papa no ibasho

Current Darkness, Eternal Light

2005-11-16T10:54:00.000+09:00

Apocalypse? by David Warren is an insightful meditation on the state of our civilization. A quote:

… Europe did not create Christianity. Christianity created Europe. And will create new Europes … wherever Christ is wanted ….

(I got the link from The Anchoress.)

"Ask not what your country can do for you … "

2005-09-29T11:42:00.000+09:00

Connell, R. (2005, September 23). Effusive freshman lets politicians' pretty-sitting kitty out of bag. MSN-Mainichi Daily News

The above is an article about newly-elected Dietman (Representative in the Japan national legislature) Taizo Sugimura who is … extremely impressed by his own salary, apartment, and other perks that come with his public office. He is an embarrasmsent to his office, his party, and his country, especially to those like me who support the Koizumi Revolution whose wave Sugimura-kun road into such a great new job.

Of course, here in Japan politicians making asses of themselves is a long tradition, and in perspective Mr. Sugimura's remarks are harmless if galling. Here's hoping he sobers up and remembers who is paying for all those perks and who gave him the new job, or else he gets a pink slip in the next election. Maybe sponsoring an austerity bill for Dietmen's perks would be a good first project.

… ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.
— John F. Kennedy, Inaugural address, January 20, 1961

UPDATE: It seems Mr. Sugimura has been taken behind the woodshed by his senior LDPers and has apopologized for his obnoxious remarks. I hope the paddling has really given him a clue.
Taizo, the accidental lawmaker, apologizes for ill-suited remarks (AP) (2005, September 28). MSN-Mainichi Daily News
The system of proportional representation seats was introduced in Japan several years ago on an attempt at election reform. I need to study the details of how it works because it seems like voodoo to me, especially in view of the quality of at least some who manage to get elected accidentally.

P. Buchanan on Katrina and U.S. Society

2005-09-21T11:22:00.000+09:00

I do not generally like Patrick Buchanan, but occassionally he says something very wise, like in this article on WorldNetDaily:

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46315

Japan Seldom Asked Questions

2005-06-27T02:34:00.000+09:00

On Japundit I found a link to Japan Seldom Asked Questions where you can find the answers to Japan questions you never even knew to ask. I can't vouch for everything on the page, but it looks like SAQ has already covered several Japanese idiosyncracies I was planning on writing about here someday.

What the Heck is a Blog?

2005-06-27T01:25:00.000+09:00

I wrote the following earlier today on an old favorite MU* in an attempt to entice a friend there into the blogosphere:

ok ok, what the heck is a blog and how does one get one? LOL... is it a website, most here have those but me, dunno how to do it...

That's a good question that I asked myself for a long time as I saw blogs becoming more and more popular and not understanding why. Here is the answer I came up with. A blog has three necessary elements:

A web site with an owner dedicated to making frequent updates with current information or commentary. The site is usually managed with a software package that eases updates and presents the most recent updates to site visitors in a format similar to newspaper articles.
A group of regular readers of the site who frequently add their own comments on the author's posts or on other readers' comments, which is also usually facilitated by the blog software.
An amorphous cluster of other blogs that are frequently read by the site owner, or read and/or written by the blog readers, which often trigger discussions on the blog in question. Again, the blog software usually makes it easy to link articles on different blogs with hyperlinks.

It is the synergy between these three elements that makes blogs more than just frequently updated web sites and leads to the formation of online communities as dynamic as MOOs were in their glory days.

The cross-over between blogs and main-stream media is a topic that is being widely discussed that shows the potential of blog culture, though I won't repeat the discussion here.

If you are curious about blogs, take a look at mine ([you're reading it now]) as an example. Follow the links I have to other interesting blogs, then follow THEIR links, the the links on the next set of blogs... until you find yourself immersed in the blogosphere. Of course, Sturgeon's Law, that 90% of everything is crap applies, but if you look for a while, you're almost sure to find a corner of blogspace that matches your interests and sensibilities.

[A plug for our host...]If you want to try blogging yourself, www.blogger.com offers no-cost sites that come with good basic blog managment tools and a selection of decent-looking, easily-customized templates.

The above makes me sound like an evangelist, but I'm really just starting to dabble. After you look a little, you will find people who seem to eat, drink, sleep, and live for blogging. It can be as addictive as MOOing.

See you in blogspace. [If you're reading this, then welcome to blogspace.]

