by Nao

sakae, saka-eru, ha-eru, ei

Prosperity is sakae. When you search for the word “sakae” with this character in Japanese, you can reach some websites about the place called Sakae in Nagoya. Nagoya is the third largest city in Japan. It’s in Aichi prefecture. Sakae is the name of a prosperous shopping area.

Nagoya is not the only town called Sakae. In other cities, there are places named Sakae but I think Nagoya Sakae is the most famous and prosperous.

If not conjugated, Japanese verbs end with the wu sound. Saka-eru is the verb meaning “to prosper.” The past tense of saka-eru is saka-eta. The past tense of verbs ends with ta.

An interesting pair of compounds are eikō and kōei. Both words use the same characters in the opposite order. They have a slightly different meaning. Eikō is more close to prosperity and means glory or triumph. Kōei also means glory or honor, but it doesn’t imply glory as the result of your achievement. While eikō sounds emblematic, kōei sounds humble. If you feel or show kōei, you are talking about gratitude for somebody who accords you honor.

The upper part is the same as gaku (study).

1. Draw the dot on the left from the left. Just put down the brush and raise it, heading toward the next stroke.
2. Draw the dot in the middle.
3. Draw the dot on the right. This is a sweeping stroke heading toward the next stroke.
4. Draw the dot on the left.
5. Draw the hook that consists of a long horizontal part and a short sweeping part.
6. Draw the horizontal line from the left to the right. The tip of the brush moves along the upper side of the line.
7. Draw the vertical line from the top to the bottom. The tip of the brush moves along the left side of the line.
8. Draw the sweeping stroke from the previous strokes intersect. Let it sweep toward the lower left and make it thinner gradually.
9. Draw the sweeping stroke heading toward the other corner. Make it broader at the end.

by Nao

ai, ai-suru, ito-shii, ito-oshii, ito-oshimu

The heart is in the character, which means love and affection. Ai is a noun. Ai-suru is the verb “love.”

By the way, all the hyphenated readings above are composed of today’s character and hiragana. For example, suru consists of su and ru.

Ito-shii means beloved, darling, dear, or sweet. Ito-shii and ito-oshii are almost the same, but the adjective “adorable” can be added to the meaning of ito-oshii. A relevant word is ito-oshimu, which means to love, to think tenderly, to cherish, or to value.

Exceptional reading is mana. I remember only two words: manadeshi and manamusume. The former is one’s favorite pupil; the latter, one’s beloved daughter.

Some of your beloved or favorite things or persons begin with the character. Aiken is your pet dog. Aisha is your car that you love. Aijin is your lover in the sense defined in Collins COBUILD, which says that “someone’s lover is someone who they are having a sexual relationship with but are not married to.” In addition, the word implies that they are having an illicit love affair.

Aichi is a prefecture in the central Japan. Its capital is Nagoya. See Wikipedia to get some information about it.

Ehime is a prefecture in Shikoku. Ehime also begins with the character. Its capital is Matsuyama. See Wikipedia for its information.

1. Draw the sweeping stroke on the top. Draw it from the right.
2. Draw the dot from the left.
3. Draw the dot in the middle.
4. Draw the sweeping dot from the upper right.
5. Draw the dot on the left.
6. Draw the hook touching the pervious dot. After changing the direction of the brush, finish the stroke with a sweeping stroke.
7. Begin to draw the heart at the center. Draw the dot on the left.
8. Draw the curve with an upward turn at the end.
9. Strike the dot above the curve and make it head to the next dot.
10. Draw the dot beside the thorn-like ending of the curve.
11. Begin to draw the lower part of the character. Draw the sweeping stroke from the center to the lower left.
12. Draw the hook consisting of the short horizontal part and sweeping stroke that is parallel to the previous sweeping stroke.
13. Draw the sweeping stroke from where you start the last two strokes to the lower-right corner of the character.

NOW THAT the Japanese electorate has unwittingly jumped from the frying pan into the fire by selecting the country’s Democratic Party to lead a government, people are starting to get scorched. Everyone knew before the election that the DPJ’s principal talents were obstructionism and harangues more suited for postgraduate seminars and smoky union halls than a legislature, but people held their noses and voted for them anyway. Entropy had finally had its way with the Liberal Democratic Party, and that party’s mudboat wing stepped up to the challenge by committing the de facto equivalent of hara-kiri.

