Of Fish and Kicks

Greetings, true believers! It has been over a month since I began my adventures in the Land of the Rising Sun and it doesn't look like my tales are going to end anytime soon.  Last weekend, my friends and I went to the Tsukiji Fish Market. It is one of the most famous fish markets in all of Japan, where fisherman auction off huge fish and sell their catches of the sea. the reason why we went is because it was about to close off to the public in a few weeks, so we jumped at the chance. We had to be up very early once again, at around 4 a.m. to attend the auction, which took place around 5:30 a.m. We arrived on time and found the market very easily. Here's what it looked like from the outside:

At the auction, we arrived to a huge complex, with busy fisherman, trying to get their products ready. Let me say, I have never felt more threatened in Japan in terms of my life; the fishermen were driving on these carts in high gear and showed no regard for civilians. Lanes were tight and there was only so much space one could move out of the way of these carts. It was a littler nerve racking at times. The market was only open until 10 a.m., so the fisherman had to ensure that their catches were the best they could be. I saw a ton of fish at the market, along with other crustaceans (but, I'll get to those later).

We traveled all the way to the end of the complex to witness a fish auction. The fish themselves were gigantic in size, about the size of a full grown man. Numerous announcers populated the area and the fishermen were seen as men, wearing blue caps. The fisherman bid for the best fish, in order to cut it up for themselves, and sell it for a larger profit. Most of the fish came from Japan, but some were from Sweden and Boston. Where the auction took place was pretty frigid; I could see my breath and most of the fishermen were wearing jackets. This was to keep the fish fresh and ensure that the meat did not go bad. Visitors were only given a few feet of space to watch the auction, as to not distract the people at work. Most of the fishermen were calm about the business, but this could have been in part to the culture or the lifestyle they lead. Here is an auction in process:

After the auction, I saw fish getting taking away or surveyors, examining the fish to make sure it was still good. 

The fish and other catches of the sea were varied and huge. All of the fish and crustaceans that were on sale at the market were meant to be eaten. That includes shrimp, king crab, eel, eggs, squid, tentacles, whale (?), and a host of other fascinating creatures. Here are some of the more interesting things I saw there:

While I was there, I had my first taste of tuna. It was so fresh because it probably just came out of the water. It tasted pretty good, with a hint of saltwater.

While I could talk more about fish and the market, when was the last time I talked about some good, old action? Well, you came to the right place.

Last Sunday, my friend and I attended a Karate Tournament in Tokyo. Temple University was giving away free tickets to the event and it was only thirty minutes from our dorm by train, so why not? 

We arrived at a big complex with many martial art enthusiasts from all over the city. Only the Japanese participated in this tournament and it was divided into men and women sections. There were more men than women, but the women did put up more energized matches. Here is the opening ceremony:

Before the opening ceremony and other video, fighters were numbered 1 - 100 and fought. The best of the best remained and that is where the opening ceremony and other video comes in. The video after the ceremony had fighters break boards and this was determined by who lasted through the preliminary rounds.  About 16 fighters entered the main tournament and proceeded to break about four boards each with their hands, feet and elbow (each was a round). The board function did not come until later upon determining a match (which I'll get to).

Matches had two fighters in the ring and sparring commenced. Karate is a contact sport, one that has lasted centuries in Japan. The fighters were placed to fight those of similar weight, but there were fighters who towered over their competitors in the ring. No gear was worn and the fighters went at it with their hands and feet.

Here are some interesting aspects of the matches themselves. The fighters would punch and kick each other all the time. The fighters displayed hardly any sense of pain or blocking, as fighters were pounded in the chest. Fighters kicked below the belt, but only the calf muscle was hit. No punches were towards the head and hardly any fighter raised his or her foot above their belt towards the chest or head region. Knees were allowed and the fighters would get in very close to execute a knee to the chest. The fighters did not grapple or throw each other down during the matches. Five referees were in the ring and determined who punched or kicked the most. Some fights last more than three rounds (about two-three minutes each) and if no winner could be determined, the fighters were led off stage to be weighed. It looked as if who ever weighed the less would be the winner, no matter what the points were. One match was inconclusive, even with the weight, and that is where the boards came in. Whoever broke the most boards at the beginning of the tournament was declared the winner.

