Salem's Japan Years

"Street Farmer"

2009-07-10T07:59:00.003+09:00

This is an article that Martin just shared with me today, about Will Allen, hands-down hero, who is changing the world with urban community & soil-enriching farming. Please read about the Street Farmer.

A message to lobbyists

2009-07-08T21:07:00.001+09:00

pray there is no hell

Time's Running Out (aka People before Profits)

2009-07-08T20:01:00.009+09:00

Sorry for the long delay in posts. As people probably know by now, I'm in the thick of preparing for the BEE Japan 2009 Ride, which starts in just under a month.

But while I was doing a bit of training earlier today in the hills on Konze earlier today, a thought struck me. My time is running out. Maybe I'm a bit young to be thinking this, but in terms of Japan and this blog, it's true. My job at Kusatsu High School will end at 4pm on July 28th (maybe a few hours earlier :-), and after that my time in Japan will be extended for my final 3 months for the BEE Ride.

So what's next? People ask me this often, and I used to know. "I'm going to go back to school and become a teacher!" I used to answer. But wait a minute, I'm a teacher already now, right? By title yes, and based on the fact that I stand in front of 40-odd students everyday, I suppose I am a teacher. And as the years here have passed, and I've realized I have many more interests that would make me just as apt a pupil as a teacher. And if I go back to grad school to avoid facing rejection in our current depression, what for? Environmental studies? Japanese studies? English or Psychology as I studied before? Music? No, really, I'm asking, I have no freaking clue cause if I could live to 160 I'd do them all...

I know I'm on the verge of losing your attention now, so I'll get to the point. What do we have too much of in this world today? (please take a minute to think about it seriously)...

My answer would be greed and lies and a general lack of responsibility & humanity. Very fun and uplifting, I'm sure you can't wait for the punchline, but I have a point here so please bear with me. Our current lifestyles, our nation and its financial, social, cultural, gastronomical system have grown into the insatiable monster they are today because about 50 years ago (and as humans long, long before) we decided that our personal profit outweighed that of life.

And thus we hunted animals to extinction for the sport, shit all over the enviornment because we assumed it was an infinite resource, and enslaved other humans beings because we had guns and they didn't.

When I first arrived in Japan I read Johnathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, and the section about how the Yahoos were mesmerized by shiny objects (ie precious metals). Again in Thailand I noticed the same thing when the monkeys went for watches, earings, necklaces, and the signs that warned us to take any of these things off before climbing the steps to the "Monkey Temple."

Are humans in our current state still so easily persuaded by the thought of riches that we would commit these same atrocities of social, special, and planet destruction in return for gold (even though practically all our gold has been locked since the Great Depression and our cash magic wanned into plastic and online digits)?

Every time I wake up I am reminded that the answer is clearly yes. And while I recognize we are not all active participants in genocide, toxic pollution, deforestation, third world enslavement, animal commoditization which poisons ourselves and our children,

THE POINT IS WE ALL COMPLY AND CHOOSE TO DO NOTHING TO RIGHT OUR CURRENT DOWNSPRIAL BECAUSE WE ARE COMFORTABLE AND DON'T 1) WISH TO RISK ROCKING THE BOAT, 2) ARE AFRAID OF STANDING OUT, or 3) HAVE BEEN KEPT IGNORANT BY THOSE PROFITEERING WHO DON'T WANT YOU TO ASK QUESTIONS

Well that is going to change, because I've decided what I'm going to do with my life. Through BEE I've realized that people don't want to be ignorant, but honestly just don't think they no better. There's a double-edged sword to watch out for here
1) people don't want to feel scared and helpless, and they will choose ignorance over ambivalence
2) if you give people the options, provide them with the awareness, get them the message, the chance we can start working together to make a better society can only improve.

The information is there, studies show that McDonalds + Coca Cola + WalMart = exponential death via corn and oil.

I want to rebuild this world, because we are the people who live with the consequences, and we owe ourselves and each other a better world. I'm starting by calling bullshit, and showing people what they can do to make things better for themselves, for everyone & thing living in the world, and for the earth. Just a warm-up:

1) When genocide in Darfur continues without significant UN intervention because China and their allies block the intervention votes, millions of people die and are raped and are forced to starve homeless in refugee camps.
RESULT: China gets cheap oil to make shit Americans don't need but buy because it's made with oil imported from unstable govt of Sudan, China's emissions skyrocket over past 20 years.
WHAT CAN YOU DO? Don't buy Chinese products (buy local anyway to reduce oil from transportation), write a letter to the UN, tell someone about this vicious cycle and get more people thinking so you are not alone with the burden of knowing

2) When you use products made from inorganic chemicals (that's a long list but think of just about anything in your bathroom cabinet--Old Spice, shaving cream, shampoo, hair dye––anything man-made and not naturally occurring), these chemicals leak endrocine disruptors which are unregulated by the US gov, and seep into the water system, causing frogs to grow 6 legs, male fish to carry eggs, and retard sexual maturity in humans as well.
WHY? Because there is no way to treat for these chemicals, because they never had to be approved before thrust onto the market in the first place.
RESULT: Water quality is deteriorating and incrasing rates of breast & prostate cancers, and well as other unnatural
WHAT CAN YOU DO? Use natural products, which can be just as effective and fashionable as synthetics; what's really more important, physical appearance or providing safe water for yourself and your children?

For more info about similar issues about health, the environment, eating healthy, and cycling of course!--check out the links section of beejapan.org, which has been a major project for social awareness for the past couple months.

And I encourage you to call bullshit anytime you see humans trading people for profits.

Dafur still exists

2009-06-20T11:51:00.003+09:00

Why do we allow these things to continue? I've been wondering lately (damn near convinced) if it's the aim of the UN and other developed countries to keep the developing world from improving their situations so we can keep abusing them for cheap resources.

More at The Real News

3 new songs available!

2009-05-06T23:42:00.003+09:00

Hey everyone!
I just uploaded 3 recently mixed songs from my Kusatsu Tower recording session (a.k.a. the week during spring vacation when I locked myself in the Language Lab at Kusatsu High to record several hours a day instead of not working).
The songs are
"Spring 1930: A Love Affair with America"
"Alexander's Homecoming"
"The Huggily Bear Theme Song"

I'd like to remind everyone that these songs are located on the side-bar here and you can download them for free!!! Of course, any donations you want to make to my Pay Pal account I will promptly donate to an NPO of my choosing--this year beneficiary is BEE Japan.

Enjoy the songs and please let me hear your responses!

Peace,
Salem

Poisoned Waters: New Frontline Special

2009-04-26T19:46:00.003+09:00

Recent PBS Frontline 2-hour special on water problems we're currently facing. I've been reading about these dead zones for years now--please everyone start doing the same and spreading the word. We can't keep pissing in our water supply and expecting to walking away clean-handed.

NPO Musician: 2009: Year of the BEE

2009-04-26T13:01:00.005+09:00

NPO musician. Sounds like an oxymoron, but here's the idea:

I've been playing music quite a bit while living here in Japan, actually made my debut as a part-time musician two years ago with another ALT buddy, Mike Bass, I met here. When I'm not teaching and cycling, we play together, and I've written a good number of original tunes over the years. Been recording, mixing, and producing them myself (of course with the expertise help of Mr Bass as well).

I know I'm no where near professional quality at the moment, but I want to share my music and do something good for the world at the same time. I've labeled myself as an NPO musician, because I get pleasure from making music, sharing my ideas and feelings through song, and helping other people. I recognize that my abiility to make music is a privilege, one that many people around the world do not enjoy. Therefore, I am dedicating my earnings to a different NPO every year in order to raise money and awareness for that organization.

As you may have already guessed, 2009 is Year of the BEE (Japan).

If you want to hear my music, and in return don't mind contributing to BEE Japan, please visit look on the sidebar, where you will find out how to download my music and make a donation via Pay Pal (100% of which I will pass on to BEE Japan). I'm using the idea from Radiohead's last album In Rainbows, and opting for the "pay what you want" method. You can download my music for free, but anything you do pledge will go to BEE Japan. The responsibility is on the listener.

Of course, if you want to know more about BEE Japan, just click it.

This is a good chance to listen to my creative ideas and get to know me better through my music as well. And if you want to donate to BEE Japan at the same time, you have until midnight, December 31st, 2009 to do so.

Thanks everyone! Happy listening and happy riding!

Peace,

Salem

The 60-Minute Team

2009-04-25T18:00:00.006+09:00

The 60-Minute Team
60 minutes a week:
Be happy, stay healthy, and keep your neighborhood clean!

The concept is simple enough: combining exercise with community enjoyment mixed with maintenance. I have been organizing and participating in a number of big clean-ups here in Shiga (Japan) over the past year or so. But the trash keeps coming back! Where does it coming from? Are the deer and tanuki playing a nasty trick on us? No, it’s people, us, and it’s our responsibility to keep our home clean.

There are two ends we can meet with this new quasi eco-sport:
1) Exercise! Why spend your hours exercising in a gym, separated from your environment, with an iPod blocking out the world? Thanks to truly marveling technology advancements, we spend less time in our own backyards than ever before. But there’s a stunning world of rice fields and hills, and rivers (concrete bedded perhaps), and edible wildflowers, and so much more than we never see. I’ll bet we can name all of the 7 Dwarves but we couldn’t think of 7 plant varieties that grow just beyond our walls. Please take a walk, a run, a bike-ride at dusk and revel in it. If you want more than just that, work your muscles by curling whatever trash you find along the way, do sit-ups, push-ups, chin-ups on a tree lunges, calisthenics¬¬––the possibilities are endless! In the process of enjoying your neighborhood, you’ll probably realize there’s an obscene amount of garbage floating around…that brings us to point number
2) Take care of your home! Set an example for others to follow or get your neighbors to join you for an evening stroll and bring a couple of plastic bags to pick up whatever junk you see in the process. If you are currently avoiding visiting that park around the corner because of trash problems, this will help create the opportunity to enjoy your home. The trouble is that a polluted sidewalk invites more trash, because no one appears to mind anyway; but a spotless roadside encourages others to keep it unblemished! Best of all, the more people in a community that start working together to protect their shared land, the more effective and beautiful things will be coming. In less than a month there’ll be less garbage to collect, because a more responsible community will trash the place less.

On the surface, the goal for the 60-Minute Team is to get everyone in the world working to take better care of the home on Earth that we all share.

Every person: 60 minutes/week
You can do it at your own pace, whenever you have an hour to spare. Getting a big group together takes a lot of time and energy we could spend better just by getting to work. One day after work, Satruday or Sunday mornings¬¬—best part of joining the 60-Minute Team is that when you participate is completely up to you!

I don’t believe it’s so difficult, and once the ball is rolling will be a force of inertia that drives us to keep things clean for all time. If we get to the point where there’s no trash, we can still benefit from getting outside one hour a week. Doing so will hopefully also spark new ideas of health and community maintenance above and beyond simple exercise and trash collecting. If we want to pass on there beautiful world around us to our children, we can take additional steps: reducing energy & CO2 used by our daily appliances, composting, cutting back on products with packaging or waribashi, switching to organic foods to keep our soil and bodies, engaging more with family, friends, and neighbors¬¬––we can always accomplish more collectively than if we stay looked indoors alone.

Please leave us a comment here and let us know how you’re 60-Minute contributions are going! Let other people know and help them on board too!

You can also join our facebook group for The 60-Minute Team

Inner echos: private musings

2009-04-24T18:38:00.006+09:00

Never closer to home, in the Shigaraki mountains

(Looking down at the floor) If guys can't hit this target, what chance to we have of meeting 80% reduction of CO2 emissions by mid-century? Better get used to swimming.

I've got my money on the chestnut...which one's the chestnut (I'm from the US)

pure heart, and she would know best. I'm lucky to be able to hold the hands that created this (drawn by Katie)

Make a wish

Tanuki Mountain

2009-04-05T13:04:00.002+09:00

Happy Spring! Now that things are finally warming up, I've been taking some great rides out in the mountains behind my house. I live in Ritto City, Shiga Prefecture, with just a few 600 meter tall hills separating me from Shigaraki, home of the tanuki. Many people know the tanuki well; he stands outside Izukaya's across the country with sake jug in hand, beckoning in customers with his jovial grin (and testicles that reach down to the ground). All of these ceramic tanuki statues originate from Shigaraki.

Despite practically living in the tanuki den, I have yet to see one of these chimerical creatures.

Until today! This morning while riding up to Konshou Temple behind my house, I saw my first elusive racoon dog! (If you look at the map below, I marked the spot with a little dog symbol.)

This was a really special experience, because I've been worried they were endangered didn't exist. Around the world indigenous species have been disappearing in alarming numbers due to human interference. In the past the only stories I've heard of real tanuki was as roadkill, so this morning's encounter gave me a bit of hope that the tanuki are still alive and well.
Konshouji Route
Find more Bike Rides in Ritto (konze), Japan

North Korean Missile Crisis

2009-04-05T11:41:00.005+09:00

11:34 am, I'm sitting at my computer when the WWII-era loud speakers in my neighborhood ring and announce that a rocket has just taken off from North Korea.
"We at the Ritto City Hall wish to inform all citizens that a rocket has been launched from North Korea. We advise everyone to please turn on their radios or televisions to follow developments on the event. Repeat..."

A few minutes later on the news it was reported that the rocket/satellite boosters splashed, one in the Sea of Japan and one in the Pacific.

Makes me wonder, if I were about to get hit with a missile from North Korea, would I want the bomb sirens to be the last thing I hear?

How to deal with the pricks who sold America's future

2009-04-05T10:50:00.005+09:00

Please understand, this isn't aimed at the people who've unfortunately lost their jobs and homes recently--it's for the Bush and his tax-cutting cronies who ran up a huge national debt for his children (my generation, generation "you got f-ck-d") to pay, the Wall Street, auto execs, oil and drug company lobbyists, investment firm CEO's...succinctly, the A-holes who sold the future of the working classes who keep this country flowing.

More bail-outs are going to nurture their psychosis that money can be created from nothing. Let them go and allow more environmentally sustainable & economically sustainable business take its place. Hell, just letting kudzu take over that hideous Crystler tower would be an improvement--more green space and less energy wasted.

This is the treatment I propose, brought to you by the geniuses Matt Stone and Trey Parker, creators of South Park: Treatment for the fiscally ADD.

Darwin's Nightmare

2009-03-22T21:37:00.007+09:00

Darwin's Nightmare

It's really hard for me to speak after watching this documentary. I'm overwhelmed with the feeling that if I am contributing to the globalization process that thrives on and perpetuates human misery such as this, I hope I would have the decency to my fellow man to shoot myself in the face. I don't want to do this, so I'm looking very carefully at my life right now. I suggest others do the same. And while I'm not a person of institutionalized faith, a very certain and solid emotion sits in my gut right now that people who are currently profiteering on war, famine, prostitution, and crippling the minds and bodies of children, these people are going to sooner or later, one life or another, find themselves eating piles of their own HIV infected, maggot-covered shit. Like any other boddhisattva out there I'm a fan of compassion, but some people have just pressed their luck too far, and whether or not they will eventually face a hell for these actions, it's in the best interest of those of us, who still have a chance to make something of ourselves and the rest of the world, to tell the assholes to quit fucking up this divine gift of life we have and bite the bullet--literally. We'll be fine without you, "don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall."

Earth Hour: March 28th 8:30-9:30pm

2009-03-15T17:36:00.001+09:00

I recently just watched a Podcast from green tv about the WWF (World-Wide Fund for Nature) about their upcoming push for Earth Hour. The concept is very simple, but the impact can be huge.

At 8:30 pm local time on March 28th, wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, just turn the lights off for 60 minutes. (While you’re at it, turn everything off. The food in your fridge won’t spoil in an hour, unplug your toilet seat heater, unplug the TV that drains elecrtiricity even when switched off).

Check out the green tv Podcast here.

And visit the Earth Hour website here.

Imagine the impact if somehow the entire world could carry-out this collective ation: a rolling blackout across the entire Earth! Instant proof that our actions do affect this planet we live on, and that we have direct control over the extent which our lifestyles affect Earth. No doubt this it is a daunting task, but even if a small percentage of people worldwide participates, satellites in orbit would be able to witness the change.

I really urge people to take a look at these links and make a pledge to participate! This is especially important in Japan, because at the time when I signed up yesterday there we no (that’s right, zero) participants or events that I could find in Japan!!! I hope this isn’t the case, but if so, there’s a lot of work to be done in the next 13 days. Check out what you can do to help get worldwide leaders to recognize that we need to collectively do more to protect the environment. For example, you can organize an Earth Hour event or get-together, get some candles, and at 8:30 enjoy being unplugged from the grid and plugged-in to good ‘ol clean energy fun.

Peace,

Salem

Events I'm planning in Shiga for April (Earth Day Month)

2009-02-23T20:19:00.005+09:00

If anybody is going to be in the Shiga, Japan area on April 11th or 25th, feel free to come take part in these fundraiser events I'm organizing for BEE Japan. For more info, you can always check out the site, www.beejapan.org

常滑 Tokoname

2009-02-22T22:46:00.016+09:00

I need to admit it...I have a problem. I can't seem to stop this pottery obsession, and I find my legs carrying me to my wallets doom. No point in resisting. I'm not working for Ikea and Budweiser canned-rewards--I invest in living objects, people and the art they create.

In fact, I think this leg is more animated than the average American. Look at it's versitility--and it doesn't need to be terrorized into action!

Mogake--this is pretty interesting actuualy, the rustic-looking patterns are created by covering those areas with seawead before firing the piece in the kiln. When it melts, the seaweed melts into the clay, and leaves behind the mogake pattern seen here.

Shudei--a red clay used most commonly for teapots such as the one I have here. On the side is a Japanese folk song: 六歌仙（Rokkasen).

Another mogake--this one is a flower holder.

I know he looks trustworhy, but don't believe a word out of his slack-jawed grin!

Kitty getting some love from a Buddha. I like Buddha, he doesn't get angry at people when they use his image profanely, he doesn't condemn anyone, he's like that great-uncle who just seems content making jokes to himself and sitting in the corner with one eyes on past memories, the other on yet conceived futures.

The signature animal of Tokoname--this is Shigaraki's Tanuki, the infamous Maneki-neko. For year the Maneki-neko has viciously beckoned innocents into blood-thirsty halls of consumerism and credit debt. Yet the Maneki-neko beckons on--come, buy things you don't need, throw your money into the bonfire of vanitites.

But I won't buy a cheap porcelain cat any sooner than I'll buy my own coffin.
Tokoname has a history than runs back to beyond Shigarai and other pottery towns of Japan...in fact, Tokoname is said to be the oldest of the 6 ancient kilns of Japan. Yet this 1000 years of history is more often likely to be remembered by it's easy-to-memorize-name--Maneki-neko land.

Peace,
Salem

Max's 穴䆴（Anagama）: back to Shigaraki

2009-02-22T21:58:00.005+09:00

Last night I visited a friend, Max Hodgetts, to stick out the night shift of his kiln firing. Max is a former JET from Shiga, always has been into ceramics, and from this September he started doing a residency at the Togei no Mori Shigaraki Ceramic Arts Center.

Shigaraki is really well know for it's wood kilns (anagama & noborigama) and natural glazes that come out of them.

Speech Contest Smiles

2009-02-22T20:47:00.004+09:00

Every year that I've been at Kusatsu, ECC club members practice hard for several weeks to give a short speech at the Friendship Recitation Cup Speech Contest, held at a Kokusai Joho High School nearby.
On Sunday, February 15th, 5 of my Kusatsu students entered a recitation speech contest.

1st Year, Class 1: Emiko Mizuno
1st Year, Class 5: Motonari Koike
2nd Year, Class 1: Yusuke Masuda
2nd Year, Class 3: Naoki Noine
2nd Year, Class 3: Kenji Naruko

The whole gang after the competition. Ueyama sensei teachest the ECC (English Conversation Club) with me, so she was also there last Sunday

This was the largest group of students we've ever sent to the contest, so our practice sessions after school leading up to the event were pretty busy to say the least. Everyone tried really hard and really improved their English intonation and pronunciation ability throughout that time. And on the day of the contest it paid off.

(left/bottom: Yusuke & right/top: Kenji)

Yusuke and Kenji both made it to the final round for the Experienced Category where Kenji came in a tie for 3rd and Yusuke won Grand Prize. This was actually Yusuke's second consecutive year placing first––he took home the Grand Prize in the Beginner's Category the previous year. I didn't have my camera back then, however, so I was lucky he did it again this year and I was able to take some photos.

I'm really proud of everyone, and especially happy for Yusuke and Kenji. Yusuke got a lot of attention--the newspaper reporter wanted to interview him and other girls from the contest were literally throwing their phone numbers at him afterward! I hope he soaked it all up because next week are Final Exams!

Jon Stewart 愛している！(I love you!)

2009-02-22T20:37:00.005+09:00

Jon Stewart has now moved up to demi-god status--I just found a great interview with Bill Moyer. I'm glad to see him able to talk about these issues directly, without humor, saying things that few others in his position have the courage and intelligence to.
Jon Stewart interview with Bill Moyer

News blues

2009-02-22T18:52:00.014+09:00

Not that this is going to shock anyone, but the conventional media are the groupthink brain of a system designed to keep people at best consuming, complacent, and distracted. As worst? Distrustful, divided, and bound & shackled.

I saw yet another documentary on this I wanted to share:

It's not terribly long, so I really suggest taking a looksees if you have about 20:59 seconds to spare (and I know you do!:-)
What impacted me most in this documentary was the direct, violent, unapologetic, state-endorsed police retaliation against protesters and independent news agencies. Some of the footage is just haunting. Hordes of police in Italy on camera committing the following crimes against journalists:
1) breaking & entering
2) armed un-aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (billy clubs, etc)
3) excessive damage to private property--destroying computers, windows, doors, etc.
4) conspiracy, destruction of evidence, obstructions of justice--the police officers specifically stripped reporters' computers of their memory cards that held images of previous police brutalities recorded on video during a demonstration against the G8 leaders.
5) ignorance of due process, torture--many journalists were arrested without reason and beaten while in jail by police.

How is it that things like this happen to independent journalists, whose goal is to ethically inform the public? And these kinds of actions go unpunished.

It is clear from instances like these that people with power do not want a knowledgeable citizenry, and will actively pursue violent means of maintaining a mentally handicapped public opinion.

Pardon my French, by fuck that. I am an intelligent human being and I'm going to act like one. There is a dignity to pursuing truth, and I'm going to strive to ask questions with moral curiosity. I'm worth more than the status quo life most blood-sucking corporate CEOs and politicians who sleep on piles of money that should be going to meet their citizens' needs––my life has more intregity to eat the oil-based corn and tripe they're passing off as reality.

