akarijapanese

How do you spend Christmas Day in Japan? Well, I enjoyed Kyoto authentic seasonal event :)

2016-12-252017-02-11akarijapanese

I wish you Happy Holidays, everyone 🙂
I know it’s a Christmas Day today, and many people in Japan also enjoy Christmas atmosphere in town.

Last year, I wrote: How do you cerebrate Christmas in Japan?
https://akarijapanese.wordpress.com/2015/12/09/how-do-you-cerebrate-christmas-in-japan/
It seems many people are curious about it.

But actually, this year, enjoyed Kyoto authentic seasonal event.
At the Kitano-Tenmangu shrine, on the 25th of each month, there is a street market called “Tenjin-san’s Festival” and there’s lots of antique shops of Kimonos, dishes, kitchen wears, cloths, foods etc.

After I saw lots of stuff, I got this second hand Kimono. They charged me only 1,500yen (about 15 USD) Amazing! I don’t surprise they even add two more zero if it is a new one, or different material, like silk.

If you have chance to come to Kyoto 25th of the month, I highly recommend you to go to the street market
Kitano-Tenmangu Shine
http://kitanotenmangu.or.jp/top_en.php

TEDx Kyoto 2016

2016-11-232017-02-11akarijapanese

I did a volunteer staff of TEDx Kyoto 2016 last month.
It was awesome experience.

I originally watched TED Talks video when I was in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. I was attending WISE, Women Interested in Successful Employment, Job Search Strategy and Career Planning Course in September, 2012. In the course, they show some TED Talks. One of my favorite is Neil Pasricha “The 3 A’s of awesome”, and since then I was interested in TED Talks and TEDx events.

TEDx Kyoto 2016 was my first time to experience TEDx event on live. One difference was on lives, I felt the speakers nervous feeling from their voice, acts, and behavior, and could share their feeling more.

There’s many wonderful talks, but one of my favorite talks from TEDx Kyoto 2016 was Mr. Kaz Yamaguchi’s amazing video.

The couple went world travel for their honeymoon because they wanted to do something unforgettable in their life. They used drone to keep their memory from the trip. You’ll see how beautiful the world is.

Here’s he’s video. Check it out. It’s very cool and touching 😉
Honeymoon Traveler

I reached 1,000 lessons today ＼(^o^)／　

2016-11-162017-05-05akarijapanese

Today I reached 1,000 lessons on italki.
＼(^o^)／ Yahoo!

I started using italki from 2012, then I registered as a
Japanese teacher April 2013.
Though italki, I met amazing people. Some of them visited me in Japan, and
we went coffee, or meal and chat face to face, “off-line” 😉

I feel so lucky that I could meet this community.
My next goal is 3,000 lessons.
Also I’m looking forward to meeting amazing people and exchange knowledge through languages.

Thank you very much italki community, staff, and all the people who took my lessons.
I’ll keep improving my skill as an Japanese language teacher and also as a member of italki community 😀
Arigato (^o^)／

A Chance to See Maiko in Gion, Kyoto

2016-09-242017-02-11akarijapanese

Tonight, I went Gion, Kyoto with my guests from the US.
After dinner, we saw a Maiko came out from a traditional Kyoto house.
We were so excited. Then on another street, we saw other Maiko walking toward us.
She looked very elegant.

Tonight, we were lucky. We can’t always see them.
Even when we see them, we should look at them silently. Don’t stop them, don’t talk to them. They’re heading to their workplace.

Maikos and geishas, they are professional performers. For many years, they learned Japanese dance, singing, musical instruments, and tea ceremony. A maiko is a trainee, and a geisha is a professional one.
Their hairstyle, how to wear a kimono, and geta (wooden clogs) are different.

Come to Gion, Kyoto. If you’re lucky, you can see them. But even though you see them, please leave them alone.

Gion Matsuri Festival that has over 1100 years history

2016-07-272017-02-11akarijapanese

July is festival season in Kyoto.
Gion Matsuri Festival is one of the largest and most historical festivals in Japan. A million of people come to see the festival.
The other day I went to downtown Kyoto city for shopping but I gave up walking around town. There’s too many tourists and I couldn’t walk.
Anyway, the festival is worth to see. It has over 1100 years history.
If you had interest, please read the history below, and come to Kyoto next year!

