From the Editor

Thank you to those who contributed to this issue — Lorna MacNeil, Tracy Olsen, Brian Bishop,
 and Alastair Bain

See you back here next month…..Chris C.

What's Coming up in and out of Shizuoka

Miscellaneous

• Hinamatsuri:
  March 3rd, this special day is celebrated by families with girls. Important related symbols are peach blossoms (momo) and chirashizushi (as it is often pink).
• Lunar Eclipse:
  A total lunar eclipse will be visible in Japan in the early morning hours of March 4th, from 5:15 to 6:30, at moonset.
• Sakurazensen:
  The warm winter may bring the earliest arrival of cherry blossoms on record. Look for the front to reach Shizuoka by March 25th!
•  Shunbun no Hi:
  The Vernal Equinox, March 21st, is a National Holiday in Japan, and has been officially celebrated here since the year 806!
• Plum Blossoms - In and around Japan the plum blossoms (and soon the cherry too) will be starting to bloom. For more information, check this link. http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2013.html

Sawayaka Walking - by Brian Bishop

On the first Sunday of February, the social committee invited us to participate in a JR-organized ‘Sawayaka Walking’ tour. This particular walk followed a portion of the Old Tokaido Road, across the Abe River from Shizuoka City. We started from Abekawa Station, looking back on Mt. Fuji.

The 10 kilometer route took us  first to the Mariko checkpoint along the Tokaido Road, originally a way station for officials traveling the mountainous track between Tokyo and cities west. It is remembered for the soba noodles ‘seasoned’ with tororo, a gluey paste made from local mountain potatoes, but now has a bustling souvenir shop as well as restaurant.  This is a print of the station ca. 1840:

The next stop was the Bai-en, or plum blossom festival park. This is a shrine whose caretakers have carefully propagated a beautiful hillside of ‘ume’ or Japanese plum trees. The blossoms of these trees signal the real beginning of spring (which is also marked by setsubun, on February 3rd, the previous day). While the warm day was certainly spring-like, and the park’ blossoms were ‘abuzz’ with the news:

While no one was injured during the day, the 10k’s of footwork did lead to some sore toes and weary bodies.  The views and conversation were reward enough, though, and I’m looking forward to another “Sawayaka Walking Tour”!

FIA in Kusatsu - by Tracy Olsen

The Special Event staff meeting on February 9th was made even more special by being in the exotic hot-spring resort of Kusatsu Onsen. Located in distant Gunma prefecture, and so not easily accessible, Kusatsu Onsen is a place many of us would not have visited on our own. Stephen was no stranger to the lovely locale, however, and was happy to give a brief history of the town and expound on its many delights; he also gave us some tips on places to visit and where to buy the best onsen manju. The Ichii hotel provided a commanding view of the yubatake and downtown area, and the delights ahead!

After dinner, many of us donned the standard yukata and geta and went out to explore the town, making stops at several of the (very hot!!) free baths, while strolling through the streets and enjoying the gently falling snow. Others relaxed with cold beer and hot sake, while soaking their feet in the footbath, and chatting with other visitors to the town. Much to Van’s disappointment, the planned karaoke event did not occur as many folks retired to the “party room”, watched Ramone Hardgay on TV, chatted with each other for a while, and quaffed a few more beverages before turning in for the night.

While there had been trepidation about the long bus trip, the meeting feedback indicated that the ride had been well worth it; Kusatsu Onsen exceeded expectations, and only the infrequent ‘rest’ stops unsettled David A’s return journey!
(And a lack of Mos Burger too! Ed.)

Purikura on the 52nd Floor - by Lorna Mac Neil

Some people say that Tokyo is way too big and confusing. As Dave Barry said: "Tokyo is huge. Something like 15 million people live there, and my estimate is that at any given moment, 14.7 million of them are lost." Actually, the first thing I usually do in Tokyo is get at least a little lost; Shinjuku Station continues to bewilder me. But I really don't care, I love going to Tokyo. There is just so much there. Tony and I have adopted the explore Tokyo by way of good movie theaters approach. So, we find a theater that is playing a movie we want to see and then spend the day in that area of Tokyo. So far, this has taken us to Takadanobaba, Kichijoji, Shibuya, Ebisu, Ikebukuro, Shinjuku and of course Roppongi. We tried to see American Splendor in Roppongi about two years ago but it was sold out. We never learn so we went to see An Inconvenient Truth there last Sunday only to find the same scenario. Bereft, we went to see the "Tokyo City View" from the 52nd floor of the Mori Tower instead. (I told my friend Glenn this (he lives in Ottawa) and he said hmmm, that doesn't sound very high? True story!)

1500 yen gets you a ticket to see the view and the Mori Art Museum. You are given a fold-out pictorial guide showing landmarks that you will see and led into an elevator that very quickly and silently flies up to the 52 floor. On a clear day, you can see the CN Tower. Okay, that may be a lie but you can see Mt. Fuji and we did. I am not a map person and so was very interested to see where everything fits in – in my mind the different parts of Tokyo are not really connected at all. Do you know what I mean? You just step on a train and minutes later you step off a train in a new place- I have no concrete idea of how they are physically connected. The map-challenged among you would be enchanted by this view.

Of course the fun does not end with the view- you can buy some "WATTA Juice" at the sunset cafe- so you choose a base like wild berry and then some kind of fruit and even ice cream if you are so inclined. They blend it and you can sip it while looking out over the city. And there is a booth where you can have your photo taken in front of a "Tokyo View" background and printed out in an array of stickers. Not to be missed - there is definitely something about standing in that booth that helps to define the experience.

"The Smile in Japanese Art" and "All about Laughter" are the current exhibits at the Mori Art Museum (until May6th). We went through the "The Smile in Japanese Art" first. I guess the things that you like the best are those you remember so that means that I liked the "dogu" figurines from about 3 or 4 thousand years ago and also learning a bit about the "Yamai no Soshi" or illness scrolls from 12th century Japan. "All about Laughter" has some strange and interesting works- lots of short video like the very odd but funny "Women talk about Hitler" from Tamy Ben-Tor or "The video of a man calling himself Bin Laden staying in Japan" from Aida Makoto. You can also see a disturbing decapitated plush pig if you want to. There is, as they say, something for everyone in the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower!

Other News

Marathon

Al, Andy, and Chris Madere are set to run around Yamanaka ko in Yamanashi ken on May 27th.  The event isn’t a race but a fun, perfectly flat, run/jog/crawl (?) of about 14km around a very picturesque lake.

(The editor has learned that Tracy and Tony intend to run as well! Ed.)
If anybody is interested in joining them for this event, contact one of them for details.

Thank You!

Proud dad, Al, would like to express his thanks to the Social Committee, especially Kinsella, for the baby vouchers.   Baby Bain is looking forward to wearing the latest in diaper fashion this Spring. Here is a snap of young George:

Japanese Grammar in your Inbox

Now you can get Japanese grammar points delivered right to your email In-box. It’s a user supported study site that covers all levels of the JLPT.

The URL is: http://www.jgram.org/index.php

Thanks to Jonathan for the tip.

Custom Streaming Playlists

Pandora.com is an interesting (and free) website that allows music lovers, or just listeners, to create their own ‘radio stations’. Anyone can enter a song or artist of their liking, and the Pandora site, using a complicated set of algorithms and further fine-tuning, will then continuously stream carefully chosen music to the listener’s pc.

An explanation of how Pandora’s Music Genome Project works is here:  http://www.pandora.com/mgp.shtml
Thanks to Matt for the ‘heads up’.