Category: sad things

Apologies for the lack of updates.

Well, I hated to do this, but I was having a hard time getting out and about for about 2 to 2 1/2 weeks, on the 25th of April I was heading back to my apartment, riding the Metro. I was changing train lines at Nihombashi Station, and the train I was boarding had a fairly large gap between the platform and the side of the train cars, and I found this out the painfully hard way because I fell into it with my right leg, getting it trapped! I was trying to board, but I needed to back out of the train to let someone else maneuver her stroller around, and when I stepped back, there was nothing beneath my right foot! I went down hard, and the only thing stopping me was the fat part of my thigh! For a few seconds I couldn’t get purchase to pull myself out of the gap, and my exertion trying is what really damaged my leg. Needless to say this was frightening, and I definitely panicked, not wanting the train to start moving while my leg was wedged in between! Fortunately all the people on the platform with me helped me, and made sure the train wasn’t going to move before I could get free.

As it is, the muscles on both sides of my thigh were slightly crushed while the train re-balanced itself and I was pulling on my leg, and 3 weeks later I still have a substantial knot on my leg just below the knee, which at the time was painful but I was still able to put weight on it, riding on the Metro back to the station nearest my apartment. I still had to walk about 1/2 mile from the station to my apartment, but I made it after stopping at a conbini along the way for some sandwiches etc. I knew I wasn’t going to be walking around a lot, because of how my leg felt.

I didn’t know how bad it really was until the next day, when the swelling set in and the bruising started. It got really horrible-looking for a while, and the pain was pretty fierce, but I did manage to get some aspirin which helped. I basically stayed off the leg, kept raising it to keep down the swelling, and applying cold packs.

I should have been posting more of the places I had gotten to before getting hurt, since I wasn’t going anywhere, but I really didn’t feel like sitting which aggravated my leg. At any rate, after 2 weeks of not going anywhere, I felt better but not great, and started walking around the block near the apartment, which fortunately had a 7-eleven around the corner to get more things to eat. Over time I started walking further and further, and now (as I’m preparing to leave!) I can make it the usual 4-6 miles per day that I was doing before.

I probably won’t get to see many more things now, and I probably won’t be getting many more posts in before I leave, but I still have lots of things to show from places I did get to. I’m not sure if I will, but I’m thinking I might be able to come back to Japan in a couple of years, if the money is okay and my health remains good. Overall I’m glad I came, but looking back I wish I hadn’t gotten hurt, and been in the mood to do more before then.

All in all, I’m sorry if you’ve been following (or trying to) and you haven’t seen anything new from me for a few weeks, but please check back every so often, I will be posting some more neat things (eventually!) I promise!

(if you don’t want to be grossed out, you can close the page, but if you’re curious, here’s what my leg looked like at its worst.)

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Veteran’s Day 2013

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At the 11th hour, on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the guns of war fell silent for a time. The men and women who fought in that “War to End All Wars” hoped and prayed that no one would ever hear the guns of war again.

Sadly, a new generation was called upon to fight in an even larger war, which changed the face of the world, and ended in the terrible, bright light of nuclear fire. “Surely,” the exhausted warriors then prayed, “Surely we can now lay down arms forever, and live in peace with our families, safe at home.”

And again, and again, and yet again, these prayers were not answered, and new generations of men and women gave up safety and peace, gave their blood and sweat and life and limb, so that we could live our lives safe and at peace.

All those who fought in that terrible first World War have now passed, and we are saying farewell to the men and women of the “Greatest Generation” that followed, far too soon. We have lost so many others to other wars since, but yet there remain those who feel the call to defend and protect what peace we have, who do not feel the sacrifice to be in vain.

To the men and women who yet man the ramparts, who have and continue to sacrifice their own safety and peace for us, for the men and women who every hour of their service risk their lives, to these we say “Thank you” and pray the same prayers of all who have fought, “Surely, surely this time…”

A little enka music

So, the last post I talked about enka music, but didn’t bother to link to any examples. Well, this time I’m going to show you what I mean by “Japanese blues”.

This one is one of my all-time favorites, “Sake yo” by Ikuzo Yoshi. I even learned enough to sing it fairly well, and sang it in one of my Japanese classes. It was easier to learn once I could know that he was singing about the friends he had when he was young, and that are long gone, leaving him with his one friend, sake, and listening to enka.

This one is about a man living far from his home up north, remembering his girl, his father and mother, as the cold wind and snow reminds him of home. He drinks sake to help.

And lest you think that only men drown their sorrows in sake, this lady is singing about “lonely sake” (ひとり酒) in an izakaya bar.

And even not all enka are sad songs, my favorite singer (the one I knew when I went to the enka store the first time), Ishikawa Sayuri is known for singing both sad and upbeat enka songs, as you can hear here:

So, that’s just a tiny tiny sample of what enka is. It’s not to everyone’s taste, and in fact it’s considered “middle-aged peoples’ music” or even “old folks’ music” in Japan. Uh, oh, since I’m middle-aged…

=^o^=

Reaching Autumn: A “Calvin and Hobbes” fan movie…

This is an interesting short (13 minutes) movie, “Reaching Autumn: A Calvin and Hobbes Movie”, featuring live actors portraying the characters “Calvin” and “Susie Derkins” from the comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes” once they’ve grown up and entered society as young adults. Calvin is portrayed as a serious businessman who’s abandoned his imaginary world, while Susie is shown as a bohemian, free-spirited artist. They meet by accident and have lunch together, while comparing notes about their childhood memories and their current lives. It’s a tender movie, with flashbacks and many scenes in the autumn woods. Some of the acting is a bit stiff, the timing is not quite right, but the heart is definitely there, and if you have fond memories of the “Calvin and Hobbes” comic strip, then you won’t be disappointed in this take on it, especially the end.

Enjoy!

“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”

I had heard about this documentary, “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”, filmed about 1 month after the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami of March 2011. I finally got a chance to see it, and it’s both heartbreaking and hopeful, beautifully filmed scenes of people coping with the chaos, death and destruction, with the wistful contrast of the iconic Japanese cherry trees blooming amid the debris. The maker of the film, Lucy Walker, captures the sadness, the hope, and some of the spirit of the Japanese people, in their own words, and in the images of their land.

If you get a chance, the documentary is on HBO now, and may be available other places. The trailer is on YouTube, below.

Matsushima changes – 5 years and 2 years

One thing about being an avid (if not very good! ^_-) photographer of a particular subject, you can find evidence of changes over time.
Continue reading “Matsushima changes – 5 years and 2 years”

Matsushima, two years later (pt. 2)

Another in my comparison between what Matsushima was like when I went there in 2010, before the tsunami, and 2012, when I returned to see how the town was affected.
Continue reading “Matsushima, two years later (pt. 2)”