Every little thing in my ordinary life 49

Not again! The RAKUGO teacher said no again
I’m in Tokyo for a RAKUGO lesson. Even worse, I just finished writing my script an hour before the lesson. I didn’t manage to have enough time to remember my script. I ad-libed my play at the class. It drove him irritated. I should have at first remembered an original draft before I made and arranged my own script.

By the way, I obtained a DVD of the recital that I joined in March. I’ll upload it on my Facebook.

A guided tour in Kawagoe city
A guided tour is going to be held in Kawagoe city, Saitama prefecture, on Sunday. I’m going to join the tour and learn something from it because I am also a volunteer guide. I will write an article about the tour later.

Rows of pretty things in Japan

I think Japanese are used to waiting in a long line for a long time, such as at stations or at the Tokyo Disney Land. I’m sure they are just used to it, not that they like it. From the way they are sitting or standing in a line without showing jaded faces, you might start thinking the word ‘Japanese’ containing a meaning ‘patience.’ You can see many Japanese being patient in many articles regarding the earthquake which occurred last month.

Maybe everything in Japan, animals or birds, already became influenced by the Japanese. Now that waiting in a line and staying silent might become the characteristic to the animals or birds in Japan. Let me show you some examples. I just took these photos while talking a walk a few days ago.

First of all, I just saw a bird following another bird in a river. Are they ducks?

These two birds look like they love being alone.

Even carps, they love being in a row. Can you see? They are a couple or something? Maybe they were chatting with each other like this, “Honey, it’s a shiny day today!” “Yeah, but it’s a bit chilly under the water. Come a little bit closer, baby(get it on get it on).” Have you ever heard of the phrase? lol

I finally found creatures lining like Japanese. Turtles! What are they thinking of?

How come turtles often bask in the sunshine? I just checked it on the Internet. First, turtles are one of reptiles; they need to be in a constant temperature. Second, turtles have capillaries under their shells. Basking can help blood flow. For other reasons, the sunshine can prevent turtles from deforming their shells and can kill parasites on their surfaces.

Last of all, pigeons, doves, are also lining above me.

Animals and birds in Japan love lining. 😉

Sakura, the fugacious but splendid symbol in spring

All students in Japan start their term in April. Recruits open the doors of the companies employing them in April. April is the threshold to another period in Japan. Nothing can be more associated with this season than cherry blossoms. I took a walk in my area for viewing cherry blossoms. Today, showing you several photos that I took, I’ll explain some anecdotal topics regarding cherry blossoms.

The Transitory Nature

The flowering period of cherry blossoms is not so long: a week or so. The fugacious lives attract many Japanese. Many Japanese love something fading early for ages, which leads to an idea called monono aware.

Like Comrades?

The word ‘comrade’ might remind you of communism. It has recently been changing its style, though, we still employ a lifetime employment system. Once you start working at your company, you will keep working untill you become 60-65 years old. You and your collegues saw the same cherry blossoms flowering when you all entered your company. You and your colleagues are, what we call, comrades in a Japanese style. We have a phrase in Japanese: douki no sakura. douki in this case indicates employees who joined the company in the same year.

Messages in both good cases and bad cases

You can send some messages using the words ‘cherry blossoms'(sakura in Japanese) in both a good situation and a bad situation.

1. Sakura saku(saku means ‘to flower,’ ‘to blossom,’ etc.)
When you pass an important examination, such as an entrance exam, you can mail someone special with this expression and tell them that you made it.

2. Sakura chiru(chiru means ‘to fall its flowers’)
Unforunately, when your dreams don’t come true at the important situation, this phrase ‘sakura chiru‘ will be useful to express your feelings.

Most of Japanese understand what your results go with these two expressions at once. Complicated, redundant and wordy sentences like this blog are no longer necessary.

