December 1997

  • I'm off to blow some bubbles!
    (31 Dec 97)

  • Merry Christmas to anyone who happens to visit this site today. Now go get some turkey!
    (25 Dec 97)

  • I've added a link to a Mt. Fuji cam on my profile page. Click on the painting for a live view of Fuji-san!
    (24 Dec 97)

  • When I started this homepage, I couldn't find any local nikkei WWW links. Tonight, just over one year later, I was able to attend the Christmas Party of the Toronto Internet Information Exchange Club. This is an exuberant new club for JCs interested in computers and the Internet. Since forming in April this year, its membership has mushroomed to about 60 people, from teens to seniors, novices to experts. It was interesting to see and meet with such a diverse cross-section of the Community. The club is part of the Shin-ijusha Kyokai (New Japanese Canadian Association), the post-war immigrants group, but it's open to anyone. Just be forewarned that the meetings are conducted in Japanese.
    (21 Dec 97)

  • I took in the 1997 Toronto Kohaku Utagassen at the JCCC today. This annual singing contest, in its 21st year, is modelled on its NHK namesake, which is broadcast on Japanese TV on New Year's Eve and features an all-star lineup of professional entertainers, divided into the Red Team (Aka-gumi)-- the women--and the White Team (Shiro-gumi)--the men. Toronto's version showcases talented amateurs from karaoke clubs from across the city as well as nearby Hamilton ON. The panel of judges decided that the White Team won, but I thought the women ruled the stage.

    The show belongs mostly to the nisei (second generation JC) and shin-ijusha (new immigrants from Japan), who are the Japanese-capable part of the community. This was certainly reflected in the demographics of the audience. Still, in the interests of passing on the tradition, an effort was made this year to include some sansei (third generation), who learned Japanese lyrics to enka and J-pop songs written in roma-ji, and a yonsei (fourth generation), who sang a rock song in English (Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man"--or should that be "Secret Asian Man"?).

    Whether these measures will be effective in maintaining interest remains to be seen. As one ryugakusei told me over udon at the intermission, even in Japan the TV ratings for the NHK Kohaku Utagassen have been dropping in recent years, as younger people are increasingly using the oshogatsu break for their own vacations abroad instead of the traditional family gathering.

    Tradition worth saving or warmed-over kitsch? See for yourself and make up your own mind: the 48th Annual NHK Kohaku Utagassen will be broadcast on ONTV, Channel 11 on Thursday, 01 January @ 1100 h-1500 h.
    (13 Dec 97)

  • I went out for supper this evening with a group that included a couple of younger Japanese Canadians. We ate Japanese, but we spoke English. In a community which has largely lost its heritage language and most of its traditions, one remaining measure of "Japanese-ness" is the food one eats. One of my fellow diners thought the idea of eating uni (sea urchin roe) was disgusting, and both didn't like natto (fermented soy beans). A bit too exotic by Canadian standards, it seems. I've also met a JC who doesn't like rice--shinjirarenai (unbelievable)!

    Learn about the uni industry
    Diving for Dollars (there's money in them pincushions!)
    A Westerner encounters natto
    Mutant Ninja Soybeans
    Hilarious AND informative!
    (09 Dec 97)

  • League convenor Wayne Yamashita has compiled statistics for the first half of the 1997-98 CJHL season.
    (08 Dec 97)

  • I went to see a couple of Japanese films at the JCCC this afternoon:

    • Hope and Pain (Dauntaun Hiirozu) (1994? Japan; Dir: Yoji Yamada) ***
      A coming-of-age story set in Matsuyama, Shikoku, in the years immediately following World War II. Final-year high school students immerse themselves in the works of Western philosophers and dramatists. The plot centres around a play they are producing, which parallels a love triangle between the protagonists. The film probably accurately shows the conditions of the time, but it had too much of an "autobiographical vanity project" feel for my liking; I can picture a middle-aged screenwriter saying, "Yeah, we were cool back then."

    • We Are Not Alone (Bokura Wa Minna Ikiteiru) (1993 Japan; Dir. Yohjiro Takita) ***
      Four Japanese businessmen working in a banana republic suddenly find themselves caught up in a civil war. This is a story of "Japan, Inc." as a modern-day army, with the attendant chauvinism. The life of a sarariman stationed abroad is portrayed in a less-than-glamourous light (I wonder if those posted to Canada feel the same way?). Some funny scenes, like the businessmen using their meishi (business cards) as shields against the rebel machine guns, and the obligatory kinen shashin (commemorative group photo) as they make their escape through the jungle. More explosions and gunfire than I've ever seen in a Japanese film!

    (06 Dec 97)

  • Tokyo Story (Tokyo Monogatari) (1953 Japan; Dir. Yasujiro Ozu) ***** [STILLS]
    An elderly couple from near Hiroshima travel to Tokyo to visit their children, but are met with indifference and even rudeness. A chronicle of the breakdown of traditional family values that accompanied Japan's Economic Miracle. A real three-hanky tearjerker!

    This was tacked onto the end of the Shohei Imamura retrospective because Imamura served as Ozu's assistant director, but it easily stands on its own and is on the all-time Best 10 Movies list of many critics around the world.
    (03 Dec 97)

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