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Broadcasting to an audience of three (and a goldfish)...
Comment, ramblings and musings... life through the eyes of a Japanologist...
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Monday, June 10, 2002 |
 Apparently, the chant of the moment is 'Nippon! Cha! Cha! Cha!'...
No need for a translation there, I think.
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No prizes for guessing what the top news item on this evening's main news was...
Yes, Japan's World Cup win. In fact, not only was it the main news, it was very nearly the only news. There was even speculation as to whether the 'feelgood factor' might give a boost to the Japanese economy. The scenes of the celebrations were amusing, especially the crowds in Tokyo and the man (in Osaka?) jumping from a bridge into a river.
Attention is shifting to the next match now, though- I can't wait to see what things will be like if Japan win and therefore progress into the second round...!
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Not quite connected to the ongoing indecision here about whether to become a city or not, but Fuchu-cho (one of the other towns in Aki-gun) voted yesterday on whether to gappei or not. The interesting thing is that there were not two, but three choices- 'continue as a town', 'join with Hiroshima', or 'become a city'. The 'Hiroshima' (in other words, gappei) option gained over 49% of the votes, but the other two options (which could be, and are being, construed as anti-gappei) gained just over 50% when taken together. Therefore, while the Mayor and the Town Council say that they will respect the views of the townspeople, the big question is, 'which view?'...
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Still on the subject of weather, the start of the rainy season in Yamaguchi Prefecture was declared today, which means that Hiroshima's rainy season is no more than a few days away. Certainly the humidity this evening feels like the tsuyu already...
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There is a reason for the approaching storm to have felt threatening, I suppose. Typhoon number 4 is off Kyushu as I write. Of course, at this distance there's no reason why it should be affecting the weather here, but I suppose it could have been some sort of subconscious apprehension.
In any case, the typhoon is heading towards Shikoku at a speed of 30km/h, and there's a chance that if it veers north even slightly, Hiroshima could come into its path. Only time will tell, though- typhoons are notoriously unpredictable.
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Great. Just before I was going to leave work, it began to rain. The skies had been threatening for most of the afternoon, but of course, the skies would have to open just as work finished. This is the first rain for ages, though, and in a strange way this afternoon felt as if we were waiting for something, as if something was going to happen. The freshening wind and the steadily darkening skies created a vague, intangible feeling of unease.
At first the rain was not much more than a drizzle, but in the ten minutes it takes to get home, it became first heavy enough to need an umbrella, and then a downpour. It is, strictly speaking, against the law to use an umbrella while riding a bike, but I did exactly this, in the race to get home before getting soaked.
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According to my sister, I'm basically perfect, but, speaking personally,
I'd have to admit to just a few faults, one of which is a complete
inability to remember names and faces. Normally, this is just mildly
embarrassing- an episode on a tram in Hiroshima once where I didn't
realise that the man trying to make conversation with me was in fact the
Headmaster of the High School here, and came very close to being very
rude to him springs to mind, as do the numerous times when someone in
the office will say, 'go and talk to *** about this,' and I have no clue
as to who is being referred to- but today I really need to
remember a certain face. And I can't.
The reason is that I want to
say thank you to the man who paid for me in the yakiniku-ya on
Friday night; but this is (not surprisingly) difficult if you can't
remember what the man in question actually looks like... Worse still is
the fact that I have a vague idea of the face I'm looking for, and
during the morning I've passed someone who could conceivably be the man,
about six times. So there's a fair chance I've already seen him and
failed to thank him- a definite social mistake in Japanese society.
I
think in the end I'm just going to have to creep around every
department- and hope I'll know him when I finally do see him...
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On duty this lunchtime, which meant a good karaage bento (fried
chicken lunchbox) at my desk. Not cheap, but excellent, and worth the
money.
Of course, this was hot on the heels of my groundbreaking
breakfast this morning. For the first time ever, I had miso-shiru
(the ton-jiru variety, if anyone's interested) for breakfast, in
my own house! I've had miso-shiru (traditional Japanese 'broth')
for breakfast before, when in hotels or Japanese friends' houses, but
this was the first time I'd ever felt like making it in the morning
myself. Is this another sign of having been in Japan for too long?
Mind you, not that this is a bad thing. It's healthy, it fits in
with my new 'chazuke seikatsu' policy, and it was damn tasty. I'm
looking forward to tomorrow morning already...!
Of course, to
mention that the only reason I made miso-shiru in the first place
was because I had no bread for toast would be to ruin the whole
'adopting wholesome Japanese lifestyle' thing, which is why I'll keep
that bit a secret...
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I got an email this morning to say that my application for a membership
card for the Kure Harbour Club (the American base in Kure) had passed
the background check stage. Well, that's a relief.
I wonder what they
were checking, though- and, perhaps more to the point, I wonder what
they found?
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A very pleasant feeling of relief. I submitted my newsletter article for
the month just now.
Of course, this means that in ten days or so
I'll have the dubious pleasure of checking the proof, but for now my
shoulders are feeling very light...
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It really does seem that the Japanese have fallen for St. George and the
English football team in a big way. It was good to see the flag of
England draped over the railings in the stadium in Yokohama last
night.
Of course, it's also heartening that in a country that quite
often seems to be nothing more than an appendage of the US, there's a
growing recognition of England and the UK, and a resurgence of interest
in the country.
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© Copyright 2003 Nathan Duckworth.
Updated: 8/1/03; 8:06:47 pm.
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