In September, the girls went to an event with lots of cute local characters:
Shima-neko(Shimane-cat) the cute and nationally popular character from neighboring Shimane Prefecture. The roof on the cat's head is in the Izumo Taisha style, the most famous shrine in the region.
Negita(Big green onion) Yonago and this area are famous for green onion, here's the Yonago character that alo resembles a "Y".
Negi-ko(Girl onion) The cute girl version with a flower soyou can tell the difference.
Trippy, Torippy, The character for Tottori Prefecture, a cross between a bird and a pear.
Here are great pictures of my poet cousin Farrah and her husband Jared when they came to visit me in Japan on July 17th. We only had a day and a morning. We visited the famous Tottori Sand Dunes. It was my first time in 12 years! They were pretty cool. It was powerful hot that day, not a place for little kids. No shade anywhere. We climbed the dunes and dipped our feet in the ocean on the other side and came back. The place was pretty amazing. It was great to see them. They're the only people from America to come and visit me since I was married!
Jared particularly seemed well acclimated to life in Japan, Peace!
So, what are Japanese elementary kids into these days? Sticker books! My daughter, first grader Hana and all her friends both younger and older are crazy about these sticker books. They are cheap little binders for collecting and trading stickers with friends. Rika has one, too. Even boys like them. My girls are always asking Junko, "Can I have these stickers?", from stickers she uses for her students. I know a second grader when asked what she wanted for her birthday, she said, "I don't need anything, just stickers!" Sometimes, their books get so full with puffy relief or gell stickers, they can't even close the book anymore. Our kids aren't to the point where they want a cell phone or video games, just stickers. I know some kids who already have those things, but seem to spend more time trading stickers with friends. People talk about social isolation through video games, but these kids interact a lot and make up games while trading their stickers.
I recently saw a very interesting TV show in Japan about a new trend in education. Shibushi city, Kagoshima prefecture, on Japan’s large southern island of Kyushu, is home to a very progressive preschool. Tori Yama preschool is gaining fame throughout Japan. Its students, mostly three and four years old and sometimes referred to as “Superkids” perform at levels two or three years more advanced then they are. What’s the secret to their success? It’s Tori Yama’s unique curriculum and the four switches.
The founder and principal of the school, Yoshifumi Yokomine is brother to Yoshiro Yokomine, a member of the Japanese Diet, and more importantly, uncle to Sakura Yokomine, Japan’s highest paid professional, female golfer. Yoshifumi Yokomine, now 58 years old, opened the school when he was 29. At that time he hired good teachers and started with a standard preschool curriculum. However, one day he noticed the children were lethargic during the morning calisthenics and singing the school anthem. They looked bored and uninterested. They lacked enthusiasm and their eyes were dull. This led him to make sweeping changes in the schools daily schedule. He wanted to motivate students and find what they were interested in. He put more emphasis on exercise and excursions to the local mountains and rivers. In addition, be began developing a whole series of activity workbooks for reading, writing, and math.
Tori Yama’s daily schedule
8:15 a.m. Warm-ups
When students arrive, before they do anything else, they run laps and races in the school yard for about 20 minutes or so. This is to get the blood flowing to their little brains and to wake them up and improve concentration. Students at Tori Yama get about 20 times more exercise than other preschools.
9:00 a.m. Workbook Study
Students work in their practice books, 20 minutes reading, 20 minutes writing, and 20 minutes math. They work mostly silently with the teacher acting as a monitor. Also, students work at their own pace; working in a book of appropriate level and only move on when they are ready. Students read approximately 1500 books during their time there.
10:00 Exercise time
Students have a rigorous schedule focusing on gymnastics style exercise. They jump over hurdles, do one arm somersaults, and even aerials. They bend over backwards into the bridge position and have races on their hands and feet. It looks like something out of the exorcist. It’s all very competitive and if students fail, they must go back and repeat it until they’ve mastered that particular skill.
11:00 Music
All children have a Melodica, or blow-organ, a small keyboard with a tube you blow into to make music. They follow the teacher or a pre-recorded DVD and play songs completely by ear. They learn to play about 80 different songs, all without ever reading music!