Eminent Domain

2005-06-25T04:52:00.000+09:00

Eminent domain is the power of government to forcibly purchase private property for public benefit. (You can read more in Wikipedia.) This is a well-established principle that I learned about back in 8th grade Civics if not before. No one likes having their house bought out from under them by the government, but all of us benefit from improvements to our communities made possible by the displacement of some of our fellow citizens.

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in a case of eminent domain in the city of New London, Connecticut. A group of homeowners had sued to stop a plan for the city to purchase their houses to make room for an office complex, which the city council argued would benefit the community through increased tax revenue and jobs. The Court ruled against the homeowners, saying that the decision was within the rights of the local government and that there was no basis for the federal courts to interfere. (Read more on CNN.com.)

I feel sorry for the homeowners, and I understand that the city invoking eminent domain for the sake of building a commercial property is more controversial than doing so to build a road or a school, but I am surprised by vehemence of the negative reaction to this decision among conservative bloggers. My favorite blogger Anchoress has two threads on the subject (here and here) with a lot of angry comments about the decision.

In fact I am the only commenting there who agrees with the decision. I think so because the city council is a democratically elected body that the homeowners have far more influence over than any federal institution. They can have their say both in the voting booth and at the city council meetings. The council I'm sure gave due consideration to the homeowners' opinion as well as that of others in the community, and to the political fallout likely to result, and decided against the owners. By law the homeowners have to be fairly compensated for the expropriated property, and I have heard that governments generally try to make generous offers well above assessed tax values in these cases. Too bad for the homeowners, but they've been done no injustice. Unless someone can prove a charge of bribery, I think the decision was reached in the proper manner.

The standard the city council used for invoking eminent domain in this case my be controversial, but I don't see a clear-cut right and wrong here. I think it's best for all of us, Supreme Court and bloggers, to let the people of the community make the call in the way established by law.

Welcome to any fellow Anchoress fans who are following the discussion over here to my blog. I don't want to high-jack Anchoress's threads, but since I've probably posted too many comments there on this subject already, please post here any comments you'd specifically like me to respond to. You are also very welcome to look around the rest of the blog. I hope you'll find things of interest.

MU* Anonymous

2005-06-23T13:18:00.000+09:00

The man nervously stood up from his place in the ring of folding chairs that had been clustered in the center of the bare meeting room. He glanced sheepishly at the unfamiliar face of the others seated around the circle, then fixed his eyes on a spot of dried spackle, swallowed once, then intoned the familiar phrases.

"Hello, … my name is papa, and I'm a MUDaholic."

MU* is an abbreviation for any of MUD, MUCK, MUSH, MUX, MUSE, MOO, or several other variants. These are all, though partisans of each will swear to the uniqueness of their own brand, basically online multi-player text-based roleplaying games.

I could write at length about MU* varieties, their technology and history, adventures I've enjoyed in these virtual realities, but I won't because they are part of a chapter in my life that Thomas Merton's words have convinced me to close. MU* passtimes are generally harmless fun in themselves, but are not harmless for me when I can't stop playing from my desk at work or thinking about them more than I think of heaven or other things that I know to be of lasting value and my true destiny.

(That last sentence is a great embarrassment to me.)

During my years of online adventuring, I have generally kept a wall between my MU*-self and my real self. However, in parting I've shared the address of this blog with a few friends I've made in MU*space in case any are interested in continuing friendship with the real me.

To my visiting former comrades-in-fantasy, you are most welcome. I doubt that many of you will find much of interest here: no tips on fighting with Klingon weapons or how to find the magic ring in Dragon Keep. It's still the same me, only a little more authentic. I hope you'll find something worth repeat visits.

Wake-up Call

2005-06-17T10:55:00.000+09:00

God answered the question I posed in my June 6th post, writing to me through Thomas Merton by way of one of my favorite bloggers, the Anchoress:

The devil is no fool. He can get people feeling about heaven the way they ought to feel about hell. He can make us fear the means of grace the way we do not fear sin. And he does so, not by light but by obscurity, not by realities but by shadows; not by clarity and substance, but by dreams and the creatures of psychosis.

and,

… evil is the defect of good, the lack of a good that ought to be there, and nothing positive in itself …

I have let the devil lure me away from the path to heaven not with anything positively wicked, but with neutral shadows: "It's late, there's nothing you can do that would make any difference to God or anyone else. Why not unwind a little with a computer game, or web surfing, or...."

That may or may not be a lie, and at the moment it's a harmless thought in itself. The problem is that that moment of neutral gratification grows, and I start to feel entitled to it: an hour, two, more, everyday, at work..., until I reach the point, without doing a single thing most people would consider evil, I have a shadow between me and the light which is my true, highest, and eternal good.

