雨にも負けず、心はいつも晴れ

One of the things that I've forgot to write about last time I was in Japan was about Xmas at Nikko, a.k.a. Natal de Nikko. It's a "traditional event" among Brazilian exchange students, where people - not only students, and not only Brazilians - from all over Japan gather in Nikko to celebrate Christmas.

Well, I went there again this year. And, like I did with Himeji Castle, I'll write about both this year's and 2005' Xmas.

In 2005 I was told about the event by Silvia. So we managed to make our reservations early, including reservations for the Moonlight Nagara to go during the night using Seishun 18 Kippu. That's the most unexpensive a night trip to Tokyo may get, perhaps...

Among the group who went to Nikko, a few known faces. Most from people who had climbed Mt. Fuji together the same year. Still, that's far from being a problem. We met lots of people and made new friends... some of which I met again in 2007. But I'll talk more about that later.


A fortunate coincidence was that back then the 24th and 25th were in a Saturday and Sunday, respectivelly. So we managed to party exactly during Xmas (Christmas is not a holiday in Japan, and many students and workers have to work/study on the 25th when it's on a weekday).

Another fortunate thing was that just a couple of days before (23rd I think) it snowed hard in most parts of Japan. I even posted some pics back then. So, in Nikko we also had lots of snow to play with! Including a rotenburo (open-air bath). Imagine taking a hot bath under the snow... Perfect! Haha!

And what else can be said? "Real" Xmas with a "real Xmas dinner" and surrounded by friends... That was one of my best times in Japan back then. On the next day, a visit to Toshogu (Tokugawa Ieyasu's mausoleum) before going back to Tokyo.


Back to the present. This time, the event was on 22nd and 23rd (because it had to be held on a weekend, as I said before). And this time I wasn't too sure if I should go or not. Since I had a good time two years ago, I decided to give it a shot again this year. Besides, this time I'd know more people around there since some people from other events I've been, like "churrascada de Gifu" or "京都の紅葉" would be there. As well as some old friends, like Claus and Seiji (who I've first met at 2005' Nikko Xmas).

But, since I took some time to decide, Moonlight Nagara was not an option anymore. So I tried the night bus. The only problem is that it was an "extended weekend" (the 24th - Monday - was a holiday). Meaning: LOTS of people travelling.

But after meeting the group everything was allright. There were other reminescents from 2005' Xmas and a friend who came to Japan together (via Monbusho scholarship), but I'd never met since April - Minghini.


Less snow around the Okunikko Kougen Hotel this time, but more fun. And, just as before, Xmas party with friends is the perfect way to celebrate! (Well, there's the family... but being thousands of kilometers away surely complicates things.)


After partying until late at night (some didn't sleep), we went to Toshogu. And from there back to Tokyo. In Tokyo, I had to wait for my bus at 11pm... We arrived before 5pm. So I went to check Claus' new house (it's become some sort of tradition... I always pay him a visit when I go to Tokyo), play DDR and Carcassonne (it was fun, even though I always lost) until I had to leave. Valeu pela hospitalidade!

And thanks to all who organized the event and those who were there. Those are the two necessary things for it to be successful!

For those wondering about the post title, it's the b2007 motto, meaning that not even the rain can beat us; and inside our hearts it'll always be a nice sunny day. Those are my wishes to you in 2008!

Autumn in Kyoto - part 2

Continuing the posts about 紅葉 (autumn leaves)...

November 24th. Lucia, Hiroshi, Kaori and me scheduled a visit to Shugakuin Imperial Villa. Being one of the imperial places, it requires reservation in advance. Luckily, the weather was really nice that day, what turned the strolling more enjoyable.


Again, being an imperial place, it means that people have to follow a route with one guy explaining details of the place and another at the back to make sure the group stays together... or something like it.

Still, that place is SO worth a visit during fall/autumn... Very beautiful!


After that, we went looking for other places to see the leaves... But choosing the Philosopher's Walk area wasn't one of our best ideas. The momiji around that aera were still a little green. It was a fun day nevertheless. And we still could gather some other Brazilians around for dinner.

November 26th. There was a group at the university who was scheduling a visit to Kodaiji at night to see the "light-up" event. I thought of going, but actually had forgot that after the events of the last days. By sheer coincidence I walked around their rendezvous point about the time they left... or maybe my unconscious mind remembered that.


It was beautiful all right. But sort of crowded. And at night. Those conditions make it hard to take good pictures. While I was trying, most of the group went ahead and finished the visit before... It was more a less at that time that I noticed that I needed a tripod. It was time to go shopping again...

Grande Livro

Being in a country which culture is so different from our own, it's no wonder that sometimes foreigners discuss Japanese behavior (as society) and its reasons. Most of the time with a bit of humor; and nonsense. Besides, it's also a good way to look at ourselves and our own culture. Not wanting to jugde it better or worse than our own...

Among the "theories", maybe three are good enough to mention. One was mentioned briefly before, and, according to it, Japan is the Matrix. Yes, like the movie. Because "it's a simulate reality built to keep people docile (refering to honne and tatemae and some of its implications, probably). But if you step out of the behaviour you're supposed to follow (= become a "free human" in Matrix), "Agents" appear out of nowhere to crush you".

The second one says that Japan's aim is become like the world described in Brave New World (Aldous Huxley). From Wikipedia:

"(...) humanity is carefree, healthy and technologically advanced. Warfare and poverty have been eliminated and everyone is permanently happy due to government-provided stimulation. The irony is that all of these things have been achieved by eliminating many things that humans consider to be central to their identity (...). It is also a hedonistic society, deriving pleasure from promiscuous sex and drug use, especially the use of soma, a powerful drug taken to escape pain and bad memories through hallucinatory fantasies. Additionally, stability has been achieved and is maintained via deliberately engineered and rigidly enforced social stratification."

(Just in Japan's "defense", if it's becoming like Huxley's Brave New World, than maybe the US is becoming like George Orwell's 1984...)

The third one I'll have to give proper credits for Cris. His theory is that there's a book he calls "Grande Livro" (It has some wordplay here. "Grande" in Portuguese means "great" or "big"... And "livro" means "book"). In this book it'd be written all the situations a Japanese person may go through during his/her life, and how he/she should react to it. And all Japanese people would be aware of the contents of that book. It's mostly based on how most Japanese usually have similar behaviors (especially when in groups) and have problems "dealing with unpredicted situations" in the way we call in Portuguese "ter jogo de cintura". (In English, the best equivalents I found were "being flexible" or "dancing at the edge of chaos", although I've never heard the latter before...).

But Carol found something that suggests part of that theory may be true... From a presentation at the 9th Kyoto University International Symposium:

Civility in a Polytheistic World: A perspective from the Japanese experience

Toshio Yokoyama

"(...) Japanese society during that [spanning about 200 years from the late 17th century] period was sutained by numerous factors including the seclusion of its islands from the outer world, an intricate ruling system structured under the motto of quietude, and an overall balance between production and consumption which absorbed diverse local and temporal imbalances. The fact of that this stability was not won at the cost of gloomy stagnation seems to owe a great deal to common people's spontaneous in the social order, they cultivated what they thought to be elegant civility towards other humans as well as non-humans in their daily lives.

