Japan Beats N. Korea in Men's WC Soccer Qualifying

Ryang Yong Gi of North Korea (6) and Yasuhito Endo of Japan battle for the ball during the 2014 World Cup Soccer preliminary round match in Saitama-ken on  Sept. 2, 2011. Japan beat North Korea 1-0. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Defender Yoshida Maya  scored late in injury time to allow Japan's men's soccer team creep by North Korea 1-0 in their opening third-round qualifier for the 2014 World Cup on Friday, September 2, 1011.

Japan had been continually were frustrated by the defence of North Korea who also had to deal with Pak Kwang Ryong sent off seven minutes from time.

But Jap[an, playing at home in Saitama, Japan put on some heavy pressure late in injury time and got the win when Yoshida headed home the ball allowing Japan to essentially steal three points from North Korea.

"We were able to keep a clean sheet but the main thing was that we started with three points," explains Yoshida, whose only previous goal for Japan rescued a 1-1 draw against Jordan in their opening game of the Asian Cup in Qatar in January 2011. "This result will give us something to build on for our next game."

With North Korea content to sit back and wait for an opening on the break, Japan continued to dictated proceedings in front of over 54,000 anxious spectators but failed to create any tough scoring chances in the first 45 minutes.

Probably the closest Japan got was when Kashiwagi Yosuke, filling in for injured CSKA Moscow star Keisuke Honda, crossed a ball to Lee Tadanari Lee who nodded it straight at the North Korea keeper Ri Myong Guk in the 33rd minute and just before Japan's Kagawa Shinji Kagawa placed the ball wide of the right hand post.

Kashiwagi had also earlier hit the crossbar, but even if it had gone in, it would have been ruled no goal, as referee Ali Hamad Albadwawi had already noted an infringement and awarded North Korea a free kick.

In the second half, Japan continued its pressure, but North Korea played good defence and held on with some strong play from keeper Ri who grabbed a string kick from Hasebe Makoto in the 47th minute.

When Japan coach Zaccheroni brought in Mike Havenaar with 20 minutes left, he hit the crossbar in the 74th minute, and generally played well in his international debut.

Kiyotake Hiroshi and Kagawa both came close to scoring, but it really was Yoshida's goal in the 4th minute of injury time that was the play of the day.

"North Korea defended very well with good rhythm for the whole 90 minutes. There is never a guarantee that a goal is going to come, but I was always sure that we would score," Zaccheroni reveals.
North Korea coach Yun Jong Su praised his players' efforts and was confident his team would still qualify for the final round of qualifiers: "The goal we conceded came from a mistake but the players really tried hard until the end."

Japan's next match is against Uzbekistan away on Tuesday, September 6, 2011 in Tashkent. The Blue Samurai (Japan's men's soccer nickname) have also been drawn with Tajikistan, who replaced Syria after they were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player in the second round of the competition.

The 10 teams in the final round will be split into two groups, with the top two from each group automatically qualifying for Brazil and the 2014 World Cup. The third-place teams will have to play each other for a single spot in the intercontinental playoff against a team from South America for a potential fifth place from Asia.

Files compiled by Andrew Joseph

Gamarjobat - Japanese Comedians

Okay... Matthew must be working hard today because here's another video he's sent me. This is of the Japanese comedic duo Gamarjobat.

It's very simple but honest comedy, but man, oh man, is it damn funny!

This is one of the reasons why comedy is truly international!

See HERE!


Gamarjobat (が〜まるちょば) are an award-winning comedy performance group made up of two very funny Japanese comics: Ketch! (41) with the red mohawk and Hiro-Pon (45) with the yellow mohawk. I believe the caps and the exclamation mark are the way they spell their names. I wish I knew their real names and where in Japan they are from, however. Ages, too? These buggers look and act like some of my ex-students!

So... what does Gamarjobat mean? Well, the comics have gone on record saying it means 'hello' in the Georgian language as in Georgia the country). Well, maybe it does and maybe it doesn't. t.

I tried Google Translate and it gave me nothing (and it's been pretty decent for me so far)... but, I did discover that it might be a Georgian word.... meaning "everything and anything".

That's a cool term and an even cooler comedic name. But doesn't it kind of make you wonder where the heck a pair of Japanese comedians would ever discover a Georgian word? As far as I know, the JET (Japan Exchange & Teaching) Programme does not yet have AETs (assistant English teachers) from Georgia yet!