By trying to implement a platform whose individual provisions never polled all that well and won’t work well at all, the new government is making manifest its shallowness, petit authoritarianism, and disregard of anything outside its self-interest.

From the Mainichi Shimbun

The vernacular edition of the newspaper carried a story that described a chilly conversation last week between Sengoku Yoshito, the Minister of State for Administrative Reform, and Nagatsuma Akira, the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Mr. Sengoku initiated the conversation about the JPY 12.4 billion-program for one-time payments of JPY 36,000 to parents of children aged 3-5. That program was started by the Aso Administration at the behest of its New Komeito coalition partners. The payments were supposed to have been made by the end of the year.

The Mainichi quoted Mr. Sengoku as telling Mr. Nagatsuma:

“The special child support allowance was begun by New Komeito, so it has to be cut”.

He also said this was a “Cabinet decision”, though why Mr. Nagatsuma—a Cabinet member—was not present when the decision was made was not explained.

The program was a likely candidate for the axe anyway, because it was adopted to please the former government’s junior coalition partner and to deflect attention from the DPJ’s more extensive child subsidy proposal before the election. That alone doesn’t explain the antagonism, however.

What does? Despite sharing a similar political outlook, the DPJ has shown no interest in bringing New Komeito into their ruling coalition. Indeed, they’ve gone out of their way to harass them in the Diet. They’d rather try to reconcile the irreconcilable paleo-old guard of the PNP and the viperous left of the Social Democrats and govern as if they were in a four-legged race.

That’s because the DPJ’s Shadow Shogun, Ozawa Ichiro, has detested New Komeito for years. If the Mainichi report that this was a Cabinet decision is true, now we know who’s making decisions for the Cabinet.

For an insight into the inscrutability of Japanese politics, by the way, Mr. Sengoku is considered to be an Ozawa opponent within the party.

In the end, the Government canceled the program and held a press conference to “apologize to the people and local governments.”

No one was mollified.

From the Asahi Shimbun

The Aichi Prefecture Mayors’ Conference was held last week in Nagoya, their first meeting since the new government took office. All but one of the prefecture’s 35 mayors attended. The mayors passed a resolution asking the Government to assume full financial liability for the DPJ’s own child allowance proposal, as per their political platform, instead of sticking local governments and the private sector with part of the bill. Some participants complained that the DPJ’s ineptitude is causing turmoil in local government.

Said Inuyama Mayor Tanaka Yukinori (affiliated with the opposition LDP):

“The ministers just jump the gun with these statements, without specifying what is wasteful and what was wrong about the previous expenditures.”

Here’s Toyota Mayor Suzuki Kohei on the work his his city already performed for the Aso Administration policy:

“Our efforts wound up being a waste of time and money. (Some municipalities had to hire temporary employees.) When (the Government) says, ‘We’re a new administration,’ some local governments think that’s an insufficient reason or explanation.”

The sentiments were echoed by Aichi Gov. Kanda Masaaki, a guest at the meeting:

“There is uneasiness and turmoil in the communities. I’m going to do everything I can to hold local conferences to convey our concerns to the government.”

From the Nihonkai Shimbun

Tottori Gov. Hirai Shinji was even more scathing. At a press conference on the 15th, he said:

“The people ordered kabayaki (grilled eel), but they were served up something already eaten alive by a viper.”

In reference to the new Government’s inability to deal with the Finance Ministry bureaucrats, Mr. Hirai noted:

“Whenever the Finance Ministry says anything, they just swallow it whole and keep putting it on the tab of local government. Nothing at all has changed. In fact, it’s gotten worse.”

It might be that local governments could be a more effective check than the nominal opposition party, the LDP, which seems to be missing in action at the national level.

Then again, the Hatoyama Administration isn’t in the mood to listen, regardless of the number of conferences Aichi Gov. Kanda holds.

On television

On the 18th, Deputy Finance Minister Noda Yoshihiko reiterated that the Government is still considering having local governments and businesses cough up some of the money for their child allowance scheme.

Bait-and-switch, inflexibility, and policies that smack of Mussolini-style corporative fascism are no way to run a government, son.

Let’s reduce reliance on the bureaucracy by expanding it!

Back to Sengoku Yoshito, the Minister for Administrative Reform, who also appeared on TV on the 18th touting his latest reform idea. He wants to reorganize Mr. Nagatsuma’s MHLW:

“Its jurisdiction is so broad in scope that the problems arising there every day come up nowhere else.”