Lord, I Believe. Help My Disbelief.

2005-06-06T19:12:00.000+09:00

Christ does not take anything away from the human person, but gives him fullness of life, of joy, and of hope.—Pope Benedict XVI

(Quoted in The National Catholic Reporter.)

What exactly am I getting out of TV, PC games, surfing, programming boondoggles...?

A Puffy-Ankled Napoleon

2005-06-06T11:29:00.000+09:00

Not that I mean to write about personal ailments, but this morning the doctor said something interesting enough to share.

I've had some swelling in my right ankle over the past couple of weeks. It's not particularly severe or uncomfortable, but I've had no injury or disease that would explain it. A little research on the Internet confirmed my suspicion that it's likely too many late nights/early mornings in front of the TV or PC catching up with me, but also mentioned the possibility of enough scary looking but unpronounceable diseases that I decided to see the doctor just for peace-of-mind.

Doctor K. and his nurses poked and pricked and monitored, but to my relief found everything normal. His prescription matched what I'd learned on the Internet: regular sleep, reduced salt, plenty of water.

The doctor's gem of a quip was imparted while we were discussing lifestyle factors. When I fessed up to averaging three hours of sleep each night Doctor K. looked shocked. The first words out of his mouth were, "But that's like Napoleon."

I was impressed he thought of the legend about the French Emperor that I only had a vague memory of ever hearing before. I'm not sure it was the most effective advice for a closet egomaniac like me, though: Puffy ankles seems like a small price to pay if I get to have a place in history conquering Europe and reforming France in my own image. (But would people read my blog then?)

Living in Japan, there are enough horror stories about treatment (or mistreatment) received at the hands of Japanese medical institutions that I have some anxiety about what would happen if I found myself with a serious medical problem. However, I realized today that although today was the first time to csee Doctor K. for my own sake, I've seen him enough times for the kids that I feel comfortable with him even having to rely on my broken Japanese to communicate. His manner talking to patients is open, direct, and respectful. He seems competent and his clinic is well-equipped and has a friendly staff. I feel like he is at least one doctor in Japan I can trust.

Near Miss

2005-05-27T12:08:00.000+09:00

Whew! I just almost lost the entire text of my Misfortune Teller post. Blogger is a nice idea, but I have found the e-mail interface unreliable, and there's no way to completely remove the risk of losing work with the web interface. I'm thinking of moving this blog to my own site. It won't be as pretty but I'll have better control over the post data and the software that keeps it organized. I'll let you (you? Do I have any readers out there?) know here if/when the move is on.

Misfortune Teller

2005-05-27T11:24:00.000+09:00

What's your type?

If someone asks you that in Japan, they're likely trying to tell your fortune based on your blood type.

In Japan, many people think a person's basic personality type can be determined from their blood type: A, B, AB, O. I took it for a quaint social icebreaker like Astrology (What's your sign?) in the U.S. and didn't think anyone took it seriously.

Silly me. A recent article at the Mainichi Daily News website, Myth about Japan blood types under attack reminds it is impossible to underestimate the stupidity to which some people may sink. It reports that Japanese academics are starting to protest abuses of blood typing ranging from job discrimination to broken romances to pidgeon-holing school children.

The origin of the blood type-personality type idea is another story. I had always assumed it might have arisen from a confusion between the alphabetically coded blood types and the coincidentally named Type A and Type B personality models developed by the cardiologist Meyer Friedman. However, I was mistaken and the true origin of the idea is quite sinister.

The discovery of blood types in the early 20th century was a great medical breakthrough, but it was the Nazis who made the leap from blood type to personality based on the coincidental predominance of blood types A and O among Germans versus type B among Jews, Asians, and others. The Japanese militarists adopted the idea from their Nazi allies in the 1920's. From there it morphed into the modern Japanese urban legend it is today, though one that is not quite as harmless as I once thought.

Fourteen Years in the Noose

2005-05-25T03:56:00.000+09:00

A Salaryman and His Necktie

The more things change, the more they remain the same. Once again, Japan makes a fashion discovery thirty years behind the United States. Casual clothes are comfortable. At least this time it is a good idea we are borrowing.

As reported at Japundit and in the New York Times, the Japanese government is launching a campaign to encourage both public and private employees to wear lighter clothing to work during the coming torrid summer months instead of the very ingrained traditional conservative business suit and necktie. This is in order to allow employers to raise thermostats during the peak air conditioning season, thereby reducing power generation needs and helping Japan meet its target for reduced greenhouse gas emission agreed to in the Kyoto Protocol.

