Uncategorized – Page 89

Going Crazy Over Cherry Blossoms

April 7, 2015April 7, 2015billkralovec

As a former biology teacher and amateur botanist, I have to admire a country that celebrates the spring cherry blossoms to the extent that the Japanese do. Everyone talks about the sakura or cherry blossoms that can be seen all over the city. There are many different species of cherries (Prunus spp.) and next year I intend to identify more of them. We had a hanami (blossom viewing party) at school. Everyone was talking about it and many people were having picnics under the trees. There are a lot of cherry trees in Japan. I saw hundreds of them all over the city. As you can see in the photos and video, they are a common tree in parks and they are used to line streets, streams, and reservoirs.

The viewing of cherry blossoms started in the 700s here in Japan and at first the ume or plum tree was more celebrated. They are a symbol of the ephemeral nature of life, which has Buddhist influences. Stopping to “smell the roses” or cherries, here is a good lesson for all of us. Soak in as much of every day as you can!

The symbol of the cherry blossom was used by the military in the build up to and during World War II. Japanese kamikaze pilots painted them on the side of their planes. Today they have a more peaceful symbolic value.

Below is a video of my morning bike ride. Loving the spring morning runs and bike rides!

Universal Studios Japan: Inside the Beehive

April 4, 2015April 4, 2015billkralovec

On our last day of spring break we took the kids to Universal Studios Japan (USJ), which is located near the waterfront here in Osaka. I am not a fan of the big, themed amusement parks. I find them artificial, expensive and crowded and USJ lived up to my expectations. I would rather spend my family’s free time out in nature or doing something spiritually uplifting or engaging with the mind rather than lining up for “attractions”. However, I was convinced by my lovely wife to give our children the experience, and she is right. It is one of the activities everyone should do at least once.

We did chose a bad day to go as it is during the local schools spring break as well. In speaking with a friendly parking attendant on the way out to our car, he gave us the figure of 51,000 visitors that day. He said the day before the park welcomed 60,000. On a bad day, they usually get round 30,000. The demographics were overwhelmingly Asian, with mostly Japanese, but with significant populations from the Philippines, China and other Asian countries.

I felt overwhelmed at the number of people as you can see in the photos in this post. All of the rides were between 90 minutes to 2 hours waiting time. There were even longish lines for getting food. My worst nightmare!

USJ was built in 2001 and the park has been highly successful throughout its history. It is the only non-Disney theme park to crack the top ten world wide in revenue and number of visitors. They are another one of those money-making machines, with for example, 9 dollar plastic souvenir mugs of “butter beer” for sale in the Harry Potter exact replica of Hogsmeade. Note that I am not a Harry Potter fan and I couldn’t get through the first book in the series. I don’t understand the universal appeal of the story, especially with adults. Everywhere we went, came the opportunity to spend more money.

The best thing about the day was that we spent a lot of time together. There were some bright moments. There was an exciting Waterworld action theatre performance, complete with explosions, drama and getting the crowd wet. The roller coaster in the Jurassic Park was also priceless. It was the first time on a roller coaster for the kids.

I am glad I went and got it over with. How can a family with three young children who lives in Osaka, not go to USJ? However, it would have been better on a less crowded day.

Macau: A Tale of Two Cities

March 27, 2015billkralovec

I spent an absorbing 5 days in Macau over the holiday, not only because of the International Baccalaureate education conference I attended, but also because of the city-state itself.

Let me explain the title of the blog post. The main part of Macau is a peninsula jutting out into the South China Sea. It is separated from mainland China by a river. I stayed on a hill that was a park amidst a sea of apartment buildings and traffic.I think the hotel was a former convent because its name, Posado de las Monjas (Lodging of the Nuns), which is today a hospitality and tourism university. The university runs a small hotel and nice restaurant, and I highly recommend both. I thought it funny that the Chinese taxi drivers only recognized it as Mung-ho and not the original Portuguese of monjas. Macau is the most densely populated country in the world and I really felt it, despite being in the middle of a park. As you can see from the view from the top of the hill, there is a lot of humanity packed into a small space. The peninsula is where most citizens live and it was generally run down, chaotic but people were friendly and no one bothered me. The historic center is quite nice, with typical Iberian main plaza, a cobblestone shopping street and beautiful facade of an old cathedral. The rest of the peninsula was old dingy apartment buildings and colonial buildings that have seen better days.

