AJET ACROSS JAPAN

July 2002
Volume XIV, Issue 2
A J E T A C R O S S J A PA N
Compass Points
• Enter the AAJ Fiction
Contest! Details on
page 9.
• Saitama—Bonsai capital of Japan? (page 6).
•
Charlie Don’t Surf—
Scuba Diving in Vietnam (page 8).
• Sex in the City: ALT
discovers another Japanese foreign import—
women (page 10).
• Eye on Eigo (page 16)
• Ishikawa CIR helps
ensure that Korea/
Japan exchange involves more that just a
soccer ball (page 18).
Page 2
From the Editor
More Than Words
For human beings, the ability to
communicate with others in our
social group is vitally important to
our sense of well-being and acceptance within that group. Face it, if
you can’t express your thoughts,
feelings and opinions with those
around you, you will likely experience a sense of isolation. This is
one reason the vast majority of JETs
make at least a marginal effort to
learn Japanese during their time in
Japan. Recent experience, however,
has taught me that spoken language
may not be the only magic key to
establishing rewarding relationships
here in Japan.
Back in the US, I spent many
years as a professional singer and
musician. So when I came to Japan
last summer, I had high hopes that I
could find some other musicians to
play with. After talking to several
local music producers, club owners
and Yakuza, I met three Japanese
guys who not only shared my love
of American rockabilly music, but
needed a singer/rhythm guitarist for
A J E T
their band. It seemed like a
match made in heaven, except
for one niggling little fact: None
of them spoke English, and my
Nihon-go proficiency was still in
the “Toire wa doko desu ka”
stage.
Our first rehearsal started off a
little awkward. We sat there
smiling at each other over cans
of green tea, giving our jikoshoukai and trying to determine what
cover tunes we all knew. As we
picked up our instruments, I’m
sure that the thought running
through each of our heads was,
“How can this possibly work?”
We kicked things off with the
1954 Elvis Presley version of
Bill Monroe’s bluegrass classic,
“Blue Moon of Kentucky.” “Ahone, two, ah-one-two-three, Blue
Moon...” I sang, wondering
whether my compatriots would
be able to follow my cues. How
bad was this gonna suck?
As the instrumentation kicked
in, I began to feel a little better.
These guys knew what they were
doing: Junichi slappin’ doubletime on the dog-house bass, Motoaki keeping perfect time on the
drums, and Fumito laying down
Scotty Moore’s guitar riffs like
A C R O S S
J A P A N
he’d been born and raised in a
backwater Mississippi hillbilly shack. Before we knew
it, the four of us were grinning at each other like idiots,
playing the music we loved,
cueing each other at the
breaks and solos, letting the
songs bind us together into a
cohesive unit.
Only later did I recognize
that through the music, the
four of us were communicating. Music was our shared
language, superceding the
need for spoken words.
Since that day, my Japanese
has improved, and I discovered that Fumito could express simple ideas in English.
We’ve played live concerts all
over our prefecture, and although people might not always understand the words I
sing, I know they have an
intuitive sense of the emotion
behind them. The power of
music transcends cultural and
national boundaries. Like
mathematics, music is a language that everyone can understand.■
Roderick B. Overaa
Miyagi
Letters to the Editor may
be sent to:
ajetacrossjapan@yahoo.
com
Shamble tears it up hillbilly style in
Ishinomaki City.
Volume XIV, Issue 2
Editor
Roderick B. Overaa
Assistant Editor
Laraine Coates
Advertising Editor
(vacant)
Web Manager
James Bray
Contributors
Matthew Gould, Anthony
Hall, Tom Kodiak, Yeji
Jeung, Earth Bennett,
Laraine Coates, Brett
Robson, Cory Weaver.
AAJ is published at the
beginning of each month.
Deadline for submissions
and Letters to the Editor
is the 10th of each month.
AJET Across Japan is
produced for the benefit
of all AJET groups and
AJET members. AAJ is
an open forum. The AAJ
editor will accept submissions and edit based on
space availability. All
submissions and letters
should be sent to:
ajetacrossjapan@yahoo.
com.
Advertising should be
sent to:
[email protected].
Page 3
Greetings all.
Well, summer is heading towards us in leaps and bounds,
and with it comes the rain.
(Now, that all sounds a bit
strange to me. I always thought
that rain came in winter, but I
guess in Japan it’s a bit different.) Anyway, it’s been quite a
busy time for AJET recently—in
the past month we have been
doing a fair bit of work. Our
busiest times by far have been
the Re-Contracting Conferences
at both Kobe and Tokyo. For
those of you who were lucky
enough to attend, you will have
seen members of the AJET National Council wandering around
the hotel and encouraging you
all to sign up to AJET. Both conferences were a success for
AJET (I’d like to think that it was
because of my speech but I’d
probably get in trouble with the
rest of the National Council who
all worked really, really hard).
Over 500 of you signed up to
AJET at the conferences and it
was good to see so many of you
joining up. All of these people
were automatically entered in to
a prize draw. The first prizes
were round-trip tickets to the
Philippines (please see the list
Anthony Hall
AJET National Council Chair
of winners on page 5).
So why did all these people
join? It could be for any
number of reasons, but I
think the main reason is
because it was FREE.
That’s right, membership to
National AJET is free, so it
won’t cost you a single yen
to join. As a member, you
also get discounts on all
our publications, such as
“Team Taught Pizza.” You
can also sign up to receive
(Continued on page 4)
Inside this issue:
From the Editor
Chair Chat
2
KIOSK
5
Block Watch
6
E.S.I.D.
7
What’s Shakin’
8
3
Expose’: Sex in the City
10
Hercules Rockefeller
13
COVER SHOT:
Book Nook
14
Modern Japanese architecture often explores radically angular geometries, as with this interesting
building in Ueno.
Photo by Cory Weaver
Eye on Eigo
16
AJET Voices
18
Level Up
23
Letters
27
Parting Shots
28
Page 4
A J E T
A C R O S S
J A P A N
(Continued from page 3)
”AJET Across Japan”—our monthly magazine—and “Tatami Timeshare.” If you missed
your opportunity at the RC, don’t worry—you can join AJET at any time. All you have to
do is go to our website (www.ajetonline.org), download a membership form, and send
it to us at AJET. That’s all it takes, as simple as a piece of pie.
Back to the Conferences and the events we held at them. They were a great success.
At our Kobe Charity Night, we had speaker Louise Pender from Amnesty International,
at and at Tokyo, we had the genki boys from GenkiEnglish. We also conducted workshops, which were well attended, and at our AGM we made some major changes to
the AJET Constitution (see page 5 for details). Briefly, we clarified some gray areas
that were proving a bit murky, and we extended voting rights on the National Council.
We also clarified the roles of the national officers and made sure that Language
Groups were properly mentioned in the constitution. If you have any questions about
this don’t hesitate to get in touch with any of the national officers, whose email addresses you can find in this publication.
