Why Japan?

People frequently ask me this question.

One of the biggest influences on me was the TV mini-series Shogun. How many of you remember that? Mr Colanino, my 7th grade social studies teacher, taught a section on Japan when the show aired. We learned a few facts about the country during the day and at night we watched the episodes. In retrospect these weren’t the most authentic images of Japan. However, that 5-day drama played a strong part of fueling my desire to go to Japan. Besides, at the series conclusion Mr Colanino took the class to Benihana Steak House for some “Japanese” food.

Other factors that influenced me during this time were the cartoon shows Starblazers and Force 5, along with old reruns of Speed Racer.

Of course, there were the songs about Japan that helped form the soundtrack.

The Vapors – Turning Japanese
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEmJ-VWPDM4

Alphaville - Big In Japan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c98qdFQF7sw

YMO – Firecracker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7oa5A2LRj4&feature=related

YMO - Tighten Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPqBfESmgek

By the time I reached high school I had an interest in going to Japan. I remember having a conversation with a friend while on a backpacking trip. He said, “Philip, you’ll get there someday.” I was 17 at the time and had no idea how.

In my sophomore year at Williams College I took a class in Japanese because I thought it would be fun. That was the toughest class I took during my whole time there. The irony is that my professors were two petite Japanese women, no taller than about 5 ft 3 inches. In my memory, though, they may as well have been the size of professional linebackers. Each and every one of my classmates was terrified of them.

I took only 2 years of the language but that was excellent preparation for what was to come. In August 1990 my “someday” finally arrived. I got a job with a company called Overseas Training Center as an English teacher. 

That’s where it all began and the start of my 9 years total time inthe country. I’ll save more of my adventures on the ground for later entries.

Philip

Know Your Craft

Today I got a reminder of the importance of knowing one’s craft. This lesson came from a paper folding demonstration.

Today J, my wife, was working on a translation job today. This meant K, my daughter, and I needed to spend some quality time together – outside the house. We went to Porter X Japan and soaked up the atmosphere at this festival featuring Japan-centric arts and crafts, music, and martial arts demonstrations.

K and I stopped at the origami, or “paper folding”, table for a demonstration. As far as I knew origami was something kids did to amuse themselves. The young woman behind the counter made a cat for K that she said was good for kids. It was, you know, “cute” and right in line with my expectations.

However, we slid down the table and got to see the work of Brian Chan.

Wow!

It turns out that Chan is a PhD student at MIT. He’s been doing origami since the age of 7.

Clearly, in the hands of someone with the right skill, dedication, and determination, the simplest concept can blossom into a powerful statement.

Philip

Happy Diwali

This evening we went to a Diwali party at our friends'.

Diwali is a festival of lights in Hinduism. I think it's called Deepavali in Singapore, where we lived for 18 months till this January. The mother of the family is from India and they have this party every year. 


It started with a family skit.

It's a part of a long traditional Indian play, which normally takes 14 days. They picked up three or four scenes and made it short.

The evil spirit was defeated and they celebrated with lights. 


Then we went back to the house and had awesome Indian food.

There's chicken curry, chickpea curry, samosas, two types of Indian bread, potato salad, grilled Indian cheese and vegetables etc. They all tasted so good I had three plates, followed by a big piece of American cake (nut, banana and pineapple cake with cream cheese icing, very yummy). I ate so much I almost wanted to say, "Oh, my belly hurts!" like my three-year-old daughter. 


I enjoyed every moment of the party. The idea of a family skit was great. The food was awesome. And everybody there was so nice and friendly. And I was especially impressed by the fact that the family values Indian (mother's) tradition as well as American (father's). Their kids were born in the USA and I'm sure they consider themselves as American. But they are also very familiar with the tradition of their mother's country. 


My husband and I met in Tokyo, we got married and had a daughter there. After 1.5 years in Singapore, now we live in the USA We have no plan to go back to Japan (I mean, to live), but we (not just I but my husband) want to be always connected with Japan and Asia.


This is also one of the reasons we started Ibuki Wellness. It's an international business and we're looking for customers and sales partners worldwide. We hope in the near future we'll have our partners in Japan and Singapore (and other countries around the world) and visit those countries a few times a year. That is our goal.


Junko

Better shopping choice

Last week my sister-in-law had her 50th birthday and I went to Ten Thousand Villages to get a birthday gift. 


This shop is run by a NPO and all the items sold there are fair-traded from countries around the world. I first stopped by at the shop, thinking it's a nice shop. When I knew the philosophy of the shop, I liked it even better!


The shop reminded me of a vacation trip in Langkawi Islands I made years ago. My friend and I took a little mangrove tour and stopped in a very small island. Local people living there prepared a very tasty meal. We were explained that those people made their living by selling mangrove trees and the wood was sold in Japan as BBQ charcoal. 


It was a really tiny island with only two shacks. There's no electricity or water system, no TV, no school. I saw some kids in dirty clothes. I was pretty shocked. Of course nobody wants to pay much to buy things, but I never thought about the life of local producers. 


After shopping at Ten Thousand Villages, I had lunch at Four Burgers. 

As I'm a Pesco-vegetarian, I got a veggie (black beans) burger and a mix of potato and sweet potato fries. My 3-year-old daughter got a hot dog and my husband a turkey burger. 

This restaurant uses fresh and safe (antibiotics and growth hormone free) meat from local farms. We felt good to know we were having safe food and supporting local farms at the same time. 

Almost everyday we buy things and there are a wide variety of goods in the market. When we buy something, we choose it for some reason. You might like it better than other products because it looks better than others, or cheaper or tastier. When I make my shopping decision, Id like to choose products that are better for the society, health, environment and the future of the globe. 

For the same reasons, we started Ibuki Wellness business. We deal with household cleaning products and supplements that are better for the environment and our health. If you anyway have to buy some laundry detergent, it's better to use co-friendly ones!

Junko