Love letters from Japan

Last week, I had a happy time talking with Mugami. Thank you so much, Mugami, and I’m looking forward to talking with you again next Thursday.

While talking, I promised one thing with him. It’s to write an article about joumon era. I was going to the Nagoya museum today in order to learn joumon era. In the museum, they exhibit kaizuka, in which people in joumon era threw away a lot of thing, such as bones of animals or fish, shells, broken plates made from earth. Unfortunately, one of my client had trouble and it made me run back and forth today. Sorry, Mugami, I’ll get next chance to learn joumon era and try to write an article.

Instead of joumon era, I’ll put other topic on Japan up in this blog. I’ve already written that I went to the concert of Eric Martin the other day. Before the concert, I dropped by some shrines in Osaka. Osaka gokoku jinja and Osaka tenmanguu.

Maybe it’s quite difficult to introduce gokoku jinja to you in detail because gokoku jinja is deeply related to World War 2. I was born in 1974, so I have no experience in wars. However, there are still many people sufffering from side effects about the war. I don’t know if my descriptions will get wrong, and someone might feel bad. I’d like you to let me know when I was wrong.

gokoku jinja (by the way, I don’t know if I should choose ‘is’ or ‘are’ when I put Japanese words on my sentences as subjects) is built in order to enshrine people died for wars or for Japan. Basically, each gokoku jinja is established in each prefectures, however, some prefectures such as Hokkaido have 2 or 3 gokoku jinja. Long time ago, before we adopted the system ‘prefecture’, we had other way to divide our country. This old custom affected the number of gokoku jinja as I said. Incidentally, there is no gokoku jinja in Tokyo and instead of it, there is yasukuni jinja. You can tell the defference between gokoku jinja and yasukuni jinja. The former is the place where only Japanese are enshrined. The latter is the place where not only Japanese but also other people from other countries are enshrined. The gorvenment used to make people from other countries change their nationalities into Japan around when the Pacific War. In yasukuni, such people are enshrined.

Some people at that time(maybe even now) think that people died in wars for Japan or died for Japan will become eirei, as the word treating died people who did great things while they were alive, especially did great things for our country. People enshrined in gokoku jinja and yasukuni jinja are treated as eirei.

After Osaka gokoku jinja, I went to Osaka tenmanguu. You can see many tenmanguu at many places in Japan. Michizane Sugawara, the person who lived in heian era, is enshrined in each tenmanguu. It is said that Michizane Sugawara was so smart. I guess I should choose ‘genius’ rather than the word ’smart.’ Every year, people, especially people who want to pass the entrance examinations, visit tenmanguu in order to share his intelligence. I’ve ever written the article when I visited kitano tenmanguu in Kyoto. Every time I visit there, I write my wish about examinations which I’m going to take on ema which is wooden board.

There is one legend about Michizane Sugawara. He was so smart(genius?) that he was promoted so fast in the gorvenment, what we call, as one of bureaucrats at that time. The power struggle ofcourse happened at that time. He was also involved with it because of his intelligent. The higher his postion in the government got, the bigger other people’s envy grew. At last he got suspected that he robbed many authorities from the emperor, and he got sentenced. After he died, a few emperors died continuously and one building of the government in Kyoto was hit by a stroke of lightning. By this lightning, some bureaucrats who seemed to be related to the conspiracy about Michizane were died. People at that time thought Michizane’s anger let this happen. He treated as raijin(God of thunder) since. People built shrines in order to enshrine Michizane as tenjin sama and they call the shrines tenmanguu.

I got each signature and stamp at Osaka gokoku jinja and Osaka tenmanguu. I’ll show you photos of these shrines as well.

Osaka gokoku jinja
This is the gate called torii. All shrines have their own torii(I guess).

This is the main hall.

Osaka tenmanguu

This is Osaka gokoku jinja’s signature. I’m proud of the writer in Aichi gokoku jinja. His signature is better than Osaka’s. (The left side one is Osaka’s and the right one is Aichi’s)

This is Osaka tenmanguu’s signature. I like it as well.