Still, despite being reasonably well-known in the UK where they one a Fringe award, they are not very popular back in Japan. Probably because all Japanese junior high school kids do their brand of comedy.

Thanks Matthew!

Andrew Joseph

Japan's Aviation Pioneer

Ninomiya Chuhachi

Well... Toronto (and the rest of Southern Ontario) was hit by a 2-1/2 hour massive lightning storm that knocked out the telephone, cable, and (gasp) Internet. As such, I am behind in my offering of a blog today. The sky was continually lit up... sometimes it was like daytime out there! My first thought was, appropriately enough, man, I hope there aren't any airplanes out there in the sky overhead right now.





As a pioneer aviation buff, I thought I'd share with you some information on Japan's true aviation pioneer - one Ninomiya Chuhachi (surname first), who was born June 20, 1866 in Yawatahama-ura,
Iyo-ken (Iyo Prefecture that is now Ehime Prefecture) and died on April
8, 1936 of stomach cancer.
 

The Crow (foreground) and Jewel Beetle original models.

He was known to have designed and built a flying machine with three
engines that failed to lift off—much earlier than the Wright Brothers.



And to be fair to the Wright Brothers, there were many aviation pioneers who built aircraft that failed to take off.



Regardless, Ninomiya did design some fabulous looking birds - the Karasu-gata mokei hikouki (烏型模型飛行器 Crow-type model aircraft) in 1891 and the Tamamushi-gata hikouki (玉虫型飛行器 Jewel beetle-type model aircraft) in 1893. The key word there is "MODEL".



While a child, Ninomiya had a passion for building and flying kites, and
also like to informally study insects and birds measuring wings in an
effort to determine why those creatures could fly.



It was his skill at manufacturing kites that earned him money to purchase a few scientific books on chemistry and physics.



He then worked at a photography studio - a technology still in its
infancy, before joining an older brother at a medicinal pharmaceutical
company when he turned 14.



Despite his lack of formal education, Ninomiya was known to have
invented hard-fixed wings at a time when other would-be aviators
attempted to create flying machines that mimicked a bird flapping its
wings.



Ninomiya mimicked the birds, but did so in quite a different manner.



It was after being conscripted into the Japanese Army in 1887, in
November of 1889, his unit was on maneuvers in Shikoku (the smallest of
Japan's main four islands) when they took a lunch break.



When the unit finished eating, Ninomiya noticed a murder of crows flying
into to pick up the spilled grains of rice from their lunch (yes, even
then it was difficult to use chopsticks to pick up Japanese sticky
rice).



Ninomiyai, who had previously reasoned that the secret to flight might
be obtained from watching how birds fly when not flapping their wings,
threw grains of rice out to watch the crows as the glided down to the
ground.



He watched them take off by flapping their wings, but noted that quickly
stopped flapping and spread their wings in a horizontal glide to ride
the air currents.



His theory from this was that while flight could be obtained by flapping
wings, motionless wings could maintain the flight with far less energy
needed.



He believed that the same thing could hold true for human flight, but
that a motor would be required to lift off and then sustain the flight.



Closer examination of the crows by tossing them more rice, he saw that
the crows could adjust their horizontal flight path by adjusting their
tails, and that the front of the spread wings was actually angled
upwards. This is what aviation engineers call the angle of attack.



To test his theories, Ninomiya built two models. And they really were only models—nothing a person could fit in.



The Karasu (Crow) was the first ever model aircraft built in Japan. It
was a monoplane (one set of wings), with a dihedral wing (upward wing
angle) and a 45 centimeter wingspan.



Its motor, was a rubber band that powered a four-blade pusher propellor
(the propeller sits behind the engine) was built of bamboo, that is both
light, but strong.



(Prior to this ephinay with the crows, Ninomiya as a 16-year-old already
had some ideas regarding propellers... and I'm going to actually do a
write up about that tomorrow and explain how Japanese children had known
for years something that had eluded the famous Wright Brothers until
many, many years later.)



The Crow had a horizontal stabilizer on its tail and a vertical
stabilizer on its nose, and used three wheels as its landing gear.



The propellor and chassis was affixed to a triangular frame. according
to the history books, the airplane chassis did not actually appear in
Europe until the 1930s.



