tagged w/ Japanese Culture
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Every year on January 6th, to celebrate the coming year, the current sumo champion(s), Yokozuna, come to Meiji Shrine and perform a Dohyo-iri or ring-entering ceremony. For Yokozuna there are two styles - Unryu the more common is seen as a defensive stance and Shiranui is a more offensive stance. They are named after Yokozuna by those names - though there is debate that there was a mix up and that each wrestler actually performed the other's style.
Anyway, Hakuho performs the less common Shiranui style dohyo-iri and wears a Shiranui style rope which has two loops in the bow. I read somewhere there is a superstition that Shiranui has brought bad luck to previous Yokozuna who performed that style. It remains to be seen if Hakuho will escape such a fate.Every year on January 6th, to celebrate the coming year, the current sumo champion(s),... more
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Joma Shinji is a Japanese archery ritual performed on Jan 5th for the new year to drive away evil spirits. A large target is set up with the kanji character of "oni" (devil) placed upside on the backside of it. Hitting the target is believed to drive evil away and bring good luck in the coming year.Joma Shinji is a Japanese archery ritual performed on Jan 5th for the new year to... more
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On January 2 the Japanese Emperor makes 5 appearances with members of the Imperial Household to give a short (emphasis on short) speech welcoming the New Year.
Although the Japanese Imperial system goes back well over a millenia, the tradition of making public addresses to gathered crowds only dates back to after WWII.
This year however was different than previous years and the Emperor made direct mention to the Earthquake of March 11th and the continual suffering of those directly affected by it.On January 2 the Japanese Emperor makes 5 appearances with members of the Imperial... more
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Rang in another year in Tokyo. Went to Yasukuni Shrine for the turning of the new year. They beat a drum in the shrine as people make their prayers. From there I took a quick jaunt into Roppongi then onto Tokyo Decadance Bar. Afterwards a number of us went to nearby local shrine.
2012 is the Year of the Dragon and it seems to be off to an auspicious start. Got woken up out of my stupor from a sizable earthquake. Hope there won't be any repeats like last year!
Happy New Years!Rang in another year in Tokyo. Went to Yasukuni Shrine for the turning of the new... more
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This is a short clip of a festival I recently went to where the locals make a giant snake 271 feet long out of straw and bamboo. There are legends of giant snakes throughout Japan that were (or are) big enough to kill dogs, children, and even unwary travelers. There have been unconfirmed sightings even in modern times of large snakes.
This town has its own particular legend of a giant snake which once caused problems with the town.This is a short clip of a festival I recently went to where the locals make a giant... more
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Tsunabi is an interesting little festival in Ibaraki Prefecture where they attach fireworks to puppets on ropes. They do a type of puppet play by pulling the ropes while the fireworks go off periodically. One of the plays was based on the famous fairytale Momotaro, the Peach Boy. He with 3 animal companions took on a castle of devils who had been terrorizing the land and defeated them.
Tsunabi has been listed as one of the Intangible Folk Cultural Assets of Japan.Tsunabi is an interesting little festival in Ibaraki Prefecture where they attach... more
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Obon is the Japanese Festival of the Dead in which Japanese believe the souls of the departed return home for a brief while. Obon is a Buddhist tradition but in the native Shinto faith there is the Mitama Festival which is in association with Obon. Mitama means soul of a deceased person.
At Yasukuni Shrine they celebrate Mitama/Obon Festival in July. Although a place of Shintoism, Yasukuni pretty does much of what traditional Obon celebrations do particularly Bon Odori (dances) and Toro Nagashi (place paper lanterns in the water). The only difference is the Mikoshi (portable Shinto shrine) which they march up to the shrine swaying and chanting.Obon is the Japanese Festival of the Dead in which Japanese believe the souls of the... more
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Summertime is ghost-time in Japan. It's time to tell scary stories in order combat the summer's heat with the cold chill that only ghost stories can bring.
This story is a version of the Ogre of Rashomon as the story is named in Yei Theodora Ozaki's Japanese Fairy Tales. I however refer to the titular creature as a demon based on the Japanese word "oni" which is demon/devil.