It’s our lunch time in Japan now. I’ll bring this article in my office. My subordinate next to me has her lunch now, glancing at me typing this article. I am writing this, expressing ‘I have to send E-mail in English to my clikent.’ As a matter of fact, I don’t have so many chances to use English in my business…lol

We have a lot of events in December. This time, I’ll introduce a few topics about them.

shiwasu
We call December shiwasu, which literally means ‘masters(or teachers) hastily go back and forth.’ Originally, shi was indicated ‘Buddhism priests’ and they have to chant Buddhism sutras at many places in December. Priests are busy visiting their believers and chanting sutras in this month. We don’t know when the word ‘shiwasu‘ is used, but we treat this month as ‘one of busiest month.’

Actually, we have Christmas parties, preparations for the new year, caluclations for our bonus and others in addition to our routine work. Although I am not such a sacred position like a priest, yeah, I’m busy. (Hey, Am I writing this article in English during business hours? lol)

yuku toshi kuru toshi
I don’t know how exactly I could express it in English. Maybe ‘This year has gone, and The new year has come’? At the very last day of the year, many Japanese visit temples and ring the bell 108 times. There are many theories about why 108 times. As one of theories, I’ll put this. We have one phrase ‘shiku hakkuku‘, which is both translated into ‘horrible infliction, suffering, bitterness.’ 4 times 9 is 36. 8 times 9 is 72. Please add both of numbers. 108.

bounenkai
bounenkai is one of parties held in this season in order to reflect on topics or look back on topics happened this year. We often hold this bounenkai among clients, friends or colleagues. People who have many connections have to attend many bounenkai. Everyday, everynight, you have to drink alcohol and sometimes entertain your clients at the parties. Once the new year has started, the name of parties changes from bounenkai to shinnenkai. bou of bounenkai literally means ‘forget’, shin of shinnenkai means ‘new’, and nen means ‘year.’ Through both of bounenkai and shinnenkai, we reflect on things happened, forget them, discuss them and prepare for new things in the new year.

Oops, sorry, I have to get back to work. I’ll reply all your comments when I’m home.

It’s been a long time for me to introduce something about Japanese to you. This time, I’ll try to do it.

I went to a park in our city to see higan bana last month. Is it ok to express it as ’spider lily’ in English? ‘bana’, the word used in higan bana originally means ‘flower’(hana), but it turned into bana when it is sometimes used after other nouns.

Did you know the meaning of higan? In Japan, elderly people treat westwards as gokuraku(the word used among Buddhism as heaven). And there are two days every year in Japan in which the sun rises up from the right East and falls down into the right West. The Japanese call them shunbun no hi and shuubun no hi and name them higan.

When I was a kid, my parents urged me not to touch higan bana because it is said that higan bana has poison in their flower bulbs. In fact, you have no problem even though you touch them unless you eat the bulb, so anyone can touch higan bana. You can see higan bana around fields or graveyards. People plant them in order to prevent mice or moles from getting vegetables, rice and dead bodies. (Now that dead bodies are buried after they are burned, however, we had the custom of burials in old days)

In our city, volunteers plant over 2 million bulbs of higan bana along the river across the city. There is a park nearby the higan bana road associated with one famous auther of children’s book, Nankichi Niimi. You can see the red carpet of higan bana at the peak hour, but unfortunately the time had already gone when I was there. In the website of our city, you can see their red and the scene of marriage ceremony in Japanese style. Here, it is.

I took some photos of higan bana. I’m happy you would enjoy them.

Age during junior high school
After graduating from elementary school, you throw your randoseru and put an uniform of junior high school when you get 13 years old.

