Day 1 – September 18, 2009

I’m not a superstitious person – except when I tap the windshield twice after running a yellow light or knock on wood to prevent the jinxing fates from destroying any good fortune I encounter. Generally, though, I’m not a superstitious person — except that I believe in the outcome of crossed fingers, wish on shooting stars, hold my breath driving past cemeteries, cringe at the news of 2 deaths as I wait for the inevitable third, and, mostly, put all my faith in the outcome of a year on how I celebrate two days – New Years Eve and my birthday.

In retrospect, I may be a slightly superstitious person.

Whether it’s karma I subscribe to or the general power of positive thinking, I completely, in all regards and respects, believe that how you bring in a new year with your birthday and New Year’s Eve determines the course of your life for the next 365 and 1/4 days.

So when I booked my first “grown up” vacation with money from my first “grown up” job to sunny, tropical Okinawa for my 24th birthday weekend (which happened to be a holiday weekend, too- good karma, neh?) I was certain the fates were going to be on my side next year. As my friend Jesse would say – I expected I’d receive a lot of life cookies throughout this next year… in a lot of flavors (I may have added that last part, but what’s a cookie if it’s not chocolate with white chocolate chunks like Subway makes?). Callie (hails from Colorado – turned 22 about 5 posts ago) and I would spend 5 days and 4 nights in a tropical paradise, sipping Pina Coloadas and listening to the sounds of perfection. What could go wrong?

I researched Okinawa to the best of my google abilities. By the time we arrived, I knew the best island day trips (Zamami and Tokashiki of the Kerama Islands), the best dive spots (limestone caves around the outer Kerama islands), the best waterfall (Hiji in the north of the main island), the best view (Cape Hedo – northernmost point of the main island) and, of course, the best foreign restaurants (Italian and a Thai restaurant in Naha). This, subsequently, was the itinerary for our trip. I planned every major detail, and given that I’ve never planned much of anything in my life — major life goals (“go to Yale and be a gymnastics coach when I grow up”) withstanding — I should have known this would be my first… and fatal… mistake. But with my travel plans, a bottle of water, a backpack, my purse and a slightly drugged feeling (remnants of the battle of Me Versus The Great Sinus Infection of September), I set forth into the great unknown that is being 24.

With our sights set to the heavens, we boarded our plane, and our tropical misadventure began.

The Throw-Up Thrown-Down

We arrived on a beautiful, sunny, picture-perfect Friday.

This might have gone better under the "set our sights on the sky" ... I'm too lazy to move it. Blogging fail. This was the view coming into the main island of Okinawa from the plane. It was beaaaaauuutiful!

We stepped off the plane and came face to face with Murphy… and His Law. Whatever could happen would happen… and did happen.

Even the airport itself, is so close to the beach that when we landed I could have jogged to it. I find this an appropriate placement of this photo, however, because everytime I tried to get a picture of this first taste of beach everywhere'ness, people walked in front of me. By the time I could shoot a picture, we couldn't see the beach. So perfect.

Sheisas are mythical imaginings of lion-type animals that guard the entrances of shrines, primarily. There are usually two sheisa - one on either side of the torii (shrine entrance). One has its mouth open to release all evil and one has its mouth closed to keep in the good. They are historically Okinawan but now are widespread through Japan.

As we waited for our luggage from the Sheisa guarded carousel, a putrid, tangent smell assaulted my senses.

At exact this same moment, Callie groaned, and we both swiveled our heads to the fresh pile of child vomit on the floor beside us… and on callie’s shoes. The kid was en route to the toilet by this time, in tears. My eyes watched him, but my sympathy stayed with Callie and the projectile excrement she was squishing on her walk of shame to the toilets. I held back my laughter and thought, “Our tropical paradise vacation has begun.”

Mickey Mouse

The throw-up mishap behind us, we went in search of our hostel. A long walk, large alcoholic beverage incognito as soda (these vending machine-related mistakes are more frequent than you might imagine) and a sky train ride later, we stood in front of the Guest House Kerama, our new humble abode. It is barely noticeable – literally, difficult to find and has all the markings of a nondescript, unmarked building. There’s absolutely nothing exceptional about it on the surface, but even from the unimpressive outside, it sniffs of character, like an average, mangy cat about to entertain you for hours with a piece of wayside thread yanked off a coat and thrown to the ground.

okay, so it was yellow... but somehow that didn't seem helpful when we were trying to find it!! (picture taken from google images)

We walked inside and were greeted with the world’s largest dirty shoe collection. As is custom in Japan, we took ours off and added it to the pile before we stepped onto the landing and headed to the front desk. The Front Desk was a low table with a computer, attended to by a man in a uniquely uncomfortable, Japanese squatting position (he never moved from that position in 5 days) and a woman that truly appeared prepared to fight to the death to obtain and retain the World’s Highest Ponytail Record (she also seemed to be aiming for the world’s most flexible record, but that’s a much weirder story involving her post-showering habits).

“Konnichiwa!” We greeted. “We have 2 beds booked for 4 nights.”

They stared at us blankly.

Finally, after an awkward moment of silence, the man greeted us. “Konnichiwa!”

We knew this meant both – “good afternoon” and the more popular – “No understand English.” Hostel workers with no English… excellent.

We gave them our IDs and as I handed the balance I owed to the man, who was now amicably chatting at Callie in Japanese, I saw a large animal dart from one end of the kitchen (situated directly behind the front desk, in my immediate line of sight) to the other. I blinked, and it was gone.

“Callie,” I nudged her, interrupting her focused attention on the rapid directions to the beach in Japanese coming at her. “I just saw a… cat, or um, something supernaturally large with a tail.”

The man was flipping through my bills, preparing a receipt.

Callie glanced into the kitchen, just as the animal darted across the floor again. She nudged me back, with the full force of her terror.

“That thing is huge,” her voice was was shocked as her gouging eyes.

“It must be some sort of cat,” I replied, my voice about as persuasive as my fears. The hostel dog, that had been lounging in the sun, was now slipping and stumbling his way through the kitchen in hot pursuit.

I turned to the workers, my mouth open. Their hands were outstretched with our receipts; our fate was sealed.

“I think I just saw a…” I paused. “A cat run through the kitchen. Is that a hostel pet?” I held my breath.

He smiled, and in perfect English said -

“Oh him? That’s Mickey Mouse.”

They Dammed Paradise and Put Up a Factory (or – A Bridge Over Troubled Water)

The Guest House Kerama knows how to treat their guests, and so they took Callie and me, along with Mickey and whomever else wanted to follow, on a tour of the grounds. The hostel was far more spacious than either of us realized, and if it hadn’t been for our first impression, we would have been more than pleasantly surprised – especially for the price ($10/night!). The tour ended on the second floor, and the clean, well-lit room came complete with a women-only bathroom, clean sheets and the promise of human-only patrons. We were sold.

