January 2004


In This Month's Issue:

  • Letter from the Editors
  • Year of the Monkey by Dave Dyer
  • "The Last Samurai" Movie review by Al Bain
Happy New YEAR!

Letter from the Editors

"Akemashite Omedetoo gozaimasu" to all of you out there in the FIA hinterland! No sooner said
Oni wa soto; Fuku wa uchi ( Get out devil ! Come in happiness!)
Yes, it's that time of the year again for some of us to don a devil mask to frighten those nice people around us while these same nice people pulverize the devils with mame" (dried beans),(ouch !!) and afterwards eat the beans and drink some beer. Sounds like good fun . Okay Larry, you're the devil again this year, thanks!
On an appreciative note,we 'd just like to say a big thanks again to all those who contributed to the newsletter last year and look to them again for contributions this year (onegai shimasu :) ) And for those who haven't graced our pages with their journalistic talents here is your chance to showcase them - pleeeeeeeeze!! ONEGAI SHIMASU :)
And one more note to add, Larry "The New Yorker" Wiebe will be taking over as editor of "The FIA Monthly" from February, so please send your articles addressed to him by the 17th of each month. Thanks. Well, it's been a swell 4 months as editor, and I'd like to thank the News Crew (Julian and Larry) for making my job easier (I think!!???).
Jaa ne!
Dave D

Do any of you out there know what year it is?

I know, I know...2004 , but what is the year according to the Chinese calendar? It's the Year of the Monkey. And that's no monkey business! People across Asia take this calendar seriously, affecting their personal and business matters similar to some westerners belief in the horoscope. So, superstitious or not let's take a look at what may be in store for those born in the Year of the Monkey, and the world in general. Through Net surfing and the help of the Copy and Paste function, I've collected information on the Year of the Monkey thanks to various web authors.
So, here we go! January 22,2004. This is the first day in the Year of the Monkey. It is Year 4701 by Chinese calendar.

Monkey Climbing a Tree
2004 is the year of the "Monkey climbing a tree". This may not seem o be a particularly unusual thing, and indeed, the tree is the natural habitat for the money. This means that conditions are good for a comfortable year. As the Monkey is deemed to be a lucky creature, well able to make the most of opportunities which present themselves, this is a year in which taking some chances may be more acceptable than in other, less auspicious times. The tree is sometimes seen as symbolic of growth, advancement and prosperity. So 2004 is a year in which a conducive environment should lend itself to success.

There are always some points which need to be considered, even in the most auspicious years, and the monkey can be somewhat maverick, has its won way of doing things, and can become impatient with those who hesitate or choose a different route. This impatient can come across at times as rude or even arrogant, and so the need to ensure that the feelings of others are not hears I important this year. If this is kept in mind, the natural friendliness and life of the monkey makes it a sociable creature, and this is a good year to make new friends and to strengthen existing friendships, but don't be impetuous and choose your friends carefully.

Finally, beware of contradictions, and be ready to think things through to solve any resultant dilemmas. The monkey is associated with the colour white, the colour of autumn, and symbolises purity and cleanliness, but white is also associated with death, as is autumn, and as is the direction associated with the monkey - west. This is not a year when you can take things at face value on every occasion, ambiguity is not always obvious, and the monkey is, after all, known for its cleverness and ability to wiggle its way out of a situation, so don't be fooled.

Special Mention

Congratulations go out to Kevin Curnock for completing a full 42 km marathon in Fukuroi in December ...Yikes .. Just thinkin' about that gives me the willies! Next time anyone runs into Kev buy him a beer !
And Alistair Bain and his wife would like to thank the Social Committee for the ToysRus gift certificate which they have put to good use for their son Sean :)

The Last Word on the Last Samurai - Alastair Bushido Bain

Many of you have seen 'The Last Samurai' or are going to. It comes amid a spate of historical dramas that seem to be the 'in thing' in Hollywood at the moment. Which is fine by me because I'll take a well-acted historical drama over a badly acted shoot'em up action movie any day. But Hollywood doesn't exactly get its history correct sometimes does it! Well this film was well researched and beats any other Hollywood movie (about Japan) hands down in terms of cultural and historical accuracy. They actually did a lot of homework on this one instead of using stereotypical images.

However, Hollywood still can't break the habit of centering a film on a broken down hero who comes back to beat the odds. Which in the end makes Tom Cruise look like the all American hero. The movie ends up looking a bit pretentious, as Tom Cruise literally becomes the last samurai. Despite just jumping off the boat, how did he learn to swing a katana in a couple of months better than the average samurai who was born with one in his hands?

Another point I picked up was that the head samurai played by Ken Watanabe was able to speak English quite well without explanation. A friend of mine pointed out that some Samurai did go to America at that time to learn the ways of the west, but its something most Japanese people who have watched the movie pick up straight away.

Another slightly sour point was the amount of violence. It was beginning to look a lot like Brave Heart or Gladiator (a lot of the same people working on that movie also worked on Last Samurai). I think the violent sword play, while necessary to give the movie action was a little extended in some areas and they should have spent more time on the village life that Tom Cruise was forced to live under as a captive but 'free' prisoner. The best part of the movie was in the human interaction and development of Tom Cruises character with the other villagers and how this changed him from being a man with no soul to someone gaining morals.

Although there were mistakes, it is a fictional story based on some real history, so we have to grant the moviemakers some poetic license to make the story more interesting.

Now the good points! There are lots of them. The biggest one being how the supporting actor to Cruise totally out classed him and stole the honors of being the true main character of the movie. Ken Watanabe put in a great performance!

Another great thing for us living here in Japan is the insight we can get from the movie and compare that to everyday life now in contemporary Japan.

It gives us a great perspective into how life used to be here and how much it has changed. It struck me personally how important the role of Buddhism was in developing 'Bushido', a warrior ethic or code that places the harmony of the community above the will of the individual. Something that I think Japanese people feel they have lost as part of joining a modernized world and in which my wife seemed acutely aware when she summed up the movie by saying: "Japanese must see this movie, we have lost our spirit!"

It is a "moving" movie and you could find yourself crying (that's not an admission!) so go and see it if you haven't already.
 

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