Okay, that’s enough of my mad ramblings for this month. For those of you leaving us in
July and August, I hope you had a wonderful time on the JET Program and as member
of AJET, and I would also like to suggest that you keep in touch through the Alumni Association. I hope you take home some great memories—I’m sure you’ll never forget
your time in Japan. Goodbye and Good Luck!■
作家募集中
♪ただいまAJET（JET参加者の会）ではJETコミュニ
ティーでの日本語使用を積極的に進めています。
♪そこで、AAJ編集部では日本語、及び非英語圏の
JETの母国語で書かれた記事を募集しています
♪みなさんがふだん、JETとして感じてきたこと、みなさんの
国の紹介、全て大歓迎です。ぜひ、AAJにみなさんの素晴らしい記事を送ってくだ
さい！
♪記事は日本語で書いていただければ嬉しいです。日本語以外のみなさんの母国
語で応募する際には日本語訳を添付してください。（韓国語、中国語の場合は、
日本語訳添付は要りません）
記事の送り先は[email protected] AAJ編集者Rod Overaa ま
で、
Volume XIV, Issue 2
Page 5
to the Philippines courtesy of
AJET and SEAsian Airlines,
and the fact that Fiona-chan is
my next-door neighbor is
PURELY COINCIDENTAL.
lane- At both the Kobe and Tokyo
iscel
RCs, the National Council
m
d
!
n
tes a T to you
held the annual AJET Gena
d
p
E
s, u rom AJ
w
eral
Meeting (AGM), both
e
N
tuff f
halves of which were wellous s
Well, it’s been quite a busy
and exciting month for AJET
and that collection of rascals
known as the National Council. The NC wishes to express their thanks to everyone who stopped by the
AJET desks at the recent
Renewer’s Conferences. At
the Kobe conference, AJET
raised close to 10,000 yen
for Amnesty International,
and in Tokyo, Charity Speakers GenkiEnglish helped
raise a whopping 18,916 yen
for a charity called SOLAR.
Kudos to those of you who
donated your hard-earned
money to these worthy
causes. You ROCK!
Special congratulations are
also in order for the winners
of the AJET Membership
Drive Prize Drawing:
Carrie Pickering (Hyogo)
Richelle Borisuk (Kumamoto)
Zaccary Craven (Nagano)
Fiona Simonds (Miyagi).
These wonderful folks are off
attended by prefectural AJET
leaders and curious bystanders. The AJET Constitution
was amended, extending voting rights to the AJET Database Administrator, Interpreter,
and Yours Truly, the AAJ Editor. (I hereby promise to wield
this new power with benevolence.) Other changes that
were made include: 1) providing AJET members with a way
to remove lazy, smelly, or otherwise undesirable officers
from the AJET National Council; and 2) providing AJET with
an easier way to change the
constitution so that next time it
won’t be such a monumental
headache. I don’t claim to understand all of these changes,
but if you are interested, they
should be available for viewing
at: www.ajetonline.org.
From our FYI files comes
some information about
“Tatami Timeshare,” the biannual AJET publication that
helps you find a place to crash
when you’ve been out at an
izakaya all night in a strange
town. As many of you are
painfully aware, last year’s
TTS had some problems—not
least of which was the fact that
almost nobody received it. For
this, AJET apologizes profusely and promises that THIS
WILL NEVER HAPPEN
AGAIN. This year, TTS will be
delivered twice a year directly
to your home. No fuss, no
muss, and only a measly 500
yen to help defray postage
costs. To sign up, check out
our Website: www.ajetonline.
org.
For the first time (so far as we
are aware), AAJ is holding a
short story contest, open to all
JET members, with an actual
MONETARY PRIZE for the
best entry. So if you think you
have what it takes to become
the next Henry James, O.
Henry, or any famous nonHenry author, get crackin’ and
send in those manuscripts!
(Details on page 9.)
Finally, AJET Across Japan
(the very rag you are perusing
now) is sad to announce that
because of declining subscriptions to our paper-based version, we must begin omitting
content from our Web-based
edition. We are truly sick
about this, but because AAJ is
a non-profit magazine, we depend upon these subscription
sales to cover our expenses.
Be assured that eAAJ will continue to provide you with all
essential information from
AJET. If, however, you enjoy
reading the magazine and
want to receive it in its entirety,
please consider subscribing
(details on page 24.) We look
forward to the possibility of
reinstating full content on the
Website in the future!
KIOSK is a monthly column
designed to give AJET members timely news and information about AJET and the JET
Program. If you would like to
post to the KIOSK, please
send your information to:
[email protected].
Page 6
A J E T
A C R O S S
J A P A N
Saitama ALT Discovers a Hobby
With a Twist
Where is your favorite place in
Japan? For me, it’s right here
in Saitama! That often surprises people because Saitama
has the reputation for being the
New Jersey of Japan. But I
am going to tell you about the
amazing Garden of Eden that
lies within the heart of Saitama
City.
Omiya, in Saitama City, happens to be home to the greatest
concentration of bonsai masters in Japan. One would not
believe it by looking out at the
endless extension of Tokyo,
but within these masses of
buildings lies a place called
Bonsai Village. After the
Great Kanto Earthquake of
1923, many bonsai masters
decided to move out of Tokyo
in search of spacious land and
better water resources. They
settled about half an hour
north of Tokyo in a place
called Omiya.
Today at Bonsai Machi, there
are at least 5 major working
bonsai nurseries and many
other smaller ones. One of
biggest nurseries is Monseien.
It is home to Kato Saburo who
is Chairman of the World Bonsai Federation. Monseien contains thousands of trees and is
one of the top three bonsai
nurseries in the world. An-
other very large nursery is
Tojuen which hosts a weekend bonsai class twice
daily. The oldest tree I
have found yet, which is
estimated at 1,200 years,
lies in Saikoen—or Club
Saika. Besides bonsai nurseries there is also an oldstyle Japanese community
house where you can rest
your legs after viewing bonsai. There is also a cartoon
museum that pays tribute to
Rakuten Kitazawa, who
was a leader of modern cartoonists in Japan.
Bonsai Village is open all
year, but it is closed on
Thursday. During Golden
Week they have a Bonsai
Festival, when dealers from
all over Japan gather to sell
their wares. This is the
best time to go and find discounted trees and merchandise. Next year the festival
should occur sometime
around the 2nd to the 4th of
May.
How to get there: First get
to Omiya from Tokyo. This
is easily done from Ueno by
any JR, Takasaki or Utsunomiya Lines. From Shinjuku it is easiest to take the
JR Saikyo line. From
Omiya switch to the Tobu
line for Kasukabe and get
Thomas Kodiak
Block 3 Representative
off at the second station,
Omiya Koen Station.
Once there, walk over the
tracks and take a right. From
there you have 5 nurseries
and a variety of sights within
2 to 3 blocks. You will find
easy maps in Japanese and
English to assist you. If you
have any questions about
Bonsai Village or questions
about bonsai in general,
please email me!■
Each month, AAJ presents
an article written by a different National Council
Block Representative
which highlights some aspect of their Block area.
Tom (Cowboy) Kodiak
represents Gunma, Ibaraki
and Saitama prefectures
on the AJET National
Council. He can be
reached at:
[email protected].
Volume XIV, Issue 2
Page 7
2002-03 AJET National Council
Anthony Hall
[email protected]
Vice-Chair:
Treasurer:
Amelia Barkley
[email protected]
Donna Kim
[email protected]
Block 1 (Akita, Aomori, Hokkaido,
Iwate, Yamagata):
Daniel Lee
[email protected]
Block 2 (Fukushima, Miyagi, Niigata,
Tochigi):
Tanya Sjostrom
[email protected]
Block 3 (Gunma, Ibaraki, Saitama):
Tom Kodiak
[email protected]
Block 4 (Chiba, Kanagawa, Tokyo,
Yamanishi):
Cory Weaver
[email protected]
www.angelfire.com/comics/esid
Chair:
Block 5 (Aichi, Gifu, Mie, Nagano,
Shizuoka):
Liz Goodin
[email protected]
Block 6 (Fukui, Ishikawa, Kyoto,
Shiga, Toyama):
Tom Silverman
[email protected]
Block 8 (Ehime, Kagawa, Kochi, Okayama, Shimane, Tokushima, Tottori):
Wes Jones
[email protected]
Block 9 (Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Saga, Yamaguchi):
Jackie Wilks
[email protected]
by Earth Bennett
Block 7 (Hyogo, Nara, Osaka, Wakayama):
Connie Kong
[email protected]
Block 10 (Kagoshima, Kumamoto,
Miyazaki, Oita, Okinawa):
J.P. Fritz
[email protected]
Vivian Beebe
[email protected]
Database Administrator:
Amanda Cornaglia
[email protected]
Interpreter:
Yeji Reiko Jeung
[email protected]
E.S.I.D.