Our fears assuaged (we would just avoid the kitchen at all cost), we bid Mickey adieu and set out for our first taste of Okinawan paradise: the Naha Beach.

Let me first say that we knew the Naha beach isn’t exactly the Playboy Mansion (oh, big feminist cringe – why would I use that analogy?!) of beaches in Okinawa. Naha, the capital of Okinawa, is a quintessential Japanese city – cookie-cutter and concrete. We expected, in this sense, a second-rate or even third-rate beach. What we did not expect… was what we found.

But first we tasted lunch, which was down a side street in Madrid, Spain in a classy, triumphant Tapas restaurant. Callie spent a semester in college studying in Spain, so she was prepared to answer my first, and most important question –

“Sure, let’s go here… but, uh, what’s tapas?”

Some of us are evidently less cultured than others (although, if she ever needs to know the ingredients of a Springbok Shot to get to the next level on Millionaire – I’m the one she’s calling. Guaranteed).

I imbibed Callie’s description and out of it imagined these Tapas restaurants dotting the cobblestoned streets of Spain as classy, sleek romance cellars.* This restaurant, in Naha, Okinawa, Japan perfected this ambiance. It was chic and understated, with just the right absence of light. The smell of the hanging, drying ham (and the taste), mixed with the bitter, sweet fragrance of our sangrias (and the taste) in such a way that in one meal, I went from a Spanish food novice to a well-fed, delighted Spanish food novice. We ordered another plate of ham, finished the sangria and then set out again for the beach.

Thank Buddha Callie was on this trip. I will fear for my life when I travel alone in a city where maps… and the ability to follow them… are necessary. I must have sworn 8 tmes the beach was in one direction, just to have Callie nod her head sympathetically, turn and walk the other way. Our map led us down side streets, main streets, past shrines, through parks, and, finally, to the smell of salt, the sound of surf and the sight of blue skies, rolling waves and a towering, rumbling commuter bridge. Wait. What? Rewind.

We finally arrived – to the feel of sand under ouf feet, the sound of surf and the sight of blue skies, rolling waves and a large, fume-emitting, atmosphere polluting factory.

Well, that didn’t have a better ending.

We turned in circles on the sand. Were we lost? There seemed to be people in bathing suits – tanning, swimming, dumping water in piles of sand – all beach activities. There seemed to be sunshine, sand and salt water. But the sound of the surf was occasionally drowned out by fog horns from freight trucks passing overhead, and swimming was confined to a roped off and coned area, where, presumably, the levels of toxins from the plant were least likely to cause supernatural side effects (maybe Mickey’s mother swam too far here?).

We stared… and stared.. .and blinked and stared some more. And then, we laughed – hysterically – with the full force of our guts and tear ducts behind it, because we were in Okinawa – and this was paradise. We threw down our towels and off our clothes and gleefully ran into the toxic water.

We mocked it, for sure, but it turned into one of the best moments of the trip. The irony  – the incongruity of it all – transformed our island getaway from simple, naive perfection to a nuanced mosaic of imperfection, which, as any child of a even a short-term candle seller would know, is inherently more beautiful. As would become the theme for our entire trip – it was imperfectly perfect.

Two thumbs up for the Naha Beach!

The beauty of irony.

As we let the sun massage our skin with its flaming tendrils and drifted asleep on the sand to the roars of engines above us, I thought -

“So Murphy… this is what happens when unstoppable optimism meets an immovable reality.”

He smiled and said, “Game on.” We shook hands to seal the deal.

Walking back from the beach, we came across this... playground. The dangerous things they allow kids to do here astonishes me! But what do Americans do in foreign countries? We climb things!

When the Lights Go Out

And so it came to pass that anything that could go wrong would, during the days. But as days faded into the brilliant sunsets that play the opening act for Naha nights, promises of magic – by way of culture and foreign food – beckoned to us. And each night in our endeavors, we danced with success (one crazy night it was a swing number).

Naha, if concrete, difficult to navigate and wholly lacking in public transportation by day, is a swarming, excited, funky, upbeat mecca of varying cultures and customs by night. From the frequent street Eisa performances (traditional Okinawan drumming) to Kokusai Dori, Naha’s contemporary, bright shopping and dining street, it’s easy to believe that the city is Never-Never Land; it’s an adult playground. Kokusai Dori is one of the most famous shopping areas in Japan, and it’s easy to see why – it fuses together traditional and modern Okinawan culture with mainland Japanese culture, while incorporation American must-haves (Okinawa economy is heavily fueled by American interests, with the strong military presence there). And by “must=haves” I mean, there’s a camoflauge/American paraphanelia store and a lot of steak. The true cornerstones of democracy, amirite?

Besides incredible shopping, dozens of bars, clubs and restaurants line the seemingly never-ending street (though in reality, we walked in several times during our stay). There are reggae clubs (unfortunately we never made it to one!), American clubs, Japanese-pop clubs, billiards bars, fancy bars, sleazy bars – you name it – they’ve got it.

After showering off the sand and scrubbing off the Naha Beach Water, we headed out for our first taste of this famous street. In the hostel, we met Jane from England. She’s a quiet, petite, well-educated, kind teacher. She’s my real-life imagining of Jane Eyre, which makes her a heroine in this, and any, story. Jane quit her teaching job in England to travel, rediscover herself, reorganize her goals and generally rejuvenate her zeal for life. Jane is a JET of several years past, and Okinawa is a revisitng of unfishined goals. Jane is in her 30s and will be meeting up with her long-time boyfriend in Australia after she leaves Japan. Jane may be a woman after my own heart.

Callie, our new friend Jane, and I headed to Kokusai Dori. Callie and I made it our singular goal in life to eat at a Mexican restaurant (gasp! in Japan!) place we read about on the Okinawa JET website. In our search for it, we came across 3 or 4 steakhouses – hibachi steakhouses (gasp! in Japan!). By the 4th, our wills weakened, we stopped to look at a menu.

Sam’s Anchor Inn, outside of which we were standing, slowly reading the katakana menu and peering in to get a whiff, is not owned by Sam – as some may presume – but by a Hawaiian man named Wyatt. To our surprise and his amusement, he greeted us outside, talked us into eating there (he had us at “medium rare”) and took us down the road to one of his 8 steakhouses in the cty, where we wouldn’t have to wait for a table (yep, he owned all 3 or 4 we had already passed – in the same three blocks!). We justified the mighty splurge as my official birthday dinner. My birthday was the next day, but we would be hiking all day and probably too tired to do a proper meal. Before he knew this, Sam gave us free appetizers and hand selected our chef. After he knew this, he gave us free dessert, me a birthday present and even offered us pot (a joke?). To us, he will always be Uncle Sam.