Two genres of popular household encyclopedias, setsuyoshu and ozatsusho played important roles in maintaining such orderly culture in Japanese society. The former provided instruction in self-depreciated forms of written communication, while the latter provided guidance on forms of un-offensive behavior which were recommended to be employed towards the numerous benevolent, but sometimes fearful, gods in heaven and on earth.

My studies of the nation-wide distribution and wear and tear of extent copies of these books reveal a society in which the Yin-Yang school of astrology and geomancy thrived. The page most universally consulted during the 18th and 19th centuries featured the rokuju-zu or chart of sixty , the key entry point to the instruction of the Yin-Yang school. This chart taught the reader his or her own cosmic attributes, in terms of, for example, the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water. The chart would then offer guidance on, for example, the compability between his or her attitudes and those of a partner. The knowledge about such cosmic attributes was also indispensable when seeking instruction on any serious action scheduled on a certain day , as each day also carried, according to the Yin-Yang school, certain cosmic and divine attributes and the compability between one's intended act and the chosen days was often a grave matter.

Setsuyoshu and ozatsusho civilized their users in 3 ways. First, they afforded the user a grand world view, together with a sense of his or her humble but unique position in the all-embrancing cosmos ; second, they urged the user to put more value on harmonious relations between the humam and non-human constituents of a whole community than on any individual's merit; and third they infused each user with a sense of blessed security whenever one's mode of life was thought to be properly conducted and therefore encouraged by surrounding gods.

The 19th century witnessed the Japanese society's detachment, to a certain degree, from the Yin-yang school. The change of intellectual climate, however, was slow and never violent, a testimony, perhaps, the fact that the school had not assumed any character of rigorous orthodoxy, thereby avoinding harsh criticism from non-believers. The schhol's subtle civilizing influence survived in many parts of japanese society well into present times.

Those numerous gods with whom people used to share one world might be interpreted as equivalent to any of the poweful products of modern science and technology, the proper use of which would be beneficial, but any uncontrolled dependence on them could be disastrous. To achieve harmonious coexistence with those new non-humans, the traditional sensitive mode of perceiving the relations between oneself and the environment on a cosmic scale might be of some help, as it can lead us to recognize what is lacking in our minds as we try to civilize modern human activities within the complex human and ecological community on this planet."

Again, don't take this post too seriously or as an offense. But it's interesting, isn't it?

Autumn in Kyoto - part 1

Time for autumn leaves... or at least it was.

November 17th and 18th. A group of (mostly) Brazilian exchange students from many parts of Japan come to Kyoto for the event "Kyoto no koyou". Some of them I met for the first time, and some I've not met for a while (since Gifu BBQ, perhaps). When the group is together, it means a fun day nevertheless.

So we went to see some autumn leaves... with lots of chat, jokes and fun along the way. The first stop was at Heian Jingu that, although it's more known as a place for hanami (see cherry blossoms in spring) rather than a place for koyou (autumn leaves), had some beautiful scenaries like 泰平閣 (taihei-kaku), a bridge that appeared in "The Last Samurai" movie (as I was told that). There was some sort of wedding ceremony going on, and kids around in kimono... probably because of the 七五三 (7-5-3).

(Damn it... I want to upload larger pics...)

After that people wanted to go to Kiyomizu-dera. But crowded buses (weekend in Kyoto) made us change our course to the "light-up" at Chion-in. It was beautiful, and for me it had a plus: I've been to Kiyomizu already, but that was my first time at Chion-in. After that, most people went to a hotel (or kyokan, I dunno). Since there weren't vacancies for all and I live in Kyoto anyway, I went home, meeting the group again at Kinkaku-ji the next day.


After that, a walk at Kiyomizu-dera, watching those who went to the Jishu shrine, a shrine dedicated to the deity of love. From Japan-guide: "In front of the shrine are two rocks, placed several meters apart from each other. Successfully walking from one to the other rock with your eyes closed is said to bring luck in your love live". And answering a question that some are probably wondering about: no, I didn't try to do that.

After that, some karaoke that included Sakuraba's performance of Bounce with Me... haha!

November 23rd. Holiday. Shell and Chi-chan came to Kyoto. As the saying goes: if I don't go to Himeji, the gang comes to Kyoto... heh! Our first stop was at Kyoto University Yoshida campus. Some will wonder what was I doing at the university on a holiday... One, they wanted to go there. Second, there was the university's culture festival going on there. They call it November Festival (１１月祭), and guess almost all universities and schools have one of those, like 工大祭 in Himeji...

Anyway, after that, guess our next stop... If you guesses Kiyomizu-dera you're right. Yes, Kiyomizu on a holiday during the koyou season... That's surely equal huge lines and queues. At least it wasn't for the "light-up" event, when it would be even more crowded... But it was still enjoyable, mostly because of the company. I probably wouldn't have the patience to stand there alone.


For dinner, I tried to gather the groups I knew that were wandering around Kyoto. Claus, Marilia, Paulo and Mitsue came from Tokyo for a little tourism. Noemy and Lee came from Himeji to see the autumn leaves. So, Shell, Chi-chan and I managed to meet with Claus's group and eat at a "omuraisu" (omellete + rice) restaurant. There were some problems meeting with Noemy and Lee, so they couldn't have dinner with us, but we met later and could talk for a while before the groups dispersed.

The red leaves weren't over yet, but I'll leave that for another post.

Oddities...

Some strange articles around...

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Banning Samurai Swords (London)

"The government said Wednesday it would ban the sale of samurai swords because the weapons had been used in a number of serious, high-profile attacks.

The Home Office said the swords would be added to the Offensive Weapons Order from April next year, meaning they could not be imported, sold or hired."

Samurai swords are killing people, so we should ban them. Why not use the same logic to, for example, guns...? But it's just an interesting thing. Can't blame the guys too much because, at least, they recognized in a way that it's not the weapons that necessarily kill people. It's the people who wield them...

"However collectors of genuine Japanese swords and those used by martial arts enthusiasts would be exempt from the ban.

'In the wrong hands, samurai swords are dangerous weapons,' Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said."

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Gags about poverty (Japan)

"On TV Asahi's popular variety show "Zenigata Kintaro," whose title is a parody of Zenigata Heiji, a famous fictional hero, comedians visit the homes of people who claim to be poor and learn how they get by on very little money. On each program, four contestants are profiled and a panel of judges chooses the most interesting or original survival story and awards the winner ¥200,000.

The situations are played for laughs, even though some contestants make do without running water or electricity, others live in spaces that barely give them room to sit down, and almost everyone survives on diets that wouldn't nourish a gnat."

... Really. For "survival stories" they should go to some places outside Japan...

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Kogyaru grow into monster mums (Japan)

"Generation kogyaru has come of age. Heaven help their kids, says Shukan Bunshun.

'Kogyaru' means high-school girl, but the kogyaru phenomenon of the 1990s had more to do with what went on outside class. Kogyaru fashion called for thick makeup, dyed hair, bronzed skin, short skirts, loose socks and high-rise platform-soled shoes. Kogyaru mores were as loose as the socks, typified by telephone clubs, date clubs and various other avenues of easy coupling whose most noted aspect was enjo kosai — casual sex with older men for pocket money to buy brand-name goods. "

"Yuka, 26, paints her first-grade daughter's ultralong nails. The school protests — the child's nails are so long she can't hold a pencil properly. Never mind, says Yuka: 'Writing with a pencil isn't important. Nowadays people write with computers and cell phones. In junior high school she'll have to wear a uniform. Now is the time to develop her fashion sense. For a girl,' she says — a surprising throwback to pre-kogyaru, pre-feminist thinking — 'the main thing is to be attractive.'"

