The Kanekos Go to See Shibusashirazu!!

So, on October 1, the Kanekos had their Shibusashirazu initiation at Shinjuku Pit Inn. The show was billed as ‘The Iron Trio Versus Shibusashirazu’, the Iron Trio being three keyboardists: piano, toy piano and organ. Pit Inn is fairly small, and I knew from experience that sitting in the second row about 15 feet from the band would be loud. Always the attentive host, I came prepared and offered the Kanekos earplugs, which they thought was hilarious and didn’t use. Not wanting to disturb the Wa, I didn’t use mine either. Like the old song says: ‘I Fought the Wa, and the Wa Won’.

Now these shows are always unpredictable, which is part of the fun, but according to their website, it was up in the air whether there would be dancers at this one. So I was both relieved and delighted when, soon after the band started, go-go dancers Pero-chan and Sayaka slinked their way up the centre aisle to their places stage front. They were a little sedate in blonde wigs and black dresses, rather than their radioactive lime green, crimson or blue wigs and matching minis, but I wasn’t about to complain. Next came the butohs, but they were in street clothes and no white body paint. This was a bit disappointing since it detracts from the alienness of their performance and also makes for much less contrast between them and the go-gos. But you can’t have everything and at least it minimized the possibility of a Naked Dancer Incident.

The Kanekos seemed to enjoy themselves. Even Mrs. K’s stern demeanor melted from time to time in the face of the evening’s entertainment and I note that she joined the sing-along at the behest of bandleader Fuwa. Mrs. K was sitting on the aisle and I must say that she remained admirably nonplussed when one of the butohs balanced himself with one foot on the edge of her chair and the other on the chair adjacent and began to twist and writhe above her. Perhaps after many long years of FIA staff dinners, she has built up a tolerance for that kind of thing.

As for Soncho, it was fun watching him when he would lean forward to listen to or watch something more intently and he laughed quite regularly. It probably didn’t hurt that I kept him well plied with shochu. Perhaps a little too well plied. I think it was a long day for him when you factor in the meeting earlier that day. Of course, it only seemed fair. How often have I been overplied courtesy of Soncho? I’m pretty sure they had a good time, although I couldn’t hear a thing they said afterwards to confirm. In any case, I was glad I made the effort to return something to them.

I still maintain that a Shibusashirazu show is one of the most fun musical events that you can see anywhere, though the jury is still out, since I’ve only seen them 90 times or so. But I do have several more lined up before I vacate Japan. On that note, I’ll end my final transmission.

Best of luck to all of you.

by Phil

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Ask Gundum!

Dear Gundam F91: The Japanese Proficiency test is coming up on December 6th. I have not studied and wondered if you have any advice on how to study for the exam?
Sincerely, CRAMMER

Dear Crammer: There are a lot of study guides on the internet. I recommend the site http://www.manythings.org/japanese/ . It has a lot of great quizzes and ways to study for all different levels of the exam. Another great site solely created for the JLPT is http://www.jlptstudy.com/forum/. Check it out and good luck on the exam!

Dear Gundam F91: I went to the electronics shop this weekend and saw all these expensive digital TVs. They look really nice but are pretty expensive! The shop staff said I had to buy one because my old TV would not work next year. What is the story?
CONFUSED ABOUT DIGITAL

Dear DIGITAL: Japan has a national plan to convert from an analog TV signal to digital in around July 2010. The US, England and the EU have already or are also in the process of converting to a digital system. While the new digital TVs are nice with a very clear picture, you do not need to buy a new digital TV. There are analog to digital TV boxes that you can purchase for around 15,000 yen that will allow you to watch TV on your analog set beyond July of next year.

Do you have a question for Gundam F91? Please send any questions to fiappcom@yahoo.com and they will be sure to pass it on to Gundam Headquarters and you will get your answer in next month’s newsletter. Gundam F91 is waiting for your question!

By Brian W.

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Skating on Thin Plastic

Those of you living in the Susono area are certainly familiar the Gotemba Kogen. The all-you-can-eat, all-you-can-drink buffet highlights several restaurants in the area, but there is also a fantastic cheese, meats and bread shop, an onsen, tennis and basketball courts as well as plenty of great atmosphere.

