J-Word Play: March ’11
1000æžšã®è‘‰ã£ã±ãŒã‚ã‚‹å ´æ‰€ã¯ã©ã“ã§ã—ょã†?
(1000ã¾ã„ã®ã¯ã£ã±ãŒã‚ã‚‹ã°ã—ょã¯ã©ã“ã§ã—ょã†?)
(SELECT THE AREA BELOW TO SEE THE ANSWER)
(SELECT THE AREA BELOW TO SEE THE ANSWER)
ãŸã¬ãã®å®ç®±ã«ã¯ã€ä½•ãŒå…¥ã£ã¦ã„ã‚‹?
(ãŸã¬ãã®ãŸã‹ã‚‰ã°ã“ã«ã¯ã€ãªã«ãŒã¯ã„ã£ã¦ã„ã‚‹?)
Festivities in Kobe’s Chinatown during the first weekend of February celebrated Shunsetsu, and the start of the year of the Rabbit. Beginning February 3rd with the new moon (to end January 22nd, 2012), Rabbit years are said to be for catching one’s breath after the dynamism of the Tiger. This year’s Rabbit is associated with the element metal, so the fluffy bunny may have a bit of a sharp edge (perhaps dulled a little by the fact that it’s yin metal, not yang this year)! Nankin-machi was thronged with visitors all weekend long, and on display were performances of dance, acrobatics, tai chi, as well as the famous lion and dragon dances.
ã“ã“より下ã«ã„る生ã物ã£ã¦ãªã‚“ã§ã—ょã†ï¼Ÿ
(ã“ã“よりã—ãŸã«ã„ã‚‹ã„ãã‚‚ã®ã£ã¦ãªã‚“ã§ã—ょã†ï¼Ÿï¼‰
In my article last May, entitled My tutelage in Japanese graffiti, aka Shodo, I gave a very brief introduction to Japanese calligraphy, and some points on brush stroke principles and techniques. This time I want to introduce and describe some of the basic styles of shodo, and highlight their differences.
This month was going to be an interesting post about using your rice cooker for various things that probably break the warranty, as demonstrated by the illustrious Roger Ebert in his book The Pot and How to Use It. Unfortunately, my quiche-making efforts were thwarted, so here’s one of my old standby recipes from the vault.
There is an old proverb that “fences make good neighbors.†A fence plus a large body of water in between would seem to make even better neighbors, but in Japan’s experience this has not been the case. An archipelago nation consisting of literally thousands of islands, Japan is embroiled in three island ownership disputes with its neighbors: Korea, China/Taiwan, and Russia. The contested islands may be small in size – and in some cases devoid of human life – but control over the islands brings political and economic payoffs that are huge.