Oh Captain My Captain!

This blog is mostly about what I do in my free time, but I think it's important to occasionally articulate the many thoughts and opinions I have on my adopted but temporary home. To all the Japanophiles that I may upset with such posts: feel free to pull the wool back over your eyes after you finish reading.

Every other Thursday or so I get a call from my parents. We discuss relevant matters first, then shoot the breeze a bit: George Bush is an idiot, the pluses and minuses of building a summer home in Iraq, that sort of thing. Since I live in Japan, this country often comes up. A snippet from last week's conversation:

Dad: So, what's up with the group suicides pacts in Japan?
Mom: Yeah? We saw an article about seven people killing themselves in a van. (see report here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3735372.stm).
Me: Oh, that?! Well, you must understand that the Japanese lack individuality to the point where they can't even kill themselves alone.

That gave them a good laugh on an otherwise serious and depressing topic. But it begs the question, are the Japanese so group oriented that something as personal as suicide can't be accomplished without consensus? Or, would most people prefer to take their own lives with others?

Having taught for three years here, having seen the doctrine of conformity and its deadening- effects on students first hand, I have to lean towards the former conclusion. Now we can argue back and forth about the role that schools and public institutions, regardless of country, have in creating obedient little citizens who march lock-step to whatever song their leaders decide to sing. I freely admit that all governments seek to do this to some degree. It's just that the Japanese government has perfected it. A common expression here is "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down". It's like in that movie "Dead Poets Society", except that there are no Mr. Keatings here in Japan. The teachers are a product of what they are perpetuating: Group think in all its manifestations. The result? Group suicide as a nation circa WWII, a battle the Japanese generals conceded could not be won even before Pearl Harbor was attacked, or group suicide circa 2006 in a "van down by the river!" What would Chris Farley think about this? Oh wait, he committed suicide too. Damn.


“Certain defects are necessary for the existence of individuality.” -Goethe,

If only those defects existed in order-crazy Japan.

Dai Mo Mi no Ki

Rumors of a giant tree on the slopes of Tara Dake have proven true. The Momi tree is a coniferous hardwood that enjoys the low ridge lines of Japan's many mountains, where sun is abundant and the air is pure. Most got the ax sometime in the last one hundred and fifty years (surprise!). An independently funded expedition of completely unqualified individuals scouted a long forgotten trail across many rain swollen creeks until stumbling upon this ancient master of the forest. The harrowing journey took an entire two hours and cost both members the little faith they had in their already pathetic footing. Professor Bergeron's pants also got extremely dirty. Team leader Tris was later arrested for violating several laws regulating lewd acts done in public in the presence of a tree.

How Chipmunks See the World

Come out of your shell already

Last Monday saw me, Jayne, Hiromi, Harasaki-san, and Mabro crowded around a cinder block grill adorned with raw oysters and other shell fish from the nearby Ariake Sea. Though I am fond of donning aprons while alone, the reason for wearing them during our sea food barbeque was to protect our clothes and skin from the sizzling oyster shells and all their succulent juices (not to be confused with the sardonic “succulent” of past posts concerning pigs). Snap, crackle…awwww shit! That oyster shell just maced me! Our revenge was had minutes later when we ate our would-be assailants in an orgy of rage induced gluttony. A deadly sin never tasted so good.

Get your head out of the damn clouds!

Unzen-dake. Taken from the summit of

Sasa-dake in Saga-ken.

Lanterns and Dancer and Pig Heads, oh my!

I visited Nagasaki on Friday, February 3, taking in the Lantern Festival and some decent Indian food. An annual event, the Nagasaki Lantern Festival is perhaps the only of its kind in all of Japan and is quite a spectacle. Live dance and music ensembles, acrobats, contortionists, and a myriad of lanterns usher in the Chinese New Year in true style. And there are pig heads, sweet succulent pig heads.

A few choice shots.....

The Contortionist Dancing Girls

One of many lanterns inspired by the sea.

Pig heads?!? Uncle PETA does not approve.

Additional pictures can be seen at: http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=576620476106&page=1&sort_order=0&favorites=true (you'll have to log in)

The Kyoga Connection

Summit Shot

Back row from left to right: Neill, Nick, and Mike. Front row: Laura and Me

A couple weeks back I had the opportunity to take a group of ALTs hiking to the summit of Kyoga Dake, the tallest mountain in Saga-ken (read: not very tall). With five of us crammed into Mike's van, we drove to the Nakayama Campground trailhead, prepped our gear, and set off. We looked good. After about an hour it started to sleet. This turned to snow as we approached the summit. Japanese hikers that we met on the way down confirmed what I already expected; complete white out at the top. In other words, no views. A pity as Kyoga dake affords some fine scenary on a clear day. However, the freshly fallen snow more than made up for the white out. The trees were crystallized in white. The forest was deafeningly silent. The iced over rock rocks more than willing to throw hikers down upon their oblivious little faces. I think it's safe to say that it was a fine day.