My birthday dinner was as delicious as it sounds. The salad involved real lettuce (Japanese salads use decidedly fake lettuce, although i’m not sure how to describe it), a cherry tomato, a cucumber, and top it off – dressing. Real American dressings too – like 1000 Island and Ranch. We got steak, and it was served, in true American hibachi style, in a huge portion, with a plethora of other vegetables, potatoes and whatever else they could smother in delicious butter. It was the Royal Flush of Birthday Dinners, and we left so full we could barely walk. Heaven.

Callie (on the right), Jane (in the middle) and me at my birthday dinner at Sam's. I still have my bib!

The three of us with Uncle Sam - he even let us wear the sailor hats! We aren't exactly sure why he took such a liking to us - but it could just be because we were Americans who weren't in the military. Or he just really loves people. Or he wasn't joking about that weed....

At the end of the meal, his staff served us dessert and he handed me an actual, wrapped gift! I have the Sam's Anchor Inn teacups displayed in my apartment

After dinner, we explored Kokusai Dori.

These is a Power Ranger right? I'm definitely the pink ranger, if it is!

We finally found the Mexican place we were looking for. Sadly, we never got a chance to eat here, but we DID experience Okinawan Taco Rice (weirdly a specialty there?), and it is delicious!

When it was late enough, we headed to a bar to have a birthday shot at midnight. Coming full circle, with my emphasis on birthdays telling the tale of future time – I couldn’t have been happier with where we chose.

The bar was dead, which disappointed us... until I saw this hanging on the wall. If a birthday is a fusion of past and present, there couldn't have been a better sign (literally) at almost midnight the night before my birthday. Go Big Red

And if that wasn’t enough… this was.

So. Perfect. So funny.

And then at midnight, we took a rainbow shot for my birthday. The bartender was awesome – I’ve never seen so many separated layers of colors!

To 24. Cheers!

With a clink of our drinks, we said farewell to our first day in Okinawa, and me to the last year, and we headed to home sweet home.

——-

Next post: The Okinawa saga continues with–  Okinawa – Day 2 – Birthday in Paradise (they won’t all be this epic… I don’t think….)

Thanks for tuning in! I love the feeling of knowing that I’m sharing my journey with so many of the people I love and even those I don’t know!

A state-commissioned research panel in Japan finds evidence of Tokyo’s 1960 secret pacts with Washington which allow the US to ship nuclear weaponry via the Japanese territory.

On Friday, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada was notified of the discovery by the 15-member team, which found the files while examining ministry documents.

“The probe is now in the final stage, and we will announce the outcome in January,” Okada said, Kyodo News reported on Saturday.

Nuke-laden American Navy warships and Air Force aircraft were sanctioned by the 1960 deals to enter the Japanese waters. The clandestine understanding has already been pointed to in US documents and confirmed by those involved in the negotiations.

A former Japanese official who served in key ministry posts in the 1980s and 1990s has also confirmed the existence of the document.

”I saw them. I have memories that we looked into them after something happened,” the former official told Kyodo on condition of anonymity.

The two sides are already at odds over Japan’s threats of removing a US air base from its southern island of Okinawa.

Some of the secret deals are reportedly related to the 1972 handover of the control of Okinawa from the US to Japan.

Japan’s Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama says he will devise a plan to relocate the US military airfield based in Okinawa as soon as possible.

Hatoyama made the remarks after a meeting with his foreign and defense ministers.

His government has called for the US to move its troops off the island, and even Japan altogether.

The new administration in Tokyo has also ordered an investigation into secret US-Japan deals ratified by previous governments.

Washington has about 47,000 troops based in Japan, more than half of which are on Okinawa.

US troops have been continuously stationed on the island since 1945.

Local residents have been angered by crimes committed by US service personnel.

In 1995 the rape of a schoolgirl by three US servicemen infuriated residents of Okinawa.

Japan’s Defense ministry proposes the transfer of some F-15 fighter jet drills out of Okinawa as a condition for implementing the 2006 accord with the US.

Meanwhile, a junior partner in Japan’s coalition government says the airbase should be moved off southern Okinawa to a more remote islet or to US territory in Guam.

The base is also unpopular because of aircraft noise and the risk of accidents and is due to be moved from an urban to a coastal area by 2014.

Demands to close the base on safety grounds grew when, in 2004, a US helicopter crashed in the grounds of a local university.

Tokyo and Washington have been at loggerheads with each other over the presence of US military forces in the country since the new Japanese government took the reigns of power in September.

Thousands of people held rallies against the American military presence during US President Barack Obama’s recent visit to Tokyo.

At around eleven-thirty in the morning, having completed the form at last, Ozawa told me I was free to go out and have lunch somewhere so long as I returned by, he checked his watch, by twelve forty-five.

I wasn’t exactly famished, but I jumped at the opportunity to get out of that sickly illuminated, smelly little room and as far away from the narcs as possible.

Popping into a convenience store across the street, I picked up some onigiri (rice balls) and a bottle of green tea, and walked to a small park next to the station. Near the entrance was an empty bench bathed in the bright noon sunlight. I plopped down hard on it and sighed heavily.

I’d been with the narcotics agents for about three hours and so far so good. I had my doubts, however, that the afternoon would be as easy. We hadn’t even touched the reason why I was being investigated. There wouldn’t be any more softball questions when I returned for the afternoon session. Ozawa and Nakata hadn’t asked me to leave the whole day open for the sole purpose of writing down my resume. No question about it. The gloves were going to come off.

The urge to flee had its grip on me again.

What the hell am I doing? I’m still a free man, aren’t I? I haven’t been arrested . . . yet. And didn’t Ozawa tell me the morning of the raid to come in for questioning not only today, but tomorrow afternoon, as well? So, they are going to let me go home today. I could be on a train to Kagoshima this evening. Yeah, I could. Then, I could catch the ferry from–where was that again, oh yeah–Shibushi. I could be in Okinawa by tomorrow afternoon . . .

What little appetite I’d had quickly dissipated when warmed over by the dismal prospect of being arrested. I tossed the onigiri to the pigeons that were cooing and mooching about my feet.

Before long, it was twelve-thirty and time to head back. I looked up at the blue, cloudless sky.

“What a waste,” I said, standing up. It was the first Sunday that wasn’t overcast or rainy a month. “I should be at the beach checking out the peaches rather than cooped up in that room with those sons of bitches.”

On the way back, I rang Azami up from a public phone. I knew she had to be sick with worry.

“Everything’s going fine,” I told her. “Much better than I expected.”

“Oh, Rémy, I’m so relieved to hear that.”

“Azami.”

“Yes?”

“I don’t know what time I’ll be back,” I said. “It might take some time yet. Wait for me, though, will ya?”

“I’ll wait for you . . . Rémy?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

“Thank you . . . I, uh, I love you, too. Bye.”

I hung up the phone, pocketed the postcard with Azami’s photograph and telephone number on it and reluctantly made my way back to the office of the Narcotics Crime Squad.

