Disaster In Birmingham…

…a disaster has occurred in my home city, with the shock waves so massive they’ve reached 5,000 miles across mountains and oceans to here in Japan. Yes, Blues have lost the ding-dong-derby to Aston Villa, going down in an embarrasingly one sided encounter 5-1. I was all ready to declare “there were more fouls than a day out on a chicken farm” (might post that one on the Guardian blog to get yet another mention in their bi-weekly podcast Football Weekly). Yet in truth the game was too one-sided for anyone to get heated up. I’ll be honest, I turned the volume down a fair way at 2-0, and stopped listening at 4. It’s embarrassing. For all the hoo-haa when Alex McLeish took over from Steve Bruce, he’s done little to show he has top class managing qualities. Yes yes he hasn’t really had time to “mould” the squad (although having said that Bruce managed to effect change in the January transfer window of our first ever season in the Prem). But he has had time to institute man management and tactical changes. Ridgewell in particular seems looser at the back than a tourist after too much Japanese curry (another one for the Guardian blog).

To ease my heartache, my Dad is visiting in less than a week. Although during the time he’s here, we have a potential decider against Fulham- at least we can share in the gloom together if that proves to be our downfall I suppose.

Grrr. I was going to discuss my newly acquired Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lens, and my future (in that order of priority). But now I’m gonna go to bed, as I have 60 15-year olds to teach tomorrow, starting at the ungodly hour of 9am.

Oyasuminasai.

Let’s Go, Hanshin Taigaasu!!

I’m finally going to a Hanshin Tigers game at the famous Koshien Stadium near Osaka- hurrah! Our opponents will be the Yakult Swallows, a team that- as well as having a very funny name- are doing surprisingly well this season, sitting just behind Hanshin in second place. It promises to be a good game!

Versus

Kimi No Naka Ni, Boku No Naka Ni…Sakura

Its Sakura season, and I’ve been busy looking at the blossoms, walking round the blossoms and drinking under the blossoms. Here’s a couple of kanpeki photos from this weekend…

In two weeks two members of the Martin clan will be landing on these shores… Papa Martin aka my Dad, and Uncle Bailey, aka…my uncle, Robin. Until then I’m busy with the usual stuff that accompanies the start of a school year; first-year students shouting “harro!!” (if they’re male) and giggling incomprehensibly (if they’re female), planning the odd lesson, and meeting new teachers. The new kocho at my second school is female, and speaks English (both rarities for a kocho sensei), while the two new English teachers seem very nice.

In other news, the Blues drew 1-1 with Everton today, while Bolton and Fulham both won. The end of the season remains very giri giri as the Japanese say, so be sure to check in for regular updates! Hanshin continue to fight strongly and stay top of the Central League, but all of my attention has returned to where it should be- on the Blues fight for survival!

Teacher Changeover Day!

Yes it’s that time of year again. The blog has grown sparse recently, with neither literary flowers nor weeds being planted in its soil. Yet it would not be right if I didn’t make some note of that all important of days, Teacher Changeover Day.

Last year I lost good friends, and this year more are departing- Manabe T is off to pastures new, while Sugihara Sensei has reached the grand age of 60 and is retiring. This means two new English-speaking faces will appear at my schools. It also means that of the many teachers I have taught with in Japan, only one will have remained the same from beginning to end.

With the changing of faces comes a changing of desks, but this time it doesn’t include me. I’ll remain where I am. Next to the bin. Grrrrrr. It’s hard to know whether there’s any intended sleight, yet being next to the bin is hardly a position of privilige. Nonetheless I will persevere. Isshoukenmei ganbarimasu! 一生懸命頑張ります！

A Day For The Underdog – Sumo In Osaka

My first taste of sumo came on the most exciting day of the Haru basho so far, with both Yokozuna wrestlers sensationally beaten by lesser opponents! Young Mongolian Hakuho was swiftly dispatched by Ozeki Chiyotaikai, before “the Daddy” Asashoryu was pushed out by Kotoshogiku. With just three days remaining, all is set up for a dramatic showdown between the two yokozuna on Sunday.

