Rocking in Hakata

My favorite place in Japan from a tourist’s point of view is probably Fushimi Inari Taisha, the large shrine to Inari, diety of cereal grains and business. It’s a really quick train ride away from central Kyoto. If you read Japanese, you might be interested in the official site.

Even if you’ve never been, you’re probably already familiar with the site. It was featured in Memoirs of a Geisha. It was also the inspiration for the art installation “The Gates” by Christo and Jean-Claude. The epic arrangement of Shinto gates (鳥居 / torii) packed so tightly together creates an amazing, surreal illusion – you feel as though you’re walking through an otherworldly hallway.

I’ve been to Fushimi Inari Taisha 4 or 5 times now, and it sure doesn’t get old. It’s sort of like Miyajima in that it stands apart from other shrines and temples. If that sort of thing isn’t up your alley, you may find yourself thinking “if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.” You won’t get that feeling here. Visiting at different times of day, in different seasons, etc. all change the scenery drastically.

I included Fushimi Inari in my old student travelogue from my study abroad days. You can see a video clip that I put together by clicking here (it will open in an overlay) or by visiting the original. I also wrote about it a few years ago when I spent Christmas vacation in Kyoto at the J-Hoppers hostel with friends, including J-Web vlogger/blogger Claytonian.

If you do go, I recommend taking the extra time to wander up to the upper loop past the lakes. I love the view at the top – you can even see Kyoto Tower. Most people tend to go a little bit into it and turn back, imagining that things look the same all the way up. The truth is, the scenery changes. Fox statues, mini-torii and all sorts of devotionals, incense burners, and the like are scattered throughout the area. Perhaps you’ll meet and befriend a shrine cat there like I’ve done on more than one occasion.

The theme for this Japan Blog Matsuri was “your favorite place in Japan.” It’s being hosted by Shane at the Nihon Sun.

Deas Customary Drivel, JBMatsuri, Media, Photos, RIH Entries, Trips, Unsolicited Commentary

I went to Taiwan recently, and I thought I’d share a few of my pictures. I won’t pretend to know anything, because this was one of very few times that I did absolutely no research about the country I was visiting prior to…visiting. I knew woefully little about Taiwan before I stepped off of the plane. I basically knew that Tainan (台南), Taipei (台北), and Taiwan (台湾) all share kanji. I knew that Taipei was the capital and that Tainan was the more cultural city, being the oldest on the island. I knew the basic gist of the country’s political history from my Asian Studies classes back in college…but that’s pretty much it. And if I’m perfectly honest, I still don’t know very much. So I’ll leave the instructive sounding stuff to other people and just show you random shots that I liked for one reason or another. I’ll sum up stuff that I “learned” after the gallery.

I did “take away” some observations, in spite of my total tourist mentality (or perhaps due to it?). 1) Tainan is way cooler than Taipei for the lazy casual cultural tourists. I’ll elaborate on this when I post my Taipei pictures. Here’s an analogy for you SAT-prep nerds out there. “Tainan” is to “Taipei” as “Kyoto” is to “Tokyo.” 2) The ridiculous stuff is often cooler than the famous stuff. I honestly thought the Anping Tree House was cooler than Anping Fort, which is the more historical and more widely known attraction in the same area. 3) The Dutch were freakin’ influential EVERYWHERE. Ha ha. Going through the museums and histories, I often found myself wondering if things had gone differently, would Dutch people rule the world? 4) Night Markets are the coolest thing to do by a long shot. Way cool. Still couldn’t bring myself to try stinky tofu, though. (臭豆腐 = literally “smell” + “bean” + “rot” according to my limited / Japanese understanding of the characters. [Obviously, 豆腐 is "tofu" normally. I separated it for effect.] Whew. Very accurate name.) Most people who’ve tried it say that they love the stuff, but dude…..I had to hold my breath to walk by the little stalls selling it. I’m all for expanding my formerly uber-picky culinary horizons, but I just don’t think I’m there yet. By the way, the English “fermented tofu” seems redundant to me, since tofu is “fermented soy bean curd.” But yeah, that should tell you how pungent it is – it’s twice rotted! Ha ha. 5) Walk everywhere you can. Only take cabs for long distances. You get to see so much more of the city. Anyhoo, like I said, I’m still unfortunately ignorant of a lot of cool stuff in Tainan, but I got to know the city over a few days. Good times. More on the Taiwan trip – specifically Taipei – later.

Deas Customary Drivel, Media, Photos, Trips

That’s right, folks. It’s the 3rd installment of my transcripts for the Japanese version of the Loom Audio Drama. (See Part 1 and Part 2 if you’ve somehow missed it so far.) But as always, fear not if you can’t read Japanese. I’ve got the English language audio and text for the exact same section available here for your perusal, just after the Japanese. It’s a good study aid for the oldschool LucasArts adventure games inclined. I’m not as certain of my translation of the aside comments in the script as I am of my transcription, so if anyone notices anything awry – let me know!