__

注意：この作品はフィクションです。登場人物、団体等、実在のモノとは一切関係ありません。

© Aonghas Crowe, 2009

I’ve just finished reading Stephen Turnbull’s newest book, “The Samurai Capture a King: Okinawa 1609,” an account of the 1609 invasion & conquest of the Kingdom of Ryūkyū by the samurai forces of the feudal domain (han) of Satsuma. Turnbull is easily one of the most prolific writers active today of samurai history, and while his books are for the most part of much higher quality than those associated with what I can only call “sammyrai” history*, he is definitely known for his sloppy scholarship and for the popular/general audience (read: non-academic/scholarly) level of his publications.

All in all, I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. I haven’t read a Turnbull/Osprey book in quite some time, and I guess I had built up some pretty harsh preconceptions (read: extremely low expectations) based on vague memories. To whatever extent that this account can be said to be reliable, Turnbull does provide a very involving, engaging, account of the invasion, in incredible detail. Contrary to my initial expectations and impressions, he does actually use Okinawan sources (not just Japanese ones), and does actually discuss at length the inconsistencies and exaggerations seen in troop numbers in the primary sources. He’s made me aware of primary sources I never knew existed – not only Shimazu family records and things like the Shimazu Ryûkyû Gunseiki and Ryûkyû Gunki, which I might have presumed to exist, but things like the ehon (picture book) version of the gunki monogatari (“Tales of the Records of War”) -something more commoner-level, and more widely available at the time of its publication.

Though I was at first frustrated or annoyed by his Shimazu-centric approach – given that I’m so used to reading things from the Okinawan point of view, and seeing the Shimazu as the attackers, the colonizers, the oppressive overlords – that feeling quickly passed, and in fact, I find his approach most intriguing.

I’m still a little taken aback at his representation of the Ryūkyū Kingdom as aggressive and expansive, when everything else I’ve read has to one extent or another emphasized the martial weakness and relatively pacifist attitude of Ryūkyū. This is perhaps the first (only) text I’ve read that explicitly refers to the Ryūkyū Kingdom as expansive and aggressive, and the first that in any way assumes validity to Satsuma’s claims over any of the islands; i.e. argues that the Ryūkyū Kingdom was aggressive against Satsuma, and that Satsuma felt the need to defend or reclaim their territory. I guess we (aspiring & professional Okinawa scholars) have all fallen into that trap of reading backwards into history a sort of Manifest Destiny on the side of the Ryūkyū Kingdom. However their expansion is described in books by Kerr, Smits, Matsuda, Sakihara, or even Sakai (the top Satsuma specialist), it very rarely has that tinge of aggressive, expansive, conquest.

On a quite related note, I am intrigued by Turnbull’s apparent position on the side of Satsuma in supporting or recognizing their claims to a number of islands which they claimed for centuries but never governed, administered, settled or colonized. At least he admits that the Shimazu never exercised any authority over these islands prior to 1609, but merely claimed them. Perhaps that’s him reading back into history as if those islands which are today part of Kagoshima Prefecture rather than Okinawa Prefecture – seized by Satsuma in this 1609 operation – are therefore, in the imagination, inherently part of Satsuma and always have been.

Perhaps, this is a good thing. Turnbull’s Shimazu-centric approach cuts like a Foucaultian-cleaver (no connection to Foucault’s pendulum; it’s a different Foucault) through the questions and perspectives hidden from us by the webs of prior discourse. We’d become so used to seeing the Satsuma-Ryūkyū relationship a certain way that no one even thought to, let alone dared to, consider the whole thing from Satsuma’s point of view, in a relatively positive light.

I do not wish to paint the book in a wholly negative light. In fact, on balance, I’d say it was quite good. It does an excellent job of describing the invasion in great detail, going far far beyond anything previously published in English, and thus provides a most interesting bit of reading, and a most useful resource.

I do, however, have some issues I would like to raise:

(1) Going beyond simply focusing on events from Satsuma’s point of view, he truly valorizes and lionizes the Shimazu effort, samurai weapons, fighting skills, and strategies. This is perhaps the chief fundamental flaw running throughout all his writing.

He spends time praising and in fact worshipping through his words the amazing technology and craftsmanship of the samurai katana. He then goes on to describe the other weapons, ships, flags, banners and other signalling methods, and strategies and tactics as though they are all glowing, superb elements of what made the samurai the greatest warriors in all of history. Unprofessional, subjective, inaccurate, and extremely one-sided, I should think that if I had written something like this, I would be embarrassed of myself.

He describes the Shimazu forces as having excellent intelligence, liaison, and communication in such a manner that it seems not an objective, factual description, but a celebration of their amazing martial prowess; by contrast, he portrays the Ryukyuans as totally lacking in strategy, tactics, or planning, reacting far too late at every step of the way, their defenses incompetent to the point of being laughable. These are what we, at Wikipedia, call “peacock words.” Calling anything excellent, amazing, or brave just to lionize that side colors the description in a way that’s not only subjective and potentially inaccurate, but is indeed unprofessional for any self-respecting scholar.

Again, while these may be accurate descriptions, and he does in fact quote directly from primary sources to describe the utter chaos that erupted as peasants and commoners gathered their possessions on carts and horseback and fled for the hills, somehow it is in the way that he describes it which paints a picture not of sympathy for the outgunned Ryukyuans, whose tiny kingdom was destroyed in one fell swoop, but of glorious, valorous victory for the Shimazu over foolish, primitive, incompetent islanders.

On another crucial point, Turnbull again fails to represent the nuances of the history. He gives a fairly thorough overview of the ways in which Satsuma hid its presence in the islands, and the complex reasons for doing so (Chinese trade through Ryūkyū as a tributary was contingent on the Chinese belief that Ryūkyū was still independent, since China was not trading with Japan at the time). But then he neglects a key point: namely, that most scholars today believe that Beijing was well aware of what was going on, and chose to continue playing the game as it benefited them in whatever way. In misrepresenting this, Turnbull continues his pattern of exaggerating and celebrating Shimazu ability, failing to present a more accurate and objective account.

(2) No footnotes or endnotes. No idea which statements are coming from which source, or which page. Imagine how much side information is left out by not having footnotes.

(3) While it would be difficult to say that Turnbull made any true mistakes in representing the ranks and titles of the Ryukyuan aristocracy, discussion of it is absent, and that still frustrates me a bit. This is what happens when you don’t have footnotes.

He represents the individual known as Kyan ueekata, which might be translated as “Magistrate of Kyan” or “Lord of Kyan”, as if Kyan were his name, rather than his domain. He mentions princes, describing them as the king’s son and brother, completely failing to acknowledge that “prince” was a rank within the aristocracy that was often held by those not directly related to the royal line. Were these individuals actually the king’s son and brother? I’m not sure. Maybe he was misguided by their title of “Prince”. Or maybe he’s right.