The campaign will likely not make much of a difference for me personally because my company along with many others located in the Osaka area, which is reputed to have summers even muggier than Tokyo, has been following a similar policy for several years already. I welcome the dress-down campaign, though. I don't know how much impact it will have on global warming, but I support any excuse to wear a tie less frequently, and there are a lot of my fellow salarymen who would not be hurt learning to take themselves a mite less seriously in dress or otherwise.

Maybe you need a suit and a tie to sell things. It doesn't make much sense to me, but I've never had a job like that and no desire to. I like dressing up for special occassions, enough that I'm even willing to go through the torture of dressing the five kids for really big days. However, I've never seen the need or the desirability to make it a daily ritual. On the days I wear a jacket, I've always been more comfortable taking it off and working in shirt sleeves once I get to the office. I've come to appreciate neckties only as a way to add a little color to the drab business uniform, but have never had one that was better than tolerable as something to wear.

I had always subscribed to the wear anything as long as it is appropriate to your work rule of reason. At my last employer in the U.S., which had a reputation as a conservative organization, neckties were a widely declined option for technical personnel who didn't meet customers.

Having seen nothing specifically about a dress code in my contract when I started working in Japan, I assumed the same rule of reason applied. Knowing that Japanese salaymen were conservative dressers, I had made up my mind when I started working here to generally conform to the local dress customs. I always had a hard time keeping a suit nice for long, but I would at least show up for work in a (soon doffed) blazer with some form of constrictive if colorful clothing around my neck, varying from the standard only if I had a particularly good reason or a strong mood to the contrary.

However, I learned that things were not quite so free and easy at the end of last year's no necktie season. A memo was circulated sometime last September to employees at our Osaka-area offices announcing the end of the dress-down season. What surprised me about the memo was language that implied that there was an official company suit-and-tie dress code now going back into effect when I thought our dress had been dictated merely by custom and reason. I don't like having more rules than are necessary, even when I don't mind complying in the matter in question. I especially don't like having rules created by petty bureaucrats who confuse their own opinion with official policy, so I replied to the memo's author with a polite, Is that really the rule or are you just sharing your general idea of what's appropriate dress?

Maybe I should have left it as Don't ask/Don't tell, or started trying to convince someone other than the dress code memo's author. But a reply came back with the fingerprints of enough bosses to tell me that further challenge would be pointless to the effect that although we had no explicit dress code, the rule of reason did not mean that we could wear anything within reason, but that the traditional coat-and-tie was the only reasonable thing to wear.

It hasn't changed my dressing habits much, but has mad the salt mine a little less fun.

Casterbridge Quagmire

2005-05-25T03:54:00.000+09:00

I have been bogged down with this book review for weeks. I wanted to write an unpretentious recommendation for a book I enjoyed, but it seems like I've settled into a permanent state of being just one more paragraph from being done. So I'm cutting my losses and posting now, though I'm no longer certain it's to any good purpose.

I had wanted to write something like:

Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge is a real page-turner for a nineteenth century novel with a contemporary feel to its prose, brings its setting alive with Tolkienesque world-building, and deals in engaging, thought-provoking themes even if pessimistic and non-Christian in perspective, so you should read it.

Below, the insomniac among you can read and see how badly I failed.

Books: The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy

The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy (available in electronic form free-of-charge from Project Gutenberg) is the most easily enjoyable classic novel I have ever read, and that is in spite of having philosophic reservations on some of its themes.

To me there is an alien quality to older English works, some even as late as the early twentieth century. It's not the incomprehensibility of an unknown language, but the sensation that in spite of being able to make sense of every word on the page the obsolete vocabulary and forgotten idioms, the style of expression and approach to storytelling all create a barrier between my world and what the author is trying to say that's impenetrable without constant mental effort to punch through. It makes a labor of even the greatest of old books.

I did not get the same feeling from The Mayor of Casterbridge. Although it is definitely written and firmly set in the Victorian era and has a measure of paragraphs thick with unfamiliar idioms and dialects, the storytelling and overall style seem contemporary and accessible. I haven't read many books considered page-turners, but The Mayor of Casterbridge should be counted as one.

No matter what troubles the characters face, it is obvious that Hardy had a great love for the town of Casterbridge and the country around it. His writing imparts a share of that love on the reader. Casterbridge is a fictionalized version of the southwest English town of Dorchester where Hardy grew up. He describes the town to such depths of detail and history that a map spontaneously forms in the mind while reading the novel. Hardy's world is a creation comparable to Tolkien's Middle Earth to such a degree that I think it's likely Hardy was one of Tolkien's inspirations.