Macau also has two islands, now one island because of land reclamation. This is the casino tourism part of the city-state and totally different from the old city in the peninsula. I have not been to Las Vegas in 20 years but the size of the casinos and connected shopping malls, restaurants and night clubs reminded me of my time there. The size of the casinos are immense and it is hard to capture the scale. The conference was held at the Sheraton, the world’s biggest, and walking between the meeting and exhibition rooms took a long time. I went for a walk across the street via covered walkway and went into the Venetian casino’s shopping mall, which was a replica of Italy, with canals, gondolas and even St. Mark’s Square. There was also an events arena attached to the mall.

Tourists take a ride in the gondola in the mall

I sensed that the Chinese with their new found wealth really wanted to spend it. This part of Macau was a capitalism/consumerism amusement park. It had all of the brand name stores, Dolce & Gabbana, Rolex, etc. I didn’t see much of the reported slowdown of tourists, in fact, there were 4 massive construction projects. Thousands of workers and tens of huge cranes could be seen as I walked around the island between meetings. I don’t see the appeal of a casino vacation, and the idea of a family resort destination had not reached Macau yet. The vibe of the place is captured in this David Beckham ad for the Venetian casino. He does an incredible acting performance by the way!

This is one place I could never live. The opportunity for outdoor pursuits, like biking or jogging were extremely limited. There were some pathways along the water front and in the parks, but only short distances. I also was intrigued by the pollution. Although my app said the air quality of the city was fine, I never did see the sun or blue sky. It was a constant haze as seen from the window of the taxi I took across one of the three bridges to the casino island.

It will be interesting to see how Macau develops as the Chinese economy matures and takes over the city-state in 2049. I am also curious now to visit Hong Kong, and compare and contrast it to Macau. I talked to a taxi driver from Macau and he didn’t care about being taken over by China. He didn’t like the government trying to control the number of mainland tourists who were coming to the city, but he argued that the city was already Chinese and he was just concerned about making a living and providing for his two children.

It would take an extremely generous salary and benefit package for me to work in China. I’ll wait to visit Shanghai and Beijing before making a firm judgment, but I was relieved leave Macau and come back to the quiet and refined system of Japan.

Arrival to Macau

March 18, 2015billkralovec

We got in pretty late so not much time to get a feel for the place. Initial impressions are a lot of people packed in a small area. The photos are from the Parque de Mong Hu (Las Monjas – The Nuns) on the peninsula part of Macau. We are staying in the older part of the city, near the Chinese border. I am looking forward to seeing the place in the day.

I had a discussion this morning with my children. Is Macau a country or not? The stakes were somewhat high because we keep track of the number of countries we visit, so if we determine Macau to be a country, then it would add to my total. In favor of being a country were that Macau has its own currency, FIFA world cup soccer team, flag and most importantly, Chinese citizens need to have their passports stamped upon entry. Not in favor is that it is basically a Chinese port city. 95% of Macau’s population is ethnic Chinese, as the majority of its citizens have been throughout its history, even with a small cadre of Portuguese sailors and managers running the colony for 450 years. 2/3 of the 31.5 million visitor arrivals in 2014 were “mainlanders” or Chinese. So, basically it is a Chinese city, but until 2049, when it loses its “Special Administrative Region” status, it is regarded as its own country.

The most interesting thing about Macau is that it is Las Vegas on steroids! It is the gambling capital of the world, thanks to the fact that Chinese love casinos and gambling. In 2013 the gambling industry took in 45 billion dollars compared to the 6.5 billion of Las Vegas. I am looking forward to seeing the size of the casinos, although I am not a big gambler and do not see the appeal of gambling as a holiday destination. Macau’s gambling revenue has dropped recently due to the crackdown on corruption and money laundering by the Chinese leader, Xi Jingping. Rich mainlanders use yuan to buy chips and cash out in other currency. It is a good way of getting money out of the country. The Chinese government is making it harder for mainlanders to get visas and is going after casinos to control these “high rollers”. They also prohibited smoking, which is even a greater love to the Chinese than gambling. Other countries are moving in like Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia offering perks to these rich Chinese gamblers. I am curious to see if the casinos are empty.

The other interesting statistic is that Macau is the most densely populated country in the world. The 600,000 people are squeezed in a small peninsula and two former islands that are now connected through reclaiming the sea. I have been to number 7 and 8 on the list, Malta and Bahrain, so I will see if it feels crowded.

