1. What has been your favorite food so far? Describe and photograph.
Honesty, that subiyaki was the best food I have had here in Japan. It was very tender, sweet, and had practically every food group in the dish. I am able to purchase the meat at the nearby Seiyu, a Japanese style of food store, and it is delicious.
2. What do you do in your spare time?
I study, travel, or train in martial during my spare time. The majority of the time I am studying a lot. The Japanese is a difficult language in general and I always have to be on top of it in order to master the language. As you have seen, I have taken many trips to various parts of Japan and gone to workshops about the Japanese culture. I am also in a Mix Martial Arts club at the school and the members are really cool. It is a mix of juitisu, judo, moi tai, and other various martial arts mixed in. It has gotten me in shape and I enjoy the honing of my body.
3. Can you go back to another sumo tournament and take more movies closer to the ring?
I was actually able to get pretty close to the ring and video tape. The problem is the computers I try to upload the videos to on this website take too long or fail halfway through the loading process. I'm sorry, but at the moment I cannot load the longer videos (including the championship match).
4. Can you make a film on the island that has the deer walking around it?
Ahh, yes that island. The island you are referring to is off the coast of Hiroshima, which is about an airplane trip away from Tokyo. Depending on what I am doing after Finals, I may tour more of the country and return to that island.
5. What is their music like?
The music of Japan is very unique. While the genres present in America are avaliable here, the Japanese experiment more with their music. A lot of it is J-Pop, Techno, rock, and hip hop. The first video that I have is one of a jazz club I stumbled upon in my town (which is the first video featured in this section). I went in, sat down, listened to some tunes, and recoreded a short clip. One of the members came up to me and asked if I played the drums. I responded, "No, but I play the trombone." It looked like if you were a good enough musician, you could actually go up and play the instruments yourself. Classy stuff.
I was actually able to attend a Japanese concert and it was pretty cool. Here are some terrible videos that I recorded at the concert (they were the best I could, under the circumstances of not being allowed to video tape), but hopefully you can hear how they play) The first band to play, I did not get its name, but there was lead female singer, who looked like a mix of Pink and SSJ 3 Goku (if anyone gets the reference). I was not attending the concert to listen to them, so I did not record any of their work. The first group in the blacked out videos was called Floppy, a big techno group in Japan. They wore these visors at the event and were the headliner for the night. The last group to play is an experimental band that has been around for over thirty years called Hikashiyuu. The best description I can come up for the band is a blend of jazz, rock, experimental, 50s, 70s, and grunge music. Here are videos of the music at hand.
6. Can you take pictures of samurai uniforms and swords?
I'm taking a Japanese semniar in a two days, so I'll have loads to tell and possibly a few demonstrations to upload!
7. What are their big holidays and what do they do during them?
The Japanese have their holidays during weird time periods (i.e. Monday or Thursday). The last holiday they had was Sports Day, where they celebrate athletes and sports in general. We have a holiday coming up on the 3rd, which is a Tuesday, but the Japanese really are not into decorating for their holidays from what I have seen. Most of the holidays are celebrated as festivals, where everyone comes together. Halloween is coming up and is a holiday they celebrate. I think it has to do with the American culture and the ability to dress up as something competely different for a day. I honestly don't see myself spending money on a costume and I think I'm just going to look around that night (but I'll probably take pictures if I see anything unique). (Well, wouldn't you know it? I was able to get a picture of the kids from my dorm for a group picture for Halloween. Can you guess which one is me?)
8. Do they eat anything disgusting? Photos?
I have seen some pretty weird things, like tentacles, but I have been pretty conservative in what I eat. I just have meat and rice mostly, though when I have udon, a Japanese broth, it has seaweed in it, and I am not too much of a fan of it. I have another blog entry on the back burner, where I learned how to make sushi, and I'll go into detail about that later.
9. Can you photograph Japanese anime?
Anime in Japan is huge. I see it everywhere I go, no matter where I am (even in the classrooms, textbooks, etc). I was able to video tape a few Japanese shows (including one everyone should be a familiar with that is still going on) and a show called Naruto Shippuden, a ninja show. Hope you enjoy them:
That is all for now. Expect a new entry much quicker than usual, now that I am not stressed with so much work. So for the big news I promised the last time:
After much thought, I believe I am going to China. This is due to the fact that I am basically right next door to it and I might as well go there. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity, so why give that up? My mom and sister have been talking about coming over, but their plans are not definite yet and it may just be me going over. Obtaining a Visa will not be as difficult as it was for Japan. The Japanese government has become more strict about who they let into the country lately, while China is trying to reach out more and become a more accepting partner. I plan to apply net tomorrow for my Visa and my trip over. It should be a lot of fun and I'll have more info soon about it!
"A man is not good or bad for one action" - Thomas Fuller
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