Hardy captures Casterbridge during an historic transition. The town has been a regional center for centuries, its fortune tied to the agricultural rhythms of the surrounding country. However, it is now the Industrial Age, at least in the outside world. Casterbridge is a backwater for the moment, but signs are on the horizon that the times are soon to catch up with the town. An air of nostalgia and melancholy in the novel's descriptions is perhaps due to Hardy having witnessed the tide of modernity sweep over the real Dorchester and change it forever.

The theme of The Mayor of Casterbridge can be summarized with the novel's brief quote from the German poet Novalis:

Character is Fate.

That is, the overall trajectory of a person's life is determined not so much by conscious choice or blind luck as it is by his basic personality. The consequences of our actions are inescapable because we can never escape ourselves. To Hardy, sin is not a lapse of virtue, but a tell-tale of a person's true character.

Another of Hardy's themes is that while the pursuit of happiness is futile, since even in the best case it is only an ephemeral good and in the worst case unachievable, peace of mind can be obtained through emotional detachment and acceptance of one's life situation with equanimity. By sacrificing the striving and elation at good fortune one can blunt the sting of misfortune. Hardy communicates this theme very subtly with his storytelling style. Although the novel is not explicitly narrated from the point-of-view of any one character, heinous and pathetic deeds are related matter-of-factly, their moral import unremarked, revealing that the narrator is not emotionally engaged in the action but is detached and peacefully relating whatever the characters do.

My first thought as Hardy's themes emerged was, This is the kind of book that can be enjoyed on literary merit while ignoring philosophical shortcomings. Certainly, no mainstream Christian could accept the thesis of the impossibility of salvation. However, further reflection shows that Hardy's views, while non-Christian, make some relevant challenges to my way of looking at the world.

Is character destiny? My first answer was no, people can learn and change. Even if we sometimes or often fail to live up to what we know is right, it's usually just a moment of weakness. In general we know what's right, intend to do it, and manage to pull it off more often than not. But do we really? While I affirm that change of character is possible, it is much easier to talk about change than to do it. While I have known transforming moments in my own life, I have also felt trapped in bad habits, even ones I thought I had beat years ago. Although Christians believe in transforming grace, we also believe in fallen human nature that will dog our best intentions all our days.

Is happiness achievable? […]

(Why did I pick up The Mayor of Casterbridge in the first place? A film critic recently interviewed the screenwriter of the movie Millions who had previously written the screenplay for The Claim which was based on The Mayor of Casterbridge. I knew there was little chance I'd see either movie anytime soon, the novel was available free online, and I'd never read any Thomas Hardy before, so I thought what the heck …. A read well-worth the time invested.)

Clear Faith

2005-04-20T07:58:00.000+09:00

Having a clear faith, based on the Creed of the Church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism.

—Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI)

Hugh Hewitt posted the text of Cardinal Ratzinger's homily at the Mass for the election of the Roman Pontiff on his blog.

God Bless Our Pope Benedict XVI

2005-04-20T02:00:00.000+09:00

White smoke and bells at the Vatican. Christ's flock has a new shepherd!

I have long respected Joseph Ratzinger for his intelligence, his devotion, and his persistence in teaching God's truth in the face of often unkind opposition. Pope Benedict XVI is a man after John Paul II's heart and after our Lord's heart. He will continue to lead the Church surely along the path of renewal established by our late holy father.

Twelve Apathetic Men

2005-04-19T01:15:00.000+09:00

There's a discussion on Japan's proposed new jury trial system at Japundit.

Extraordinary

2005-04-18T13:25:00.000+09:00

At the dinner table last night we were talking about how baby H seems to already have a sense of music, rhythm, and showmanship. In response to a comment that H may have a career on the stage in front of him, F quipped that it seems that no one in our family is destined for an ordinary career.

I cried some mock tears and started to moan, All except poor salary-man Papa whose hum-drum ordinary job is paying the bills …

It gave me a smile and a warm feeling deep down when M broke in with, But Mama and Papa are raising five children. That's not ordinary.

God bless her and every one of our extraordinary brood.

Dramatis Personae

2005-04-18T13:23:00.000+09:00

How do I write about my family while maintaining our privacy and avoiding repeated typing of awkward phrases like my fourteen-year-old son? Maybe by adopting cryptic little code names so you will know who in the family I'm talking about without knowing exactly who in the world any of us are.

S: Wife and mother. About the same age as myself. Housewife.
F: Son. Turns fifteen this year. Ninth grader.
M: Daughter. Turns twelve this year. Sixth grader.
J: Son. Turns nine this year. Third grader.
T: Daughter. Turns six this year. Kindergartener.
H: Son. Turns two this year. Toddler.