This is the third of four entries in total. This one is set apart by the weirdness of Cygna being transfigured, Bobbin being born from the Great Loom, and the voice acting for young Bobbin. To me, personally, the biggest error that leaps out the most is the Japanese actress playing Hetchel – she seems to forget Bobbin’s name and call him Bobby a few times. Of course, it could just be her speech style, swallowing the closed ん sound at the end. But it sure sounds weird to me. Ha ha. Alright? Let’s get to it. It’s time to venture back to that mysterious little island, shrouded in mists, which ancient maps call LOOM.

Read more…

Deas Customary Drivel, Media, 日本語

“Millions of peaches, peaches for me. Millions of peaches, peaches for free.” Yeah, this tongue twister is all about how peaches and (Japanese) plums are related. I embarrassed myself in the video when I totally blanked on how to say 李 in English…but I left it in, cause I was too lazy to edit it out I keep it real. Or something. These two twisters are pretty much exactly the same thing, just in a different order. Both are repetitive, or circuitous at least, making them brethren with a certain family of English twisters. (Including the Peter Piper and Woodchuck twisters, 2 of my favorites.)

If you’re a cheater, you’ll see that you can just count your way through these things, but you’ll also see what a ridiculous looking math problem it becomes. Ha ha. I had a few stumbles in my runs through them. I noticed that occasionally you can hear a micro-m send before I say の – I think it comes from the lips slightly closing as my mouth begins the new character. Like a phantom m. (Or I just don’t want to admit that I fail sometimes, too.) It’s pretty hard. So, can you do it? Hmmm? Video responses with you attempting these tongue twisters are highly encouraged! Upload them to YouTube if you’re game. And now, a double-entry of the standard twister summary.

Difficulty: Easy
Kanji: 李も桃も桃のうち 桃も李も桃のうち。
Hiragana: すもももももももものうち、もももすももももものうち。
Romaji: Sumomo mo momo mo momo no uchi, momo mo sumomo mo momo no uchi.
Meaning: Japanese plums are a type of peach, and peaches are also a type of peach.
Audio:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Difficulty: Easy
Kanji: 李も桃、桃も桃、桃にも色々ある。
Hiragana: すももももも、ももももも、ももにもいろいろある。
Romaji: Sumomo mo momo, momo mo momo, momo ni mo iroiro aru.
Meaning: Japanese plums are peaches, and peaches are peaches; there are lots of kinds of peaches.
Audio:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

By the way, if you’re interested in the other stuff I ramble on about in this video, here are some links. First, subscribe to my RSS feed if you please! You can use the standard feed, or have updates emailed to you. Then hit the 2 posts about the Loom Audio Drama (Part 1 and Part 2) that are up already so you’ll be ready for part 3 early next week.

Deas Customary Drivel, Humor, Media, Video, 日本語

I loved Nicktoons when I was younger. Doug was definitely at the top of the list. I was re-watching it for the nostalgia recently, when I came across this scene in episode 8 of the first season. The episode’s titled “Doug on the Wild Side.” In it, his crazy grandmother comes to visit and gives him a few carpe diem type life lessons. One of the things Doug conquers before the end of the episode is sushi. It’s a really weird first experience for a lot of people, and I thought this was a great cartoonized version of a real encounter. This aired before I was even really aware of sushi – definitely before the big sushi boom got to the east coast of the US. It’s sort of funny to see how they attempt to represent a Japanese restaurant, too. Ha ha. Crazy how dated this looks, too. I’m so old!!

Deas Culinary, Customary Drivel, Humor, Media, Video

Time for the third lesson. This time we’re doing a slightly more complicated tongue twister that actually forms a sentence! (Yes, yes, a big day for us all.) The meaning is “A monk skillfully painted a picture of another monk onto a folding screen.” Ok, I actually interpret it as “another” monk, but it could be “a monk” again. Whatever. That’s being nitpicky. You might look at this tongue twister and think that the hard part will be the bou / byou / jou / bou progression – especially with the pronunciation of the glides (which means the y-plus-vowel sound tacked onto the first consonant of a syllable). It’s an understandable assumption. You might discover as I did, however, that that portion of the twister is relatively easy at high speeds when you use a rhythm to help you keep pace. For me, as evidenced in the video this time around, the hardest part is the separation of the particle を or wo (pronounced “oh” most of the time but conventionally represented as wo) and the preceding word “picture” – 絵 or e (pronounced “eh”). I wind up slurring it all together, even crashing into the last word 描いた or kaita and turning it into a mush-mouthed gaita, thereby ruining the end of the twister which is especially aggravating after making it that far! Ha ha. I hope you’ll try and enjoy this one. Video responses with you attempting this tongue twister are highly encouraged! Side note: I need a haircut.

Difficulty: Medium
Kanji: 坊主が屏風に上手に坊主の絵を描いた。
Hiragana: ぼうずがびょうぶにじょうずにぼうずのえをかいた
Romaji: Bouzu ga byoubu ni jouzu ni bouzu no e wo kaita.
Meaning: A monk skillfully painted a picture of a(nother) monk onto a folding screen.
Audio:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Deas Customary Drivel, Humor, Media, Video, 日本語