Stand

February 3rd is Setsubun, a festival whereby the Japanese celebrate the coming of Spring.

Personally, I think it's a little early in the year to be doing this, but I guess it's sort of an anticipatory thing. And, if I understood all things Japanese, there would be no need for this angst-riddled blog.

Setsubun means 'seasonal division' and got its start in the Muromachi-jidai (1336 - 1573 AD). Back in the day, it was a household mini celebration to cleanse the house of evil (I guess evil likes a warm place to stay in the Winter) from the past year (oops, I should have read what I was going to write before that snide remark) in anticipation of having an evil-free start to the new year (the Year of the Rabbit - as China and Japan use a similar calendar - though Japan only for astrological purposes, it too follows the Julian calendar).

The preferred way to do the purifying is to have a male of the household who happened to be born in a corresponding year - in this case, a male born previously in The Year of The Rabbit lead the event.

The 'Buck', or male rabbit guy tosses roasted soybeans out the front door or at a member of the family wearing an oni (demon) mask while others yell: "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi! (Demons out! Luck in!)". The door is then slammed shut, thereby expelling all the evil.

While people in Japan don't really do this anymore, they do go to a temple and see it being done, expecting that the exorcism will occur if one is nearby watching the ritual.

Nowadays, the Japanese kind of make their own luck by eating Eho-maki (lucky direction sushi  rolls) whereby you are supposed to face towards the year's 'lucky direction' and eat the whole sushi roll without stopping. No problem. You are not allowed to talk until you have finished eating. That's a problem for me.

For 2011, the lucky direction is south by southeast. I am unsure how the heck they came up with that one. Regardless, it is a nice little fun oddity that I wish we had more of that here (wherever you are that doesn't do this). 

Somewhere looking for a compass,
Andrew Joseph
Today's blog is brought to you by R.E.M. I always liked this song: STAND
It was also the theme song for a short-live TV comedy I liked: Get A Life, starring Chris Eliott.
PS: Hey! Finally a timely blog. Happy New Year, you wascally wabbit! Watch THIS.

New Year's Day



Happy New Year from ????

 There's a custom in Japan that I enjoyed, but never actually participated in.

There's an old custom in Japan (and I'm sure elsewhere in the world) for people to go out on New Year's Day to visit friends, acquaintances, former teachers and relatives - to catch up on new times while re-hashing old times. It was to stay connected - to say thanks. It's a cool custom.
But, back in the 1899 or so, after Japan opened up its borders to foreigners and postcards and postage became the fashionable thing to do, that quaint custom of visitation slowly faded away.
Instead, old acquaintances were brought to mind via a New Year's greeting card called the nengajo.
The Japanese seem to take great pride in sending out these New Year's Day greetings. I have to say that 99.9 per cent of the ones I received (maybe about 150 per year) were written in Japanese with little to no English on them. As a result, I have a very difficult time in knowing just who the hell they are from.
I'm sorry.
I'm just not that smart or good at reading Japanese.
The cards come in various formats - but are always done in a postcard style - IE a front and backside.
Format-wise, the front will have a greeting written in Kanji or Hiragana - or if I'm lucky enough Katakana alphabet (see left photo at very top). Sometimes, it is all writing, others have a drawing ink-stamped onto it.
Still others, they have a photo placed onto. Some have them professionally done - and by that I mean they had a card maker actually print a photo as the front of the card. The non-professional card (and this is not a knock against anyone!), the photo is glued to the front.
Other times, the picture on the front matches the animal of the applicable Japanese/Chinese zodiac calendar.
For example... I was born in 1964. That's the year of the Dragon. Today in 2011, it is the year of the Rabbit.
Want to know what YOUR astrological sign is?: ANNUAL