CIR/SEA Rep:
Page 8
A J E T
A C R O S S
J A P A N
Laraine Coates
Kochi-ken
Scuba Diving in Nha Trang, Vietnam
Put on by Scuba SIG
Around August 18th (dates flexible to member availability)
info: [email protected]
Ahh, summer! What to do?
Let me tell you! Oh yes, it is
time to travel!
So, you have just looked into a flight home for those
long hot days in August only to discover that it will
cost you the equivalent of your first born. Well,
dears, I have been keeping an eye out for you and do
not worry, here is an excellent way to get the heck out New for those of you with itchy feet:
of Japan without putting yourself into bankruptcy.
Traveling JETs list-serve
[email protected]
Envision yourself swimming
with the tropical fishes in an
Wanting to get away, but got no one to go with?
ocean of turquoise, later retirWant to get a group together to explore another
ing to the beach to sip cockcountry? Looking for that one other person in Jatails, eat spring rolls and watch the sun set over the
pan who is dying to go to Lithuania? This is for you.
Cham Towers of Po Nagar, built between the 7th and Get hooked up across the country with other travelers,
12th centuries, later taking a stroll along the pagoda as plan trips, hear stories, ask advice. Big ol’ group trips
the fishing village begins to close up for the evening, are also in the works (read: group travel discounts).
and comes alive for the night. Yes, my friends, while Great for those of us who are stuck in the ina ka.
I am stuck in an English camp, you could be in Viet- Hook up with travel companions, and who knows….
nam with ScubaSIG exploring 3,450 kilometers of
coast line.
If you are interested, send an email to [email protected] and you will be set for
Experienced or not, all are welcome. Courses are
adventure, in Japan and abroad.
available for both beginners and advanced divers from
the lovely people at Rainbow Divers (www.
Ok, that is all for this month, peeps. However, I know
divevietnam.com), who will also be arranging the boat there is stuff going down that you have chosen to not
dives for those of you who just want to get out there. tell me about. I am hurt. No worries, you can still reThe boat dives are a mere $50 US, for two in one day, deem yourself and worm your way back into my afand the courses are $275 apiece. Sleeping arrangefections for next month!■
ments will be decided as a group, but
accommodation is cheap.
Sounds like a blast to me. If you fancy some travel
around Vietnam before or after diving, you can easily
hook up with the group and putter about. And be sure
to have a Mai Thai for me!
Do you have an event coming up you would
like covered in What’s Shakin’?
Email me at assteditor@ajetacrossjapan.
com and I will give you exposure!
Volume XIV, Issue 2
Page 9
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•
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must not exceed 4,000 words.
•
Manuscripts must be double-spaced and submitted in electronic format to:
[email protected].
•
Contest entries must be received by October 10,
2002.
•
Winning entry will receive 2,500 yen and be published in AAJ.
•
See Writer’s Guidelines at www.ajetacrossjapan.
com.
Page 10
A J E T
A C R O S S
J A P A N
Sex and the City
Inside Tokyo’s Pan-Asian Massage Industry
Rod Overaa
Miyagi
The woman sitting across the table from
me has the jitters. Her eyes keep flitting
nervously behind the lenses of her sunglasses, and every sudden noise is like a
pinprick. We’re at the Starbucks across
the street from Shinjuku station, but she’s
hardly touched the almond latte I bought
for her, so it’s not the caffeine. She’s worried about getting caught. Here, with me.
Originally from Shanghai, she
now goes by the name Momo—an
adopted appellation that bears no resemblance to her true, Chinese name. She
speaks no English, and I no Mandarin, so
Japanese is our lingua franca. She’s
wearing a smart beige pantsuit over a
green silk blouse, and black sandals that
show just enough ankle to capture my attention. If I saw her on the street, I’d assume she worked in an office somewhere
nearby. But this stylishly dressed woman
has many secrets to tell me today, and a
good reason to worry about being caught
doing so. Momo is twenty-nine years old,
and for the past two years she has been
working in a Tokyo massage parlor as a
prostitute. Her employers would not be
pleased to discover she is telling her story
to a reporter.
Momo lives and works in a shop
in the very heart of Kabuki-cho, a brightly
lit, raucous area near Shinjuku with a
long-running reputation as one of Tokyo’s
premier entertainment centers. The
eponymous traditional Japanese theaters
however, are long gone, having been
replaced by seedy hostess bars, strip
clubs, porno shops and massage parlors, most of which are run by the organized crime syndicates known as
“Yakuza.” It has been estimated that in
this 0.34 sq. kilometer area, there are
3,500 sex-related establishments currently in operation. Sex in Japan is more
than just a dirty secret that adults refuse
to acknowledge in polite conversation.
It’s big business.
All the girls in Momo’s shop are
Chinese. Her room is a 4 x 8-foot plasterboard cubicle with a curtain drawn
across the entryway, just large enough
for a tiny bed and the small bookcase in
which she keeps her belongings. On
either side are similar makeshift rooms,
with walls so paper-thin that during her
free time Momo is privy to the most intimate activities of her neighbors. Her
working hours are from two p.m. until
however late in the morning her services
are required. She generally sleeps between the hours of five and eleven a.m.
In this particular shop, ten thousand yen gets you a light massage and
a hand job. A blowjob costs an extra
five thousand. For twenty thousand yen,
you can get biblical with Momo for up to
forty minutes. Her employers allow her
to leave the premises for two hours each
day, to shop for essential items like
toothpaste and condoms. It is this free
Volume XIV, Issue 2
time that Momo has given up to tell me
her story.
“I had a baby out of wedlock,” she
confides to me in a hushed whisper, “back
in Shanghai. I’m worthless to my family
now, because no man will ever marry me.
At least this way I can send money home,
so that my parents can care for my
daughter.”
Her confession reveals a complex
web of cultural attitudes and economic
realities, which operate together to promote the commodification of women: obligation to family; women being valued
solely for their sexuality; and limited economic opportunities for Chinese women.
In Momo’s case, the decision to become a
prostitute came with her parent’s blessing.
Her decision to come to Japan was based
purely in economics.
“I can make a lot more money in
Tokyo than in China,” she says earnestly.
Momo’s story is by no means
unique. Japan’s burgeoning sex industry
has recently been estimated at more than
16 trillion yen ($160 billion US) per annum. Trafficking in foreign women plays
a major part in this lucrative business—
over 150,000 non-Japanese women work
in Japan’s sex-trade, most of them from
Thailand and the Philippines. A recent
study indicates that by the time they arrive
in Japan, the majority of trafficked Thai
women accumulate debts on the order of
4 million yen (about $25,000 US). These
debts must be worked off before they are
allowed to return home or save money.
Trafficked women from foreign
countries, however, are only part of the
problem. Japan has recently seen an
alarming rise in enjo kosai (a euphemism
for prostitution by underage Japanese
girls). The Hamagin Research Institute
recently released a report indicating that
prostitution by Japanese schoolgirls accounts for about 56.9 billion yen ($475
million US) of the total trade each year.