He represents Rizan, ueekata of Jana, who was also known by the Chinese-style name of Tei Dô (Zheng Jiong), as “Jana Teido”, mixing names & titles incorrectly, with no care for macrons, and with no explanation whatsoever of the different names and titles of Okinawan aristocrats. This would have been the perfect opportunity to make use of footnotes…

(4) A horribly unprofessional lack of consistency in the use of macrons. I know this sounds quite nitpicky, but in truth it’s no different than correct spelling. Typos I can excuse – such as the flubbing of a date on one of the otherwise very keen date flags that run along the margins heightening the sense of action and drama by providing a timeline of events. But when you consistently, throughout the book, spell Ryūkyū correctly (indicating the long vowels that would distinguish it from the short-voweled Ryukyu) and Ōtomo incorrectly, as Otomo, that’s a problem. Non-scholarly, public consumption book or no, I should think that Dr Turnbull of all people – an obvious enthusiast for the dramatic and exciting narratives and biographies of clans and of individual samurai – would care to get this right.

This happens throughout the book. The name of the kings, that of the Shō dynasty (not Sho) is rendered correctly, but things like Ōwan, which he explicitly translates or describes as “the great bay” and Ōshima (“Great Island”), are rendered as Owan and Oshima, which in Japanese can only mean “small bay” or “honorable bay” and “small island” or “honorable island”, respectively, the Ō for “great” never being represented by a short “O” vowel sound.

Further typoes include the description of Naminoue (“Above the Waves”) Shrine as Nama no ue (“Above Freshness”) on one of the maps, and Name no ue (“Above Licking”) on a caption. This is possibly the fault of copyeditors, but Turnbull knows Japanese – if this was his own mistake, then shame on him for not taking the time or the bother to notice the vast difference in meaning he’s created, to the point that I, quite honestly, saw “Nama no ue” and had no idea what or where he was talking about.

On a similar note, and I am sure this is the fault of the Osprey editors or book designers, and not of Dr Turnbull, the date flags which run alongside the margins, keeping the energy of the narrative going by marking off events and providing a timeline, do not correspond at all to what’s described on their respective pages. I love these flags – I think they’re a great feature. But when the siege on Nakijin is described in the text on pp32-37, and the timeline flag in the margins for these events is found on p43, that’s a problem. Throughout the book, the narrative runs way ahead of the flags, such that the flags for the mid-point events of the conflict are found on pages describing the surrender and aftermath.

———-

All in all, if you’re interested in the subject, I cannot but recommend this book. It is by far the most detailed account available in English, is filled with wonderful illustrations and maps, and is a relatively easy read (not too dense at all). But if you are truly serious about researching the topic, I would suggest that you double-check any and all facts gotten out of this book. Turnbull frustratingly does not include any footnotes or endnotes, but at least there’s a bibliography.

As for the price, I’ve gotten things only slightly shorter, and of great scholarly importance (read: things that form the foundation of my own research; things I cite all the time) for free, through my universities’ subscriptions to JSTOR. Had this been published in a journal rather than as a separate book, you too could have downloaded it totally for free, provided you were associated with a university. I’ve also bought books far longer, thicker for $20. In fact, half the books on my shelf are 4x the length of this one, and less than 2x (or even less than 1x) the cost. But, it’s hardly a totally absurd price to pay; I’ve seen academic books and museum catalogs that go for hundreds of dollars.

——-
*Books which exaggerate and falsify the martial skills of samurai and ninja, maintaining and reinforcing the absurd stereotypes of ninja magic and unreal, superhuman samurai ability seen in video games, anime, and other forms of fiction. The kind of stuff aimed at or primarily consumed by teenage martial arts enthusiasts obsessed with exotic weapons, bushido, and the like, who aren’t even on the level of ‘armchair historian’, let alone proper scholar.

Here’s the second image from the model shoot of Nikki I did with Eboh last month.

Studio shoot with model Nikki Wright

I watched the Ryukyu Kings vs. Osaka Evessa basketball game today. This is the first basketball game I’ve ever seen in Japan, and only the second in my life. (I saw the Harlem Globetrotters play in Calgary, Canada.)

It was a great afternoon’s entertainment. Okinawa beat Osaka 82 to 77, which pleased the spectators. Of the 2815 in attendance, I think at least 2800 were Kings supporters.

I took my little point and shoot camera with me. The quality of the image isn’t that great, but of the few shots I took one of them was of a Kings player dunking the ball.

Ryukyu Kings vs Osaka Evessa

Thanks very much to the folks who came out to the Kadena Market Day. Overall, it was a good experience, met a lot of nice people and had some interesting conversations.

Kadena Market Day Display

Many, if not most, freelance photographers have to act as their own accountant, business manager, travel agent, website designer, publicist and even therapist. Adding the role of “vendor” has its own challenges to overcome, its own skill set to learn. I guess the only way to approach it is, like anything in life, to simply do it to the best of your ability.

Gestern Abend ging es zum DJ-Abend ins Hammock, eigentlich ne Art Bar mit Tanzgelegenheit. Ist ziemlich eng und sieht ein wenig aus wie ein Bau-Container, um das Hammock herum ist dementsprechend auch wirklich nichts. Der Vorteil ist aber, dass man vom Wohnheim zu Fuß in 10 bis 15 Minuten da ist und sich so derbst das Geld für ein Taxi sparen kann. Bin also im Deutschen 4er-Pulk ins Hammock, wo dann eine Japanerin, mit der ich vorher einige Mails ausgetauscht habe, auf mich wartete und auch noch ne Freundin im Schlepptau hatte. Also ließ ich die 3 anderen Deutschen an der Bar und machte mich selbst dran mein Japanisch zu trainieren. Vor dem Hammock war ich ja noch mit meinem Tutor Kousuke-sama in nem Izakaya und hab mir dort zwei große Bier hinter die Binse gekippt, im Hammock gab’s dann unlustigerweise nen Nomihodai, ergo eine Flatrate-Party. Für 15 Euro konnte man sich alles hinter die Binse kippen, was die Bar hergab. Dementsprechend hatte ich dann auch heute so nen übelsten Kater wie seit Jahren vielleicht nicht (ich übertreib da jetzt vielleicht aber auch). Aber ich meine, je größer der Kater umso lustiger war die Party. Zumindest traf das auf Gestern voll zu. 