On April 29, 1891, Ninomiya tested the Crow, running it three meters
before it lifted up and flew an additional 10 meters. The next day on
 April 30, it flew 36 meters after he arranged a hard-launch (letting
the motor get up to full speed before launching it).



His second model, the Jewel Beetle, was tested in October of 1893, was a
tail less bi-plane with a wingspan of two meters. the upper wing was
larger than the lower wing, though the lower wing was movable to provide
better control. The propeller was a four-blade pusher motor, and it too
ran via rubber band.



Despite success with the models, he was not able to get the interest of
the Japanese Army, who failed to see how it could be used in warfare,
which is too bad, because the Crow and Jewel Beetle were both excellent
aviation prototypes.



He then served as a medic for Japan during the First Sino-Japanese War
(China vs Japan) in 1894-1895. While serving, he tried to convince the
Army leaders of the value of an aeroplane that could carry a man, but
was rebuffed noting that if that was a priority, Europe and America
would all ready have one.



Don't blame the Japanese Army too much. Japan still maintains a long standing tradition of resisting change.



When the war was over, he went back to his job at a pharmaceutical company.



Unfortunately, he always seemed to have a lack of funds, a problem which
stymied his personal development of his aircraft.  But he slowly kept
at.



In fact, legend has it that in 1907 or 1908 Ninomiya had an aeroplane
built based on the Jewel Beetle bi-plane design and was in the process
of trying to raise funds to purchase a motor (something that was rare
and difficult to obtain), when he received news that the Wright Brothers
of the US of A, took their aeroplane The Wright Flyer up in the air for
a 59-second flight traveling 260 meters before landing safely. Of
course, the Wright Brothers had actually first flown in December of
1903... but news did not travel very fast in those days despite the new
invention of manned air flight!



Completely crushed, that he had missed out on being the first aviator by
years, Ninomiya quickly fell into a funk and destroyed his aviation
drawings and stopped working on all aviation projects.



But, luckily, not all of the drawings were destroyed.



Apparently nearly 90 years later, a Japanese professor named Noguchi
Tsuneo (surname first) studied some of the surviving drawings and claims
that had Ninomiya been able to purchase a 12 horsepower engine or if he
had the support of the Japanese Army, he might have been the first to
obtain heavier than air flight before the Wright Brothers. (And again,
to be fair to the Wright Brothers, lots of other people tried and were
stymied by one thing or another, but the Wright Brothers were not...
they succeed were others failed - and they had the support of the US
Army).



Regardless, Noguchi built an airplane based on Ninomiya's designs and
notes that the only problem with it was the lack of horizontal and
vertical stabilizers. He figures it was something any engineer like
Ninomiya would have noticed on that first test flight and would have
corrected. But, said Noguchi, the plane would have flown.



While some aviation experts still believed there was no way Ninomiya's Jewel Beetle would ever fly as it was too heavy.



However, in April of 1991 at the Vancouver Air Show on the westcoast of
Canada, a replica of what I believe was the Jewel Beetle was
successfully flown a distance of 50 meters (136 feet). The only
modifications to the original design was the inclusion of stabilizers.


In 1921 while Ninomiya was still alive and working at his pharmaceutical
office, Japanese Lieutenant General Shirakawa Yoshinori (surname first)
was looking over some old records and saw Nonimiya's plans for the
aeroplane and realized its significance. As such, in 1922, the Japanese Army commended him, as did minister Kenzo Adachi (surname first) in 1925 and Prince Kuniyoshi Kuni (also surname first) in 1926. He also received a letter of apology and was deemed the 'father of Japanese aviation."





Later, nearer to his death, he became a Kannushi - a priest of Shinto to pray for those who were killed in aviation accidents. 

Propeller at the Hiko Shrine.

There is a shrine (the Hiko Jinja 飛行神社) dedicated to aviation near Ninomiya's former
workshop. It contains a small memorial museum that is about the size of a living room showing off some of Ninomiya's models and sketches, including the Crow (Karusa). 



It's located near the Yawata station (Yawata eki) on the Keihan Railway Line between
Kyoto and Osaka. Upon exiting the station, turn left walk over a tiny bridge, then right at the next corner and a few steps
later it will be on your right. Look for a jet engine in a glass case at the front entrance. The memorial
museum in the shrine is open from 9AM to 4PM, closed on Wednesday and charges an admission
300 yen (about $3). Make sure you bring along a translator because the explanations are only in Japanese. 

