also sound like m or ng, but it was mostly a side note for when we encountered those words later. I remember learning words that had those other pronunciations, but I don’t think I ever learned enough of them to see a pattern in when these other sounds were used.

But today I learned more on this topic. My teacher and the student’s book explained that when んcomes before b, p, or m it is represented by the roman letter m. So the word とんぼ, which means dragonfly, is best represented in roman letters as tombo. On the other hand, the word りんご, which means apple, is best written as ringo. But the teacher did more than just explain the rule; he helped the kids, and me, to understand why.

It was really interesting to watch him explain this to the students because they honestly had no clue they were already making two different sounds for ん. As far as their ears have been trained to hear it, it’s the same sound. So helping them understand that in English we hear them as different sounds, and thus represent them with different letters, was tricky. He wrote とんぼ and とんが on the board. He had the kids say them back and forth. I could hear the difference in their んs, but when he asked the students if they heard the difference none of them did. So then he told them to say the words again but to stop just as they were about to say the last syllable.

I have to pause here for a moment or else my story will make no sense to anyone who is unfamiliar with Japanese. Make the sounds for the letters m and n back and forth. You should notice a clear difference in the shape of your mouth, especially as you finish the sound. This is what my kids were noticing for the first time. When they went to say tombo their mouths were closed, in preparation for the b sound. And when they said tonga their mouths were open, ready to slid into the g sound.

To further clarify the point he had the kids watch his mouth as he said the words, still stopping before that last syllable. The kids could tell which word he was saying even without the last syllable based on what his mouth looked like at the end. He even mouthed it with no sound and the kids could tell just on sight.

It’s going to take some time for the kids to really be able to hear the difference in the sounds, but it was a great demonstration of a pretty complicated linguistic feature. I know from experience that learning another language can teach you things about your fist language that you never realized before, but it was interesting seeing English as that second language informing back on my student’s first language.

Detective Conan Movies

2011-06-08T05:12:00.000-07:00

I love detectives and have ever since I was really little. For a long time I wanted to be a detective when I grew up; that is, until I figured out that my romantic version of a detective didn’t exist anymore, if it ever really had. I still love detective fiction of all kinds. And this includes a little show called Detective Conan, known in the states as Case Closed. The manga for Detective Conan has been running for a long time.

It’s a show about murder and crime, but it’s for kids. My elementary students love it, but it’s a tough sell in America. Someone dies in almost every episode, so it seems very violent to American audiences. It’s not overly gory or bloody, but it’s a serious show. The story revolves around a high school student named Shinichi Kudo. He’s a talented and observant detective and is already consulting with the police on cases. But that all changes one day when he witnesses an exchange run by a dangerous crime syndicate. Before he even has time to think about what he’s seeing, he is struck from behind and given an experimental poison that should be untraceable. But instead of killing him, like it was supposed to, it shrinks his body down to the size of a first grader.

The crime syndicate thinks that he is dead, so he takes on the alias of Conan Edogawa in order to try to investigate them and eventually reverse the drug’s effects. Conan of course comes from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes. Edogawa comes from the Japanese author Edogawa Rampo (which was a pen name inspired by Edgar Allen Poe) who is considered to be the father of the modern mystery story in Japan.

Of course, a first grader can’t exactly just show up at crime scenes and expect to be taken seriously, so he devises a way to live with his friend and love interest Ran Mori. Her father is a private investigator, which allows him access to crime scenes. Conan soon discovers that even though he still has his mature mind, no one takes him seriously due to his size. So even if he solved a crime, he’d be told to be quiet and leave the grownups to do their jobs. Even if he can find the criminal and confront them, he is a tiny child who is easily beaten.

So he has his scientist friend, one of the few people who know his true identity, make him some nifty gadgets to help him compensate for his decreased strength and size. Two of his most used gadgets are a watch that contains tiny stun darts and a bowtie that allows him to change his voice to sound like other people. Although Ran’s father is an investigator, he isn’t a very good one, so it’s usually up to Conan to connect the dots for the final reveal. Conan stuns him and then hides and lays out the evidence in his voice. Thus Mr. Mori’s reputation goes up and grants him, and Conan, access to bigger and bigger cases.

