Robots

It's been a while since I posted here, sorry I've been busy writing two essays. One on whether or not you can learn Japanese from Manga and Anime and the other on Japanese Robots and Aged Care. The later is really interesting as Japan doesn't want to have mass immigration in it's country (to be honest I don't blame them ,I have yet to see it work) it is developing robots to look after it's aging population. One of these robots may be Asimo. This robot can not only walk on two feet but run and have both feet of the ground at the same time. It can remember peoples faces and greet them by name, mimic actions, such as waving to people if someone waves at it and be led around by hand, it will follow you by sensing your hands pressure. Asimo's applications in the future can range from interpreting, helping sight impaired people by being a guide that can talk to you, do menial hospital tasks such as take vitals or monitor patients, help lift heavy people saving nurses backs, go into dangerous environments to rescue people, the list is endless.

Look at Asimo in action.





Isn't Asimo cute?

Nova don't believe everything you hear.

A lot has been said about Nova the past few weeks, the English school has been in trouble for various business practices, but find me a major company that hasn't been under fire. It happens. Anywya I'm not here to discuss Nova's business practices but more about teachers that complain about working there.

Firstly I should tell you I worked for Nova for 18 months. The worst thing about working for Nova was one random idiot staff member that ended up joining our school from Australia, England or India depending on who was winning the cricket at the time. This is not Nova's fault though, there is one jerk in every work place no matter which country you are in. The best thing was I was able to turn a simple holiday in Japan into a extended working holiday where I saw most of Japan in 18 months, found my future wife, made some great life long friends and a new place to call home.

But there are those whose experiences aren't so great and are very bitter about their experiences due to various reasons. I would suggest dismissing complaints from the following kinds of people.

- Those that signed the contract and broke the rules and got fired or disciplined. If you don't like what is stipulated in the contract, don't sign it. If you decide to break the rules and get caught, don't whine like a baby, suck it up, you got caught!

- Those that don't like teaching. It's ok to not like teaching, not everyone makes a good teacher or enjoys it. Some people have referred to teaching at Nova like working in a processing plant. Really? Thats teaching, do you think there have been any major developments in maths over the last few years? No? Maths teachers teach the same thing week in and week out, thats teaching, sorry! If you don't like it, don't rip into the school, just accept that this job is not for you, you've learned something about yourself and move on. For some, like myself the enjoyment came out of watching people grow and helping people. You get out what you put in.

- Those that complain about Japanese culture. Again as above, not all cultures will suit you, this has nothing to do with the school. As one person pointed out on their email, if in your home country you live in the country and have never lived in a city before, don't go and choose Tokyo to live in. Perhaps visit a city in your own country first. Vice versa for those that live in cities. I know sometimes you don't have a choice but again don't confuse your personality traits with what happens at the school. Most Japanese companies send people where the needs of the company need them, this is Japanese culture. If you are the kind of person who does not adapt easily then don't go. This is a cultural and personality issue, it has nothing to do with the school.

- Those that say you can't live of the salary. I lived quite comfortably on the salary Nova gave me and I was only working 20 hours a week part time. Sure you can't party out every night but do you do that at home? Japan is quite a cheap country to buy food and drink in, well at least to Australia it is. The truth is that I got to travel all over Japan on my wage, I visited everything I wanted to see plus more.

So why am I sticking up for Nova? I'm not really, but if people are going to complain they should make sure they aren't the source of most of their problems. Read between the lines a little, perhaps write back to people and find out more about their situation. Most of the complaints come down to their personality in the end. Hopefully this will help you sort out the winging from the real complaints.

Sasuke

Exxxaaaaaaaamsssss! Now thats overs lets have some fun! Sorry there hasn't been a post for a while. Here is a show I loved watching in Japan called Sasuke and someone has been kind enough to youtube it for us. This show is simply amazing, the feats of strength these guys perform is mind blowing. The show is based around contestants going through an obstacle course as fast as they can so they can beat a timer. Enough said, you have to watch it, it's nail bitting stuff! One thing I love about this show is that all of the competitors get behind each other and feel each others pain if they don't succeed. It's truly amazing to watch and refreshing from the backstabing and ploting we are used to on western TV. Here are 3 vidoes featuring round 1. If you would like to see some more just leave a request in the comments section and I'll post round 2. Enjoy!

Japanese Art - Kenji Yanobe

In February 2002 I had the pleasure of seeing the Neo-Tokyo exibition at the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art. One of the small instillations featured artist Kenji Yanobe and I fell in love with his work.
Fast forward to August 2003, I spent a sleepless night in a hallway at the Toji-an Guest House. My room was booked out to somebody else during the Daimonji festival. I left in a huff demanding a refund and headed of to Osaka after falling through the bathroom floor. While waiting for the train to come I read a copy of the Japan Times and I stumble across Kenji Yanobes exhibition at the old expo centre in Osaka. If it were not for the above sequence of events I would have never known about it, so I guess I should forgive the Toji-an guest house for their error.
So I headed of to the exhibition centre after leaving my luggage at a new, clean hotel. I had no sleep but it didn't stop me. This time I got to see his complete works with the added bonus of me being the only person there. To this day it is one of my greatest memories of Japan.
You can view some of Kenji Yanobe's work at this web site Yanobe Kenji Art Works . His work is a comment on the affects of the post oppocalyptic nuclear world. Although the subject matter is quite heavy the art work also reflects Japanese cute culture and manga based on the works of Osamu Tezuka. His Atom Suit project being a direct link to Tezuka's influence. His style is most definately unique and walking around his exhibition I felt like he had transormed me to another world. I rounded the day off buying some posters of his works and a model of his Atom car.

Laughing at themselves

Check this out, it's pretty funny.



