Class time–group work.

A one-on-one session really jump-starts this student’s ability to speak Japanese.  The luxury of a real back-and-forth with a native speaker!

A gift from KCP students to the staff.  Everyone there works very hard!

In the hotel during a KCP overnight trip. Even during a fun excursion like this, students study hard. When we’re all together in a new place, though, it has a festive feeling–and we’re often learning things we’ll use right away.

No question: kanji is difficult.  One of the payoffs is calligraphy class.

Every second works for you!  On the bus during this KCP trip, teachers lead students in activities and games that use Japanese.

Omikuji, Japanese fortune telling paper. Students are usually interested in good luck in love and learning.

Anyone using these gadgets, however, would find even more problems.  So chindogu are sometimes called un-useless.

Since the coining of the word in 1997 by Kenji Kawakami (a Japanese inventor and publisher of the magazine Mail Order Life), it’s taken off like a . . . . well, like a funny, pseudo-useful, frivolous thing.

A few finer points of Chindogu–
People can’t actually use them.  If they do, the gadgets are not chindogu.

They can’t be sold or patented.

They are not meant just to be funny, though they usually are.  The humor is incidental.

They are something of an antidote to practical consumerism and an ode to the spirit of anarchy.

Chindogu do not convey a commentary on society, nor are they of a sexual nature.  They are innocent, anti-functional, and grass-roots.

These are some of my favorite chindogu.  What are your faves?

More info–

Are you Chindogu? By Harley L Sachs

wikipedia chindogu

KCP students have provided wise tips for making the best of it–using the time to memorize kanji, going into the women-only cars and studying more comfortably, “working” their hiragana/katakana flash cards, and so on.  Though talking on cell phones is discouraged, texting is ubiquitous. In such a long commute, the crowds are amazingly kind (though pushy when trying to make that train).

And here are some interesting thoughts on the commute itself: the ultimate hive-mind.

Matthew Messmer on VEWD

Messmer‘s striking photo essay on vewd.org (a fascinating online  documentary magazine) examines the commuting experience.

Tokyo Subway Dynamics

The writer of this piece on links.net, though unidentified, had creative, interesting things to say about benefits of the Tokyo subway plus fun photos.

Subway Sleepers

Fun snooze shots in this photo-essay from someone who calls himself “Born to be Wild.”

Real-World Views

A collection of great tips from VirtualTourist–how to navigate the subway, tips for switching stations, ease of use.  Sorry about all the ads.

Tribute

A fine tribute to the Tokyo Underground on the Harvard Crimson, by Kerry Goodenow.

Inventions

From the “Are You Chindogu” movement (more about that later), here are a couple of inventions to help in the commute:

A hat for holding her head as she sleeps.

The chin rest, for sleeping standing up.

Tokyo Metro

The official Tokyo Metro site comes in English if needed and is a great resource.

Metro Manners

And we leave the final word to the montlhy “Metro Manners” posters.  Countless folks have enjoyed making up their own captions to the posters and pitching them into the internet.

Here you can see many large kites measuring 3.5 meters by 3.5 meters (roughly 11 ft. x 11 ft.). Then to the sound of the trumpet, the fighting starts. Making the 5-mm thick hemp strings intertwine, the kite-fliers try to cut their opponents’ strings by friction, which is very exciting to watch.

The strings burn, giving off a scorched smell. You can try flying a kite yourself in the grounds adjoining the shuttle bus terminal.

This festival dates back to the 16th Century when large kites were flown in celebration of the birth of a baby son to the Lord of Hamamatsu Castle. Even today, kites are flown at Hamamatsu when a baby boy is born.

A festive day to pray for boys’ good health and a bright future, it is the custom in Japan to fly decorations called koinobori, which are carp-shaped streamers.

Carp are known to swim up waterfalls and this powerful image of the carp overlaps with the image of advancing in one’s career.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa

Hokusai was enamored of the artists’ practice common at the time to take a series of names–in fact, he took many more names than was customary. He was best known for his views of Mt. Fuji.  This shot, the first in the collection Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji, is perhaps his most famous.

The Dragon of Smoke Escaping from Mt Fuji

Hokusai cultivated a personal obsession with Mt. Fuji. Religious beliefs at the time considered Mt. Fuji the source of the secret of immortality.

Travellers Crossing the Oi River

Hokusai was born into an artisan family; his father was most probably a mirror-maker for shogun.  At 12, he was sent to work in a bookshop and lending library. At 14, he apprenticed with a wood carver, and from there he was accepted into the studio of a Uyiko-e artist.

Sumida River Seen from Azuma Bridge

Hokusai began exploring other styles of art, including European styles he was exposed to through French and Dutch copper engravings he was able to acquire. He was expelled from his studio, an event he considered inspirational. He said, “”What really motivated the development of my artistic style was the embarrassment I suffered at [my master's] hands.”

Self-Portrait at the Age of Eighty-Three

Hokusai also changed the subjects of his works, moving away from the images of courtesans and actors that were the traditional subjects of ukiyo-e. Instead, his work became focused on landscapes and images of the daily life of Japanese people from a variety of social levels. This change of subject was a breakthrough in ukiyo-e and in Hokusai’s career.

People Crossing an Arched Bridge

Though his subjects are the everyday and the ordinary, they all project a lyrical evanescence that draws me right in.

Village by a Bridge

About his aging and gradual diminishment, Hokusai had this to say:

“From around the age of six, I had the habit of sketching from life.”

