After the recent terrorist attacks on London’s underground train
system, it’s difficult to not be reminded of the horrific events that
took place ten years ago in Tokyo’s own subway. On the tenth
anniversary of those attacks it’s important to look back and remember
the lives lost and those who continue to suffer to this day. For that
reason, I’ve summarized the events of that fateful day to help insure
that they will never be forgotten:

On Monday, March 20, 1995, a religious cult by the name of Aum
Shinrikyo, meaning “supreme truth”, carried out the most devastating
terrorist attack ever to occur on Japanese soil by instructing five of
its members to simultaneously release deadly liquid sarin nerve gas
into various areas of the Tokyo subway system.

The short and long-term effects of sarin poisoning include bleeding
from the nose and mouth, convulsions, breathing difficulties, chronic
nightmares, extreme sensitivity to light, foaming at the mouth, high
fevers, memory loss, chronic vomiting, paralysis, respiratory
problems, seizures, uncontrollable trembling, blindness, and death.

Although the true motive for Aum’s attack is still unexplained,
prosecutors theorize that it was an attempt to bring down the Japanese
government and install the group’s founder, Asahara Shoko, an
uneducated, nearly-blind man who claimed to be a reincarnated Hindu
god, as ruler of the country.

The attack itself came at the peak of Monday morning rush hour. Each
of the five perpetrators hid two plastic packages of deadly liquid
sarin by wrapping them in
newspaper, and carried them onto a subway car assigned to them by
Asahara. When their train reached its desired stop, the cult members
dropped the sarin packets onto the floor of the car, punctured them
with the sharpened tip of an umbrella, and quickly exited the train to
meet up with a getaway driver who would take them back to Aum
headquarters in Shibuya.

Hayashi Ikuo, a former heart and artery specialist at Keio Hospital in
Tokyo who left his job and family to join Aum as their “Minister of
Healing”, was assigned to release sarin on the Chiyoda Line, which
runs from Kita-senju in northeast Tokyo to Yoyogi-uehara in the west.
Wearing a surgical mask as if he were infected with a cold, Hayashi
boarded the first car of a southwest bound Chiyoda Line train at 7:48
a.m. When it arrived at Shinochanomizu Station, Hayashi dropped his
sarin packets, stabbed them with his umbrella, and quickly left the
train to meet his getaway driver.

Two station attendants who carried Hayashi’s sarin packets out of the train were
killed, while 231 others, mostly passengers, suffered severe injuries.
Hayashi Ikuo was sentenced to life in prison for his actions.

The Marunouchi Line was attacked twice. Hirose Kenichi, a member of Aum’s
“Chemical Brigade” who received a masters degree in physics from
Waseda University, was assigned to board the second car of a west
bound train in Ikebukero and release his sarin at Ochanomizu Station.
After wrapping the packets in a sports tabloid newspaper, he boarded
the train. One station away from his destination, he noticed a young
school girl beside him. Overwhelmed with guilt from the thought of
killing her, Hirose decided to move to the third car and release the
sarin there instead.

The infected train traveled all the way to its final stop at Ogikubo
Station with the
sarin liquid soaking the car’s floor and new passengers entering and
exiting the train all the while. It even went back into service as an
east bound train until finally being taken out of service at
Shin-koenji Station.

A man who happened to be sitting directly in front of the sarin
packets was killed and 358 others suffered serious injuries. In
addition, Hirose himself had to be treated for sarin poisoning and was
later sentenced to death as a result of his actions.

Yokoyama Masato, an engineering graduate from Tokai Univeristy who
served as Secretary of Aum’s “Ministry of Science and Technology”,
boarded the fifth car of a west bound Maranouchi Line train in
Shinjuku at 7:39 a.m. and released the gas at Yotsuya Station. The
train reached the end of the line at 8:03 a.m. and returned east
bound. At Ikebukuro Station, the train was evacuated and searched, but
the sarin packets were not found. At 8:32, the train was put back into
service, bound for Shinjuku.

At Hongo-san-chome Station, train staff finally removed the sarin
packets and mopped the floor, which spread the sarin around,
increasing its effectiveness. The train reached Shinjuku and returned
west bound until it was finally taken out of service for good at
Kokkai-gijidomae Station at 9:27 a.m., one hour and forty minutes
after the sarin was initially released.

200 people suffered injuries. Fortunately, no deaths occurred from the
release of Yokoyama’s sarin. This is believed to be because he failed
to thoroughly puncture his packets and the poison evaporated very
slowly. Yokoyama was later sentenced to death.