Ring Entering Ceremony

Ancient Shinto Stuff

Asashoryu, “The Daddy” of Sumo

The Arena

Our band of five arrived at the arena mid-afternoon, just as the initial juryo matches were winding down, and before the ring entering ceremony of the makuuchi. The arena is fantastically constructed- the clay dohyo in the centre, with a replica Shinto shrine hanging over it, and cushioned boxes gently sloping up on all sides. Japanese, young and old, families and friends, reclined on purple cushions while eating snacks and drinking beer, coming and going while the action continued in the centre. Beyond the boxes are the arena seats where we were sitting, more popular with foreigners (probably because they’re cheaper!), steeply sloped and with a great view of the action. I imagine you could be transported back 200 years and be greeted by a similar setup- sumo remains imbued with the Shinto traditions of Japan, and the way it is played and watched is so uniquely Japanese, unlike other “borrowed” sports that are popular here.

Hakuho in zen-like calm before his bout

Calm Before The Storm- you could cut the tension with a knife!

After the ring entering ceremony, the makuuchi bouts got underway. As the bouts increased in importance, the atmosphere in the arena grew- this is sustained in particular by the 4 minute “face offs” opponents go through before actually attacking. Then it was time for the Yokozuna to make their entrance. First up was Hakuho, who charged straight at his opponent Chiyotaikai, but was pulled down, pushed away and sent sprawling so quickly that a shocked gasp went up from the crowd. Hakuho’s loss gave Asashoryu a great chance to all but wrap up victory in this tournament, if he could dispatch his opponent Kotoshogiku. There was a long build up to the final match- banners displaying the sponsors of the finale were paraded round the ring- before the four minutes of staring and stamping got underway. Asashoryu in particular had real gravitas; his weight and girth being backed up by an eagle-eyed stare and a bullying swagger. When the wrestlers finally crouched down into attack position there was a pause, a moment frozen in time- and then they clashed! I’d decided to support Asashoryu, but as soon as it became clear that his opponent had a chance to beat him, I switched to the underdog. The roars in the crowd got louder and louder as Kotoshogiku shoved his illustrious opponent closer and closer to the edge. He huffed and puffed until finally Asashoryu was out of the ring, shock written across his face, with people leaping up, cheering and raining cushions down onto the dohyo in recognition of the dramatic upset. It was an amazing end to the day, and we were really lucky to see such dramatic action; Asashoryu had held a perfect 11-0 record going into the bout, while Hakuho was 10-1 before his loss. The only downside was that we didn’t get to see Kotooshu, the “David Beckham” of sumo, as he was out injured.

The Moment Of Impact! Asashoryu vs Kotoshogiku

The crowd senses defeat for Asashoryu…

…and the cushions come flying! Yatta!

Welcome to the World of Sumo

After some thorough and detailed research, here’s a brief introduction to the fattest sport in Japan (that will be the last “big fat men” quip, I promise). Sumo, or 相撲 in Japanese, is a contact sport with very few rules and lots of Shinto tradition and ritual. It originated many years ago, and takes place on a circular mound covered with sand, or dohyo. The aim of the game is to force your opponent out of the ring, or make him fall over inside the ring. This is accomplished through a variety of techniques- pushing, grabbing, side-stepping, throwing your opponent off balance etc. Contrary to the initial impression that bigger is better, many sumo who aren’t so fat have a large advantage through their agility. The basho (tournament) I’ll be attending is the Haru Basho (Spring Tournament), taking place in Osaka. There are six tournaments a year- three in Tokyo, and one each in Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka. Each tournament runs for 15 days. Here’s three sumo wrestlers to look out for…

Asashoryu, Yokozuna rank (Mongolian)

Asashoryu is one of the most successful, and controversial, sumo wrestlers in history. After gaining fame and fortune through his sumo skills, he become embroiled in controversy when, on returning home to Mongolia to “recover” from an injury, he was spotted participating in a charity football match. Despite weighing over 23 stone, he showed some silky skills on the football pitch. This didn’t go down well with the big-wigs at Sumo HQ though, who banned him for two tournaments. That’s all behind him now though, and after a strong performance in the January basho he’ll be looking to continue his good form into the Osaka tournament.