What can I possibly say?? Poor kids is the only thing I can think of...

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Lately I'm having fun reading the blog Muito Japao. It has some curiosities about Japan that you probably would have to live here to know otherwise... sometimes not even that. Some posts I read and after realise how different it is, but I got used to that after staying for a while in Japan. Others are things that I've never saw myself... but wouldn't be so surprised if they existed here.

One of the things is some kind of mask to keep one's face small. For some reason, for Japanese standards, small faces are beautiful.

The posts are in Portuguese, but most of them have pictures. Some of them self-explanatory.

Himeji Jo returns!

Backlog!! Ouch! History repeats itself all right... I have a bunch of things in backlog, and I'm sure that some of them will never see daylight, exactly like what happened two years ago. Well, I'd better do some catch-up and update what I can...

This one happened some time ago. October 12th and 13th to be precise. But I think it's worth starting here.

Among the people I met again since I returned to Japan, there's the Himeji Gang. But the gang is not complete... and among those who I haven't met yet was Jojo. Then, when word spread that she'd return and spend some days to Himeji I simply had to make my move and try to meet again.

The gang had scheduled a night at Tiger Pub. But since I could take the day off, I decided to meet some other people. Which meant a visit to University of Hyogo - Shosha Campus!

And some nostalgic meetings. Lunch with some English professors, as Silvia and I used to do before. Then, meet again N. and group. We did English class and some others together, and although English is far from being N.'s specialty, he made the classes interesting (= funny)... haha!

After that, meeting with Noemy, the current exchange student under the program Silvia and I went two years ago, and some of her friends... And they're living way better then we did before... But that's good news. It means that things are improving, I think. I may be just a little jealous because the place is even better then the one I'm living now... hehe!

Finally, meeting Jojo and the gang again at Tiger! There's one sentence she said that defined exactly the feeling: "Meeting [almost] everyone in Tiger again makes it feel like we went back on time!" My thoughts exactly... I could imagine the other absent people around sometimes... and no! I was not hallucinating!! Nor drunk! LOL

(I wanted to upload a larger picture, but for some wierd reason, Blogger won't let me do it...)

The only bad point is that it was too brief... and since I live in Kyoto now I could meet again after I returned. Make sure you come visit Kyoto next time, Jojo! Kyoto, kimono and karaoke... that's your perfect combination, right?

More everyday life

Some other short misc stories...

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Being in Japan is a good way to know Japanese culture. Even parts that even most Japanese don't know...

Eating with a group one day, some Japanese guy mentions that it's said the farther (from the edge that touches the food) one holds one's chopsticks when eating, the more detached from his/her parents one is. An interesting bit of Japanese culture, except that nobody else knew that, and there were other Japanese at that table...

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Sometimes differences appear in things you don't expect...

I've read the last book of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. And there was a friend who had just read it and was anxious to talk to someone about the book. We discussed for a couple of days, and one of her comments, after she found someone else who had also read the book was quite interesting...

In her opinion, one of the most shocking things on the series was scenes where someone is tortured (I won't give names to avoid spoiling too much). It'd be shocking considering those books are read by lots of children, although it happen only in the latter volumes (when many of the readers have aged a little as well).

But when she commented that with her friend (I can't quite remember if she was Japanese or Chinese...), that friend said that more shocking than the torture scenes were those where couples (ah well, those who've read will know) kissing each other in public and such...

I won't be so hasty to call that cultural difference, though. Cultural background may have helped, but I'd attribute the reason for such difference more to their personal opinions.

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There are times when chance decides to play with us.

I was with a group or Brazilians around downtown Kyoto (Sanjo Kawaramachi), and as we were walking, we were talking about a variety of things. It came to the point when we were discussing some "strange behaviors" of some Japanese men. I mean, Japan is a country where people touch each other less than in Brazil (and I miss that sometimes), especially when it comes to physical contact between men and women.

(Note: I'm ignoring physical contact in crowded places and other sorts of involuntary contact.)

But when it comes to man and man, sometimes we see things that would be very suspicious in Brazil. Two guys massaging each other in public? Giving hands? And the looks of some may rise some suspicion already...

So that was more a less how the conversation was going. And then one of the girls said: "So what if men give hands to each other? It's so kawaii (cute)..."

At that moment, two girls who were walking in the opposite direction passed through us. And as it happened, we heard one word from their conversation...

"kawaisou (pityful / poor)..."

The timing and the subtle change that modified completely the meaning were so perfect that all of us couldn't help but laugh.

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Living in an international environment is excellent make one reconsider one's prejudices and stereotypes. Still, sometimes I wonder...

How would you react if you met an international student from Iran studying nuclear technology? Ironic to say the minimum...

No "ho, ho!"??

Nowadays, in many places there's a pressure to be "politically correct", to "protect our children" (guess some things children in my generation saw and did would not be acceptable now...), etc..

But when I read articles like this one, I'm sure we're overdoing it... The original can be found here.

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Santas warned 'ho ho ho' offensive to women
Wed Nov 14, 9:45 PM ET

SYDNEY (AFP) - Santas in Australia's largest city have been told not to use Father Christmas's traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it may be offensive to women, it was reported Thursday.
Sydney's Santa Clauses have instead been instructed to say "ha ha ha" instead, the Daily Telegraph reported.

One disgruntled Santa told the newspaper a recruitment firm warned him not to use "ho ho ho" because it could frighten children and was too close to "ho", a US slang term for prostitute.

"Gimme a break," said Julie Gale, who runs the campaign against sexualising children called Kids Free 2B Kids.

"We are talking about little kids who do not understand that "ho, ho, ho" has any other connotation and nor should they," she told the Telegraph.

"Leave Santa alone."

A local spokesman for the US-based Westaff recruitment firm said it was "misleading" to say the company had banned Santa's traditional greeting and it was being left up to the discretion of the individual Santa himself.

Face and finger, please

So, from November 20th, all non-Japanese, with some few exceptions (“special permanent residents” of Korean and Taiwanese descent who had Japanese nationality before the end of the war and their descendants, diplomats, children under age 16 and those visiting at the invitation of the government) arriving in Japan will be fingerprinted and photographed.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, you may want to check articles and posts at Slashdot (check the comments), asahi.com in English and Japanese (interesting to notice the difference between the versions), Japan Times, Global Voices Online, debito.org, Yahoo Brasil (in Portuguese) and Reuters.

And that gives me an impression that they're imitating the US...

I mean, those "fingerprint-and-photograph-foreigners" stuff has been around there since a couple of years after 9/11 attacks. And, like what happened in Japan, before it there were protests. Still, I didn't see any way it could be refuted, especially at the time. Those who could change the decision, US citizens, were more scared of terrorist attacks than worrying about "non-Americans rights" or other stuff...

I only have hopes that people working at those places in Japan won't be so arrogant as those at the same function in the US. Lots of friends have bad stories to tell about arrogant officers, a second of hesitation or a strange answer that guaranteed some minutes at that "other room" or such... Which is sort of ironic since there were posters when I was there for the last time saying that they were "the face of our [US] nation".