Page 11
When researchers recently surveyed junior and senior high school students in Tokyo, they discovered that 3 out of 4
claimed to have been solicited for sex by
older men. Almost all of the high school
girls surveyed reported performing some
type of sexual favor for money. These
startling facts prompted the Diet to pass
legislation in 2001 assessing stiffer sentences for child prostitution/pornography
offenders. Many feel that the penalties
allowed under this law (three years in a
labor prison or a fine of one million yen
(about $9,800 US) are still far too lenient.
Night falls over Tokyo. The lurid
neon maze that is Kabuki-cho crackles to
life: young couples strolling arm-in-arm;
teenage girls clopping through the narrow
lanes in their loose-socks and black patent loafers; the ubiquitous gaijin pressing
glossy sex-shop
flyers into the
hands of passing
Japanese salarymen. Just
around the corner
from Momo’s
shop, vice detecThis is not “Pretty
tives are conducting a raid. They
Woman”...the men
storm the fourthfloor massage
who come to visit
parlor en masse,
tearing back curMomo have but one
tains and snappurpose, and they
ping photographs
of whatever hapdon’t bring flowers.
pens to be transpiring within,
eliciting frightened and angry
cries from the occupants within. The blitzkrieg is over within seconds—but tonight,
there is a surprise. The news spreads
among the police officers like a rampant
forest fire, hushed whispers passing along
(Continued on page 12)
Page 12
A J E T
A C R O S S
J A P A N
her life in Japan is an unlikely blend of
starry-eyed romanticism and gritty reality.
the bombshell: “Gaijin! Gaijin!”
Clearly, this is an adventure for her, a
The offender is a twenty-six yearchance to travel and earn more money
old ALT, literally caught in the act with a
than she ever dreamed of back in Mainland
Japanese prostitute. One of the detectives
China. Here she can afford to buy expentakes down the information on the man’s
sive clothing and a cell phone, and still
Alien Registration Card, questions him at
have enough left to send
length, and has the police
home to her family. But this
photographer take another
is not “Pretty Woman”; there
set of photos. The young
Japan’s Dirty Little Secret is no Richard Gere waiting in
man, clamping back tears,
the wings. The men who
begs the detective not to in● Japan’s sex industry accounts
come to visit Momo have but
form his supervisor. His bigfor 1% of the GNP and equals
one purpose, and they don’t
gest fear is that he will lose
the country’s defense budget.
bring flowers.
his job and be sent home.
She remains insouciant on
“We let him go,” the ● Japanese men constitute the
largest number of Asian sex
the point, refusing to play the
detective tells me later, on
tourists.
victim. “Life is compromise,”
condition of anonymity.
she says with a shrug. “The
“Generally speaking, foreign ● Japan is the largest market in
the world for Asian sex workers. men get what they want; I get
customers are not the problem. This is Japan’s shame, ● Japan’s sex industry: estimated what I want.”
a product of our cultural attiat 16 trillion yen in revenue each No harm, no foul, Momo is
telling me, but I can’t help but
tudes toward sex. It is our
year.
wonder if she is conscious of
own people who are creating
Sources: CATW-AP (Fan, Annathe irony. In both China and
this demand, and our own
bel, et al), Inter Press Service AsiaJapan, this intelligent, attracpeople who rush to fill it.
Pacific.
tive, vibrant young woman is
These are the people that
valued solely for her sexualour government needs to
ity, and she has been culturally prodeal with.”
grammed to accept this, even capitalize on
After the interview, I ask him offit. She cannot even imagine the possibility
handedly if he finds his work interesting. A
that someone would value her for anything
wizened solemnity breaks over his face,
other than sex.
the faraway expression of a man who has
The real harm has already been
seen things he wishes he could delete from
the hard disk of his mind. He suddenly
done.■
looks much older.
“No, it’s very difficult,” he says,
shaking his head slowly, and suddenly I
Rod Overaa is the Editor of AJET Across
understand that he’s not referring to the
Japan. He has worked variously as a freelance
work itself, but rather to the toll it takes on
writer, corporate drone and Elvis
his psyche. This is not a job he enjoys doImpersonator.
ing, but one that must be done, no matter
how sick it leaves him feeling inside.
(Continued from page 11)
Momo, on the other hand, appears
not to have any reservations about her
chosen profession, personal, moral, or otherwise. Listening to her speak, I sense that
Volume XIV, Issue 2
Page 13
Hercules Rockefeller: Advice Columnist
Dear Hercules,
I noticed recently that when I slap
my principal in the face, he
doesn’t talk to me for a while. Is
there a logical explanation or am
I just paranoid?
—Slap Happy
Dear Slap,
If you are going to waste my time
sending in a problem, please either send a real letter or make one
up that is slightly humorous.
Dear Hercules,
My problem is that I don’t know if
I will make it to the end of my
contract on JET. I hate it here. I
always feel alone, even when I am
with a group of friends. I smile
on the outside, but I feel like my
insides are drying up and turning
black. The only people I have told
are my parents and they just tell
me that I am being overdramatic.
I’m afraid to tell anyone else because they might think I’m weak.
Is it normal to cry yourself to
sleep each night and to tell the
person that you see in the mirror
that you hate him more than anything in the world? Please help.
—Nowhere to Turn
Dear Nowhere,
Your letter truly touched my
heart. Although I am a qualified
psychiatrist, this is not my area of
expertise. However, I searched
the Internet and found some sites
that I think might really help. The
most useful is www.whiningmoron.com. You should definitely
check out www.everyonethinks
youarealoser.com and www.
yourparentsarerighttohateyou.org.
Remember, the only person who
can help you is you. It’s too bad
that in your case that person is a
whining crybaby that probably
can’t do anything right.
Dear Hercules,
Is it right to make fun of fat people?
—Lean and Mean
Dear Lean,
Fat people are like elephants:
They are fat, and they are made of
rubber. This makes it very difficult to actually cause them physical or emotional harm. However,
making them cry will likely help
them realize that it is time to lose
those extra pounds and get healthier. Don’t be afraid about being
too mean, if you end up going too
far you can always make everything better by buying the fat bastard a pie.
Dear Hercules,
I have a sexual fantasy about
drinking diarrhea. Why would
this happen to me? What should I
do about it? I fought the urge
long enough and I want to find out
about others that share my fantasy. I’ve heard about something
called the inter-net. It’s like a
bunch of calculators around the
world that are connected in
Europe. Apparently there is a lot
of weird sexual stuff on there. I
need to find somewhere that I can
feel comfortable exploring my
sexuality away from hate-
mongers. Is this a good place
to find information on my deviancy?
—Butt-Tastic
Dear Butt,
You are a sick freak. I can
only hope that God doesn’t
associate me with you and
break both my legs. You have
made my life significantly
worse and I hate you. I have to
go take a shower. Please think
about the people around you
and never mention this again.■
“I don’t know if
I will make it to
the end of my
contract on
JET. I hate it
here...”
Hercules Rockefeller graduated with a doctorate in psychiatry from Hollywood Upstairs Medical College. He
recently finished his first book
The Littlest Pony. To ask Hercules for advice on any topic,
email him at:
[email protected].
Page 14
A J E T
A C R O S S
J A P A N
Tickets to the True
North Eastern Asia
Book Reviews:
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of
China by Jung Chang;
Still Life With Rice by Helie Lee
Book Nook
Yeji Jeung
CIR, Ehime
A remarkable number of people have read
or heard of Jung Chang’s classic book,
“Wild Swans.” A worldwide bestseller, it
made a deep impression on Western
readers and captured the imagination of
people across the globe.
