In one of the lighter stories of the week, it seems that a Penguin—Penguin 337 to give it its official name—that escaped from its pen at a Tokyo aquarium in March has been spotted alive and well, swimming about in Tokyo Bay.
The full story is available over at the Huffinton Post.
Ok… that’s a bit of a sensationalist title, but according to Scientific American, an active fault line has been found running below Mount Fuji. It could set off a magnitude 7 earthquake and change the shape of the mountain.
The article doesn’t give a timescale, since further research will be necessary. But it just goes to show that permanence is a myth.
See the full story: Massive Active Fault Found beneath Japan’s Mount Fuji
Not really a lesson in using chopsticks, but JustMiyabi on YouTube has posted a great guide on how not to use chopsticks!
There are so many taboos it’s unreal… watch and learn!
Problems picked-up on in the video are:
VERY BAD
立て箸 – tatebashi – sticking your chopsticks vertically in your rice.
拾い箸 – hiroibashi – passing food to another person’s chopsticks using your own.
BAD
寄せ箸 – yosebashi – using your chopsticks to pull your dish towards you.
刺し箸 – sashibashi – spearing food with chopsticks.
指し箸 – sashibashi – pointing with your chopsticks.
踊り箸 – odoribashi – waving chopsticks in the air.
握り箸 – nigiribashi – holding a dish and your chopsticks in the same hand.
押し付け箸 – oshitsukebashi – pushing rice down in a bowl with your chopsticks.
押し込み箸 – oshikomibashi – forcing large pieces of food into your mouth with chopsticks.
かき箸 – kakibashi – shovelling food into your mouth from the bowl.
QUITE BAD
迷い箸 – mayoibashi – hesitating over various foods with your chopsticks as you choose the next morsel.
ほじり箸 – hojiribashi – picking food from the bottom of a bowl.
さぐり箸 – saguribashi – using your chopsticks to search for good morsels.
涙箸 – namidabashi – lifting dripping food with your chopsticks.
渡し箸 – watashibashi – resting your chopsticks on a bowl instead of the chopstick rest.
重ね箸 – kasanebashi – eating from only one dish at a time.
ねぶり箸 – neburibashi – licking food from the ends of your chopsticks.
Just don’t do it, ok?!
Wow… I’ve been failing to keep up with news of Japan lately, but this article sparked my interest. It seems that on May 6th 2012, Japan will have its first day since 1970 where none of its power is generated from nuclear energy.
I became aware of the walk of life when visiting the Nipponzan Myohoji temple in Milton Keynes last month.
I can’t imagine what a difficult decision it must be to suddenly lose 30 percent of your power output.
がんばって日本！Ganbatte nippon!
It’s a year since the Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami that affected large areas of Japan’s east coast. The Japanese embassy has a list of events that are ongoing to mark the anniversary and continue to give the region much needed aid.
The Tokyo Gate Bridge has opened to traffic on Sunday 12th February. It has four lanes for traffic, and a walkway for brave pedestrians wanting to cross the 2,618 metre span of the bridge.
There are photos here, showing the walkway and the views – including, notably, the new Tokyo Sky Tree which is due to open in May.
The reason for the slightly strange shape of the bridge is because it has to be high to allow the major shipping lane below to continue operation, but also low because it’s on the approach path of Tokyo’s Haneda airport.
There may be some drop in Japanese morale at the moment, given the economy and knock-on effects from the tsunami last year, but projects like the Tokyo Gate Bridge and Tokyo Sky Tree show that Japan is still a nation of innovation and excellence.6
If you want to cross the bridge by car, please note… it’s toll-free!
What is the Japanese word for “You”? You will learn early on, that ‘watashi’ means I, and ‘anata’ means you. Sorry… it isn’t that easy. This video from JustMiyabi gives information on using:
[name]-san, [name], [name]-chan, [name]-kun
anata, anta, kimi, omae, omee, otaku, kisama
sensei, inchou, shachou, buchou, kachou
okyakusama, [name]-sama, goshujinsama
The key to ‘anata’ is that it’s generally safe, but it creates a sense of distance; so you will never get close to people using ‘anata’.
The safest form is to use is [family name] + san. For example:
watashi wa chiizu ga suki desu yo. suzuki-san wa?
“I like cheese. What about you, Suzuki-san?”
Miyabi-sensei explains it all…
CNN International has a list of 12 reasons to visit Japan in 2012. Now that the free flights are cancelled, you’ll need a more compelling reason to visit the country; unless you’d go for any reason, like we at JapanClub would!
The list includes such activities as Hanami, the cherry-blossom viewing festivities in April, the expected completion of the Tokyo Sky Tree in May and the winter sports available in December.
They also suggest climbing Mount Fuji very early in the season. That’s exactly what we did in 2008. It was great from the perspective of missing the crowds, but not so good with the weather; the rainy season finished late. You can see our trip on YouTube.
Today we bring you some lovely high-contrast photos of Japan by Peter Zeglis. The impact of these shots is incredible, and there are various subjects; shrines, cityscapes and more natural scenes.
Go have a look right now… Peter Zeglis’ JAPAN Portfolio on Behance
There’s an article at USA Today about the snow monkeys in Jigokudani, Nagano prefecture, Japan. With short pieces of text and plenty of pictures, you can get a good feel of how these little creatures live.
I think snow monkeys are the most commonly raised subject when people learn I’ve been to Japan; maybe it’s the fact they’re lower primates acting in a very human way that captures people’s imagination.
Unfortunately, I didn’t see go anywhere with snow monkeys during my visit in 2008 (and moreover, it was July, so we didn’t see a huge amount of snow*).
The story: Japan in Jan: Snow Monkeys
(*I say ‘not a huge amount’ because we did climb Mount Fuji and see some there).