Glass Houses

2005-04-14T18:29:00.000+09:00

On CNN.com, What Chinese textbooks don't say provides perspective on anti-Japanese protests in China.

The Kingdom of Wa

2005-04-14T17:03:00.000+09:00

A guy in pajamas writes a humorous overview of Japanese history, The Middle Kingdom & the Kingdom of Wa A Mistory of Sino-Japanese Relations to 1868.

Japanese Diet

2005-04-14T15:35:00.000+09:00

Ampontan at Japundit writes in Feast or Famine about Japanese food self-sufficiency.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, if Japanese stopped eating imported foods a typical menu would have to be as follows.

Breakfast: Bowl of rice, potatoes, pickled vegetables.
Lunch: 2 sweet potatoes, baked potato, 1/4 apple.
Dinner: Bowl of rice, sweet potato, slice of fish.
Special treats: Udon noodles (1 bowl every other day), miso soup (1 bowl every other day), milk (1 glass every 6 days), egg (1 each week), meat (1 serving every 9 days).

Sounds healthy, in a Mahatma Gandhi kind-of-way. Actually, I get the impression that's about how Japanese ate 150 years ago before Americans introduced them to junk food. That diet would do me a lot of good, if I survived it.

Coming soon …

2005-04-14T10:13:00.000+09:00

I need to ingrain the habit of making regular posts here. At the same time, I want to keep the quality at least a bit above the what-I-ate-for-breakfast level.

I am working on a review of the novel The Mayor of Casterbridge. It's not going to be too long, but it's taking me longer to organize my thoughts than I anticipated.

Next on my reading queue are Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way by our late great Pope John Paul II (thanks for the reminder, Mom, even if it came with a red face), and Fahrenheit 451.

However, before I get too heavily into a new book, I think I'll write about the anti-Japanese demonstrations in China, history textbooks, and Japanese attitudes about World War II.

… and today I had granola and a banana for breakfast.

Parking and Wa

2005-04-09T03:23:00.000+09:00

Last month Lewis Packwood at An Englishman in Nyu-gun wrote about parking in Japan.

When I got there, about half the bays were empty. I had a look to see if there were any markings on the bays which would indicate that they were restricted. There weren't any, so I decided to park in a space which was near to Luciana's apartment.

[…] After saying my goodbyes I walked to my car, only to discover a tiny Suzuki totally blocking my car in.

[…] I explained the situation and she immediately recognised that it was her neighbour's car. "You've parked in her space", she explained.

I don't own a car, but am a condominium owner who has had to worry about parking guests and maintaining neighborhood wa, the Japanese value of social harmony over individual assertiveness. I would advise Lewis and all motorist visitors to Japanese apartment dwellers to ask their host about the location of guest parking in advance or as soon as possible after arriving.

A similar thing happened to another JET in Fukui a few months ago. She was visiting a friend in the city, and thought it would be OK to park outside her friend's apartment, but when she returned she found another resident had deliberately blocked her in. The resident turned out to be the grandma from hell, and immediately launched into a tirade of abuse directed at the unfortunate JET, as well as threatening to call the police.

Also, I don't think what Lewis and his JET friend in Fukui experienced was particularly parking rage. The other side of the wa coin is that Japanese have very little patience with others who disturb the wa. Now expressing this impatience usually creates an even greater wa disturbance and so gets repressed, especially when the offender is in some relation the social superior of the one offended. Gaijin (foreigners), at least those from what was once called the First World, are usually treated by default as honored guests and benefit from thus-imputed superiority. However, when a wa-breaker is a social subordinate, or of no particular social connection, there is no limit to the depth of rudeness to which a Japanese may sink. Unfortunately, just being neighbors or co-dwellers in an apartment building is not considered enough of a connection to deflect wa-wrath.

April

2005-04-07T13:21:00.000+09:00

Jonah Asher at Aranami.net writes about Japan's annual season of new beginnings.

I always hear about all of these foreigners in Japan with teaching jobs or on the JET Program and how they have all of this time. Their jobs are so easy, they get to go home early and when they aren't teaching a class they can pretty much sit around and do nothing. Part of my job is teaching, but another part of it has been the building of sratch of a website for the Board of Education of my town, doing most of the IT work around my office, translating documents, coordinating events with the town's sister city and going to lots of meetings.