The Aso Administration was also interested in reorganizing the ministry last May, but, as with the Aso Administration itself, nothing came of it.

His proposal would seem to be hypocritical for a party that co-opted local reformers by promising to disassociate from the bureaucracy, and then changed its tune to disassociating from a reliance on the bureaucracy once they took office.

Instead, he suggests creating three new Cabinet ministries, each with a name that only the left could dream up:

• The Ministry of Children and Families
• The Ministry of Education and Employment
• The Ministry of Social Insurance

The LDP had the capital idea of privatizing the Social Insurance Agency, but the agency itself torpedoed that plan by leaking the news of the colossal, decade-long foul-up of pension records. (All the more reason to privatize, is it not?) Then-DPJ-head Ozawa Ichiro said it should be merged with the National Tax Agency.

But now the DPJ is the party in power. Now they want to make it into a ministry of its own.

The idea behind coupling education with employment was that the Education Ministry, which also includes culture, sports, science, technology, and God knows what-all, was another candidate for reorganization. Mr. Sengoku did not explain why there was a need to end one Rube Goldberg bureaucracy just to create another. Nor was any justification provided for the existence of full-fledged Cabinet ministries focusing on labor, children, or families; it was as if no justification were needed.

In other words, Mr. Sengoku’s idea of governmental reform is to create three useless ministries where one existed and none are needed. Yes, let’s not rely on bureaucrats any more. As if that weren’t enough, he also said he was going to think of other ways to efficiently reorganize the central government.

Well, what sort of administrative reform can one expect from a former labor lawyer who was first elected to the Diet as a member of the Socialist Party? Did anyone really think he was going to consider central government downsizing?

Here’s another one on the inscrutability of Japanese politics: Mr. Sengoku is affiliated with the DPJ’s Maehara-Edano group/faction, which is considered to be on the Right within the party.

Meanwhile…

People outside of Japan are starting to draw conclusions about the new government, particularly those in financial circles.

Phill Tomlinson thinks stagflation will continue:

Many Keynesian economists are still baffled by Japan. Over the years, policy after policy has been proposed by their school of thought, all of which involve some form of government action, but time and time again they all seem to fail. The classic Keynesian rebuttal whenever these policies fail is “Well, the authorities didn’t do enough”. Just like they apparently didn’t do enough during the Great Depression.

And:

The reason why they never recovered to their previous highs was exactly what the Government did, they took over and tried the command economy approach. Roads to nowhere, propping up banks that were insolvent, not allowing private enterprise to take over the means of production. Rather than money going into the private sector, Japanese savings that were accrued during their economic miracle were funneled into Government bonds, wasteful Government consumption. It was quite simply a classic stagflation that is still ongoing.

That was published on the same day it was reported the Government would try to prop up debt-ridden Japan Airlines by putting its ownership in the hands of a quasi-public corporation without having it go through bankruptcy.

Meet the new boss.

Even worse than the old boss.

I can recall to this day the feeling of delightful surprise when I first saw the Aichi 愛知県 M6A1-K 晴嵐 Seiran on display at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum. I had never read about this aircraft nor its special purpose, I was totally astounded — so I investigated and read about a story of substantial technical achievement.

Aichi 愛知県 M6A1-K 晴嵐 Seiran — photo by Joe May

The Japanese Imperial Navy in WW II developed the only underwater aircraft carrier – the I-400 class submarine 伊四〇〇型潜水艦 which had three Aichi 愛知県 M6A1-K 晴嵐  float planes as its primary weapons. Other submarines from other nations have carried aircraft (also float planes) but these were airplanes for reconnaissance missions. Three of the  I-400 class were built and each vessel could take on enough fuel to circumnavigate the world 1½ times! These submarines were originally developed to launch airborne attacks against both the east and west coast cities of the Unites States. The extreme range capability of the I-400 class was needed since transiting through the Panama Canal during wartime was out of the question for the submarines required to sail from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. Later the mission profile evolved to a more strategic target – the locks in the Panama Canal. However, this mission was also overtaken by events and two submarines of the class (the I-400 and the I-401) were tasked with attacking the US naval fleet amassing at Ulithi atoll for a direct invasion of Japan. This mission, too, was overtaken by events as the war ended before the submarines could move into strike positions.

