I seem to be one of those people who like to live in the moment. In the last minute before. There are so many little things to keep on top of, but they skitter from my fingers like marbles. It doesn’t help that I like to play, rather than work. Even this blog must seem to be work, since I procrastinate so.
I have too many interests, but they’re interesting, so I don’t want to give any up. Ah, well. On to the next thing.
After my blog self-combusted on the server and it took Keith a while to fix it (broken leg and all…), I’ve found it hard to get back in the habit of writing. So much has happened since I last posted: my Mom’s ALS diagnosis, my trips to ComicCon and Nebraska, Keith’s broken leg, and school.
Today I went to my first ALS support group meeting. I was the only person there besides the “staff” and the presenter for a while, so I had to sit through the presenter’s pitch for wheel chairs. I did get some useful information, but some depressing information, too.
So, today is Memorial Day in the U.S., when we remember those who have fought and died for our country. Usually we celebrate by having BBQs and partying. I know few people who actually visit gravesites besides the president. However, Japan’s Memorial Day is some other day. It was just Monday to them. That doesn’t mean that memorials aren’t in the news however. Every day in the paper I’m finding another new article about Prime Minister Koizumi’s controversial visits to the Yasukuni Shrine.
The Yasukuni Shrine is essentially the Japanese equivalent to Arlington National Cemetary. Anyone who served their country during a war is buried there. In America, no one questions the president’s visits to Arlington—they expect them. However in Japan, it’s a different story.
Amongst all the thousands and thousands of normal Joe’s (maybe normal Kentaro’s in Japan) who died following the orders of their country are 18 men classified as war criminals from World War II. Because of these 18, Yasukuni Shrine has become a symbol of Japanese Nationalism to her neighbors, especially China and South Korea. Many prime ministers choose not to visit the shrine because of the political fallout.
Granted, China and South Korea do have cause to be upset. Those 18 men were the primary masterminds behind a lot of the Japanese atrocities of World War II, including the Nanking massacre, where an estimated 400,000 people were raped and killed in a short period of time to send a “message” to China. Ick.
But to forbid a national leader to pay his respects to the other thousands of people who just did their duty? That seems a trifle unfair. When Ollie North dies, he will be buried in Arlington, despite his involvement in Iran-Contra. I’m not keen with the idea, but it’s his right. (OK, so Ollie is all I’ve got, and he’s a weak comparison, I know. But the U.S. has managed to “win” all it’s wars so far, so what can I do?) I wouldn’t not visit Arlington, just because of him. There’s a lot of other men and women buried there, too.
There have been some efforts at making “amends”. Koizumi says he’s just visiting as a private citizen, but no one’s buying that. There have been suggestions to move the war criminals to a different site, or start a new memorial site, but they’ve gotten a fairly chilly response. Every day, a seemingly new group asks Koizumi to stop going, but he says no.
In the meantime, China is making unhappy noises, and South Korea is recalling visiting dignitaries. It may be that the publisher of The Japan Times has a political beef with Koizumi, especially since he usually visits only once a year.
It’s a big issue here. Happy Memorial Day.
So, apparently this blog software only puts recent articles on the big page. Keith says that’s because normal bloggers post every day, sometimes several times a day, like Wil Wheaton does.
I am not your average blogger though, so it’s a little frustrating not knowing if people see that you posted a new, but late listing. Please check the archives periodically to see if there’s something you haven’t seen.
Currently, I’m up to May 5. I have one more post for Golden week, then school stuff should help me catch up fast. I’ve been pretty busy, though, with presentations, papers, homework, and the English Drama Club. Be patient, and I’ll tell you about it.
Thanks.
Since before Golden Week, the Miyabi club has been preparing for this luncheon with the alumni group of the University of the Sacred Heart, known as JASH. (I think it stands for Japan Alumni of the Sacred Heart.) The JASH members prepare lunch, and we have a meet and greet. All foreign exchange students were required to go.
Since it falls in the midst of our presentations, I’ve started to think of this time as the dog and pony show. Cynical, I know, but everyone is stressed about their presentations. Also, the Miyabi Club decided to have us perform a song to symbolize our unity.
Apparently, “If You’re Happy and You Know It” is present in many, many countries in their native tongues, with an occasional change of melody. We practiced it in Japanese, English, Korean, Chinese, Czech, and Thai. Czech was hard, but Thai was even harder. I’m sure we butchered it in Thai, not that the JASH members could probably tell.
The song is cute, although aimed at a much younger audience. But with impending presentations, our cuteness tolerance level was lower than usual, so mostly we felt silly. Ang skipped a couple of rehearsals, and Lenka discussed not attending. In the end we were all present. I decided to be a “good dog” and dress up, but most of the other three month students did not.
The JASH ladies prepared pot luck, so some of the dishes were tasty and interesting, and others were not. Most of the dishes were Japanese cuisine, but some were of other cuisines, including Chinese and French.
In addition to coffee and soda, there was also a matcha station. Matcha is the powdered green tea used in tea ceremonies. There was a little of that formality, but not very much. They even let us make our own cups of matcha if we wanted to. And they had the appropriate sweets for the tea ceremony, separate from the dessert station.
So even if I felt dumb, it was a good thing to do. I did reasonable amounts of mingling and had a good time. The ladies sent us home with goodies, but I took very few, since I usually eat at the cafeteria, and others don’t.
