Cooler Weather...FINALLY!
The wicked hot weather is finally gone and now we head into a season of changing colors, hence the seasonal colors for this issue. This issue of the monthly shares another adventure from our anime/manga enthusiast, Chris, along with a member activity report/idea by Joe. As usual, a new (and hopefully useful) “Hawaiian Word of the Month” is also included in this issue along with a return to “Ask Gundam”. . . well, sort of. Enjoy your Autumn!!!
A Weekend of Cultural Appreciation in Tokyo
By Chris
I spent the September long weekend running around Tokyo enjoying little bits of culture from old to new.
I am a big fan of the anime series Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen Mae Hashutsujo, set in a police box in Kameari, Tokyo. After some research I found that a statue of the main character, Kankichi Ryotsu, had been erected in front of Kameari station. The station is located in north-east Tokyo and takes a few transfers to get to. Kameari looks to be just a normal neighborhood with lots of stores, and things to see. After finding the statue, I asked the cops on duty if I could take pictures of the koban, that the one in the comic/anime was based on, they also gave me an information sheet that shows where other statues of Ryotsu-san, and other characters are in the area. Unfortunately I had to hurry on to my next cultural experience so they will have to wait for another time.
As part of the Japan Times 40,000th issue celebrations, a performance of rakugo, comedic stories, in English was held at the JT building in Tamachi.
The performer, Kaishi Katsura, speaks English very well and has performed rakugo in English in a number of countries around the world. His performance included a few rakugo stories, a humorous video relating the history of rakugo and the apprenticeship process. At the end, he even invited a member of the audience to try some of the miming techniques that are used in rakugo. While Japanese humor is often bewildering, rakugo stories are funny in any language.
And finally (!), the original reason I went to Tokyo that weekend; the Tokyo Game Show! The annual four day event (2 days for business and media and 2 days for the general public), is where game and computer/technology companies unveil upcoming games and showcase the gaming industry.
New this year was an area dedicated to mobile gaming on devices like cell phones and the iPad. Also, the new motion controlled systems from Microsoft – Kinect, and the Sony Move, attracted lots of attention.
The Game Show is notorious for the long line-ups for the chance to play upcoming games. Some wait times can be as long as 2 hours! I didn’t bother with any of that, but instead concentrated on collecting everything and anything that was being handed out for free.
As the last really hot weekend of the year (?), it was a great weekend travelling around Tokyo and seeing a few areas I hadn’t been before.
Cooking Up a Storm in Shizuoka
by Joe
After speaking with my members about what kind of English they wanted to learn there were a number of suggestions for activity classes. By far the most popular was the idea for a cooking club, so I decided to set up a monthly meeting at my apartment for all interested members.
I set a few ground rules that all members must participate in the cooking and that the participants must cover all costs. Of course, they get to eat a delicious meal at the end, but there is also the possibility of leftovers (if there are too many for me to handle by myself).
The initial hurdles I encountered were the lack of useful cutlery and crockery I had access to and the availability of certain ingredients. However, my members all provided solutions: bringing their own implements and ingredients to share.
Since April, we have tried Mexican, Indian, Russian, Moroccan, Jamaican and Thai cuisines, usually making about 2 or 3 dishes from each. Luckily, I have quite an enthusiastic and multicultural membership, and they will hopefully soon be willing and able to run their own classes to share their favourite meals. Future selections on the culinary horizon include Taiwanese, Brazilian and even British!
There is also a possibility to develop this idea further. It can be something as simple as a monthly sports club at the local gym, a monthly hiking club around the mountains, or even a monthly eating-out club where you arrange to meet up at various restaurants. Whatever it is, it will help to build your relationships with your members and offer something special that they are unlikely to get elsewhere.
If you are interested to learn more about how I run the classes, or if you’d like to try any of the recipes, please feel free to email me!
Hawaiian Word of the Month
“Mahalo”
“Aloha” is a word very often associated with the image of Hawaii. Just the very mentioning of Hawaii and people will automatically think “Aloha!”. Well, “Mahalo” follows that same distinction, but just not as famous. It means “Thank you!” and is often used at many places, and by the local people. “Aloha” has become too generically linked to the touristy image of Hawaii, which is why locals don’t use it so much, but you’ll often hear “Mahalo” used in the outside areas of Waikiki from time to time.
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2-Minute Mystery - #2 Solution!
If are familiar with paddling in a 2 person canoe, then this mystery was quite simple to figure out. The person who does most of the steering is usually riding in the back, whereas the person in the front mainly paddles. The suspect said he was the steering the canoe and claimed he didn’t see what happened to Jim and only noticed Jim was gone when he turned around, which can’t be true because he would definitely have seen Jim in front of him if he was steering the canoe.