What really sounds lame are the reasons the Japanese government gave to justify the measure: terrorism!? Honestly... just admit your real intentions (or at least the other ones) and it will be better for everyone... And doing the same process to long-term residents also seems very fishy...

Anyway, what's done is done. And I don't see many ways on how this could be reversed, since foreigners have practically no political voice in Japan (among other reasons). The only one I can imagine is if tourism decreases dramatically because of that, what I think it's unlikely.

The other way is if other countries (lots of them) follow the principle of reciprocity and Japanese people start to feel what it's like. Well, Brazil did that to US citizens, even though I can't tell what's stupider: saying it's "a way to fight terrorism" or that it's "payback". Besides, it could work the other way around, making Japanese more resentful of foreigners.

Maybe the most ironic article I've seen about this is here. I won't transcript it this time, but it resembles another one I saw before US did the same thing (can't find the link, though).

Still, it could be worse. Considering that every country has its own regulations about immigration, weird things can happen. Like a couple that was denied entry in New Zealand for being overweight.

Wedding... not mine.

There are times that I may regret not being in Brazil, or at least not being able to go there immediately... for either good or bad motives. I mentioned a bad one not so long ago. Time to give an example of the other.

A friend is marrying at this exact moment. A very good friend. And I really want to go to the ceremony... but unless I learn to teleport at international scale or anything equivalent, that's out of question.

Although I can't go there, I decided to do some little celebration of my own here during the same time the wedding is probably taking place, and this post is part of it.

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Quem diria, hein rapaz? Tá preparado pra tomar porrada de pau de macarrão? Heh! Eu podia começar um discurso típico de casamento, dizendo como a gente se conheceu, como você é um cara legal e tals, mas depois da festa você talvez esteja de saco cheio... e a gente já fez uma sessão flashback quanto te liguei desejando os parabéns.

Pena não poder participar da festa... A gente não dá muita sorte mesmo nisso, não é? Já perdi a sua festa de formatura da outra vez que vim pro Japão... A culpa é sua que só marca esses grandes eventos da sua vida quando estou do outro lado do mundo!! Também não vou te convidar pra minha festa de formatura aqui... huahuahuahuahua!!

Mas fica convidado a dar uma passada em casa se aparecer no Nihon enquanto eu ainda estiver por aqui... ou seja lá onde eu estiver e você conseguir dar uma chegada... Pelo jeito até lá na casa do Brasil minha mãe ficaria mais que feliz em te receber com pão de queijo e PS2... mesmo sem a minha presença. Hehehe!

E tô esperando as fotos do casório! Com direito a montagens me incluíndo no meio da muvuca, hein!

Ah sim... e depois quero seus comentários sobre vida de casado. Preciso ter certeza no que posso estar me metendo se um dia essa idéia me passar pela cabeça... Huahuahauahuahua!

PS: Avisa se estiver interessado na faixa preta. E, se estiver, vou precisar do kanji do seu sobrenome.

Bank Heist in Japan?

On November 6th I met a Brazilian student who said that there was an attempt of bank robbery at a bank here in Kyoto. It was the first time I've heard of such thing here. It seems that the police was blocking part of the roads around the area looking for the suspect or something like that, so the shuttle bus who carries students from one campus to another got late.

Since it was an unusual thing and it happened relatively close to where we live (the same city at least...), she looked for something about it on the internet and sent to others. I'll transcribe the Kyoto Shinbun article (links in Japanese):

郵便局に刃物男、局長抵抗し軽傷山科、男が逃走

　６日午前７時５０分ごろ、京都市山科区御陵原西町、京都山科御陵郵便局の通用口前で、出勤してきた佐々木貞仁局長（60）が男に羽交い締めにされ、刃物を突き付けられて「強盗や、中に入れ」と脅された。佐々木局長が抵抗すると、男は走って逃げた。局長は男ともみ合った際に左手を切る軽傷を負った。山科署が強盗傷害事件として捜査している。

　山科署によると、通用口は郵便局の裏側の路地に面しており、佐々木局長が通用口前の門を開けようとしたところ、後ろから男に襲われ、首に包丁のような刃物を突き付けられた。局長が刃物を握るようにして振り払うと、男は何も取らずに西へ逃げた、という。

　男は３０歳ぐらいで、身長約１７０センチ。黒色サングラスに黒色ニット帽、黒色ジャンパー姿で、灰色のリュックサックを持っていた、という。

　近所の印刷業の男性（57）は「『包丁』という叫び声がしたので外に出ると、（佐々木局長が）手から血を流していた」と驚いていた。

　事件を受け、現場近くの鏡山小と陵ケ岡小は集団下校を決めた。

　現場は地下鉄東西線御陵駅の東約２００メートルの三条通に面した住宅地。

For those who don't understand Japanese, a man in his 30's armed with a knife ("kitchen knife"; 包丁) tried to dominate the director of a post office (people can also open accounts at post offices in Japan) before he opened the agency, but the director (who's 60 years old) reacted and the robber ran away. The director had only a slight injury on his left hand, result of his struggle against the robber.

Guess the Brazilians who read this blog won't find it impressive at all. Maybe just a little because it happened in Japan... Japanese robbers may still have a long way to go, either in efficiency or in violence. But, really, it's better they do... That's one of the things I like in Japan and wouldn't like to see changed.

Elite Squad!!

Even though I'm in Japan, I try to keep myself updated about what's happening in Brazil too. And I've received news about a Brazilian movie called "Tropa de Elite" (Elite Squad).

Part of the news were about the film being pirated and available on the internet or at "camelos" way before the official release date.

Other was the response to the movie. It has been a while since a Brazilian movie had such an appeal to the general public. Or at least that's what it seems...

It also generated lots of discussion and controversy. From the Wikipedia article:

"When the film was first leaked, it caused a major controversy for its portrayal of Capitão Nascimento's unpunished police brutality in favelas. At its premier in Rio de Janeiro, the audience cheered Capitão Nascimento in such scenes. Arnaldo Bloch, in an article of O Globo, called the film 'fascist' for justifying the actions of a killer cop and making the audience believe that his behavior should be acceptable. Padilha responded saying that the film is seen through Capitão Nascimento's point of view, but does not justify it. Michel Misse, a researcher for Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, in an interview to Carta Capital, tried to explain why Capitão Nascimento is cheered: 'as the judiciary system cannot keep up with the demand for punishment, some may think civil rights leads to unpunishment. And then, they want illegal solutions. That's why Capitão Nascimento is called'."

My opinion is that Misse is right. Numbers show that a good part of the population approve Cpt. Nascimento's methods, and it may be because they don't have any hope of seeing any solution for problems like drug traffic and urban violence through the "conventional channels". Higher percentages of people in Rio seem to approve his methods. Perhaps because they're closer to that "reality"...

Interesting is how Cpt. Nascimento is being "worshipped" for some; more a less the same way as Chuck Norris at the "Chuck Norris Facts" website. Guess a legend was born...

There are also two other points about the movie. One regards the responsibility of those whose recreational drug use results in the financing of illegal activities. Those users usually belong to middle or high social classes. So, ironically, they finance crime while complaining about public security and urban violence. What goes around comes around, perhaps? But in this case others also pay the price. For example police officers are killed every year by drug dealers and many poor children also end up in the dealers' ranks, finding an early death.

