Straight From the News!

Thousands of Japanese have been swindled in a scam in which they were sold Australian and British sheep and told they were poodles.

Flocks of sheep were imported to Japan and then sold by a company called Poodles as Pets, marketed as fashionable accessories, available at $1,600 each.

That is a snip compared to a real poodle which retails for twice that much in Japan.

The scam was uncovered when Japanese moviestar Maiko Kawamaki went on a talk-show and wondered why her new pet would not bark or eat dog food.

She was crestfallen when told it was a sheep.



Then hundreds of other women got in touch with police to say they feared their new "poodle" was also a sheep.

One couple said they became suspicious when they took their "dog" to have its claws trimmed and were told it had hooves.

Japanese police believe there could be 2,000 people affected by the scam, which operated in Sapporo and capitalised on the fact that sheep are rare in Japan, so many do not know what they look like.

"We launched an investigation after we were made aware that a company were selling sheep as poodles," Japanese police said, the The Sun reported.

"Sadly we think there is more than one company operating in this way.
"The sheep are believed to have been imported from overseas - Britain, Australia."

Many of the sheep have now been donated to zoos and farms.

Ways to Die in Japan

Mochi: Every year people choke to death on the sticky stuff due to the New Year traditions of ozoni [mochi soup] and mochi pounding. The tally for 2006; 16 dead. 2007 is much lower at 4.

Fugu: No surprise here, the stuff is dangerous! 8,000 dead since 1887.

Eel: The eel-eating contests of summer brings on more choking deaths for Japan.

Yakuza: Usually a low risk, last week's murder of Nagasaki mayor Ito shows that yakuza are killers and not the helpful businessmen they like to be perceived as.

Ninja: There has been no verified death by ninja recently. But really, how would you know?

On the serious side, here's Japan's top 8 causes of death for 2006:

1. Cancer
2. Heart Disease
3. Cerebrovascular Disease [stroke]
4. Pneumonia
5. Accidents
6. Suicide
7. Liver Disease
8. TB

Note 1: Japan categorizes deaths a bit differently-- they have a nifty time limit. So if you're in a horrible car accident and die from the trauma within 24 hours, you're a car accident victim. After 24 hours, and the COD is something different. So the Nagasaki mayor technically died from blood loss, not a gunshot wound.

Fun with Food

After eating your freshly grilled fish, put the skeleton back on the fire. Crisp nicely and eat.
Verdict: Tasty and cruchy


Place hard, non-sweet mochi over fire. Watch as it first puffs, then splits. Once the interior has spilled out a bit, remove from heat, pull apart like taffy, then eat with soy sauce.
Verdict: Like mugwort-flavored marshmallow. Ok.


Make sweet soup with red beans. Put non-sweet mochi into bowl. Allow mochi to soften
due to heat of the soup. Eat, being careful not to inhale mochi-- it can kill.
Verdict: Very delicious in cold weather. But due to appearence, best eaten in the dark, alone.

Goodbye Enkais

Consider the fragile cherry blossom-- how delicate, how uplifting, yet how short is its life. Truly, life is the same.

Sakura season is also when all the teachers get jerked around to new schools. Which of course means enkais abound. Before the SHS enkai, we had an assembly for the teachers who left. It's always kinda fun to place bets on which teacher will cry, or how long until the tears and snuffles overwhelm the speech. My first year saw the big, tough PE teacher sobbing like a baby, but this year's teachers were made of sterner stuff. Of course the ladies teared up, but they continued on through the tears. But the true heartbreaker was the students-- holding onto each other, eyes streaming as they mourned the leaving of their teacher/coach.

But the enkai is definately livelier. Lots of drinking, lots of jokes, and lots of food. Everyone mills around, chatting. I chatted up my departed VP and JTE, and had a decent time for an evening of social niceties.