The Aichi Aircraft Company 愛知航空機会社  Aichi Kokuki KK was tasked to design a float plane so that it could be assembled in less than 30 minutes. Aichi was known for producing float planes and the resulting aircraft was the M6A1-K 晴嵐 Seiran. Three Seiran would be stowed in a purpose built tube (the underwater hanger) with wings folded as well as the very upper portion of the vertical stabilizer. Floats for two of the Seiran were stowed in tubes that paralleled the hanger tube with a third pair of floats in the hanger tube’s aft section. The Seirans became airborne with a catapult that would accelerate the aircraft to flying speed over a short run. Engine warm-ups were accomplished by circulating heated oil through each engine prior to starting — lessening the time exposed on the surface. Fantastically, three Seirans could be launched in less than 30 minutes once the submarine was surfaced, with each Seiran having its own dedicated team. 

Seiran has been translated into English to mean Mountain Haze as well as Clear Sky Storm — I leave it to the professional historian or a native Japanese speaker to determine which one is the accurate interpretation.  A friend of mine where I work, Kim Byerly, who is not only a native speaker of Japanese but can work as an excellent copy editor in Japanese kindly looked into this matter. Her work showed that an initial translation is, indeed, Mountain Haze — but upon looking at an older and more formal characater set, the translation then becomes Clear Sky Storm. 

Aichi 愛知県 M6A1-K 晴嵐 Seiran from above — photo by Joe May

Initially the aircraft were intended to be armed with torpedoes but this was quickly changed to conventional bombs. Later, the idea of using floats was discarded as well, although the floats were designed to be jettisoned. Interestingly, restoration work on the last Seiran produced, and the only surviving example of the type, suggests otherwise since the Smithsonian team did not find any release mechanism for the floats. Since less than 30 of the aircraft were constructed each was essentially hand built.

Aichi 愛知県 M6A1-K 晴嵐 Seiran frontal perspective — photo by Joe May

Looking at the Seiran is a joy as it is beautifully lined, large and powerful. Meant for a mission that never came to be. For further reading on the I-400 and Seiran mission I suggest this book — I-400 Japan’s Secret Aircraft-Carrying Strike Submarine – Objective Panama Canal, written by Henry Sakaida, Gary Nila and Koji Takaki.

Welcome to Suzuka Circuit

On October 4th, 2009, Japan hosted it’s annual round of the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix.  For those of you who have been reading this blog, last year, I also attended the Japanese Grand Prix.  This year was a little different.  After two years at Fuji Speedway in Shizuoka, the Japanese Grand Prix moved back to its traditional home of Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture.  Mie is located south west of Tokyo.  The closest major city is Nagoya, but you can still access Kyoto and Osaka from Suzuka.  By and far, the easiest and most common way to reach the circuit itself is to leave from Nagoya.

Suzuka's famous Ferris Wheel

The biggest difference between Fuji Speedway and Suzuka Circuit is the owner.  Fuji is ultimately owned by Toyota, while Suzuka is owned by Honda.  The two car giants of Japan competed for the rights to hold the Japanese Grand Prix for the last three years.  From this year, the plan was to alternate between Fuji and Suzuka.  Next year’s race was supposed to be held in Fuji.  Unfortunately, due to the downturn in the economy last year, Fuji decided to not hold the race in 2010, so Suzuka stepped up and will hold the race in Japan for the next few years.  Many of the drivers were very happy about this, but what about the fans and the Japanese people themselves?  While a lot of people don’t really care, race enthusiasts were always happy to hear that Suzuka won the race.  It is one of the very few figure 8 circuits in the world, and the only one on the F1 calendar.  It is steeped in history that, while not as old as Fuji, is more prestigious.

Crowds heading to Suzuka Circuit on race day.