The city is named after the Chinese goddess Ma – tsu, the goddess of seafarers, because of a temple dedicated to her that is located there. Legend has it that as a young girl in the 900s, she saved her father and brothers who were at sea in a storm through the powers of her mind in a dream. Her mother is said to have woken her which caused the death of her father or a brother, it depends on who is telling the story. As with all pre-history historical figures, details are sketchy. The Portuguese took over the port around 1550 and used it as a trading port for Chinese silk, tea and porcelain. I read that in circa 1600 census, there were 2000 Portuguese, 20,000 Chinese, and 5,000 African slaves. The slaves must have been treated well as they repelled the Dutch when they tried to take it over. Amazing to think today that countries like Portugal and the Netherlands could take and run an port in such a big country as China. In World War II, the allies bombed it because despite its neutral status, they sold fuel to the Japanese. The Portuguese held it until it went to China in 1999 and eventually in 2049 it will become fully a part of China. I wonder why they drive on the left side, while mainland China is on the right and so is Portugal? There are few remnants of Portugal’s long control of the city-state, some buildings, including the ruins of St. Paul’s Cathedral, which burned down in 1835, some DNA and language bits which will soon be washed out by the demographics of China.

I love to discover new places and see how other people live. I always ask myself, could I live there?

On a postscript, in reading The Macau Post Daily Independent, the headlines showed the arrest of 36 “kingpins” of a gang of “pimps”. The young men, ranging in ages from 16-27, arranged prostitutes to visit clients in their hotel rooms. The article got into the economics of the system, the girl only got 50% of the money, the gang member who found the client got 30%, and 20% went to the “kingpin”. The girls also only got paid when they returned to the mainland. So sad that they need to do this to earn a decent living. The men are facing up to 8 years in prison, including the 16 year old, and if found part of organized crime gang, the prison term increases to 15 years. The Macau police department office has both Chinese and Portuguese signs in the background. Other news were as follows:
• the arrest of thief from the mainland who is accused of stealing valuables from 14 cars – he drove around in a scooter looking for potential targets and sold or pawned the mobile phones, tablet computers using the victims’ ID cards – he came to Macau illegally by boat and lost all him money gambling, hence the crime spree on a stolen scooter
• Wynn Resort’s chairman, Steve Wynn is fighting his ex-wife in court over voting control of her 9.4% shares in the company. She is trying to stay on the board, but at the last board meeting, members wanted her out because of a conflict of interest and for creating a negative atmosphere and hurting the board’s effectiveness. Wynn has a large casino in Macau.
• The smoking ban will be increased to include all areas of the casino, including the VIP rooms. A PSA on the front page reminded people of the smoking ban in massage parlors that started this year.
• The governing body of Macau, the “Legislative Assembly” is discussing education law in Macau and is reaffirming the freedom of teachers to deal with sensitive Chinese history topics like the Cultural Revolution and the June 4 protests in Hong Kong. They are also trying to create a mandatory minimum wage bill within 3 years for all sectors of Macau, including doormen and janitors. They are proposing 30 patacas (a little over $3). It is the only jurisdiction in China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, that does not have a minimum wage law.
• There a page of articles describing Chinese control of Macau, including one government official making a statement control of the number of tourist visas, another denying the movie Selma was banned in Macau and the LA would seek more input from civic associations, professional groups and individuals when making decisions.

Life in Japan: School Uniforms

March 7, 2015March 7, 2015billkralovec

Boys leaving the train station in their school uniforms.

Last Saturday upon dropping off Owen at the train station for his trip to Kobe for soccer, I ran into a large group of students. They were on their way to school. Many Japanese students do go to school for a half day on Saturdays. This may be to do some special test preparation for university or high school entrance exams or special lessons in civics or community service that are not covered during the regular school week.

Prussian military officer in uniform circa 1912 (courtesy of Worldwar1.com)

The boys’ school uniforms are distinct. They are called ga-ku-ra-n, which translates to “gaku-school/student” and “ran-Netherlands”. Historically in Japan, the “west” or all Europeans, were referred to coming from the Netherlands because at the time, they were the most common traders in the few ports that were opened to foreigners. The school uniforms first were designed in the late 1800s and modeled after western military styles. I read where uniforms for boys were modeled after either French or Prussian soldiers. I wonder why they haven’t changed since? Is it the Japanese respect for tradition and uncomfortableness with change for certain things?

I think it is a good look, however, in putting myself in a young person’s shoes, it must be a bit uncomfortable to where these to school, especially the hats and buttoned jackets. As you can see from the photo above, they do look like soldiers or policemen directing traffic.

Girls uniforms are modeled after naval uniforms. I’ll get some photos later. Some uniforms are more in the British style classic school girl uniform with plaid skirt, tie, and vest. You can see this in the photo below. The girls wanted a photo with my son Oliver and nephew Seby when we were visiting Kyoto this fall.