I have heard that coming to Japan to teach English can be frustrating and often a big disappointment, but I pity the fool who can go home early and … pretty much sit around and do nothing. I am not the world's most social animal, but I think you have to be engaged in your community, work, friends, family for your stay in Japan (or anywhere else, even home) to mean anything. I envy Jonah his challenging work.

April is moving season here in Japan. Most things in Japan, such as the school year and work rotation schedules, run on the same year as the fiscal year here in Japan, which ends at the end of March and begins at the beginning of April.

One small correction: Japanese school year etc. do not end but start every April, ending in March of the following year. The correspondence of these social and cultural cycles with the fiscal year of some organizations (there are also organizations that use the calendar year as their fiscal year) is just a coincidence: The April-March annual cycle is actually a holdover from the time when Japan used a lunisolar calendar (pre-1873) and correspond to the Chinese or Lunar New Year. Also, while most companies tend to hire a freshman class of new employees each April, office transfers can and do happen any time.

Tomomi moved into an apartment that is subsidized by her town, and these are called "danchi" in Japanese. They are basically subsidized housing but aren't just for people with low incomes. Usually they are giving out to city employees, teachers and so on to make their job more comfortable and attractive (low or free rent is always good). […] It's got three bedrooms, a nice big bathroom and even a little yard out front.

We lived in a SHATAKU, basically a DANCHI for employees of some private company, for our first ten years here in Japan. We are definitely of the take-the-subsidized-apartment-and-save-up-for-something-better school. I will likely make many posts on the subject of Japanese housing eventually, but Jonah's description is accurate. However, keep in mind that Japanese apartments and houses are almost universally tiny by US standards. The three-bedroom apartment Jonah mentions is probably fine as a single's pad, but that's the size of apartment more usually assigned to a family of four or five people.

No Hope?

2005-04-02T15:39:00.000+09:00

(April 1, 14:36, LaGuardia AP, New York) The CNN anchorman reported that "there is no hope for the life of John Paul II". What a foolish thing to say. As the earthly life of this holy man draws to an end, his hope grows brighter and brighter until he will no longer have need of hope.

Mother of Christ, pray for us.–prayer broadcast from St. Peter's Square, Vatican

St. Patrick's Cathedral

2005-04-02T15:29:00.000+09:00

(April 1, New York) With a day of meetings I completed the work of this trip yesterday. Food and conversation at the home of local friends made yesterday evening the most pleasant evening of the trip. Returning for a second night at my favorite New York hotel, instead of blogging an article I've been trying to write since the first night of the trip, I gave new depth to the meaning of "persistant vegitative state" in front of the television.

My flight for Denver doesn't leave until three o'clock in the afternoon, so with my morning free I decided to visit the marvelous St. Patrick's Cathedral. I kneeled before the icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe and prayed the rosary.

The news is filled with reports of the approaching end of our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II's life in this world. I prayed for his rest and in thanks for his teaching and leadership. John Paul II became Pope before I became a Catholic. I also prayed for the Church and for whoever is to become her next leader.

I prayed for rest for Terri Schiavo's soul. Even if she is not a martyr, she has certainly suffered more than enough that I have little doubt that she now dances in the loving light of our eternal Father. I prayed for a change of heart for those who, while she lay alive but helpless, thought that the profound depth of her suffering nullified the value of her life itself. I prayed for comfort for her family. I prayed for health and virtue for my own family.

I lit a votive candle before leaving the cathedral. Votive candles are a devotional that I've missed living in Japan. I haven't seen a single church in Japan with a rack of candles for the faithful to light as a sign of their continuing prayerful presence in spirit before the holy. It may be simply because of fire codes that brook no exceptions for devotional practice, but I have long had the feeling, about candles and many other minor devotionals that seem extinguished in Japan, that at some point the Japanese bishops made a conscious decision that these traditions were merely cultural baggage from Europe and that Catholicism would be more easily aculturated to Japan if purified of them. I think they threw more than one baby out with the bath water, and in any case Catholicism doesn't seem to suit Japanese tastes any better stipped of the devotional traditions than it did with them.

I pray for the Body of Christ, the Church, in Japan.

Eating Alone

2005-03-30T15:23:00.000+09:00

(Zaventem, Belgium/March 28) I arrived at my hotel near the Brussels airport with enough daylight left for a walk before dinner. I ended up giving myself a walking tour of Zaventem, the village whose property values I would have expected to have been ruined by adjacency to Brussels's international airport.

I had half a mind to get dinner at a bistro or pub in the town, looking forward to something a little more homey and atmospheric than hotel fare. However, most places were closed for Easter Monday (which is a holiday in most of Europe), the places that were open were mainly Chinese or other ethic, which is not what I was in the mood for, and I didn't see a credit card sticker in the window of the few open "native" establishments, which was important because I'd foolishly forgotten to change my wallet cash from yen to euros before I'd set out.