1991 was the Year of The Sheep

As well, the cards have on the backside a set of lottery numbers (Otoshidama-tsuki nenga hagaki). Take a look at the photo on the right at the very top - I purposely did NOT choose a lottery number for you that had the number 47 in it, even though I have . On January 15, the wining numbers are picked, with the results delivered the next day on television. The prizes are not monetary, ranging nowadays from televisions to washing machines, to cameras to commemorative stamps.
In all honestly, I have no idea if I ever won anything, as I know that both Matthew and I never knew to check the results!
The cards would actually be delivered by the Post and Telecommunications Ministry (Yuuseishou) to arrive on January 1, as deliver or reception of such cards before that date is considered bad form... it's like visiting people (pre-1899) before this auspicious date.
When they say that it's the thought that counts - here in Japan it really does.
Sure they might send out 50 or 100 cards... but honestly, no one had to send the stupid gaijin (foreigner) a card. But they did.
And it means a lot to me that they spent the time and effort to write out my name and address (where the heck are people getting my address from?!!) . Some did write it out in English, too... which must have confused the heck out of the postal service.
Actually, I'm betting the post office folks weren't that confused. When it came to receiving mail with English writing on the card or envelope, it either went to me, or to Matthew. And, from what I was told by my bosses at the OBOE (Ohtawara Board of Education), the post office actually had our two addresses on file in English and in Japanese so that they could easily deliver mail to us.
There was only one problem.

Nice family shot from the Yashiro family.

Ohtawara had more gaijin than just the two of us. And, there certainly were more Japanese receiving mail from people outside of Japan, too.
Other gaijin include the : foreign exchange company workers at some of the major electronics companies; the bartending staff at local watering holes; the Asian Farming Institute that taught Japanese farming techniques to people from a plethora of Asian countries; and of course, the Catholic Priest who lived in the church two doors away from me. I always got mail for him (stuff from the Vatican - new candles and chalices), and he always got stuff for me (my box of condoms, and subscription to Juggs).
I know I always send the stuff I received to him unused. I can only hope he did the same for me.
Anyhow... as mentioned at the very top... I never participated in this tradition - more the pity. I never had a card made and sent out and damn it I always felt bad about it whenever a card would arrive in the mail for me.
If you are in Japan during the Winter season, do yourself a favour and look into having a nengajo made up for yourself to send out. You'll be happy you did.
Oh... and happy new year!
Unless you follow the Chinese calendar - you'll have to wait six more weeks, but the feeling is still meant!

Somewhere wondering if I had won a washing machine,
Andrew Joseph
Today's title is by U2... and appropriately named band for this blog topic: HAPPYNEWYEAR
PS: Upon further review of the New Year's cards I received back in January of 1991, it appears that I DID send out greetings. I apparently wrote things out in Kanji (the Chinese-style Japanese alphabet) and mailed them out. I feel better now. So forget about my opening line to this blog. I'm not a complete loser.

Up Up And Away

Today's topic is about Tako (kites), which is not to be confused with takko (octopus), or my great friend Matthew's wife Takako.

Kites have ben a part of Japanese culture since about the 7th century, when it is thought that Chinese Buddhists brought them to Japan. While it is true that Japanese culture owes a lot to the Chinese (and are the Japanese are loathe to admit it), the Japanese folk began to develop their own distinctive kite designs.

There are records showing that along with usage in religious ceremonies, tako were also used in the construction industry to lift tiles up to rooftops. 

Some of you may not be aware of my love for pioneer aviation, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to discover that there's a neat Japanese story set in the 12th century.

Apparently a warrior named Minamoto-no-Tametomo was exiled with his son to the island of Hachijo-jima (jima means island) about about 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of mainland Japan. Feeling sad for his son's lonliness, he created a large kite on the boy could escape with a good wind. He made it, or so the story goes. Since I'm guessing that there was no way they had 100 kilometres worth of 'string', I'm assuming once aloft, the winds bore the kite as an early form of hang-gliding.

During the Edo-jidai (Edo period) of 1603-1867 when Japan closed off its borders to all foreigners (also to keep the Japanese in - more on that HERE), Japanese kite building really took off, if you'll pardon the pun. It's said that that each region in Japan developed a kite with its own distinct shape, leading up to 130 different types of kites. 

Then, as now, kites are decorated with scenes or characters from Japanese folklore and mythology, or still maintain that religious feeling that the kite was first used for back in the 7th century.  