 

And, should you wish to fly your own Crow – Ninomiya’s first aeroplane model, you can buy a simple kit from the website of www.brooklyn5and10.com.

Somewhere traveling as the crow flies, 

Andrew Joseph

Soccer 3rd Round Men's World Cup Qualifying

The pressure is on Japan's Men's soccer team.

With the Japanese woman's team surprising all comers to take the 2011 Women's World Cup last month, the men are beginning to feel a bit of pressure to perform—a fact not made easier with Japan getting placed in a tough bracket for the third qualifying round for the 2014 World Cup.

While Japan is the reigning Asian champs, Japan's coach Alberto Zaccheroni doesn't believe his team will have an easy path to qualifying for the event having been drawn in a tricky Group C with North Korea, Uzbekistan and Syria.

"This is the third round of qualifying so there are no easy groups and no easy opponents," the Italian-born Zaccheroni says. "We are the Asian champions, so our opponents will be doing their homework and come at us firing on all cylinders, but we will just focus on each and every match. This is significant as it will be my first experience of World Cup qualifying. I am always eager for new challenges and am looking forward to this first experience."

Hey! Zaccheroni! The teams you are playing are North Korea, Syria and Uzbekistan! These are not world powers! Although one or all may indeed posses nuclear weapons capabilities. Do your home work and know that you have a superior squad of footballers and kick their collective ass! The World Cup of soccer does not give out trophies for participation! Play to win! That's what Japan's woman's team did! Rant over.

Japan has yet to lose any of the 10 matches that coach Zaccheroni has helmed, and is also the highest world-ranked team of the four at 16, but still the coach has concerns, noting that North Korea (115) played well at the 2010 World Cup; Uzbekistan (83) reached the semifinals of the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar, which is also where Syria (104) only lost to Japan 2-1 in the group phase.

The third round of Asian qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup begins on September 2, 2011, with the top two teams from each of the five groups advancing to the final qualifying stage in June 2012. The 10 teams in the final round will be split into two groups, with the top two from each group automatically qualifying for Brazil. The third-place sides face off for a spot in the intercontinental playoff against a team from South America for a potential fifth place from Asia.

3rd Round Qualifying Schedule: 
Japan vs North Korea @ Saitama-ken, Japan - Sept. 2, 2011
Japan vs Uzbekistan @ Uzebekistan - Sept. 6, 2011
Japan vs Syria @ Osaka-ken, Japan - Oct. 11, 2011
Japan vs. Syria @ Syria - Nov. 11, 2011
Japan vs. North Korea @ N. Korea - Nov. 15, 2011
Japan vs Uzbekistan @ Aichi-ken, Japan - Feb. 29, 2012.

Japan and Uzbekistan were also grouped together during the final qualifiers for South Africa at the 2010 World Cup event.

"There are no easy groups. Whoever you play in Asia it is always a tough battle," Japan's Belgian-based goalkeeper Kawashima Eiji (surname first) offers. "The most important thing is that we all prepare well."

Adds Borussia Dortmund midfielder Kagawa Shinji, "Whomever you play, it is difficult and we cannot afford to be complacent against any of our opponents."

North Korea striker Chong Tese, who used to play in Japan and is now at German second-division club Bochum, said on his blog, "We will definitely qualify with Japan. It's the group of death and Japan and Uzbekistan will both be feeling the heat."

Geez... that sounds ominous.

Japan was drawn together with North Korea in the final qualifying round for the 2006 finals and won 2-0 behind closed doors in Bangkok, Thailand to go to the tourney then held in Germany. That match had been scheduled to be played in Pyongyang but soccer's world governing body FIFA ordered North Korea to play the match at a neutral venue as punishment for crowd violence that marred its 2-0 qualifying defeat to Iran in the reclusive state's capital.

The 3rd round draw held in Rio determined the path of 166 teams in their bid to qualify for the tournament in three years' time. Fifty-three European nations were divided into nine groups, with the winners automatically qualifying and the eight best group runnersup advancing to a playoff. The European qualifying matches will begin Sept. 7 and end Oct. 15, 2013.

