Nishikigoi

Hai, Hai, readers,

Hai is the Japanese word "yes" and it is used often to let the other person know that you know they are there...a kind of recognition of them being with you and you being attentive to them.

I must say another word called Koi in the Hotel's garden pond. It seems as those they were eaten by Japanese rice farmers along time ago. We are in Japan, after all, and fish is abundant. But, more about that is future entries...we are not finished with the topic of "fish".

Koi is the word for carp, and they were kept for 2,500 years ago first by the Chinese. They were first kept in ponds for the viewing pleasure of Chinese nobility. You know carp as gold fish. They began exhibiting patches of color while being kept in China, but it wasn't until they came to Japan that they were bred for beauty. The Japanese are given credit for creating Nishikigoi which in translation means: Living Jewels.

A homophone of the word Koi means love, affection; koi are therefore symbols of love and friendship in Japan, and they are no longer eaten because of this status.

They have fascinated me every time I have visited the garden. Isn't the yellow one unique? I've never seen one that color before.

Kimono

Moshi, Moshi readers,

I have been interested in materials called textiles, and embroidery, for a long time now, so I was really hoping that I would see exquisite material and embroidery on the Japanese-style of clothing called kimono. I learned from several people on the plane that wearing kimono is not very common any more among the youth of Japan.

Kimono is actually the Japanese word for clothing, but now it has become a word that is used to describe traditional Japanese clothing. Kimonos came into begin during the Heian period (794-1192). It was during this period that Japanese clothing evolved from 2 separate pieces into one. Tailors devised a straight-line method of cutting material which took less time to fit and sew since they did not have to concern themselves with the shape of the wearer's body. Kimonos became popular because they were easy to fold, and were comfortable. In winter, they could be layered to keep the wearer warmer(remember, central heating is a new development in heating dwellings), and in summer they were made of material like linen, which was "breathable" and kept the wearer cool.

People began wearing seasonal colors, or colors which showed their political class, and the Japanese began paying attention to how different colors looked together. They developed a sensitivity to color which has been translated today into a heightened awareness of fashion sense and style.

During the Meiji period (1868-19120), The Emperor wanted everyone to dress in the Western style at his court, so this became the fashion. The Japanese now dress in modern Western style clothing most of the time, except for special days like weddings, funerals, or celebrations. However, I was fortunate enough to meet some women wearing kimonos. One you've already seen in the pictures from the subway.
One of the pictures is of kimonos in a shop window; they are very expensive. The white kimono has flying cranes as its embroidered motif; the blue is of chrysanthemums, an autumn flower. The other pieces of fancy material are for the sashes called obi, which shape the kimono to the body. Notice the purses. One is decorated in autumn leaves, carrying out the seasonal theme. The other pictures were taken of historical kimonos found at the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno. The last picture is of modern women wearing kimono.

Riding the rails

Konbanwa!

It is 7:30 p.m. Tokyo time, and I just got back from the Imperial Palace, Ueno, and Asakusa. I did, of necessity, spend part of the day riding the rails. There is so much to tell about not only today, but also other topics that I have wanted to cover, but haven't seemed a priority although they are unique to Japanese culture. So, instead of having a sequence here, I'm just going to write about what pops into my mind first.

There is nothing, I believe, that gets a traveler more in touch with a city than traveling to various parts of it throughout a day, or many days, by the subway. One just emerges from under the street and sees a new and different part of it. So, for all of my readers who need more visuals, here are more subway photos. These were taken early in the day for Tokyo (around 9:00 a.m.); this is definitely a late night city.

Peaceful Garden

Ohayo gozaimasu,

I'm getting ready to leave for the Imperial Palace. of course, I won't be able to go inside since the Imperial family still lives there, but I can take my very own photo of Edo castle.

I am a gardener, so I have been visiting the Japanese garden that is connected to my hotel. I has been very calming to go there after all the sessions I have attended.
You can see at least one thing that reminds me of home in one of these pictures.

Can you guess which one?

And since we are in Japan, there are more fish. These are called koi, and are NOT eaten!

In this garden I also came upon a Christian Chapel, while sitting inside I thought of my favorite hymn---

In the Garden

Hibakusha

Konnichiwa students,

Today, the first session I attended was entitled "Peace Education". One part of the program was given by a teacher from Hiroshima. The second half of the program was the retelling of the personal experience of one person, Matsushima san, who survived the Atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.

The dropping of the A-bomb on Hiroshima was accomplished by the United States, although all countries were working towards producing such a bomb. What they did not know at the time was that it would turn out to be a weapon so frightening that those who know of the devastating results would be compelled to convince world powers never to use it again.