Accessing and retuning home from Suzuka Circuit is very easy.  From Nagoya, it’s a simple reserved express train from Nagoya Station to Suzuka Circuit Inou Station.  You can also purchase reserved tickets to get back to Nagoya.  While this may be a little expensive compared to the regular trains, it guarantees that you’ll have a seat, and when you return to Nagoya, that may be very important.  When you do reach the station, it’s very easy to find your way to the circuit.  Just follow the groups of people and you’ll be fine.  While it may be different in future years, be sure to pick up a map and ask the staff for some information to make sure you know your options.  If you want to play it safe, just return to the same station.  The second option is to take the Kintetsu trains to Shiroko Station.  It’s about 5 kilometres away from the circuit, or an hour walk.  There is a shuttle bus, but it can take up to an hour to wait for it.  Many people enjoy a nice walk in the countryside to get to this station.  To reach it, you must also walk past the Inou.  The main advantage of walking to Shiroko is that trains come more often than at the Inou station.  When leaving Nagoya, don’t worry too much about buying tickets.  You can easily buy them at the main entrance as there will probably be a table set up for selling return tickets.  Just be sure to know which tickets you need before leaving.

Hundreds of photographers both professional and hobbiests hard at work.

When entering Suzuka circuit itself, it’s evident that Honda’s circuit company knows what it’s doing.  It has held the F1 event and other major world sporting events for years.  The F1 event itself is very similar to the one in 2008, but there are noticeable differences.  The first is that the party is slightly bigger, yet more compact.  In Fuji, everything was spread out a lot more.  Suzuka’s main entertainment area was behind the main grandstand, and there wasn’t a lot going on outside of that area.  Of course, you can always buy the basic souvenirs around the course, but there were fewer opportunities to do so.  However, buying food was ten times better in Suzuka.  The options were slightly limited, and it wasn’t the cheapest food in the world, but it was good and reasonable for a world sporting event.  The major plus is the number of activities that are available for children.  There is a large ferris wheel, and other various amusement rides that are centred for children.  Suzuka, being Honda’s signature track, has a better amusement area compared to Motegi.  There are various boat rides, and roller coasters.  There was a go-kart track, but this was closed to add more space for exhibitions.  Overall, I’d prefer Suzuka over Fuji, and most Japanese people would tend to agree.  Fuji’s major advantage was being close to Tokyo.

Race Winner: Sebastien Vettel

Looking at the race, it was your typical F1 race.  I had the chance to enjoy the event during qualifying for the first time.  It was a nice event, and qualifying made walking around the main areas easier.  It was extremely busy on race day, so if you can enjoy the Saturday qualifying, be sure to do your shopping then; don’t wait until race day or things will be sold out.  Qualifying was riddled with accidents, and the race itself wasn’t that exciting.  In typical F1 fashion, there were several passes on the first few laps, but after that, it was a war of attrition.  Everyone kept circling the circuit and any passing was done in the pits.  By the end of the day, Sebastian Vettel won the race with home team Toyota’s Jarno Trulli in second.  Bringing up the last spot on the podium was McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.

このblogは英語のblog。もし私の英語は難しい、日本語のquestionは大丈夫。

Suzuka Circuit Links:

(English – Note that this site has only information on the facilities) http://www.mobilityland.co.jp/english/
(Japanese – Note that this site has information on events) http://www.suzukacircuit.jp/
(Wiki) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuka_Circuit
(Official F1 Website) http://www.formula1.com/

Inuyama castle

kiso-gawa river

Inuyama castle from Kiso-gawa river

Reference>>

Inuyama City : http://www.city.inuyama.aichi.jp/english/kankou/inuyamajyo/e_inuyamajyo.html

Kanayama Station's Hitsumabushi. (eel with rice and a tea like sauce, a delicacy in Nagoya)

Photo’s taken with Leica dlux3.

On my birthday 2008.

Photo’s taken with Leica dlux3.

Indonesian. (栄 Sakae)

Indonesian. (栄 Sakae)

Photo’s taken with Leica dlux3.

Kurumamichi Sushi located right below our apartment.

Photo’s taken with Leica dlux3.

The Hong Kong Table. (大須観音 Osu Kannon area)

Photo’s taken with Leica dlux3.

An encouraging message to travel to Kyushu, as well as the rest of Japan.

As a history buff I was long aware of the Kamikaze missions that were undertaken in WW II. During my learning in my formative years, as a US citizen, I was taught that they were desperate and occasionally devastating. As I matured I learned from my father, a military man and thinker, that they were more than that as they forced a large change in the Allied naval and air forces (albeit they were primarily US) strategies, as well as deployments. Finding the history of the Kamikaze, the term that I knew them at the time, without a US slant was more than difficult, and one must always seek to see at least two sides to a story. First, I learned the Japanese called these units “Special Attack” and not Kamikaze. My earnest thanks go to Bill Gordon who — in his pursuit of a Master of Arts degree — researched these Special Attack Units, went to many sites, interviewed and developed the web site “Kamikaze Images” — or, as written in Japanese language, 神風. 