12:00 Lunch
Students are expected to concentrate while eating. They eat silently and quickly and finish everything. They use a lot of energy in the morning sessions, so they eat a lot.
Afternoon: Free Time
Until they go home,students are allowed to play and work on any skills they choose.
The Four Switches
Over the years, Mr. Yokomine came to recognize that children have four switches that motivate them to learn. If teachers can “switch” them on, kids will have more fun, learn naturally, and progress faster.
1. The Competitive Switch:
Children are naturally competitive. This is especially true in athletics. Recently in Japan, as well as America, schools de-emphasize competition as not alienate or make students feel bad if they don’t succeed, but this can be a great motivator. True, there are tears and frustration when a child can’t achieve a goal, but used effectively it can make them try harder. I saw kids panting hard with fire in their eyes, waiting for their next chance at doing a somersault or jump. Then they have an even greater sense of accomplishment and self-confidence when they do reach that goal.
2. The Mimic Switch:
Young children are natural mimics. They can’t think logically yet, but they copy what they see and hear. This is apparent in the music lessons. Children have the innate ability to listen to and differentiate notes. Students are blindfolded and listen to a series of notes and can tell you the names on the do-re-mi scale and then play the notes on their Melodicas all without reading music. If students are consistently given good models, they will naturally acquire knowledge. This is also how children acquire language.
3. The Challenge Switch:
To keep students motivated, activities and materials should be of an appropriate level. It should be just a little bit difficult and challenging. If materials are too difficult, they will become discouraged and give up. If they are too easy, students will become bored. At Tori Yama, they have an array of graded workbooks with each student working at an appropriately challenging level and at their own pace. They also teach writing Japanese characters in a specially developed order, starting with simple Kanji, then Katakana with angular, straight lines, then finally Hiragana with more curved lines.
4. The Assessment Switch:
Students at Tori Yama are constantly being given feedback and a realistic assessment of their performance. In every race, students know who was first, second, and third. In writing practice, students have a notebook, where the teacher writes down which books they studied and how well they did. Students clearly understand their performance in relation to others and their own progress.
These four switches can be used effectively by educators to motivate students to learn, not just for preschools, but students of any age. Tori yama’s students, on average score two or three years higher in many skills, equivalent to a first or second grade elementary school student. This unique approach has caught the attention of educators nationwide in Japan. Now, over 113 preschools have implemented similar programs. The principal, Yoshifumi Yokomine has written a series of books on the success of Tori Yama and his philosophy. He gives lectures and holds seminars for teachers wanting to learn more and he has been a guest and the focus of discussion on several popular TV shows. According to Mr. Yokomine, all children are geniuses. You just have to find the genius in them and open up their potential.
One thing that foreigners might find strange in Japan is the lighting in homes. Japanese homes mainly use bright fluorescent lights instead of incandescent bulbs. This picture you see is ours, a very typical Japanese ceiling light. Bulbs come in "Cool", or "Natural". Most people buy cool. Of course in America, we use fluorescent lights in offices or public places, but we think these lights feel artificial and prefer the softer, more natural light of incandescent bulbs in the home. For Japanese, incandescent lighting is too dark. This always strikes me as odd because of the Japanese love of nature and naturalness. But, I think there's another reason because fluorescent lights are more energy efficient and cost effective. The Japanese are always energy conscious. They've definitely got a point. My mother had lamps burning all the time all over the house, but it never seemed bright enough. The brighter fluorescent lights are easier to read and clean by, too.
We just finished taking pictures for Rika's Shichi-Go-San(7-5-3) ceremony. In Japan, kids have a ceremony at the shrine and take studio photos to celebrate certain ages. This tradition comes from the Heian period. originally only for royalty. Boys are celebrated at the ages of 3 and 5. Girls at the ages of 3 and 7. In general, odd numbers are considered lucky in Japan. One reason is that they can't be divided equally. Such is the superstition at weddings, one should never give a gift of even numbers. The age of 3 was traditionally when children received their first haircut. Boys started wearing their first "boy clothes" at 5 years old. Prior to this, boys and girls dressed pretty much the same. At 7, girls wore a kimono and for the first time with the traditional obi belt. These ages were milestones and signified taking one step closer to adulthood. In the Meiji period, this became a tradition for the masses. Today, kids take picture at photo studios and renting kimonos before going to the shrine. This is usually done around November.
