Miyazaki? What is that? Do you mean Hayao Miyazaki, the famous animator or perhaps his son, Gorou Miyazaki? Or perhaps you are more familiar with the words Hamasaki (Ayumi Hamasaki), or Miyagi? No, I meant Miyazaki, as in Miyazaki prefecture. Before I came to Japan, I also had no idea about this prefecture. Now, I would like to introduce you to wonderful Miyazaki Prefecture and all it has to offer.
If you consider yourself a cinema enthusiast, you need to see the Hirokazu Koreeda (pronounced Kore-eda) film After Life (ワンダフルライフ). After Life is more than just a good movie; it presents a vision of life after death that can give anyone hope. Film lovers especially, however, will find themselves nodding in ferocious agreement when one of the deceased remarks, “…that really is heaven.â€
It’s a bit of an unsung hero for those who have read it. It was recommended to me as a good plane book and while I read it on both my connecting flights, I had someone comment on how much they loved it each time. I also find myself doing the same if I hear anyone mention it. I can’t help it; I just start to ask questions: “Don’t you love it?â€; “Isn’t that exactly what it would be like if someone could time travel?â€; “How far are you in the book?†I just convulse with happiness that someone else is reading this book and I want to bond with them over our mutual reading.
It was not so much a book as an atmosphere. I was completely enveloped in the world of this novel; sometimes I couldn’t tell what was ‘real’ and what was ‘imaginary’. This was until I stopped trying to find a separation and just marinated in the book. It became, in this way, quite an existential read. Surrendering the urge to define what’s “really happening†and what’s going on in the “dream world†was quite provocative and ultimately rewarding as a reader, you begin to discover that there may not be that large of a separation at all.
HANA-BI is the best Japanese movie ever made. Need proof? In 1997, it won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, one of the highest honors in the film industry. Need more? In 2005, it changed my life (which is also a pretty big deal).
Have you ever noticed that students quote the same joke (Toose!) over and over for months but eventually the joke (Ichi, ni, SAN!) mysteriously disappears? This occurs because Japanese comedians frequently fade into obscurity as quickly as they rose to popularity. The director and star of HANA-BI, however…
One day in early October, I was helping out with an English lesson since, you know, that’s my job. I’ve kind of gotten used to the fact that there is information all around me that I cannot really read. When I see English, though, I tend to gravitate towards it because I’m actually much more used to being surrounded by information I CAN read but do not actually care about (advertisements, etc.)…
Traditional Japanese “springtime” recipes range from steamed sakura and rape blossoms to mackerel preserved in miso, to various attempts at making bamboo shoots edible. Personally, I’d rather leave the bamboo shoots for the pandas. So in this month’s issue, we’ll take advantage of a year-round ingredient you may not regularly use: fresh squid! If, like me, you don’t know how to clean your own squid, just buy some pre-cleaned. I strongly recommend fresh over frozen, though…
Opening my mail box to discover that I’d been accepted to be an ALT by the BOE of Kuwana in Mie, I was very happy. Yay, I have a job! But, where is Mie? I did as many recently accepted JETs probably did, and googled the location of my future home.
There wasn’t much about Mie on the internet, but I did find a map, information about the former asthma capital, Yokkaichi, and the mythical birthplace of Amaterasu, Ise…
Ise may be a small town, but it is home to Japan’s most sacred Shinto shrine, Ise jingu.
Ise jingu (shrine) dates from the third century. The shrines are rebuilt every 20 years on adjacent sites using ancient techniques where the wood interlocks rather being nailed together. The Sengu No Gi festival is when the God is transferred from the old shrine to the new one…