Rashomon is a gate that once stood in Kyoto that lapsed into disrepair and became a place of ill repute. According to legend a demon took up residence there and snatched up passer-bys. Eventually it bit off more than it could chew when it tried to grab a samurai.
The photos were taken by me of the temple gate of Zojo-ji Temple in Tokyo, a shot of a float from the Nebuta festival of Aomori showing a samurai fighting a demon (Raiko and Shuten-doji), and a depiction of the story on a float at the Neputa Festival in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture. The other images are 19th Century woodblock (ukiyoe) prints.Summertime is ghost-time in Japan. It's time to tell scary stories in order... more
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The Sanno Matsuri of Hie Shrine in Akasaka, Tokyo is one of the three big festivals of Tokyo. It's held every other year on even years. It used to be very large during the Edo Period (1603-1867) and even the Shogun would attend. The festival parade starts out at 8 in the morning and walks around central Tokyo until coming to Hie Shrine around 5 in the evening.The Sanno Matsuri of Hie Shrine in Akasaka, Tokyo is one of the three big festivals of... more
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The bluefin tuna is in danger. In the last four decades the sea has seen a steady and alarming decrease of the bluefin by 75 percent, according to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICATT).
Last month the Obama administration declined to grant the Atlantic bluefin tuna the Endangered Species Act protection, despite ever-increasing numbers of overfishing.
Larry Robinson, assistant secretary for conservation and management with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said, “The bluefin tuna does not warrant protection under Endangered Species Act because it was ‘not likely to become extinct’.” Yet there are statistics indicating that they may go extinct as early as 2012.
The bluefin tuna is in danger. In the last four... more
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Kemari is an Ancient Japanese sport originally from China which is a mix of soccer/football and hacky sack. Players try to keep the ball in air by using various parts of their body except the hands to keep the ball aloft. The ball BTW is made of deer and horse skin.
I caught this event one spring about a year or two ago at a small shrine in Kyoto.
Historical info at the end about how a chance meeting at a kemari match led to a significant change in Japanese historyKemari is an Ancient Japanese sport originally from China which is a mix of... more
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Part 2- the tragic story of Sendai
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This is a video I made in support of Japan after the earthquake and devastating tsunami which caused much damage and loss of life in northeastern Japan in the Tohoku region.
Over a couple of days I got Japanese and foreign-residents to show their support and togetherness in dealing with the aftermath. I included footage of various Japanese festivals to showcase Japanese spirit and strength. Many of the festival clips were taken at events in the Tohoku area, the area hit the hardest. The singing is from the World Cup celebrations this past summer.This is a video I made in support of Japan after the earthquake and devastating... more
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Banking stem cells could save Japan nuclear workers
By Julie Steenhuysen, Reuters
Fri Apr 15, 9:55 AM EDT
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Workers wearing protective suits walk around entrance of crippled Fukushima ...
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CHICAGO — Health officials should collect blood from workers at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in case they are accidentally exposed to high levels of radiation and need a stem cell transplant, Japanese researchers said on Thursday.
They said gathering blood from the workers would give them a ready source of their own stem cells that could help rebuild their bone marrow should they become exposed to high levels of radiation.
"The danger of a future accidental radiation exposure is not passed, since there has been a series of serious aftershocks even this April," Dr Shuichi Taniguchi of Toranomon Hospital in Tokyo and Dr Tetsuya Tanimoto of the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research wrote in the Lancet medical journal.
A series of strong aftershocks this week has rattled eastern Japan, slowing the recovery effort at the Fukushima Daiichi plant due to temporary evacuations of workers and power outages.
Tokyo Electric Power Co said this week the situation at the nuclear plant, wrecked by a 15-meter (49.2-foot) tsunami on March 11, had stabilized. The crisis is now rated par with the world's worst nuclear accident, the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, although the total release of radiation at Chernobyl was far greater.