Here's a full list of the draws for the 3rd Qualifying round:
African Zone 
Group A: South Africa, Botswana, Central African Republic, Somalia or Ethiopia;
Group B: Tunisia, Cape Verde Islands, Sierra Leone, Equatorial Guinea or Madagascar;
Group C: Côte d'Ivoire, Morocco, Gambia, Chad or Tanzania;
Group D: Ghana, Zambia, Sudan, Lesotho or Burundi;
Group E: Burkina Faso, Gabon, Niger, Sao Tome e Principe or Congo;
Group F: Nigeria, Malawi, Seychelles or Kenya, Djibouti or Namibia;
Group G: Egypt, Guinea, Zimbabwe, Comoros or Mozambique;
Group H: Algeria, Mali, Benin, Eritrea or Rwanda;
Group I: Cameroon, Libya, Guinea-Bissau or Togo, Swaziland or Congo DR;
Group J: Senegal, Uganda, Angola, Mauritius or Liberia

Asian Zone
Group A: China, Jordan, Iraq, Singapore;
Group B: Korea Republic, Kuwait, UAE, Lebanon;
Group C: Japan, Uzbekistan, Syria, Korea DPR;
Group D: Australia, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Thailand;
Group E: Iran, Qatar, Bahrain, Indonesia

North, Central America and the Caribbean (Round Two)
Group A: El Salvador, Surinam, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic;
Group B: Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Barbados, Bermuda;
Group C: Panama, Dominica, Nicaragua, Bahamas;
Group D: Canada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Puerto Rico, St Lucia;
Group E: Grenada, Guatemala, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize;
Group F: Haiti, Antigua and Barbuda, Curacao, US Virgin Islands

North, Central America and the Caribbean (Round Three)
Group A: USA, Jamaica, Winner of R2 Grp E, Winner of R2 Grp F;
Group B: Mexico, Costa Rica, Winner of R2 Grp A, Winner of R2 Grp B;
Group C: Honduras, Cuba, Winner of R2 Grp D, Winner of R2 Grp C

(Group 2 phase not complete: winners of each group advances.)

Oceanian Zone
Group A: Vanuatu, New Caledonia, American Samoa/Cook Islands/Samoa or Tonga, Tahiti;
Group B: Fiji, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea

European Zone
Group A: Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Scotland, Macedonia, Wales;
Group B: Italy, Denmark, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Armenia, Malta;
Group C: Germany, Sweden, Republic of Ireland, Austria, Faroe Islands, Kazakhstan;
Group D: Netherlands, Turkey, Hungary, Romania, Estonia, Andorra;
Group E: Norway, Slovenia, Switzerland, Albania, Cyprus, Iceland;
Group F: Portugal, Russia, Israel, Northern Ireland, Azerbaijan, Luxembourg;
Group G: Greece, Slovakia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lithuania, Latvia, Lichtenstein;
Group H: England, Montenegro, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, San Marino;
Group I: Spain, France, Belarus, Georgia, Finland