Every year around Golden Week, which is a week in May where three national holidays fall close together, a new Detective Conan movie comes out. I have seen all three of the movies that have come out since I’ve been in Japan. This year marked the 15^th movie to make its way to the big screen. Sadly, the 15^th was by far the worst of the three I’ve seen here. The previous two movies featured important side characters to the series and had big stakes. This movie lacked either of those.

Movie 13: The Raven Chaser

One of my favorite things that the previous movies did was find a way to use all of his various gadgets somewhere in the story. It was creative and fun and was a nice reminder of some of the gadgets that don’t get used as often. This movie showed all of his gadgets during the story recap at the start, but barely used any of them in the story.

Let’s compare the villains of the movies. In both the previous two, we know fairly early on who we are up against, but they are too powerful to take down. In the 13^th movie Conan was chased up Tokyo Tower while being shot at from a helicopter. In the 14^th movie he got a bit too cheeky with the big bad, who promptly picked him up and threw him out of the window of the blimp (which is probably my favorite Conan moment ever, click the link and watch it!). Both were shocking and showed that we were dealing with someone who meant business. This movie had a dude with a hunting rifle and a stun gun. Who could not hit Conan at fairly close range. He also blew up a dam, which I guess was a big deal, but he was a very standard crazy dude who tries to kill Conan when he gets caught and not some evil mastermind who could be a real threat.

Movie 14: The Lost Ship in the Sky

Also the Junior Detective Boys played far too large of a role. Conan has a group of first grade friends, to help with his cover so everyone doesn’t think he’s the most antisocial child ever one assumes, who fancy themselves detectives as well. They occasionally “help” Conan on his cases. Far more often they just hang around and say childlike things that sometimes help Conan figure stuff out. I understand that they will always be in these movies. Children, who these movies are really for, cannot picture themselves as Conan who is really a high school student. But they can picture themselves as one of his friends. But in this movie they were around the entire time and were mostly doing trivial, useless things, like crashing snowmobiles. They work best as side characters and this movie had them front and center.

It wasn’t a bad movie, but it was really lacking in the things I have come to expect from a Conan movie. It just felt like a really long episode and not a movie. There wasn’t anything special about the villain or the setting or the crime. It was just another crime that Conan happens to be around for and solves.

Movie 15: Quarter of Silence

One final note that I find interesting is that every Conan movie has an English title as kind of a subtitle/translation of the Japanese name. The movies I have seen in order were, The Raven Chaser, The Lost Ship in the Sky, and Quarter of Silence. What’s really interesting about this is that it seems like the creators come up with the English title first and then translate it into Japanese, often with certain parts of the title pronounced unlike they normally are in kanji and pronounced instead like the English word. So for example, the title of the most recent movie, Quarter of Silence, looks like this in kanji: 沈黙の15分. This would normally be pronounced Chinmoku no Jyuugofun but it pronounced here as Chinmoku no Kuootaa (which is about as close as you can get to quarter with Japanese syllables). On a lot of the movie merchandise only the English title is listed, which makes the English teacher in me very happy.

Souvenirs

2011-06-07T04:35:00.000-07:00

As a foreigner in Japan I can get away with not conforming to some examples of Japanese politeness. But, if I choose to try to conform a bit, it makes a big difference in personal relationships. So it’s worth the effort.

In Japan, if you go somewhere, you are expected to bring back souvenirs for your co-workers, family, and friends. Normally this only applies if you are going somewhere outside the prefecture (kinda like a Japanese state), but if you go somewhere interesting within the prefecture it’s also appreciated if you bring something back.

These souvenirs qualify as politeness because the idea behind them is that you, while enjoying your pleasant trip away from your daily cares and worries, took the time to think of those who were still back home. In the workplace it’s often a way of almost apologizing for enjoying your trip while others were working hard. An “I want to give you some small amount of the fun I had in the form of this delicious treat.” Without actually saying any of that.

These souvenirs are called omiyage in Japanese. They often take the form of small cakes or treats that may be famous in that area. They come in boxes or sometimes decorative tins, all individually wrapped for easier giving. And since this is such a politeness norm, there are entire shops set up devoted to selling only omiyage.

And it goes a step further than that. In major airports and train stations there are shops that have omiyage from all over Japan in stock. So you don’t actually have to buy anything while you are on your trip. You can just grab something from the area you went to on your way home. You won’t have to pack it or carry it around, and it won’t get squished in your bag. Of course, this means you are able to tell people you were thinking of them on your trip without actually thinking about them on your trip. The really big international airports also have omiyage from other countries. This actually makes a lot of sense as the nice individually wrapped things may be difficult to find in countries where this isn’t the norm.