This is not a mantra to stroke my own ego--I have better ways of doing that––it's a way of living that if everyone in the world believed in we could be in a much better position than we're currently in. Bent-over, back-broken, killing ourselves to labor for the top 2 percent who don't give a damn about how many people have to die to screw in a light bulb so long as that light bulb stays lit.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: The Daily Show is a better news program than CNN, ABC, FOX, NBC--all put together! Jon Stewart is an angel:

Here's one solution: Real News

http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Even if you don't care for Real News, please at least do yourself (and all of us) a favor: Stop watching TV news, standard, cable, all of it. In fact, go ahead and stop watching TV altogether. You'll find your head feels much lighter and less bogged-down with slogans, empty promises, weak reporting. Go online and find out information for yourself––there's plenty of it to go around if you look for it.

Peace in your search,
Salem

Geothermal: the most efficient and reliable renewable energy sourse

2009-02-08T12:40:00.003+09:00

Here are a couple YouTube videos that keep things simple and explain the benefits of Geothermal Heating.

Iceland (still you have to wonder with all their amazing energy advancements why they went bankrupt)

A technological explanation:

A business proposition:

And finally, the kindergarten version that anyone can get:

New Year's Resolution

2009-02-04T22:13:00.003+09:00

A bit late but still valid nonetheless:

Not to buy anything new.

I pledge to only buy used or post-consumer products, organic, and as-local-as-I-can-get food.

**For any moments of weakness when I find it contradiction inevitable (for example, in buying a cycle that can carry me across Japan for the BEE Ride this summer), I will in exchange reduce my junk pile of accumulated things with a product of equitable value. (for the new touring bike >>> my kyudo bow and arrows which have been sitting unused since I 'retired' from the sport a year ago to pursue music.

Plan B: Bombs Away

2009-02-04T21:21:00.007+09:00

In case you don't want to save the world, or are feeling a little fed up with watching people in power piss upstream in our water supply and want to join in the destruction, check out this newest song I posted on myspace:

Bombs Away (December 2008)

You might think it’s funny, but it ain’t,
ok maybe it’s a smileful, but it’s equally as wrong
that Superman’s locked out fighting the bad guys in his tights
the world went wireless and now he’s got no place to change back

the imagination’s a little biased,
for some reason ghosts can haunt us but we can’t touch them
if I could I’d find my papy’s ghost and give it a kick
for stealing my water, eyes, and right to breathe

do I need a chorus or is this just where you listen closest of all?
any nearer and I’ll bite, I’m full of tricks and quips
but I don’t kid when it comes to writing this song.

I asked my moonshadow for some advice
he said “I ain’t no different from that you/me under the sun,
but that fella hiding behind the light bulb, he’s a son of a gun.”

can’t we reach an understanding?
somewhere where I’m giving less but still looking like I’m on top,
can you really blame a guy for trying to f--- without a condom on?

I was hiding neath the slide til I was called out to play
you tickle me with thorns and call it rapture,
I’m not so sure I like you games
I’m still wearing centuries of scars from our past sandbox battles anyway
and if that’s the way this world works,
I’ll take my chances on the next life, bombs away

so we’re back here again to reflect,
dare I ask what we’ve learned?
basically a day’s a day even if it feels like a year
don’t look for change in a skeeter,
even elephants would be lucky to find a new horizon

whatever else you hear I meant the best and followed through ruthlessly
some tests I passed, some labs blew up
but most of the results are lost and missing to this day

but it’s all good we know the answer’s in our hearts,
we’ll decide for ourselves thank you,
we don’t need your mass-marketing Phizer copywrit fake-organic, sell the planet for a slogan wrapped in cellophane and poverty disease)
and if that’s the way this world works,
I’ll take my chances on the next life,
and you can stand slack-jawed if you want,
but I suggest getting your ass in gear
and start running for hills, bombs away

Just when you thought the story was finished, even more Zeitgeist: Addendum

2009-02-04T19:47:00.007+09:00

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.
Johann Wolfgang con Goethe

This is the opening quote for part one of this look at our current Monetary/Capitalism system that is tearing apart humanity by priming the worst psychological attributes of Homo sapiens--fears of scarcity, self-interest, brutal competition--and conditioning them into our collective conscience via socialization.
The gist is simple:
1) Governments and money-printing reserves (together, essentially an oligarchy of mutant banker/politician/corporate leaders) create money out of nothing. I stress, this money doesn't actually exist other than by simple means of social contract (i.e. the shared delusion that $1 = $1 when it's actually nothing more than a dead sliver of a tree with ink on it)
2) Govts trade for this money bonds (which as you can probably guess are also worth nothing), with the promise to repay it with interest = DEBT. Of course, because this money never existed in the first place, this means the entire system is incurring a double loss, because they both think they have money that doesn't exist. At this point it's important to note that given this system the govts will always be in debt, because the only way to generate money is to borrow from the reserves, meaning the reserves are always the power. And any attempt to withdraw more money will just put the govts further in debt.
3) Govts in turn loan the money to smaller banks, by law retaining 10% of whatever amount they hand out as insurance. Of course, this original amount the the govts borrowed never exist, so the overall debt of society increases by the 90% they loaned to banks that never existed.
4) Banks loan to other banks and people, further increasing the debt in a way that can never be repayed. Every time they redistribute that original loan, add on another 90% to the overall debt.
5) The more the govts borrow from the reserves, the more the value decreases on the current counterfeit money in people's wallets = inflation. Remember, all that money you borrowed puts an interest price on your head, which you can't possibly repay because not only is the value of your money plummeting due to inflation, but, that's right, it never actually existed in the first place.

In numbers it looks like this:
-The US Govt borrows $1000 from the Federal Reserve.
-The US Govt keeps $100 in it's vaults as insurance, and loans $900.
TOTAL DEBT = $1900
-Banks borrow $900 from US Govt, put $90 in their vaults, loans $810.
TOTAL DEBT = $2710
-Another layer of loaning...TOTAL DEBT = $3439

The end result is that the citizens are forced to carry the burden of the debt, while the people at the top sit up accumulating stacks of invisible money. We could easily pull the rug out from under them at let JP Morgan Chase, City Bank, and all the other f---ups go down with the sinking ship they created, but because the Capitalist system simultaneously breeds insecurity by crippling us with our worst fears––job insecurity, a decrepit public education system, NO NATIONAL HEALTHCARE, TERRORISM on monopolized news networks––and milking our shallow desires for material consumption.

This is not to say that we are not also to blame. There are more than a few hints looming around out there, but it's going to be up to us to decide whether we want to continue contributing to a society governed by fundamentalist fear, inefficiency, insufficiency, religious and political and all other forms of prejudiced ideology.

We have the choice to build stronger communities and relationships with each other, within our circles of friends and families, and to extend these tight borders to begin encompassing more people.
Here's one possible future proposed by a group called The Venus Project. Not sure if I agree with it entirely, but it focuses on maximizing techonological possibilities to create an egalitarian society based on resource management: no human labor enslaved to the $, all renewable energy (solar, wind, geothermal, even a new one--ocean currents), perfecting magnetic trains and ditching planes, the list goes on.

Ultimately I think it's going to take a massive humanitarian effort. People need to start realizing that in contributing to consumering, energy consumption, the proverbial rat race––we are literally selling ourselves and our future generations short of the chance for awareness and true freedom. There are plenty of opportunities out there, just please keep an open mind to them. Even if you don't like what I'm saying, add to the dialogue and we can figure a better idea out together instead of shit-slinging insults like apes. Until we can start to act like evolved creatures on a conscious level, I'm not sure we should start beating our chests with pride in our accomplishments thus far, despite all the improvements we've made. I've seen more humanity in my two cats Sami and Apollo than I often see by people tragically deranged from maladaptive socialization techniques who end up on the news here in Japan.

Remember that money in your pocket is essentially a blank check--how you spend it reflects on your beliefs and character, and you can make of it whatever you want.

They have environmental Podcasts! (as usual I'm late on the bandwagon)

2009-02-03T22:24:00.004+09:00

It took me about 3 years to get Facebook and Myspace while everyone was raving and saying is was the best thing since Ben Franklin and his loony "library" idea.
So not that this is a surprise to anyone, certainly isn't to me, but I belatedly discovered Podcasts. Since I spend so much time on my bike, pedaling for my health and what's left of everyone's clean air, Podcasts are a great way to keep up on news, history, culture, and the environment! And since most people already know this, I'll leave it at that and just share my instant-favorite Podcasts:

NPR: Environment Podcast
TIME's GreenCast
Nature Podcast
Earth and Environmental Systems Podcast
President Obama's Weekly Address
TERRA: The Nature of Our World
green.TV (climate change & technologies)
Earth and Environmental Systems Podcast

There's no end to the wealth of information available to suit one's hobby on the interet these days, but I strongly encourage people to check these out. Why? Because the people one most of these are dedicated to ameliorate the current environmental decline (and in doing so creating the opportunity to reverse the financial decline as well).

This morning I tuned into to an interview with T. Boone Pickens––oil mogul and billionaire turned staunch environmentalist––on TIME's GreenCast. He has earnest plans and objectives for how to get the US back to the top of the international market by creating a self-sustaining future in renewable energy sources. Definitely worth the 8:38 of your time.

Zeitgeist: Check our where you're culture is taking you

2009-02-01T21:23:00.018+09:00

Since coming to Japan I've had several conversations with other JET friends on the concept of American culture. In particular, one buddy of mine who's now back in the US, Tim Hannon, he and I commiserated in feeling a lack of connection to American culture. Over several conversations we discovered the following equation hidden in the vacuum tubes of television sets and theme songs from our childhood:
American culture = money.

Although at first only as an uncertain, peripheral alarm clock ringing––that enters the dream where I've learned to fly around the room by delicately flapping my arms and throws me out of the air onto the floor once I realize that alarm clock is coming from outside the dream––the volume has recently increase as I've entered my second quarter century and the same there songs are still haunting me like that buzzing sleep-breaker.

“(Our) great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is privately concentrated. The growth of the Nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men.. Who necessarily, by very reason of their own limitations, chill and check and destroy economic freedom. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world-No longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government of conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men."
- Woodrow Wilson, lamenting having signed the Federal Reserve Act, creating the same Central Bank that the USA fought against England in the Revolutionary War in order to break away from.
(By the way, the Federal Reserve is a private bank that has the sole authority to print money, and it lends this money to the US Govt with interest, so we are forever in their debt. Of course, if enough people to realize this, we could take back the power and stop funding America's growing Oligarchy currently in control of the Federal Reserve, and stop voluntarily enslaving ourselves to interest rates that our forefathers f***ed us over when they created a loaners nation. This is all the more poignant given the cause of our current situation. Guess who's profiting most on this new multi-billion dollar stimulus package?)

Is it possible to be resentful toward nostalgia? What if that sense of "home comfort" had been so ingeniously cloned and flavored with the pheromones of chicken noodle soup that you could no longer tell the difference between it and a demolition funded by the US govt to fell the Twin Towers in NYC? What if there were people out there whose primary purpose in life was to inflate you with so many chatrooms, video games, talk shows, and the desperate anticipation of new models that you stopped realizing a pall of particulate matter has decreased the sun's rays by up to 15% in the Northern Hemisphere? How would you feel about that?

Let's find out--please watch the documentary Zeitgeist and gauge your own reaction. Here for the official site of Zeitgeist.

Haven't you ever wondered why as a kid you bugged your parents constantly for a Happy Meal (thanks to child psychologists hired by McDemons to brainwash you into the world's best nagger)? Have you hit the sad realization yet that, were the mindless pop culture gossip, commercials, and sitcom reruns you grew up with able to collect on your arterial walls, you would be in need of quadruple by-pass surgery?

This is no lie...as a child, probably around the age of 12, I cried at night hoping that I could get a LEGO set called the Ice Station Oddesy. And I had a fairly normal upbringing, as much as the son of a gay man who tried to become Born Again, but then divorced his incredibly patient wife after starting a family of four (five if you include the dog, Max) to return to a homosexual lifestyle where he contracted HIV and, from which, later died. But on a worldwide scale, at least I knew my father, and still regularly communicate with my mother, and was fortunate enough for them to surround me in art and nature (full of regular camping trips and making natural art crafts from fallen forest debris). Despite the competition with Atari, the Nintendo, then Sega, then Playstation, the XBox, now Wii––their upbringing and devotion to my education has enabled me to be able to ask these kinds of questions and think for myself before jumping on the "false flag" bandwagon that created just about every war American has leaped into for a profit at the cost of civilian lives:

' "An evil exists that threatens every man, woman and child of this great nation," the leader of another country once wrote. "We must take steps to ensure our domestic security and protect our homeland." '

Can you who said this? I first thought Bush, naturally.
If you've already seen Zeitgeist or are an Modern Western European History stud, then you know the correct answer:
Adolf Hitler

He wasn't the first either. Wool has been pulled over the eyes of regular, hopeful and because of that hopeful spirit, gullible, nearly every citizenry as long there have been.
I know I was pretty privileged to be able have the doors to learning opened to me by money, but Zeitgeist reminds me of "The Allegory of the Cave" from Plato's The Republic. Same goes for Bill Hicks.

We need to start making the efforts to see the truth. There are so many people out who are paying millions of dollars to make sure that you don't find it. Do yourself, and everyone else a favor, and start looking into these things and decide for yourself. And if you come across a nuggest of wisdom, like Zeitgeist, please pass it on to other people. Show us your door.

BEE Japan 2009 Ride Applications available at beejapan.org

2009-01-29T23:21:00.006+09:00

This is currently keeping me pretty busy, so if anyone's wondering why I haven't been responding to emails lately...

Applications for 2009 Ride available until February 28th

Written by Salem on Jan 27th, 2009 and posted in 2009, Lead Article

Hey everyone, 2009 Ride Leader Salem here. With the new year it’s time to get the ball (wheel) rolling and start the application process for Team 2009. I’ll be making a copy available here on the website, so if you are still interested and haven’t contacted me or anyone here at BEE, now is the time. I’ll be accepting applications until February 28th (2009 is not a leap year–please don’t forget!). I want to state in advance to that there are no suprises, that 2009 Team Riders are expected to provide their own cycle and burden the costs of getting to Wakkanai and home from Sata (or Okinawa?). In addition to this, riders will be asked to make a donation of approximately 70,000 Japanese yen. Please take these things into careful consideration when you are completing the application.

Many people have already contacted me and I’m really excited about the possibilities that lay ahead of us this year. I’m incredibly honored to have the opportunity to work with a group of people ready to devote 2 months of their lives to spreading environmental awareness, connecting with local people throughout Japan, and just plain open to the unmatchable adventure this promises to be (or should I say, BEE?).

I look forward to hearing from everyone in the next few weeks!

Peace,

Salem

bee-application-english-2009

BEE 2009：ライダー募集中（２月２８日までお申し込み）

Written by Salem on 1 月 28th, 2009 and posted in 2009, トップの記事

皆さん今日は！BEE 2009ライドリーダー、セイラム・ウィラードです。
新年を迎えて、２月２８日までBEE 2009ライドはライダー募集中です。
このbeejapan.orgで申し込みを添付するので、ここで取り込んで下さい。（申し込みを見つけられない場合は、teamleader@beejapan.orgへご連絡ください。）

BEE 2009ライドに参加するライダーは、次の必須のことをご注意ください：

—最北端（北海道の稚内）までの旅費も最南端（鹿児島の佐多、もしかすると沖縄）の旅費も自己負担です。
—自転車を用意する事も自己負担です。
—ライドに７０，０００円を寄付するのは必要です。

今まで、たくさんの参加した人から連絡をもらったので、BEE 2009ライドを楽しみしています。私はリーダーになるということは、本当に光栄に思います。皆さんと一緒に環境の意識を持たせてあげたり、全国各地方の日本人と交流したり、比類のない冒険をしたりすることを目指しています。

そういうエコサイクリングの経験したい人、是非お申し込みください！

ピース、
セリラム
申し込み

Winter Visitors: Part 2

2009-01-29T22:38:00.028+09:00

Smiling through the awkwardness--when I was in an onsen in Kyushu I asked a guy if he minded me taking a photo of the onsen. He thought I wanted him to take a picture of me. You can see the result.

After the first few days of sticking close to home and checking out some of Shiga & Kyoto's best sights, we decided we'd had enough of the island, Honshu at least.
On December 21 we took off for a week in Kyushu, land of onsen, shochu, and home to many battles between Japan and the Chinese several hundred years ago.

After a 7:49 Shinkansen to Hakata (Fukuoka Prefecture), we changed to a local and stopped by Karatsu (Saga Prefecture) to visit Ryuta-gama, the Nakazato family kiln. Muan Nakazato was the 12th in a line of Nakazato's that have practiced pottery since coming to Japan from Korea over two hundred years ago. Muan helped revived Karatsu-yaki during the 1920s-60s and continued firing the ancient kilns that nearly all others had abandoned the art. Muan was later named a Living National Treasure.

Muan passed away in 1985, but his son (Takashi) and grandson (Taki) continue to carry the family's torch as the 13th and 14th Nakazato potters. Their workshop, Ryuta-gama, tucked up into the hills about 5km from the coast, was absolutely inspiring. While we toured the grounds, where it appeared the Nakazato's were farming enough food to keep themselves well fed year-round. What else would a person need? A place to pursue their love, work outdoors, and a gallery of their artwork? I think it was at this point that I decided I am going to make sure that Katie and I have a place like this in the future. Needless to say we couldn't resist buying a few of Takashi and Taki Nakazato's works as well.

Monument on the site where the 2nd atomic bomb was dropped in Nagasaki at 11:02am on August 9th. It apparently detonated 500m above the point you're looking at.

Later that day we ended up in Nagasaki where, low and behold, more kin were abound! My cousin Winston just moved to Japan to metriculate at Temple University in Tokyo, so we planned on all meeting with his girlfriend, Erin, who lives in nearby Oita Prefecture. We didn't spend much time here, but naturally that stint included a visit to the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum. Coming to Japan and not seeing Hiroshima or Nagasaki would be depriving oneself of witnessing (in as far as that word can be applied) one of the most devastatingly important events in human history.

The sky--the place where the bomb, endearingly nicknamed Fatman, burned a hole through the memory of Nagasakians for all time.

Katie and I found this painting in a temple near the one-legged torii.

While thankfully unable to physically witness the effect of The Bomb, artwork produced by those who did gives you an idea of what local people went through.

The famous one-legged torii, that had its better-half blown off during the blast in 1945. It still stands, in the same place, however it's worth mentioning that at the time of the attack the surrounding area was a tree-covered hillside, not unfathomable concrete.

No, this isn't nuclear aftermath, this is the next stop on our Kyushu tour: Beppu. Home to some of Japan's best onsen (hot spring) hot spots, this appears to be a former hotel or tenament that couldn't handle the geothermal heat and bakuhatsu-ed (exploded) in red and green sulphur stains.

Beppu pluses: 1) You can use the onsens for bathing, cooking food, heating your home (unfortunately I didn't see much of that happening--Japan hasn't been learning from Iceland). 2) There are free, outdoor baths in the hills above Beppu, one of which Katie and I hiked up to early Christmas Eve morning. 3) Oddly my favorite, the entire city smells like sulphur and other natural minerals, and after bathing in the odors and pools of Beppu for a couple days, my body continued emitting distinct, subtle whiffs of rotten eggs for about a week.

Cousin Winston, aka, Shiroi Oni.

Mom, Becca, and Katie in the steam that was pouring out of a gutter on the streets of Beppu. That's right, the underground springs bubble up so profusely that the boiling water spills over into roadside drains.

One Beppu minus: Near the well-known Kannawa area of Beppu, in the heart of the famous Jigoku Onsen (Hell's Baths), there is an art/antique shop with a bitter, flammingly racist man steering the helm. Katie and I were looking at chawans (ceramic bowls for tea ceremony), and the guy told us not to touch anything. When I pressed the issue, asking how can he expect us to appreciate the craftmanship if we can't feel it, he told us to leave. I shit you not. I asked if it was because we were foreigners, he said yes, so I let him know what I thought about that and left. I strongly encourage anyone who checks out Beppu to go by this store (it's hard to miss as it sits adjascent to a sex museum) and touch everything, especially the most expensive objects you can find.

Last stop, Christmas Day, Kurokawa Onsen. A two-hour bus ride from Beppu, Kurokawa is a small galaxy in the mountains with some of the classiest onsens in Japan. Even though we stayed at a relatively inexpensive place, we had our own private cottage with two rooms and a long list of amenities including 3 different kinds of robes, two varieties of slippers, and the most extraordinary meal I've ever eaten which consisted of basashi (horse sushi) as the appetizer of a roughly 20 course meal. It was absolutely ridiculous, but it came with the territory of Japanese luxury--my Christmas gift to Mom, Katie, and Becca (and myself!).

But at least GITMO is more eco-friendly than the US

2009-01-29T22:16:00.007+09:00

I didn't believe it until I read the link I attached to the last post, but GITMO used wind-power to harness up to 25% of it's energy. Guess since it was top-secret, even the information that could provide our children with cleaner air, if properly invested in by the government at home, was too dangerous to leak.

How was it possible for Bush to get all the right things wrong and the wrong things right? I don't even want to think about what happens when he tries rubbing his belly while patting his head.

If I had to guess in a word: plucking avalanche.

Obama from Japan

2009-01-29T20:24:00.019+09:00

Like most people I've been glued to the news lately, taking in a steady diet of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report (to make sure I get all the facts). From what I understand everyone back home in the States has been paying close attention to the new administration as well--a really good sign that things are going to, dare I say it, CHANGE!
I'm not going to bore us all with the details, but I did see a great mini-doc on President Barack H. Obama Jr. (I love the way they abbreviated that during the inauguration--sad that Americans are so distrusting and hypersensitive to names like Muhammad, Al-anything, and Hussein). Sorry to be predictable, but it was a piece by Frontline: Dreams of Obama

Not surprising, but although Obama's name is probably the first thing out of the NHK (Nihon Housou Kyoukai=Japan Broadcasting Corporation) announcer's mouth every morning, he never goes into much depth other than the when and where. Oddly every person I've talked to this week knows more about Obama's limo than his personal history. And the town of Obama, Fukui Prefecture gets equal press coverage, especially during the election. So needless to say, the Frontline report on Dreams of Obama was fresh air to me, and I'm trying to take in as much as I can before the spring Kousa (yellow sand = a cocktail of sand from the Gobi & the desert-once-called-the-Aral Sea, Chinese pesticides and fertilizers, and the occasional stone or hiker from the Great Wall). If you look at that satellite photo Kousa on that link you'd know what I'm talking about. Here's one more chance: Kousa. And here's the Japanese Meteorology Center's page used for tracking Kousa. From March on those little white blips will starting looking like a Bush/FOX News Era terrorist alert scale.

Ok, so enough of that. The man of the hour is without question Obama. For people wondering, The Inauguration was broadcast live here in Japan as well, I should know I stayed up until 2:00 am to watch it last Wednesday morning.
And while I'm attempting to stay level-headed and not jump on "the world is saved" bandwagon, I have to say that it inspires me that so many students at my schools 1) know who Obama is, and 2) seem genuinely interested about him being the new US President.