We did ours in two days. It was Rika's first time and she was the main event, but we decided to do both girls for convenience. Rika actually turns 4 tomorrow and Hana turns 7 next February. The first day the girls wore traditional kimonos and took pictures at the studio and then we visited Kanda Shrine for the ceremony. This is pretty famous shrine in Yonago, especially for New Years and is also where Junko and I had our wedding ceremony.
For the ceremony, we all sit down in the shrine facing the alter. The priest first waves a staff with paper lightning shapes to purify us. Then he plays the drums to awaken the Kami spirit residing in the yasiro building behind the alter. He then kneels before the alter and reads from a white folded paper for this particular ceremony. At the appropriate time, he reads the names of those the ceremony is being done for. He not only gives their names, but must read the address. The Kami has to know who the person is and where exactly they live. He bows again and claps, finishing the rites. Afterward, the girls received wooden arrow good luck charms and long, thick stick candy that represents growing up straight and healthy. We went back to the studio to return the kimono for Rika and we had lunch at a family restaurant., a rare occasion for the Winters.
The second day, we went back to the studio and the girls took pictures with western dresses and played princess. They had a grand time and both looked great. Rika especially is a natural in front of the camera. The photos are not cheap and photo studios make a lot of money at this time of year. I post more pictures when we get them.
I just learned recently that October 13 in Japan is "Sweet Potato Day". Japanese love sweet potatoes and its a traditional autumn food. I especially love the simple "yakiimo" baked sweet potatoes. There is a small truck that drives around the neighborhood, like an ice-cream van, playing a melodious music, selling sweet potatoes baked over hot stones. There good, but kind of expensive. People often make them at home. I think the simple music and song is really beautiful and somehow kind of pious. . I remember when I first came to Japan, I heard that music in my office and I thought there was some kind of religious procession going on outside. The words are simple:
Yakiimo, ishi yakiimo, yakiimo
(Baked sweet potatoes, stone baked sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes)
That day, my school had a sweet potato picking event at Mori no Kuni at Mt. Daisen. All the students and parents came, including Rika and my wife. Most Japanese people go sweet potato picking at least once in their life, it's traditional. We picked the potatoes, baked them in burning leaves and had lunch. It was a good day. Every family also got to bring home a big bag of sweet potatoes. Yata!(great!)
Last weekend we had yet another "un do kai" Sport's Day or Field Day at Hana's elementary school. That's two Sports Days in two weekends! The First one was the official Sport's Day by the school. But this second one was actually put on by the community, the school was just a host. That Monday was a National Holiday, Taiiku no Hi (Sport's Day) and commemorates the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Many schools hold athletic events on that day. The feeling of the two days was very different. For the first, official one, participation by students and attendance by parents was pretty much mandatory. There were so many people there and the schedule was busy. The second community one, however was much more relaxed. Attendance and participation were voluntary. Not as crowded and more laid back. Spectators were assigned to small pavilion-like tents by neighborhood. They also had lots of parents' participation events. Junko ran in a couple of races. I was the camera man. Participants could receive snacks and a bento lunch. There were also prizes for winning teams. It went from 9:00 in the morning till 3:00 in the afternoon, but we left at lunchtime after collecting our bentos. Good job girls.It was fun, but I've had enough Sport's Days to last me until next year. Oh no, My school's is next month!
At the 100 yen shop (dollar store) in Japan, you can find lots of simple traditional wooden toys. These are some I got the other day. "Take", ("ta" rhymes with "ma" and "ke" rhymes with "may") means bamboo and "Tonbo" means dragonfly. The "bamboo dragonfly" toy was originally from China, and has been a popular toy in Japan for a long time. I've seen these whirligig toys in the states, too. There were two in the package. First was the simple traditional one, powered by spinning the shaft between your palms. The other used a simple string wound around a shaft. Place the propeller on top, pull the string and it goes flying off by itself.