Drug dealers exist because there are people interested in the "product". Market. But users are usually seen as victims rather than part of the problem. Just put more pressure on users won't solve the problem, though.

The second point I'll condense in a quote from Cpt. Nascimento. It illustrates well why so many things doesn't work (not only in Brazil):

"The police depends on the system and the system doesn't work to solve problems of society. The system works to solve the system's problems."

And not only the police... It's some sort of way of saying that the system no longer worries about the society, instead it cares only about itself. Excessive bureaucracy is probably the most visible sign of that.

Here's a "trailer" I found with English subtitles (not official). Even though there are some grammar errors it's probably enough for a preview... As a last comment, I wonder how they'll put subtitles. Many words are street language, very hard to translate.

Jokes: Portuguese X Brazilian

I said that a couple of times already, but as the university has many foreign students, I'm living in some sort of international environment. While it may be a little strange having more friends from many different countries rather than Japanese friends (considering I'm in Japan), I'm really enjoying it a lot. It's an enriching experience.

It's also a good chance to know interesting things.

A recent one is related to jokes. In Brazil, we tell jokes about Portuguese people where they are depicted as fools in general. I've heard that in Portugal it works the other way around: jokes about Brazilians in that same way. There's even a joke in Brazil about that saying that Portuguese people wouldn't be able to make their own jokes and just use jokes from Brazil, changing "Portuguese" for "Brazilian".

Well, thanks to that "international environment" I got some of those jokes told in Portugal from a Portuguese student. I was a bit surprised though for noticing that some of the jokes I've listened to not as jokes about Portuguese, but about blondes. I'm transcribing some here, with some from Brazil as well.

I guess it's understandable that I won't try to translate them, so all the jokes will be written in Portuguese.

-----
Piadas de português do Brasil

***
O português vê uma máquina de refrigerante e fica maravilhado. Coloca uma ficha e cai uma latinha. Coloca 2 fichas e caem 2 latinhas. Coloca 10 fichas e caem 10 latinhas.
Então ele vai ao caixa e pede 50 fichas. O caixa diz:
-Desse jeito você vai acabar com as minhas fichas.
-Não adianta, eu não paro enquanto estiver ganhando!

***
Em Lisboa, após um incêndio no pequeno prédio, os bombeiros, verificando os destroços, encontraram apenas um morto.
E justamente o avô do Manuel, que estava de cabeça para baixo, com o dedo indicador apontando para um dos cantos do ambiente.
Ao seu lado, um extintor de incêndio, com a seguinte instrução:
"Em caso de incêndio, vire para baixo e aponte para a chama".

***
Joaquim José estava a querer mandar um presente do Brasil para Maria, sua esposa além-mar. Passeando pelas ruas do rio, encontrou uma caixa de fósforos tamanho família. Empacotou e mandou para Portugal.
Meses após no telefone...
- Oh Maria, gostaire do presente que te mandei?
- Oh Joaquim José, gostaire eu gostei, mas todos os fósforos não funcionam!
- Oh Maria! Você não estas a saber usaire! Testei todos antes de te mandar! Acendi um por um e todos funcionaram!!!

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Piadas de brasileiro em Portugal

***
O Brasileiro chega-se ao homem no balcão e diz:
-"Olhe, eu queria um churrasco."
-"O senhor é Brasileiro, não é?"
-"Sim.. mas o senhor descobriu pelo sotaque ou pelo prato que pedi?"
-"Bem, é que aqui é o MCDONALD'S"

***
Estavam dois portugueses e um brasileiro conversando num bar:
1º Português: - Epá, eu acha que a minha mulher está-me a trair com um pedreiro...
E o outro: - Porquê?
E o 1º Português: - Ontem achei uma marreta debaixo da cama...
E o 2º: - Se é assim, então a minha está-me a trair com um empregado de limpeza...
O outro: - Porquê?
E o 2º Português: - Hoje mesmo, eu encontrei um esfregão debaixo da cama...
Então o Brasileiro: - Ai, então a Maria me está traindo com um cavalo...
E os Portugueses: - Como assim?????
E o Brasileiro: - Simana passada achei um Joquei em baixo da cama...

***
- No Brasil:
- Doutor, doutor, me dá uma injecção anti-britânica!
- Anti-britânica que nada. Injecção anti-tetânica.
- Que nada, doutor. Foi com uma chave-inglesa!

You Were Always Invincible in My Eyes...

That was a long period without updates here. Realy sorry for those who still read this blog (anyone?). I can say some reasons, but perhaps only one is worth mentioning.

I got messages from my family telling my grandmother died.

She was the only of my grandparents still alive. Besides, the one I liked the most... and I think she liked me as well. Especially when I got the scholarships to Japan (in both occasions - Himeji and Kyoto) she seemed happy...

Enough reminiscing. Time for mourning is over already. I only feel a little regretful for not being able to return for the funeral...

Well, she had a long life, with ups and dows as far as I know, but a family that loves her a lot. It can be said as a deserved rest...

As for the title, it's an interesting part of "Could it be Any Harder" (The Calling) lyrics. I first heard that music days before I got the sad news, and those lyrics fit well in the situation... at least that's what I thought during mourning.

Now back to the show. I have lots of backlog here...

T-shirts and Moving

In some sense, the way you dress says a little about you. Maybe based on that (and that it would tell everyone about what that person did), a judge made a sex offender walk with a T-shirt with "sex offender" written on it. While it may sound a little weird, as I mentioned before, some people wear T-shirts with things written at almost the same level without noticing it... Engrish and bad kanji words, for example. If they wonder what may go wrong, maybe this Chaser's video may help...



Talking about Chaser's, another interesting video I saw gave me an interesting idea for when I have to move next year...



What do you think? Would it work? Haha!

Himeji Castle Revisited (姫路城)

On September 16th, I went to Himeji again. This time to meet Noemy, who is in Himeji this year under the same exchange program I went two years ago. While discussing what to do, she said she had never been to Himeji Castle... Really, people never go to places close to where they live, huh?


Since the plan was going to Himeji Castle, I also invited some friends in Kyoto. Lucia, Megumi, Fabio and Carol joined the small trip. In Himeji Noemy also called a friend of hers... a Korean exchange student whose name I forgot (sorry...)

And since the conversation turned to Himeji Castle, I realized that even though living in Himeji for almost one year I've never wrote about the castle. Well, it's not a matter of backlog this time. When I first went there, I didn't even had dreams of writing this blog. So I'll put some other stories together with the one I mentioned above.

Himeji Castle is also known as "Hakuro-jo" or "Shirasagi-jo" (White Heron Castle). It's one of the most beautiful castles in Japan, and one of the few that is still mostly intact. It was also one of the first World Heritage Sites in Japan. Its military architecture softened by its beautiful aesthetic lines make it, for many, the definitive samurai castle.

In short, if you want to see a Japanese castle, Himeji Castle is strongly recommended.