Hakuho Sho, Yokozuna rank (Mongolian)

Hakuho is the only other wrestler who currently holds the top rank of Yokozuna. Also from Mongolia, he is a mere 23 years old. His real name is Monkhbatyn Davaajargal.

Kotooshu Katsunori, Ozeki rank (Bulgarian)

Of the four wrestlers who hold the number two Ozeki rank, Kotooshu is the only non-Japanese. Being a gajin, he has been labelled by the public as the “David Beckham of Sumo”, a title he understandably dislikes. He is smaller and lighter than most, and often appears in adverts for yoghurt.

Ok thats it for now- I have been informed we haven’t technically got the tickets for thursday yet, but it looks like we will do. So fear not everyone!

Munch in Kobe; Sumo in Osaka!

This weekend was fairly chilled- shopping over in Takamatsu, chilling with Miki on “White Day” (Japan splits Valentines Day into two, and “Howaito De” is for boyfriends to give gifts), and a day trip to Kobe on sunday to see the Earthquake Museum and the current Munch Exhibition at the Kobe Prefectural Museum.

The Earthquake Museum was small but interesting, and I must admit it shook me up a bit (ahem). I never realised that the earthquake caused so much damage, and a simulation room demonstrated a small fraction of what it must be like to have your world implode for a few horrifying seconds. Around 6,500 people lost their lives in the “Great Hanshin Earthquake”, which struck on January 17th 1995, at 5.46am. It lasted only 20 seconds.

The Munch Exhibition was also fairly short, the highlights being the painting in this post- “Anxiety”- and another piece, “Despair”, which together with the more famous “The Scream” make up a set meant to be viewed together. Munch’s colours are vivid and expressive, and the Victorian costumes in the piece here, together with the ethereal faces, reminded me of the kind of world Tim Burton creates in his films. The people seem to be going somewhere, somewhere they do not want to go, while the bridge they seem to be on is crossing a background that is wonderfully expressive- a beautiful yet unreal sky, and the lake with two boats that is based on a place in Norway, but is changed and given meaning by the wonderful colours Munch chooses to use.

Anyway, moving on, final news is that this thursday I’ll be going to see sumo in Osaka!! It’s been long overdue, and I’m glad I’ll get to experience this unique Japanese sport at least once, as well as take some photos of the legend that is, Asashoryu Akinori! Stay tuned for more on the world of sumo before my impending trip to the Osaka haru basho.

Language

Languages are such strange and complex things. To pick up the basics, and even become conversational in one takes only the sacrifice of a bit of free time, and a modest amount of effort. Yet to become fluent in one, to truly understand one’s ins and outs, one’s idiosyncrasies, the different mindset a different language requires; that seems an insurmountable obstacle.

In a test one of my students spelt “corn flakes” as “corn freak”, and “sightseeing” as “shatseeing”. That’s not really a great problem. But when you can translate “I might be going to the cinema” in about ten different ways in Japanese, all with a subtly different meaning- well, that is. It would be entirely possible to transform the meaning of a sentence, a paragraph, by translating it in a certain way rather than another. That’s why translation seems to me to be an art rather than a science, a subtle process of weighting the literal meaning with the true intent of an authors work. It’s an art that I have to admire as I struggle through Japanese. If translation is hard, and expressing yourself succinctly and precisely in your native tongue is hard, then imagine combining these processes to speak as you mean in a foreign language. The troubles go further than this- to truly have proficiency in a foreign language surely you have to think in that language- not translate from English in your mind, but construct in Japanese. Sure European languages are hard to master, and Chinese is certainly hard to pronounce, but the Japanese language works in an entirely different way to English. Kanji can be learnt- 2,000 of them may take some time, but the complexities of Japanese grammar could be studied for years and still not mastered. Maybe I chose the wrong language to study!

I think of all these things as I struggle to make the step up from “san kyuu” Japanese to “ni kyuu” Japanese- whether I am willing to invest the time and effort in taking this step, whether my efforts will ultimately pay off. In all honesty if I’m not going to return to Japan it may be pointless. But increasingly I’m feeling like I’ll come back here for a while in the future, to live in Tokyo, and if that’s the case then maybe I’d better get cracking.