The Hibya Line was also attacked twice. Toyoda Toru, who graduated with a
masters degree in physics from Tokyo University and put off doctoral
studies in order to join Aum, boarded the first car of a
Tobu-dobutsukoen bound train at 7:39 a.m., punctured his sarin packets
at Ebisu Station, and made his escape.

The sarin-infected train continued on its route. Several stops later,
at Kamiyacho Station, panicked passengers suffering respiratory
problems were removed from the train and taken to a nearby hospital.
However, the train was not taken out of service and continued on to
Kasumigaseki Station where it was finally evacuated.

One passenger, an elderly gentleman, died and 532 were seriously
injured. Toyoda was later sentenced to death.

Hayashi Yasuo (no relation to Hayashi Ikuo who released sarin on the
Chiyoda Line) was the third highest in command of Aum’s “Ministry of
Science and Technology”. He studied artificial intelligence at
Kogakuin University and lived in India before joining Aum. Hayashi
Yasuo was assigned to attack the southwest bound Hibiya Line that runs
from Kita-senju to Naka-Meguro. Unlike the other perpetrators, he was
given three
packets of sarin instead of two. He boarded the third car of the train
at Ueno Station at 7:43 a.m. and punctured all three packets two stops
later at Akihabara Station.

Passengers felt the effects of the Hayashi’s sarin almost immediately,
having troubles seeing and breathing. At the next stop, Kodemmacho
Station, a passenger kicked the packets onto the platform, suspecting
that they were causing the problem. The train continued on with a
puddle of sarin remaining on the floor of the car. A passenger hit the
emergency stop button, but the train continued on to Tsukiji Station
where it was taken out of service. Most of the passengers collapsed
onto the platform after exiting.

Back at Kodenmacho Station, the ejected sarin packets evaporated into
the air, killing four people. 275 were seriously injured and a total
of eight died as a result of Hayashi Yasuo’s actions. Following the
attacks, he fled to Ishigaki Island - 1000 miles from Tokyo - where he
was finally captured in 1997 and sentenced to death.

Ten years later, thousands who were on the subway that morning still
find themselves affected by the attacks, and a countless number of
people still find themselves suffering from headaches, trembling, and
breathing problems. Many are still too ill to work.

Remarkably, Aum continues to thrive today under the new name of Aleph.
With over 2,000 members (down from over 10,000 a decade ago), the
group still follows Asahara’s teachings, although they claim to have
given up their violent past.

Earlier this year, Aum/Aleph released a statement offering a
“heartfelt apology” and a promise to “never repeat an incident of that
kind ever again”. They also vowed to compensate the victims and the
families of the deceased, as ordered by the Japanese government. Of
the $35 million USD they promised to pay, only $7 million has
materialized.

Healing remains to be the biggest obstacle for most survivors, be it emotional,
physical, or both. Many spent the anniversary of the attacks visiting
a temporary shrine set up on the Maranouchi Line platform in Shinjuku
Station. Others, who were still too traumatized to even enter the
subway, attempted to make peace with what happened by walking the
streets together from station to station to leave flowers at the
above-ground entrances of where the attacks occurred.

Like 9/11 in the United States and the recent subway bombings in
London, the events of “March 20″ will never be forgotten.

It’s no secret that Japanese films, especially horror and anime, have become enormously popular in the United States.

Now, Spike TV, one of the newest cable networks to pop up on American television sets, has taken the immigration of programming from the far east a step further by airing Japanese game shows on its evening
schedule.

The first to appear was “Most Extreme Elimination Challenge”, called “MXC” for short. The program, which debuted on Spike TV in April 2003, is actually “Takeshi’s Castle”, a legendary Japanese game show from
the 1980s.

The original plot of the Japanese version of “Takeshi’s Castle” concerned a group of ordinary citizens lead by General Hayati Tani who took it upon themselves to endure several grueling and difficult obstacle courses in an attempt to conquer Emporer Takeshi’s castle.

According to a list of injuries endured by contestants during the entire history of the show, the obstacles weren’t exactly a walk in the park: There were 41 broken ribs, 312 bruised chins, 282 bruised shins, 35 concussions, 2 fractured skulls, 112 black eyes, 62 torn muscles, and 9 people who were knocked unconscious.

Don’t expect the American version to be anything like its Japanese counterpart, though. All Japanese dialogue has been wiped away and replaced with completely new scripts full of bad puns and other total silliness written and voiced by Los Angeles-based comedians.