“Wild Swans” is a non-fiction work about a
Chinese woman, her daughter and granddaughter. The author skillfully weaves a
tapestry of recent Chinese history into the
narrative, setting the story against a backdrop of the wars, revolutions and social
upheaval that China suffered through from
the late 19th century through most of the
20th. Drawing upon this history of conflict,
Chang asks, “Where is China heading in
the 21st century?”—a theme that resonates throughout the book. The main
character is a Chinese woman from a rich
family, who lived a tragic life during wartime. Through the course of the story, her
daughter becomes a communist leader,
and her granddaughter immigrates to the
UK. These three women represent three
generations of Chinese women, and they
will take you on a dizzy adventure in modern China, making you wonder about the
future of this fascinating country.
For those who want to expand their horizons and discover a country located between China and Japan, I recommend
“Still Life With Rice.” The country in question is, of course, Korea…or rather, the
two countries of South and North Korea.
This book isn’t as popular as “Wild
Swans,” and though it is less of a pageturner, this book is filled with historical and
cultural ideas about the Korean peninsula.
In this story, a young Korean-American
woman follows her grandmother’s footsteps in Japanese colonial Korea and
China, and returns to Korea during the
Korean War. She experiences sorrow
and pain that will never fade away, but
eventually comes to recognize her strong
identity as a Korean. Frankly, this piece is
a bit religious, which might tend to annoy
some readers. Apart from that, however,
this book is an absolute treasure of Korean culture and the Korean people’s way
of thinking.
For me, an Asian woman born 1/2 Cantonese, 1/4Japanese, and 1/4 Korean, it
was often really painful to read these
books, because the stories were often so
similar to my family history as told by my
grandparents. I sometimes felt like I was
watching black & white documentary
films, or talking to my grandparents’
ghosts. I’ve never felt the deep pain and
bitter sorrow of their lives, but I can still
see those lost pieces of my life in Hong
Kong reflected here—even if I do love
pizza and coke more than rice, kimchi or
Chinese dumplings. Through either of
these books, you can simply enjoy the
(Continued on page 15)
Volume XIV, Issue 2
Page 15
(Continued from page 14)
dramatic lives of these women, or you can
search for more. Now that we live in Japan, it’s important to remember that this
island has been very closely—maybe too
much so—related to China and Korea (a
fact that Japanese people often forget).
Who knows, after JET your next destination may be China or Korea! Here, I am
sending you 2 tickets to the true homelands of the Eastern Asian soul. Whether
you choose to use them or not is up to
you—but it’s a trip worth taking.■
Yeji Jeung is the AJET Interpreter for 200203. She speaks Japanese, Korean, Chinese
and English.
Air Wind
When wind blows so strong,
I think I might weep.
Air Wind.
Air fills my heart,
Wind keeps it inside.
Air Wind.
Space explorers cry,
They have no air wind.
Air Wind.
Chemistry is nothing
without the elements to back up its
wind.
Elements like a special kind of air:
Air Wind.
Its beauty reminds me,
of a time when wind sat still.
A time before air,
a time before wind.
Air Wind.
Poem by Matthew Gould
S
Y
R AT E L
At AAJ, we know how talented JETs
E
P
S
E
D
S I O N S can be. If you’re a writer, artist or
S
I
M
B
G SU
photographer, we want to hear from
EEKIN
you! We are currently looking for:
Feature Articles
Digital Photos
Comics
Drawings
Please send your submissions to: [email protected]
Deadline: 10th of every month
For complete Writers’ Guidelines, visit our Website:
www.ajetacrossjapan.com.
Page 16
A J E T
A C R O S S
J A P A N
EYE
ON
EIGO
Sign in a train station in
Suzhou, China.
We’ve all seen it. Perfectly good English, twisted and mangled into something hilarious, incomprehensible, or just plain weird. It’s called Japanglish, and it seems to be everywhere in
Japan. Here is this month’s batch—enough to make us English teachers shake our heads sadly
in shame and frustration:
•
Information booklet about using a hotel air conditioner: “If you want condition of cool
air in your room, please control yourself.” Makes sense….
•
Car rental brochure, Tokyo: “When passenger of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn.
Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage then tootle him
with vigour.” Aah, I haven’t had a good tootling in so long….
•
Sign in men's rest room: “To stop leak turn cock to the right.” Fellas—I tried this, and
it doesn’t work. Also, the guy next to me kicked my ass for peeing on him.
•
Sign in Japanese public bath: “Foreign guests are requested not to pull cock in tub.”
You would think this goes without saying, but there’s always one in every crowd….
•
Tokyo hotel's rules and regulations: “Guests are requested not to smoke or do other disgusting behaviours in bed.” Does this include eating onigiri naked while watching
Morning Musume on TV? Darn….
•
In a Tokyo bar: “Special cocktails for the ladies with nuts.” Oh my. If anyone needs
me, I’ll be trying to scrub the memory of this sentence out of my brain with Borax and
steel wool.
--Compiled by R. Overaa
Submit examples of strange English, along with your name and prefecture, to:
[email protected]
Volume XIV, Issue 2
Page 17
AJET Across Japan presents:
Subscribe Me Now!
5 Reasons to Subscribe to AAJ
1. We’re convenient! With AAJ
home delivery, you don’t have to
remember to visit our website
every month. Plus, with paper
AAJ, you can read us anytime,
anywhere—the train, the toilet,
even those slow, boring afternoons at your local B.O.E.
Yes! I want to get mail that isn’t a bill!
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right to my door.
4. We’re brimming with wholesome goodness! If you’re reading us on the Web, you’re missing out. The paper version of
AAJ contains a number of articles and features that don’t appear in our Web-based magazine. Short fiction, hilarious
“Japanglish,” feature articles and
comics are just a few of the
things you could be missing each
month.
5. We’re desperate. AAJ is
100% non-profit. We depend on
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If you enjoy reading AAJ, fill
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3. We’re Eco-Friendly.
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may unnecessarily kill poor, defenseless trees. AAJ is printed
on 100% recycled paper. Plus,
the editor refuses to eat the
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Price
John, an ALT in Nagasaki
leaps in celebration after
sending off his form.
AJET Across Japan is the voice of
the JET community. We are a national magazine that deals with the
things that concern you: your life,
your work, your interests. Listen
and be heard!
Name
Address
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MAIL TO:
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Page 18
My Great Year in
Ishikawa
Kwang Sik KIM
CIR, Ishikawa
Annyonghaseyo! (“Hello” in Korean).
Ishikawa Prefecture, where I currently
live, is characterized by the harmonious blending of traditional and modern
beauty ideals. As you may be aware,
Ishikawa is the stage of this year’s
NHK history drama, Toshiie Tomatsu.
In February 2001, I finished my
coursework at Han Yang University in
Korea, where my major was Japanese
folklore. After I graduated, I got a position on the JET program, and since
April 2001 I have worked at the Ishikawa Prefecture International Exchange Association. Here in Ishikawa,
my job is translating and interpreting
for exchange programs between Korea
and Japan. Also, I coordinate Korean
language and culture classes, international exchange classes, international
A J E T
A C R O S S
J A P A N
festivals, etc. I’m thankful for the many rich
experiences in my daily life here. In particular, I love to give culture classes at schools. I
am the type of person who loves talking to
people and spending time with children. I
think I get a lot of energy from studying with
my students.
Since coming to Japan, I’ve returned to Korea twice on business. The first visit was at
the beginning of August, when I took 50 junior-high school students to Korea as part of a
youth exchange program named “IshiwakaSeinenno Tsubasa (Ishikawa Wings of
Youth).” Previously, more than 50 Korean
junior-high school students had visited Ishikawa to do home-stays and sightseeing. In
August, I accompanied the Japanese students on their visit to Korea. The weather
was sizzling hot, and on top of that, I had important responsibilities as a supervisor and
interpreter for the Japanese students. I was
exhausted! On the whole, though, I felt really
satisfied with the exchange program and
think it provided great opportunities for exchange between Korea and Japan on a very
personal level.