It may be a stretch, but I did a lesson this week on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech, coupled with the students' expressing their future dreams, and it was probably one of the best lessons I've ever had at Yasu High School (my alternate to Kusatsu). Students were asking me about Obama, and it gave me the opportunity to relate how his story was possible because of people like Dr. King and Rosa Parks (of whom some of the students had also heard of--boy did that make my day!).

Plus, I find that if I quote certain Obama coinages--"Yes, you can!"--when a students says "英語は無理やん (English is impossible)”, they actually appear charged from within, and I'm not talking about a saccharine jolt, and respond, "Yes, we can!" with a smile. I hold great respect for someone who can inspire so many people, who for many (let's just say, 8?) years of their lives have been suffering from the malaise and apathy of excessive luxury. For this generation, the generation of yours truly and always, motivation has seemed like a cause lost in video games, cell phones, beer pong––all things that the majority of people in the who live in poverty cannot image, but for us they have flowed in with our growing expectation that a newer, smarter breed of entertainment would soon follow. For Obama to come along and impress people with messages of hope, and to get people on board despite his pragmatic balance of responsibility and the need for a degree of socialism (despite how much I know many Americans cringe at the idea of it usurping democracy)––that's just amazing.

Is this going a bit too far?

In all honesty, we need to give Obama more power, hell, I vote to make him honorary dictator, because we need someone with his sensibility and devotion to social justice to have the power to make the CHANGE he is pledging. Controversial as it may seem, I believe the world will best be run by this mixed-breed of compassionate dictator (like the Tiger Woods of humanitarianism and politics). I worry that our current system is still too lethargic and will be weighed down by people who still expect to live with the same standard of luxury they've been deluded into thinking is commonplace for the place...50 years.

I guess the only thing we can do is give our best and hope the rest of We the People get on board. If not, we could always hold-off on closing Gitmo... We let Bush get away with it for how many years?

Winter Visitors: Part 1

2009-01-17T09:04:00.018+09:00

Shigaraki Ceramic Park, a picnic lunch of rice + pickle medly and hard-boiled eggs

During the recent winter vacation I had a full cast of family come to visit me in Nippon. For Katie it was sort of a homecoming after having gone back to Georgia to begin her graduate work in group & family counseling this past August; for my mom (Mom) and sister (Becca), it was their first time, so I wanted to give them a complete look at Japan's many facets. I tried my best to introduce them to everything from traditional arts & crafts like pottery and lacquerware to the modern clusterbomb of Tokyo and kitty-chan paraphernalia.

Some photos I included, usually based on aesthetic or moral appeal, or because they had an interesting story behind them. Like these tanuki, for example: Can you guess which of these little cute cuddly looking creatures tried to start humping Becca's leg when we walked past? The correct answer is of course none of these. You are very observant.

Bridges to Nowhere: Les pontifes sans raison: This is a photo I wouldn't necessarily want to look at long, because I believe that surrounding oneself in beauty is a means of inspiring beauty. However the truth and inconsistency of our current reality must be seen if we are going to recognize and create our own.

During Mom and Becca's first four days, they didn't have too much time to rest (like I said, I was trying to cram as much of Japan into Japan as possible––to them it probably looked more like a steriod-puffed Barry Bonds version of Japan).

Day 1: Temples of the Higashiyama, Kyoto area––Sanjuusangen-dou, Rokuhara-mitsuji, Kiyomizudera.

Main hall at Kiyomizudera

A look at Biwako from atop Mt. Hiei.

Torii gate at the entrance to Sakamoto/Hiei Hiyoshi Taisha at the base of Mt. Hiei

Day 2: Mt. Hiei (as I mentioned before the birthplace of Japan's Tendai Buddhism sect) and Ogoto Onsen. I really wish we had more onsen back home in Georgia, it's definitely going to be something I miss when I go home. Of course I forgot to mention that tattoos are frowned upon in onsen due to the stigma that tattoos are a sign of the yakuza (Japanese mafia). I don't have a painted inch on my body, so it's never been a problem, but Becca was naturally asked not to come back to the Ogoto Onsen we visited. Not a problem, she said, cause she probably won't get a chance to come to Japan again anyway.

The sweetest, slowest Obaachan: She was a truly kind 'little-old-lady', but boy if she wasn't a lesson in patience as well. It took about 30 minutes for her to wrap-up and total-up our four purchases, and when we tried to jump in and help she got confused and started over. I'm really impressed that she manages a pottery shop with so many people's artwork at her age––certainly she's a model for endurance.

Day 3: Shigaraki, Big Poppa Santa tanuki, Obaachans. We checked out the Shigaraki Ceramic Park Museum and also picked up a few pieces of famous Shigaraki-yaki. Mom even got hit on by one of the owners of a ceramic ware shop--he gave her a free bowl! Lucky! I wonder what I'd have to do to get that Santa tanuki over there.

Day 4: Toji's Koubou-Ichi in Kyoto. The Koubou-Ichi is on the 21st of every month, and it's probably the city's largest open-air flea market, with everything from food to knives, traditional Japanese garments to paintings. This was my second time going, same for my friend Efrem who also accompanied us, so we were able to somewhat skillfully manouver through the somewhat hostile crowd. Unlike the obaachans in Shigaraki, the flea market obaachans will eat you alive with their elbows and handbags if you get in their way! But we survived and made it out with quite a few Christmas presents for folks back home.

New Pottery - Mino 美濃焼

2009-01-12T22:21:00.012+09:00

While I have many stories to tell of the winter vacation and all of my visitors––Katie, mom, and Becca all made the long journey over here for everyone's (ironically) first Japanese Christmas––I have little time at the moment so I'm just going to post a snippet of some of the new pottery I've collected during the past month.

Mino (modern day southern Gifu Prefecture) pottery came into the spotlight during the Momoyama Era (1568-1603). Oda Nobunaga, leader of the neighboring Owari Country (Province), allowed "chajin" (tea lovers) to continue their art of making ceramics to be used in tea ceremony. While wars were going on around the Mino Province Despite, especially in Nobunaga's home district of Owari, potters we protected from the fighting and threw themselves into developing some of the best chawans (tea bowls), hanaire (flower holders for ikebana, and also pivotal to tea ceremony), mizusashi (water jars) at the time. (Despite having a soft spot for the Japanese traditional arts, Nobunaga was ruthless when facing his enemies––he raged total warfare on many of his enemies, killing civilians and samurai indiscriminately, and he even torched the home of Tendai Buddhism on Mt. Hiei when he learned Tendai priests were supporting his foes, a fire that killed between 3-4,000 people.)

Mino-yaki (pottery) is well known for it's colorful variety of glazes: mainly yellow (kiseto), black (kuroseto), green and dark bronze (oribe), and white (shino). Below are the pieces I acquired on my recent trip to Tajimi (along with Toki make up the current home of Mino-yaki).

Oribe was originated by Furuta Oribe, after whom the style of Mino-yaki is named. During the Momoyama period Oribe pursued lives both as a ruling daimyo (feudal lord) and a "chajin". He was well known for his highly imaginative topsy-turvy style that broke from the traditional cannon of shapes used in tea ceremony. His creations lacked a center of gravity, balance, and a clearly defined front face (omote, which is usually important in tea bowls).

Left: an iron-glaze oribe tea bowl; Right: A green (often called simply oribe) glaze oribe tea bowl. I really liked the contrast of these two colors, so I couldn't stand to see them separated.

A black glaze oribe. You can see how the mouth of the tea bowl is distorted––a signiture of Furuta Oribe expressing playful anarchy in the company of sophisticated tea ceremony practice that has been handed down for over 1000 years in Japan.

Kiseto was thought to have been an attempt to recreate Korean celedon that went horribly right. The creation of this soft-yellow glaze became a hallmark of Mino-yaki, even though its name derives from a neighboring kiln, Seto (one of the other 6 ancient kilns of Japan along with Tanba, Shigaraki, Echizen, Tokoname, and Bizen). Seto had prospered before Mino, and would again later during the Edo period, but during the fighting of the Momoyama Era many of Seto's most prized potters took refuge just 30km over the mountains in Mino and continued to hone their skills until their were ensured safety back home.

kyusu: teapot

Shino: A white feldspar galze that turns red when fired.

This one is actually called nezumi shino––nezumi means mouse, but it doubles as a word for the color gray.

2008-12-11T22:46:00.003+09:00

Following up on that video from the other day, which I know is a tall order, I decided to add some photos from the hike we took the other week in Yokaichi, Shiga (Japan). It's not terribly far from where I live now, but for whatever reason it was my first time visiting. We hiked for a few hours through the mountains and ended up at Tarobogu Shrine (from the video). It's getting a little cold here, but I really glad that Efrem, Erin, and I could make the trek, because from here on I'm expecting nothing but below zero (Celsius mind you).

If they can understand, what wrong with everyone elses' ears?

2008-12-10T23:31:00.005+09:00

This is a quote from an article I received in the New York Times about recycling programs suffering during this economic crises.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/08/business/08recycle.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

The part I'm really aiming for is in italics, but I wanted to provide the context as well. Just further shows that we're going to have to start making responsible decisions in spite of the economic weather, because there are certain things that are just non-debatable. Maybe we could try to stop consuming less. I may be mistaken, but I remember reading that Denmark has laws in place that require 100% recycling of certain materials (plastic bottles & glass were the ones I believe mentioned). How is that a bad decision? If everyone plays fair––or is made to play fair because right now they're only in it for the money––for everyone's gain (a cleaner environment), how can we lose?

' The recycling slump has even provoked a protestof sorts. At Ruthlawn Elementary School in South Charleston, W.V., second-graders who began recycling at the school in September were told that the program might be discontinued. They chose to forgo recess and instead use the time to write letters to the governor and mayor, imploring them to keep recycling, Rachel Fisk, their teacher, said.

The students’ pleas seem to have been heard; the city plans to start trucking the recyclables to Kentucky.

“They were telling them, ‘We really don’t care what you say about the economy. If you don’t recycle, our planet will be dirty,’ ” Ms. Fisk said.'

I think one of the saddest parts of watching people age is watching them begin to measure and balance ethics on the same scales as dollars and quarterly income.

Videos from recent temple visit to Tarobogu Shrine in Yokaichi

2008-12-08T22:26:00.003+09:00

Probably sacrilege, but it was fun. According to the temple folklore, any liar that passes between these two sacred rocks I was climbing between will be crushed. I guess I got away with one that day--maybe the gods were sleeping.

A scene from atop the mountain we hiked--very serene, very zen.

Explanation of Cancer in Japanese

2008-12-06T16:27:00.004+09:00

My Japanese teacher's husband drew this for me to help remember the kanji (character) for cancer. I think it's pretty self-explanatory, just wanted to share. It's a little blurry here, but you can click on the image to get a better view.

Reality

2008-12-06T11:37:00.003+09:00

I just got this link I literally just got from Martin about a group that calls themselves Reality.

http://www.thisisreality.org/#/?p=facility

"The Reality Coalition is a project of the Alliance for Climate Protection, Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the League of Conservation Voters, and tells the truth about coal today — it isn't clean. We are challenging the coal industry to come clean — in its advertising and in its operations. You can learn more about the reality of clean coal here or take action and help stop misleading coal campaigns."

Definitely an eye-opener, especially as even Obama appeared confused about the truth on 'clean coal' during his campaigning. Hopefully he was only doing it for the votes; hopefully his ears aren't full of them 'clean coal' dollars.

Bells of Misono

2008-12-01T19:53:00.004+09:00

Above is a video of my neighborhood at dusk.
Every autumn and winter evening at 5pm sharp (6pm during the summer), just as the last bits of sunlight are reaching and stretching over the mountains and revealing all of colors that hide in the air during the daytime, the Misono bells play echo their song off the hills and over the fields. It's a sign that soon darkness will come, and invitation for children playing baseball at the elementary school's sandlot, and for the grandfathers, hunched over after more than forty years of kneading and turning the soil, to come on in and wash up for dinner. As idyllic and nostalgic this sounds, it still rings true to the state of things in this neighborhood of Misono.

Of course we are advance beings now, deserving of luxuries our ancestors could yet dream, because when they were children and lying and roughhousing in the fields of their naïveté, the things that are now possible were still six or seven imaginary generations away. Now in a generation we've replaced the beacons of homecoming, the last bit of light trying to outrun the Earth, speeding us away from the sun, our source of life, with the 7/11, our flourescent supplement burning 24/7. That math doesn't add up.

I prefer being the idyllic square on a board of circular and triangular holes than follow the neon bug zapper to the grave.

Gesture Videos I

2008-11-18T07:39:00.007+09:00

More 芭蕉（Basho）

2008-11-16T21:27:00.005+09:00

この道や行く人なしに秋のくれ
Kono michi ya yuku hito nashini aki no kure
Along this road Goes no one, This autumn eve.

Mr. Wind

2008-11-08T12:44:00.003+09:00

This is an absolutely hilarious commercial promoting wind power in Germany. Even if you aren't interested in these issues, it's worth a good laugh.

Heat: A PBS Frontline special on the US's role in combatting global warming

2008-11-08T11:24:00.010+09:00

Click here to watch Heat

Even though I've been living in Japan and devoting a lot of time to making my Japan life more environmentally friendly, I haven't lost interest in problems back home.

One thing I've been noticing about most about people's reactions (my own included) to Global Warming and environmental issues is that, while in wake of some dramatic epiphany––e.g. watching The Inconvenient Truth, Hurricane Katrina, etc––we are galvanized to take some kind of action. Unfortunately, it seems that this spark quickly extinguishes once we get back into the regular routine of Happy Hour Fridays, Sex in the City (or whatever the current fad is), facebook/internet surfing that distracts us from thinking creatively about how to solve these issues. While most people say they want to be more conscious and active in pursuing a sustainable lifestyle, this motivation meets a Great Wall of hesitate when we realize, "oh that means I can't eat McDonalds anymore?"

At the risk of sounding catechizing, but the hypcrocracy of apathetic sloganizing is leading us into a society of self-righteous slugs. Shopping at Whole Foods does, in fact, very little for the environment--your chemical-free Salinas Valley, California Spring Salad Mix may make a lot of people feel posh and "green", but eco-friendly action is a commitment, not a trend. The truth is that salad used a great deal of oil to be transported cross-country in a refrigerated truck, in order to make you feel "organic". A supermarket is still a supermarket with questionable motives and compromised progress, no matter how many eco-puns they come up with.

Here's a link to a real farm that focuses on sustainability, not as a slogan, but as a way of life: Polyface

As the title suggests, I watched this documentary about the US's Energy Crisis, better described as a political addiction to bribes by the fossil fuel industry. Seeing this made me realize more than ever how necessary it is going to be for individuals to begin making a more concerted effort in the everyday lives in order to combat the swindling of power taking place beneath our noses in Washingston. I, as many people, are very optimistic about the future of the US under Obama. It's important to remember, however, that all the sloganizing and elation is going to quickly fade back into that routine stagnation if we don't start making more individual and group efforts. Deifying Obama and waiting for him to make changes for us will just set us back. He is only human after all, and some of his solutions to solving US energy problems (i.e. Biodeisel) are merely political decisions that lack sustainability, and because of that, distined for failure.

Please watch this documentary, produced by PBS's Frontline, one of the few indepentent, and in my mind, unbiased media sources left in the world. It really asks difficult questions and gives very reliable information about what kind of challenge we are facing in the future when it comes to reversing Global Warming trends and saving our environment.

Sketches of the past and future

2008-10-31T07:10:00.013+09:00

These are some recent monstrosities that I dreamed up over the past few months. I'll try my best to give them a context that will help people better understand, but often I think it's better just to enjoy the shapes (or lack their of knowing my untrained hand).

Koya-san 高野山 and a temple stay

2008-10-27T21:01:00.013+09:00

根本大塔：Konpondaitou, one of the main temples in Koya-san, built in 887 C.E.

A few weekends ago I went to one of Japan's most sacred places
and UNESCO World Heritage site, Koya-san (Mt. Koya), upon which Shingon Buddhist sect was founded in Japan in 819 C.E., about 1200 years ago. Shingon was Japan's first significant taste of Buddhism, interpreted by Kobo Daishi, who had spent 20 years meditating and studying in China. Shingon Buddhism incorporates many esoteric symbols and practices, such as the painting of mandalas and ritualistic chanting of mantras, which Shingon monks practice repeatedly on their paths to enlightenment.

High up in the Kii mountain range that straddles the borders of Wakayama, Osaka, and Nara prefectures, Koya-san looks out over the the Yamato plains, where modern Japanese society first began. The temples here on Koya-san are some of the oldest in the country, and the 800m high town now consists of over 120 temples, more than 50 at which visitors can stay the night and participate in the morning prayer rituals with the monks. All Shingon monks observe a strict vegetarian diet, known as 精進（shojin).

I went by myself to Koya-san on a spiritual journey to get in touch with myself and contemplate the role I want to play in my relationships, and in the world. I'm still uncertain as to what exactly I discovered, but wandering through the temple grounds and feeling the cool, sunset air surrounded by the tall shrines of cedars, pines, and boddhisattvas brought me somewhat closer to a peace I can live with.

Jizo: the stone dolls who lift the burden of children who die before their parents. Children who die young are said to not have accumulated enough good action in their lives, and therefore cannot pass into the afterlife. the Jizo take the place of that burden, which otherwise the souls of dead children must overcome by piling stones eternally on the bank of the river that separates them from the afterlife.

A wood carving done by the monks at the temple I stayed in.

Inside the temple's shrine.

Inside the temple where I stayed the night

Looking out the window of my room

Autumn poetry from Basho

2008-10-22T22:29:00.005+09:00

Since moving closer to the mountains this past year I've become acutely more aware of the seasons and how the landscape changes from one to the next. And as we drift further into colder mornings and rouging landscapes, I feel as if I'm also morphing with the trees into a different state of being. Maybe it's just a bit of nostalgia, knowing this will be my last fall season in Japan, but for whatever it's worth, I've started, pretty much for the first time in my life, reading Basho's haiku. Like Hokusai, he's probably the most internationally known for his trade--a true vagabond and scrivener of the earth and its shades, its shapes.

秋深き

隣は何を

する人ぞ

Deep autumn—

my neighbor,

how does he live, I wonder?

秋の風伊勢の墓原なほ凄し
The autumn breeze
blows something uncanny
over Ise's gaveyards

The first one I got from the following site on Classical Japanese Poetry. The second I read on a Japanese site of Basho's complete works and attempted to translate myself. I don't know how it stands up to other translations, I honestly haven't cared to compare it thus far. I think it stands though as an interpretation, which as most things inspired go, carries a hue of subjectivity. If nothing else it's inspired me to visit Ise again (the city of Japan's highest temple, the temple of Amakudari Oomikami, from whom the Emperor supposedly generated). I hope it inspires others as well.

An Japanese essay I wrote for my course on Japanese Linguistics & Pedagogy Course

2008-10-14T22:51:00.008+09:00

I'm currently taking a correspondence course offered by the JET Program to its participants (we're always referred to as participants, never as employees interestingly) in the area of Japanese Linguistics and Pedagogy. I'm hoping that this training will help give me the opportunity to teach Japanese back home, should I choose that path. Right now, who knows...

Anyway, for the recent test I had to write an essay on the topic of 'Living in a foreign culture,' and they asked us to use examples from experiences in our respective towns. Here's my story in Japanese and English. I guess it will be pretty apparent (if it isn't clear enough already) that I'm out of the 'honeymoon' phase of this relationship, although I care very deeply about Japan and many of its issues, good & bad. Right now art is on a high, hence the recent posts on Hokusai and pottery, but as a whole on foreign diplomacy...needs improvement.

I find that the people who are most considerate and understanding are those who've lived abroad for a significant amount of time or who at least strives to look beyond easy conceptions, while the average person, who knows little of foreigners but believes what cultural myths and stereotypes egregiously misinform, their assurance in ignorance sometimes hurts to watch and experience first hand. (Notice I didn't use any nation-modifiers in the above sentence; I believe it applies to all countries, all people.)

国際化と人間味
セイラム・ウィラード

海外旅行をしたがる日本人が大勢います。彼らは外国人を見ると「いいなあ」とキラキラと目を輝かせます。こういう「国際化」を目指している日本人がいかに多いかということです。そのおかげで、私のような外国人が、来日して英語を教えながら異文化を経験したりする事が出来ているのです。
私は日本に滞在している間に、多くの面白くて優しい人達に出会え、楽しい時間を過ごす事が出来ています。日本では、東京をはじめ、奈良、青森、屋久島へ旅行に行って、いろいろな土地の日本文化を経験しました。最近では、学校で生徒と何となくコミュニケーションをとれるようになり、生徒達から「」（分かった）と行ってくれるので、とても嬉しいです。新しい人間関係を築いていくと時、国籍も人種も越えると思います。それが理想の「人間味」だと思います。
しかし、正直に言えば、外国人に取っては日本のようなほとんど統一したように思われる異文化の中で暮らす事は、大変な事もあります。日本の人口は約９９％日本人だということです。外国人はよく目立つので、日本人は外国人に対してわざとではないにしろ差別する事があると思います。たまに、私は「英語の便利屋さん」だけように見られている気がします。知らない人に日本語で話しかけても、その人は「英語が分かりません」と言います。また、ある時は、外見的な期待に答えて、英語で話しかけてみました。でも、全く返事をしてもらえない事があります。そういう時は、とてもがっかりします。なぜかというと、日本の生活は大好きなのに、皆と同じように扱ってもらえない時、寂しくてもう日本にいたくないと思ったりもします。
国際交流や国際化は大事な事だと思います。楽しみながら、一緒に新しい関係が築けると、自分の事もよく知る事が出来ます。しかし、それより相手の事を考えてあげなければならないと信じます。
この間、近所で稲刈り体験をしました。私は外国人なのに、皆と同等に扱ってもらって楽しい時間を過ごしました。自分が外国人だという事をすっかり忘れていました。それは一番大切な「人間味」ということです。

***In my article I’ve kept the word meaning foreigner as the Japanese ‘gaijin’, because I think it’s vital for people to understand how significant the literal meaning “person from the outside” is ingrained into Japanese language and thought***

Internationalization and Humanity

The number of Japanese people who want to travel abroad is enormous. When those people see a gaijin, their eyes sparkle with a mix of admiration and awe. This large group generally strives to achieve internationalization within Japan. Thanks to this attitude, I and many other gaijin English speakers are able to come and experience Japan’s unique culture while teaching our native language.
During my stay in Japan I’ve met many interesting and kind people and have been able to spend some great times with them. I’ve traveled from everywhere from Tokyo, to Nara, Aomori, and even Yakushima, all while learning much about Japan and its culture. At school I’m happy to have reached the point where students some can communicate naturally with me in English, using words like ‘gotcha.’ Being able to build this kind of relationship with new people, regardless or race or nationality (or language for that matter), is my ideal for humanity.
But to tell the truth, for a gaijin living in a monoculture like Japan, it can be quite difficult at times. Japan’s population consists of 99% Japanese people, and because gaijin stand out so starkly, Japanese people often accidentally discriminate against us. Sometimes I get the feeling that I’m viewed as an English tool rather than a human being. If I try to start a conversation with someone in Japanese, they will (seldom, but frequently enough) respond with, “I don’t know English” (as if that has anything to do with speaking Japanese). Other times, people will look at my exterior, and will begin a conversation with me in English (a common misconception of Japanese is that all gaijin, especially Caucasians, speak English--how do they know I’m not German or Italian and do not speak English?). Many times I get no reply at all to my overtures. I’m extremely shocked and disappointed by these occasions, mainly because I enjoy my life in Japan and I wish to be treated the same as everyone else. Times when I’m separated based on my appearance, I don’t want to stay in Japan another minute. It’s lonely and I feel isolated.
I think internationalization and international exchange are important things. While enjoying each others’ company, we can form a new rapport and learn more about ourselves as well. But above this (internationalization), I believe we must always keep our partner’s feelings in mind.
The other day in my neighborhood I took part in a rice cutting community event. Even though I was the only gaijin, I felt entirely accepted and treated equally as everyone else in the group, so much so that I even forgot for a while that I was a gaijin. That’s the humanity I’m talking about.