Sex, drugs, and fart jokes are commonplace on “MXC”. Gay jokes and sexual double entendres are also the norm. Not quite entertainment for the whole family, but the show has become overwhelmingly popular with high school and college students.

Also airing on Spike TV is “Hey! Spring of Trivia”, a game show that’s been popular in Japan since 2002. Unlike “MXC”, “Hey! Spring of Trivia” is almost identical to its Japanese counterpart, including actual translations of the original scripts.

The American producers took fifty hour-long episodes of the Japanese version and edited them down to 26 thirty-minute “Americanized” versions that debuted on Spike TV in November 2004.

Viewers send in obscure trivia that is presented in video clips to celebrity judges who rate it with a “hey” button. “Hey” for the Japanese is more like “Wow” for English speakers. They more “hey’s” a piece of trivia receives, the more impressive the trivia is. The winner receives The Golden Brain and other prizes.

Translated episodes of Fuji TV’s “Iron Chef” have aired on America’s FOOD TV for almost ten years, but the concept was taken a step further by the development of “Iron Chef America”, which debuted earlier this
year.

“Iron Chef America” is almost identical to the Japanese version. With the exception of Masaharu Morimoto and Hiroyuki Sakai, the Iron Chef’s have been replaced with a an array of world-class chef’s from the western world, including Bobby Flay, Mario Batali, and Wolfgang Puck.

Actor and martial artist Mark Dacascos, who plays Chairman Kaga’s (Takeshi Kaga from the Japanese version) American nephew, takes his uncle’s place as proprietor of Kitchen Stadium. And, like the Japanese version, American celebrities and food critics serve as judges to determine “whose cuisine reigns supreme.”

More information about “MXC” and “Hey! Spring of Trivia” can be found at http://www.spiketv.com.

Information about “Iron Chef America” can be found at http://www.foodtv.com.

As I watched Juzo Itami’s “Tampopo” for my Japanese film class, Iwas instantly reminded of my first visit to an authentic ramen shopduring my first trip Japan.

My wife took me there after visiting temples in Kamakura. It wasa place almost identical to Tampopo’s - a tiny shop crowded with customers. There were only two empty seats at the end of the counter,and I remember how narrow the walkway was between the wall and thebacks of the other customers. The workers greeted us with”Irashaimase” as we attempted to squeeze our way to the empty seatswithout disturbing anyone’s meal.

Honestly, I wasn’t very excited about the idea of eating ramenfor lunch that day. In the United States, it isn’t exactly consideredto be an A-list cuisine. At 13 cents per package, ramen is mostlyeaten by people who are on a tight budget. Many get their fill oframen during their college years and never want to see it again after that.

However, I was quite surprised by what my wife had encouraged me to order. There was no resemblance whatsoever to the instant ramen I had been accustomed to. I expected only soup and noodles. Instead, my bowl was filled with surprises like boiled egg, green onion, fresh seaweed, pieces of bamboo, and slices of pork.

When it comes to cuisine, the differences between Japan and the United States are very profound. However,some of these differences are not as big as most would believe. A lot of the ceremonies involved in Japanese meals share similarities to those in the Western world. For example, the saying of “Itadakimasu” or “I shall receive” prior to eating is similar to the tradition of reciting a short prayer before a
meal in Western countries. Likewise, the saying of “Kampai” and touching glasses before drinking is a direct parallel to the English version of “Cheers”.

One of my favorite scenes in “Tampopo” was when the homeless man broke into the restaurant kitchen to cook Omrice. I had just eaten
some prior to watching the film. It’s one of my favorite Japanese dishes because it’s both familiar and exotic at the same time. I read that Omrice became very popular in Japan because of this particular scene in the film, but couldn’t find any other information to back it up. Perhaps someone reading this who knows the facts about Omrice will be kind enough to post a comment on the Feedback board on this
subject.

The only thing that disappointed me about “Tampopo” was that there was no mention of Udon - one of my favorite Japanese foods - in the film. I’ll never forget the first time I tried it along with Tempura at a place in West Shinjuku called “Hanamaru”. The entire shop was filled with men salarymen slurping away at their noodles. The acceptance of slurping may possibly be the most surprising thing about Japanese noodle-eating to Westerners. In our culture it’s considered to be very rude, so it was difficult for me to hide my disgust at the sound of an entire roomful of people doing it.