There is almost always something in the Teacher’s Room that someone brought from somewhere to share. I’ve seen omiyage as simple as a box of doughnuts from someone who came in late to work because he had some sort of meeting in the morning away from the school.

or from more impressive trips, like to Tokyo Disneyland

One of my 9^th graders went to Hokkaido (the northern most part of Japan) to take a High School Entrance exam at a school there. She missed several days of school for this. When she returned she brought back potatoes, a famous food from the area, for the entire school. The school lunch people prepared them and she helped pass them out to all the teachers and students during lunch (it’s a small school of only about 40 students, but still).

My favorite souvenir story happened after my junior high second graders (8^th graders) went on their school trip one year. They went to Kyoto and on the way back spent a day or so in Fukuoka. The week after they got back my teacher and I were setting up in the front of the room, waiting for class to start. One of my favorite students came up to the front to talk to me. She was holding a bag and smiling, but looked a little nervous. She said, IN ENGLISH (I was so proud!), “Amanda-sensei, last week we went to Kyoto on the school trip. I brought you omiyage.”

She handed me a little paper bag that had a box of sweets inside. You could tell that she had practiced what to say, and it really meant a lot to me that she not only thought of me during the trip, but wanted to give her present to me using English. I thanked her and gave her a big hug. I was beaming and happy and so was she. She turned to go back to her desk then turned back around and said, “Oh, Amanda-sensei. Secret.” I let her know I understood. She was the only one in the class to bring me something which would be embarrassing to the others if I pointed it out, and I was probably the only teacher she had brought something back for (I’m sure the class as a whole brought back omiyage as a group for all the teachers and other students).

Before I ever worked with one of my English teachers he went to Hong Kong. He brought me back souvenirs from his trip. I was pretty surprised as I was not expecting any presents since I had only met him once before this. But this was his way of saying that our working relationship was important and that he looked forward to working with me in the next year.

I do know some foreigners who conveniently forget to mention that they are going somewhere in front of their co-workers. If they are just going for a weekend or holiday they don’t have to feel guilty about having fun while others are working. And thus, they don’t feel obligated to buy omiyage for them.

And this is understandable to me. For the average Japanese teacher I work with, omiyage means getting under 20 things to cover all of the teachers they work with. For me, who works at 4 different schools, I need about 60 things if I want to cover all my co-workers. I work at a small number of schools compared to some people I know.

I like doing it though, because as I am an American, it really isn’t expected, and therefore, it’s a bit more appreciated. People will see a small treat on their desks and just kinda ask, “What’s this?” or “Who’s this from?” When they find out it’s from me they are often surprised and then become very thankful. That little treat that really wasn’t a big deal a moment ago is now really cool because it’s from me. And anything I bring back from America is worth hundreds of instant cool points.

This is just a close up of the Tokyo Disney tin because I think its adorable

Taxi Drivers

2011-06-06T04:53:00.000-07:00

Eric and I recently (hahaha, in March) took a trip back to the states during Spring Vacation. We boarded the bus, assuming that it would take us all the way to the airport. Unfortunately, the bus schedule had recently changed and the direct bus was no longer available. Instead we had to change to a different bus at the Traffic Center in Kumamoto. Wouldn’t you know it, our bus was late and we missed the airport bus by 4 minutes.

Being without any other option, we decided to catch a cab. We walked over to the large group of waiting cabs and asked the first one if he could take us to the airport. The driver had been chatting with the next driver in line, and the two of them loaded our 4 large, heavy bags into his cab. It wasn’t long before we passed the airport bus, which made Eric and I feel much better about the entire situation. The driver probably noticed we were a bit stressed and he took every yellow light in order to get us there as fast as he could. He let us know how much it was going to be ahead of time and stopped the meter once it reached that price. Once we got to the airport, he even helped carry our bags all the way into the building and over to the baggage check area. He was kind and polite and so helpful. Tips are included in the price of everything in Japan, so even if you try to give someone a tip they won’t accept it. But I have never genuinely wanted to give someone a tip so much in my entire life.

Now this might seem like an isolated incident, where we just happened upon the best cab driver in the world, but I imagine the situation would have been similar no matter which taxi we had taken. My experiences with cab drivers in Japan have always been incredibly positive.