For those who may be wondering about the picture with sakura (cherry blossoms) since it's not spring, that picture was taken two years ago when I first went to Himeji Castle. Reminiscing a little bit (being back into the castle made me remember those things), it was during my first week in Japan. As sakura were all over the place and it was my first time seeing it, I just had to take pictures. Silvia had the idea to go to the castle and took us there (although none of us still knew how to determine the bus fare correctly...). The problem was that I was the only one with a camera... and I had the ability to forget it! So I went all the way back home to get it (always an airhead, huh?)... The beginning of many "adventures" and one of the many things I have to thank her for.

Back to the present, although the weather forecast was indicating rain, the weather was good (as the other picture shows), so we had a good time exploring the castle's surroundings. When we were about to enter the castle the weather was already changing... and the weather forecast was confirmed a little later. Fortunately we were already inside the castle at that time. And the rain stopped a little when we went out, so we could explore a little more before the rain started again. But then we were already on our way to lunch...

For lunch, some Chinese food at Kohouseki. The Chinese restaurant where Jon and I used to go... (Heh, still miss you around.) As it usually happens when Brazilians gather, we chatted there for a long time... More precisely, until we noticed that they were setting tables for dinner! Haha!

Some people wanted dessert. As my usual place (also a place where Jon and I used to go) wasn't there anymore I had no recommendations left... We found some place with good parfaits after walking around a bit. And - guess what? - stayed there talking until the place was about to close.

After a good day with lots of talk (hah!), back to Kyoto...

Ah, and sorry to my other friends in Himeji... Can't meet everyone. I'll still return to meet you!

Before going, Kazu had mentioned there were some English guided tours to the castle. I have never entered the castle with a guide, and it could have been interesting. It's not always available, though. Maybe next time... Besides, that probably wouldn't have worked with a large group...

Okinawa (沖縄) - Part 3

Ok, final part of my stories in Okinawa.

September 10th. I had scheduled a diving activity for the day. The scheduling itself deserves comment. I was originally trying to schedule a diving activity offered by the Youth Hostel. Maybe some kind of association between the YH and a diving company, who knows. On the 6th I tried to make a reservation for the 9th. It turned out that they were full for that day. I heard about that on the 7th, so I asked for the 10th and they were full as well. The only way was to look for another company.

With some help from the YH staff we found another company and scheduled it for the 10th.

So, the schedule for people without experience is: go to Kerama (one of the smaller islands around) where, after some instructions, there will be snorkeling and scuba-diving. For the scuba part, there will be one instructor with you. After lunch and moving to another location, more snorkeling (people with experience go scuba-diving) and then return. They come get you at your hotel (as long it's in Naha) and take you back there at the end.

The company's website is here. I recommend it if someone without experience wants to give it a shot, but they give instructions only in Japanese, meaning that a reasonable Japanese language proficiency is needed. Well, if even I managed to understand that there's no big problem, right? Nih...

Off with the advertisements, how can I say it... Diving is great!!! It was a great experience that really made me consider getting a diving license, even though it's a little expensive... I have to give proper credits to the place, though. The sea is very beautiful there, with many beautiful fishes and coral reefs. Even snorkeling was really good.




A relative of mine once said that diving was like exploring a new world. I think I've begun to understand the meaning now...

Ah, and it's said that foreign students attract each other. Well, it happened that on the same day I went there were a couple who were Chinese students in Tokyo. And as we all had no previous experience, we were in the same "group"... Talk about coincidences...

But the day wasn't over yet! There's something missing, isn't there? Well, actually there are lots... Anyway, I had a chance of experiencing the view of a "native Okinawan" by meeting Kazue-san, a relative of a friend. I had tried to contact her before coming, but could schedule something only on the 8th.

After eating at a sushi restaurant and visiting her house, we tried to reach some beach. The problem was that, at that time, most beaches were closing. Yeah, you read it right. Some beaches have opening and closing times. Or at least so it seems... For many Brazilians that may sound weird.

Since beaches were already out of the question, we went to a market in downtown Naha. But this time it was a market visited more by people who live there. Some kind of seafood and pork market where you can also buy something and go eat it (properly cooked) in the restaurant upstairs. Interesting system.


I also relized why Okinawans' reaction when we say what's Brazilian feijoada is made of is different than most Japanese people. They eat parts of the pork used for feijoada, something that's not usual in the main island... I think.

After that, a walk at the omiyage (souvenir) section, with many "hints" of "Okinawan souvenirs", some ice creams while waiting an unexpected rain to go away (It didn't. We went out anyway) and we called it a day.

On the next day I was going back to Kyoto, finishing that pleasant trip.

Well, it was a great trip for which I have to thank Kazue-san for guiding and treating me. Also, the Okinawa International Youth Hostel staff, who helped me to schedule many things, not only the diving.

Couldn't to go all the places I wanted to, but it might be better that way. So that I have good reasons to go back to Okinawa... no, Ryukyu, someday.

Besides, that trip made me remember how nice it is to travel alone once in a while... Including all the stupid mistakes that come with that.

Another good surprise was that I noticed I have mileage enough for one more domestic travel... Where should I go this time?

Okinawa (沖縄) - Part 2

Continuing to write about the trip to Okinawa.

September 8th. I decided to head to Gyokusendo (玉泉洞). According to my Japan guidebook it's the second largest cave in Japan, where more than 460 thousand stalactites can be observed. The largest number in Japan. Some resemble shapes like giant bamboos, wine glasses and Rodin statues.

Also, there is that a whole park was built around the cave: Okinawa World (おきなわワールド).

A scheme to attract more tourists to the place? Maybe. Although the cave itself was reason enough to draw me there, a Japanese friend I had asked for advice before didn't mention that place.

Okinawa World focus on showing traditional Okinawan culture, with Eisa dance presentations, a traditional crafts village and tropical orchards. There's even a museum showing Okinawa's indigenous snake "Habu" among other snakes of the world.


Still, for me the cave was the main attraction. The stalactites have a variety of forms, some said to be very rare.




The next stop was Shuri castle (首里城). A good place to visit, and it's quite east to get there. Although it was almost completely destroyed during the Battle of Okinawa, it was reconstructed based on the original. It doesn't have elevators or anything that spoils the fact it was reconstructed too much, which is a good thing. It's architecture is way different than other Japanese castles. Part of it reminded me of Tosho-gu in Nikko.

(Nikko is another of my backlogs that never did its way to the blog. I went there in 2005 to celebrate Christmas with other Brazilian students. I may have mentioned it a couple of times, though...)



There was still time to walk around Kokusai-doori (国際通り), Naha (Okinawa's capital)'s main "shopping street", and see some of its weird figures...


And also have some "Okinawa soba" for dinner...

The next day, I was planning to go to the beach and visit the Cornerstone of Peace (沖縄戦跡国定公園). But something made me change my plans...

It was raining. Hard.

So I had to change my plans for something duller: go around the Okinawa Monorail. So I bought the 1-day pass and was going to various stations and strolling around. When the rain became more bearable I was close to Shuri. Then I remembered an advice of A. (a Japanese friend who had gone to Okinawa some weeks before) saying that Tamaudun (玉陵) was a good place to visit. It was a mausoleum for the royal family, the Ryuukyuuan. Visiting a mausoleum under rainy weather... Perfect, isn't it?

The place is nice somewhat, but part of it was closed due to the rain... duh!

Since the rain was still bearable, I decided to play stubborn and go to the beach. And one it's said to be good: Bi-bi Beach Itoman (美々ビーチいとまん).