History of Gion Matsuri Festival, Copy from Yasaka shine website
http://www.yasaka-jinja.or.jp/en/gion.html

“Gion-matsuri is a magnificent and splendid festival that has been held by Yasaka-jinja for the past one thousand one hundred years. In earlier days, this festival was called Gion-goryoe (*1);

it began in AD 869 (Jogan 11th year) when the plague raged through not only Kyoto but all of Japan.

Thinking that the disaster had been caused by the curse of Gozu-Tennou, the people of Kyoto attempted to appease the god of Gion and pray for deliverance from the disaster by building 66 Hokos (*2) in Shinsen-en, a vast garden in Heian-kyo, and carrying around a portable shrine.
The number 66 represents the number of Japanese provinces in those days.

The month-long Gion Matsuri begins at Kippu-iri (*3) on July 1 and ends at Eki-jinja-nagoshi-sai (*4). During this one-month period, various religious services and events are unfolded.

(*1) Goryoue refers to a ritual of prayer held to soothe the curse of the vengeful ghosts.
(*2) Hoko signifies a type of spear but was originally used to refer to a stick with a sharp end. In those days, people believed that spirits could easily dwell in the Hoko. Therefore, in ancient days, people sometimes released the Hokos possesed by evil spirits onto rivers.
(*3) Kippu-iri refers to the beginning of the religious services. In each neighborhood association that participated in the festival of towing Yama or Hoko, the people involved held meetings to make various arrangements for the festival.
(*4) Eki-jinja is a small shrine located in the precincts of Yasaka-jinja.

Nagoshi-harae is a shinto religious ceremony in summertime held to pray for the healthy life of the remaining six months of the year, which is usually taken place on June 30 in other shrines.”

梅雨（つゆ）Rainy season has started

2016-06-072017-02-11akarijapanese

Rainy season has started in Okinawa, Kyushu, Shikoku, Chugoku, and Kinki area in Japan.

Rainy season last about a month, or more. In Japan, dryer is not that common compare to North America. Usually we dry clothes outside. So during this season, one of the issues we have is laundry. When it sunny we do laundry a lot.

In this season, we can see beautiful flowers. 紫陽花（あじさい、Ajisai）is one of the representative flower of the season. The other day I found various kinds of the flower in my neighborhood.

Why people in Japan love Sakura so much?

2016-03-282017-02-11akarijapanese

Sakura (Cherry blossom) starts blooming in my town.
A few days ago, I got friend from overseas, so I bring her to the Kumamoto castle.

In this season, like weather forecast, we can see Sakura forecast on TV, they can tell us about when Sakura start blooming, when the full- bloom etc. Also we have Hanami (Sakura viewing) Party, like picnic, we eat and drink under the Sakura trees.

Maybe you’ll wonder why people in Japan are so crazy about Sakura. I think there’s four reasons.

1. It last only a few weeks.
We enjoyed short-live beauty of Sakura.

2. It bloom in a start season.
Sakura start blooming around first week of April. It’s the time for new class of school or company’s business calendar starts in Japan. Many companies have Hanami party as a welcoming new staff party.

3. We love how they gone.
When Sakura gone, it’s so beautiful to finish their beauty. It flies softly and looks elegant. People who saw the movie “Last Samurai” remember the last scene. When the samurai pass away, Sakura flies softly. That tries to show an idea of gone beautifully.

4. We love the color of Sakura
Most of the Sakura flower color are soft slight pink color. We’ll see cute, beauty, elegance in it.

That’s why we love 桜、さくら、Sakura.

Spring has come in Japan 春が来た

2016-03-212017-02-11akarijapanese

Yesterday was “春分の日”(しゅんぶんのひ、shun-bun no hi, Vernal Equinox Day), it was national holiday in Japan.

I had some lessons, but weather was so good, so I decided to go to the flower park, and have a lesson out side. The flowers starts blooming and very pretty. I saw many family and couples enjoy doing picnic, taking a walk, and taking pictures of flowers.

I’m watching this scenery and had lesson 🙂 So relaxing.

This flower park are attached with zoo, so after the lesson, I went say hi to the animals.

In this season, on TV, they starts board casting not only weather forecast, but also “Sakura (Cherry Blossom) forecast” in Japan. According to the Sakura forecast on TV, sakura starts blooming today in Tokyo. It’ll be full-bloom on March 31st there.