Cute, simple, and fun. The girls and I had a blast.
In Japan, people say traffic light colors are red(aka) for stop, yellow(kiro) for caution, and blue(aoi) for go. This was one of the more surprising things when I first came to Japan. The color is the same as in America, so why don't they call it green?
In ancient Japan, they did not distinguish blue and green. And even after the development of the Japanese word for green, midori, in the Heian Period, it was still considered to be "within" blue. Educational materials distinguishing blue and green didn't come into vogue until after WWII during the occupation. Today, most things we think of as "green" are called midori, but still some vegetables and traffic lights are referred to as blue(aoi).
We may think of colors as something absolute; red is red and blue is blue and that's that. But actually, names for colors are completely arbitrary to language and cultural convention. Japan is not unique in this, as there are many Asian and African languages that traditionally do not distinguish green from blue. And on the other hand, colors that in English we call "light blue" and "dark blue" have completely separate names in other languages.
It makes me think of how the Taoist philosophers of ancient China cautioned against words. It's a dilemma; we need words to convey meaning, but words can create reality of their own. Many things we think of at facts, truth, or reality are actually illusions of language. And how we view the world is in part dependent on the language we use. This is apparent in the legal world were words make something real or unreal, fact or false, innocent or guilty. It's well known trivia that the Inuit language of the Eskimos has over 200 words for "snow". So, it's all good, in America, it's green, in Japan, blue, but we all know when to go.
Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) was an international European writer of Greek origins who grew up in Ireland. He later came to Japan and settled in the local town of Matsue where he married a Japanese woman from a samurai family and became a naturalized Japanese citizen, assuming the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo (小泉 八雲). His name is well known to the people in this area; Matsue city is a 45 minute drive from Yonago and the closest big city. Hearn is probably its most famous citizen and the Lafcadio Hearn Museum and his old samurai residence are among its biggest attractions. Hearn lived in many countries and wrote on a variety of topics, but is probably most famous for his writings on Japan. Among them, his most famous book is Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, a collection of Japanese legends and ghost stories. He also wrote an essay entitled, "The Japanese Smile" where he reveals part of the Japanese character;
The Japanese Smile:
"The first impression is, in most cases, wonderfully pleasant. The Japanese smile at first charms. It is only at a later day, when one has observed the same smile under extraordinary circumstances- in moments of pain, shame, disappointment- that one becomes suspicious of it... But the same smile is to be used upon all pleasant occasions, when speaking to a superior or an equal, and even upon occasions which are not pleasant; it is part of deportment. The most agreeable face is the smiling face; and to present always the most agreeable face possible to parents, relatives, teachers, friends, well-wishers, is a rule of life... Even though the heart is breaking, it is a social duty to smile bravely." (From Glimpses of unfamiliar Japan published by Hughton Mifflin Co.)
Here, Hearn refers to the Japanese smile as a form of self-control, rooted in Japanese culture. Smiles to indicate affection, agreement, and sympathy are the same wherever you go. But this smile of self-control is something that puzzles foreigners.
I myself have often seen in Japan, what in America, we call "painted smiles". You see them most often from store clerks or people in business situations. I clearly remember this once from a video store clerk. He was bowing profusely, saying something polite, with this huge Cheshire smile painted on his face. It felt so superficial and false. He didn't know me, he probably didn't like me, he was just going through the motions of his job.However, I don't want to give the impression that all Japanese are like that. I remember the staff at the convenience store I used to always go to. They knew me, I was regular. They were so kind. And you could feel the genuineness of their smiles and service. We also got a lot of little freebies. Japan is a country of contradictions. You see genuine and false smiles everyday.