I had a strange feeling when I enrolled the junior high school. One of my friends, who was one year older than me, changed his attitude when I started my junior high school student life. It was totally, so to speak, senpai(means ’senior’). While we shouldered our randoseru together, we thought ourselves as the same aged friends, however, once he entered the junior high school, he had an atmosphere like ‘Don’t talk to me in that tone of voice.’

gaku ran(for men)
The most defferent part between elementary school and junior high school is to put an uniform or not. We call uniforms in school gakuseihuku or gaku ran(one of slangs). There are many kind of gakuseihuku in Japan. Especially ‘yankee’, who is like a pretty gangster or a bad boy, always like arranging their own gakuseihuku. ‘yankee’, I think the word was originated from America, however, we treat ‘yankee’ as young gangsters or bad boys when we use it in Japan.

gakuseihuku indicates both pants and a jacket. Teachers in junior high school strictly treat us by rules. Under strict rules, ‘yankee’ often put tyou ran or tan ran as a jacket and bon tan as pants.

tyou of tyou ran literally means long. How could I say…the parts around pockets of jackets…If these part are too long, we call jackets tyou ran. If these part are short, we call them tan ran. Incidentally, there is tyuu ran, as a jacket whose the part around pockets is neither short nor too long.

bon tan are pants. I don’t know why they call bon tan, however, we call pants whose the parts from thighs to knees are wide bon tan.

You can see what tyou ran, tan ran and bon tan. Strictly speaking, the character called Toru Nakama put tyuu ran, not tyou ran.

Unfortunately(?), the number of ‘yankee’ in Japan is decreasing. Now that I think you might no longer see them in Tokyo. The film I introduced to you was broadcasted in 1984. The time has changed. After that, chi-ma- or color gang had appeared. Now I don’t know how students these days have their fashion.

You can see what chi-ma- or color gang are like in this film.

In this film, young people putting hip-pop like clothes and each team members put the same colors. This drama was also broadcasted in around 2000, so it might already be old-fashioned.

Life in junior high school
Except of ‘yankee’, mainly students spend their life in junior high school studying and working in clubs. We have also haruyasumi, natsuyasumi and huyuyasumi as well as elementary school days, but during these holidays, we often go to the school and enjoy our own club’s activities. Maybe the word ‘enjoy’ is not really proper. When I was a junior high school student, I played soccer in the club. While training, I felt I was in hell or somewhere. Incidentally, I was a goal keeper.

The extinct tradition(at least in my region)
Now that there is no such a tradition in my region. I had it in my age. That was bouzu(means croppy), to have male student’s hair cropped short. Before I enrolled the junior high school, I had to have my hair cut like an rookie soldier in armies. We call it bouze.
When I was the 3rd grades in the junior high school, the activities appeared among us in order to change the rules of the school. The largest target of changes of the rule was ‘no more bouzes’. Before I graduated, the dream came true.

A romantic action
I don’t know if this tradition still exists, but it sounds romantic for me, so I’ll introduce you it. We have the graduation ceremony every year. At that time, girls try to ask the men they love to give men’s second button of their uniform. It is okay for girls to get nahuda(means a nameplate) from the men. Incidentally, when I was the second grades, I had a girl in the 3rd grades who I was in love. So I asked her to give her nameplate when she graduated. When I graduated, I had my three buttons taken. My glory days had already gone since the moment and never come back…lol

Except of people who took examinations to enroll private junior high schools, we have to face the first examination to enter high schools. Checking our own performance, we have to decide where we should(or can be allowed to) go.

At the end of the 2nd grades’ term, I had an interview about which high schools I should choose with my teacher. He thought I wanted to enroll the best high school in our Peninsula. But I said NO. He asked me why I said No. I explained the reason to him like that; ‘I’m in love with one girl who already graduated. She is in other high school. Actually, although the high school has lower levels than the school you suggested, I’d like to be there. You can study anything wherever you are, can’t you? That’s the high school I want to go.’ Ofcourse it was one-way love, but I really thought like that. But the teacher smiled on his face and said, ‘Hey, HoneyPotter, there are plenty fish in the sea. So you should not choose your high school with such a reason.’ I didn’t think so at that time, however, later I knew I would be able to play the guitar in the high school which the teacher recommended. So I changed my plan.

O.K. I’ll introduce high school lives in the next article. And one more thing, I’ll reply for your comments in another day. Sorry about that.