Aside from the slurping, I found most Japanese social customs to be very pleasing and agreeable. When visiting the family home of my wife’s friend for dinner one evening, our hosts served Sukiyaki, a meal that is usually reserved for special occasions. I noticed how important it was for everyone to fill one another’s drink glass, and I sensed that it is very important not to allow your guest’s (or host’s) glass to go empty.

Food even plays a vital role in Japanese culture during death. Rice is offered to the deceased by way of chopsticks sticking up from the center of the dish. I learned about this the hard way when my wife and I were eating at a Yoshinoya restaurant in Fujisawa. Ignorant to the tradition, I stabbed my chopsticks into the rice in the middle of the meal. My wife set me straight very quickly about how rude that particular gesture is.

“Tampopo” does an excellent job in presenting the culture and
tradition of Japanese cuisine in an interesting and humorous way. From the young salaryman who embarrassed his superiors during a business lunch to the woman who gathered up the very last of her strength to make one last meal for her family before dying - the characters of “Tampopo” are good vehicles for explaining the importance of food in everyday Japanese society.

As I watched Juzo Itami’s “Tampopo” for my Japanese Film class, I was
instantly reminded of my first visit to an authentic ramen shop during my first trip Japan.

My wife took me there after visiting temples in Kamakura. It was a place almost identical to Tampopo’s - a tiny shop crowded with customers. There were only two empty seats at the end of the counter, and I remember how narrow the walkway was between the wall and the backs of the other customers. The workers greeted us with “Irashaimase” as we attempted to squeeze our way to the empty seats without disturbing anyone’s meal.

Honestly, I wasn’t very excited about the idea of eating ramen for lunch that day. In the United States, it isn’t exactly considered to be an A-list cuisine. At 13 cents per package, ramen is mostly eaten by people who are on a tight budget. Many get their fill of ramen during their college years and never want to see it again after that.

However, I was quite surprised by what my wife had encouraged me to order. There was no resemblance whatsoever to the instant ramen I had been accustomed to. I expected only soup and noodles. Instead, my bowl was filled with surprises like boiled egg, green onion, fresh seaweed, pieces of bamboo, and slices of pork.

When it comes to cuisine, the differences between Japan and the United States are very profound. However, some of these differences are not as big as most would believe. A lot of the ceremonies involved in Japanese meals share similarities to those in the Western world. For example, the saying of “Itadakimasu” or “I shall receive” prior to eating is similar to the tradition of reciting a short prayer before a meal in Western countries. Likewise, the saying of “Kampai” and touching glasses before drinking is a direct parallel to the English version of “Cheers”.

One of my favorite scenes in “Tampopo” was when the homeless man broke into the
restaurant kitchen to cook Omrice. I had just eaten some prior to watching the film. It’s one of my favorite Japanese dishes because it’s both familiar and exotic at the same time. I read that Omrice became very popular in Japan because of this particular scene in the film, but couldn’t find any other information to back it up. Perhaps someone reading this who knows the facts about Omrice will be kind enough to post a comment on the Feedback board on this subject.

The only thing that disappointed me about “Tampopo” was that there was no mention of Udon - one of my favorite Japanese foods - in the film. I’ll never forget the first time I tried it along with Tempura at a place in West Shinjuku called “Hanamaru”. The entire shop was filled with men salarymen slurping away at their noodles. The acceptance of slurping may possibly be the most surprising thing about Japanese noodle-eating to Westerners. In our culture it’s considered to be very rude, so it was difficult for me to hide my disgust at the sound of an entire roomful of people doing it.

Aside from the slurping, I found most Japanese social customs to be very pleasing and agreeable. When visiting the family home of my wife’s friend for dinner one evening, our hosts served Sukiyaki, a meal that is usually reserved for special occasions. I noticed how important it was for everyone to fill one another’s drink glass, and I sensed that it is very important not to allow your guest’s (or host’s) glass to go empty.

Food even plays a vital role in Japanese culture during death. Rice is offered to the deceased by way of chopsticks sticking up from the center of the dish. I learned about this the hard way when my wife and I were eating at a Yoshinoya restaurant in Fujisawa. Ignorant to the tradition, I stabbed my chopsticks into the rice in the middle of the meal. My wife set me straight very quickly about how rude that particular gesture is.

“Tampopo” does an excellent job in presenting the culture and tradition of Japanese cuisine in an interesting and humorous way. From the young salaryman who embarrassed his superiors during a business lunch to the woman who gathered up the very last of her strength to make one last meal for her family before dying - the characters of “Tampopo” are good vehicles for explaining the importance of food in everyday Japanese society.