However, not everyone knows that the Kogen is home to a skating park as well. I say skating park because I’m not sure it qualifies as a skating rink since there is no ice involved whatsoever. The skating surface is a special kind of plastic sheet that simulates ice. As an avid hockey and skating fan, I decided it was finally time to head to the Kogen and check this place out.

I broke out my old Micron molded skates and took the bus up there. Now, for those of you who are interested, one doesn’t need to own a pair of skates to actually go skating at the park. They have plenty of pairs for rent. They have a ticket system for the whole process, much like Japanese ramen restaurants. You don’t pay the cashiers, you purchase your tickets and simply hand them in. A skating pass will cost ¥1000, a bit pricey, but there seems to be no time limit as to how long you can skate out there.

First order was getting my skates sharpened, another ¥500, as they desperately needed it. Then I laced them up and went out. It was fortunate that I didn’t fall on my rear end with my initial few strides (I know some of you reading were hoping for that…) because it takes some getting used to. Most first time skaters have trouble getting used to the friction of real ice as it is very slippery. This plastic presented me with the opposite problem. I constantly found my skates catching the “ice” when I wasn’t expecting it. Try to imagine skating on a kitchen cutting board. I managed to get the hang of going forward during my skate there, but backwards skating will have to wait for another time.

And it will have to wait another time since I broke my skates in the process. Lonnie, having played The Game himself for a while, may have figured out why but for the rest of you, I’ll explain. Earlier, I said I had a pair of old Micron molded skates and molded means plastic boot. These skates were in vogue over 15 years ago. So while the added friction of the plastic was hard on my feet, the wear and tear of over a decade was hard on my skates. The ankle piece on both skates cracked and on one of them completely broke away. Skating with no ankle support is a good way to wind up on crutches, so I called it a day and hit the cheese shop before heading home.

by Michael D.

JALT 2009 Strategy Guide

Since I started at FIA I’ve always taken the opportunity to participate in the annual JALT road trip. This year will be my fourth JALT trip, so the powers that be asked me to share some advice when it comes to preparing for a successful and fun JALT.

For those who have never been to JALT, it is a great chance to learn new things about teaching and the language education industry; there are presentations, workshops, Special Interest Groups (SIGs), poster presentations, publisher displays, etc. With so much to see and do, a little preparation helps makes JALT easy to navigate and a more productive and fun experience.

A few weeks before the conference weekend, the master schedule of all the presentations is posted to the JALT website.

http://jalt.org/conference/jalt2009/jalt2009-schedule

I copy and paste the big schedule into Word, and then sort through the presentations to make a methodical plan of attack.

I look through the presentation titles and mark the ones I’m potentially interested in and I bold the ones that grab my attention right away. As I go, I delete the ones I am definitely not interested in. After a pass or two, I’ve narrowed the list down to a couple of pages. Finally, I do some more research on the presentations that look interesting to pick my first choices. Just in case something goes wonky, like the presentation is cancelled, it’s not what I expected, or it just plain sucks, I have a couple of back up picks for each timeslot. Having this schedule in Word makes ensuring I meet the required time requirements easy and is half the work of the post-JALT session summary report we have to do.

The criteria I use to make my presentation choices includes some of the following; presenters I’ve seen before and liked, titles that clearly explain what they are about and interest me, and presentations where I can likely get free stuff.

Before going, ask someone who has been to JALT before which presenters they like to see (or don’t like). The two presenters I look for are Ted Quock, who presents on using humour to teach language and culture, and Frank Tuzi, who presents on using technology to teach and support students and teachers.

Sometimes you can get free stuff like handouts, or occasionally even books at presentations. Publishers also do presentations (listed as “Promotional” in their descriptions) and you can usually get a few goodies there or they give you coupons to get something at their booth. So leave space in your bag to haul back loot.

There is an area or room set aside for “Poster Sessions.” These poster based presentations are basically an informational display by someone, instead of doing a full-blown presentation/workshop. Taking an hour or so to walk around the poster area is a good way to stretch and see a variety of different ideas, projects, and research that people have done.

The publishers’ room is another good place to wander around and stretch when you’ve got time to kill. And of course, it’s a great place to collect free stuff. A lot of publishers will give you free samples of texts, graded readers, etc. if you’re willing to fill out a survey or get on a mailing list. They are also willing to ship samples to your apartment for you to evaluate.

I hope this little introduction helps you prepare for JALT so you can relax and enjoy the experience and all it has to offer.

By Chris