Ich weiss jetzt auch net genau wieviel ich von halb 12 bis 5 Uhr morgens gesoffen hab. Aber es war so verdammt lustig. Ich hatte wahrscheinlich das lustigste Gespräch seit ich in Okinawa war, betrunkene Japanerinnen und Japaner kamen auf mich und Jens zu und die ganzen Sauereien mussten raus. Japanische Wörter, die ausschließlich Bezug zur menschlichen Fortpflanzung hatten, flogen nur so herum. Eine betrunkene Japanerin und ein Japaner haben sich mit mir unterhalten und wollten direkt wissen, wieviele Frauen ich schon hatte, da das mit dem Zählen nach 5 Bier immer schwer ist, war ich vage bei über 10, was empörte (vorgespielte Empörung) auslöste. Die Japanerin, die neben mir stand, schlug mich dauernd für jedes dreckige Wort, also schlug mich eigentlich dauernd, während der Japaner meinte, dass er mir jetzt Respekt zollen muss für meine Leistungen und mich gleich zum Lehrer auserkor. War superlustig, obwohl ich dauernd als “schlechter Kerl” bezeichnet wurde, machte es mir nix aus und die Leute meinten es auch net so ernst, sondern haben sich eher über meine Geschichten und Wörter amüsiert.

Als ich dann zu der besorgten Freundin zurückkehrte, hab ich mich noch ein wenig unterhalten, wo sich herausstellte, dass meine Bekanntschaft gar keinen Freund hatte, obwohl ich das dachte. Wenig später musste ihre betrunkene Freundin nach Hause und wir blieben bis 5 Uhr morgens quasi zu zweit zurück. Unterhielten uns ein wenig auf dem Dach und gingen dann zur Tanzfläche. Naja, was will man machen, nach so ein paar Bier kann man sich schon mal gefährlich nahe kommen. Aber so nah wie wir getanzt haben, konnte man froh sein, dass wir an einem öffentlichen Platz waren und nicht auf einem abgedunkelten Hotelzimmer. Irgendwann wanderten ihre Hände in meine hinteren Hosentaschen, mehrmals wurde ich rangezogen, um dann doch wie ein Tropfen an der Wand der Kusslosigkeit abzuperlen. Es war lustig und nachdem die Party vorbei war, hat mir eine Japanerin dann auch gesagt ii kanji, was so viel heißt wie, ich hab da ein gutes Gefühl. Scheinbar war ich auch wirklich der Einzige, der an dem Abend einen etwas engeren Frauenkontakt hatte, aber hey, an einem Tag regnets und an dem nächsten scheint die Sonne. Ich bin nur verdammt froh, dass für mich jetzt erstmal sonnige Zeiten anzubrechen scheinen. Will ja auch keiner meine depressiven Ergüsse lesen.

from Free Republic:

“(Japan Prime Minister) Hatoyama Vs.Obama — The Scandal That Nobody Will Report” (由紀夫 vs オバマ「書かれざるスキャンダル」）

Reporters at the weekly Shukan Bunshun news magazine here in Tokyo, Japan have written a rather caustic report about President Obama’s 23 hours in Tokyo last week, from a frank Japanese perspective, exclusively in the Japanese language, and released to the newstands just now. In that sense this is more or less an *FR Exclusive*. A number of eye-opening claims, pieces of information and details emerge about Obama’s brief stay in Japan as part of his disastrous Asian trip–over and above the very controversial, near-”dogeza” bow delivered as a Head of State of a superpower to the Emperor of Japan. There is criticism in this article for both the Obama Administration and their behavior, as well as within the Japanese government either in response or through their own incompetence. Either way, it does not make for a very pretty picture and is squarely at odds with the Administration which announced upon arrival in the US that the Asian trip was a “success”. By what benchmark?

This Japanese magazine is a major weekly publication in Japan. I have as a courtesy provided a synopsis English translation, not word-for-word, of the main gist of the article. As always, the original Japanese authors’ Japanese language version of the article prevails over the English. For general discussion, research and historical purposes.

for article and synopsis: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391547/posts

Wenn es einen Sinn haben soll, dass wir uns getroffen haben, dann sag ich mir, dass es nur in diesem Moment schmerzt. Der Schmerz in meiner Brust zeigt mir nur wie sehr ich dich liebe. Auch wenn ich mich mittlerweile vor dem Lieben fürchte, wäre es doch kein Problem, wenn du es wärst, den ich liebe.
Die Gefühle, die ich nicht unterdrücken kann, verschwinden nicht. Wie eine Uhr kann ich nicht zurückkehren. Dich, nur dich allein liebe ich. Die Tage an denen, ich dich nicht sehen kann und die Nächte, in denen ich nicht schlafen kann, gehen weiter. In unserer Liebe gibt es so viele schwierige Dinge.
Weil wir so oft aneinander denken, ist die Verbindung zwischen uns unzertrennlich. Aber ich warte auf diesen Tag, an dem du erwachsen geworden bist.
Auch wenn es auf dieser Welt so viele Menschen gibt wie dich, bin ich dir begegnet, habe mich verliebt und auch wenn ich mich an dieses Gefühl schon gewöhnt habe, kann ich dich nicht sehen. Ich will dich sehen. Ich will dich jetzt sehen, ich will dich einfach nur sehen.
Obwohl ich zu dir will, kann ich nicht. An die Trauer erinnert, muss ich stärker werden. Ich muss stärker werden.
Egal wie oft du mir sagst, dass du mich liebst, weiss ich nicht, was die Zukunft bringt. Die Unsicherheit wird dann wohl auch nicht verschwinden. Ich will dich sehen, will dich sehen, jetzt will ich dich sehen. Wenn wir uns sehen, umarme mich bitte fest.
Auch wenn es auf dieser Welt so viele Menschen gibt wie dich, bin ich dir begegnet, habe mich verliebt und auch wenn ich mich an dieses Gefühl schon gewöhnt habe, kann ich dich nicht sehen. Ich will dich sehen. Ich will dich jetzt sehen, ich will dich einfach nur sehen.

Weather was getting better in the final day of my trip.

Naminoue Shrine, first torii

second torii

wash your hand first

make your wish

a lot of Taiwan people came and make greedy wishes, no god will give you money

cute dog, sit very quitely

hey look at the handsome guy

Confucius Temple, did he know Japanese?

Went to the fish market to see a show

which was cutting open a tuna!

wow

finished, RIP

RIP in my stomach

cheap water

jail rabbit bag!

time to go home…

20091111 Okinawa Trip (Day 1)
20091111 Okinawa Trip (Day 2)
20091111 Okinawa Trip (Day 3)
20091111 Okinawa Trip (Day 4)

No more sunshine and it rained in the third day!

looks familiar? check out the painting in the last photo of Day 2

People tied their wishes on the rope

it seems that Kangxi Emperor was here before

constructions work ruined the photo

Taking photo here was forbidden, I might “accidentally” press the shutter

there was basically nothing left there

Emperor’s seat

beautiful model illustrated how god was worshipped

vending machines not only sold drinks

Visit to the stalactites cave

On the way down to the cave, lion monster again

many stalactites

out of the cave, shops selling beautiful glass stuff

I love Xmas

I don’t like stitch, but stitch was also everywhere in Okinawa, this piece of glass worthed >10000 yen as I remember

Peace memorial park, for people who died in World War II

People putting flowers in front of the cornerstone of peace

So many names on so many stones, sad

Expensive dinner, rainned heavily after that so headed back to hotel…

20091111 Okinawa Trip (Day 1)
20091111 Okinawa Trip (Day 2)
20091111 Okinawa Trip (Day 3)
20091111 Okinawa Trip (Day 4)

I’ll be at Kadena Market Day in the Schilling Community Center from 10AM to 3PM tomorrow. Please drop by and say hello!