I advise anyone traveling to Japan for the first time to watch this movie before they go. It will provide insights into Japanese culture and cuisine that will allow you to appreciate your experiences all the more. I only wish that someone had given me the same advice - it would have done me a world of good.

My first visit to Japan held a lot more meaning to me than just asimple vacation. Sure, I planned to do my share of sightseeing, but I???had also come with a mission. I had a brand-new diamond ring in my
pocket, and I was going to ask my Japanese girlfriend to marry me.

Like most foreigners, my first encounter with Japan was at Narita.???I’ll forever remember the descent over water and then over land,feeling the thrill and amazement of seeing the land of the rising sun for the very first time. My eyes were fixated out the window of the 777, spying on mountains in the distance and a multitude of farms cut out of the landscape like a patchwork quilt below. I was instantly reminded of something I had read in a Japanese guidebook - Narita Airport was built on land taken away rather forcefully from farmers by the government, and the airport frequently experiences demonstrations and even threats of terrorism. I gazed down at the runways coming into sight below and imagined them filled with grains and vegetables
growing in the warm sunshine, but suddenly the plane touched down and all I could think was “I am here. I’m finally here???”. I reached into the pocket of my coat and touched the box containing the diamond ring
inside as I had done dozens of times throughout the twelve-hour flight, afraid of losing it.

Getting off the plane took some time. Almost everyone was already standing up and waiting in the aisles, eager to make their exit.
Everyone had messy hair and wrinkled clothing. This made me wonder about my own appearance. I must have looked quite awful too. I did not sleep at all. I was much too excited.

When I finally got off the plane, I was welcomed to Japan numerous times by staff from the airline and herded along with everyone else to the shuttle that would take us to the main terminal. I was happy to
see signs in English everywhere I went. My Japanese at that time was extremely limited, so it was a huge relief to know that I would be able to get around on my own.

Immigration procedures at Narita for foreigners are fairly simple. On my first visit, the wait was really long. The line, twisting and turning, seemed to go on forever. Most everyone on my flight from New York was Japanese, I assumed. There were middle-aged men in business attire and young people with orange hair wearing “I LOVE NY” t-shirts. Aside from some of the crew members, I was one of the few Caucasians on the plane, so it was interesting to see a line full of them from different flights. I wondered where they all came from and what brought them to Japan. A lot of them were British or Australian judging from their accents. An older woman in line behind me was American. She noticed my US passport and struck up a conversation, telling me she was from Texas and came to Japan to visit her son who is in the military. She talked about how she couldn’t wait to try real Japanese food and hoped she wouldn’t have trouble ordering in restaurants when she was alone. It seemed she was more excited about food than anything else. All I could think of was getting past immigration and wrapping my arms around my beautiful girlfriend, who I knew was out there waiting for me somewhere.

At that point, the last we’d seen each other was three months earlier when she came to visit me in New York for three weeks. If any readers have experienced repeated and long separations from the love of your
life, you understand exactly what we were going through.

I worried in line that there would be some problem at the counter to keep me from entering the country, but the man didn’t even look up at me. He just grabbed my papers, looked things over, stamped them, and handed them back.

Next step was down an escalator to baggage claim. All of the baggage from my flight was sitting on the floor. An official-looking guy in a blue uniform with white gloves was watching after it. I spotted my bag
immediately and wheeled it over to the inspection counter. The man there didn’t smile. His English was broken, but effective: “How long stay in Japan?”. “What your purpose in Japan?” “Please to have good
stay in Japan.”

From there, I was lead through a door and onto a large elevator, and before I knew it I was entering the Arrivals Lobby. I looked around in a panic, searching for my girlfriend. I couldn’t spot her. A million thoughts swam through my head at once. What if she didn’t come to meet me? What if something happened to her?

But then I saw it ? the most beautiful face on earth. She had been faithfully waiting for me for hours. Her beautiful smile alone was worth the trip.

We held each other. We kissed. Everything wrong about our lives became right again in an instant. All the frustration, pain, and loneliness from our separation were instantly erased.

At last, we were together again.

Endnotes:

We were married October 2004 in a small ceremony in lower Manhattan,
and are now living happily together in the United States with a hope
of moving to Japan sometime in the future.

Please visit my photography blog: http://phototype.seesaa.net

Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904), was the son of an Irish Army Doctor and a Greek Women and was first and foremost a writer. After attending school in Ireland, he moved to America where he wrote in Cincinnati and New Orleans for various newspapers.