The second trip was in the middle of October.
On September 10, the governor of Jollabukdo province signed a statement
establishing a sister program between Jollabuk-do and Ishikawa
Prefecture. In celebration, we
attended a Jollabuk-do PR exhibition, a Korea/Japan history
symposium, a Jollabuk-do Provincial Korean Folk Orchestra
concert, and much more. We
went to a lot of attractions, one
after another. I felt really grateful
for the opportunity to build meaningful ties between Jollabuk-do
(Continued on page 19)
Pansori, a traditional form of Korean stage drama, is performed in
the city of Jeonju.
Volume XIV, Issue 2
(Continued from page 18)
and Ishikawa…It was a really strong feeling that is impossible to describe.
In continuation of this celebratory mood,
Jollabuk-do invited Ishikawa Prefecture
as one of the official guests of the Jeonju
Sori (sound) Festival. So in October, I
accompanied the vice-governor and
members of the Prefecture’s congress to
Korea to see the Festival.
Jeonju is the capital city of Jollabuk-do
province, and is the home of the famous
Korean stage art Pansori. Korean people
call the city “the home of Korean arts.”
You may also be familiar with the popular
Korean cuisine ishiyaki bibimba (mixed
rice served in a hot stone bowl). Jeonju is
bibimba’s homeland! So we were able to
enjoy the best Korean arts and foods at
the same time.
This trip, however, was a lot different
from the time I visited Korea as a youth
program coordinator. My duty as the interpreter for the governor and members
of the prefectural congress made me a
bit (very!) nervous. But the VIPs were
really kind to me, so I got over my nervousness quickly.
My life here is filled with joy, not only because of the two major business trips to
Korea, but also because of many small
things. There is now a direct flight from
Komatsu airport to Korea 3 times a week,
and passenger numbers have increased
gradually. Through this flight, a lot of people in Ishikawa have experienced Korea,
and most of them are now really interested in the country. Also, because this is
the year of the Korea/Japan World Cup
soccer games, it is also “the Year of Korea/Japan National Exchange.” I hope
these two countries will make this global
festival a success, through real partnership. Here in Ishikawa, 2002 will bring
another youth exchange, and in Jollabuk-
Page 19
do, both an Ishikawa PR exhibition and a
congress level exchange will be held.
As I write this, the weather here is already
hot. Summer is coming around soon.
Against the steamy hot Japanese summer…I will do my best here as a CIR.
Kamsahamnida! (“Thank you” in Korean.)
If you want to get more information about
the Jeonju Sori (sound) Festival, visit the
official web page of the festival: http://
www.jsf.or.kr/english/english.htm. If you
are interested in Korean arts, please check
the Korean Culture & Arts Foundation’s
(KCAF) homepage: http://www.kcaf.or.kr/
ehome3/emain/htm.■
Kwang Sik KIM is a 2nd-year CIR in Ishikawa-ken. (English translation by Yeji
Jeung.) 日本語の翻訳はページ２０ー２１
にいます。
Attention
Web
Readers
WE’RE
SORRY!
Thank you for supporting eAAJ, the online version of AJET Across Japan. The AAJ Editors
regret that due to declining subscriptions to the
paper-based version of AAJ, we must start
omitting content from the Internet-based version. Be assured that eAAJ will continue to
provide you with all essential information from
AJET.
As we are a non-profit magazine, AAJ depends
upon subscription sales to cover our printing
and Web-server costs. If you enjoy reading the
magazine, please consider subscribing (details
on page 17.) We look forward to the possibility
of reinstating full content on the Website in the
future!
If you have questions or comments, please
contact us at: [email protected].
Page 20
A J E T
A C R O S S
J A P A N
私って、本当に国際交流員？？？
石川県キム・ガンシク
アンニョンハセヨ～～～
私は2001年2月にSEOUL（ソウル）にある漢陽（ハンヤン）大学院で近代日本思想史
（民俗学）を専攻、修士過程を終えました。それからJETプログラムに参加することにな
り、２００１年４月から金沢にある石川県国際交流協会に勤務しています。ご存じのよ
うに、今年NHK大河ドラマでは石川県を舞台として「利家とまつ」を放映しており、伝統
と現代の調和した石川県はその美しさを更に披露しています。
私は主に石川県と韓国との国際交流における通訳・翻訳などを担当しています。ま
た、韓国語・韓国文化講座、国際交流教室、国際交流祭りなどにも頻繁に参加させてい
ただいています。現在は、これまで国際交流業務に携わりながら得てきた様々な経験
に、心より感謝する毎日であります。特に、小・中・高校における国際交流教室はいつ
も楽しみです。話し好きで子供が大好きな私は、生徒たちと共に韓国のことを勉強する
ことにより、たくさんのエネルギーをいただいています。
さて、2001年４月赴任以来、韓国に通訳のために２回も行ってまいりました。今日は
その経験を簡単に述べさせていただきます。はじめての韓国出張は８月初め、「石川少
年の翼」という青少年韓日交流プログラムで、約５０名の石川県の中学生を引率して韓
国に行ってまいりました。それから2回目の出張は１０月半ば、石川県副知事と県議会議
長などの方々と共に、石川県と友好交流関係を結んでいる全羅北道で開かれた「全州世
(Continued on page 21)
Volume XIV, Issue 2
(Continued from page 20)
界ソリ祝祭」に行ってまいりました。全羅
北道の道庁所在地である全州は、韓国にお
ける代表的な伝統音楽の中のひとつである
「パンソリ」の発祥地で、「芸術の故郷」
として知られています。また、石焼ビビン
パといったら、やはり「全州ビビンパ」で
す。要するに、食べ物も芸術も優れたとこ
ろです＾＾。
まず７月末、韓国で約５０名の中学生が
石川県を訪問、石川県を見学しながら、韓
日青少年交流とホームステイなどを体験し
てから帰りました。続いて８月初めは石川
県の中学生が韓国を訪問し、全州とソウル
などを見学しながら、韓国の中学校などで
青少年交流をしてから戻りました。暑い天
気であった上に、初めて日本の中学生を引
率しながら通訳をしたので、若干疲れまし
たが、今回の青少年交流を通して、韓日両
国の中学生たちがお互いを知り合う重要な
きっかけになるということで、大きなやり
がいを感じました。
2001年９月１０日、全羅北道知事が石川
県を訪問友好交流に関する合意書を調印し
ました。特に2001年9月、韓国・全羅北道知
事が来県し、石川県と「友好交流に関する
合意書」を調印しました。それと時期を合
わせ、全羅北道週間を設けて全羅北道紹介
展、韓日歴史シンポジウム、全羅北道立国
楽院の公演などの充実したイベントが相次
ぎました。何よりも、私の小さな力が両県
道の円滑な交流に少しでも役に立ったとい
う意味で、言葉ではなんとも表現できない
やりがいと喜びを感じ取った時間でもあり
ました。その際、全羅北道は１０月半ばに
開かれる「全州世界ソリ祝祭」に石川県を
正式的に招待しました。そこで８月に続け
て、１０月半ばにも韓国出張に行ってまい
りました。青少年プログラム引率と異な
り、石川県副知事と議会議長などの方々と
の随行通訳であっただけに、さすが、怖い
ことなしの私も＾＾多少緊張しました。し
かし、実際に副知事と議長はたいへん優し
Page 21
くて親切な方であって、なんら緊張せず
に、随行通訳を行ないました。
２回の韓国出張以外にも韓国語（文
化）講座、国際交流教室、様々な通訳・
翻訳、そして国際交流イベント参加など
を通して、本当に楽しく、生活していま
す。また、石川県は小松空港を通して、
週3回韓国直行便がおり、日によって、
その利用者が増えています。これを通し
て、石川県の住民の相当数が韓国に行っ
てきた経験があり、韓国に非常に関心を
持っています。したがって、ある意味で
は、前述した2回の韓国出張話はその多
くの交流の中で氷山の一角に過ぎないか
も知れません。
今年2002年は韓日ワールドカップ共催
が行なわれる「韓日国民交流の年」で
す。韓日両国は成功的開催を通して、真
の同伴者になれるでしょう。2002年石川
県においても、韓日中学生交流をはじ
め、全羅北道で行なわれる石川県紹介
展、地方議会交流などが推進される予定
です。
まだ4月なのに金沢は暑い日が続いて
います。もう夏めいてきました。暑さに
も負けず、今年も頑張りたいと思いま
す。カムサハムニダ。
GOING TO MISS US?