Don’t think of Japanese cab drivers as taxi cab drivers. To get a clearer view of the level of service and care they offer think of them more along the lines of limo drivers. Cabbies in America are often seen as angry, rude, and low class. But cab drivers here are serious, polite professionals. They wear suits and ties with white gloves and hats.

I eat on buses and on trains, but I would never eat in a taxi cab. Every cab I have ever been in has been pristine. The seats are usually covered in lace dollies. I know the drivers pride themselves on offering a clean environment to their clients, and I would never do anything to mess it up for them.

If you ever take a Japanese taxi cab keep in mind that you never have to touch the door. The driver can control the opening and closing from his seat, and they prefer if you don’t try to close it yourself. Cabs are still usually an option of last resort, as they can be very expensive, especially in larger cities, but at least I know that I’m getting quality service for the money.

Long overdue update – Disaster Observations

2011-04-04T07:19:00.000-07:00

It’s been a while since I’ve updated, but I assure you that it had nothing to do with the recent disasters Japan has faced. I didn’t feel any shakes from the quake and even though I’m on an island, there were only minor wave swells here. I’m in the south of Japan, far from the epicenter of the quake, and not on the Pacific Ocean side. If you want to see some maps of where I’m at check out this post.

I’m sorry I did not get a post up sooner, but it took a while for me to get my thoughts in order (and then I was on vacation…). Here are few things I’ve noticed, from an outside-inside perspective (outside the disaster area, but inside the country).

When I got home from work the day of the earthquake and turned on the TV I was a little shocked to notice that the coverage was all that was playing on every channel. I guess this is just a sign of me still not being used to not having cable. I only have 6 channels. But in watching the coverage in the following days, I was sad that I couldn’t distract myself from the footage of all the destruction with something “normal.” Don’t get me wrong, the warnings and information that were being broadcast were very important and I’m glad that it was all so easily available, but I did miss the ability to turn on something else.

It was incredibly comforting when I found that one of the channels, run by NHK, was broadcasting the warning messages about the tsunami in English, Chinese, Korean, and Portuguese. Although I could understand from the graphic that my area was not one of those that needed to evacuate immediately, it was nice to hear everything clearly in my native language.

On Friday afternoon, when many stations were broadcasting live from areas still feeling aftershocks, many of the reporters were wearing hardhats while on air in case of a sudden tremor and falling debris. Several of these hardhats had the television station logo on them. I really doubt there are any television stations in America that have their own hardhats on hand for just such a situation. It made me realize just how much Japan stresses preparedness for natural disasters such as these.

Commercials returned to television on Monday. I thought it was odd that I hadn’t even noticed that they had been missing until they came back. So from Friday afternoon until some time Monday morning all channels were showing 24 hour news coverage of the events. On Tuesday some prime time programming returned, although about half of the stations opted to continue their continuous news coverage. It was certainly nice to again have options (beyond which horrifying footage of a tsunami swallowing a town to watch). Also convenient was that one of the stations that opted for news has a bilingual broadcast option for a few hours, allowing me to follow things much more easily.

At the height of the disaster we had almost half a million people living in shelters. That’s a staggering number of people, many of whom lost everything but the clothes they were wearing. In the following days I realized that my perception of the word “shelter” was totally different from the situation at hand. A shelter, of course, is a place you can go to for help and protection. However, when I think of a shelter, I think of a place stocked with supplies, a place built and prepared for the purpose of sheltering people, along the lines of a bomb shelter or a homeless shelter (or an animal shelter in the case of our furry friends). Obviously, there is no town that has a tsunami shelter built somewhere with supplies stockpiles for the whole town in case of a massive disaster. So they are staying in whatever building is safe and large enough to hold them. A huge number of survivors are staying at schools.

Let’s look at that point for a moment. Now that I think about it, a huge number of schools are built on high ground. This had never occurred to me before, but I have a feeling that, when constructing schools, many towns build them with this in mind. It makes sense, as schools are central areas in a community that pretty much everyone knows the location of. There are lots of rooms and a gym that many people can gather at. And in a disaster, the first thing you would want to know is if your children are safe. If the school is built as a shelter, parents would be able to have some peace of mind.