Hearn became increasingly dissatisfied with materialistic life in the west and so planned to move to Japan. However, an opportunity came in 1890 when he was commissioned to write a travel article in Japan. Upon arriving in Yokohama, Hearn instantly quit his contract and moved to Matsue in Shimane Prefecture to become a teacher. In Matsue he met and later married Koizumi Setsu, a daughter from a Samurai family.

Later, Hearn changed his own name to Koizumi Yakumo, a name taken from an Japanese myth. Hearn was the original travel writer on Japan, writing and collecting stories up until his death in 1904. Living in Japan in what many would call a golden era for Japan when Wakon Yosai the bringing together of Japanese spirit and Western Technology, was at the forefront of Government thinking after the Meiji restoration, Hearn luckily provides us with an image of Japan that is no longer present.

In famous works such as Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan(1894), Out of the East(1895), In Ghostly Japan(1899), Kwaidan(1904) and Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation(1904) Hearn looks and analyses the minutiae of Japanese life, and delves into the depths of the ghost in the Japanese psyche.

For myself, Kwaidan- literally Horror Stories is the best gift he left us. The book is an excellent translation and collection of ghost stories, and has been made into a brilliant film by the director Masaki Kobayashi (1964). If you are studying Japanese or are interested in Japan, Hearn must be read. I will say no more and let Hearn do the rest with two poems.

MORNING AWAKENING AFTER A NlGHT’S REST IN A TEMPLE

Yamadera no
Shichakuku:
Taki no oto

(In the mountain-temple the paper mosquito - curtain is lighted by the dawn: sound Of waterfall

WINTER-SCENE

Yuki no mura;
Niwatori nait
Akshiroshi

(Snow-village; -cocks crowing; - white dawn)

Thanks to the following websites:

http://www.lafcadiohearn.jp/index.shtml
http://www.trussel.com/f_hearn.htm

The higlight of my year in Japan is the ‘Yuki-gassen’ the snowball competition. Every year in the prefecture of Tottori in a small eastern town, people gather in Wakasa, to hurl snowballs at one another for fun.

However, it is not just for fun as this is a national competition. I have never been in a winning team - in fact I have never been in a team that has won a game - but this is a serious business.

When you arrive at the tournament - you are entered in as teams of ten - you are given a huge ’snowball making machine’. This machine is in two halves. In each half are 50 semi-circular holes. You pack each hole with snow, and then you put both halves of the machine, one on top of the other, thereby making whole snowballs. Snowballs not correctly made are illegal - snowball judges come around to check and see if they are being made correctly - and bad snowballs are dispensed with.

You are allowed 100 snowballs for your team. In the actual game both teams line up in separate halves of a small football pitch, which is covered in snow, but has walls placed all across the pitch. These walls are important because they are your protection. The rules of the game are simple: Do not get hit by a snowball or you are out, or try and hit all the other team with a snowball so you win. If you cannot get everybody - and it is tough - then you can go for a flag which is in the opponents half. If you get the other team’s flag you win automatically.

Playing against baseball teams in particular is suicide, there is often no point even turning up. A snowball made by these guys hurts, and if you are hit in the head, they meant it. The games I played in were fast affairs, the slowest member of our team - me - made a run for the flag and got knocked senseless by all those fastballs. Even so however cold it is, spurred on by hot green tea and yakitori which are sold at the event makes for a great day out. Although Tottori has a hell of a lot of snow, and I have been dug out of my house twice now by Shogaksei, the Yukigassen makes it worth it.

The finals I have seen are tentative affairs, with fast runners trying to steal flags and snowballs flying in all directions. Winners are cautious teams who have spent hours practising at throwing snowballs at moving objects from behind a snow wall. One day I’ll get to the national final.

The winners of this local tournament then have their travel paid for to go to the national finals. But if ever you have a chance to play - do so and Gambatte Kudasai!

Recently, I went with a friend of my to see Steven Spielberg’s new film ‘Minority report’. The film talks about hidden files in the mind of a psychic that the main character, Tom Cruise needs to clear his name of a supposed crime that he is going to commit.

Soon after, I went with a teacher friend to the Osaka museum of Japanese Minority Cultures. We were in Osaka at the time for a Sumo tournament with a whole group of individuals and after looking in the Lonely Planet guidebook, deicided that this destination would be a good one to explore. Strangely enough, I wished we had not.