Using wintry(winterly) words in spring, using springlike words in winter

sakura hubuki
A scene in which a large number of petals fall like they are dancing by wind is called sakura hubuki. hubuki means a snowstorm, which reminds you of cold winter. However, sakura hubuki is used in spring.

kaza hana
Strong winds also make a wonderful scene in winter. They blow off tiny crystals of snow and the crystals look like petals. We call it kaza hana. kaza is another way to call ‘wind’, and hana of course means flower, which can be associated with spring.

Words about winter in spring, and words about spring in winter. It’s interesting, isn’t it?

Unfortunately, I just saw the cherry blossoms not in bloom. They should be in full bloom in a few days. And in another week, they will become hazakura.

It has been a long time since I wrote the article about cherry blossoms. Oops, I just wrote similar topics. Here, it is. I promise I write the same topic in another year 😉

The black ball is the stairway to hell, GANTZ the movie

I was a bit busy these day, but I finally managed to watch a Japanese movie, the first story of GANTZ.

…

Kei Kurono, a Japanese common man, just thought he collided with a train and died. Thanks to his old friend, Masaru Katou, he jumped down from the plathome and helped Masaru carry a drunk. Sadly, they didn’t make it. However, Kei saw yourself sitting in a room and he found a large black ball in front of him.
‘This is called GANTZ.’
With a boy’s words, Kei and Masaru didn’t even realize what happnened to them and what was going on. Suddenly, the music that most of Japanese were familiar with had just started, and the surface of the black ball started saying something unbelievable; you were already dead, were given a new life, and had to kill aliens that he(GANTZ) indicated. After the short and imcomplete instructions, all these present in the room were transferred from the room to an unknown place, somewhere in Japan. It didn’t mean they were released, just they were deployed to hunt.
Like a realistice dream, Kei just woke up in his own room. His dream, which just ended when he returned to the room after fighting with aliens, was NOT a dream. It was real. The fighting suit gave him strength, toughness, and agility. Kei Kurono was no longer an ordinary man. He became a hero. However, a series of the mission that GANTZ gave him didn’t allow him to have such a narcissistic feeling.

…

It’s been a long time for me to watch a Japanese movie. The previous movie that I watched was ‘Crying Out Love In the Center of the World’ in 2004. This live-action movie, GANTZ, is originated from a famous comic in Japan. The second story is going to be released this month.

You can easily imagine the series of MATRIX from the plots of GANTZ. The human beings are to machineries for MATRIX what they are to aliens for GANTZ. It’s natural to make movie scripts different from the original ones. Kei Kurono, the main character, was a college student who has job hunting in the movie, but he was originally a high school student. Anyway, the movie itself was interesting. I’ll watch the second one.

Incidentally, Kenichi Matsuyama, he acted as Masaru Katou in the movie. His fans often call him “MATSUKEN” for short.

Kenichi Matsuyama

Be careful with spelling when mailing. I just mailed one female friend who loves Kenichi Matsuyama. I just spelled his name like this;

I just spelled it with only katakana.

She mailed me back with a bit anger. She said, ‘It’s Ken Matsudaira’s nickname, not Kenichi Matsuyama! You must spell his name like this when you want to indicate Kenichi Matsuyama!’

Ken Matsudaira, he is a great actor.

Let me say that again; be careful with spelling someone special.

Happy birthday!

I just noticed that I’ve written articles in this blog for three years. Correctly, the third anniversary will be comming on April 30th. Thank you so much.

I’ve posted over 230 journals in this blog ever since. I don’t know if my English writing skill would become better. I do hope that it would be. I would like you to give me something constructive about my writing skill if you were a frequent reader of this blog. I would like to know my change. I’d like to know which part of mine has been altered.

In this blog, I’ve been posting a ton of trivial topics, such as what I did or tidbits regarding Japan or Japanese cultures. I think I should improve my writing skill much more so that you can find it enjoyable and useful to visit my blog.

Again, thank you for visiting this blog and your understanding for my damn English. 😉

P.S. Hey, when will I post an article about the recital? Hmmm, anyway, wondering if I’ll be able to go to the theater to watch ‘GANTZ’ tonight. It’s up to my tasks that I should manage.