I have heard some stories of people who picked up their children after the initial quake to flee to different shelters, but were then caught up in the tsunami and separated. In some of those cases, if they had remained at school, they would have been safe. That being said, I have a feeling that school age children will have a higher survival rate than some other demographics in this disaster due to the fact that the quake hit in the middle of the school day. I’m sure it’s something that will be analyzed to improve evacuation policies in the future.

But back to the shelter situation. Think about your high school for a moment and the supplies that it had on hand. Schools in Japan are not much different. They simply don’t have a bunch of food, water, or medical supplies lying around. One of the hardest things in the aftermath of the devastation was trying to establish contact with all the shelters to get them supplies and information. Many areas were without electricity and couldn’t contact the outside world to let them know where they were and what they needed. And even after contact was establish, getting to the various locations was challenging. Not only were roads and train tracks wrecked, but there wasn’t enough gasoline in affected areas for trucks and ambulances. All of this on top of gathering the supplies in the first place and figuring out a distribution system to help as many people as possible.

Unlike America, most schools in Japan do not have central air or heating. In the north, where it gets very cold in the winter, the schools often rely on kerosene heaters to keep everyone warm at school. It’s the end of winter, so I’m sure many schools only had a small supply of kerosene on hand at the time. After the tsunami hit it snowed in many of the affected areas. So even if they had electricity, it was very difficult to keep everyone warm.

One of the most frightening things about the whole situation is that the area that was the most devastated by the tsunami was also probably the area of Japan that was most prepared for that type of disaster. They had regular tsunami drills and policies in place so that people knew what to do and where to go in case of a tsunami. But this was the biggest quake to hit Japan since records have been kept and one of the five most powerful earthquakes in the world. There was simply no way to prepare for a disaster of this magnitude. Many people who followed the normal evacuation procedures simply weren’t able to get high enough to escape the massive waves.

I really have no idea how the American media (or any other country for that matter) is covering this event. But if you want to see the kind of thing I’m seeing on TV, check out this video which I actually watched on television. It’s astonishing how quickly that water rises. To see the extent of the damage, check out the link here. The bar in the middle of the photos is a slider that you can move back and forth to compare before and after shots. For my friends in Japan, or those who are studying Japanese and perhaps trying to follow the Japanese news reports, here is a list of useful vocabulary that someone compiled.

Now, I don’t want to leave everyone feeling too sad, so I do have some uplifting links to finish off. Here you can find a story of a tiny miracle amidst all the destruction. And if you have facebook you can take a look at these heartwarming posts made by people on twitter following the disaster. Both made me cry.

I really want to say thank you to everyone who thought and worried about me when they heard about the situation in Japan. My parents have reported fielding many phone calls from concerned friends and family, and even after I posted we were okay on facebook many people took the time to comment and say how glad they were that we were okay. It’s really nice to be know that you have been remembered and be reminded that you are loved. Please continue to keep those who were more directly affected in your thoughts and prayers.

Things have been very routine here and school and work continue as normal. I can’t stress enough how normal things are here. We have had no shortage of supplies where I am, and we haven’t suffered from any power outages. Some people seem to think that Japan is very very small and that anything that happens here immediately affects everyone. So they may think that the entire country stands in ruins, and that those of us who didn’t lose everything are huddled in our homes in fear eating dust off the floor. I can assure you that this is not the case, and the majority of the country is functioning more or less as they did before any of this happened. This is not meant to downplay the devastation that was caused, but to offer a bit of perspective, and hopefully reassure anyone who is still worried about me.

As for the incident at the nuclear reactor, I can only assume that the media is having a field day with the event. Radiation is one of those magical words that makes everyone lose their minds. The situation at the plant is serious, because there are very hazardous materials involved. But unless you live very close to the reactor, it is not going to affect you directly. And that includes me and likely everyone who will read this blog. I got a higher dose of radiation making the flight to America from Japan than I have as a direct result of what is happening in Fukushima. There is pretty much zero chance of me being evacuated because of this. I don’t glow in the dark and we’re not all walking around in radiation suits. I’m sure the media is very selective about what images they show and this could lead to people thinking that Japan is one big ball of panicked radioactivity. If you are truly interested in the situation, I advise you to step away from the mainstream media and look to experts who understand the situation and are not trying to garner ratings.

Thanks for putting up with this incredibly long post. Hopefully the next one will be on a lighter and happier topic.