Pottery update--Shigaraki Pottery Festival and a few additions to my collection

2008-10-12T20:44:00.005+09:00

Teapot (急須=kyusu). This is some great Shigaraki clay, rich with iron and other metals (I don't know) abudant in the soil. The metal creates the dark streaks and brownish/blackish band around the top. The cool white glaze adds a nice contrast.

So as I maybe mentioned before, the Shigaraki Pottry Festival is this holiday weekend. I went with a couple of friends to the festival and then crashed at the Shigaraki Pottery School where another ex-JET buddy is studying (an amazing place where students and professionals from around the world come to throw/work/study).

This is the coarse, tan earthtone typical of Shigaraki pottery. This and the teapot above were created by the same artist, a Shigaraki native.

I got to talk with about of different artists about their styles, soils, glazes--all of which I know little about but am keen to know more about. One big thing a lot of the local Shigarakians were saying is that there's little Shigaraki clay--famous its rough, coarse earthtones, speckled with iron flecks--left in the area. Apparently the mountain hamlet has attracted not only pottery and tea conniseurs in pursuit of their asthetic passions, but golf courses dot the hillsides and take up quite a bit of land with minable (is that word appropriate here) clay.

I have always had a soft spot for golf as well, but recently I've been wondering--the excessive amount of fertilizer that runs off into the surrounding watershed, invading into pristene forests for sports and mangling the ecosystem, and the country club snobbery...golf made a lot of sense in the low grasslands of Scotland where maintainance wasn't necessary, but exporting it to other habitats is starting to appear more and more irresponsible. This clay shortage is strike two in my book against golf courses.
All tangents aside, I acquired a few new pieces that I want to show off. I'll go ahead and do that before I get sidetracked again.

This last one here is of a variety called Shino. I'm not 100% sure about what Shino means, but I know it's referring to the type of heavy white glaze, applied in a way that leaves cracks and gaps so that the color of the underlying glaze (here the red) shines through.

葛飾北斎（Katsushika Hokusai) 1760-1849

2008-10-07T21:52:00.008+09:00

I'll be many of you are quite familiar with the woodblock paintings (浮世絵）paintings of probably Japan's most internationally-known artists, Hokusai. Images from his "36 views of Fuji" are probably iconolized in many people's minds and mislabeled "Japan" (just like lacquerware was called "Japan" by the Dutch for a long time because it was so associated with the country of it's origin).

But beyond the revered, towering Hokusai waves, cresting above us like the slopes of Fuji over old Edo, there are magnificent scroll paintings and sketches seldom experienced. I just want to share a few of the ones that most impressed me from the exhibit I recently saw at the Shiga Modern Museum of Art.

Yokai (妖怪), hobgoblins, were some of my favorites. What strikes me most in these is the way that he blends the ordinary with the grotesque. I see these laterns everyday, but Hokusai sparks the hope in me that one day I will do a double-take and something like this will be staring back at me. Life is so dull without the desire for insanity.

I've never understood the strange octopus fetish--maybe that's the beauty behind his craft--but it's a theme that recurs throughout Japanese art, not just in Hokusai's era, but currently in 'hentai' (Japanese animation porn--don't make that face, who hasn't seen it by now...and if you haven't, you're probably looking it up right now). I don't know know where this whole thing started, but when you have an abundance of 8-tentacled sea creatures it was bound to happen sooner or later.

"The Boddhisattva's (Amida) Waterfall" actually didn't get the chance to see this one up close, but I found it when browsing through Hokusai works online, and I found it captivating.

That's all for now. It's important to note that some of Europe's greatest Impressionist/Post-Impressionist painters were influenced by Hokusai's style. I'm not an expert on the matter, but I think his paintings were a brilliant mixture of a fine-tuned hand and other-worldly visions--something I think every artist strives for yet few acheieve.

Then again, who are we to judge

2008-10-05T11:12:00.007+09:00

I guess we're not all that good at cultural understand/sensitivity either.
Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) I believe in the relativity of gods and humans, money and status, and I don't really believe that anything is beyond reproach or humor. Let's keep the doors open, 'don't block up the halls'. (I hope I don't get bombed for my non-threatening, non-violent beliefs; I hope I get torched for my true crimes ;-)

The Almighty

2008-10-04T23:21:00.006+09:00

Thank god today I ain't a Christian...
because if I were, I'd be crying fouls of blasphemy while my high school students innocently play their game of Bingo. This is because in many Japanese games, the wild card/joker is called "The Almighty".

I am not kidding. I'm actually quite embarrassed that it's taken me over 2 years to learn this--but in Japan, wild cards, free spots, anything ubiquitously fortunate in board or card games is called "The Almighty". The Ace of Spades. The center "FREE" square in Bingo. Sacré bleu, mon dieu.

In a sense, this means that our Christian God (who I incidentally worship to the same extent that I worship Maroon 5 or GW = not at all), is nothing more than a happy-go-lucky advantage point in cards to the Japanese. Makes you really consider what's important. If God is an Ace of Spades, what does that make the Buddha or Muhammad?

Shiga Pottery

2008-09-28T15:45:00.009+09:00

Over the years I've been building up a small collection of pottery. For me it's a pretty recent development; I was never really into ceramics much back at home. Katie's expertise (she focused on ceramics at UGA's School of Art during her undergrad years) has really rubbed off on me, and she's shown me different aspects of pottery making––glazing, clay selection––that I've come to really appreciate.

Speckled egg holder? This is supposed to be for tea ceremony, for mixing/stirring the matcha tea until it frothens (becomes frothy?). I use it for mixing eggs, eating soup, but seems close enough...

My first piece of pottery. A gift from Katie, my pottery muse, and the beginning of a more profound appreciation for the artwork that went into it.

On top of this, Shiga is home of one of the major six pottery towns of medieval Japan: Shigaraki.
Japan's Rokkoyo (in English)
Shigaraki Guide (in English or Japanese)

These sites have some more info about Shigaraki's history and importance in Japanese culture. One of the most significance that I find interesting is how influential pottery has been on Ikebana (Flower Arrangement) and Sado (Tea Ceremony).

A tea pot, unfortunately I didn't buy this directly from the maker, but from a tea shop in the neighborhood where I used to live.

Because the vessels that held flowers and tea in these arts were intrical to the atmosphere a host desired to create, which pieces should be used in a given ceremony was the subject of deep contemplation. Often the subject of conversation during a tea ceremony revolved around the character of the dishes guests used.

Just picked these up from a man who works out of Omi-Maiko (Otsu, Shiga--on the other side of the lake from me). I'm pretty sure he said he gets his clay from Shigaraki though.

Ideas of wabi (austere beauty representing Zen-like solitude) or sabi (elegent simplicity, often refferred to in something that evokes the feeling of passing one's prime into gentle decline, like a waning moon or an untended garden). Artists often attempted to replicate these emotions through their pottery. (If you want to know more about the wabi-sabi relationship...)

Japanese cooking knives are also impressive--these are all hand-cut. Katie originially convinced me that we should buy the top one in Tokyo at the Tsukiji Fish Market. While I didn't think it was worth the $70 at the time, I can humbly say I was wrong. I just bought the bottom three at a flea market in Kyoto last week.

Here I want to take a minute to show some of the pieces in my collection that I'm proud of. Also, I really enjoy looking over and pondering over, talking with the artists who create, and understanding the process by which the pottery I come across in Kyoto and Shiga is made, so if anyone sees anything they like and would be interested in purchasing for their own collection, please email me and I can hopefully help find you something here to ship back home.

A gift from a local restaurant owner. I was talking to him about Shigarakiyaki (Shigaraki pottery) and commenting on the Shigaraki dishes he used to serve food at the restaurant--he gave me these tanuki cups.

As you can see, there is a wide range of possibility, although I do prefer to work exclusively with potters who hand-craft all of their pieces without the assistance of a mold or replicatory pattern. My favorite cups and bowls are actually those with marked distinctions or imperfections, perhaps a blast of red or black, a "schorch" I suppose, due to the filtering of air into the kiln as it's burning.

My most recent addition. This picture is an injustice to the piece's stunning colors and sabi-esque cracks--if you can look closely, it appears as if during a coat of glaze the creator touched up the mug with a cloth or screen to make it appear shattered. Asymmetry is a key distinction I look for in some of my favorites. You can see the finger grooves at the base and handle as well.

One of my favorite finds: a donburi-wan (fairly large bowl for Japanese rice dishes). I found it in Shigaraki last summer, struck by the shape, solidarity, and spots of iron that was naturally mixed in with the clay and baked into it--nutritional, I wonder?

The Bridges of the Kusatsugawa are conspiring something nasty

2008-09-23T00:15:00.008+09:00

"Improvement makes straight roads, but the crooked roads without improvement are roads of genius." --Bob Blake

In homage to the great Bill Blake, I have produced a photo-documentary of the Kusatsu River's bridges, of which I wrote a recent song--the title of this report: The bridges of the Kusatsugawa are conspiring something nasty.
My reason for choosing such an ominous title is easy...there are about 25 bridges without 2 sq km of my old apartment in Kusatsu, Shiga, Japan. 25 bridges--about 10 of which carried regular traffic. Let me now remind you of the earlier quote by mister Will Blake, and continue it for you:

"Improvement makes straight roads, but the crooked roads without improvement are roads of genius. Sooner murder an infant in its cradle than nurse unacted desires. Where Man is not, Nature is barren. Truth can never be told so as to be understood, and not be believed."
(Proverbs of Hell--William Blake)

Let me show you the effect of 25 bridges, and see if you understand the truth: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." (Dr. Samuel Johnson, author of the first dictionary, Dictionary of the English Language)

So far I've compiled profiles of just 18, all of the bridges from Lake Biwa to my apartment--mind you I haven't gone in the other direction yet. If you think this is bad, don't forget, these are only the bridges on the Kusatsu-gawa. This grievance doesn't include all of the obscure ones (though they are just as significant in their impact on the surrounding land).

Needless to say, thank god I don't live in this hellhole anymore. Thankfully in my current town (Misono in Ritto City), greenery outweighs concrete.

The freshest face of the Kusatsu-gawa brigade.

How many do you see in this photo??? Some are occluded, but I promise there are 4 bridges hiding here malignantly.

Rice Cutting 稲刈

2008-09-19T22:02:00.011+09:00

Just last weekend I had the pleasure of joining in on the rice harvest in my neighborhood. Sad to say it's my third year and yet this is my first time cutting rice, but compared to most Japanese people I'm doing pretty well. I met many Japanese people in their 20s, 30s, even 40s, who were also chaffing their "rice-cutting" virginity. I'm so fortunate to have met so many fellow first-timers; I was worried I would reveal my novicery through some kind of embarrassing act.

Luckily, a couple of the other newbies helped me out with this. One woman mistakenly let go of a rice bundle while she was doing the 脱穀（separating the grain from the chaff). Because the purpose of our experience was to reenact rice-harvesting of the olden-days (oh how our grandparents toiled), we used retro a retro machine from the 1950s to chaff the rice.

I have to say I was a bit worried after seeing the woman before me cog the wheel by accidentally letting go of her rice bundle. But, luckily, I succeeded in keeping a strong hand.

Junko Nagata

I also made some new friends who live in the area, and who share an interest in sustainable living. Making this move to a more remote area has had an incredibly positive impact in my daily life. I now live about 10km from my schools, but the daily ride gives me just about all the aerobic exercise I need, and everyday I meet and talk with a new neighbor/farmer (usually in their 70s--there are few non-retired farmers here) in the area who is more than happy to teach me about what he/she's doing, or just chat about the coming typhoon.

Here's an anecdote to better relate what I mean:
Just the other day I bumped into a woman I had met many times before through the Kusatsu International Friendship Association (KIFA). I was on my way home, and somewhat in a hurry to get home before the rain, casually greeted her in Japanese (as I'm accustomed to greeting my neighbors). She paused, somewhat dumbfounded for a noticeable amount of time, before proceeding to respond in English, only in English, despite the fact that I had greeted her in Japanese. This felt alienating for a number of reasons--if someone begins a conversation in one language, especially if they show confidence in that language, doesn't it seem natural (or at least polite) that the other person would respond in the same language?? I call these people who insist on treating foreigners as outsiders, and do not want to speak Japanese to foreigners Eikaiwa-pimps (english conversation pimps).

"Ace"=he and his wife have literally tavelled the world, but the ironic thing is, even though I learned later on that they understand and spoke English fluently, they never one hinted or assumed that they understood English. Anyone living in Japan know that this is probably one of the most gracious acts a bilingual Japanese person can extend to a foreigner, because it expresses the idea that getting to know a person is more important that the language it's done in, and it accepts the "gaijin=foreigner" and respects them as someone who is competent at speaking Japanese, instead of pitying and patronizing them as someone who is constantly in need of help.

This summarized how I felt in Kusatsu--like an outsider (the literal meaning for foreigner in Japanese). As short of a time as it's been since I've moved to the boonies, I've felt more embraced and accepted in just a few weeks that I have in 2 years in Kusatsu. I know Katie would agree with me, as I heard her say many similar things about this area in Misono (my current home) as she said many times before when she lived here.

I guess the intriguing aspect is--why do Japanese people in cities choose to (or believe they should) treat foreigners as "other worldly". Are we not all humans? Do I not deserve the chance to prove that I can communicate in Japan as an active and willing member, in language as well as member of society, without constantly being treated as an "other"?

中井さん：Mrs. Nakai. She sells great homemade bread every Saturday at the morning market down the street from my apartment. Katie introduced me months ago, and I try to go now every week if I'm in town, not only because I can by organic, loca vegetables cheap, but because I can see and talk with Nakai-san.

The main thing that should be considered and questioned here, is the breakdown of communication and humanity as cities, communities, societies grow in size. In Misono--a town of a few hundred--I can treated practically as an equal. In Kusatsu, where people's mode's of daily life are much more, to say it lightly, selfish, and driven by capital and productivitiy, the end result is personal gain. The mode of communication demeans the person and glorified the hollow fear that perpetuates differences based on appearance, value based on easily-manipulated shadows.

I know for many people it just intrinsically feels better to meet and make friends with someone who genuity reciprocates one's one earnestness for kindness and compassion. Why don't we caring few make a stand against soullessness as portrayed in mundane, suicide-inducive society and band together to make this world better for ourselves, if not eventually for everyone who catches on to the trend?

The BEE Event

2008-09-19T21:33:00.007+09:00

Left to right: Ryan (Maibara ALT--he hosted the male riders on Sept 10th; Fun--a Chinese exchange student from Hiroshima, currently riding with BEE; Colin--former Jet from Fukui, native Scotsman; Kyle--Hikone Jet and fellow AJET leader; Amiena--another former Fukui JET and BEE rider, American I believe; Katie P--Hikone JET ALT and host of the lady BEEs.

As I've been promising for months, the long awaited BEE Japan Team came to Hikone, Shiga as a stop on their ride across the country. We welcomed them in proper BEE fashion--vegetarian meals (non-veggie meals for non-veggie guests), an all-local and I believe organic dinner. Several environmentally conscious people from the Hikone community came out to show their support, one woman even has a son who travels the world spreading the idea of sustainable living as he goes. He's traveled to India, the Middle East, and many other places, learning and teaching about how to harmonize one's life with nature and society--as he is also an advocate of world peace. (Once I remember his name I will surely add it here.)

Many JET ALTs also attended the event, which I believe was successful because it showed us how important it is to think about ourselves as contributors to a natural system, rather than top-honcho's at the end of the food chain. If the human race is going to survive, we must begin live daily with humility, and remember that our actions significantly contribute the earth and each other.

All in all, we raised a little money for the group's final donation (to an environmental NPO TBA), and gave them a safe, warm hearth for the eve to rest their weary bones. I hope next year when I'm riding I can find such welcomes places as this. Hopefully with the relationships I'm making now with people like Nakamura-san at Moku (the restaurant where we had this event), this kind of thing will be possible in the future as well. It's amazing how much so a small group of aspiring individuals can accomplish!

Enough preaching, on with the photos:

Mike and I played a few tunes for the group, hopefully a little encouragement on the jouney.

They either really enjoyed it, our it bored them to death. I'll let you be the judge (mind you, they'd been riding for 5 weeks, ~100km/day by this point!!)

Nebuta Matsuri and other Tokoku Adventures: ねぶた祭と東北巡り

2008-09-15T07:42:00.029+09:00

For Katie's and my last around Japan together before she returned home to Athens, we took a ferry ride up to the Northern Honshu region. It was both of our first times to the area, so we had an action-packed week of trains, festivals, trains, onsen (hot springs), and yes, trains. Thanks to the Seishun 18-kippu (青春１８切符 a 5-day, all-you-can-ride pass）we could take the trains all the way home from Aomori for only about $100 (usually it would cost between $250~500, depending on the type of train).

August 5th: We arrived on a ferry at 6am, and after some coffee and breakfast, we immediately started out on the trains. We went up and around the western coast of Akita and Aomori, to the Shirakami National Forest.
Few people realize that most of Japan's native forests remain, as most were stripped for lumber during the industrializing transition, probably because it's a subject people would rather avoid. (On a similar note, basically has no native, "primeval" forests left.) Japanese native flora include a vibrant mixture of beech, birch, bamboo, some cedar, pine, Japanese maple (momiji)--of course, now most people would only notice the predominant sugi (cedar). The replacement of a lush balance of plant life with a lumber-industry-driven monoculture has lead to a severe increase in hay fever (花粉症＝kafunsho) among the population.
But Shirakami is still a natural sanctuary, as beautiful as fellow UNESCO World Heritage site Yakushima Island, where Katie, Mike, Efrem, and I went back at the first of May. In Shirakami we saw some of the most pristine forests and ponds, such as Blue Pond (青池）below.

Somewhere around 7pm, after arriving about 200 kilometers away in Akita at 6am that morning, we finally arrived at our destination, Kawayo "Green" Farm, about an hour outside of Aomori.
http://www.kawayo.com/
I'd like to stay again another time when I can explore more of what the farm and ranch have to offer, but we were pretty busy sightseeing, and didn't get a chance to look around much. Maybe another time...

August 6th:
We got up early to head up to Osore-zan (Mt. Osore, on of the most sacred places in Japan) up on the 下北半島, the Shimokita Peninsula, the apex of Honshu (the main island). Here are some photos form Osore-zan.

High up in what appears to be a previously active volcano, now the valley surrounding Osore-zan seems barren and resembling Pergatory. For that reason, the land surrounding is believed to be where all souls journey upon leaving the mortal world. A sulfurous lake belies the valley, next to Osore-zan and the Osore temple--a free onsen (hot spring), right?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Osore

Actually, this lake, Lake Usouri (I think that's how you say it　＝宇曽利湖）, is sacred due to it being the gate to hell. Though not intended as an act of blatant blasphemy, Katie and I went
swimming in the Lake Usouri. Just look at how crystal it was!!

Can you really blame us? Besides, is anything so sacred that it cannot be enjoyed by a pure heart? I'm sure the spirits could see that our intention was pure, just to enjoy the marvelous scene surrounding us.

For the main event, we went into Aomori City for Nebuta Matsuri, the whole reason we decided to take this trip in the first place. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking, but a few details: all 24 floats were displayed the night we went. Also, people who rent (or make their own costumes) are allowed to join in the dancing and whatnot as they please. People without costumes are kept off the streets, where the floats are being carried around. Basically, if you pay the 3000 yen to rent a costume, you get a VIP pass that allows you to practically walk right up and touch any of the floats (and take all of the awesome pictures we were able to get).

August 7th
We weren't really sure what this day would hold for us, but we ended up taking half-a-day's train ride down to Naruko Onsen, one of Kanto's (Easten Japan's) most famous hot spring towns. Good place, that Naruko Onsen. Many local craftsmen specialize in the art of Kokeshi, a Japanese traditional wooden doll.

Kokeshi??? or Katie???

Naruko Onsen has it's own local beer, always a plus, as well as a several public baths (only about 1~200 yen), and free footbaths throughout the town. If you want, of couse, you can stay at one of the famous onsen hotels (around 7000~20,000 yen a night!), or you can do what Katie and I did; we waited until dark, after having a couple of tantalizing Naruko Onsen beers and dinner, and we made the 2 km walk/hike up to Lake Katanumaz––our second sulfurous, hot spring/lake in as many days––where we camped lakeside for free. Of course waiting until past dark is a bit frustrating when trying to set-up camp, but it wasn't that difficult (agreeing on the place was more-so).

August 8th

Waking up next to an turquoise blue lake in the middle of the mountains, with a beautiful blond mess of hair next to me to share it.

Later we visited Matsushima, as it claimed to be among the top 3 views of Japan.

I don't what your opinion is of these photos (I did my best of cut out the ugliness of the city and focus on the islands), but I honestly wouldn't rank Matsushima among the top 3 places we saw on this trip, let alone in Japan. Basho, probably Japan's most revered poets, was struck breathless by the site of Matsushima's pine-covered island upon his first sight of them––he was clearly a product of aristocratic-sponsored class of artists (as all are) in pre-industrial times, and he luckily expired before the coming of prostitution of natural beauty for money.

The next stop on our tour was infinitely more captivating and deserving of praise: Yamadera. A major temple in Japanese Tendai Buddhism, the flame that still burns was passed from Hiei-zan in Shiga (where Tendai Buddhism blossomed in Japan), and when Hiei-zan's temples were destroyed in 1571 by Nobunaga (a real roadblocker to human evolution who needed to destroy other people's faith in order to demonstrate his power), the flame in Yamadera was used in turn to re-ignite Enraku-ji's (Enraku Temple's) flame.