Files compiled by Andrew Joseph

What The Hell

It's Saturday, June 1, 1991 and the Renewer's conference in Kobe-shi (City of Kobe) for people returning for another year of the JET (Japan Exchange & Teaching) Programme ends early this morning. This was still my first year of teaching junior high school English for the Ohtawara-shi (City of Ohtawara) Board of Education (OBOE) in Tochigi-ken (Tochigi Prefecture) in Japan.
I've just broken up with my girlfriend Ashley. I feel depressed and angry. My mood isn't helped by Matthew leaving at 8AM to go off visiting Osaka. It's nothing he did wrong, of course - just that I didn't really want to be alone - which was how I now felt.
Jeff Seaman - our pal - he left the night before.
Why am I still here? Too lazy to leave? Naw... I wanted to find Kristine and tell her what went down yesterday.
In the lobby of the hotel, I meet fellow AETs (assistant English teachers) Tim Mould and Mona Maas - a happy couple.
I'm really depressed and I explain my situation. Mona seems very concerned, and it's very much appreciated that she cares. I tell her I think I'm at the end of my rope and keep making comments about how nice I think their relationship is.
Ashley was my first ever major girlfriend, and the first woman I ever loved... well, there was Bryndis back in Toronto... but that was three years ago and lasted the summer before she had to go back to high school (I was 22 and seeing an 18-year-old. Hmm... that seems odd to me now as I write this out).
Mona tells me she thinks I should take some time to reconnect with myself.
Maybe. Aside from three months a few years ago, and the past 10 months here in Japan, I've spent a lot of time connecting with myself. Sometimes more than once a day, if you catch the sexual meaning.
After the speeches are over, Ashley finds me wandering aimlessly in the lobby looking for Kristine or some other feminine shoulder to cry on.
Still, she asks if we can talk, so we go up to a lobby one flight up. As I sit there, not saying anything, other AETs I barely recognize come over one by one and tell me how much they enjoyed meeting me. Most of them - I have no clue who they are. Either I do know and I'm far too depressed  (and it shows on my face, according to Ashley) to remember, or I met everyone in an alcoholic haze. Probably a bit of both - despite my sharp recollections appearing here in this blog.
Ashley asks if I want to come with her this last day in Kobe with her and Mayuko on a sightseeing tour.
'Why not?' I think ignoring Mona's sage advice. 'I could use the company.'
We get our stuff from our hotel rooms and get on a local Kobe train.
I don't get a chance to say good-bye to Kristine - and that sucks. Back to Plan B.
I tell Ashley a big lie to cover up my moody behaviour of the past week - mentioning how my parents have a problem.
That lie, apparently makes a difference as Ashley seems sympathetic, as she buys me lunch at McDonald's and we talk about things unrelated to us or my folks.
I feel better, though, because we aren't fighting.
Are we back together? Didn't I break up with her last night? Why did she seek me out this morning? And where the heck was Kristine? I'm quite sure I wouldn't be eating a Big Mac with Ashley if I just had one more chance to talk with Kristine. Really. This time for sure.
Mayuko, Ashley's local Japanese friend that she met who knows when or where years ago arrives at the McDonald's and then walks us over to a friend's place - Kuriko.
She's very cute, perky and dating a 41-year-old German dude (now I still find that, a bit odd... she's like what, 20?). She, with our luggage crammed into her tiny white car's trunk, drives like she's in a hurry to get to an F-1 race, and while I like her care-free attitude, her driving skills (or lack there in), scare the crap out of me.
We go to a pottery museum - the Hyogo Ceramic Art Museum, I think - where they also allow us to participate in a Japanese Tea ceremony (which I will describe in a later blog). Okay... I'll do it now, briefly.
After the tea is made in a large bowl... I'm told to pick up the bowl with the pattern  facing me. You give thanks and then turn it one quarter at a time - twice - until the pattern on the bowl is now facing away from you. You sip once, twice and then drain it on your third try, ensuring you slurp at the end (slurping implies you enjoyed the food/drink and is considered good manners in many Asian cultures). You then turn the bowl back via two quarter turns and place the bowl down.
Yum. But still a lot of pomp and circumstance for a bowl of tea. Don't they serve any cookies? Nope. Stupid gaijin (foreigner).
Kuriko then drives us to another museum - but it's closed.
So we do what all Japanese do  - and sneak in!!!
I am impressed by the moxie of us all! These Japanese folks seem more like real people than the stifling, giggling image of the prim Japanese kimono-clad Geisha we are always bombarded with in the media. The Japanese are real people! (Uh, forget about the rules for drinking tea, though).
To get into the museum, we had to sneak past an outside office window, and then entered the museum via a side entrance which just so happened to be unlocked.
They were just closing up the place for the day (1PM??!!). It was filled with examples of Chinese pottery and vases, with explanations/descriptions of each written in Japanese and English. But, when both Mayuko and Kuriko saw fit to explain what we were looking at, it seemed as though we were looking at completely different object d'art.
We leave through the proper exit. We not only saved a few yen, but we had an exciting adventure! I've never snuck in or out of anyplace sober.
Because Kuriko has a dentist appointment, she drops us off near the Kobe waterfront - with all of our luggage. Good gravy but it's heavy. We walk down a cemented canal ditch over to the beaches and look at clams and other sea things that have washed ashore. It's all very interesting, but not very pretty, as the area is soiled by metal and concrete structures spewing black acrid smoke into the air.
We then take a taxi to the train station (I paid for some reason) and then travel to Mayuko's apartment where she lives with her folks. Her place is like the 22 floor - high! and there are more levels atop it. The whole building is perched up on the side of a tall hill or very short mountain that other than the apartment complexes, is completely covered in coniferous trees.
Her apartment is as Western as any I've been in here in Canada, but it's beautiful - and her folks are great and serve up a fabulous Japanese meal called shabu-shabu, guest starring the one and only... Kobe Beef!!
Mayuko's dad and I drink heavily until 10:10 PM when I am driven to a hotel. Okay. That was an unexpected development and cost, but no big deal. Ashley stays at the apartment.
Oh yeah... no gaijin hanky-panky. I guess no one told him I had broken up with Ashley. Or maybe someone did... and now figured I would hit on his lovely daughter, Mayuko. Honestly... I never really thought about it while I was eating.
At the hotel, I'm asleep by 10:30PM, but I have a nightmare of a cowboy killing me. Apparently I was affixing a pink tie on him... a pink tie he had stolen from me to lure me to that certain spot.
Holy crap! That sounds rather non-heterosexual. Despite having a meal on a hill, this guy and his six-shooter doesn't travel up Brokeback Mountain.