Now that I have explained most of the details, here are some videos to go along with them. I could only videotape thirty seconds of fights or else they would not load on this sight. So I was able to break some fights up and manage them on my blog. Here  you go, true believers:

(This is one continuous match, only stopping to break it up into parts)

 

After the last few rounds of fighting, there were two fighters left for both the men and women's tournament. We had an intermission to watch a school of karate students perform, but the highlight was one warrior and six blocks of ice. The blocks of ice were about as thick as my head and were very heavy. Three tarps were put on the ring and three areas of ice were set up. The centerpiece had four blocks of ice set up and the fighter had to break all of them. Instead of explaining the next part, I'll just show it.

After the interesting intermission, the final matches began. The woman who who was middle-aged and a had a huge cheering crowd following her. It looked as if she was sponsoring a town, like fighters originally did centuries ago. The final match between the men was a bit dirty. Sadly, I was not able to videotape the whole match, as my battery died on my camera. The man who won used knees to the face. In the previous match, he won by a knockout, after he kneed the other fighter in the face. In the last match, the match seemed pretty even, until the end of the second round, when he kneed the other opponent four times and won the match. It was a bit of a letdown (I was cheering on the other fighter), but the final matches were exciting overall.

That's all for now true believers. Tomorrow I have off from school and another entry will be up guaranteed. I have a lot of studying to do because Midterms are this week at school. I will however, be able to put up some new info from Japan (I planned in advance). It will deal with my adventures being a kabuki actor. Don't know what that is? Stay tuned.

"An invincible determination can accomplish almost anything" - Thomas Fuller

Game Over? Not Quite

Wait, what's this? More than one entry in one week? That's right, true believers. In order to make up for information lost, I am going to cram as much information onto this blog in as little time as possible. My next entry is about the Tokyo Game Show.

This has been something I have been looking forward to ever since I started planning my study aboard trip. Tokyo Game Show is an exhibition of all the latest video games to be released within the next few years. Sony, Square Enix, Ubisoft, Konami,  and Microsoft are gaming companies and they had huge displays at the show. It is open to the public for two days, where people wait in lines for hours to play some of the hottest games out there. But first, the journey itself...

It began the week, in which I had a five day weekend. My friends and I were getting excited about attending Tokyo Game Show. We knew what train to take, how to get there, how long it would take, how much it would cost, and what time we needed to be up. The show opened to the public on Saturday and a group of us left the dormitory at 7 a.m. to beat the traffic. We honestly thought that the earlier we got up, the less people we would have to deal with. Oh how we were so wrong.

We arrived at the show with a sea of people ahead of us at around 9 a.m., one hour before the doors officially opened.

My friends and I were looking forward to playing the big games, namely Square Enix titles like Final Fantasy XIII and the new Kingdom Hearts game. Sadly, we entered the show at 10 a.m. and tickets were sold out to play these hot games. Wait, tickets? Yes, you had to reserve a ticket once you arrived to play the big games and fans were outside, waiting for hours to play. My hopes were shattered in just a few moments of entering the event. 

Hurdles would immediately present themselves after this. No pictures and videos were to be taken inside the booths. I saw Japanese booth representatives wave down anyone, who had a camera on them and were not with the press. The show itself was only open seven hours each day, for two days. Unlike Disney World, which is open for hours, the window of opportunity to play games is very limited. The show was packed with attendants, meaning lines were long and it was hard to move, no less breathe. It was claustrophobic and quite annoying. So the first day was kind of a drag.

For a video game enthusiasts, was it still fun? I would definitely say yes. I got to play games that were not going to be out for months, years, or never in the U.S. The first game was with a friend at the Microsoft Booth called Left for Dead 2. It is a cooperative game with four other players, fighting off screaming, running, climbing, special zombies. Zombie clowns are not cool, by the way. I waited in line for two hours and the time with the game was quite memorable. Unlike roller coasters, where lines are two hours long and a ride is only a few seconds long, my demo with L4D2 was over half an hour; to me that is time well spent. As my friend and I were playing, it was completely in Japanese and the booth babes behind us (I'll get to those much later....) were actually cheering us on. They tried to explain the controls in Japanese and we just nodded our heads. As we played and defeated zombies, the girls were cheering, "Hurray! Bonzai!" It was so great and funny that I named Microsoft one of the best booths at the show for myself.

On the first day, I played L4D2, Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and Heavy Rain. Heavy Rain was my favorite game of the day. In it, you could take on one of two demoed protagonists. The booth babe pressed a button and I had to play an old cop. What made this game so interesting was that it was an adventure game, where each decision made led to an entirely different situation. My friend and I played the same demo and character and told two completely different stories. In my game, I walk into a convenient store, asking for information about a killer. A burglar comes in and holds me at gun point. I talk to him about his family and girlfriend and how the police would be after him, should anything happen to me. As the burglar thought about this, I tackled him and beat him to the ground. My friend just convinced him to leave and he did. It was visually amazing and a wonderful game and I planned on playing the second half of the demo the next day. I even watched a PS3 game in 3D. It came with 3-D glasses, but the television itself was made for 3-D. I was watching something will not be really mainstream in the U.S. for another few years. It was another cool thing I saw that day.

