Blog / Blog
Dennis would travel great distances around North America to see all the contemporary music acts of the 70. He was also so very kind as to take a 14-year-old boy to the record store to buy Led Zeppelin IV.
The never ending flow of enchanting four-character compounds—yojijukugo—is a source of endless fascination. Frequently, these salient phrases are embedded with profound wisdom, moral lessons, and cautionary decrees—which are to be ignored at one’s own peril.
One can see the Japanese in droves at the airport—dutifully line up in strict order waiting for the start of their 5 nights/6 day whirlwind tour of the pristine Rocky Mountains of Canada—the turning of the leaves in what is arguable the most spectacular natural phenomena in Mother Nature.
She perches on ‘Rose Throne’ preening and posing as she view the subjects of her domain with steely eyes. Never one to back down from a fight, she is capable of icy stares, which would make the Satan himself retreat to safer grounds.
Seeing these traditional shops when first coming to Japan in the late 80s brought back fond memories of days growing up in central Central British Columbia in the 60s and 70s.
When about to win, with only one last squares remaining the Japanese will shout out—REACH, which means “almost there.” In Japanese, the handy word REACH can be use in many situations, and this particular case of REACH is particularly salient for the author of this article.
The look of shock and horror on the faces of the Japanese when observing this affront to Japanese cultural sensibilities served as a point of amusement, if not some times a bone of contention—soy sauce is used for cooking and to dip sashimi—never to be poured onto rice directly.
Most of the Japanese are packed together in big cities where their highly complex social skills developed—this is a phenomenon of a society based upon mutual dependency.
Japan is the last stop before exiting the atmosphere of mother earth to reside as a god—one foot in this material world—the other in Nirvana. Keep in mind, in indigenous Japanese mythology (Shinto), all who pass from the material to spiritual world become a God to be venerated by the descendants of the clan.
The Japanese evolved on a series of small volcanic islands over millennium, thus, ordinary Japanese were rarely exposed to other ways of life or thinking.
One passes by important forks in road all the time—without noticing—wandering aimlessly—going left and right—or in many case—stopping altogether—going nowhere at all. Do not ignoring important forks in the road, whatever they may be.
Well over half of the world’s population believe in a spiritual afterlife, which in principle is not such a bad thing, who doesn’t want to live forever? After entering the atmosphere, indoctrination starts in earnest, and more often than not, there is the promise of eternal life contained with in these fantastic stories.
Shortly after arriving, the tension between Japan and the U$A escalated making it impossible for her to return home—last ship bound for America—left without her— so here she was stranded—in the Land Of The Rising Son—alone—Ms. Tokyo Rose.
Truly, one was also shocked to see Japanese children going to school on Saturday of all things! In the pristine mountains of Occxie-land, Saturday was clearly the first day of the coveted weekend, and going to the indoctrination center was the furtherest thing from this author’s mind.
Certainly, the antiquated image of the Japanese is one of expressionless people―with cold hearts―who are robotic in nature―or so the historical narrative went. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Truly, most Japanese distain those who come here with the arrogance of attitude embodied within “open up Japan,” and the boisterous blob of the greedy American was no exception in failure to “open up Japan.” So what exactly does “Suck It Up Buttercup” mean?
Elizabeth Vining was personally selected by Emperor Hirohito to become the private tutor to then Crown Prince Akihito from 1946 to 1950 and the profound influence upon Japan of Ms. Vining, a Quaker English instructor can not be disregarded.
The Japanese government carried out a capital punishment event recently. This particular execution was carried out to atone for a heinous crime which took place on June 8, 2008.
One could say the opposite of love is hate, but that would be a misnomer. The top three enemies of love corrupting minds leading to mass depression, despondency, and abject hopelessness for the future should be consider: Bigotry, Narcissism, and Greed
Understanding music molecules molecularly is reserved for those who see sound at a quantum level, bringing obscure molecules together for mini-masterpieces of sound design. How does Maestro Motsuri do this?
One of the deep charms of Japan is regardless of modernization having taken place starting with the Meiji Restoration, there are still shops in the nooks and crannies in the Land Of The Rising Son preserving the way of Old Japan.
Here is where one can put away any preconceived notions concerning the arts, and one would be best served to look upon life as art.
Having acute sensitive as to what others are thinking, was, and still is a highly valuable skill to navigate the murky air of the unspoken ancient protocols of the Japanese society.
When querying a spectrum of younger Japanese about their dreams, desires, and aspirations, one is mostly left with blank stares, or them fumbling around trying to understand exactly; “What does this all means?”