Goethe once said “he who is ignorant of other languages is ignorant of his own”. At the very least trying to become half-decent at Japanese has made me realise how insanely difficult English is!

Tsukiji Fish Market, and Conferencing In Yokohama

Hisashiburi! The blog has lain dormant for a while, but I’ve been increasingly busy after surviving snowboarding and haven’t had time for an update. For the last few days I’ve been in the Kanto area- visiting the famous Tsukiji Fish Market, the current exhibition at the Mori Art Museum, and then going on to Yokohama for a JET Conference.

Tsukiji was really great; despite waking up at 5, I was able to spring around gleefully at the sight of all kinds of weird and wonderful seafood, huge tuna being power saw-ed and samurai sword-ed, and even some less than politically correct bloody whale steaks. What really struck me about Tsukiji though was the scale; this is no normal market, but a serious shipping operation, with fresh cargo delivered daily, prepared (either through cutting or flash freezing), then shipped off to high class restaurants all over Tokyo and the surrounding area. The food here is literally as fresh as you can get- one young worker was gutting and de-heading fish that were still flapping their tails around! Understandably then, our sushi breakfast was a little pricey- 3600 yen for a platter eaten in a sombre sushi-ya, more akin to a temple than the usual “kaiten zushi” restaurants that I frequent. Sombre it may have been, but I’ve never had toro sushi quite so succulent, or such a range of fresh seasonal sushi perfectly balanced by just the right amount of wasabi. The Tsukiji experience was wonderful, but sadly I didn’t get many good photos as you’re constantly on your toes dodging tuna, angry workers and trucks!

Vending T-shirts in Harajuku

Record Shop, Harajuku

I also saw the current exhibition at the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi while in Tokyo; it was very good, and afterwards we watched the sun setting over Tokyo, with Mount Fuji off in the distance, visible on the horizon! For those not in the know its very rare that you can see Fuji from Tokyo- only on the clearest of days- and its meant to be very lucky (I may have just made that up though).

Fuji-san! Yatta!

If seeing Fuji was a sign of clarity to come, it certainly didn’t reveal itself at the”JET Returners Conference”, a chance to hear from ‘working professionals’ in all range of fields, in an effort to sort out the general confusion of life. I ruled more things out than in- banking, finance, corporate business and the general immorality of the private business sector. This leaves me with a range of options- academia, journalism or publishing, government work or other public or non-profit work that relates in some way to the big wide world. Any suggestions greatly appreaciated- my current plan is to become the Guardian’s Tokyo correspondent, although I guess this requires a bit of serious effort and planning (not to mention the violent overthrow of the incumbent journalist, the very personable Justin McCurry, who I met at the conference).

Yokohama’s Chinatown- the Biggest in Japan! Beware of the gyoza…

Anyway, moving off Tokyo for a moment, today was Shonan Graduation Day. Although I know the 1st and 2nd year students far better than the third, my drummer (Natto’s drummer) Murakami was graduating, and it was great to see him. Despite coming from a poor family, having to work in a factory part-time while attending school, and going to a school which never sends any students to Uni, he’s managed to get a place at Okayama Daigaku (a good uni) studying economics. I’m so pleased for him- he’s a really nice guy, and deserves all that hes worked to get. A long lunch with Kawahara and Toda was followed by an afternoon off work, leaving me to go for a run and write this long update. Thats all for now!

Back On The Piste!

That’s right! Last year it was skiing with Georgina and Yukiko, and this year its snowboarding with Hayase, a guy who works in the Shonan school secretary office, and his mate.

Hopefully I’ll be doing ollies and 360s all over the place as I descend the slopes of Hiroshima Prefecture before coming to a safe stop (without killing any Japanese people on the way down). We’ll be leaving at the insanely early time of 7am (although this was only after fevered negotiations managed to put it back from 5), and travel up past Nimi across the border into Hiroshima. Then we’ll spend a few hours on the piste.

Which is harder, skiing or snowboarding? I honestly have no idea, although I guess the more pertinent question is “Can Steve do either?” I’ll find out on Saturday…and if you don’t hear from me again, well, its been a good life.