I was a bit ashamed to realize that I was glad for the excuse to retreat to the foreigner-friendly hotel for dinner. My first time in Belgium, on business, I stayed for more than a month. There is great romance, nostalgia, and pride in boldly going to local restaurants where my Japanese coworkers were too timid to go before. Now the small native places seem closed to me, or at least too intimidating. I don't know whether it's because I've lost courage or because this time I'm just passing through and lack the sense of belonging and entitlement.

Amsterdam, Schiphol Airport

2005-03-29T01:41:00.000+09:00

On first leg of business trip to Brussels, London, and New York before flying home with three-night layover with my parents near Denver.

This is my first trip out of Japan in about two years. My immediate impressions are how casual such a great change of place has become. I also notice that I don't tower over the other travelers here in Schiphol Airport as I did in Japan. It strikes me again as it has on other business trips, that I blend in with the crowd much better here in a country where I have only spend two or three days than I ever will in my whole life in Japan. Sometimes the book's cover counts for a lot.

My preparation for this trip was correspondingly casual and last-minute, giving me a bit of concern (but not too much) that I have forgotten to pack something important. I finished packing my clothes only a half-hour before I had to leave for the airport. How little sleep I did with the night before the flight will remain my secret.

The flight from Kansai Airport went smoothly. I sat in business class on the 747's upper deck. Food was good. Watched The Incredibles (first time in English, fun and unexpectedly touching movie) and the Neverland movie with Johnny Depp. Slept fitfully for maybe three hours, which is very good for me on an airplane. Arrived in Amsterdam ahead of schedule, in time to make the early connection to Brussels that should start boarding any minute.

Easter

2005-03-28T01:52:00.000+09:00

I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.–Psalms 118:17

Holy Thursday

2005-03-25T10:56:00.000+09:00

Tonight is the 1,970-somethingth anniversary of the first Holy Communion celebrated by Jesus Christ with His disciples on the night before He gave up His life for us. It is also exactly the twentieth anniversary of my own First Communion and entry into the Catholic Church.

Nearly half my life I've now lived as a Catholic (exactly half next year). A half-life ago, faith was new, heady, and powerful. I was surfing on the crest of a tsunami that swept away the wreckage of what then seemed like a long period of meaninglessness. I didn't know the direction the wave carried me, but I rested in the blessed assurance that the right way was the way the wave was going.

It's hard to say how long the ride lasted, but here is where the wave deposited me. Now faith is cool and still, a thin steel rod instead of the thick sinewy cord of twenty years ago. It is now an anchor holding me in place against the buffeting waves of distractions, selfish interests, work, housekeeping. I have let the anchor chain play out a little too far, though, and while the hold is solid, the buffets keep me farther from the center than is healthy.

About Me

2005-03-24T18:04:00.001+09:00

I am a Catholic husband and father of five children. I work as a manager at a Japanese IT service company. We live in a suburb of Osaka, Japan. I am a United States citizen resident in Japan for the last 14 years.

I have often used papa (in the sense of father, not that of Pope) as a net name as a reminder of my first and highest calling, whether I am in front of a computer or elsewhere.

I've decided to at least start this blog under my net name for no big reason. I don't anticipate posting any dread secrets, but all else being equal a little privacy is better than none at all. For the future, it would certainly be easier to drop the net name and start blogging under my real name than to withdraw my real name after blogging with it for some time.

About This Blog

2005-03-24T18:04:00.000+09:00

papa no ibasho is my first real venture into blogspace. Based on my past knack for getting interested in technologies only after they've past their "Best If Eaten By" dates, it is probably also the death-knell for blogspace. I've never let that stop me before, so I apologize in advance to all you soon-to-be-former bloggers.

Since 1991 I have enjoyed the rare opportunity of working, living, and raising a family in Japan. The purpose of this blog is to share experiences, knowledge, and insights I continue to gain in this adventure. I hope to foster a deeper understanding of Japan, as well as of my home country, the United States, viewed from an outside perspective. Since my thoughts, interests, and concerns are not limited to Japan, the focus of my writing here will not be exclusively on Japan. However, I will try to keep it mainly so, and interesting in any case.

Becoming a writer has been a long-unacted-upon ambition of mine. I hope to use this blog to build discipline and hone my skills. Therefore I will appreciate any comments you care to make on either my content or my form.

papa no ibasho is Japanese for "A Place for Papa".