At the private international school I teach at, uniforms are not required. Some girls however, where the British school girl outfit as a fashion statement. Some want us to adopt them as the school uniform, I think because they have been featured in pop culture in television, movies and graphic novels.

Hinamatsuri (Girls’ Day)

March 2, 2015billkralovec

The hinamatsuri display in our school’s library.

March 3 is hinamatsuri or girls day in Japan. It is traditional to display the doll set above and it is a day for praying for young girls’ health and happiness. The custom of displaying the dolls comes from the Heian Period which was from around 800 AD to 1,100 AD. Heian means “Kyoto” and this was the period when Kyoto was the capital, the imperial court was at its height and ideas from China (Buddhism, Taosim, etc.) were most popular. It is not a national holiday.

The librarian Chieko showed Ocean and I how to make hinamatsuri dolls.

The display above is the traditional 7-tier and red carpet. The platforms are as follows, moving from top (1) to bottom (7):

Emperor & Empress
Three court ladies holding sake equipment
Five court musicians
Two ministers, and old and young man; tables with bowls and food
Cherry tree and Peach tree enclosing three samurai
Items used within the palace
Items used outside of the palace (ex- palanquin)

My favorite doll is one of the samurai with the grumpy look on his face.

I would like to thank the librarian staff for putting up the display and for Chieko for spending some time with Ocean and I and making it a special day. I will spend some extra time with Ocean tomorrow in honor of the celebration.

Family Journal: Winter Weekend on the Coast

February 23, 2015February 23, 2015billkralovec

Nadia and Ocean hanging out in Amanohashidate

I didn’t have any school commitments this weekend so we took advantage of the opportunity and heading across Honshu (the largest of the 4 major islands that make up the Japan archipelago) and spent some time exploring the north shore, on both sides of the Hyogo-Kyoto prefectural border. It was a relaxing get-away and only a couple hours away.

Wearing the traditional robes at our hotel

It was uncrowded, being the middle of winter, except for the onsen (bath) town of Kinosaki. The highlight for me was the visit to the Oriental White Stork reserve near Toyooka. Through stork-friendly farming practices and the efforts of dedicated citizens, the stork has been reintroduced into the wild after becoming extinct in Japan in 1971. See my nature blog for more details. On Saturday evening we had a delicious meal in Kinosaki. We wanted to stay in a ryokan there, but had a hard time finding a place so we stayed in nearby Kumihama. The town was full of tourists (almost all Japanese) walking from onsen to onsen in their robes and clogs.

The view from the top of the trail at the stork reserve

The next day after watching the Tokyo marathon on television, we headed up to one of the three most scenic spots in Japan. We were laughing at the ranking system, thinking that it was a tourist bureau promotional ploy. Actually, it was the opinion of the historian Hayashi Gayo, who was an advisor to the Tokugawa rulers in the mid-1600s. He was in charge of education and applied Confucian principles to his work. He thought the sandbar, Amanohashidate, was one of the three best views in the country. I would agree that it is a really nice spot! I love the combination of pine trees and big water, as it reminds me of my beloved Lake Superior in Michigan. The kids enjoyed playing among the trees and the beach. We will definitely head back in the summer. Our tour of the Tango peninsula was cut short by rain. Instead we stopped for lunch, enjoying the winter speciality of kino or Sea of Japan crab.

There is so much to explore in this beautiful country and we are only beginning to scratch the surface. I highly recommend a visit to this part of the Sea of Japan coast.

Family Journal: More winter

February 15, 2015billkralovec

The video above shows Owen scoring on a penalty kick in yesterday’s game at the school. He was taken down in the box by a Canadian Academy defender. He cooly delivers a hard kick, which the goal keeper guessed correctly on, but it was not enough to prevent it from scoring. The game ended in a 3-3 draw. Owen came out in the second half with a muscle strain. He is really enjoying soccer this year.

I am so happy the boys got haircuts last weekend, they were looking pretty shaggy. Ollie and I are shown afterwards below.

A good Japan story. Yesterday I was leaving the supermarket on my bike with a basket full of bags. As I just started to cross the street, one of the bags fell out, of course the one with eggs in it. About half the pack broke on the street. Before I could park my bike and start the clean up, one person came over and picked up the bag, another person gave me a new plastic bag, to put the rest of the egg in, and they helped me get out of the street and back on my way. The cars also waited patiently until the mess was cleared, no horns or mean looks. The Japanese are so aware of the plight and feelings of others. It is nice to live in a society that thinks that way.