As the day ended at 5 p.m. I knew I had to come back and play a big game. So my friends planned once again.

On Sunday, we decided that in order to beat the crowds, we had to be there earlier than anyone else. We left the dormitory this time at 4 a.m. and made the first trains. No one was on practically except us. When we arrived at the show, there were still people ahead of us? Would we get a ticket to play FFXIII or KH? As the line began to move, my heart raced, I saw people moving for the tickets, and I dove for them.

I got one of the last tickets for Final Fantasy XIII.

You had to be there at a certain time in order to play the game. My time was for 2:40 and a friend of mine would be playing at the same time. Here is the ticket:

I literally felt like Charlie in the Chocolate Factory when I entered the Sqauare Enix booth to play Final Fantasy XIII. What you have to understand about Square Enix games in Japan is that they are a national phenomnan. When a new game comes out from their studios, it will be televised and people will skip school or work to play it. I was playing a near finished build of the game, one that has been in production for over five years. I got to play about twenty minutes worth of the game, which was fast, beautiful, and pretty cool. The staff invited us to watch some closed off trailers for other products that were not shown on the actual floor. Getting up early was so worth it for this.

That day, I played a lot of great games. I played Bayonetta, God of War III, Ratchet and Clank again, Okimaden, and the other Heavy Rain demo. All of these games had so many great moments and I'll list some right now:

Bayonetta: Being filmed at the Microsoft Booth, gaining a Gold score, the first level is a building you fight on, while falling, with choral music blasting in your ears, summoning a giant demon to take down a huge foe.

Ratchet and Clank: Beating the demo to one of my favorite series of all time.

God of War III: The amazing visuals, fighting a chimera, all the details, and the last battle (look it up).

Okamiden: A sequel to one of my favorite games, the booth itself (check it out!), and the cute gameplay.

Booth action: I saw Hideo Kojima, mastermind behind the Metal Gear Solid games, Konami booth babes (ladies that stand outside booths, help visitors, and act as demo guides), amazing set pieces, a huge Gundam head, the Canada booth (because, you know, they are huge in the gaming world now).

I was able to play another level of Heavy Rain, and like before, my friends and I all had different experiences. The character I played was a detective looking for a missing person. He comes across a junk yard with a suspicious looking man, who will not talk to you. After a few minutes of aimlessly wandering around, the booth babe signaled for me to press a button so I could find clues. Clues lit up all over the screen and I found most of them. As I was about to leave, the other man attacked me and I fought him to the ground. Suffice to say, I wind up in car, handcuffed, and about to be dropped into a car crusher. This was one of my first moments of gaming where I experienced fear. I got out of the car and fought the man once more. We talked about the game again, how we had different tales to tell, and how all of us were blown away by the presentation of the game. This game is on my radar for when it comes out.

At the end of the day, we waved good-bye to Tokyo Game Show and had dinner at a Tony Romas. It was great to have some American food again, as I had classic barbecue ribs. As we talked about the games we played, we watched a real taping of Ninja Warrior. For those of you who don't know, Ninja Warrior is a show, known as Sasuke in Japan, where people perform through obstacle courses to be the best ninja in Japan. What made this viewing different was that, instead of half-hour segments, the entire show was six hours long, with all the contestants and the last stages shown. As we cheered on our favorite players, so did the other customers in the restaurant and it was an interesting cultural experience.

Tokyo Game Show was a blast and quite an interesting experience in Japan. I hope in the future, I can return to this exhibition and escape the long lines for games. That is all for now and I'll have another entry up sooner than you think. By the way, those pictures and videos you could not take on the floor... I did. Enjoy.

She had too much fun.

Hideo Kojima!!!!

Because Canada had a booth... and who doesn't find that funny?

"People do not lack strength; they lack will"

-Victor Hugo

"Gone with the Wind"

Greetings, true believers. Your friendly, international blogger reporting once again. With work out of the way (for the most part) and most of my videos are up (I had trouble putting longer videos up; hopefully I can get them all on the website eventually), I am taking another trip outside of my home. I am heading to a very controversial area of Tokyo, where political and spiritual drama clash like no other. It is a place familiar to the Asian countries, yet largely overlooked by Westerners. This area is known as Yasakuni Shrine.