The U.S. dropped the A- bomb thinking that it would put an end to World War II by crippling Japan's ability to continue fighting. The bombing did accomplish this end.

Matsushima san said that he was lucky because he was it in classroom about 2 miles away from the epicenter, and on the opposite side of his middle school. When the bomb hit the ground, it totally annihilated everything in a mile radius of the denotation mark. Those who weren't killed immediately, either died shortly after, or years later due to radiation poisoning. He said that in a instant his life changed forever. He was blinding felt intense heat, and was thrown across the room by the force of the blast. He had cuts all over his body from the shards of glass from the windows penetrating his skin and was bleeding everywhere, but he was alive.
He saw people evacuating the city with ashen gray skin sometimes. without hair, or their hair standing straight up. They walked with their arms stretched straight out from the intense pain. They looked like ghosts, he said. He made it out of the city to further inland where his mother was living. He was sick for 10 days with diarrhea, but he was alive.

However, those who did survive were called Hibakusha, and faced discrimination because they survived. People were afraid that they would be contaminated with radiation poisoning. People didn't want their children to marry survivors because they thought their grandchildren would suffer genetic defects. Those Hiroshima children who had not been born yet came into the world mentally retarded, and people were afraid of associating with others who might experience terrible after effects.
From this experience, Matsushima san has had the desire to speak for peace, and the banning of using the A-boom again. He speaks to promote peace education. Something I think we should all do.

Here we are holding an origami peace crain.

Shimbuya

Konbanwa students,

I'm sorry that I didn't have an entry for last night. I was having technical difficulties, and by the time my problem was corrected, I was too tired to keep my eyes open. I did only have 3 hours of sleep before I went to the fish market. I actually wrote the entry about the fish market when I returned at 6:00 a.m., so I was too exhausted to do another after 10:00 p.m. Sometimes you will see a couple of entries dated the same date. Sometimes I will write two or three at one time if I have a lot to write and time allows it. Also, since Google is the creator and host of Blogger my blogspot loads through Google at a specific time of day, California time.

I am not at a loss for anything to write about, there is plenty and all of it has been either interesting, a different experience, an adventure, or all three. Lack of time is sit down at the computer has been a problem for me...But let's begin now.

I just returned from an area of Tokyo known as Shimbuya. The Shimbuya area is known as a hang-out for the youth culture, and has the busiest intersection in the world. Besides the the stores that are located there, it is also the end of the Ginza Metro Line, and that is one of the reasons it is so busy. People are exiting the Metro at all times of day, every day. I know that if you have never been to a big city like New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., London, Paris, or Tokyo you don't know what I'm talking about. These cities all have commuter trains underground. Some are called by terms like subway, others use the word metro, short for metropolitan, or city area.

Metros are safe in terms of the incident of accidents, avoid traffic interference, go fast, are a cheap way to travel, are better for the environment, and save time. I like them, so tonight I decided I would learn how to travel the Tokyo Metro. For 160 yen, which is about $1.56 in U.S. currency I traveled one way across half of Tokyo in about 10-15 minutes. I returned the same way for the same price.

Here are pictures of busiest intersection in the world, a map of the four or the nine different metro lines posted for this metro station with the stations that it stops at on each line (the other lines are not posted on this list because you would have to transfer from one of these lines and get on another to go to a different area of the city---you would use the same ticket because they are not collected until you exit the station), and the Neon lights that illuminated my first Friday night in Japan.

I'm inviting comments. Where are they, please?

October 16, 4:30 a.m. Tokyo time

Ohayo gozaimasu students,

Are you thinking that I can not sleep? That is not the case. I left the hotel early this morning to visit the Tokyo fish market. Everyone who has visited said that it was worth getting up early to have this experience.

The market is very, very large, and very, very busy. There is much noise from the traffic immediately outside and inside the building, but it is amazingly quiet amongst the workers. The operations were in full swing when I arrived, so these workers must have started work at 3 in the morning. Perhaps it is too early to talk at during this part of the day.

Not only does this market have fish, it almost has everything else you can find it the sea.
When we looked at Japan's geography in class, and I asked what you thought the Japan used as their main source of protein, some of you knew that it was fish. But besides the fish, there was squid, octopus, whelk, crab, clam, oyster, eel, and sea cucumbers. However there, was no Sponge Bob and Patrick the starfish.

The first picture shows a some workers, the next shows fish eggs, and the last picture is of whelk---you can clearly see one coming out of its shell. Click to enlarge.