The researchers say transplant teams are standing by in Japan and Europe to collect and store the nuclear workers' cells, but so far the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan is balking because it would cause a "physical and psychological burden for nuclear workers," the team wrote.
Collecting cells from the workers has several advantages over donated cells, which require finding a matching donor and carry the risk of rejection.
Stem cell transplants from a person's own cells would allow the workers to avoid taking drugs to suppress the immune system, helping them to better resist infections. The cells could quickly restore normal function to the body's machinery for making blood cells.
And the workers' cells could be banked and stored in case they develop leukemia, which could happen years down the road.
But the solution is not perfect, the team admits. High exposure to radiation would also attack cells in the gut, skin or lung -- problems a stem cell transplant could not fix.
Yet, with containment and clean-up efforts at the damaged plant expected to drag on for months or even years, Tanimoto and Taniguchi say taking steps to protect the workers' from future harm is paramount.
"The most important mission is to save the nuclear workers' lives and to protect the local communities," the team wrote.
"Such an approach would be the industry's best defense: if a fatal accident happened to the nuclear workers, the nuclear power industry of Japan would collapse."
(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago; Editing by Paul Simao)Banking stem cells could save Japan nuclear workers
By Julie Steenhuysen, Reuters... more
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Unlike so many of my fellow geeks, I'm not a huge Akira fan. (It kinda freaked me out when I was younger. Maybe I would like it more now that I'm older, but I digress.) But this article asks some pretty damning questions about the live action remake. The most important one to me is #4: "Why did you think a race change was even necessary?"
This reeks of "Here we go again!"
http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-urgent-questions-about-live-action-akira-remake/Unlike so many of my fellow geeks, I'm not a huge Akira fan. (It kinda freaked me... more
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We want to know now!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8_pjalxwgY&feature=feedf
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" MONSTROUS OBSESSION " ;
SMU dean shares meaning of GODZILLA with giant beasts biggest fans
The amphibian beast hails from the East, big and green and mostly mean. King of the Monsters, they call him - which is to say that Godzilla is the Elvis of monsters, a hunka-hunka-burnin'-breath who has left countless cities and towns all shook up in his cinematic wake.
Revered and feared, defender and destroyer, he's just a big lug who is misunderstood. For 56 years, this icon of pop culture and Japanese film has conquered imaginations and similarly costumed foes, creating perhaps the world's most prolific movie franchise.
Along his torn-up trail, the menacing brute also has created some major Godzilla geeks. One of them is William Tsutsui, the recently appointed dean of SMU's Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, whose obsession with Godzilla goes beyond campy special effects.
As he was growing up, his childhood fascination gave way to scholarly interpretation - and Tsutsui came to see the globally recognized monster as cultural ambassador, the therapeutic creation of a postwar Japan.
"I realized there was something more there than just a guy in a rubber suit," said Tsutsui, 47.
Wait - here he comes again, bursting through hillsides, shattering bridges and tearing through power lines, and now hundreds of villagers are fleeing in terror ...
Elvis has crushed the building.
Earlier this month, Tsutsui addressed Godzilla's place in Japanese culture for about 130 people at SMU's Dallas Hall, where his passion and admiration for the big fella was evident in his lecture, sponsored by the Japan-America Society of Dallas/Fort Worth.
"It's really cool," said Lauren Sethney, the group's program director. "He's a top-notch academic, and he's really into Godzilla."
. . . .continued, at
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http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20101024-SMU-dean-shares-monstrous-obsession-with-7286.ece" MONSTROUS OBSESSION " ;
SMU dean shares meaning of GODZILLA with giant... more
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Ok so this takes the kissing and the old "pass the drink by kiss" game to a whole new level. Salmonella anyone?Ok so this takes the kissing and the old "pass the drink by kiss" game to a... more
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According to popular folklore i.e. just this one clip, women turn into giant pink armadillos that curl up and run unassuming men over. This movie clip really makes you realize how much a giant female sexual organ resembles a homemade armadillo...
http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/how-women-seduce-men-in-japanAccording to popular folklore i.e. just this one clip, women turn into giant pink... more
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