And two days later we had our farewell enkai with our Conversation students. Three months early, as they wanted the sakura backdrop. We went out to a Buddhist temple with a restuarant attached. And we ate. and ate. We ate for a continuous two hours. I was actually tired of the act of eating! We dined on freshly grilled fish, soba, steak, wild plant tempura [includes dandelions!], sakura ice cream, and more I can't remember. Our musical student bullied us into serenading the restuarant with Spring songs, and we were rewarded with sashimi.



After our steady eating concluded, we were off to the Yakuno highlands to take in some sakura. We wandered the groves, took some pictures, and then... it was off to Lilac for ice cream! During our 6 hour outing, we gleaned many interesting things about our students-- but they're secrets, so I can't share!

Technology in Japan

Uniqlo has created the ultimate white pants for women. By infusing special spirits into the white mesh, the resultant textile will allow women to wear... COLORED underwear beneath their white pants! Women everywhere rejoice.

And... for those eco-girls who still want to feel sexy:

Necessary?

I was sitting at my desk, diligently working. A knock was heard, followed by an "excuse me for interrupting." A student walked by. Then another. And another. Intrigued, I turn to look. An entire 1st year class was being drilled in the proper manner to approach the teachers' room:

1. Knock
2. Enter and bow.
3. Loudly pronounce "Excuse me for interrupting."
4. Close the door behind you.
5. Walk the length of the teachers' room, all the while noting where their homeroom teacher's desk is.
6. Before exiting, turn to face the room.
7. Pronounce "Excuse me for having interrrupted."
8. Bow and exit.
9. Close the door behind you.

Takeda Castle Matsuri

The morning after our glorious feast we were picked up earlyish and whisked away to Takeda for matsuri enjoyment with our conversation class. Takeda is a suburb of Wadayama and has many traditional homes. The few times we've been there, the town feels empty-- all closed up. But on the 8th the doors were opened wide; the better for viewing the doll displays. There were many antique displays, including one from the 1850s!
This is unusual, as Japan has many superstitions about inanimate objects becoming alive and aware on their 100th birthday. Dolls, having human form, have even more superstitions attached to them, and there were specific rites carried out to dispose of dolls, rather than passing them on to a new owner. You can still find these ceremonies at a few shrines.



We then met up with Fujio, who was having a great time with his grandkids. His neighbors welcomed us, chatted a bit, and gave us delicious okonomiyaki. Mmmm! Then it was time to wander, have some matcha, visit a temple, appreciate the cherry blossoms. Finally the main event was about to start.




Chika maneuvered us into a great position. We waited, jostling to maintain our prime position. Then, from the South we spotted the Akamatsu clan in red. At the same time, the Yamane clan entranced in blue. The Asago-shi mayor was the head of the Yamane clan. He made a nice speech, of course mentioning the blooming cherry blossoms, and then gave the official go. The gunmen shot their rifles. Then the foot soldiers charged. Finally, it was the swordsmen's turn. Judging by the whiff of alcohol and the broad grins, it looked like the reenactors had a great time.

Death by Pufferfish

We finally did it! We ingested the uber deadly blowfish! Well, drank it, actually. See, fugu is really expensive. And we're really cheap. Oh, and the whole poison aspect. And to clinch it, several people told us the taste is quite bland, except for the slight tingling the poison graces you with. $100 for bland but deadly fish flesh.... gee, how wunderbar.

But we found fuguzake-- a jar of sake with a fugu fin inside. Clearly, this would be the better way to go. We held onto this jar for a few months, waiting for the perfect moment. So when Julius and Mari came down for a Grand Japanese Cuisine Night, we finally opened it. First Aaron took a drink-- tastes like sake. Second was me-- tastes heavy and sweet. Third was Julius-- tastes like dried fish. Last was Mari-- She skipped through the three flavor stages and hit the end result of "Blech."


I cannot see her tonight.
I have to give her up
So I will eat fugu.