Those of you reading this on facebook can find the original post at www.j-culture.blogspot.com

Hiroshima, Fukuoka, J-POP

Hi everyone,

I've added a few more links today. I have two websites Get Hiroshima and Fukuoka Now added to the travel links. These two web sites are chock full of information about Hiroshima and Fukuoka naturally. Here you can find information about bars, attractions, restaurants etc. If you planning a vist to Hiroshima or Fukuoka I would have a little peek here first to get some inside info. Both sites are continually updated so you know the information your getting is current and accurate.

Lastly I've added for the J-POP fans, (are there any out there?) a site called Video Uncovered. This site has all the latest J-POP charts and videos so you can keep up to date with all the latest releases. Yes there is more to J-POP than dodgy anime themes! After going through the charts you'll soon discover that Japanese music is just as diverse as any other country.

As usuall all links have been added to the right for your convenience.

All people reading this on Facebook please visit www.j-culture.blogspot.com the orginal source of this post.

Japanorama

Hmmmm....... here are a few postings of the show Japanorama from youtube. The show originaly aired on BBC Choice in England in 2002 and tries to cover various aspects of Japanese culture from science fiction, sex, crime, otaku, gaijin and much more. I would say watch this show but take it with a very large grain of salt. The host Jonathan Ross delivers a very watered down, misinformed poorly research and mispronounced view of Japanese culture. It's almost as if he is presenting what people expect to see about Japan. It's a tired old worn out path to pick only the bizare aspects of Japanese culture and poke fun at them. Still in saying that, the interviews with the Japanese people are informative and should be paid attention to. One positive aspect of the show is that it introduces you visually to Japan, you get to walk the streets, see the art, architecture, food etc of Japan. Those that are interested in Japan should use this show only as a stepping stone into Japanese culture and under no circumstances should you repeat Ross' mangled Japanese, you won't be understood. Those that have lived in Japan will know what I'm on about. Two new seasons have been created in 2006 and this year (2007 in case you weren't sure when I wrote this). Any way episode 1 is below, it's in 3 parts.

Tokyo VR Project

Here's an interesting site I've come across, it's a virtual tour of some parts of Tokyo. If you haven't been to Tokyo and want to see what all the hype is about, miss Tokyo or want to show someone around then this site is the perfect place to while away a few hours and wander around from the comfort of your PC.

The site uses Quicktime VR and gives you a 360 degree panoramic view of the area you wish to visit. I had a wander around Asakusa shrine and showed my girlfiend what I did there when I was in Japan last February. As you look around the panoramic image at certain places on the screen the cursor changes and you can click to move further into that area. A map at the bottom gives you a birds eye view of where you are.

You can check out Virtual Tokyo at http://tokyo-vr.com/ , I'll also post this on my links bar on the right.

Penguins, TRain Passes, Ayumi Hamasaki all in a Great Japanese Adventure

Hey, I'm back again with a few more links added to the site to the right. First of is the very useful JR pass site. I've used this pass twice since I've been back in Japan. If you are going to travel long distances in Japan then this is the pass for you. Check with the Hyperdia link to see how much you can save with this pass. I usually save around $300 - $400 AUD each time I'm in Japan.

Are you studying Japanese? Well if your at an intermediate level or need some help with some of the more bizarre or confusing aspects of the Japanese language then Pera Pera Penguin might help. At the most recent count there are 76 lessons to help to turn you into a Japanese language master.

J-POP fans, are there any out there? Well here is one of the best fan sites I've ever seen. Divine Ayu has been running for a few years now and it just can't be beaten in terms of news, lyrics, photo's and other info about Ayumi Hamasaki. Ayumi Hamasaki can be considered the Maddona of Japan, though some have compared her to Britany Spears, I'm yet to see her shave her head and loose the plot completely. Here music style is quite diverse going from ballads, pop, hard rock, trance, eurobeat and house. This is where I go to see when something new is coming out.

Saving the best for last is my mate Justin's blog The Great Japanese Adventure. This was linked on my old site but it's worth a plug again as it's a damn good read. I've had the pleasure of being part of his great adventure a couple of times in my return visits to Japan. Those of you wanting to teach English in Japan will find a brutally honest account of life abroad in Japan as a language exchange teacher which will give you a great insight into what to expect for life in Japan.

Enjoy!

Nipponster

Just added the Nipponster - Japan enthusiasts search engine search box to the site. It's basically google for Japanese web sites. Under the search box is a recent searches cloud for something random if your bored. They have a blog which has loads of interesting info about their site, links, searches ect. Also worth a donwload is their own tool bar, which has loads of cool links pre-installed such as live streaming tv and radio, blogs, lessons an loads of other Japanese related stuff. So check out Nipponster it's perfect for Japanese freaks and geeks!

Japanhotel.net

Ok I've added a great link to the Useful Travel Links menu on the side it's for japanhotel.net. This is one of the best hotel booking sites for Japan. It's run just for Japanese hotels only. They have a great range of hotels to suit any budget, especially for those on a tight budget or would rather spend money on other things like travelling and eating/drinking. I've used them 3 times now in my travels around Japan and found them very reliable. The information about the hotels is concise and very easy to follow with loads of pics so you know what you are paying for. Best of all there are maps you can print out that show you how to get to each hotel. Seriously give them a try.

New Beginings

Ok....... my original idea for this site did not work out as planned. Blogger still has some limitations and I had some big expectations. So for now I'll post various interesting things I find about the net (about Japan) and post them on this blog. I plan to add some new links every week so keep coming back as there will be something new to ckeck out each time.

Here is something that has been cracking me up a bit lately, Hard Gay (check out videos below). I guess he is in Japan like what Sacha Baron Cohen who plays Borat is to the west. He's not really gay but just likes getting people out of their comfort zones. You'll either love it or hate it, the follwing clips have subtitles.