The Cornerstone of Peace would have been a better choice, though...

There wasn't a regular bus that stopped in front of the beach, but one stopped close enough. The only problem is that the same bus number went through various routes, one of which was the one I needed...

Guess if I rode the right bus...

I ended up at Itoman bus terminal. Which is not very close to anything that mattered. And the rain was getting strong again. I still played stubborn and was walking to that beach...

When I finally saw a sign indicating I was getting close (about 1km...) The scenario became more like "middle of nowhere"... Worse, the rain turned part of the path into something more like a swimming pool. And some cars crossing it made it even more risky to go through walking (splash damage! Literally...)... Then the rain got so strong that I had to go back looking for cover (no cover where I was or anywhere I could see ahead). The umbrella wasn't enough anymore. (What? Thought I was really simply embracing the rain?! Hah!).

That was the point where it couldn't be only Murphy anymore... I decided to quit and go back as soon as the rain weakened.

Well, the image of myself soaked finishes the fourth day. The conclusion awaits at part 3! Many good stories come in three parts, you know...

Okinawa (沖縄) - Part 1

Following the summer vacation trips, since before I went to Japan for the first time, lots of people were telling me how wonderful Okinawa is... The beaches, the people... Like the closest to Brazil you can get in Japan (uhmm... I'm excluding the Brazilian communities in Japan). So, since my return I wanted to "go see it", but with two advantages this time: a better scholarship; and lots of mileage earned from my trips between Brazil and Japan during the last two years, enough to get a free round-trip ticket. I went to Okinawa from September 6th to 11th.


Since I was redeeming mileage, it was hard to find someone to go with me. Whatever. It was a place I really wanted to go, and travelling alone has its advantages. Flexibility is probably the most remarkable one. And it was something I made use of.

First discovery: Kansai International Airport is not so close from Kyoto...

Mario once said that "you can feel the difference between Okinawa and the rest of Japan in the air as you arrive there. Especially regarding people. In Okinawa, people are warmer". It isn't that fast to notice, but it's true. From the beginning, I had a good impression... Maybe one of the cutest ones was the voice annoucing the stations of the Okinawa Monorail. The voice seemed cheerful, something not usual for the railways I've been to. The lady's slight accent when announcing stations in English is cute (no, it's not because of her Engrish)...

Then my two first mistakes appeared: the first one was believing that something that's "close to the station" would be easy to find even without a map... The second one was believing that the neighboring islands could be visited in one-day trips. The only way to do that is using airplanes, which means expensive. So much for visiting Kume Island... I had to discard that.

Another thing that I was told, but you really figure that out when you're at the place: cars are a good thing to have in Okinawa. The problem is that I was travelling alone and my Brazilian driver's license is no good in Japan. So I had to trust public transportation, a.k.a. buses.

Well, how bad could it be? I mean, since it's the main public transportation system, there should be lots of buses around, right?

Not exactly.

I was going to visit the Okinawa Ocean Expo Park, which includes Churaumi Aquarium (that has the largest acrylic window in the world). But in Okinawa, as well as in most of Japan, bus fares are paid when you get down the bus and it depends on the distance you've rode. Longer distances have larger fares, which I think it's quite fair. Anyway, as I was riding a bus, I noticed that I didn't have enough change to get there. I decided then to get off somewhere, buy some food in order to have some change ready and ride the next bus. When I heard that the bus would stop in front of Meio University I knew where I would get off.

Explaining: Meio University is a "sister university" of Londrina State University (where I went for undergrad) and they have an exchange program that sends students from one university to another every year. I've met both Japanese and Brazilian students who went through that program, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to know the University.

But then I had two surprises: the first one was the next bus would be there only in two hours!!!

Well, that left me with lots of time to spend, and I spent most of it looking for the university... I mean, I saw the sign indicating the university and walked around for a while looking for other structures related... without finding any! Surprise number two. Is that university like Hogwarts, being hidden from "muggles" and requiring some password or anything to get access!?!? I managed to see a pineapple park (!?!?) and a handmade glass factory in the meantime, though.

In the end, I managed to get to the park. And it's sure something! It even has a beach (エメラルドビーチ) inside the complex. I also realized why so many people say Okinawa's Churaumi (美ら海水族館) it's better than Osaka's aquarium (海遊館)...




(Interlude: I've been to Osaka's Kaiyukan two years ago, but guess it's one of my backlogs that I completely forgot to write about. It's well worth going, though.)

There was still time to stroll sound a bit, so I went to see some sort of "Dolphin Theater" (オキちゃん劇場).


A surprise still awaited me at the Native Okinawan Village (おきなわ郷土村). In one of the houses, there were some ladies teaching basics of shamisen. That was a Japanese instrument I still hadn't played, so I gave it a try. And, although I may look Japanese, my broken language skills usually reveal that I'm not in no time. Asked where I came from, I said I was from Brazil. And she mentioned she has relatives who emiggrated to Brazil and have been there ever since. They still keep in touch, though... Then another of the ladies there mentioned the same thing (both families went to Sao Paulo area) and some other people there mentioned having been there as well... Call it karma if you want... Haha! That made me wonder how my family lost contact with their relatives in Japan...


And that was one day. To avoid making this post too long, I'll break it in parts. Stay tuned for part 2!

Prazer Gifu

So, continuing the summer vacation trips, On August 25th and 26th there was the "traditional" Gifu BBQ. Most known by the Portuguese name of "Churrascada de Gifu" (although the official name of the event became "Prazer Gifu").


The rendezvous point was Gifu station. Not so far from Kyoto, although I had some problems because I scheduled myself looking at timetables for weekdays, and it was a Saturday. "Baka Gaijin" strikes again, but nothing I wasn't used to.

Still, I was surprised to see some known faces... especially some I know from my hometown in Brazil (Londrina) and didn't know that were in Japan; and some I've met two years ago, while living in Himeji. Nice surprise right at the beginning.

Nice reception, too. There was an association backing the event... I know its name only in Portuguese, though (Associação Nipo-Brasileira de Gifu). They and the Brazilian exchange student in Gifu (Fê) did a great job. As we arrived at Entokuji (a temple), there was a Japanese lyric presentation... I forgot the name of the lady, but I remember that she was all in for the other activity that followed:

Samba and forro. So obvious that there would be an event where the Brazilian students teach the Japanese people there some samba... Not my speciality, though. Even so, I have to admit that I was missing some forro... Weird, huh? But I found out that I'm a little rusty...

They also lend some yukata for us to wear! Nice! After that, to the BBQ! Although I can't say that I was missing Brazilian style BBQ (check Shirahama post, for example), it's always great! In my humble opinion, better than Japanese "yakiniku"...

An observation: since most Brazilians were wearing yukata, there was an unusual situation during the BBQ, where most Japanese people were dressed "normally" and most Brazilians were in yukata... Haha!


During the BBQ there were other presentations. One I think it's based on a tale of a avaricious man... It was funny, especially because of the actor himself.


After, some belly dance presentation. The funniest part was when they invited some people to dance with them... Why only men were there?? Hah! Pure laughs...