Check out the photo above of a miniature, decorative kite I have. Like all Japanese tako, it's painted with bright natural dies, including sumi (black ink) and are made from hand-made paper called washi for the skin and bamboo or cypress for the bones--English terms later used in early aviation. 

Utilizing Kanji, a Japanese alphabet very similar to Chinese, it is made from two symbols meaning wind and cloth, which when combines mean tako. Check out the symbol to the right. The outer one that looks like a mathematical pi sign is 'wind' (kaze), and the inner one that looks like the pointy end of a trident is 'cloth' (nuno).

Nowadays, kites are flown on Boy's Day (Tango-no-Sekku) Festival on May 5th of each year. As well, temples holding religious festivals continue to fly kites, and January 1 (New Year's Day - is called 'shogatsu' in Japan) is also another tradition flying time. Though before 1873, New Year's Day was celebrated according to the Chinese lunar calendar (so some time in February) - see, I told you they took a lot from China!

During harvest season, kites may have a stalk of rice attached to it, and flown up high to the gods as appreciation for a good rice crop. Other symbolic flights are done when a kite painted with the face of a demon is meant to ward off evil. Personally, I don't get  that one. Why use a demon to ward off evil? Wouldn't it be better to use a force of good to ward off evil? Or are Japanese demons considered good? I may have to look into that one. It's possible considering the O-Bon festival (Read about that HERE) that welcomes the dead back to Earth is really about the dead getting a three-day pass from Hell... as that is where the Japanese believe the dead's spirit resides. 

Somewhere, a tree ate my kite. Good grief, 

Andrew Joseph
Today's title is by The 5th Dimension - FLY here.  I couldn't find one about kites. 

Girls, Girls, Girls

Interesting photo, isn't it?

It is a hagoita--a paddle used for an old girl's game called hanetsuki that was played usually on New Year's day (January 1... I only write that date down because, well, other cultures do have different New Year's days...).

Similar in scope to badminton, a shuttlecock (hane) was whacked back and forth between two girls. Obviously... this front highly decorated portion of the hagoita was not used to hit the hane - the reverse flat side was.  

Apparently there were no nets involved - just keeping the hane afloat like a game of hackey-sack - was the point. However, should a girl miss the hane, her face would be smeared in ink. The game would continue until one girl's face would be completely covered in ink. Sounds like fun, ne (eh)?

The hagoita paddles are part of a ritualistic health blessing to the girls given at birth, and is thus a good luck charm. Rumour has it that it was also a way of providing protection against mosquitoes. If so, it's the world's best looking fly-swatter.

The game is no longer played in Japan, but like all things in life, the hagoita paddles have become collectible decorative items--which explains why I have one.

This was given to me by a student over at Nozaki Chu Gakko (Nozaki Junior High School) - what great kids (now adults and parents probably in 2010!)

Traditionally, the front artwork is created through the Japanese art of washi (hand-molded paper), through mine has elaborate needle and thread work. It's three-dimensional plush and pasted to the wooden paddle to protrude like a relief. Mine depicts a beautiful woman in kimono--in this case, I believe it is a geisha - though other hagoita features portraits of popular Kabuki (style of performance play) characters or actors, or the more modern anime (cartoon) figures.

The reverse of mine is painted with a bamboo grove design--as well, mine is a more traditional paddle size of about 60 centimetres (2-feet) long. 

There is a Hagoita Ichi Fair held in the Asakusa-area of Tokyo on December 17-19 every year. Started about 350 years ago during the Edo jidai (when Japan was essentially closed to foreigners - read about it HERE).

It's set up at the Senso-ji (ji means temple) grounds with about 50 kiosks set up with vendors hawking nothing but their hagoita wares. It's a spectacular fair with some 300,000 visitors annually attending. 

Somewhere there is ink smeared on a young girl's face,

Andrew Joseph

Today's title is by Motley Crue - HAIRSPRAY.

And, since that sexist hair-metal song may not be everyone's cup of tea... maybe you'll enjoy this clip about paddles from a Simpson's substitute elementary teacher. It's one of my all-time favourite lines to quote: JASPER.
PS - Today's entry is my 200th Blog of Rife. Happy Blog-day to us!