From Yamadera in Yamagata prefecture, Katie and I basically made a bee-line by train back home in Kusatsu. Given that we only had only 4 days of real exploring, I feel like we really made the most of it, of course there's so much that's been difficult to include for the sake of cogency. Hope you enjoyed the photos.

I realized in writing this that I haven't finished my journal entries from Katie and my Cambodia & Laos trip. Expect to find more on that soon.

BEE Event in Hikone

2008-08-19T22:24:00.000+09:00

I've planned the following event with Mr. Nakamura at Moku, a natural cafe and restaurant in Hikone, Shiga for the BEE 2008 ride. Anyone in the neighborhood, please stop by!

Writing from 関西空港　(Kansai 'The Titanic Tortoise' International Airport)

2008-08-12T14:44:00.002+09:00

Yes, it is sinking, along with the billions of dollars invested in 2008 presidential election campaigns and the opening ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. Like global capitalism that will not be able to sustain the amassing blow of realistic oil prices (yes, we're actually asked to pay for what the shit is worth and it hurts, oh how it burns our spoiled govt-subsidized, super-sized wallets. Consider it a tithe for the pain our Earth is feeling. And pray I never become president, because even if I could swallow the moral prostitution, say I didn't do a whole lotta inhalin to please the Mighty Righties, and somehow ethically justify throwing billions of dollars to corrupt corporate media execs while people starve and suffer from an improvident healthcare/social welfare system--if all this were possible and I somehow made it to the White House, I could gurantee I would do everything in may steriod-riddled executive power to double, if not triple the current price on crude oil and gasoline as a tax for the environmental damage we cause in our pursuit of in.

Think about it, does the heroine junkie quit and recover by cutting back 50% over the next 40 years? Of course not, because he/she would long expire before the diplomatic remission date. Why does our govt seem to think it can keep attempting to eek out tepid proposals (which they have yet to follow through on, and besides the US, even those countries who stuck with the Kyoto Protocol are failing to meet their promises).

How much longer are we, the people going to keep letting govt/corporate cartels abuse their power, which derives, at least for the meanwhile, from us?

You do realize that the govt at it's Halliburton allies who are keeping The US mainlined into the oil-opiate, have been hiring private armies, mercenaries, on top of the US Army.

See Blackwater's homepage

See Wikipedia's report on Blackwater for a compilation of the accusations against Blackwater's war crimes

See Videos of Blackwater agents killing civilians in Iraq

The govt and its Halliburton allies are amassing private armies, mercenaries, on top of the US Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, etc, to keep our oil-opiate addiciton running strong. Are we going to tacitly approve of outsorcing war by reaping the benefits comfortably at home. Is out of sight truly out of mind?

On a brighter note, I'll be back in the states soon so hopefully I'll get the chance to harangue many old friends and older family in person between today and Labor Day (I'm time-traveling, so August 12th is actually a 48 hour day for me: Depart 17:15 from Osaka, Arrive 11:07 in San Francisco).

New Inspiration

2008-07-17T22:50:00.001+09:00

So I was watching the Daniel Johnston biography "The Devil and Daniel Johnston"
the other day, and it got me back into the music promulgation mode. In case you haven't noticed yet, I've recently created another blog/webpage devoted entirely to my music lyrics. It's on the side bar, so check it out if you want a peek at all the crazy stuff that goes on inside my head but I don't say--I sing it instead!

On another note the band Vampire Weekend has recently come to my attention--spectacular! It's easy when living in a world of so much commercially-driven, corporate exec-approved and honored unartistic crap to become disenchanted and believe that "music is dead". Vampire Weekend's mix of classical and modern styles gives me a reason to continue believing that there are creative sounds waiting to be heard.
Please check 'em out. I'm only saying this because I believe them to believe deserving of your attention. Every song I've listened to on their MySpace has become an instant favorite.
http://www.vampireweekend.com/
http://www.myspace.com/vampireweekend

Sports Day 2008 (体育祭　＝ Taiikusai）

2008-07-13T12:46:00.000+09:00

The green team doing the group jump rope. They were really impressive, and won the event by getting around 9 times. I have a video I'm trying to figure out how to load as well of their great run.

One of the English teachers I work with, Yoshijima Sensei, and a student from her homeroom class, Kyoko.

Stretching in the morning before the events began.

3rd year (Senior) Miwako, Vice Principal, Sawa Sensei, and Social Studies Teacher, Nakanishi Sensei.

A group of first year students and the flag they made.

Relay handoff

Ta-chan, or Sugimoto Sensei. He teaches science and is the only other teacher at Kusatsu under the age of 30, so we're pretty good friend. I go visit him and his family quite often, help out with some of their farming. He almost left Kusatsu back in March, he actually only a temporary teacher, not a part of the tenured staff, but I'm really glad he's staying for one more year.

Time again for banners, races, and lots of jump rope action. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

We tried hard, but couldn't find the ghost towns

2008-07-12T08:40:00.000+09:00

The word of the day is 合併（gappei), meaning merger. Great word, that merger, 18th century Anglo-Norman French. My favorite use of the word comes from Bret Easton Ellis' modern classic American Psycho:

"Patrick Bateman: Ask me a question.
Daisy: So, what do you do?
Patrick Bateman: I'm into, well, uh, murders and executions, mostly.
Daisy: Do you like it?
Patrick Bateman: Well, it depends. Why?
Daisy: Well, most guys I know who are in Mergers and Acquisitions really don't like it.

If that's not a great mnemonic device, I don't know what is.

In Japan gappei is used to describe when several small towns combine to make a larger municipality. In Shiga this is becoming more and more common as young people abandon their family's heritage for neon lights of Osaka and Tokyo. It's strange to think that now half of the world's population lives congested in such small spaces. If the world's spin were effected by the weight distribution of all of the bodies, autos, concrete, and metal in the cities, it should become discombobulated and leave the sun's orbit any day now. That or the island of Manhattan should be sinking like Osaka's Kansai International Airport (also an island, man-made though and dropping under the bay a few centimeters every year).

Pardon my meandering.

So the gappei phenomenon happing across Japan (and the world) is having one main impact on local communities--bringing them into accelerated extinction. Now it's time for tomorrow's word of the day, which I'll tell you today because I can't finish this story without you know it:
限界集落（genkai shuraku) = villages that have lost their status as a town been de-municipalicized (is that a word?). Basically, ghost towns.

One Saturday (June 28th precisely), Katie, Dan, Efrem, Carmen, and I went up to Yogo in north Shiga to find one of these ghost towns. Alas, we came up short of uncovering any ruins of homes, which I was anticipating, but the bike trip was great nonetheless. The mountains in that part of Shiga are absolutely gorgeous--pristine, no electricity pylons or radio towers, no noise that didn't originate from nature, dozens of small shrines hiding in the hills, and the water was still out of man's reach (aka, clean and safe to drink). I can't understand how so many people collectively decide on a daily basis to ignore nature, that exist for their own sake and exudes beauty just through its existence, and replace it with contraptions of convenience.

Well, the good news is that since there's so little interest in it, I'll hopefully be able to buy a fine little plot of land in a few years at a cheap price!

This is an actual tombstone for the ghost town.

A cappella: amazing video

2008-06-29T10:55:00.000+09:00

I ran across this pretty amazing a cappella group on You Tube just a little while ago:

MIT Resonance performing The Killers' Mr. Brightside.
I haven't listened to much vocal work since college, but watching this video reawakened that nostalgic valve. The rest of their music can be found on the Resonance website, but I'm not so impressed by their recordings, a little too much production, not as much natural sound as I prefer in my a cappella music. Still pretty good work though.

Also, I couldn't resist adding my favorite (my father's as well) vocal artist. Bobby McFerrin has the most dexterous larynx in the world. Here's a You Tube video of his Blackbird live performance.

Kobe Show at Polo Dog (6/21)

2008-06-26T22:00:00.000+09:00

Katie and I making music (not like that!)

Last Saturday Mike, Katie, a friend from the UGA who also teaches over here, Sean Pavone, and I played a show at a place called the Polo Dog in Kobe near Sannomiya station. The place was a little small, but had a great atmosphere and fun group of people. Between 9-11 it was jammed, people bumping into the mics, practically stepping on our pedals, but it was great, nothing to complain about at all. I rather like feeling the crowd so close to my hands, it feels as if my hands are beckoning and pulling them closer with every strum. It's nice to play in such an intimate setting where people seem to really pay attention and care about the effort you're making. I'm looking forward to playing again there sometime in the near future.

The Sean Pavone

Me, Laura, Chris, and Hiro (I believe)

I also got to catch up with a few friends I met at a Japanese language research conference in Tokyo a few months ago, Laura and Chris. All in all, it was a really great time. Unfortunately it was probably Sean's last show, he's heading back home at the end of July. Maybe we can have a reunion sometime in Athens...? Check out Sean on MySpace; he has a new song I really like called Rewind.

Mike & I in the groove

Just for fun, here's the set list from Saturday's show:

-Let's Be Monkeys (original w/Mike ***can be heard at www.myspace.com/salemwillard)
-Alexander's Homecoming (original)
-Buddha (original)
-Space Oddity (David Bowie)
-Beautiful Wreck (Shawn Mullins w/Katie)
-Anabelle (Gillian Welch w/Katie)
-(Dance! Dance!) Happenstance (original)
-Dustbowl (original)
-Rosa Parks (original lyrics w/Katie, Mike)
-Nothing Better (Postal Service w/Mike)
-In Your Eyes (Peter Gabriel w/Mike, Katie)
-Merry-go-round (original w/Mike)
-Everlong (Foo Fighters w/Mike)
-With or Without You (w/Katie, Mike)

Kaite and I making a "Beautiful Wreck"

Mike and I again with Chris (our biggest fan!)

One last bit of news, I recently started up my own MySpace account, so now anyone can easily check out the songs I've been recording (with producer/contributer Mike Bass). So far we've laid down 4 fairly good tracks at Mike's apartment, but I have many more in the works, so please stop by periodically.

My First Japanese Speech (Contest) (4/20/2008)

2008-06-15T07:57:00.000+09:00

You didn't miss much. I actually missed it myself. Funny story...

I was scheduled to participate in a Speech Contest for foreigners living in Japan back in February, however the morning of the speech I began coughing up blood––肺炎, pneumonia. Nothing like the taste of iron in the morning. Did I mention I've been eating a lot of spinach lately?
So I called up Fujiwara sensei, my teacher, who informed the speech contest committee for me that I would not be participating in the day's event.

If it were an excuse just to write off pre-performance stage fright, it was a pretty weak one, I have to admit. Honestly, I was pretty disappointed; I had worked for about a month writing and correcting the speech with Fujiwara sensei, spent about a week memorizing it, practicing the proper intonation--all for naught.

That was at least until the Yasu International Friendship Association (YIFA) swooped in to the rescue. YIFA is an organization that helps to find volunteer Japanese citizens (such as Fujiwara sensei) to teach foreigners seeking help in their Japanese language studies (me). YIFA requested that I deliver my speech at the annual meeting to discuss the budget and goals of the upcoming year. So on April 20th, I found myself in front of this audience saying the following nonsense:

コミュニケションイコール理解

私はアメリカのジョージア大学で１年間日本語を勉強しました。日本語を勉強している間に、日本に対してとても興味を持ちました。それで、英語の先生になる事を決めて、２００６年の８月に日本へ来ました。今英語指導助手で、草津高校で教えています。最初は、どんな教え方をしたらいいか分かりませんでしたが、実際に生徒達に教えてみて、少しずつ分かってきました。教育について一番大切なことは何かという事です。
英語は他の教科に比べてオーラルコミュニケーションが必要だと思います。日本に来て以来今までいろんな誤解を経験しました。一つ例をあげてみます。ある日、私は生徒に「Gotcha, Gotcha」と言ってしまいました。「Gotcha, Gotcha」。皆さん、これは何だか分かりますか。生徒は私が日本語をしゃべったと思ってびっくりしました。それは日本語ではなくて英語で「分かった、分かった」という意味だったのですが。私は日本語で「ガチャガチャ」という言葉がある事を知りませんでした。意味が違うのに、英語と日本語で同じ言葉があるのは面白いですね。
この場合は楽しかったのですが、コミュニケーションの誤解から非常に困った事態を招くことがよくあります。例えば、（この）手招きのジェスチャーは日本語とアメリカでは全く反対です。アメリカで日本のようなジェスチャーをすると「あっちへ行け」という意味になって、相手を怒らせてしまうかもしれません。こんな事にならないように若いうちにちゃんと生活全てのコミュニケーションを学ぶことがとても大切だと思います。なぜなら、大人になったら、自分の行動に責任を持たなければならないからです。
また、固定観念によって起こる誤解からいろんな問題は生じることが多いと思います。間違った固定観念を持ったら、いいコミュニケーションはなくなってしまうでしょうね。西洋が日本人に持っている固定観念は、日本人はあまり自分の意見を言わずに、おとなしいと言う事です。でも、もちろん、積極的に話したがる日本人はたくさんいますよね。
一方で、日本人にも外国人に対する固定観念があります。例として、外国人は日本語が分からなくて、英語しかしゃべれないと思っている人が多いことです。どっちも間違っていると思います。日本語が話せる外国人がいますし、そして、英語が分からない外国人もたくさんいます。
もし私たちが固定観念で全てのことを考えたら、いろんな会話のチャンスを失うかもしれません。「彼はアメリカ人だから…」とか「彼女は日本人だから…」という固定観念は誰のためにもならないと思います。コミュニケーションはお互いを理解するために、とても大切な事ではないでしょうか。コミュニケーションができたら、知らない人の事もよく理解できるようになれるでしょう。
そういう「Gotcha, Gotcha」コミュニケーションを草津高校の生徒と持ちたいのです。ありがとうございました

Yes, completely and utter nonsense. But here's what I think I said in English:

Communication Equals Understanding

At the University of Georgia I studied Japanese for 1 year. While studying my interest in Japan grew. During this time I decided that I wanted to try becoming an English teacher, and in August 2006 I moved to Japan. Now as an English Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) I am teaching at Kusatsu High School. At first I didn't exactly know how to teach English, but I learned on my feet, through practice so to speak, and learned little by little. When it comes to education, learning by doing is one of the most important sills one can acquire.
Compared to other school subjects, in English, I think oral communication is vital. Since coming to Japan I've experienced many misunderstandings due to a lack in this area. For example, one time I said to a student, "Gotcha, gotcha." To the audience: Do people here know what that "Gotcha, gotcha" means? The student was surprised because she thought I was speaking Japanese. Actually, it's an English phrase that means, " 分かった、分かった" in Japanese. I didn't even know that in Japanese there were words such as "Gacha, Gacha" (which sound identical to the English "Gotcha, gotcha"). Though the meaning is different, these homophone between English and Japanese are pretty interesting.
This situation was a fun misunderstanding, but sometimes miscommunication can lead to trouble. Take this gesture for example. Here I gesture the Japanese "come here", which to Westerners looks a lot like you are waving a person away. In America and Japan, it means entirely different things. In America if you do this gesture, you'll say, "Go away" and probably anger the person you're trying to talk to. In order to avoid this kind miscommunication, I think that people should begin from a young age to learn how to communicate in all areas of life, because later in life their will be responsible for their own behavior.
Moreover, misunderstandings guided by stereotypes can cause many problems. If we hold stereotypes toward others, we will most likely lose the ability to communicate with them equally. One stereotype that Westerners have about Japanese people is that they are very quiet, mild people who rarely state their own opinions. However, there are surely many outgoing Japanese who love talking.
On the other hand, Japanese people also have stereotypes about foreigners. For example, there are many people who believe that foreigners don't understand Japanese and can only speak English. I believe both of these thoughts are mistaken. There are many foreigners who can speak Japanese and many foreigners who don't understand English.
If we think only along the lines of our stereotypes, we will mostly like miss out on a variety of chances to learn about and talk with each other. "Because he's American..." or "She's Japanese, so..." those kind of stereotypes are no good for anyone. Isn't communication an important means for us to help understand each other better? If we can learn to communicate better with each other, we can come to understand people we know little about (and hence the stereotypes will also cease to be).
This is the kind of "Gotcha, gotcha" communication I want to share with my students at Kusatsu High School.

It's a little too after-school special for even my taste, but that's the best I could do given my 2+ years of Japanese. It was definitely a good challenge, and it felt really good to be able to express some of those points about stereotypes. Living in one of the most homogenized societies on the Earth (99% Japanese people on these islands), cultural myths, stereotypes––
essentially prejudice and racism––are a part of everyday life. Not matter how polite this may be at times, I believe it's something that should be brought to people's attention, and I'm thankful this speech gave me the opportunity to do so.

My ECC project: Earth Day posters

2008-05-25T21:54:00.000+09:00

For this year on Earth Day, I had my ECC (English Communication Club) at Kusatsu High make posters to put up around the school in order to promote awareness, in English and in Japanese to reach the widest audience. I was really happy with the work that everyone put into the project. Three students and I put in about 90 minutes of work, and each of us came out with a poster that displayed not only our English (in my case, Japanese) ability, but our sincere care for the environment. This yellow one was done by a 3rd year (equivalent to a senior in the States), Yume Watanabe.

The pink belongs to the freshman, and newest member to the ECC, Motonari Koike.

Blue: 3rd year, Izumi Hattori.

And finally, my own. Sadly if I hadn't said so, people probably would have taken one look and said, "That was done by a high schooler?" incredulously because it looks inferior to the worst kindergarten student's hand. Luckily, style doesn't necessarily matter when it comes to thinking conscientiously about the environment, so I get an "A" for "effort", I suppose.

Regardless, the activity was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed seeing the students work with so much enthusiasm over something they could have easily blown off for internet chatting or video games. I've found that since introducing environmentally focused/Earth Day lessons since the beginning of this year, they've quickly become my students' favorites. I think this is definitely a positive sign that one of the best ways of teaching is by being motivated oneself, and sharing that passion with others. Sorry to end on a "Saved by the Bell" after-school special note, but we can find an honest place to connect with the kids we are teaching, and if not teaching, simply a point of open communication with another person, our ability to positively influence each others' lives is tremendous. Finding that place can sometimes seem impossible, but I hope everyone keeps trying. We don't really have many chances left to screw up this area of interpersonal communication.
Peace,
Salem

Golden Week 2008: Kyushu 九州

2008-05-22T22:52:00.000+09:00

Many people back home may not know that the Japanese school year begins in April. Like America's tax cycle, March and beginning of April bring tears to the eyes of many as graduating 18 year-olds and teachers receiving intra-prefectural transfers pack up their bags and move on to their next destination. While the former is a natural transition, a 'rite of passage', the latter is a senseless displacement that often forces veteran teachers into unqualified positions at their new schools, for example the basketball coach at School A will become a tennis coach at School B, despite having no knowledge or experience with a racket. "Maybe sports don't require as much expertise," you say, "surely they wouldn't do the same thing in the classroom." Unfortunately sports are not the exception. I have often talked to a teacher whose expertise is in Japanese History, yet because the faculty has 4 staff member proficient in the area, she was asked to prepare lessons for World History, which she knew little about. I know this often happens in The States as well; infamously dull and dimwitted soccer and football coaches/history teachers are a cliché to any high school student. But to lack competency in all areas smacks of institutionalized miseducation.

The inefficiency of this rhyme and reasonless teacher swapping also costs the education system losses in the billions (in yen or dollars). That same teacher at School A used to live a 5 minute bike ride from work. But come April 1st, she could find herself driving up to 45~90 minutes to School B. So now not only is the Prefecture losing money by putting their teachers in situations that do not allow them to use their training effectively, they are handicapping the students by failing to provide adequate, inspiring education, polluting our environment, and losing countless hours to the brain-draining "commute" virus. This may seem like an exaggeration, but I can assure you, it is an annual practice, like ritualistic slaughter, and I'll leave it to you to figure out who represents the lamb.

Needless to say, the end of April, beginning of May is a time we ALT like to get the hell out of school for a glorious escape known as Golden Week.

The pictures do a more succinct job, so I'll leave most of the work to them. Basically, we went to Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's four main islands (others being Hokkaido, Honshu, and Shikoku, north to south). Kyushu is a land of ancient volcanoes, many of which are still active. Like this one here, the Minamidake (South Peak) on Sakurajima, the first stop on our tour of Kyushu. This volcano has actually wiped out the island's eastern towns several times in its history, as well as created a land bridge between the island an Kyushu's main land.

And where there are volcanoes in Japan, there are certain to be onsen (hot springs = 温泉). There's no better way to end a day of riding around Sakurajima (an island 40km in circumfrence) on gearless bikes. This particular onsen, Furusato Onsen, was also a shrine, so any visitors had to wear a robe, or yukata, into the water as they bathed. It was the first time I had experienced this in Japan. Usually onsen means getting nek'd in front of a lot of strangers, and for someone who went to a high school without a locker room (that you for sheltering me, Paideia, seriously!) this can be shocking. But after being here for two years now, I found the yukata style somewhat awkward--while my body has adjusted to being clothless in the onsen water, my brain knew that nudity equaled sacrilige, so I did my best to keep everything on, at least for the camera.

Sakurajima also treated Katie and I to another wonderful, though strange, first: chiken sushi. Many of you who know I have become a hypocritical part-time vegetarian may be hissing at the news, I do eat meat under certain conditions: 1) it's organic, or as close as anything can be nowadays, and it's local, 2) it's been ordered accidentally due to communication errors, 3) it's my birthday, 4) I'm at a guest's house and free food plus manners persuade me otherwise. Well, I should move to Sakurajima because it satisfied my 1st and most important standard: it's grain fed, free-range, locally slaughtered (i.e. 20 feet away from your table) and prepared on site by Mr. Tashiro. My conscience and I couldn't have been happier. Katie and I ate, drank, took a siesta on the tatami at the Tashiro residence/restaurant, all for $25--quite possibly one of the best meals I've ever experienced. When we awoke, we were given a personal tour of the farm and grounds by Mr. Tashiro, and eventually made our way around the island, back to the hotel.

While there's no possible was to forget the immense hospitality shown by the Tashiro family, juxtaposed with the haven of their free-range farm were the notorious tetrapods. On any given coastline in Japan, there is no escaping these concrete monstrosities. Even the bay inland of Sakurajima island (which faces the mainland on the inside of a bay where waves are incredibly minimal, practically non-existent), the tetrapods prevail. I provide multiple views to show that my account is not exaggerated in its detail of the cement quadriplegia that paralyzes gorgeous coastlines. I've read statistics that quote the production of these lifeless clunks as consisting of as much to 10% of the national construction budget. Along with the paving of river beds and unnecessary damming of creaks thinner than my piss stream, these man-made disaster protection devices are more detrimental that the changes that would occur were they not impeding the natural processes in place. Take a look at these blockheads--really, are they worth the cost?

Fun as it was, we eventually had to leave Sakurajima and the dinosaur park (a tribute to "life size" dinosaur playground structures we conquered our final night). From there, Yakushima, another island 2 hours south by the "Rocket" Ferry.