From other sources I learned that road and street signs in Japan are subtitled in English. Once I learned this I was off for a small trip to Japan, only able to visit Kyushu as this island has the most sites to see — four of them. I chose to land in Fukuoka City, rent a car and drive to these four museums. Happily, an elderly gentleman at the Information Booth helped me by writing the names of the museums in Japanese for me as we spoke about these units and their importance to the Japanese people. I was off and learned the average pace I anticipated of 45 mph (72 kph) was optimistic, primarily since the coastal roads I drove on were limited to half that speed. I also learned of a nice use of technology not used in the USA — the rental car had a GPS unit but in Japanese, naturally. However, if one inputs a phone number of the place you intend to drive — voilá — up pop the instructions! I was able to see the two most important sites, viewed wondrous scenery and met warm people so I consider the trip immensely successful.

Later I learned that Google’s language tools will translate English to the Japanese character language. So, I will not hesitate to return to Japan to revisit the two sites (the Tachiarai Peace Museum 大刀洗平和記念館 and the Kanoya Air Base History Museum 当鹿屋航空基地史料館) as well as see several more across the nation — and would suggest anyone else to do the same.

CORRECTION: after a communication with Bill Gordon I must apologize for, and correct, a mistake. As it turns out the Japanese people did refer to the Special Attack Units as the Kamikaze. Specifically, the Imperial Japanese Navy used the term Kamikaze Special Attack Unit. The Army used a different term — when interpreted in accordance with Chinese reading (the formal Kanji characters) it means Shinpu, but when interpreted with either the Hiragana or Katakana sets it means Kamikaze.   My thanks, again, to Bill Gordon for his expertise.

Tachiarai Peace Museum 大刀洗平和記念館

33º 24’ 49” N / 130º 37’ 09” E

An hour east by train from Fukuoka City Japan, is the quiet community that is Taichairai Town. Known in modern days as a home for a Kirin Beer Park (Kirin brewery). There is also a railway station in case you choose not to arrive by car, although driving there is easy, as well. The railway station is historical and the older portion has been preserved by a single man with a mission. Thanks to Bill Gordon much of the history of WW II Japan’s Special Attack Units (known in the western world as the Kamikaze) has been written for English readers. From his website we know that Mr. Muneshige Fuchigami preserved this station as the Taichiarai Peace Museum. Within its unassuming exterior lies a wealth of artifacts not the least of which is the rare surviving example of a Nakajima 隼 Ki-27 九七式戦闘機, (Kyūnana-shiki sentōki, or Type 97 Fighter, Allied codename “Nate”). This aircraft was recovered from Hakata Bay (part of Fukuoka) where the pilot, Toshiro Watanabe, made a ditching near the end of WW II as he was ferrying the aircraft to Chiran Air Base for a future Kamikaze mission. Decades later the aircraft was restored to a bare metal finish and sits in a dedicated room where one can walk around it at ground level as well as on scaffolding which places the visitor about 6 feet (2m) above the floor. All signs are in Japanese and the staff I met on my visit spoke only in Japanese but they could not have been friendlier. On my way in I was escorted to the Nate immediately by a kind grandfatherly man. On my way out I was met by an elderly and elegant woman who showed me the train schedule and suggested, by pointing, the next train that I might take.

Nakajima 隼 Ki-27 九七式戦闘機 (Type 97, Allied codename "Nate") — photo by Joe May

Cockpit view of the Nakajima 隼 Ki-27 九七式戦闘機 (Type 97, Allied codename "Nate") — photo by Joe May

 The rest of the museum was also greatly interesting. Chock full of artifacts and photos of Special Attack pilots (I assume that the photos are of those who died in the war). Many of the photos show stern faced men but many more show those who had smiles that must have warmed a room, those who were playing with pets and those who were contemplative. This museum is dedicated to them and the families who saw them off at this train station, at the time near a major airfield, so that their loyalty as well as the terrible cost of war will not be forgotten.