I am still trying to understand why Japanese homes and apartments do not have insulation. My daily routine in the winter is to go down stairs to turn on the heaters before the kids and Nadia come down. The house gets really cold if the heat is not on. The windows are single-paned and the walls and roof have no insulation. I find this strange in a society that appreciates the finer things in life, like food, clothes, cars, etc. Why not be comfortable in winter without having to close doors, wear warm clothes, etc. Osaka is not terribly cold in the winter, only a couple times it has dipped below freezing (0 C), but it feels a lot colder because in the house, you feel the cold. I Ollie is shown below sitting in front of our gas heater.

Hike to Katsuo Ji Temple

February 11, 2015billkralovec

Today is a national holiday in Japan and so I took the boys on a hike up to the Katsuo Ji temple. It is a Zen Buddhist temple about 4 kilometers away from our house, by a trail through the Minoh Quasi National Park. It was a special afternoon of father and sons bonding that I can’t express the amount of pleasure and pride I felt walking through the woods with my sons. We talked about movies, music, clash of clans, and whatever came into their minds. They are growing up and it is so cool to be able to have real conversations with them. They love stories so I explained to them the full story of classic movies such as the Planet of the Apes, Terminator, Blair Witch Project, etc. It was one of those afternoons that I would like to live over and over again!

The walk is pretty much straight up from our house. We rode bikes the first kilometer, crossing the busy 171 highway, through the rice fields, to reach the border of the forest. We dumped the bikes at the gates and started the climb up the hills. It is pretty much going up the entire time, with some respites along the flat tops of the ridges. The trail is well-marked, both by the park officials and the temple pilgrims. We took a couple of rest stops and so the walk up took about an hour.

The Katsuo Ji Temple was a beautiful destination. The 1,300 year old temple is known for the daruma (dharma) which are traditional Japanese dolls that bring “winning luck” to visitors to the temple. People come and purchase them to bring them resilance and fortune with many things, such as exams, trials, ill health, etc. If they do bring one luck, they are supposed to be brought back to the temple and placed on the grounds. We saw them all over the place, so lots of people have been helped by the daruma. They are then burned on the day after New Years. Guests can stay on the grounds and there are gardens and pools for quiet meditation.

The temple has a long history as described in the English guide to the temple. In 727, two priests, Zenchu and Zensan constructed a hut on the mountain. The son of the Emperor Konin established Mirokuji Temple on the spot in 765, in “his quest to reach the spiritual realm of Buddha.” The Emperor Seiwa regained his health miraculously due to the prayers offered by a priest at the temple, and thus changed the name of the temple to Katsuo (win over the Imperial Highness) Ji (temple). In 1184 the temple burned down in a civil war but it was reconstructed in by the first Minamoto Shogun a few years later.

I highly recommend the hike up to the temple. You can get their by road as well, but the best way is through the forest. It makes for a perfect afternoon. Thanks to Owen and Oliver for giving me a precious day.

Celebrating Setsubun

February 4, 2015billkralovec

One of the nice things about living in different countries is the opportunity to learn about the local traditional customs and folkloric celebrations. In many Asian countries, February 3 is celebrated as the end of winter and the start of spring. Here in Japan it is known as setsubun, and it is the day before the first day of spring. I always try to understand the local customs by experiencing them first hand and respect the local beliefs and traditions. I didn’t know that besides dividing the year up into the two solstices (Dec 21 / June 21) and two equinoxes (Sept 21 / March 21), the ancient Chinese further divided the calendar into smaller sections. This helped farmers know when cold or hot temperatures were expected and to predict the levels of precipitation. February 3 is the end of one of those smaller divisions. As with much of Chinese ideas, neighboring countries adopted and adapted them to their cultures, hence, setsubun.

Tuesday evening our family each ate the roasted beans, the number of beans depending on our age. I had a tough time after dinner consuming 47 of them. This is supposed to give us a year of good health. Since 2015 is my Japanese zodiac birth year, the year of the sheep, I put on the oni, which represents evil spirits. Nadia put on the good fortune mask, although we didn’t know until the next day that it was good fortune. The kids throw the beans at the oni, saying out with the bad spirits of winter and in with the good spirits of spring. Oliver of course, got carried away with banishing the oni and threw the beans a bit too enthusiastically (see video below).

Next year we hope to go to a temple to see the official ceremony and to eat the famous Osakan “lucky direction” sushi rolls which we did not do this year. Supermarkets conveniently had kits with roasted beans and masks for people to take home.