I try to go back to sleep, but it seems as though 2-1/2 hours is all I'm destined to get today.
What an effin' confusing day!

Somewhere, feeling like crap,
Andrew Joseph
Today's blog title is by Avril Lavigne: You can see it all here at LACEYBRA

PS: Did I not state at the beginning of this blog that I had broken up with Ashley the previous night? Why did we spend a nice day together today? And where the hell was Kristine? She might have saved me from this purgatory I am about to put myself through over the next few weeks. I'm not blaming anyone but myself, by the way. 

Valentine's Day

Today is Valentine's day.
V.D.
Those are the initials. Think about that for a second.
Then think about that whole massacre thing involving the mafia and the Irish mob.
Just in case you didn't know... Valentine's Day is actually the shortened form of Saint Valentine's Day.
February 14 is supposed to be a day when love between people is celebrated... unlike the rest of the year.
Here's what we know and don't know about the origins of this bloody event.
Valentine (or Valentinus as he was probably known) was a dude who was buried near Rome on February 14. What we know about his life is that (rumour has it) Valentinus was an early Christian martyr who died in some year before 500AD. (That's all we know - really). For being a martyr, Pope Gelasius I established a day (for this sainted individual) in 500AD (which is why I knew he died sometime before that year).
Anyhow... for all you non-Christians who celebrate Valentine's Day, did you know you are actually participating in the faith of another religion? For shame. Ha!
In Japan, where 99.9 percent of the population is Buddhist, only roughly 50 per cent of the population celebrates the Christian tradition of Valentine's day.
That would be the women.
Seriously.
On February 14, women all over Japan give out a Valentine's Day present to that certain someone they like. Every year, I got close to 20 Valentines. More importantly, I got phone numbers and an invitation to call. Plus chocolates!
So what about the men of Japan? How come they don't have to sweat it out trying to get that perfect present for their woman (or significant other) - all the while knowing that no matter what they get, they will fail miserably?
In Japan, women give out Valentine's to men on the 14th of February. In an effort to spare the men who may not want to be embarrassed by giving a Valentine to a woman who does not want one from you - well, they don't have to give one until March 14... some made-up Japanese holiday called White Day.
In Japan it's perfectly okay for a women to lay her love for man out in the open on February 14, but not okay for a man to do the same. They get to safely figure out who gave them a present and one month later get to act accordingly.
Did you know that Japan had a sexist society? If you have read any of my blogs, I think you could have safely guessed that.
As a guy, I have to admit, it's kind of handy to know who likes you, so that your love is not unrequited or that you don't waste your time chasing after someone who doesn't like you. That is a sexist comment, I admit. But I am a guy, after all.

Somewhere wondering how I'm going to afford 20 White Day presents next month,
Andrew Joseph

Today's blog title is song very nicely by Linkin Park: VD
PS: I was usually alone every Valentine's day while in Japan... not that there's anything wrong with that, because at least knew I had White Day to look forward to. That's when I could make my move.
PPS: Make my move... how self-delusional I have become.
PPPS: Here's a link to a Toronto Star newspaper article about the sins of Valentine's Day on a differing religion: VALENTINE. This appeared yesterday... I actually wrote my story up on Friday (I post-date stuff, eh).