We still had time to some bon odori (and Matsuri Dance) before going to the Nagara river to see some cormorant fishing. We couldn't see it well, but it's pretty interesting. They use fire to attract the fish, so the cormorants catch them. The "ducks" are avoided to swallow the fish because they have rings around their necks. After, they regurgitate their catch to the fisher.


As we went there and to the public bath by bus, I can only imagine the despair of the bus driver and other passengers as a large group of noisy foreigners invaded the bus... Or even in the public bath.

The night wasn't over yet as some spent almost the whole night playing "Mafia" game. I was tired, so I wasn't in that group...

Next day, going up all the way to the Gifu Castle. Some went up by cable car, others climbed their way up. I was in the former group, especially because I spent part of the morning running from some kids... For those who know me while I practiced judo, just remember how some kids used to try to pile on me. It was exactly like that, except that now my physical endurance is in a worse condition...

Although the castle itself isn't impressing (especially for someone who have lived in Himeji), the view from there is nice.

After that, some of us still went to the house of the Brazilian exchange student in Gifu (a huge one for Japanese standards...) to chat and play cards before leaving Gifu...

An excellent time with very nice people. AND with BBQ! What else one needs for a weekend?

There are also posts at the b2007 site and at celsosakuraba's photo log. Both in Portuguese, but with more pictures.

Here and There...

Yeah yeah... I'm still working on my travel posts backlog. Hope to post some soon...

Well, in Japan many foreigners wonder about some strange things here. Fashion and some behaviors are the most common to babble about. But in some situations they (we) may be more alike than we think...

I think that Engrish is something pretty well known. In case it's not, from the Wikipedia article: "Engrish refers to grammatically incorrect variations of English, often found in East Asian countries. While the term may refer to spoken English, it is more often used to describe written English, for which problems are easier to identify and publicize. Engrish has been found on everything from poorly translated signs, menus, and instruction manuals to bizarrely worded advertisements and strange t-shirt slogans".

T-shirt slogans... Very often foreigners see Japanese people with T-shirts or some other clothing with things written in English or other language that's... just not right. Think about lines like "spank on me", "don't worry, be sex" on your clothing and you may get the idea... The Engrish.com website has lots of examples.

But, on the other hand, using Japanese/Chinese ideograms is quite popular nowadays in many Western countries (and beyond, maybe). And we see more a less the same aberrations again... T-shirts with weird combinations of characters or simply with characters that aren't even true Chinese/Japanese ideograms. I've seen a tatoo of the ideogram for strenght (力)... the only problem is that it was mirrored!!

This Japan Times article shows some examples of how people make terrible mistakes with kanji that pair with , if are not worse than, Engrish.

Guess we can't make fun of people who wear Engrish clothing after all... And I started to double check the meaning of anything written on my clothing... or anywhere else.

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Sometimes I write about the "Dark Side" of Japan. I think it may be interesting for some friends who have never been to Japan and may still have the image usually taught from those who emigrated to Brasil decades ago.

But, although Japan may not be the wonderland some people may think, with cases like a rape aboard a train full of other passengers who saw it coming (no pun intended), it still has many points where it could be considered "superior" to Brazil.

Some recent facts in politics made me think about that... In Brazil and in Japan there were some scandals involving members of the government. So, what happened?

In Japan we had a Minister of Agriculture that commited suicide on May and now the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigned and was hospitalized the next day.

In Brazil...? A senator denying all charges against him, although the improbability of his innocence. And he was absolved by the Senate... not of all charges, but that first step makes it unlikely he'll be convicted of any of the remaining charges.

As for the "Dark Side" in Brazil, maybe more than drug dealers or urban violence, I think that impunity and corruption are the worst of all...

Otakus + SF3 + Rocks

I've been absent for a while, huh? Sorry for the lack of updates. I have my reasons, but it surely wasn't because of lack of what to write about. While my queue is growing, I still won't talk about any of the subjects there now.

For now, to keep the blog rolling, I'll put some videos.

First one I received from Kazu. It's an "otaku fight"... very funny indeed. And, as Kazu said, "a situation where one could use 'manga Japanese'"...



Then, the final match of a Street Fighter 3 championship. Have you ever been close to lose a match and managed to turn the tables and win? What about winning gracefully; a "technical victory"? I had my share of those, but surely not like this one...



Last but not least, a German short movie about how rocks' perception of time is different than ours... Nominated for the Academy Award in 2003

Shirahama (白浜)

From August 11th to 14th, a group with many Brazilian students went to Shirahama (Wakayama Prefecture). Including me.


What's in Shirahama? For the Brazilians there, the main feature that led them there can be said in one word: beaches. Good ones. But it turned out that there are astonishing landscapes as well.


Although some decided to use limited express trains, most gathered at morning on 11th to go from Kyoto to Shirahama using Seishun 18 Kippu. A 5~6-hour trip. Thanks to some people who previously checked the train timetables we got there safely and reached the beach house. It was quite old, and lots of insects around (some of them really big). But the rent was cheap and the location not bad.

After settling, we went to Shirarahama, the main beach of the place, said to have white sand imported from Australia. After spending the rest of the day there, during the night there was an event with candle lanterns and fireworks. All that at the beach was really a beautiful scenario...


Second day, we went to a beach behind the house. That one has more places to explore, with beautiful landscapes...

After that, the group splitted. Some returned to Kyoto, some walked around the beach... I went with some others to the "touristic spots". Namely 千畳敷 and 三段壁 (3 Step Cliff). The former has nice rocky points and the latter has a suicide spot and a cave used by pirates (or samurais... still don't know which one). But we were too tired to check the cave... plus the admission wasn't free...


At night, a barbecue by the beach... Perfect! What else can I say? Oh, maybe that the sky was clear enough for us to gaze at the stars... I'm still surprised about how the constellations are different on the Northern hemisphere. And there were shooting stars too! As if even the skies welcomed us...

Monday was decicated to leisure at the beach and walking around (and some more people returning to Kyoto). That was also the day then the weather tricked us. We decided to check the sunset at a place near a rocky point where it's possible to take good pictures (we saw that on postcards), but the clouds got in the way.


Also, while returning from Shirarahama it started to rain... So we decided to call a taxi. Since the six of us that were there wouldn't enter (drivers usually don't let it), two would have to go walking under the rain. I don't know if the driver felt pity for the two who were walking under the rain or if it was because our destination (the beach house) was a place linked to Kyoto University (meaning we were Kyodai students; and the university has a good reputation), but the driver let all six in.

The rain didn't stop another barbecue celebrating Cris's birthday. With champagne to make a toast to it! But it was still raining, so we had to do it close to the house this time... (It stopped after a while.)

The last day was also spent at the beach until we had to return...

Nice place, wonderful company and great memories of those days in Shirahama. If climbing Mt. Fuji was the best summer trip when I was living in Himeji, the trip to Shirahama will most certainly become the best summer trip of my first year in Kyoto.


Ah, have to mention the obasan responsible for the beach house, who appeared there every morning to wake everybody up at 8 a.m.. That, along with some other episodes, made some people angry at her... The ironic part is that one of who got most angry was one who got a ride from her back to the station. Guess she was just doing her job after all...

And we found other Brazilians around Shirarahama... Mostly dekasegis I think. No wonder that a good beach in Japan would attract other Brazilians around... But some were camping at the beach. Maybe someday there will be a sign there written "no camping"... in Portuguese.