On a completely different topic…

Just checked to see if the Japanese release date for the new Sherlock Holmes movie is December 25th (the same as the US) or December 26 (the same as the UK). It turns out the Japanese release date is April 3rd. Bah, humbug!

Us lucky Keio-ers are now experiencing Mita-sai, a campus holidayslashfestival, which breaks up the term quite nicely if I say so m’self. Out of an array of activities on my to-do list, one was to visit the intimidating neighbourhood of Ginza. Famed for famous labels and its streets flooded with fashionistas, my more alternative Harajuku sense of personal style was somewhat at odds with every other nihonjin. But the beauty of being firstly amongst a group of friends, and secondly gaijin no matter which way you look about it, that desperate need to not stick out is futile, and is wonderfully freeing once you let go.

We left just as the sun was setting; and it does that pretty early on here. Even before the start of winter (and my god it’s gotten miserable – one news report said something like it was the coldest November day in 17 years…). I kinda like it though. Tht night owl in me, y’see. There’s something more magic about nighttime. Especially in Ginza where the roads stretching wide are lined with trees all a-glitter, and the street signs lined with fairy lights, and the behemoth designer buildings look like giant, bizarre snow globes – all glass and changing colours. Louis Vuitton was some kind of trippy, monogrammed rainbow; looking over at Chanel a super-sized Lily Allen peeps back over shades. On a side note, not liking the new Chanel ads at all. That said, freaking loved the RTW Spring 2010 show.

I dragged them all to this Okinawan food store/touristy place/general purveyor of crazy yet overpriced items, that I have fallen in love with. The ground floor (see that, Japan? Ground floor. Because it’s a floor at ground level!) is stocked with foods, some of which I imagine do not in fact originate from islands lying south of honshu…

You know you want to buy it. I mean, it’s crazy tasty and everything!

They eat some wierd things in Okinawa…

Speaking of, the basement level of the store provides for the alcoholics and music addicts alike: to the right there is a small aisle bursting with brightly coloured bottles of this-and-that, hidden under the stairs you can preview Okinawa-related albums via old style HMV-esque headphones + cd players. One is shaped like a pineapple. This clearly enchances the listening experience, biensur. Beside the music are, inevitabley, the books. Guides and so on. In the far left corner one can purchase a variety of tourist-y items including shisa (Okinawan lions that come in pairs at the entrance of temples, kind of like guardians), musical instruments, shirts…you get the picture.

Now, at first everything is normal. I’m listening to Ska meets Okinawa cover of J-pop songs (yeah) from a giant pineapple. Then I wander over to see what the guys are so infatuated about over by the booze…

"Habu" eh? Now what could that possibly be?

Well.

It was a dead snake.

A dead, super poisonous snake. In the booze.

WHAT.

I mean, when did somebody come up with the idea “oh let’s go put a whole dead snake in some alcohol” and who told them it sounded good? Oh it was so gross, though! I’m gonna have nightmares for weeks! Its eyes were totally white, and was coiled up with its mouth open in a slightly pissed (no pun intended) manner I imagine most snakes would be when they are about to be pickled in sake or somesuch. Mmm-mmm-mmm…

Moving (swiftly) on, the rest of Ginza was sparkly and gorgeous, although my camera died on our tour around, hence lake of photo love. I did manage to get some shots of the entrance to Ginza’s own Tokyu Hands (another huuuuge Japanese department/chain store. Sells a whole variety of things. Really.) called “Ginza Hands”. Of course, being Ginza, there was none of the bizzare/perchance “crass” items sold in Shibuya or Shinjuku’s Tokyu Hands. Oh nonono. And everything was mysteriously a tad more pricey too, funny that.

Anyway I managed to get my hands on this gorgeous wee camera: the instax mini 7S. It’s somewhat polaroid-y: photos emerge from the top of it right after you take a shot. So looking foward to using it!! Also purchased a smaller toy camera, which I actually had back home but is infinately cheaper to buy here (as is the film). There was other stuff to – I could not resist at the Okinawan place, so I will update in a bit properly on my purchases…

Last Friday, the staff of One Shot Tattoo in Naha City were kind enough to let me take some photographs at their tattoo studio. Even better one of their clients gave me permission to photograph his full body irezumi.  I am not going to even pretend this is an everyday occurrence for me.

I set up a black background in a small changing room then used a hammerhead flash with a softbox attachment for lighting. I used the Pentax 67II, Fuijfilm Provia 100F and a 100mm macro lens. When I had everything set up Kamiya-san came in, stripped of his clothes and I took two rolls of film. Not sure how long the shoot lasted, I was too busy checking and rechecking the settings on the camera and flash making sure that I was getting everything right. Supposedly I looked a little flustered which would be about right.

The dragon on his stomach was remarkable, it moved and changed shape as he breathed, and at one point while looking through the viewfinder I thought I might be having a hallucination.

Irezumi - Japanese tattoos

Irezumi - Japanese tattoos

Later I took some shots of the studio owner and artist Satoru Koizumi tattooing a new design onto Kamiya-san’s wrist. It looked painful but as you can see from the photo some people are able to control themselves far better than others.

Satoru Koizumi of One Shot Tattoo at work.

I’d like to thank Michelle and Annya for helping set up the shoot, Satoru Koizumi for allowing me to take images in his studio, and of course Kamiya-san for baring all and allowing me to share this ancient Japanese art form with others.

World’s Second Largest Aquarium , Churaumi Aquarium,part of the Ocean Expo Commemorative National Government Park located in Motobu, Okinawa, Japan; capacity: 7,500-cubic meters (1,981,290 gallons) of water; one of the few places where visitors can see a great variety of sea creatures including sharks and manta rays.

See more wonderful aquariums at: humor-articles.com

World News: President Obama and the Rise of Japan’s Pacifists (Again!)