RENEW TODAY!
2nd, 3rd & 4th Year JETs!
If you haven’t renewed your subscription to
AAJ, then this is your LAST ISSUE! Last
year, Iwate Prefectural ALT Harold Ginsby
allowed his subscription to lapse, and the
stress of being clueless caused a huge, infected boil to sprout up on his nose. Now,
nobody talks to him. Don’t let this happen
to you! Use our handy subscription form on
page 17 to renew your subscription today.
Page 22
Memory in the sky
いつからだったかな？こんな
わたしに気づいてしまったの
は
あなたと出会ってからまるで
世界が生まれかわったようで
した
Memory in the sky! Oh I can fly!
川の向こう側にこの唄がきこ
えてるかな
I will love you forever
くもりのない空に語りかけて
みようそしたら今日は
それだけで生きれる気がして
いたんだろう
春になって雪が溶け青春の門
をくぐりぬけた日曜日
人の痛みなどもわかるように
なって誰かを好きになること
さえ
遊びだとかトキメキだとか
どーでもよくなってた
現在あなたがここにいないだ
け
春はやがて来るよあなたのタ
メに春が来る
なつかしきメロディーそこに
流れて
やさしい風がそっと吹いた
A J E T
A C R O S S
J A P A N
Memory in the Sky
by Aoi Kaneko
I don’t remember when
I discovered this part of myself.
Since I met you
my world has changed.
Memory in the sky!
Oh I can fly!
From across the river
maybe you will hear my song.
“I will love you forever.”
I will converse with the cloudless sky
and today, live only
in the unbroken blue of my mind.
The coming of spring melts
the Earth’s cocoon of snow.
I pass through the gates of youth
into an undiscovered place.
One Sunday, I came to understand
the nature of human pain.
You are gone.
Now, I don’t care about anyone.
Someday, spring will come
for you, too.
For I have heard
this melody in the wind.■
Aoi Kaneko is a second-year student
at Sumiyoshi Junior High School in
Ishinomaki City, Miyagi-ken. Her
dream is to become a singer, and she
hopes to one day be able to sing
songs in English. (English translation
of “Memory in the Sky” by Hiromi
Saito and R. Overaa.)
Volume XIV, Issue 2
LEVEL UP!
Studying Japanese
Brett Robson
The Yamasa Institute
I still remember the feeling of reading and understanding my first Japanese book. Admittedly
it was a child’s book about the family observing
his family but it gave me a great feeling of satisfaction.
Most educationalists agree that reading is very
important for learning both your native language
and second language. Unfortunately with Japanese the biggest problem is kanji. Once your
level of comprehension improves, finding good
reading material can be quite difficult. Sentences in textbooks tend to be fairly straight forward and to the point. Moreover they tend to
keep to facts and are rather unliterary.
I try to find material that I can enjoy reading,
rather than new sources of study material. I
don’t want to get bogged down with grammar
dictionaries, and having to look up every second
word.
I’ve recently stumbled upon a great book, The
Japanese Written Word (see footnote), which
unlike many Japanese texts, is available at amazon.com (but should also be available at large
bookstores). It has stories taken from Japanese
authors written in their original Japanese, with a
vocabulary list on the facing page, a romaji version, and an English translation. This book is
probably suited for lower intermediate level students and up; the grammar is fairly straightforward but the vocabulary is fairly difficult. The
stories are very good and even the most advanced students would enjoy it. Unfortunately
there aren’t many other books available like this.
Childrens Books
It might seem obvious that children’s books are
ideal reading material. However, this is not nec-
Page 23
essarily true. Japanese children have very different vocabularies than those learning Japanese as adults. Recently the 8-year-old
daughter of a close friend had her nose out of
joint because I could read shinpai (to worry)
and she couldn't. Later she had her revenge—
knowing what a sasori (scorpion) is when I
didn't.
As adults, we tend to learn more abstract
things, while children can name every plant
and animal (vocabulary we may never fully
learn as adults). Also, children’s books are
written entirely in hiragana. This might seem
good at first, but as you learn more kanji it
actually becomes quite hard to read hiragana
by itself, as the mind begins to recognize
words as patterns rather than characters that
must be sounded out.
The reason we don't read children’s books as
adults is rather obvious—they are pretty boring! The Diggiest Dog in the World was great
when I was 6 years old, but as an adult it’s a
bit played out.
Reading a book in Japanese that you have
read in English helps comprehension greatly,
and if the translation is fairly good, reading
the Japanese version with the English version
handy can speed up your reading greatly. I
have seen books that I read as a child in Japanese, such as The Caterpillar That Ate Too
Much, but I think Harry Potter is bit beyond
me at the moment.
By all means use children’s books, but before
you buy, have a good look first. Fortunately,
in Japan it seems quite acceptable to treat
your local bookshop as a library. For those at
elementary schools, you might find it easy to
borrow or at least read books at school.
Manga
I regularly come across people who study
Japanese just to read manga. While having a
clear objective in life is admirable, manga
can be of dubious value to the general stu(Continued on page 24)
Page 24
A J E T
A C R O S S
J A P A N
(Continued from page 23)
dent. Imagine someone telling you they learned
English by reading Elmer Fudd cartoons. Of
course not all manga are created equal, but you
should be aware that you may end up with a
strange Kansai accent, or sound like a yakuza
tough guy or even a 12-year-old girl. Great, if
that’s what you want.
That said, manga can give you valuable insight
into normal speech. Unfortunately, finding out
what the various contractions and slang words
mean is not so easy. For instance, women often
use atashi for me. While extremely common, I
defy anyone to show me that in a dictionary. A
man using atashi sounds extremely effeminate.
Nothing wrong with that, as long as you understand it.
Be careful of the kanji used. Having to look up
every word in a kanji dictionary is going to slow
your reading significantly, so look for manga
with furigana (small hiragana) to give you the
readings of the kanji.
The length of individual stories is important as
well. Short stories are much easier; if one gets
too complicated you can drop it and continue
with the next.
I recommend two manga, Kobo-chan by Ueda
Masashi and Hamster Nikki (a diary). Both are
family-orientated, so the language level is fairly
basic. The big advantage with these two is you
see the different language used in various situations (Kobo-chan is better in this regard). Hamster Nikki tends to get a bit too cute. Kobo-chan
has furigana on every kanji, whereas Hamster
Nikki has furigana only on especially difficult
kanji.
These two manga belong to the 4-panel genre, a
short, often humorous story in four panels. This
is great because if you don't get the point you can
go back and review it. The ones I've had the most
difficulty with have no text at all, a major cultural divide which prevents me from understanding the joke.
Other manga by Ueda Masashi:
• Kariage-kun features a young salary
man doing as little work as possible
at his dead-end job, much preferring
to screw off and pull practical jokes.
Good insight into society, companies,
and language usage but little to no
furigana to rely on.