Sakura is very special flower for people in Japan. I go take pictures of Sakura soon and show you next time.

Vending Machine in Japan

2016-02-142017-02-11akarijapanese

あけましておめでとうございます！
Happy New Year 2016!
(I’ve been busy these days, and I haven’t update my blog recently. Anyway,
May 2016 bring us happiness :))

One year pasted after I came back to Japan from Atlantic Canada.
Recently I realized I often forget to bring my thermos with me when I go outside.
When I was working in Atlantic Canada, I put tea or coffee in it, and bring it to my work place. But in Japan, thanks to the vending machine, I feel like “I can get something to drink anywhere, so that’s ok”.

Buy I feel bit guilty when I buy something to drink from vending machine,
especially plastic bottle one. I don’t want to waste energy as much as possible.

Anyway, we can find vending machine anywhere in Japan. We have unique one- the one with emergency alarm, the one you can open and can drink freely when natural disaster happens, or digital one etc.

The video below I found on Youtube was shoot five years ago, but still fun to watch 🙂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLL2BpTqzaY

「人生の旋律」

2015-12-242017-02-11akarijapanese

この本は、読んだほうがいい気がしている。
人生の旋律 (講談社＋α文庫)
神田昌典著　2005年

近藤藤太氏という一人の男性の生涯を彼の記憶をもとに回想したお話だが、映画を見ているような壮大なスケールのお話だ。

なぜこの本を読んだほうがいいと思うかというと、この人の人生がまさに時代の変革期にどう生きるのかを考える参考になるからだ。筆者はもちろんその狙いがあってこの本を書いている。

例えば
「世の中は、どんなに安定しているように見えても、一夜にして秩序が失われ、混乱の極みに達することがある。そのときに下す一瞬の判断は、その後、何年にもわたって大きな違いを生み出す。」
この言葉もこの人の人生を聞くと、納得がゆく。

そしてその時は不幸に思えた出来事が、その数ヶ月〜数年後にはチャンスの布石になっていたことに気づく。

「世の中の流れが変わるときには、線路の切り替えポイントにいるようなもんだ。ポイントでは意思をもって、どちらの方向に行くのか決めるんだ。いちばん悪いのは流されることだな。意志をもって決定すれば、どっちに転んでも後悔しないが、流されれば恨み続けることになるからな」
これは今の時代にも当てはまるアドバイスに聞こえる。
さらに。
「奇跡が起こらないヤツっていうのは、飛び込まねえからだよ。
飛び込むと助かるんだな。飛びこまないヤツはダメなの。
海一面が火で覆われていたとするぞ。上から見ると火が燃えているところ、誰が飛び込みたいと思うかよ？でも、その中に飛び込まなければ・・飛び込んじまえば、まわりは火でも、水の中は冷たいんだ。
いやだよ、飛び込むのは。でも、水の中のほうが助かるんだ」

バカ正直がいいわけじゃない、自分で考えて判断する賢さが必要。そうやってこの人は自分で判断して、戦地から危機一髪で逃げ、運も味方して戦犯から逃れ、頭を使って母を探し出し、紙切れになりかけたお金を大金に変えた。

「人生の成功の秘訣は、やるべきことを、やるべきタイミングで、きちんとやることである」

「急速に社会が変わっていく。大変革の時代には−冷酷な事実ではあるが−その時代の流れに乗れた、ごく一部のものだけが裕福なくらしを送ることができたのである」

「このようにトウタは、家庭も仕事も順風満帆と言ってよかった。だが、どんなに今の状態が幸せであっても、仕事や人間関係の変化を押しとどめることはできない。人生というのは、その場に留っていることができないのだ」

「人生は考え方で、人生が定まる
Your way of thinking makes what you are 」

「とてつもないチャンスがノックしてきたとき、自分には絶対できない、自分には無理と思えることがあるでしょう？たしかに、それは今のあなたがやるには難しいことかもしれない。でもね、未来のあなたには、なんてこともないことになるのよ。だからね、未来のあなたを信頼するの。未来のあなたに、どうやって自分はそれができるようになったか、聞いてみるのよ」

「人生が新しい段階（ステージ）に行くときには、いくつかの進級テストがある。そのテストのことを、多くの人は障害という」

この本はまた何度も繰り返し読むだろう。
ぜひ映画化してほしい。