With the recent election of Japan’s Prime Minister Yuko Hatoyama, President Barack Obama might have received a warmer welcome in Tokyo’s Suntory Hall by claiming to be America’s first Pacifist President, instead of America’s first Pacific President. Prime Minister Hatoyama, after all, has promised to halt its nations naval mission supporting the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. He is also reviewing basing agreements and the stationing of 50,000 U.S. troops, including those in Okinawa. It is obvious, that America’s militarist tradition and imperial presidency-which Barack Obama inherited-is in stark contrast to the rise of Japan’s Pacifists, again! In fact, it might be a more important component to U.S.-Japan relations than that of trade and commerce…

…Could this be the reason President Obama warned Prime Minsiter Yuko Hatoyama, along with pacifists in his Democratic Party of Japan, of serious consequences if it reneges on its military realignment plans? North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, Taiwan’s movement towards autonomy, and the geopolitical importance of the Strait of Taiwan have only added to a strong U.S. military presence in the region. And with uncertainty over military bases in Okinawa-making it improbable for America to contain China and other nations in the area-U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has notified Japan that relations may “fracture” and “lead to a standstill in the nation’s security policy…

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RELATED ARTICLES:

NY Times: On Obama’s Asia trip, not much adulation

NY Times: In Japan, Obama says US will study status of Okinawa base

Couldn’t sleep well for the first night, woke up at 5am sth.

sunrise without sun (facing west)

getting brighter

and brighter

Walked around the hotel after breakfast

red and yellow leaves

another angle of the hotel

inside the wedding place, this is the triangle stuff in previous hotel photo

a stone couch

First place of the day: Ocean Expo Park, which is much smaller than Ocean Park in Hong Kong, and there are roller coaster that sort of things.

seeing some sunshine finally

view outside the aquarium

People could touch those seastars!

fish

fish again

another fish

eh…lobster?

one of my favourite pics

square fish

jellyfish, obviously Ocean Park has more types

stupid looking fish

highlight of the aquarium, like a giant screen

which is for these sharks, largest sharks in the world

another angle

getting real close

very close

Had some time left after the aquarium, I walked to the beach

lol

outside the aquarium

reduce temperature natrually

girl, who had absolutely no idea I took a photo of her

LOL

Second place: pineapple garden, nothing worth taking photo…basically sell you products, but offers free trial like wine, juice, pie which make you want to buy them, and you got a chance of lottery if you purchased 3000 yen or more, and I got the 2nd prize, which is a bottle of wine but I trade it with 2 bottles of juice (by pretending I was underaged)

The next sightseeing place is where Fei Wong shot a movie there which I have never heard of, basically it is a piece of land of grass where 10000 people can sit on. And the following photos are the view from that big piece of grass…

elephant stone

Not staying long there, and then we went to see the US Military Base (from the outside of course)

couldn’t see any F22 or stealth bomber….

And night had come…and we were at the “souviner street”


bottles of sand, if you look closely enough the sands are of star shape.

can someone tell me what it means?

lots of tshirt

painting on the wall of the restaruant I had dinner at, and it will be in the next day journey.

20091111 Okinawa Trip (Day 1)
20091111 Okinawa Trip (Day 2)
20091111 Okinawa Trip (Day 3)
20091111 Okinawa Trip (Day 4)

Yesterday, parents were invited to have lunch with the wee ones at school.  I was sooooo looking forward to this because last week they had a little celebration for ShichiGoSan and I totally missed it!  But I talked to another Mom of one of Turd’s classmates and she said she had no clue about it!  So, I was not the only one!  But this lunch totally made up for it!

Every Tuesday and Thursday I pack his Bento lunch and away he goes to school and I don’t even know if he eats everything that I put in it.  Or if he does the trade that we all used to do when we were young.  I would always wonder if the other kids would make fun of him for what was in his Bento.  But alas, I got to experience it for myself yesterday.  As it turns out, each child waits patiently until Sensei is ready to sit down at her little organ to play while the kids sing some little prayer-thingy.  (How freakin’ adorable, by the way!)  Then after the song, Sensei comes over to sit with the children and then they say a prayer kinda like mine growing up.  Mine went like this:  In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Bless us Oh Lord, for these thy gifts which we are about to receive from the bounty to Christ our Lord, Amen!  Well, theirs probably was similar but in Japanese!  And OH MY GOD!  I about cried I was so dang proud of my little Angel!  Oh!  And when they sang that little song before the prayer?!  Yup, tears wellin’ up in the eyes!  It was so funny, there was one little girl that was the loudest singer in the group but she was by far the worst singer.  I’m thinking that her tone will come to her when she’s a little bit older!

It was this lunch that I realized how much I really give my boy to eat!  I think I may give him a bit too much!  I was looking at all the other kids’ Bentos and they all had a teeny serving of Broccoli or some other vegetable, a couple of tiny little rice balls and then a teensy dessert.  I give my son 3/4 of a ham & cheese sammy, some Goldfish, some 100 Calorie pak cookies and as an extra treat yesterday I gave him some cracker/cookie thing that he loves.  I hate them because they taste like fish.  They’re weird.  So, note to self:  Pack Turd a lighter lunch!

Here he may just be getting full.

I learned that my Turd has a girlfriend.  And this is her:

OH-A DEAR-A GOD-A!  He’s only 3!  What’s a Momma to do?!

I was a bit relieved when I saw this though:

I think that she’s pretty close with a few of the boys in the classroom.

Just when I thought our lunch date was all done, we were ushered to the Hall for Friendship Day.  Now Friendship Day is something that I normally skip because my Turd thinks that I should take him home right after it.  But I usually can’t because I have to work.  But I have rearranged my schedule a little bit to incorporate his Tuesday night Football practice so we were prepared to take him home after our visit.  Oh, but like I said I usually skip this day every month because I don’t wanna break Turdy’s heart by making him go back to his classroom with his friends.

So yesterday we got to dance and sing and play with a parachute!When both Paul and I were young, this was our favorite activity!  We loved the parachute and so does this little man!

And while Paul had the camera, he caught this little ditty:

What a fun day!  I wish I could do that at least once a month!  But since he started his new school, that was the very first time the parents have been invited to lunch.  I’ll take whatever I can get, man!  It let me see my baby in a whole new light.  Yeah, in his very own element.  Oh and one more thing?!  Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday he eats whatever the school prepares for the kids and it’s definitely Japanese cuisine.  I was told by one of the Japanese mothers who speaks awesome English that Turd tries everything!  Good to know!  Good to know!  I’m going to try sneaking some Japanese things into his Bento now!

Tatsächlich gibt es an japanischen Universitäten so ziemlich jedes Jahr einen medizinischen Check, in dem die örtliche Abteilung für medizinische Angelegenheiten die Studenten auf Herz und Nieren überprüft. In diesem Zusammenhang bekomme ich in 3 Wochen auch die Ergebnisse meiner Blutwerte, etc. Erst wurden bei mir natürlich die Lungen geröntgt und ich musste angeben wieviele Jahre ich rauche. Da es nur 2 Monate sind, habe ich die Jahre einfach weggestrichen und Monate hingeschrieben. Dann kam Sehtest, Hörtest, Blutdruck, Gewicht und Größe dran. Wobei sich herausstellte, dass ich in bester körperlicher Verfassung bin. 4 Kilo abgenommen habe und aktuell mit Idealgewicht und idealem Blutdruck durch die Gegend laufe, sowie auch sonst in bester körperlicher Verfassung bin. Muss nur aufpassen, dass ich nicht noch weiter abnehme, was so viel heißt wie: Ran ans Futter.