•
Otoboke-kacho is somewhat more
staid than Kariage-kun in that practical jokes and gags don't figure so
strongly in the humor. Includes
scenes at work and at home, going
more often for the heartwarmingly
amusing than for out-and-out hilarity.
Again not very much furigana.
•
Masashi-kun is what I sometimes call
“Kobo Goes to College.” The central
character is a Japanese university student. Situations revolve around
school, dorm life, and part-time
work. It only ran about 5 or 6 volumes.
Tanaka Sho is also a good author to consider; or for more advanced students,
Hotta Katsuhiko.
Be careful of any manga that is very specialized, such as baseball or space
travel—unless of course you are very interested in them. The specialized vocabulary and unnatural speech is of concern.
All the material listed above is based on
general, modern society.
A problem with manga can be objective
displacement, in which you end up being
distracted by learning the genre itself and
not the language—your original objective.
For instance, manga use many sound effect words which are not really useful outside of manga.
(Continued on page 25)
Volume XIV, Issue 2
Page 25
(Continued from page 24)
You should be able to pick up manga for around 100 yen at second-hand shops, such as the beautifully named second-hand chain, “Book Off.”
Other Texts
An often overlooked source of reading material is other textbooks geared to your level. Obviously
you don’t want to buy a lot of new books, but if you can get your hands on them they are a good
source of reading material.
Newspapers
Newspapers tend to use fairly simple grammar in the news articles, but the vocabulary tends to be
quite difficult, very specialized and formal. If you have a Zaurus (personal digital assistant) you
(Continued on page 26)
MA in Advanced Japanese Studies
ADVERTISEMENT
School of East Asian Studies (SEAS)
University of Sheffield
UK University of the Year, 2001
The Sunday Times University Guide
The MA in Advanced Japanese Studies* is aimed at anybody with Japanese language
skills equivalent to Level 2 of the Japan Foundation’s Japanese Language Proficiency
Test, a good first degree (which may, but need not, be in Japanese), and interested in:
•
•
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•
Development of high-level language skills through intensive teaching by experienced native and nonnative instructors
Introductory training in the professional skills of translating (social science, technical and literary)
Modules providing a comprehensive understanding of Japanese society, economy and culture
A choice of dissertation or translation project
‘The School maintains a high reputation for excellence which is reflected in the high levels of graduate employment, and the academic attainment and confidence of the students’
(HEFCE 1997)
In addition SEAS also offers a number of other MA and MSc taught courses:
MA in Japanese Language and Society*
MA in Advanced Chinese Studies
MSc in East Asian Business
MSc in Chinese Language and Business/
International Relations*
For more details, visit our website at www.seas.ac.uk or contact us at:
School of East Asian Studies
(SEAS)
University of Sheffield
Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
Phone: + 44 (0) 114 2228401
Fax: + 44 (0) 114 2228432
Email: [email protected]
MA in Chinese Studies
MA in Modern Korean Studies
MSc in East Asian Political Economy
MSc in Chinese Business and International
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* Also offered by distance learning. For more
details contact the Distance Learning Centre at
the same address, or e-mail: seas.
[email protected]
For those resident in Japan, please contact:
David English House
Email: [email protected]
Page 26
A J E T
A C R O S S
J A P A N
(Continued from page 25)
can look up kanji words fairly easily. If you are interested in a particular area such as sports, economics, or crime, then newspapers are a great way to expand your vocabulary.
Online Reading Aids
There is a host of material online these days. The website www.rikai.com can help significantly
with reading. Rather than translating, it acts as an automatic dictionary—understanding the grammar and context is left to you. Go to the site and enter the URL of the Japanese site you wish to
read. Rikai will access the requested page, then add hints. As you come to words you don’t know
simply point the cursor to the word and a hint box will pop up. Kanji words will have the reading
in kana, the English meaning of the word and a summary of each kanji used. Katakana words
simply have the English meaning. Of course, one problem with this is that Japanese text made
from graphics can’t be translated. You may be pleasantly surprised at how much you can understand using Rikai.
I hope you have found this article helpful, and once again thanks for the positive feedback. I
must give personal thanks to Michael Cash for his valuable advice about manga, especially recommending Kobo-chan to me. His website is “Japan from the Driver's Seat,” http://www.
sunfield.ne.jp/~mike/
The Japanese Written Word: A Unique Reader, Glenn Melchinger and Helene Kasha, Kodansha International; ISBN: 4770021267; (March 1999)■
Brett Robson is a former JET who now works at The Yamasa Institute (www.yamasa.org) in the International Office, as one of the multi-lingual staff assisting Yamasa students coming to and studying in Japan.
He can be reached at [email protected].
WANTED!
AAJ ADVERTISING/
DISTRIBUTION EDITOR
Life at the B.O.E. a tad tsumaranai? Got some extra time between classes? Want to get out of ina ka
every now and then? If you can spare about 5-10 hours a month and would like a seat on the AJET
National Council, then AAJ wants you!
Duties include:
•
Recruiting advertisers for AAJ and securing payment of ad revenues.
•
•
•
•
Maintaining contact with past advertisers
Ad design
Coordinating monthly distribution of AAJ
Attending AJET National Council Meetings, JET Conferences and Orientations.
Interested? Contact the AAJ Editor at: [email protected].
Volume XIV, Issue 2
Page 27
OFF THE WIRE
Letters from AAJ Readers
Dear editor,
I have been a loyal reader of
AJET Across Japan since I first
arrived as an ALT in August
2000. Unfortunately, The June
issue is the last one that I will
ever read.
Enjoying the convenient
online version, I was pleased
with the newsletter until I came
to page 17, where I found the
advice column by Hercules
Rockerfeller. Needless to say I
was disgusted and personally
offended. How can you consider it humorous to make fun of
hair loss, veganism and drug
problems?
I happen to be a vegan and I
thought you should know that
most vegans are much healthier than their murdering carnivorous peers. The only reason I can see for printing this
garbage is that you are an inept
editor, or your target audience
is a group of dim-witted fools
who would rather laugh at serious problems than do something productive with their
time. I suggest a printed apology to your readers for exposing them to this waste of time
and space.
Here is your chance to get 1,000 fantastic photos of Japan for only 1,500 yen!
Sincerely,
Matthew Gould
Mihama-cho
Dear Matthew, We’d be happy to
print an apology—on the same day
you drag your pallid, emaciated,
Gollum-like body out of that patchouli-smelling bat-cave you call an
apartment and eat a nice healthy
plate of gyuutan. Mmmmm!
In the meantime, readers can
enjoy Mr. Rockefeller’s latest column on page 13.
—The Editors
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photos taken by Mie-ken ALTs. The
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HAVE!!!
Why such a good deal? The proceeds
from this CD will go towards a volunteer
project that I will be participating in this
coming August, THE SUMMER 2002 CHARITABLE & EDUCATION PROJECT. Several JETs will
be going to Vietnam & Cambodia for 2 weeks visiting orphanages, schools, hospitals, landmine victims, teaching English and providing scholarships that enable students to attend public school. The
project is organized by the American-based Friendship Foundation. For more information about the
project, please check this homepage: http://www.neteze.com/rsb/friendship/ To preview some of
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The CD will be ready by mid-June. The cost of the CD will also cover postage. If you are interested, please contact me, Robyn Murray, at [email protected].
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Parting Shots
Hiking down from Yarigadake, “The Spear of Japan,” Nagano Alps, Hotaka Range. Submitted by
Robyn Murray, Mie-ken. To view more interesting photos taken by Mie JETs, visit her Website:
www.japanphotos.com.
Submit your digital photos to
[email protected].
JPEG, GIF or TIFF format,
please.