My Kansas City friends will be glad to hear this one. When I first came to Yonago over ten years ago, I found that they play a different tune of instrumental music over a PA system to be heard through out the city, every day at 8:00 a.m, 12:00, and 5:00 for about thirty seconds. This music is to mark your day, when to get ready for ork or school, lunch, and going home. But to my surprise, at 5:00 everyday they play an instrumental version of "Home on the Range." Well, that's a song I know well. I'm from Kansas and that's our state song. I had to learn it in elementary school. My Japanese friends and students were surprised to hear I knew it and it was an old cowboy song. I often taught the words to my students. What are the chances? I don't know if many cities in Japan have a similar custom of playing music though out the city. I know all don't. Many Japanese I met who came from somewhere else were just as surprised as I was. Incidentally, in Japan, they play "Old Lang Syne" to mean a store is closing, like we play "Happy Trails to you".
These are a pretty confection like decoration. They don't have a specific name but they might be called "obutsuzen" or お供え "osonae" which means offering. They are made of mostly sugar and come in many shapes and bright colors, usually flowers. They aren't just candy for kids, though. They are a common sight this time of year in August around Obon. They are an offering to be put on the butsudan or family buddhist alter in the home. They make me think of how in other Asian countries real flowers are placed on alters. For Obon, the departed spirits of the family come back to visit and people will put food, particularly sweets, cigarettes or alcohol on the busudan as an offering. After a certain period of time, they are taken down for the family to eat. It's said that food eaten from the butsudan has lost it's taste because the ancestors had their share. However, these sugar flower offerings are not eaten. I know this because after I bought these to take a picture, I took a bite. It wasn't very sweet and had a chalky taste. My saw it and couldn't believe it. She said she's never heard of anyone eating them. They are ceremonially burned with other religious paraphernalia after Obon. Oh well, you never know until you try.
With space so limited and sometimes the absence of elevators, the Japanese have moving to a new apartment or house down to a science. I snapped these pics the other day. They were using this lift to move furniture into the apartment. Sometimes items ar too big to moe through the door, like bureaus or pianos and are moved this way. Sometimes they don't have a machine like this, but use a ladder like device and a puly system. I see commercials on TV for moving ccompanys. The key word is convenience and safety of your stuff. They have packing services with special foam containers to move all your dishes and breakables and sometimes put foam on the walls of narrow stairwells as not to bump your furniture. Of course all his costs an arm and a leg, but it'sgreat service.
Here are a bunch ogf kids performing the yosakoi dance at this year's Gaina festival in Yonago. I really like this dance. Yosakoi is a modern form of the more traditional awa odori folk dance. It started in Kochi city, Shikoku, Japan in the 1950's and now can be seen at summer festivals throughout Japan. It has highly energetic, modern music with strong drum beats and flutes. Large groups perorm on the street during the festival in colorful costumes and swinging naruko, small wooden clappers. Groups practice for weeks and weeks prior to the festival and there is a big competition. Most dancers are young girls or women, but you see dancers of all ages and genders, too. Here's a short video I found.
Children’s day/Boys’ Day(Kodomo no hi )is celebrated on May 5th in Japan. This festival originally came from China and was observed on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month and is still celebrated according to the lunar calendar in other parts of Asia. In Japan it was originally known as Tango no Sekku 端午の節句 and is still primarily for boys, as girls have their own special day, Hina matsuri.. Sekku means a season’s festival Tan means edge or first and go means noon. There are other sekku days during the year and mark other festivals. Nanakusa no sekku is the seventh day of the first month, Hina matsuri is the 3rd day of the third month, and Tanabata is the seventh day of the seventh month. Japan now follows the Gregorian calendar, so these dates have been changed to follow suite. Some of these festivals are observed one month later in some areas of Japan. This is because the lunar calendar date is actually closer to the Gregorian day of the next month. There is another festival day “Double Ninth Festival” on the ninth day of the ninth month,(nine being a lucky number in China)but is not much celebrated in Japan.