Two Old Ladies

In my first year here, I took a certain route to school. This route was favored by students, so I'd be biking alongside many walking SHS and Elem students. There's an old lady whose house in on this route. She likes to stand outside when the students are walking by. When she first saw me, she was very excited and waved me over. She chattered very quickly, about coming to visit her house which she indistinctly motioned at. Other times she'd berate me for biking amongst walking students, and made me get off to push the bike. As I was never sure which house was hers, and her attention was a bit stifling, I never went to her house. I've always felt a bit guilty about this, but when she cornered and chastised me at a community concert, her husband had to gently pull her away and apologized for her exciteable ways; apparently she does this sorta thing often.

Then I discovered another route. It's much more direct, follows along the river, making it more scenic. And there are fewer students to dodge. After a few months of using this route, I noticed another old lady. She likes to greet me on my way home from school. She stands by the cherry trees, bows, and says a cheerful hello. At first I was sure it was merely a coincidence, but now I can see her waiting when I leave school. She's facing the school and the river, but when I pass her, she's turned around so she can greet me. Also, if I chance upon her at the vendy in the morning, she won't be out that afternoon.

Just an interesting slice of small town life-- old ladies on the road.

Upstart

A lazy weekend. We went to my school's soccer game. The team is terrible-- we've been to a decent amount of games and not only have they never won, we've never even seen them score a goal. But then, the two coaches have never played soccer before. And the students man the sidelines and sometimes even referee. Interestingly, there are rarely any parents at the games. We've only seen one mother once, so when we attend, we really stick out.

After the game, we fought the wind and biked out to the recycle shop and Gyomo Super. Went home, did the weekend clean, had dinner, watched "The Dirty Dozen."

Sunday we went out to lunch with Mari, where the other patrons gawked at us. Two years, and still lots of gawking. We decided the gawking meant we deserved ice cream, so it was off to Lilac where we sampled sakura [cherry blossom] ice cream. I saw a flier for Upstart, a local teen band. The guitarist had asked me to go, but I'd completely forgotten. Luckily, it was today, so we went and watched. Not bad, pretty fun, and it was great seeing all the students in their real life clothes. Hilariously, the boys lined one wall, while the girls took the other. Not much mingling in Japan.

The rest of the lazy weekend will be spent watching movies and reading. And tomorrow I meet the new teachers.

Sumo, March 23

Once in Osaka, we slept in our sketchy hotel, then woke up early to attempt to procure sumo tix. We exited the train station, followed our directions, picked up some breakfast to eat in line. As we approached the gym, we heard incredibly loud drumming. We scanned the area, but couldn't place it. Finally, as we reached the gym, we realised the drums were on the roof of the gym-- a summons to sumo!



And we were happily surprised to find ourselves 4th in line just before 8. Obviously, we felt sure we'd not only get seats, but also some decent ones. And we were right! As we were only allowed one reentry [which we saved for lunch], we went into the gym about an hour before any bouts started. The matches are held on a raised platform made of clay, in the center circle. This circle was being continually swept by broom-boys. Occasionally a different broom-boy would water the circle, and the others would set about sweeping it. At one count, there were seven broom-boys engaged in sweeping...




The morning matches were the lower level players. Some were ok, but many seemed to be just going through the motions. But the upper-lower level players had some fire! THe gym was fairly empty until 3:00 when the higher divisions started. These are the players who get to enter ceremoniously, wearing a fantastic apron, and throw salt before their matches. While they are definately better players, I can't imagine spending so much on tix just to show up for a mere two hours of sumo. We got to see crowd favorite Kitazakura, whose beautiful salt toss was met with wild cheers. Julius-named Robocop [due to his stilted walk] was adored by the crowd, but bitch-slapped [literally!] by his opponent. And we saw the ranking yokozuna [that's the highest level] Asashoryu knock Kotooshu out in a very anticlimactic final bout.

Interesting notes:
*While sumo is the quintessential Japanese sport, in many ways it seems completely against Japanese tendencies; it's one-on-one istead of a group sport and strength matters more than spirit [you can debate this, but generally the bitty guys get tossed around].




*Because it's so traditional, you'll see many women wearing kimono to the matches.

*Seeing sumo guys out on the street is quite surreal. They can't go incognito due to their size, and seeing them peruse the electronics aisle seems at odds with their traditional lifestyle [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumo]