HAPPY THANKSGIVING-Smiling faces after our delicious buffet dinner!

There will be a follow-up online registration workshop at 2.00 pm on Tuesday for any students who experienced difficulties and needs further assistance with their registration for next semester.

The last East Asian Studies course will take place this Wednesday at 10.30 am with a presentation about ‘Kaiseki’, a traditional Japanese meal analogous to Western haute cuisine, by local kaiseki chef Joseph Justice. Using only fresh seasonal ingredients, present day kaiseki is a type of art form that balances the taste, texture, appearance, and colors of food. Following the class all the students will head out to sample the wares at one of Kyoto’s famous kaiseki restaurants built around a traditional garden.

The YWCA’s Xmas Sale will be taking place on Saturday, Dec.8th from 10am. See the Calendar for further details and a map.

Last weekend’s field trip to Minga Village organic farm on the shores of Lake Biwa was a great success and a welcome break from the rigors of academic study. Blessed by beautiful autumn weather and  sublime light, we spent much of the first day forming human ‘log chains’ beside the lake, helping to load wood the family uses to heat their water. The rewards of our efforts were enjoyed that evening by some of the students in their big three people bath! On Sunday, our hosts first drove us to their fields and gave us a vegetable tour; introducing some of the 15-20 varieties they are growing and supplying to customers throughout Kansai through their veggie box delivery service. We then wound our way up to a mountain village where Shoei and Kino, the founders of Minga Village, also own a traditional thatched house which they are fixing up for their shared vision of bringing physically and mentally challenged people and others together to work and play in natural surroundings. Our work there was to cut tall fronds of pampas grass in a field left uncultivated for this purpose, and tie them up into bundles. These are then used by the community to stack around their houses to absorb dampness from melting snow and thus keep their houses dry and free from mold. Truly invigorating and fun traditional work!

Monday afternoon’s East Asian Studies class on Shiatsu, from shi, meaning finger, and atsu, meaning pressure- a traditional hands-on therapy originating in Japan, will provide students with the basics of a technique that is guaranteed to diminish some of the stiffness and aches they may be experiencing from lengthy periods of studying for the Japanese final on Wednesday. Please see the Calendar for location details.

Do remember that Wednesday will be the last chance to visit the nearby monthly Kitano Tenmangu Shrine market which offers both a great photo opportunity as well as wide and unique assortment of Japanese goods perfect for taking back as souvenirs and gifts. Don’t forget to bargain!

Friday’s  East Asian Studies class will address what is probably Japan’s most unique national sport, Sumo, in which two 300 pound wrestlers crash into each other trying to force their opponent out of a small circular ring know as the ‘dohyo.’ Sumo tournaments (basho) are held six times a year in various parts of Japan and continue for two weeks. Each day of the tournament begins with the low ranking wrestlers fighting at 9 a.m. in the morning and proceeds until the top-ranking ‘ozeki’ and ‘yokuzuna’ meet in the final hour climax, finishing at 6 p.m. The 2009 November Grand Sumo Tournament began in Kyushu this week and our lecturer, a long-term sumo aficionado, will share his knowledge of this complex and often misunderstood sport while showing televised highlights of some of the most recent fights.

Last Thursday’s presentation by Aileen Smith of another kind of power - the Japanese nuclear industry -  also touched on the controversial question that is receiving a lot of government and media attention worldwide about whether the further development of nuclear power is a solution to global warming. More about her response to this question can be gleaned from the Power Point presentation she gave to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.

On Saturday, November 21st, Global College’s very own Dr. Preston Houser will be performing at a shakuhachi recital to be held at Muju-an from 12.00-3.00pm. This will be a great opportunity to hear shakuhachi performers from around the world as well as koto and shamisen players. Please refer to the Calendar for further details.

On Sunday evening, as part of their East Asian Studies course, students will have the choice of attending a ‘wadaiko’ (Japanese drum) performance by the Kyoto-based taiko group ‘Shien’ or an event about Ainu (Japan’s indigenous people) culture and Rights. Please refer to the Calendar for further details.

Thursday’s re-scheduled East Asian Studies class at 10.00 am will address Nuclear Power in Japan and other related environmental issues. Aileen Smith, the founder of Green Action Network, has been investigating this complex issue and sharing her findings with governments and the public for nearly two decades. The issue is particularly relevant in a country which possesses around 55 of the world’s 436  nuclear reactors presently in operation and at this time when many countries are proposing the further development of new nuclear power stations as a clean energy source that will not further exacerbate climate change. For more information about nuclear power in Japan, please refer to the Japan’s Nuclear Program website and to the Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center, an anti-nuclear public interest organization dedicated to securing a safe, nuclear-free world. The Center was formed to provide reliable information and public education on all aspects of nuclear power to ultimately realize this goal.

On Saturday, November 14th, there will be an overnight field-trip to ‘Minga Village’, an  organic farm near Lake Biwa, that was started by a Japanese couple to bring together physically and mentally challenged people with those who do not face such difficulties in a rural setting to enjoy working and playing together. Please meet Chris at the Kinkakuji bus stop at 8.30 am and make sure you bring along warm working clothes and bed sheets, a pillow case and a bath towel. Further details can be found on the Calendar.

On Tuesday afternoon, students will have the opportunity to experience the food, dance, drumming and traditional performances of Kyoto’s Korean-Japanese population  at the Kujo Madang (Festival). This festival is held annually in the grounds of the Catholic-run South Korean High School (one of only two such schools in Japan), amongst the predominantly Korean neighborhood of Higashi-kujo in southern Kyoto and is organized by members of an undercaste community made up of Koreans permanently residing in Kyoto together with Japanese citizens from a stigmatized neighborhood called “buraku.”

To finish up the week, and following on the success of last week’s classroom discussion meetings with Chris’ ‘American Culture’ course students, there will be a party with the members of Ristumeikan University’s ‘English Speaking Society’ on Friday, November 6th.

Please refer to the Calendar for further details of all these events.

There will be a Scholarship Workshop on Wednesday afternoon at 2.00 pm. This workshop is an opportunity for students to learn the basics in the scholarship application process and how to connect what they are studying to their academic career and scholarship requirements. Specific scholarships students might be eligible for will be highlighted and students will also receive guidance on compiling a working outline for a scholarship essay.

Next Friday’s East Asian Studies will address Nuclear Power in Japan and other related environmental issues. Aileen Smith, the founder of Green Action Network, has been investigating this complex issue and sharing her findings with governments and the public for nearly two decades. The issue is particularly relevant in a country which possesses around 55 of the world’s 436  nuclear reactors presently in operation and at this time when many countries are proposing the further development of new nuclear power stations as a clean energy source that will not further exacerbate climate change. For more information about nuclear power in Japan, please refer to the Japan’s Nuclear Program website and to the Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center, an anti-nuclear public interest organization dedicated to securing a safe, nuclear-free world. The Center was formed to provide reliable information and public education on all aspects of nuclear power to ultimately realize this goal.

On Saturday, as part of the ‘Behind the Screen’ Junior Seminar, students will visit the National Museum of Ethnology, (Minpaku) situated in Expo Park, Osaka. The Museum hall is divided into 9 spaces representing the 9 regions of the world including Oceania, the Americas and Europe, where exhibitions are arranged to enable visitors to make an around-the-world trip by understanding the interrelationships between their own cultures and other cultures of various regions in the world. The exhibitions focus on household goods including food, clothing and residence to enable visitors to understand lifestyles in various regions of the world. For more information about the museum please visit: http://www.minpaku.ac.jp/english/

Dr. Houser will provide further details about the logistics of the field trip in class on Friday.

Thursday’s East Asian Studies Class will introduce you to the art of Shodo (Japanese Calligraphy). Historically, one’s competency in the art of Shodo was considered a reflection of one’s character as well as intellectual and spiritual potential. Shodo literally means ‘the way of writing’ and the ‘do’ which signifies a path that is being followed, can be found in the words for Japanese martial arts such as judo, kendo and aikido. What calligraphy has in common with these mentally and physically rigorous martial arts is the discipline that is required for continued practice and thus Shodo has been central to the training of statesmen, scholars, Zen monks and samurai since its introduction from China in the seventh century. Please note that due to space restrictions, two separate classes will be held with the second class being offered on Thursday, October 15th. This week’s group will be: Jeannette, Marte, Adam, Miaja and Kyla.

On Saturday there will be a Harvest Moon Viewing Festival at Hirano Shrine just south of the Coop on Nishioji and on Sunday the annual Vegetarian Festival (www.vegetarianfestival.jp) will be held in Okazaki Park in front of Heian Shrine. Please check the Calendar for further details.

The resident monk of Rinsen-ji, a Rinzai temple in Arashiyama, will introduce you to the background of his sect as well as to the practice of zazen meditation. Zen, one of the six main branches of Buddhism in Japan, has three main sects, Rinzai, Soto and Obaku.  Rinzai is itself divided into several subschools based on temple affiliation, including Myoshin-ji, Nanzen-ji, Tenryū-ji, Daitoku-ji, and Tofuku-ji, all of which are temples based here in Kyoto. Zen is referred to in Chinese as Chán. Chán is itself derived from the Sanskrit Dhyāna, which means “meditation” and it is the practice of zazen, sitting meditation that lies at the core of Zen practice.

(Left) The ensō, a symbol of Japanese Zen Buddhism.

(Right) A scroll painting of Bodhidharma, the 5th century Indian prince turned monk attributed with bringing the basic teachings of what became Chan Buddhism to China.

Thursday’s East Asian Studies will be taught by Michael Hofmann, a local but well known sumie (charcoal ink painting) artist who will teach you to paint in the style of this traditional art. This class is for the eight students who are not studying sumie with Michael for their Independent Studies.  Due to space constrictions, half of the students will attend the morning session beginning at 10.00 am (Alex, Marte, Adam and Miaja) and the other half will join the afternoon session beginning at 1.00pm (Phoebe, Aly, Rebecca and Michelle).

Please be sure to read the introductory handouts you received before each class as they will help to put what you hear and practice into their historical and cultural context.

Finally, please note that there will be a Community Meeting at 12.30 on Tuesday 9/29.

This week’s East Asian Studies class visit to the Kyoto Peace Museum provided students with many insights into the daily lives of Japanese people during the war as well as connecting the horrific events that occurred with those that continue around the world today. The question that we were asked to consider near the end of the tour was ‘Is a World without War at Peace’?

Next week we will have East Asian Studies classes with two guests speaking to us about two very different aspects of Japanese aesthetics.

The first, on Monday afternoon, is entitled ‘Traditional Japanese Aesthetics’? shaped around Tanizaki Junichiro’s essay ‘In Praise of Shadows,’  and will be facilitated by Professor Charles Fox of Ritsumeikan University. Junichiro Tanizaki, considered one of the most eloquent modern Japanese novelists, is best known for his novels The Makioka Sisters (1943-48), Some Prefer Nettles (1928) and The Key (1956). In Praise of Shadows (1933), written at a time when traditional materials and appliances were being replaced by glittering Western inventions, wanders from topics concerning architecture to toilets to jade to women and to food and has been described by critics as an ‘eloquent and sometimes perverse essay on the Japanese sense of beauty’. It is required for all students to come to this meeting having read and reflected on the entire essay as your ‘take’ on the opinions stated by the author about the similarities and differences between Japanese and western aesthetics will form the basis of discussion.

On Wednesday, the class will focus on Manga (Japanese comics) and consider how their language, style and topics reflect various aspects, both real and imaginary, of Japanese society. The conductor of the workshop is the author of an article titled  ‘Manga and the Matrix: Japan’s cultural and linguistic influences on the Matrix series’ and is presently working toward his PhD. in Japanese Translation Studies. In preparation for this class, it is required that you select a page or two from a Japanese manga you like or find interesting to discuss in class along with a sample of an American comic book, if possible, for the sake of comparison.

The first ‘Japanese Culture and Cuisine’ Independent Studies class will take place this Thursday from 2.00-5.00 pm. Please check the calendar for further details.