Yakushima (屋久島) was also certainly not lacking in beauty. About 50% of the island functions on hydropower, provided by Yakushima's countless pristine clear-flowing streams and rivers.
The water here is certainly something the brag about; it rains a total of "35 times a month" according to locals, and actually accumulates some of the highest amount of rainfall per year in the world. The height of the mountains adds a unique boreal layer to the forests at high altitudes, such as the famous Yakusugi (Yakushima Cedar)

According to Japanese records, Yakushima holds the World's Oldest Tree: Jomonsugi (縄文杉), around 2,000 years old. The picture is a bit weak I know, but apparently due to the cold climate high in Yakushima's forests, the rings on Yakusugi trees are incredibly thin, therefore deceptively small compared to California Redwoods, and other trees that date back centuries. For what it's worth though, this account is what I've gathered from my Japanese sources and poor photography skills.

So we camped and hiked for 3 days up to the highest point in Yakushima, Miyanouradake (宮之浦岳). On the way we met two friends, Torou and Yumi, a brother and sister who live there on Yakushima, and they invited us over the night after we descended the mountain to join them for dinner and to stay the night (more details to come at a later date).

But the hiking, playing, and scenery were things I will never forget about the trip. I have many more photos up on my Flickr account, if anyone is interested in taking a peek.

Other than that, I think I've reached a good stopping point for now on the Kyushu trip. I will of course be updating as memories fly (hopefully) belatedly back into the forefront.
Peace,
Salem

地球の日のため琵琶湖を掃除する活動：Cleaning up Lake Biwa for Earth Day

2008-04-21T19:28:00.000+09:00

For those who don't know, International Earth Day is on April 22nd. In order to help celebrate this, I helped organize a group of ALTs here in Shiga to clean up a part of the shoreline in Nagahama, at the northern end of Lake Biwa (Japan's largest and dirtiest lake). As you can see, we had our work cut out for us, but in about 3 and 1/2 hours we collected 33 bags of most useless crap.

ご存知のない人々へ、世界中の「地球の日」という祝祭日は４月の２２日（明日）です。この日を祝うため、滋賀県の英語指導助手のグループが集まってもらって、長浜市で琵琶湖の海岸を掃除する活動しました。琵琶湖は日本の第一大きくて汚れている湖です。見えるように、この活動は大変だけど、３時間半で、３３個の袋を無駄なゴミで満たしました。

But seeing how much of an impact we could make with around 10~15 people in such a short amount of time was really uplifting. I'm hoping that we can make this a monthly thing, and that in the process other Japanese citizens will see us taking care of their (and our) home and begin to take more strict efforts to maintain the environment.

しかし、１０〜１５人で短い間で「あきらめるなと」思って頑張って、最後に出来るのは何よりだった！私は毎月同じような作業をしたいと思っています。そうしたら、他の日本人に見られて、私たちの「日本の環境を守ろう」という気持ちを身につけて環境にもっとやさしくなるかもしれません。

I have quite a few more photos from the event that you can see here on Flickr:
Biwako Clean-up: 琵琶湖を清掃

2008 BEE Japan Cross-Country Ride (日本一周ライド）

2008-04-17T20:49:00.000+09:00

Hey everyone,

I originally posted about these guys about a year ago, and I put their website on my side bar of links. Recently I've gotten involved with BEE Japan, and I'm helping coordinate BEE SIG, one of their websites associated with AJET (a National JET Program run by JET participants). If you find anything interesting and/or want to help in any way, please let me know.

Peace, Salem

最近私は下に説明するBEE Japanチームと活動しています。BEE Japanについて質問があったら、もし手伝いたいと思ったら人、是非メール下さい。すでに横のサイドバーにBEE Japanのリンクが貼ってあいます。
よろしくお願いします！

Greetings from the BEE (Bicycle for Everyone's Earth) Team. BEE is the
name of the AJET Eco SIG, a group of JETs who promote environmentalism
in Japan.
Every year during the summer months an intrepid band of JETs cycle
from Wakkanai in northern Hokkaido to Kagoshima in southern Kyushu.
Riding an average of 70km a day the BEE team covers over 3000 km in 2
months all the while spreading the message of environmental protection
and sustainable living.

In 2008 the team will depart from Wakkanai on August 2nd and ride
their way down to Niigata Prefecture along the Sea of Japan before
tackling the Japanese Alps. Arriving in Tokyo in late August they will
be hosting some events for a few days then will head out along the
southern coast of Honshu, skirting round Mt. Fuji and heading for
Shiga Prefecture and Lake Biwa by early September. After a few days in
Fukui Prefecture the ride goes through Kyoto and Osaka, crosses to
Shikoku and travels on to Hiroshima via Ehime Prefecture. By late
September they will take the ferry to Kyushu and spend the last 10
days of the month travelling toward Kagoshima Prefecture and the
finish line. All along, the team will host events to promote
environmental awareness.
www.beejapan.org/index/2008/route

Sound exciting? There are still a few positions left on the riding
team. Right now we have several riders committed to the entire trip
with some more coming along for certain sections. We are still
recruiting riders. You can get an application form at
www.beejapan.org/index/2008/join (our rider application deadline is
the end of May).

BEE is really a national effort involving hundreds of individuals
across Japan. It really can't happen without your support. Here are
some of the things you can do to help.

Become a supporter
Do you have some spare futons? Can you cook for a small band of hungry
cyclists? Are you a local AJET rep who can help organise an event? Are
you interested in learning more about how you can live a sustainable
life? Maybe you are an avid cyclist and would like to come for a few
days of the ride? Or perhaps you rock the nihongo and are willing to
give some of your time to translating for us? If you can think of
anyway to help us then we need to hear from you.

The most help we need is in fact along the route. If you are willing
to host the team (or part of the team) in your house or apartment why
not check out the route and see if we are coming to your area. Check
out the route plan here at route. Just send us an email at
teamleader@beejapan.org if you are willing to help us out. Even if you
just want to suggest some cool places in your area then please send us
an email.

On of the best ways to keep up to date with what is happening on BEE
is to join our mailing list. Just send a blank email to
eigonews-subscribe@beejapan.org.

You can also lend your considerable support by ordering one of our
sweet new tshirts. Not only will you get a cool shirt but will be
helping BEE, thereby helping the earth. The shirts are very reasonably
priced at 2500 yen each. You can view the design at
www.beejapan.org/index/2008/tshirt

Details on how to order will be posted on the website and also sent
out on our mailing lists.

A message from the BEE SIG coordinator
Hey everyone, My name is Salem Willard, I'm a second-year high school
ALT in Shiga Prefecture.
I recently inherited the BEE SIG (Bicycling for Everyone's Earth
Special Interest Group), and I'm hoping to revitalize it this coming
year. BEE SIG functions to raise environmental awareness, provide
information about these environmental issues, and to support BEE JAPAN
and their yearly ride around the country to promote sustainable
living.

If you feel passionately about reducing waste in Japan (such as
plastic bags, waribashi, etc) and maintaining a clean place for us all
to live, please contact me at coordinator@beejapan.org. Yoroshiku.

Thanks for your support!

Colin Johnston - BEE Ride team leader
Salem Willard - BEE SIG Coordinator

Visit www.beejapan.org

Waribashi (part 2 or 3)

2008-04-10T23:27:00.000+09:00

It's been a few months, and that means I need to loosen my atrophying vocal chords and get back to hollering about waribashi (disposable chopsticks, the devils). As I've foamed before, they are a key component to Japan's senseless and ignorant destruction of the world's (mainly China's) forests, and there really is no reason for thing to have continued as far as they have. Given the technological capacities of thus country, there is no reason for Japan to continue using 26,0oo,ooo,ooo billion pairs of waribashi every year.

So I've gotten past the point of wishful thinking and strident echoes against my own righteous sounding wall that is this blog, and I decided recently to take action that would have a larger impact on my community, my world, because if we cut down any more trees without respecting the boon they provide for all living creatures, there is going to be no more oxygen to exercise my angry lungs.

My solution is to go to the power. I wrote a letter to the governor of Shiga Prefecture, Mrs. Yukiko Kada, explaining why I think that ending the use of waribashi in Shiga is important for the environment, and suggesting ways in which we could reduce or recycle waribashi. I have already received an email from Mrs. Kada saying that she supports the idea and has passed along my ideas to the environmental department to think of new ideas/policies regarding waribashi.

I'm including my letter to The Governor below.

In addition to this, I am also attaching a photo and description of a recent piece I did for the Shiga JET Art Show. As expected, the theme was waribashi. As you will read, the waribashi I used to build a model of Japan's most famous famous Ise Temple were all waribashi that had been sneaked into my shopping bags when I wasn't looking. (The horrible dual-edge of waribashi is that once they are distributed, they cannot be returned because they are assumed to be dirty and therefore used.)

First the letter, in Japanese and English, then my artist interpretation:

嘉田知事さん、

私は現在草津高等学校で、JETプログラムの英語指導助手を勤めております、セイラム・ウィラードと申します。アメリカ合衆国のジョージア州のアトランタ市出身で、ジョージア大学で心理学と英文学を専攻して、2006年5月に卒業してから、同年７月に来日しました。

滋賀県へ来てから、日本人が環境問題に対する強い意識を持っていることに驚いて、大変感動しております。例えば、ビニール袋を使う代わりに、自分のエコバッグを持ってくる人がたくさんいます。滋賀県ではいろいろな物をリサイクルができて、県立高校で牛乳パックからリサイクルしたトイレ紙を使われています。こちらの環境を守る生活方法は素晴らしいと思います。

しかしながら、滋賀県をもっと地球にやさしくさせるために、私の考えをお伝えし、いくつかの提案をしたいと思います。

ご存知のように、日本全国で割り箸の使用が環境に非常に悪い影響を与えます。１日にほぼ１億膳の割り箸が使い捨てられています。東京大学の環境活動団体「環境三四郎」（http://www.sanshiro.ne.jp/）の全国調査によると、「2005年現在、日本国内で年間約260億膳の割り箸が消費されている」ということです。　日本らしい表現で言うと、これは「もったいない」ではないのでしょうか。

私は来日してから毎日お箸で食べなければいなくなったのですが「マイ箸（毎箸）」を使うことにしいます。周りの友達や同僚に「マイ箸」をあげたり、英語の授業で生徒と「割り箸の問題」についてディスカッションをしてもらったりしています。相対的にこの活躍は小さいですが、地球温暖化を抑えるためこの「割り箸はもったいなくて、いりません」というメッセージをみんなと申し上げたいと思っています。

ということで、滋賀県をよりきれいにし、貴重な自然資源を守るため、割り箸を滋賀県からなくすべく、二つの提案を申し上げます。

１）滋賀県が「割り箸禁止」という規制を作るのがひとつの方法です。そうすれば、飲食店では再使用お箸に変えるしかなく、そして、コンビニアンスストアでも、割り箸を配ることも禁止になります。一面ではこの提案は最も厳しいかもしれませんが、他の方法よりも効果的だと存じます。一方で、最近地方分権化が進んでいますので、条例を定める方法もあります。
２）割り箸税金という方法もあります。現在は、県民がコンビニアンスストア、飲食店、スーパーなどでは無料で簡単に割り箸をも貰うことができます。でも、もちろん割り箸の環境に悪い影響は値段に含まれていないでしょう。もし地球のための「割り箸税金」を導入すれば、幅広い効果があると存じます。2〜3円でも、その「割り箸税金」が集まったお金を原資に、例えば滋賀県内で特別な割り箸をリサイクルのシステムを設置できる可能性があります。または、これで滋賀県民がもっと環境のためを思うようになって、割り箸を使う人が自然に減るかもしれません。

ひとつの事例をあげますと、２００７年に名古屋市の一部で、「レジ袋税金」というのを始めたのですが、非常に効果的でした。1枚5円の税金を紹介したお店では、ほぼ９０％のお客さんがレジ袋を断って、その近所の市民はそれまで以上に環境的に考えるようになったようです。
（名古屋市の「レジ袋を減らす条例」の詳細については、次のホームページをご参照ください：http://www.japanfs.org/db/1999-j）

お忙しいところ、大変長い手紙を書いてしまって、申し訳ございません。
私たちの「故郷」である滋賀県とその未来を考え、一緒に滋賀県の環境を守って、琵琶湖をもっときれいにさせるのを願望しております。

誠にありがとうございました！
セイラム・ウィラードより

Dear Governor Kada,

(I am aware that you speak English as well as Japanese, and so I have provided this version of my letter in English as well. I hope that where my Japanese is lacking, my wishes and thoughts will be understood here in English.)

My name is Salem Willard, and I am currently working at Kusatsu High School as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) for the JET Program. My home is in Atlanta, Georgia of the United States of America. I graduated from the University of Georgia in May of 2006, and I came to Japan in July of that year.

Since coming to Shiga I have been very surprised and impressed with the way Japanese people think about the environment. For example, many people bring their own ‘Eco-bags’ to the grocery store instead of using plastic ones. In Shiga people also recycle many things, and even at Prefecture High Schools toilet paper is made from recycled milk cartons. I think that these are wonderful ways of taking action to protect the environment.

However, I believe that there is more we can do in Shiga to be more Earth friendly.

As you probably well know, in Japan waribashi are a big problem that has seriously harmful effects on the environment. In one day about one hundred million pairs of waribashi are used and disposed. According to research done by Kankyou Sanshiro, about 260 pairs of waribashi are used every day in Japan. To use a customary Japanese phrase, isn’t this a bit wasteful?

Since coming to Japan where I must use chopsticks everyday, I have decided to use Mybashi. I have given Mybashi to many people around me, and in English classes I have had the students discuss the waribashi problem. Although these actions are relatively small, I would like the share this message about waribashi with everyone.

In order to make Shiga cleaner and remove waribashi, for the time being, I have two proposals.

1) One way is for the Shiga government (Kencho) to pass a regulation or law. This regulation would make restaurants change to reusable chopsticks, and it would also forbid convenience stores from giving away free waribashi. On the one hand this proposal is quite strict, but I believe it could be very effective. Due to the continuing decentralization movements by local governments, however, making a general Shiga policy that the cities could pursue themselves is also an option.

2) Another way is by introducing a “Waribashi Tax”. Shiga citizens can easily get free waribashi from convenience stores, supermarkets, and restaurants, yet the cost of the negative environmental effect this has is not included. If we add a “Waribashi Tax” for the sake of our planet, I think we could make a big impact. Even just a few yen per pair of chopsticks could possibly fund a special Shiga-wide waribashi recycling system. Or even better, it could get people to think more about the environment and reduce their use of waribashi.
--In 2007, part of Nagoya began a similar “plastic bag charge” that has had dramatic effects. Stores that have introduced a 5 yen charge for plastic bags have seen up to 90% of their customers refuse plastic bags in recent months, resulting in 30 tons of reduced waste from plastic bags in the past two months.

Here is the URL to the article about Nagoya’s steps to reducing plastic bag waste:
http://www.japanfs.org/db/1999-j

I’m sorry for taking so much of your time when I know you are extremely busy. I hope that together we can make Shiga Prefecture and Lake Biwa a more beautiful place by thinking about our home and its future.

Sincerely,

Salem Willard

Now for the aesthetic side (or lack thereof) to environmental statements:

Katie Middendorf ケイティ・ミデンドーフ
Inspirer, Conspirer of otherworldly impressions
（感激させる人、宇宙を創造できる腹心）

Salem Willard セイラム・ウィラード
Construction worker, Interpreter　（建築家、翻訳）

National Treasure 国宝

Building Materials: 建設材料

Waribashi, tape 割り箸、テープ

*all waribashi used were unsolicited like hidden daggers or unwanted impositions slipped into shopping bags, Osho take-out, when we failed to keep a vigil eye
*建設した割り箸全部は捨てられたり、使い捨てられたりしました。というのは使えない燃えるゴミということです。

Comments:
We made this temple with the idea in mind that something positive can come from trash. In addition, our wastefulness has a cost that threatens our natural forests, a vital source of life, a living treasure. The temple was modeled after the Ise Jingu (Shrine), which Katie and I visited last November. Ise Jingu is the home of the Japanese Imperial Family’s deity, the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu—Ooikami. It is a sacred place symbolizing a connection with and respect for nature that people forget in their use of waribashi. We believe we must protect our treasures symbolic and living in creating a hopeful and healthy future.

コメント：
私たちはゴミから何か積極的な物事が作られるのを信じています。そして、人間の「もったいない」という生活方法は貴重で生きている資源を全壊していると思います。この「国宝」は私たちが訪問した伊勢神宮を基づくものです。伊勢神宮は自然と関連している「天照大神」の源なのに、毎日人々は割り箸を使いながら、この自然と関係の大切さを忘れてしまうと思います。私たちは生きている国宝と未来の環境を守るべきだと信じています。
―ケイティ、セイラムより（３／１９）

Shingo and Chika's wedding

2008-04-10T22:29:00.000+09:00

I met Shingo during my senior year at UGA when I began taking Japanese classes. He was studying business at Terry College and playing club men's volleyball, but I met him through the Japanese department, where he was helping with Japanese foreign exchange students assist the courses. Shingo had been living in America four three years at that point (after a year in Singapore and Australia).

As I said he was helping teach Japanese classes, but not the one that I was taking, so ironically we didn't really know each other that well at first. However, when I came to first visit Katie in Shiga in the winter of 2005, I was talking to Shingo and he said, "Really, you're going to Shiga? I live in Shiga!"

During that vacation when I came to see Katie, Shingo was also home to see his family, and he and his fiancée, Chika, took us out for yakiniku (Korean BBQ) and karaoke. Shingo, a friend of his, and I also went to Shigaraki, the major pottery town in Shiga and one of the most famous in Japan. He also introduced me to the Japanese sento (public bath), for which I am very grateful. Not knowing the dos and don'ts, it could have been quite awkward being naked for the first time in a large room of strangers--not exactly the time one wants to make an egregious social blunder.

The ironic twist to meeting and becoming friends with Shingo, is that for the past 1 1/2 years I've been living in Japan, his home country, while he's been finishing out his business degree at UGA, my home state and alma mater. After quite a long absence (albeit with a few visits here and there on holiday) Shingo finally returned back to Minakuchi in December of 2007 (while I was in Cambodia), and he and Chika begin making the plans for their wedding in March.

As you can hopefully see, the ceremony was splendid. I'm suppose I was a bit surprised, because there were few differences between their wedding and what I would assume what a similar event would be like at home (it's been long enough to forget). Katie and I, as well as some other American and Japanese friends from Shiga, Kobe, and yes, Athens, were all in attendance. The food was amazing, good enough to forget being a "vegetarian" for a few hours (how could I let such succulent sushi and duck go to waste?). Hearing the story of their relationship (too long too enumerate) also helped Katie and I to feel closer than we have been in quite a while. There's nothing like love to bring lovers closer together.

Sadly Shingo's new job has taken both he and Chika to Tokyo. No less than two weeks after the ceremony in Minami-Kusatsu (a bike ride from my apartment), Shingo and Chika were moved into their new apartment in the world's largest black hole of human inspiration. I actually visited them during a research conference I participated in (in Tokyo, my favorite!).

Best of luck in Tokyo! I'd be worried and very reluctant to make a similar move, but I hope their love can help them to make it into the 24th century and 7 dimensions that are the Tokyo subway. Godspeed!

A New Recipe with 粕

2008-02-26T00:04:00.000+09:00

Just a few weeks ago I went into a 地酒店 (sake shop that specializes in local products) looking for fresh bottle of sake. Lately I've been on a pretty strict local diet to reduce the number of miles (and barrels of oil) my food travels to get into my belly. Shiga is a great place for this, because so much of the land is devoted to agriculture, and in my neighborhood I can find just about all of my organic roots and vegetables picked daily––broccoli, spinach, onions, green onions, carrots, eggplant, red and green peppers, daikon, cabbage, potatoes, you name it! There are even a number of meat and cheeseries, not in my city of Kusatsu, but within 40 or so miles. As I understand, and this knowledge is of course limited to my Japanese, the animals are treated humanely and fed a natural diet (unlike American cows which are on a diet of inedible corn, antibiotics, and lord know what byproducts). To top it off, their farms, slaughterhouses, and other facilities are open to visitors. As Michael Pollan said in his book "The Omnivore's Dilemma," U.S. beef would benefit, and should operate with glass walls to ensure the integrity of their products. I haven't checked the places out for myself yet, but I plan on doing it in the near future just to put my conscience at rest.

Anyway, so on my visit to the coop of liquor stores, I received a special gift, 粕（かす, kasu), and along with it a recipe for a kasu and miso soup. First an explanation:

I may be befuddled, but I believe the following analogy is correct:
If sake were milk 粕 is the curds, sake is the whey
粕 is the doughy sediment that surfaces during sake brewing. As many of you know, sake is called a 'rice wine', but in fact sake is fermented like a beer. This brewing process produces two main goods: sake and kasu. Of course, we drink the sake––but what of the kasu? Due to it's rich content, it's not very tasty if ingested as pure kasu.

One option is soup...and thus I've finally found my way back to the point of this story. The woman who was running the shop gave me a bag with a mysteriously squishy substance that smelled like a hangover and the following recipe：

下のレシピを教わりました。

粕と味噌が半々 equal parts kasu and miso
豚肉腹肉 pork (a particular belly cut)
大根 daikon (giant raddish)
にんじん（人参） carrots
油揚げ fried tofu
ねぎ　　　green onion
（里芋、こんにゃく） potato, or gelitan based potato substance called konnyaku

でも僕はレシピをちょっと変えて美味い粕のスープが出来ました。
I did it a little differently with the following substitutions:

ー無し：豚肉、大根、里芋
ー有り：玉ねぎ、しょうが、ほうれん草、にんにく、二三滴のしょう油
-no pork, no daikon, no potato or potato substance
-added onions, ginger, spinach, garlic, a splash of soy sauce

皆さん、粕のレシピを教えてくれないか。僕の作り方はちょっと日本料理らしくないと思うけど、新しい考えや感想は是非聞かせて下さい。
If anyone has more info or ideas about the kasu and this soup, please let me know. If you guys back home can get your hands on some kasu, I definitely recommend it. It was delicious.

Peace,
Salem

Day 6: Cambodia, Ta Prohm (Angkor Wat)

2008-02-19T22:12:00.000+09:00

Continuing the note above in my native voice (above meaning from the 2月２６日平成１９年　（アンコールワット）journal entry a few days ago) ...