We set out on the tube, which in Osaka is relatively easy to follow. although you have to keep an eye out for station names. We soon discovered that station names became larger in Kanji and smaller in Romaji the further we went from the city centre. We even went wrong twice and mistakenly took the wrong service going back the way we had come.

The temperature on the train also made us rather dozy which did not help our decision making. However, after three changes we finally got to the stop that in our guidebook stated was the nearest point to the museum. Great we thought, not far. On the small map, supplied as part of the book it looked easy enough to get to the museum.

However, when we got out of the station and started to try and find out way, we quickly became disoriented. Sometimes in Japan all the urban areas start to look the same and so we went up and down the same road four or five times before finally asking in a small, old wooden restaurant if they knew the way. They had never heard of it and looked at us as if we were mad. Why go there they asked? We want to see what it is we replied. We expected a large museum, huge signposting to the museum and lots of interesting things inside.

Finally we made a wrong turn that ended up being a right turn which brought us right outside the museum. A very modest town hall sized building with a very small entrance fee of about 2000 yen I think.

The museum itself was brilliant. I did not know for example that music in the Okinawan culture was such an intrinsic part of its way of life. Ainu music I heard for the first time, it was haunting and beautiful. For myself the most interesting aspect was that which dealt with the Burakumin - that problem which noboy dares mention. This group who are made peripheral to Japanese society becuase of historical links to butchering or shoe making - all those areas within society that Buddhism detested - still suffer today. However, in my home town of Chizu in Tottori, my town hall representative are fighting this racism and many a long meeting has tackled the subject.

I was surpised to see at the museum a replica of a ‘black book’ one of the supposed books used by Japanese companies to list Burakumin names, in an attempt to enable companies to be able to screen out these people rather than employ them. This practice is now long dead but I could not help feeling as I left the museum that it was in a such an out of the way place on purpose. What a shame as these cultures seem to have so much to offer and are now beginning to make headway culturally in Japan, particularly Okinawan music.

The last time I wrote for webjapanese.com in in 2000 I believed that I did not have alot to offer. I did not think I had enough understanding of Japanese culture to make my column worthwhile.
However, 2 years on, I realise that my understanding of Japan, its culture and its language has moved on.

It is very easy to become enamoured with Japanese culture, particularly with the way in which the Japanese treat their own countryside. The temples, the cicadas buzzing and clicking all the time throughout the stifling summer and the low mist hanging over the mountains all create a beautiful scene for contemplation. But I write now in earnest.

Recently I have been reading ‘Dogs and Demons’ by Alex Kerr. Kerr is the only foreigner to have won the prestigious Shincho Gakugei prize in Japan - and he is concerned. Kerr grew up in Japan in Yokohama when his father worked in the American Navy - later taking degree in Japanese studies from Yale and Oxford Universities. Kerr and was lucky enough at primary school to have been taught Hiragana and Katakana.

But for Kerr in his current book, and in a famous book called ‘Lost Japan’ he argues that foreigners living and working in Japan are in love with a Japan that does not exist anymore.

For Kerr the growth of the construction industry in Japan has led to an industry that cannot stop.
Forests, rivers, whole valleys are destroyed according to Kerr as the construction department and construction industries and local town halls rush every year to use up surplus money in an effort to make sure contracts are renewed the following year.

Places such as Kyoto - Kerr lives nearby in Kameoka - for example are filled with monstrosities such as the Kyoto Station, or the Kyoto tower which was put up in the 1960’s albeit against alot of local resident resentment.
The Kyoto for Kerr that exists in the mind of the foreigner is simply not there. Kerr speaks of a foreigner who was taken on a tour of the area around Mount Fuji. The individual wanted to see the physically see the famous thirty six views of Mount Fuji by Hiokusai, The problem is that those views no longer exist.

So I am writing after two years and a return to Japan because I am beginning to see Kerr’s point. There are people desperate to preserve Japan. Kyoto for example was spared bombing at the end of world war two because the American government deemed it a place worthy of being a world place of cultural significance. Up until thirty years ago, wooden homes could still be seen in Kyoto and they were the predominant place of residence. Not any more.

Conversely, Japan as an international culture grows, linguistically and now, in football aswell. This should not be at the expense of the cultural depths that are still apparent in Japan, but you have a lot harder for them today.

Hello! Yookoso! I’m the newest team member to the writers on webjapanese. In time honored Japanese fashion as I am new to this business I must therefore say that I hope I do not offend anyone in the upcoming months, or appear too stupid. In short, please forgive me for my failings as I believe I am a white belt when it comes to writing about Japan, and its language.