The main activity on Children’s Day is displaying the carp streamers (koi nobori). In ancient China, they said a carp swimming upstream would become a dragon. In Japan, carp are a symbol of strength and it is hoped the boys will be strong like carp. They are flown on a tall pole set up outside the house. On the very top there is a double pinwheel-like decoration, then a colorful windsock streamer. The large black carp at the top (magoi) represents the father, the medium-sized red carp (higoi) represents the mother, and the small carp represents the son. There would be another carp of a different color added for each son in the family. Daughters did not traditionally receive a carp, but now may in some families. The koi nobori may be flown for a month or more. In many localities all over Japan, they suspend long ropes over rivers or between mountains and hang hundreds of carp streamers. Blowing in the wind, they look like they are swimming upstream. It's one of the most beautiful sights in Japan.
Traditions
Another practice is the displaying of a small samurai helmet or Kabuto, usually with a miniature coat of arms or bow and arrows. These are beautifully decorated and housed in a glass case or dsplayed on a stand. Also shown are images of the folktale boy hero Kintaro. Kintaro was the child name of Sakata no Kintoki, a famous real life samurai. According to legend, Kintro’s father was a dragon and the boy lived in remote mountains with his mother. He was extremely strong, rode on a bear and was friend to the animals. In one story, while swimming, he chases and then rides on a gigantic carp. He is always represented as a robust boy with a bowl haircut, naked except for a traditional red bib-like apron. Kintaro, kabuto, and carp are all symbols of strength and vitality. Attributes parents hope their children will posses. Displaying these symbols on Boy’s day goes back to ancient times, but today it is big business. There are specialty shops that sell kabuto and carp steamers as well as other festival goods. They come in all sizes and designs. They are usually quite expensive, costing hundreds of dollars.
Various mochi rice cake dishes are traditionally served on this day. Kashiwa-mochi are rice cakes filled with sweet bean paste and served wrapped in oak leaves. Chimaki are a slightly different kind of mochi served wrapped in bamboo leaves.
In Japan, February 3rd is known as Setsubun. It is the day before the first day of spring which is called Risshun. In America, the first day of spring is celebrated on March 20th, the vernal equinox, But in many parts of Asia, it is celebrated on February 4th, the midpoint between the vernal equinox and the winter solstice. Actually, there are four setsubun each year, one for each season, but it is the spring setsubun that gets all the attention. According to the old lunar calendar, the first day of spring was also the first day of the new year, so the spring setsubun was a kind of new year’s eve festival. It was a time to cleanse away any bad luck(or spirits) of the old year and usher in good luck for the new year.
The main activity on this day is a cleansing ritual involving the oni(the Japanese ogre or devil) and soy beans and is called mamemaki. You take roasted soybeans and throw a few towards the window and recite a chant:
Oni wa soto!(Demons go out) Fuku wa uchi!(Good luck come in)
This is repeated for each room in the house and finally the front door, traditionally performed by the head of the household. In old days this was taken rather seriously, but today it’s good fun, especially for kids. It’s common to get a plastic or paper oni mask. We do this at my house. I put on the mask and stand in front of the door and growl and my daughters take turns throwing beans at me and I pretend to run away. Afterward, you are supposed to eat the same number of beans as your age and in some places plus one more for good luck. The roasted soybeans are pretty good and taste kind of like peanuts. Supermarkets and convenience stores all over Japan sell inexpensive sets of soy beans and oni masks. In addition, some people put sardine heads and holy branches near the front door. This is supposed to drive away evil oni or spirits.
The other custom on this day is the eating of long maki-zushi or sushi rolls. You are supposed to stand facing that year’s good luck direction and eat the sushi roll. They say you shouldn’t speak or pause until finishing. I think this makes for a slightly absurd, amusing image of all the family members standing silently without looking at each other, eating these long rolls. When buying maki-zushi or the beans, there is often a small, cheap compass included to mark the good luck direction.
There are celebrations at shrines and temples all over Japan. Priests and invited guests will stand on a platform and throw roasted soybeans wrapped in colorful foil, candy, money, and other prizes onto the crowd. At bigger temples, they have celebrity guests like sumo wrestlers. The temples are decorated in traditional festive colors of red and white. The atmosphere can get rather wild with people trying to catch the prizes, just like the throwing of beads from floats during Mardi Gras.