My professor wanted me to go to a shrine called Yasakuni Shrine, which was about fifteen minutes by train. For those of you in the United States, think of it as the Japanese Arlington National Cemetery. I got off the train and I found it quite easily. All I had to do was just look left...

The gate that you see is known as a torii gate.  These gates date back thousands of years ago and were believed to ward off evil spirits and demons.  There was a straight path to the shrine, which was about 500 yards long, with a width of about fifty yards.  Along the path were stone tablets and guardians.

In the center of the path, was a statue of the founder of the shrine, whose name was Omura Masujiro.  He was the a very famous military leader for Japan during the 1800s and established the shrine as a way of remembering the dead, namely those who died for the country.

 

As I approached the shrine, more buildings became visible.  The layout of the area was pretty big, but not as big as I expected it to be. Once past the last torii gate, I found myself near a gift shop, an area to cleanse oneself of ill feelings, a shrine, a rest area, and the museum. At most shrines, are little huts that have basically fountain, to wash one's hands of any bad feelings before entering the temple or sacred area.  Once I washed my hands, I went to the shrine, paid my respects and was off to the controversial museum. 

What makes Yasakuni Shrine such a volatile area in the Far East? There are many reasons for this. The shrine itself is housing the war dead, not just the regular dead.  It is seen as a nationalist landmark, an area that is meant to revive the Japanese spirit, to some dissenters. After World War II, the Constitution was rewritten to ensure no wars would ever be started by Japan. It was made a peaceful country, with Article 9. Article 9 rendered the country an area where no military would be established and that it would only pursue peace. The Constitution also mentions that no government official could be seen on the Yasakuni sight. Yet after decades, the shrine is visited by government figures, such as the Emperor, Prime Minister, or Representatives of the Diet. Their claim is that they are only honoring the dead. My professors have discussed the idea that China and the rest of Asia are afraid of Japan ever forming a military again. If you have read about World War II, you know that many grave incidents, due to Japan's actions (not that we are not perfect either, war has never brought a victory to anyone). The shrine represents a slap to the face of many Asian countries, who see it as an area to conjure up nationalist feelings and rouse the Japanese spirit to glory. Is it really that bad?

I stepped into the museum and the first things I saw were a train used in Southeast islands of Asia, a fighter plane (possibly used for kamikaze missions?), a cannon, and a machine gun. Don't believe me? These were practically the only pictures I could take inside because everything was off limits.

In no way am I condemning Japan, but when you tell other countries that you are peaceful, but have a museum to the weapons and soldiers of war, it sends a mixed message (of course, the same argument could be applied to our own, but that will have to wait until later). The museum dealt very heavily with the history of Japan, but only from the militaristic or nationalistic view. Japan's history is filled with periods of war, conflict, and rise to dominance. Another part of what upsets many Asian countries is the history told from the point of view of the Japanese. As I read captions, it read like a hero narrative, one without flaws and the hero was on the rise (I am honestly trying to type this without a bias from reading numerous articles on this subject so please bear this in mind, these are just my observations). The conflicts before the war, during, and after were not caused by Japan, but by other countries. When captions read like it is everyone else's fault, that may upset more than one person outside of Japan, including China, which its citizens vehemently hate Japan with a passion.

So, the question is, was it that bad? Maybe. I can see where some Japanese are coming from trying to bring up an image of a strong Japan for its citizens, but there is too much against this ideal. The exhibits with the most artifacts were from World War II.  They had a picture to each soldier and nurse who died during the conflict. To me, this was a haunting image, witnessing each person who died during such a large and devastating war. The last exhibit had many vehicles, like a real kamikaze plane, a one man submarine, used for suicide missions, and a tank. It was a little weird, being at the museum, but one that has sparked a lot of discussion in classes.  The shrine is a bold political statement to the Asian world and has been one for decades now.

After I left the museum, I found a little garden, one where samurai actually trained. Thinking about this, it was cool walking down a path that samurai walked on hundreds of years ago. It was peaceful being there, upon realizing it was a part of such a controversial area.

Well that is all for now. Sorry this entry took so long, but I have been overwhelmed with studying and papers (this is college, you know). But don't worry, my next entry will be up in a matter of hours to make up for the time lost so far. Let's say it involves a certain Tokyo Game Show. Until then, true believers.

"War is much too serious a thing to be left to military men" - Talleyrand 

(P.S. here are two awesome pics that I took that I could not resist putting in here. One is a house a poor person made for a homeless cat and the other... speaks for itself.)

Because Tommy Lee Jones is the man in  Japan