Article today in Japan Times to share with students and others with Ainu or Japan interests.
2019-12-19
upcoming exhibition - National Ainu museum
2019-10-24
specialized vocabulary... Flooding: what to do next
The frequency and degree of disasters in Japan and the rest of the world will be increasing. Seen today at JapanTimes online, the summary (4 pages) in Japanese or English editions could be helpful to become familiar with talking about disaster and recovery.
article, https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/10/24/national/flood-recovery-manual-typhoon-hagibis/
excerpt
The 32-page guide titled "Recovering From a Flood Disaster" was created by the Disaster Connection Japan Network, an organization comprising some 40 nonprofit and volunteer groups engaged in disaster-relief activities, based on the groups' experiences in flood-hit areas.
The manual is free but in Japanese. Matsuyama said that there is no plan yet to make an English version.
An application for the manual can be filled out on the organization's blog (blog.canpan.info/shintsuna/)
The website also offers a downloadable four-page leaflet summarizing the advice. It is available in Japanese and English.
EN, http://blog.canpan.info/shintsuna/img/RECOVERING_FROM_A_FLOOD_DISASTER.pdf2019-10-23
Reiwa enthronement - not something you see everyday
There were a dozen articles at japantimes.co.jp today that describe and interpret the formalities Tuesday, October 22, in Japan.
This one tells the story in pictures and may interest people today and in years to come.
2019-10-07
podcast - learning Japanese; studying in Japan
Via JapanTimes online today
Writer Daniel Morales created a podcast in which he speaks to people living and working in Japan and asks them how they learned to speak Japanese. It is a podcast that talks to bilingual people about studying Japanese and working in Japan.
2019-09-18
video, Foundation for Ainu Culture
See the channel on Youtube for videos from the Foundation for Ainu Culture.
Browsing these short movies can contribute to more vivid descriptions of the past and present of Ainu people around Japan today.
See also the newsletter of the research center hosted at Hokkaido University in Sapporo to see the topics presented each semester by guest researchers and Ainu experts,
Center for Ainu and Indigenous Studies, [CAIS] Hokkaido University
aynu teetawanoankur kanpinuye cise
https://www.cais.hokudai.ac.jp/english/ browse the video channel at Youtube> https://tinyurl.com/ainufoundation
2019-07-02
ekiben - nice summary, well-illustrated
The art of food and display, along with the context of rail travel, come together to form another brief article from the guest writers at Atlas Obscura.
Using the searchbox for 'Japan' will bring a dozen or two other topics from the Web project, too.
2019-04-10
poems from Japan (in English translation)
Back in 2015 an artist was commissioned to hand-carve the translated Japanese poems of several centuries onto some of the large stones in the Japanese-style garden at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in west Michigan. You can find out more about the choice of poets and see the dozen or so poems here, https://mishigan.blogspot.com/2019/04/poems-from-japan-in-english-at-meijer.html
2019-04-01
about the forthcoming "ReiWa" nengo announced April 1
Wikipedia already has posted the update:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_era_name [cf. in Japanese, https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%83%E5%8F%B7]
"The new era Reiwa (令和)[1] is expected to start on 1 May 2019, the day when Emperor Akihito's elder son, Naruhito, is expected to ascend to the throne as the 126th Emperor of Japan"
Not everyone knows that the name of each era does not have to match the years of the emperor or empress' reign, as in recent periods.
The era-name was changed when natural disasters spoiled a given period, for example. By switching to a more favorable name, the idea was to change the fortunes of people's lives. Looking again at Wikipedia there is fuller discussion of the concept.
Historical nengō
Prior to the Meiji period, era names were decided by court officials and were subjected to frequent change. A new era name was usually proclaimed within a year or two after the ascension of a new emperor. A new era name was also often designated on the first, fifth and 58th years of the sexagenary cycle, because they were inauspicious years in Onmyōdō. These three years are respectively known as kakurei, kakuun, and kakumei, and collectively known as sankaku. Era names were also changed due to other felicitous events or natural disasters.
In historical practice, the first day of a nengō (元年 gannen) starts whenever the emperor chooses; and the first year continues until the next lunar new year, which is understood to be the start of the nengō's second year
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