Ancient View of Yatsuhashi in Mikawa Province

“I became an artist, and from fifty on began producing works that won some reputation, but nothing I did before the age of seventy was worthy of attention.”

Hanging-Cloud Bridge at Mount Gyodo near Ashikaga

“At seventy-three, I began to grasp the structures of birds and beasts, insects and fish, and of the way plants grow.”

Head of an Old Man

“If I go on trying, I will surely understand them still better by the time I am eighty-six, so that by ninety I will have penetrated to their essential nature.”

Stage Properties for a Farewell Performance

“At one hundred, I may well have a positively divine understanding of them, while at one hundred and thirty, forty, or more I will have reached the stage where every dot and every stroke I paint will be alive.”

Fishing by Torchlight in Kai Province

“May Heaven, that grants long life, give me the chance to prove that this is no lie.”

Wow.  Here are a few more prints; see many more at my sources, www.wikipedia.org and especially www.katsushikahokusai.org.

And if you’ve got a fire burning in you, don’t wait.  Let it out now, so that you won’t need to hanker after immortality.

Three Ladies by a Well

Begging for Alms

The Strong Oi Pouring Sake

Get to Japan!  For details, see www,kcpinternational.com.  Cheers!

The one book you NEED to come to Japan
After spending about 3 weeks in Japan with this as my only guide book, I can honestly say you NEED to buy this book before traveling to Japan. It also serves as sort of a mini-travel dictionary in a pinch as well as a quick guide to cultural practices.

Better than Frommer’s
I recently bought both this book and Frommer’s most recent edition of its guide to Tokyo. I think the Lonely Planet guide is much better than its rival. Lonely Planet’s is shorter, but the information in it is much more useful–especially for my situation as a student with a place to stay and food being taken care of (though Lonely Planet does have information on hotels and restaurants for those who need to know).

Indispensable Atlas for a Traveler in Japan
I travel to Japan every 5th week or so to sell my company’s semiconductors to various manufacturers spread out all over Japan. This bilingual atlas is terrific for English-only speakers like me, as it has all the Japanese characters next to the English names, which is essential when navigating the train stations off the main lines. This Atlas has good city maps, too.

Innovative and upbeat, not your usual guidebook.
This is definitely not your average guidebook. Rather than just a listing of the usual tourist destinations, Tokyo for Free gave me insight into what living in Japan would really be like.

The greatest
Having lived in Japan for the past 6 years, I’ve had the opportunity to use all of the major guidebooks (and quite a few of the minor ones as well), and without a doubt, the most useful and informative guidebook is this one. Of course Lonely Planet has lots of information about restaurants and hotels, but what you really want is a purpose to visit the places that you are visiting. This guidebooks tells you the history of each place, so you can understand why each place is important.

Outstandingly beautiful book, yet information-packed.

Real-size images of Japan and Japanese
I’m a Japanese living in Japan. I bought this book to check if it’s worth recommending to my friends–and yes, I recommend this book. It’ll tell you real-life Japan and Japanese without exaggeration. It covers Japan from the inside–the life of ordinary Japanese people.

Toward the end of the term we had a school speech contest. I wrote this song for the contest, which was very well received!

When I returned home I refined the music and video about my Japanese language experience with KCP.  It’s a more polished version, complete with Taiko drumming and my pet bird.

Currently I’m back in Japan finishing my degree at Temple University in Tokyo with a major in Business and a minor in Japanese.

For more on KCP, see www.kcpinternational.com.

I loved my time in Tokyo with KCP.  Here are a few slices of my life then–

Preparation before the speech contest. For moral support, we did a drawing of our classmate who was making the speech.

Me, my classmates, and Takahashi sensei. Level one B class was the coolest class in KCP.

Hanging out with my Korean classmates. It was the first time I ate Korean food.

My visit to one of Japan’s three Chinatowns.  The shrine was beautiful.

This is how you catch a live fish–the kimono is especially important.

The result of some creative fun at the Print Club.

Me and my roommates at the summer festival, in our yukata (casual summer kimonos, in cotton).

Me on a Date wit Doraemon.  He was so sweet.  (Doraemon is the character in a manga/cartoon series.)

But Pikachu just had more game

Break time in front of KCP.

The Takahata wine factory, part of the Yamagachi trip.  That was some fine wine!

A tour at Harajuku Meiji Jingu, Tokyo’s largest shrine and one of Japan’s three “Jingu” (Imperial shrine). The Meiji Shrine is concealed in the middle of the Yoyogi Park. That’s me and one of my roommates infront of the shrine.

Here’s a glimpse at some of the activities students try while at KCP.

The Japanese Tea Ceremony

This is an integral part of a student’s education at KCP.  One thing it’s not hard to teach is the calm respect and attention that is surely an underlying reason for the ceremony.

Students are a little overwhelmed by being bowed to, but they enjoy it immensely just the same.

“Koto” Class

The koto (琴 or 箏), a traditional stringed instrument derived from the Chinse guzheng, is the national instrument of Japan.  A koto is made from kiri wood (Paulownia tomentosa.  Koto  have 13 strings, each with its own moveable bridge.  Players adjust the string pitches by moving these bridges before playing, and they use three finger picks (on thumb, index finger, and middle finger) to pluck the strings.

Here, students are trying out a simple melody.
For more advanced koto playing, see this YouTube clip.


Calligraphy

Refining calligraphy is a regular part of KCP instruction.  Everyone’s excited at their accomplishment.  It feels a little like being an artist.