Its been a while and as with most things I have been meaning to do and have just been too occupied with my slothfulness and general lazitudiness to do anything about it. SO here goes...

(This will go in order from most recent to most distant time since my last update)

Lastnight: I had a dream

I was at my house which is about 5 miles perhaps from the ocean on 2 sides with a mountain (Nishiyama- which means western mountain) between the ocean and my house. In my dream there wasn't earthquake that I can remember but I remember going out of my house and looking towards the ocean on the left side of Nishiyama and seeing a tsunami that was bigger than the mountain. Sure its a big hill but still that's enough water to have washed inland for miles and destroy everything in it's path. The odd sensation was that as it moved inland and was swallowing up houses there was no fear. In fact it was as far from a nightmare as possible because I saw people swimming in the wave and having a general good time. So as the roar of the wave got close I ran up to it and dove in. Instead of being crushed the water had no weight at all. I sense of serene weightlessness filled me as I surfed at the edge of the wave and thought about all the houses and things being swept away by this tremendous yet loving force. Anyone wanna take a shot at analyzing that?


Yesterday I went to USJ

USJ is Universal Studios: Japan. A very hip well put together amusment park based on US movies. I was allowed to go on the school's field trip to USJ so that ment sitting in a bus full of 7th graders, that were allowed to fill up on candy and other sweets before going and there is no limit to the loudness of kids.. I swear I was never one of these dirty little urchins-never..you can't prove it.

• I rode on Backdraft (which is one of my favorite movies)

• Jurassic Park (also pretty entertaining especially when you play the T-rex scene as loud as possible through your stereo).

And finally

• Spiderman-the ride. Now that was cool.
  

Backdraft was loud and smelled of burned LP gas , Jurassic park was dull with it's animetronics, but the last 4 seconds where you fall down a waterslide about 40 feet or so is pretty wicked--but not worth the 55min wait.


OF course spiderman kick all kinds of butt. It's spiderman afterall. This ride was great because even though the line was long (60 min) the que had all sorts of things to look at and read and just keep yourself busy with.. Granted it was all in Japanese. JJ in Japanese is still a dink btw. The ride consisted of you getting into a car and watchin' spidey clean up on some of his old villianous rivals. Doc Octopus, Electro, Hydroman (was that his name?), the hobgoblin, and one of Carnage's children whose name is too new for me to know. The ride was 3D which was sweet. So you they mixed real effects (like city streets and cars and whatnot) with screens that would project the 3D image to you. The best scene is where the "car" you're in is thrown up into the air by Doc and you see the buildings whipping by you and it actually feels like you're moving up wards. Of course what goes up must come down and so the sensation is reversed as you rocket towards the ground! At the last second spidey grabs you with a web and you rebound to safety. I nearly lost my lunch..it was great.

No pictures of this one, but last Monday was absolutely surreal for me.

I think most of you that read this blog know that I started studying iaido

Seppuku - Ritual Suicide

Seppuku, (Sape-puu-kuu) the Japanese formal language term for ritual suicide (Hara-kiri (Har-rah-kee-ree) is the common language term.), was an intregal aspect of feudal Japan (1192-1868). It developed as an intregal part of the code of bushido and the discipline of the samurai warrior class.

Hara-kiri, which literally means "stomach cutting" is a particularly painful method of self-destruction, and prior to the emergence of the samurai as a professional warrior class, was totally foreign to the Japanese.

The early history of Japan reveals quite clearly that the Japanese were far more interested in living the good life than in dying a painful death. It was not until well after the introduction of Buddhism, with its theme of the transitory nature of life and the glory of death, that such a development became possible.

To the samurai, seppuku--whether ordered as punishment or chosen in preference to a dishonorable death at the hands of an enemy--was unquestionable demonstration of their honor, courage, loyalty, and moral character.

When samurai were on the battlefield, they often carried out acts of hara-kiri rapidly and with very little formal preparation. But on the other occasions, particularly when it was ordered by a feudal lord, or the shogun, seppuku or hara-kiri was a very formal ceremony, requiring certain etiquette, witnesses and considerable preparation.

Honor for the samurai was dearer than life and in many cases, self destruction was regarded not simply as right, but as the only right course. Disgrace and defeat were atoned by committing hara-kiri or seppuku. Upon the death of a daimyo (lord) loyal followers might show their grief and affection for their master by it. Other reasons a samurai committed seppuku were: to show contempt for an enemy; to protest against injustice, as a means to get their lord to reconsider an unwise or unworthy action and as a means to save others.

The ritual for disenbowlment was to be performed calmly and without flinching. If condemned to death, it was held to be a privilege to execute the sentence on one's own body rather than to be a disgrace and die at the hands of the public headsman.

All the matters relating to the act was carefully prescribed and carried out in the most meticulous manner. The most conspicuous participant, other than the victim, was the kaishaku (kie-shah-kuu), or assistant, who was responsible for cutting off the victim's head after he had sliced his abdomen open. The was generally a close friend or associate of the condemned.

Although suicide is deplored in Japan today, it does not have the sinful overtones that are common in the west. People still kill themselves for failed businesses, involvement in love triangles, or even failing school examinations, death is still consider by many as better than dishonor.
This week I learned to be the secondary man. My sensei taught me what to do and we practice a few times then he acted out the role of the condemed samurai and I went through the motions of finishing the job. It was all very frank and surgical if you will, I am still unsettled though when I think about it. So if any of you need a hand with such things, you know someone who is licensed for just that instance.

A week earlier I ran the Wakayama Marathon with Jazz.

They should call it the Wakayama Marathon with a band since only at the very beginning and end can you really enjoy the music..but it was cool enough. I ran 10km which for those of you not into metric is just over 6 miles. My time was 55 minutes 33 seconds. 33 seconds slower than my goal time of 55 flat. I was tickled though. After the race there were booths giving out mandarin oranges and umeboshi (pickled plums) and I had never tasted sweetier flesh than that. wow.

Finally, I was privilage to seeing a matsuri in Shingu in the middle of October and I took a few pictures of that as follows:

Thanks for tuning in, I have to go study Japanese now like a madman...

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 Anonymous said...

RHETT'S HOTT !!!  

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