How can we allow people bent on ignorance, hate, fear, and environmental destruction to continue walking this planet?
Do we all need to die for the fantasies of the few, the wealthy? We need an international rebellion against globalization (I realize and will explain the contradiction I've posed) if we are going to survive. (The only means of ending globalization and returning to a localized for of self-governance must result from a worldwide movement, a choice, a push even, because we have been similarly forced (should I say lured?) into this trap in the first place.
Returning to the local means refusing the modern tools we are expected to pick up––the computer, ケイタイ(cell phone)––and making our own. Sustainability is the key. Maintaining a balance that we can no longer see in today's economy is going to require adapting drastically different measures of what defines productivity: is it merely the object that we get from our efforts, or is it a product of all our efforts that reflects the quality of our inputs? If we keep on our oil path we will:
1) ruin the environment
2) ruin our health (food, pollution)

This will subsequently depreciate the value of life in a serious way. Ironically, I don't believe humans are too far off of the local doctrine. So many individuals and corporations use the "one more can't hurt" excuse while they destroy our Earth. This is quite clearly an example of "the commons problem".
Sure, one person, one more cubic meter of CO2 in the atmosphere makes little impact, right? Well, imagine what happens (or should I say, what is happening), when several billion people operate by the same principle. Quite simply, 3~6,000,000,000 cubic meters of CO2 is added to the air you and I breathe in one day, depending on how much access there people have to technology.
Easy if this were only a problem in the world's superpowers, the G8, but seeing life in the "nature friendly" Japan, and now here in Cambodia, my eyes have opened to the realization that this problem is only beginning. There are no environmental laws or emissions standards here (in Cambodia). Everything is up to the highest bidder. Garbage litters the streets in cities, even the bathing water in rural areas. Not one Cambodian seems to care about the cleanliness of their living conditions. Coupled with tens of thousands of touristing Westerners (and Asains) who want "at home conforts––air conditioning, chauffeuring, and Lexi––this gravens the dilemma. Air in the cities, Phnom Penh and Siem Riep, is toxic.

Deforestation = Crime Against Humanity

2008-02-14T21:18:00.000+09:00

I know I'm continuing on tangents further and further from promised updates on my recent South Asian trip, but these things must be said now while we still have the air to say them. I believe the earth has precedence over just about anything else at the moment. America, put your petty sandbox tiffs in the middle east on recess and your campaign money where it is needed.

Click here for an article at CNN.com: Forests and Carbon Trading

How is it that, according to this article, our world economy does not factor in the Earth's largest and most vital assets?: trees, the atmosphere, and although not mentioned in the article water.

" 'It's insanity that a single service company, Google, has a market value of $200 billion, while all the services of all of the world's great forests are valued at nothing,' Hylton Murray-Philipson, head of Rainforest Concern, recently told the Independent newspaper."

Meanwhile, the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) raised a measly $160 million, funded by only 9 countries. Is that all that our trees are worth? Not only is this insufficient, the aid offered by the World Bank is suspiciously two-faced. Who's interest is the Bank really working for? In the end money, of course; and hacking up trees is apparently one of the ways the benevolent Forest Carbone Partnership Facility endorsing World Bank has been increasing their own stock pile of glorious money.

It's pathetic that people in the world are only going to start caring about the environment if it proves to have monetary value. Even so, when put on the scales gold is always going to weigh heavier that forests. Maybe only in the short run, but that seems to be the only profit line that our globalizing pirates are after these days anyhow. Despite the fact that predictions show that damaging the world's forests now will cost several thousand times over in the future, we are not changing our ways.

And carbon credits? Who are we fooling? Not only have we reduced the respect for nature by making her a tax write-off, or tradeable commodity, we've tied it to a spineless, hopeless cause like the Kyoto Protocol. Here's a newsflash, but for all of the big talk Kyoto gets, very few of the countries who have agreed to it are actually going to be able to meet and uphold the standards set back in the 1997. Japan even (#4 in CO2 emissions), will not hold its promises to maintain Kyoto's to return to pre-1990 standards. America and China, the world's largest polluters, are not even trying. The Kyoto Protocol is like the UN during Rawanda or worse, Darfur. Weak, cowering in the corner, hiding behind high-minded yet gumptionless politics and philosophies that don't stand a chance in the real world.

Is nothing sacred? Perhaps, sustaining the means of all life on Earth?

I believe this is more than just insanity––it is, and it should be a crime. If we are going to have a chance for a future, we are going to need some realists to take charge and impose vigilant laws on the polluting, destroying, and abusing that we are doing to our Earth. This help is clearly not going to come from any government of coalition of such, whose dawdling, tepid actions reflect a lack of seriousness and sincerity. What else is there? Well, you, me, us, we. We are the people, are we not? If we do not have faith in our contracts with authorities do deliver where clout is needed, do we not have the power to strike with our own hands? What I am saying is that we have to take certain measures into our own hands and make the world what we want it to be. I, personally, am infuriated by the greediness that dominates our authorities and has subdued them into money-dreaming slumber. They are selling our lives short, and we need to do something about it if we hope to have a future on this planet.

The numbers:
Every year around 32,000,000 acres of rainforests are bulldozed. 32 million is a pretty large number, so difficult to imagine just how great that magnitude of damage is. Allow me to make use of comparative geography:

32 million acres = 50,000 sq mi = 129,472 sq km
Georgia (the US State) = 59,425 sq mi = 153,909 sq km
Japan = 145,883 sq mi = 377,873 sq km

That means that almost the equivalent of Georgia, or, 1/3 of Japan in rainforests disappears everyday for the paper for your hamburger wrapper. Enjoy your meal.
つまり、毎年は、あなたのハンバーガーを包んだ紙のために、ほぼアメリカ合衆国のジョージア州の同じ面積で、そして、日本の面積３分の１が消えてしまう。どうず、一杯食べて下さいね。

Excerpt from "Magnanimity" (Cambodia Interruption)

2008-01-23T22:05:00.000+09:00

I suppose I should title this in honor of the Monty Python movie, "And now for something completely different", because this blog has little relation to my recent trip to the southeast, and will probably (then again probably not) surprise many of you who know me.

In the fall of 2006 when I arrived to Japan, I pretty much immediately started writing a novel I had been storing and puzzling together in my head for the previous year. My projected title for the book is Magnanimity of the Lonely, and so far I've written in the neighborhood of 100+ pages. Unfortunately the plot is still somewhat scattered due to the fact that I've been writing in chunks with long periods of inactivity between. I've developed the characters, chosen the setting (Atlanta, naturally), and outlined roughly the turn of events.

I'm going to start with the most recent chapter I've written, told from the perspective of the narrator: Angel (tentative name). A brief background on the character: he writes op-ed pieces for the AJC, in particular matters of faith, disgust, politics, fortunes, celebrity obituaries. His favorite topic to cover is "stupid things you humans do." Admittedly, I use him to voice many ideas of my own, although I won't say which ones, but I find that in literature it's nearly impossible not to find a piece of myself in every good character created.

Angel (1/23/2008)

Article: Cans and Ables

You humans have been making gross errors with two simple ideas, two simple words: can and able (get). Just because something is possible, doesn’t mean it’s right. Just because you think “you are able” to have steak everyday of the week, doesn’t mean you “should be able”.
You’ve been reversing your power and privileges and screwing yourself in both holes at the same time. Drinking alcohol can be fun, and as long as you do not binge yourselves in kegs, it stays that way. Those who try to make it a daily routine soon show the signs of abuse in the waterlogged tissue swelling beneath lackluster sheets of skin. Do not misunderstand me, I’m no teetotalist on a soapbox––just a common sense seeking angel bitter that the rest of the world chooses to be blind to his simple calls for reason.
This is a very easy idea to understand, so half of you are probably still following up to this point. Allow me then to strike while the iron is hot:
Firstly, cans and ables have little chance of hurting us as long as we learn from our errors. Going back to the earlier metaphor, the alcohol poisoning afflicts over drinkers in such a violent way that it (sometimes, though not often enough) prevents them for repeating the act of binging. This is good. This is nature: psychosomatic learned aversion of something that makes us sick. For most animals this method of learned association is not a choice; however you humans have lately decided to disregard very clear signals for what you should be able to do and replaced with a “I do what I want” motto.
Secondly, because you are humans¬––and by being human able to see across stretches of time unimaginable by other species¬¬––you can also learn from History. But here, yet again, you prove yourselves truculent learners. Here are the wars your country has entered into in the past 100 years: WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Korea, Gulf, Iraq, Afghanistan (the last four hardly wars rather than occupations). Here are the wars you could have helped to prevent: Rwanda, Tiananmen Square, Nanking, Darfur, the Holocaust, Cambodia (proximal in space and time to Vietnam).
Which of these were the result of “can” and which should have been prevented with “able”?
Due to a ballooning population, you cannot afford to live the same way you do without destroying your ability to live. Sure, the 2nd and 3rd industrial revolutions may not have been so malignant to the environment, but that was before the population increased by 400% (1.6-5.9 billion) and the life expectancy rose over 30 years on average. Do Americans, the temporary leaders of CO2 discharge, deserve to keep making and driving unnecessary SUVs and similarly inefficient machines because they have the technology to? Does China have the right to continue it’s burning of coal when we all know the harm it causes, just because previous superpowers made similar mistakes in ignorance?
Are you kidding? Think about it this way; do you want your children breathing oxygen or CO and CO2?
Consciously choosing ignorance is the only way that you humans can resolve this cognitive dissonance between what you want to do––“but I’ve always had a TV…why should I stop driving my car when it’s so convenient…if I have the money why don’t I deserve whale meat for dinner”––and what YOU KNOW BY THIS POINT YOU SHOULD DO.
YOU SHOULD PUT DOWN THAT FORK, GET YOUR HANDS OFF THE WHEEL, GO PLAY WITH YOUR CHILDREN INSTEAD OF POISON THEM, PLANT A TREE INSTEAD OF BURN IT, STRETCH OUR RESOURCES INSTEAD OF WASTE THEM BECAUSE THERE AREN’T ENOUGH TO FILL YOUR FATHOMLESS BELLIES.
This is a challenge to historians: you have a responsibility to better inform people of the mistakes they are repeating.
For the consumers: learn to live with what you have and not envy what you don’t.
For the politicians: step off your pedestals if you are only using them to further conspire against your people. If you are going to continue standing up there, invest in some rope so that when the truth surfaces and your platform drops out from under the fall will be less shameful.
For the teachers: teach, encourage the youth to ask questions and provide a model of hope and inspiration. Your moral responsibility is to teach others to seek the truth.
For all conspirers against the heart, false prophets who discriminate at the doors of paradise, marketers of empty kisses, lawyers who use words to deceive, pimps who sell their mothers, wives, and daughters short:
I have lived on all sides of the universe. I have seen where you will proceed to after this life and I know that what will happen to your souls over there is beyond any of your conceptions. For your misdeeds your small hearts will be cooked on the sun until they beat with an ache of guilt and regret so powerful you will gnaw off every inch of skin to get a second chance to return to Earth to amend your wrongdoings. It is precisely at this moment that you realize you have not yet died. You are still hanging a pinprick from death with all of your senses a flowing in through the bleeding black hole of your heart. You will hang there, heart baking with grease, sweating in contrite agony, and you never die. There is no afterlife because you never die. Those with little to regret have no trouble finding a peaceful please within themselves to sleep, but not those who trade life for chosen ignorance. You live with the vivid memory of your entire life forever in a wake. Voiceless, paralyzed, dead in all but the heart, the only thing you can do is watch others repeat your steps, your failures, without the ability to warn them, because your chance on Earth has ended.
As the designated Historian of Earth, I felt it was my duty to inform you of your egregious misconceptions about conscious and afterlife before it’s too late. If my time ever comes, unlikely because we angels live forever, I don’t want to contribute to both your and my eternal suffering.

12月２６日平成１９年　（アンコールワット）

2008-01-22T00:37:00.001+09:00

I originally wrote this journal entry in Japanese, but I have also translated it into English below. The final sentence was written in English in my diary, however, because I didn't know how to say it in Japanese at the time (and I'm not sure if I do now either).

日本語をしゃべれなくて、寂しい。昨夜コンビ二で３人の日本人を見たんだけど、何も言わなかった。何か言ったらいいなー：ー（

アンコールワットはホンマに不思議な物だ。でも多くの人々はが来れるから、ちょっと平凡になっていると思う。お金を持つ人がルールを守らなく、何でも求められている。レックスや他の高級の車が多い。
世界中の貧富の差は残念に思う。２分の１の車は日本産「トヨタカムリー」という型。カンボジアは観光に襲われていると思う。ヨーロッパ人が大勢ここにきて、好きなだけ何でもする。飲んだり、パーテイーしたりするが、その人が遊びながら自然を汚させるし。確かにそれはカンボジアのためにならない。ポイ捨てゴミは一杯あっても、カンボジア人でも掃除しない。
カンボジア人がアメリカーのドルは自分の国より好きだと思う。

そんな醜さ無し生きたい。私はいつも環境や人物の友達いたい。

-But if people will trade the lives of themselves and their progeny for money, do they deserve to share the paradise of this earth?

(I miss speaking Japanese. Last night at the convenience store I saw three Japanese people but I didn't say anything...I wish I had said something. :-(
Angkor Wat is amazing! But because so many people can visit, I feel like it's losing it's beauty and becoming more commonplace. Anything goes for people who have money, they don't have to obey any rules. There's an excessive number of luxury autos like Lexi. I'm troubled by the world's poverty gap. Half the cars here are Japan-made Toyota Camrys. I think Cambodia is being raped by tourism. There are so many Europeans here that come and do whatever they feel; they drink, they party, and while they're having fun they pollute the natural landscape. This is cleary bad for Cambodia (Cambodia's health). Even though there's litter everwhere, not even the Cambodian people care to clean up. I think Cambodians worship the dollar more than their own country.
I want to live without this ugliness. I want to be a friend to the environment and humanity.)

12/24: Day 4, Cambodia (Phenom Penh)

2008-01-12T15:34:00.000+09:00

The following I wrote the day after driving somewhere in the neighborhood of 300km on December 23rd. Due to the grueling pace we set that day on our bikes, we all passed out almost immediately upon returning to Phnom Penh around 8 in the evening. Given the low-visibility with our dusty helmets and the unending, lawless, rush-hour traffic of Cambodia's capital, the last hour leading us back into the city was particularly death-defying.

"Today was day 3 of the motorcycle tour. We woke up on the secluded Kaoh Tonsai (Rabbit Island) after a restless night. Geckos and quite possibly the bungalow owner's dogs took turns in the night shaking the walls of our bamboo hut. The mosquito net saved us from a vicious feasting.

"A soft, slowly rising sun on the backside of the island (our bungalow faced the west) roused the roosters, which also contributed to breaking our sleep. Despite the 'inconveniences' of no electricity (save 3 hours of generation power in the evening), no running water, and no air con, as a fellow Barcelona traveler said, "Nothing is better than waking up in this place."

"Our gluttons' meal from the night before--3 plates of crab, a 5kg white fish, soup, rice--kicked somewhere in my stomach along with the reminder, 'Just because I can afford this much food doesn't mean I should try to eat it all.' (I must clarify here that our 3 plates of crab, 1 plate=6 crabs, came as a result of a rather egregious communication error between us and the cooks.)

"Outside the dogs Eric fed at dinner the night before were loyally awaiting our appearance. Eric had conscripted them to our bidding by enticing them with fancy fish and rice. People in Africa don't eat half as well as the meal these dogs had last night.

"With our new trusty mercenaries, Katie and I walked the stretch of beach on our island. The dogs followed in a militant formation, one on each wing and a third up ahead to sniff out enemies, and they growled down any other canines from the island that came within 30 meters. One would constantly sniff at my thighs if she thought I was in danger, so I pet her head and urged her on ahead. The deputies were also curious little devils, as I learned when they disappeared into a thicket and chased out a squawking bullet of a chicken. That hen tore through the heavy, misty air nearly colliding face to beak with Katie and me.

"Later we all went swimming while the sun still hid in the dense morning clouds. Tiny minnows jumped out of the water in schools like flashes of silver sparks charged by the air.
...

"Bokor Mountain:
-30km of rocky, muddy trails with potholes and rivets deep enough to flip you if you weren't careful (on the bike).
-near the top misty patches where you can't see more than 20 meters of road ahead and the thick brush edging.
-riding through the jingle, literally, where ferns with leaves 15 feet wide and 40 feet long drape below the canopy.

-and at the top, an open plain with a sundry of derelict houses, a church, a hotel, and a casino. This is the sight of the French fort where Europeans again attempted to enslave a foreign race for money.
-the hotel and the church where Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese forces battled for months and the rusted frames of machine-gun turrets still stand ready for a new war.
-the rain forests which are being illegally desecrated and destroyed because the government is too corrupt and unwilling to pay for their protection."

Later I added this bit about the Tuol Sleng Prison SR-21 we visited on the 24th. This is the place where tens of thousands of Cambodians were inhumanely (which doesn't mean a thing in light of the brutality no living creature should endure that took place at Tuol Sleng) concentrated and tortured during the years of the Khmer Rouge. This place had so many stories and horrors in it that I didn't feel capable of writing them all down. For more information about the Tuol Sleng SR-21 Security Prison please check out the official site
http://www.tuolsleng.com.

"-a tile from the prison cells
-an etching from a cell wall
-a caged bed with a car battery on top and leg shackles as the headboard"

12/23: Day 3, Cambodia

2008-01-12T14:48:00.000+09:00

(1) Lessons in Khmer (Cambodia's language):
***As a disclaimer, this is only how I heard the words and wrote them myself after listening to them said by native speakers. I don't know how to correctly spell these words***

-A urum sous se reiya = good morning
-cho-moi = cheers
-aw (g)kum = thank you
-koah tonsai = Rabbit Island
-badh = yes
-ag dih = no
-li hai = goodbye
-so moi ited = one more

Later the same day...

(2) 4/23 (I have no idea why I dated this journal as April; I promise it is still December 23rd)

"Yesterday we went to the Dragon Cave (Ganpun Traich?). My guide, Nieb, lead me through the caves, showing me the animal shapes hidden in the rocks (the elephant, the snake, the tiger), Buddhas carved into niches, and hollow stalactites that you could play the drums on. The stalactites felt like dinosaur bones trapped in the rock that you could ring back to a primitive age before the bikes and even temples.

"Nieb is 17 and is studying English at school. He like football (soccer) and plays everyday at school. After that he comes to the Dragon Cave to give tours. His head is box-shaped and he curls his upper-lip to make a seemingly irritated expression when he doesn't understand what I say. Mau(h), his partner took Katie by the hand with a mischievous smile. Mau's pandemonium is teaching us reversed Khmer words and laughing hysterically whenever she succeeded in turning out tongues.

"After the caves Nieb and Mau invited us up onto the mountain above the caves. I say caves, but the area we were exploring actually was a replica of the lagoons Katie and I saw in near Phang Na, Thailand two years ago. In the doughnut hole of the mountain was a mangrove tree sanctuary. Vines tumbled down the walls of the lagoon inside like whisker of a dragon. A resting Buddha laid nestled under a hanging stone wall. Back to the top...
Nieb and Mau scampered straight up the jagged rock in only sandals. At the top Katie drew a picture of the countryside and I talked to the kids. The plains were water-filled paddies with bunches of palm trees jumping out at the to give their coconut offerings. Mountains circled close showing tall limestone faces. Atop the Dragon Cave hills were cacti--what was once the ocean has now become almost desert. Is this the conclusion of the warming trend?"

(3) 12/23/2007

"On the road from Kampot to Phnom Pehn I added lyrics to my 'Merry-go-round' song:

(to help explain the song's theme, here are the lyrics leading up to my recent addition: Merry-go-round My father was a Merry-go-round driver, he took the same path every day, and now I'm out to claim 1,000 lives, to make up for his lack of mistakes)

'If you're waiting for an anchor don't cast your lines here,
if you're looking for gravity ask the sun,
cause I'm the kinda guy who won't be here when breakfast comes.

I'm gonna take you high,
I'm gonna take you low,
take your body leave your soul.'
(sing this chorus with jumping high to low bluesy voice)."

12/21: Day 1, Cambodia

2008-01-11T23:59:00.000+09:00

"Is isolation the key? Globalization, on the flip side, shows certain destructive trends:
-monoculture dilemma (in agriculture)
-divorce from and forced mutation of nature (via pollution)
-victory for few at cost of many
-eventual end of human race due to man-made disaster (nuclear, "environmental")

"If we isolate ourselves, would our ignorance offer saving grave from unknown travesties? If we did not know (in the Americas, Asia, Australia) about the Nazi's attempt at world domination, would we have been free from the responsibility of its atrocities? Is it our job to actively patrol the earth? If a man from Mongolia steals a chicken from a Swede, what business is it to a Tanzanian? Perhaps the UN only acts for its own ends. If we give the UN (or the US since America tends to think itself as an ultimate authority) the authority to control, to monitor we are doing so on the assumption that a mono-glot (my neologism for a supreme power) needs be. The universe does not abide by such faulty, human politics. Why should our minds.

"If we believe and act upon an individually derived set of morals, we will not need police and punishment. The goal of a well-functioning organism, a single being or group of individuals, should be autonomy. A worm eats and performs its duty according to nature. No board or committee, let alone active consciousness, tells the worm to turn dead organic material into soil––it just does (and the world is better off for it). I believe that if given the opportunity and encouragement humans can learn to look past the invisible lines on the globe and find where we connect to the earth and each other in an ethically existential way. This means living would be derived from our roles as homo sapiens––hunters, gatherers, farmers––as participants in the food chain, not engineers of it.
(Although I did not state it clearly in my journal, I am implying that by playing our role as animals who contribute to and take away from nature in a sustainable fashion would mean that we fill niches in geographically isolated communities as animals do. Hence why you do not see American rattlesnakes in Australia. Also, the introduction of foreign species, i.e. the Kudzu vine in America's southern states, or Black Bass to Lake Biwa in Japan, often destabilizes the preexisting balances between flora and fauna. By globalizing humans are disrupting patterns woven into the earth in ways that we cannot even begin to fathom, and while not all of these changes are not all necessarily bad, my hypothesis is that by agreeing to the rules nature has provided--that homonids have succeeded by for several million years and the rest of the Earth for billions before that--we have a better chance for autonomous survival and a higher quality of life.)

"Current thinking patterns are entirely self-focused and greedy. We have come to understand that our consciousness is greater than the unknowable process/deity that gave us life. If we are animals, and we biologically/genetically are, we owe respect to the process of miracles (or randomization of evolution) that birthed us. We are not the centerpiece, we are a tip of the iceberg, and we should accept it. If we do this, maybe we can learn to forfeit our authoritarianism dreams and look to a deeper truth that encompasses all life.

"-Would isolation serve as a form of autonomy, geographically defined?