I first became interested in Japan when a close friend of mine started studying Japanese at University. He was studying history, but he also had a minor in Japanese, so to see him learning this bizarre and unusually written language was very impressive. He lent me books by Japanese authors such as Yukio Mishima, Haruki Murakami, and Kenzaburo Oe with titles such as The Golden Pavilion, A Personal Matter and (my favourite) A Wild Sheep Chase. What I loved the most about this first step into Japanese was that Japan and its culture was different, and yet so similar to western countries. This in part led me to call this column Kabuki Trifle reflecting both the West and Japan.

Japan whilst being intensely original with things like the tea ceremony also has at its core western ideals such as fuikusshon (fiction), the name now applied to the younger generation of writers like Banana Yoshimoto. The subtle hints of the peace and harmony at the surface of Japanese culture pulled me in.

To use my column title, I understand trifle, but now I want to understand things like Kabuki more readily, and how they have become a modern “Kabuki Trifle” So reading Japanese authors left me with many burning questions. Why would anyone burn Kinkakuji (The Golden Pavilion) because of such an intense love for it? Why would anyone write a book about the Kitchen being their favourite part of a house? Simply put: because there is an intelligent simplicity (Wabi Sabi) in Japan, which has been lost in the west, and has now drawn me in. Even in translation the clear and simple style of Mishima (I am told this is what it is like to read it in the original) is not lost. The honest and passionate anger shown by Oe in A Personal Matter about having an autistic son is brutal, yet wonderfully open-minded. An English or American writer could not tackle a similar subject so well. The different way these writers looked at the world made me want to know more.

So here I am. I can now read “albeit very slowly” Hiragana, and I find Katakana a pain. But I am gradually discovering Kanji and I am finding an intelligent simplicity in them. They are easier to understand than Hiragana and are also far more beautiful than Roman script. So hopefully in the future I will be able to write fluently with Kanji as well. Anyway, I have waffled enough for now, so Kanpai until next month.

It is believed that tea was first brought to Japan from China by Buddhist monks in the 11th Century, and green tea has played an important role in Japanese society since then.
Around the 15th Century, the concept of tea ceremony was popularized, and came to be called ‘chado’. In today’s world, western media has given a lot of attention to the relationship between Japanese diet and the health benefits of green tea.

Actually, there are three types of tea — green which is non-fermented, oolong which is semi fermented, and black which is fully fermented. Even though all tea comes from the same plant, the botanical name of which is ‘Camellia sinensis’, there are several varieties of black and green teas.
Green tea is by far more healthy than other teas. The different drying techniques used in processing the tea leaves result in the different teas. In Japan, the first picking of green tea usually occurs around the first of May. Shortly after picking the tea leaves, the leaves are steamed for 30 to 130 seconds. This process stops the fermentation.
The most important factor in good quality tea is the amount of steaming. More flavor, aroma and nutrients are retained with less steaming. The tea is then further dried and rolled for various lengths of time and heat settings until each leaf is shaped like a long, thin twisted rope. This traditional drying technique prevents the tea from acquiring the negative effects of fermentation. Black tea, on the other hand, undergoes several hours of fermentation.

Furthermore, in Japan, green tea is judged by its appearance, aroma, color, and taste. Some well-known types of green tea include Bancha, Gyokuro, Sencha, Matcha and Hojicha. Different growing conditions among the green tea varieties produces different flavors of green tea. For example, the Gyokuro variety is grown under darkened conditions in covered growing fields during the last 20 days. It has a mellow flavor. Bancha has a sweet taste.
The leaves of the Matcha variety can be eaten. The popular Sencha variety is grown in full sunlight which produces a lemony, sweet flavor. The Hojicha variety contains less caffeine, and it usually served to children and older people.

The discussion about the health benefits of green tea is fueled by the fact that even though the cigarette consumption rate in Japan is much higher than in the United States, the lung cancer rate is much lower in Japan. Some of the health benefits of drinking green tea include lower cancer rates for all types of cancer especially lung and stomach, lower cholestrol, lower risk of stroke, reduction in arthritic pain, prevention of cavities and gum disease, increased energy, and delaying of the aging process. These benefits are supported by scientific research in laboratories and statistical studies with human populations. Due to the special drying technique used, green tea, rather than black or oolong, retains the highest percentage of the enzymes which produce these effects.
Of course, every day there are new findings, and we must evaluate each of them on their own merit. In the meantime, I raise my cup of green tea and wish you good health.