 The front of the museum has a Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star displayed to the right of the entrance but, tantalizingly, there is a float from an Aichi E16A めでたい雲 (Zuiun or Flying Cloud, Allied codename “Paul”) on view to the left of the entrance. There is an entry fee, as befits a private museum, but it is nominal at ¥500 (~$4.50 US). Though there is no café there are dispensing machines immediately outside as well as restrooms. Mr. Fuchigami has accomplished a remarkable feat in developing and curating a museum that has place, context, poignant artifacts, and a rare aircraft — this museum is well worth anyone’s visit.

Float from a Aichi E16A めでたい雲 (Zuiun or Flying Cloud, Allied codname "Paul") at the left side of the entrance to the Tachiarai Peace Museum — photo by Joe May

Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star at the right side of the entrance to the Tachiarai Peace Museum — photo by Joe May

A note: Part II will publish on August 12th. I’ll describe the Kanoya Air Base History Museum 当鹿屋航空基地史料館 and their rare flying boat on display, the Kawanishi  川西 H8K 二式大型飛行艇 (Type 2 Large Flying Boat, Allied codename “Emily”).

I recently discovered a little piece of ‘real’ Japan in my local neighborhood.  Near my school, there is a small temple called Shorinzan Seiraiji (少林山 西来寺).  I was first introduced to it briefly by a friend, but the other day I decided to go wandering and try to find it again myself.  I followed my nose until I found it and, when I did, I was quite taken in by its mystery.  So much so, that I visited it again today to try and get some better photos.

When I visited the other day, there was some kind of prayer or meditation going on in a small room, just to my left as I entered the temple grounds.  I stood nearby and listened.  The temple is down a small side-street in Kurokawa (Kita Ward, Nagoya), and it’s quite a peaceful area.  The chanting filled the air.  There was also an old lady sweeping nearby, with an old-fashioned brush.  The rhythm of her brush somehow kept time with the chanting, creating a a kind of music to accompany the song-like chanting.  Today, the chanting was replaced by the incredible sound of the cicadas in the trees (a sound I’m hearing daily, and nightly, at the moment).

Apparently, this temple was built during the Warring States period (戦国時代 – sengoku jidai), and was originally named Jizou In (地蔵院) – a temple for Jizou Bosatsu.  It was originally built somewhere near the area where Nagoya Castle now stands.  When Nagoya Castle was built, it was moved to its current location (around 1596 – 1614).  The name was then changed to Shorinzan Seiraiji (少林山西来寺).

I’ve been experimenting with black and white photography today, and I think it captures the feeling of the temple qite well.  Please leave me some comments to let me know what you think!

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]]> http://haikugirl.wordpress.com/2009/07/21/himaka-island/ Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:51:36 +0000 Haikugirl http://haikugirl.wordpress.com/2009/07/21/himaka-island/

On Sunday, I went to Himaka Island (Himakajima – 日間賀島), which is a small island in Minamichita-cho, Aichi Prefecture.  (As well as the above links, please check http://www.himaka.com/english01/ for more information in English.)  It was my first time to go to the beach in Japan, so I was very curious about how much it would differ (if at all) to beaches in England (especially coming from a seaside town myself).

Actually, I was happy to find that it wasn’t so different at all!  Kids (and adults) were playing in the sea, making sandcastles, burying each other in the sand, looking for shellfish, etc.  It had a very relaxed atmosphere, and there were lots of families enjoying the beach together, which was nice to see.

It was pretty easy to get to Himaka Island from Nagoya.  We just took the Meitetsu line to Kowa Station, then transferred to a high-speed ferry which took us directly to Himaka Island.  Himaka Island has two main beaches – Sunrise Beach and Sunset Beach.  We chose to go to Sunset Beach, but we didn’t see the sunset because we had to catch the ferry home.  There were a number of hotels there though, so I imagine it would be quite a nice place to stay for a night (although there didn’t seem to be too much to do, so one night would probably be enough).

Himaka Island is famous for octopus so, of course, we had to try some for lunch.  And, as it was such a hot day, we had to have some kakigori (かき氷) too!  The restaurant we went to for lunch was probably the main one on Sunset Beach, and they served some amazing fresh fish.  In fact, the fish was so fresh that it was swimming about in the restaurant fish tank until the grave-faced man in wellie boots came out and caught the next one.  When I saw him take one, he practically just grabbed it and whacked it until it was dead, right there in the restaurant!! I was a little shocked, but curious to know how he handled the octopuses…

Anyway, here are a selection of the photos I took on Sunday.  The full set can be seen on Flickr.

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