-are we mature enough to handle the world? don't think so"

South Asia: Photos and Diaries

2008-01-11T23:02:00.000+09:00

The following is a series of journal entries and corresponding photographs from my recent trip to Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos. I will try my best to present the images and diaries in chronological order, though it is difficult because I did not take all of the photographs myself, so I cannot always be certain to their exact date and location.
Here's a summary of the trip:
-Thursday, December 20th Katie and I flew with several friends from Osaka (Japan) to Phnom Penh (Cambodia) via Bangkok.
-Friday, 12/21, through Sunday, 12/23, Katie, Mark, Eric and I took a motorcycle tour of southern Cambodia. We road 250cc off-road beastly machines, which enabled us to go far and beyond any typical tourist trap. We climbed mountains, flew through jungles, mingled with the locals, in places that would have been much more difficult to access with these bikes. Mark and I took a small tumble on the 22nd, but we both survived with no injuries (basically). I will explain more along the way.
-Monday, 12/24, we all spent the day in Phnom Penh, got massages from "Seeing Hands" an organization that provides Cambodia's sightless with a means of livelihood (which is rare because the govt, especially in the means of citizen welfare, is more or less non-existent). After that we visited Toul Sleng, one of the main interrogation and security prison during the Cambodian Civil War between 1975-1978. That afternoon something in the water or food got to Mark, Eric, and me, and we spent the rest of the evening in our respective beds and toilets.
-Tuesday, 12/25, Merry Chirstmas! Here our fearsome foursome halved; Katie and I went north to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat; Mark and Eric stayed in Phnom Penh.
Sunday night Katie and I went to the main temple at Angkor Wat and had a wonderful Indian cuisine Christmas dinner.
-Wednesday, 12/26, We spent the entire day touring various temples of Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is the name of on of the central temple, however the panoply of 30+ surrounding temples are also referred to as "Angkor Wat". On Christmas we saw THE Angkor Wat. This day we visited Banteay Srei, Ta Phrom, and another place I cannot remember the name of.
-Thursday and Friday, 12/27-28, we spent the days in Siem Reap, doing a little bit of walking, wandering, and relaxing. I sorely needed this days to finish recovering from whatever had found its way into my digestive system a few days before. Siem Reap is unfortunately not a very nice city. It has a riverfront that reminds me of Savannah (without vines hanging from the trees that even resembles Spanish moss), but unfortunately Siem Reap has been sold to the highest bidder. The streets are full of Lexi (plural for Lexus), and the city alternates between local homes (dirty but real) and country club style resorts and $300/night hotels. I think my journal entries from this time spent in Siem Reap will best reflect my honest thoughts on the city.
-Saturday, 12/29, we took a bus back to Phnom Penh. There I found some of the Cambodian instruments I had been searching for, we relaxed a bit more, and generally had a reading day.
-Sunday, 12/30, flew from Phnom Penh to Bangkok, stored some bags at the airport, and took a train to Ayuttuhaya. We wandered a few temples in Ayuttuhaya, ate dinner (fresh, organic fried chicken, corn on the cob, and Tom Kha (coconut) soup--amazing! I also found a guitar and we got to play and sing for an hour or so. That night we continued on the train up to the Laos border.
-Monday to Friday, 12/31-1/4, stayed in Vang Vieng, about 3-4 hours north of the Laos capital, Vietiane. We explored caves, kayaked down the Nam Som river, rented and toured on small bikes, and enjoyed the wonderful weather (cool nights) and cheap meals. I think this was by far my favorite place during the trip. When we were in Cambodia, and sometimes in Thailand, I constantly felt hassled by pushy vendors, tuk tuk drivers, and the like, so it was a glorious change of pace to be in a country where I didn't constantly feel like a target. I could relax, enjoy myself and the countryside. I wish we had spent more time here, but it was worth it to see Cambodia as well.
-Saturday, 1/5 on our way back to Bangkok we stopped off again at Ayuttuhaya to buy some gifts (and because Bangkok is my idea of hell--cars, buildings, any regular city with a lot more chaos on the roads). Saturday night we took an overnight flight from Bangkok back to Osaka.
Fin

New song with a twist

2007-12-17T23:49:00.000+09:00

So the focus of this year has clearly turned away from Japan, and I feel somewhat remiss about this. I've been quite preoccupied with my music and playing gigs recently with Mike and Hiroe, but honestly not too busy to write about other stuff going on in my life. For example, I went to the Ise Shrine, which is the most sacred shrine in all of Japan and home to the Emperor's God, with a friend from Kyudo a few months back. I've also been reading some captivating literature comparing the fossil-fuel based industrial food industry and local/true organic farming. Thanks for The Omnivore's Dilemma, Sean. It could very well change my life in profound ways. I plan on writing more about these more when I can afford to purchase some reflective moments.

But for now, back to the music. I recently (actually just a week ago wrote what appears to be a perfect culmination to a year's worth of "one giant step for mankind". There could be controversy involved with such an grandiose claim, but I'm not listening because it's a waste of greenhouse gases.

This most recent song is called Forgotten. I wrote it with the idea in mind that the future of our humanity is too precious to be compromised by marginalizing underdeveloped voices. The Trees also lack a weighty voice in our currently technology-driven world-society, and subsequently are being driven from the face of the Earth in droves and thickets. As you can probably see, I have also included a Japanese translation. I actually submitted this song and translation recently to the Shiga Board of Education for our annual "JET Experience Essay". The aim of this aforementioned essay is to highlight we English teachers' experiences and life lessons acquired from our time in Japan; therefore I felt compelled to share my thoughts on the necessity of a holistic education so that we do not leave behind our future. Please enjoy and as always feel free to share your thoughts, concerns, and and typos you pick out because I don't edit my typing often if at all.

Forgotten　
Salem Willard

Though we may not wear your clothes,
we are not untidy,
growing up on our own we took what we could find,
sneaking on pantyhose in an empty house,
come on in you can see our underage secrets,

After school no one there we relied on imagination, time breeding intrigue,
so where we you to tell us the images were just fancy,
lies and pretend,
we made them up in twos and threes,

Though often abandoned we are not forgotten,
you are hearing us now,
though we fail and you scold us we are not forsaken,
we are building the earth

Come on down get in line it’s time to make an honest buck,
who’s teaching this anymore?
your sons hear your actions loud,
loudest, louder than your words,
their hands will carry your scars

Cause our lives are made on the theft of childhood,
they sew your feet, dig your gold, serve your needs
wasting away in foreign room upstairs,
when are you going to feed them some truth?

Though often abandoned you are not forgotten,
we are hearing you now,
though you fail and we scold us you are not forsaken,
you are building the earth

忘れられた子
（両親へ、子ども達より）
あなた達の服を着てないけれど、
僕らは決してだらしなくなんかない
自分でやって、自分で決めたように生きる、
誰もいない家でひそかに大人の服を着てみる、

そこで僕達の秘密が分かるさ、
放課後、誰もいない, 想像を駆使して、
時間は好奇心を生んでいる、
父、母、なぜ虚像は空想の嘘と言ってくれなかったかい？
いつも仲間としていたよ

僕らは見捨てられたが、忘れられていない、
今あなたに聞こえるはず、
失敗しても、しかられても、
僕らは見捨てられてなんかいない、
僕らは未来を育んでいる、

こっちへ来て、並んで、真面目に働こうか、
誰ももはやそれを教えてくれないだろう、
子どもはあなたの言葉より行動をよく聞いているんだよ、
この父にしてこの子あり

今日は盗まれた若さで作られている、
子ども達は人の足を編んだり、金を掘ったりしてあげている、
みんなの要求に答えるため、部屋から消えているのさ
いつ真実を与えてくれるのだろう、

（子どもへ、両親より）
「君達は見捨てられたが、忘れられてない、
今聞いている、
失敗しても、しかられても、
君は見捨てられてなんかいない、
未来を育んでいる。」

Share the Love of Rice

2007-11-09T22:27:00.000+09:00

As you may know, in Japan people eat a lot of rice. Quite a bit, actually.
Speaking of rice here is an awesomely philanthropic website that my friend Tim showed me. It is called Free Rice.
As the name implies, if you go to this website you can win free rice. The catch is that you have to think a little bit. Multiple-choice questions that appear like a simplified version of the SAT verbal test will automatically appear, and for each correct answer you earn 10 grains of rice that sponsors will donate to a needy country. It's great fun if you're down with words, especially goofy words like crackerjack, immolate, and roily. I got hooked at school today and made 400 grains of rice in about 5 minutes. Plus this is great way to put all of those college hours of studying and reading to practical use.
So if you want to brush up for the SAT/GRE and or you just want to do a good thing at the risk of receiving wayward edification in the process, please check out Free Rice.
Peace,
Salem

Another song and announcement of an album recording

2007-10-26T07:35:00.000+09:00

In the 5th grade we began learning guitar at school with Beth, our music teacher (remember I went to a crazy 'hippie' school where the creativity flowed like wine and the wine flowed like spring Georgia pollen and insurrection was encouraged). Soon after I got my first guitar, and I've always enjoyed playing here and there, but I never tried seriously to pursue anything sort of path. Somehow or another, since coming to Japan I've written in the neighborhood of 20 songs.

Last week I played with a friend at his show in Kyoto (pictures to come). His name's Mike Bass and he's a crackerjack of a musician. He plays his guitar like a drum while he sings, somehow maintaining a pristine rhythm. Click on his name above for the link to his blog and info. We've been playing together for the last couple of months, and we're going to continuing doing shows together (more info to come).
And finally this winter (Jan-Feburary-ish) I'm going to go into a recording studio to lay down the tracks for my first demo. Mike of course will be joining me for a few numbers as well.

So take it from me: sometimes if you have enough heart and good intentions, you can do something wonderful without having amazing talent. Pay no mind to the mind-gobblers who say that you cannot be good enough unless you... or the voices inside that say it's to late to learn how to... I practiced sporadically for years where I never looked at a guitar, but this last year I have found a muse in that wooden box with 6 strings and I am going to pull the she-demon and and coax her with my resonating tones and sometimes sour melodies.

By the way, here's a new song I wrote about two Alexanders. 1) The Great of ancient Greece and 2) The Magnificent, Alexander Willard of Georgia (my cousin). It's a epic song, of which there are sadly not enough of these days. Because I'm telling a lyrical story this song lacks the rhyming and meter conventionalities.

Alexander’s Homecoming

Well Alexander never thought he’d find himself here again,
the place of too much sun and endless sand,
he took his army and won his women but not all went as planned,
although the flowers were nice, the flowers were nice.
Now a little voice, from a little man, in an unknown faraway land,
tells Alexander to go back there and fight,
the man puts a helmet on his head and a weapon in his hand,
but not like the glorious, heavy ones from millennia ago.
Alexander grabs the reigns of his modern steed,
a bulletproof humvee,
he tosses bombs on Babylon without seeing his enemy,
in olden days his nose would tingle at the smell of blood,
but burning oil and sulphur are nauseating.

Alexander knows the battlefield and has studied strategy,
but his new nation kills indifferently.
these hands were once a sculptor’s
and could halve a shielded man,
but now they only atrophy under mundane button pressing.

Where are you Zeus?
Why have you let mortals forget your brother Hades?
Their respect for the dead?
I need you Aristotle to guide me in truth,
where are you Hannibal, I crave a even match?

I hope that Harry Truman is weeping on his Promethian stone,
I hope our burning bush drowns in the rain,

I was lauded as a warrior,
I was crowned a Persian King,
and now I abjure the throne.

Apollo

2007-10-23T22:23:00.000+09:00

Good night moon, Apollo.

Due to my incompetent management of this blog, recent developments are running a few months behind when they actually occurred. This is our second kitten, Apollo. He arrived back in August to provide Sami, who was dreadfully homesick for his brothers and sisters, with a new family. Because Katie and I are at school half of the day, Sami was left alonely. It was clear that without another friend we would not be able to keep Sami. Neighbors would have surely complained to our landlord about the cat cries coming all day from the apartment next door, which isn't supposed to have cats, ironically. Luckily some nearby friends in Hikone introduced us to Apollo, who was also an only child, and thus we have two completely unrelated brothers.

(By the way, please check out the website of the friends who gave us Apollo, Susan and David. They started and manage an animal shelter out of their home in Shiga to vaccinate and neuter/spay stray cats they find around their area, and trust me, there are plenty. I really want to support these two much more in their efforts to provide treatment and care for halfway-domesticated animals that still roam the streets, because unfortunately there is no humane society in Japan for cats and dogs. If there is, I've never seen or heard of it. The most common way of dealing with animals that are a nuisance is to tie them up in a plastic bag and toss then in a nearby river.)

Apparently David found weekling Apollo hiding under a car in a parking lot from ravens who were trying to attack him. The poor little guy was quite timid and underweight, but Susan and David nursed him back to health. Some of Apollo's abnormal weaning behavior suggests that he lost his mother and family within the first week or so after being born. Even after months of training, every now and then Apollo tries to suckle on our fingers or neck as if they are nipples. He also does not have much awareness for other people's space, and repeatedly steps on us and Sami when he is passing through without noticing. I just think he's a dog. Apollo plays fetch very well, whereas Sami just looks a the toy disinterestedly like a true cat. Sami carries that feline indifference well, but both are incredibly affectionate. They both love to jump up and nuzzle against us at any time, Sami will even pout if we set him down when he wants attention. Any time we are sleeping they will find a nook in an armpit, or the back of a neck, or just curl up again a stomach or back.

Together they make a great team. Sami has settled down and this last two months with them has been wonderful. We call Sami our little butterball Prine because he curls up like a cheese wheel when he sleeps, and he we tell him no at any time he will sit across the room from us and glare like a little tyrant. He thinks he's being intimidating, but it's just so adorable that I go pick him up and give him big squeeze. It's hard to believe how quickly have adapted to one another. It's hard to believe they are related only through situation.

I think the discussion between Katie and I has concluded with me being the owner of the cats. She already has two in Athens waiting for her, so whatever else happens, after this year they are mine to look after. This will be interesting, because I never expected to be a papa so young, but this is a hypnotic land to say the least.

Peace,
Salem

Visitors

2007-10-12T23:10:00.001+09:00

So two of my former college "roommates" came to visit me over here in Japan a few weeks ago. I say "roommates" because the situation would be more accurately described as, "crashing at their place two times a week or so because my dorm was far and I was constantly on the lam in my POS maroon 1993 Nissan Maxima from the campus parking police." (Those 12.5 are wastes of human resources, really. Can you imagine your job being to go around and make sure that the automobiles are stacked properly and conveniently? Don't people have enough dignity anymore to say no to jobs like that––so self-demeaning and remedial? Apparently not, because, without fail, every time I left my 1993 Maxi-Pad unattended on University property for more than 15 minutes I would get a ticket. $40 @&#*ing dollars that the University would then extort behind threats freezing my student account and prohibiting me from registering for classes until I paid. They stole about $200 from me over four years, the talentless excuses from walking tampons. But the joke's on them, because I somehow racked up another ticket from Japan––a long story involved car titles, lazy friends of friends, and so on––and they have no authority to coerce an alumnus into paying. I've got my diploma already, you heartless metermaids! What can you try and take from me now!!!!)

Now that's a tangent!

Any, so Sean and Sarah came to visit. Here is the rundown.

We look so innocent. And so tall. We stayed in an onsen (hot spring) town the first day, the best part being that you got to wear 下駄、geta=old-fashioned wooden shoes, and robes around the town like royalty. "Everybody is so much friendlier when they are on vacation and only wearing one thin layer in public." There's almost a catch line for nudist colony! There are better movies from later in the night (baring all in the robes) that we haven't figured out how to upload yet.

I don't think many people at 'Black Nikka" headquarters realized what would happen if one voiced the kk sound. This noxious concoction has been the butt of many jokes, "Since 1997."
***Update, the 'Black Nikka' name actually changed just about 2-3 weeks ago: Now they are calling is 'Black Clear Whiskey'. They're getting closer to PC but further from sense.

This scene is perfect for my second albums, entitled "Bears Singing on Bicycles". Honestly, I already had the title chosen months ago. This picture is serendipitously apt for the cover art.

This is after just one hour of karaoke. Somewhere between "Hey Ya" and "I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" I ended up in this position. And don't jump to conclusions...it's wasn't the Nikka's fault. This was all due to his green Continental cousin––absinthe. It was a good nap.

I need more naps.

体育祭　Field Day/Sports Festival (July)

2007-09-21T00:37:00.001+09:00

The Japanese high school equivalent of "Field Day" is more or less a talent showcase of sorts. There are a several categories, such as a banner contest, races, and a dance-off, for all of which the students spend weeks in preparation. They literally spend hours upon hours over a 2-3 week span getting ready to strut their stuff and compete for 1st place in their respective fields. Here are a few photos with brief explanations.

This was by far one of the most amazing things I've seen my students do. It's a traditional geisha, but with a modernized manga toss of the brush (manga is the excessively popular comics that anyone from the age of 5-50 reads).

Here are a few more posters by my first year students. There are supposed to be five, but something mysterious happened to the middle one.

And the dancing. This was by far the most popular event. A committee of students and teachers (myself included) were called on the judge the performances based on a set of criteria––unity, creativity, precision, etc. Tensions were high when the results came in; in fact, fights broke out. There were many tears, friendships wounded by the petty scratching and teething for a trophy, everything one could expect from high school hormones. It was actually quite ugly, probably the lowest points I've seen my students reach, and I don't think the intraclass war was resolved until the next morning. I'm luck I got out with my ears attached.

But the dancing was impressive and well-rehearsed, in some cases scandalous, which I am saying in honesty because it seems strange that the school would allow its students to parade around in such skimpy outfits. Given my liberal background at The Paideia School, my days of frolicking in an environment that encouraged me to tell listen to uncensored music that sponsored drug use, read banned books, and wear shirts that told the institution to go fuck itself when I felt so inclined, I think my surprise at Kusatsu High's dance attire is warranted. Anyway, for the sake of fair reporting, here. Some of these kids look like they are out on their first day of rumschpringen. Deprived of a creative outlet, I can see why so many young people in this country are dying to throw themselves headlong into a fashion scene that wanders the streets of Osaka, Kobe, and Tokyo like Harper Lee's rabid dog.

A few of the better acts, this yellow team and the red one above (which I believe won the dancing division when the smoke cleared), however displayed quite a bit of class and integrity in their choice of costume and routine. They refrained from aiming for the blacked-out mirror of Playboy that others often trip over in search of easy victory, and I support their decision.

My thoughts: As a teacher I want to encourage students to search for better role models than the easy victors, the talentless pool of fashion models and television mannequins who parade glamorized brainlessness. The students have so much more power inside of them.

(10/9) I surprised both myself and one of my students today when I heard piano sounds coming from the music room. I knew no one was in class, that was the reason why I was sneaking off to play a few minutes of guitar before my next hour. I tapped on the door and opened. She was thumping away on an upbeat Beethoven sonata, not a particularly famous one, but one of his tunes that picks up your heart nevertheless and march-waltzes it around the room with gentle playfulness on the left-hand bass chords. The player was a first-year student, one who I had incidentally talked with for quite a bit on the Field Day reported on above. At that time she spoke of being bored with school. She wanted to quit. She wanted to do something useful but didn't feel like that was possible in her present situation. Her complaint was one common to many Japanese High School students: school was too rigid and controlling. She wanted to work a part-time job and learn how to do something practical and hands-on, something the school's curriculum does not offer and in fact disallows as a general rule.
Today I caught this same student in the middle of her secret passion. I don't know how to say passion in Japanese, so I told her I was happy to learn her "秘密＝himitsu passion." As expected she became embarrassed and quickly packed her things to go back to the class she was skipping. I had no intention of turning her in; I was also in the middle of running off to play, for that matter.
"また聞かせて、please let me listen again," I asked her as she was leaving.

Next time maybe I will share my favorite Jean Jacques Cousteau quote:
“When one man, for whatever reason, has the opportunity to lead an extraordinary life, he has no right to keep it to himself.”

We have so much power inside us.

Salem's Japan Years

"Street Farmer"

A message to lobbyists

Time's Running Out (aka People before Profits)

Dafur still exists

3 new songs available!

Poisoned Waters: New Frontline Special

NPO Musician: 2009: Year of the BEE

The 60-Minute Team

Inner echos: private musings

Tanuki Mountain

North Korean Missile Crisis

How to deal with the pricks who sold America's future

Darwin's Nightmare

Earth Hour: March 28th 8:30-9:30pm

Events I'm planning in Shiga for April (Earth Day Month)

常滑 Tokoname

Max's 穴䆴（Anagama）: back to Shigaraki

Speech Contest Smiles

Jon Stewart 愛している！(I love you!)

News blues

Geothermal: the most efficient and reliable renewable energy sourse

New Year's Resolution

Plan B: Bombs Away

Just when you thought the story was finished, even more Zeitgeist: Addendum

They have environmental Podcasts! (as usual I'm late on the bandwagon)

Zeitgeist: Check our where you're culture is taking you

BEE Japan 2009 Ride Applications available at beejapan.org

Applications for 2009 Ride available until February 28th

BEE 2009：ライダー募集中（２月２８日までお申し込み）

Winter Visitors: Part 2

But at least GITMO is more eco-friendly than the US

Obama from Japan

Winter Visitors: Part 1

New Pottery - Mino 美濃焼

If they can understand, what wrong with everyone elses' ears?

Videos from recent temple visit to Tarobogu Shrine in Yokaichi

Explanation of Cancer in Japanese

Reality

Bells of Misono

Gesture Videos I

More 芭蕉（Basho）

Mr. Wind

Heat: A PBS Frontline special on the US's role in combatting global warming

Sketches of the past and future

Koya-san 高野山 and a temple stay

Autumn poetry from Basho

An Japanese essay I wrote for my course on Japanese Linguistics & Pedagogy Course

Pottery update--Shigaraki Pottery Festival and a few additions to my collection

葛飾北斎（Katsushika Hokusai) 1760-1849

Then again, who are we to judge

The Almighty

Shiga Pottery

The Bridges of the Kusatsugawa are conspiring something nasty

Rice Cutting 稲刈

The BEE Event

Nebuta Matsuri and other Tokoku Adventures: ねぶた祭と東北巡り

BEE Event in Hikone

Writing from 関西空港 (Kansai 'The Titanic Tortoise' International Airport)

New Inspiration

Sports Day 2008 (体育祭 ＝ Taiikusai）

We tried hard, but couldn't find the ghost towns

A cappella: amazing video

Kobe Show at Polo Dog (6/21)

My First Japanese Speech (Contest) (4/20/2008)

My ECC project: Earth Day posters

Golden Week 2008: Kyushu 九州

地球の日のため琵琶湖を掃除する活動：Cleaning up Lake Biwa for Earth Day

2008 BEE Japan Cross-Country Ride (日本一周ライド）

Waribashi (part 2 or 3)

Shingo and Chika's wedding

A New Recipe with 粕

Day 6: Cambodia, Ta Prohm (Angkor Wat)

Deforestation = Crime Against Humanity

Excerpt from "Magnanimity" (Cambodia Interruption)

12月２６日平成１９年 （アンコールワット）

12/24: Day 4, Cambodia (Phenom Penh)

12/23: Day 3, Cambodia

12/21: Day 1, Cambodia

South Asia: Photos and Diaries

Writing from 関西空港　(Kansai 'The Titanic Tortoise' International Airport)

Sports Day 2008 (体育祭　＝ Taiikusai）

12月２６日平成１９年　（アンコールワット）

体育祭　Field Day/Sports Festival (July)