That's right: Mazda makes a model of car called the Laputa. Whether it's from the Miyazaki film or Gulliver is up to debate, but in any case I'm thrilled. I saw it parked, so I can't vouch for its flying ability. I guess we'll just have to assume that it can. Gulliver's Travels, in addition to being generally one of the best books ever to grace the English language, is a remarkable look into how Westerners of the early 1700s viewed Japan. He describes Japan and its inhabitants with the same sense of wonder and newness as he does the denizens of his imaginary worlds, and logically enough; after all, for most non-Dutch Europeans then, Japan would have been only scarcely more real than Brobdingnag, Lilliput or Laputa.
I'm not sure how much the Japanese actually know about the book, but Laputa is a marvelous analogy for Japan and its perception of itself. Idiosyncratic to the point of absurdity, self-contained and self-obsessed, the Floating Island hovered over the land, taking tribute and dispensing judgment whenever needed. I can only imagine that the Japanese of the time viewed the various invasions of Korea and China in much the same way the Laputians viewed their crushing of malcontent cities.
I was listening to Michelle Shocked's Texas Campfire Tapes while typing that, and I was struck anew at what a lyrical genius this woman is. Check out this stanza from "Fogtown":
"Her name was Ruby Red;
She was a two-bit hooker.
She had a man named Juan who
Tried to keep her clean but late
Last night when the heroin took her
There was one less siren
When the sirens reached the scene."
That play on siren is fantastic. I can't think of a single other artist currently recording who could write anything like that line. Possibly early Beautiful South could have produced something similar, but it certainly would have lacked the sweet and delicate touch that Michelle Shocked has.
That girl in the picture to the right is Manae, an extremely nice woman who is apparently the only Japanese person in Hiroshima who wants to spend time with gaijin. Ayed met her rather serendipitously in the cafeteria, and ever since then she's been overflowing with really sweet help and conversation. She made the other two Americans and I lunch (yakisoba!) and dinner (I can't remember the name but it was great!) today. Both were ridiculously delicious, easy and cheap, so I'll be sure to make them in the future.
Classes start tomorrow, but it really hasn't sunk in yet that I'm actually going to be taking classes again. It's been so long since I've attended classes that I've pretty much gotten used to the slacker life. For your information, it's been over five months since I last attended a class session; this was the longest summer break ever.
Incidentally, I upgraded this site to the pay version, so you shouldn't have to suffer through advertisements anymore. It's actually a pretty good deal: ad-free and ten extra megs of storage for $5 per month. Go Geocities!
Hey, I also finally got my address. Check check it:
9-3-508 Hirose-Kitamachi
Naka-ku, Hiroshima 730-0803
Japan
Her: GODZILLA!