大南瓜冒険
Stormy Sunset, originally uploaded by jasohill.
It’s always nice to know I have a three megapixel camera on my phone if I should need one. I caught this amazing sunset the other night while I walking to the train station. The sun was going down down behind rain clouds and a mountain. I was really lucky to get this one. You can see the rice fields in the foreground.
Spring Textures, originally uploaded by jasohill.
It has been a few weeks since I posted something in the photo department. This week’s photo is a tribute to spring. It’s also a tribute to what you might find when you walk around in small town Japan. The colors are finally coming back.
As you look at the title of this blog entry, I bet you are wondering if your encoding is setup correct. Don’t worry, it’s not you. This is the title of the event I signed up for today. It’s a 5km race in the town I work in. What makes this title truly awesome is its length. This can be intimidating to people who can’t read Japanese. Let me break it down for you. Most Japanese titles are made up of words that are smashed together into one large “super word.”
第３７回 －37th Annual
八幡平市 － Hachimantai City
安代地区 － Ashiro Area.
健康 － Health
マラソン － Marathon
大会 － Meet
So if I were to attempt translating this into English, I would attempt saying:
“The 37th Annual Ashiro Good Health Marathon”, or something along those lines. I have less than a month to train for this puppy. I’m boned.
The new year is in full swing and I have been quite busy. The craziest day so far was Monday, where I started at a new Junior High School and had a welcome part for some new teachers. Both events took places in different areas of my town. Yes, you may be wondering why there was a welcome party(involving heavy drinking) on a Monday night. Your guess would be as good as mine.
The highlight of the night was after the main meal. We were all quite drunk at that point and I heard someone yell “Tuna’s here!” Then, I looked over and noticed two large platters carrying some massive overcooked tuna heads. The head of the school was sitting across from me and urged me to head on over and crack one open, so that I might feast on the tasty meat inside. I complied, however, I had this uneasy feeling as I was scooping meat out the side of the fish. It just stayed there, looking at me disapprovingly. I will always remember the night I went out on a Monday for heavy drinking and Tuna head consumption.
Long March Icicles?, originally uploaded by jasohill.
We’ve had some strange March weather here in Hachimantai City. It’s the middle of the month already, but the snow just won’t stop falling. Apparently that isn’t normal weather for this area In March.
To give you a perspective, I took a picture of this icicle farm growing behind a building. The constant melting and freezing is keeping people scrambling around on the icy streets. It should be all over soon, I hope.
[This picture comes to you courtesy of my camera phone. The Sharp SH902is]
Iwate Mountain, originally uploaded by jasohill.
I took this photo on a Saturday afternoon. What I really enjoyed about this scene was the way the clouds just seem to be hanging around near the top of the mountain. You can really tell how Iwate Mountain dominate s the sky around my house.
Sadly, because Japan is such a humid country, scenes like this are rare, and the mountain is usually masked in cloud. It was a real blessing to capture the mountain in this light.
On his way, originally uploaded by jasohill.
As a way of promoting Hachimantai city , I have decided to post a picture from the city on my blog every week. This week’s picture comes from the 16th annual Eastern Japan Biathlon, which was held in Tamaya.
There was a gerneral competition and a competition set aside for pro competitors. You really have to attend a live biathlon to understand all the work that goes into competing in this grueling sport.Not only are all the athletes expert marksmen, but they are also flawless cross country skiers. Missing just one target will cost you precious time, so they train to hit all five targets every time. My local board of education was responsible for running the event.
New photographs from Hachimantai will be posted every Thursday. All hachimantai photos can be found in my Hachimantai set on flickr.
If you happen to be a fan of the Japanese railways, then you should know about what is coming up on March 18, 2007. This is what they call the ダイヤ改正（daiya kaisei), or “The Annual Schedule Change” as it is known in English. It appears to be the day when JR changes their train schedules. This year, they are also making all of the shinkansen cars non smoking. This is pretty ground breaking for Japan and something I welcome. There is nothing worse than walking through a smokey shinkansen car on the way to your seat. It’s akin to being in a narrow bingo hall.
March 18th also has some local ramifications in my area. My local line, the Hanawa line, is changing the train it uses. Up until the change, I had the luxury of riding on the Kiha 52 and Kiha 58 trains; both of which have their origins in the late 50’s to 60’s. They are big and loud, but when you ride on them, you can feel the history. I’m a little saddened to announce that JR is switching to the Kiha 110. This puke green wonder has it’s origins in the early 90’s and was the train I used to ride when I lived in Senmaya. I’m sure JR has it’s reasons for the change. I can bet those older models are getting really expensive to maintain. Still, I feel privileged to have been able to ride those classic engines.
On a final note, if you are living in Japan, and want to see what March 18th has in store for you, be sure to head to your local train station and ask. They have all the information on the change.
I bet you’re wondering just what I’m going to talk about today. I’m sure the title doesn’t say much about the topic, so I’ll start this by talking to you about the way words are shortened in Japanese.
Many languages do this, so it’s not really a surprise, but you would be surprised by some of the words that come from shortening longer ones. Take for example ファミコン（Famicom.) This word is short for “Family Computer.” Another popular example is the word ポケモン（Pokemon.) You all know this word. Of course it’s short for “Pocket Monster.” If you want to get used to the Japanese language, then you will have to start adjusting to words like these. I warn you know, however, that is take some time. I’m not even there myself.
You see, I teach in an area surrounded by mountains and snow. Along with these amenities come skiing. In my previous town, I had never heard any ski lingo before, but now I’m hearing it everyday, and there is just one word I cannot get out of my head. That is is クロカン（Kurokan.)
This lovely little word originates from the longer word クロスカントリー（Cross Country) and I cannot wrap my brain around it. For some reason I think people are talking about “Croaking.” I’m sure it will fade into my linguist database eventually. It’s just a matter of time. Here is a little quiz for you. Find out what these shortened Japaense words mean.
セクハラ（sekuhara) —-
コンビに（conbini) —–
スーパー（suupaa) —–
オムライス（omuraisu) —–
Bonus: ブリちゃん （bricchan) ——
Good luck!
The Hanawa Line, originally uploaded by jasohill.
—
If any of you ever wondered how I got to work, I now have nice pictorial answer I can give you. You may be familiar with my car, but in order to cut down on gas costs, I started commuting to work by train.
This is no ordinary train, however. It uses an older style diesel engine, and there aren’t that many of them left. The line starts officially at Koma station(although you can catch the train at Morioka Station) and travels all the way up to Odate in Akita Prefecture. It also makes a stop at an Onsen village called “yuuze” and a ski resort called “APPI”. The wonderful thing about this line is that it takes me anywhere I need to go for work. It passes near all of my schools, my home and my branch office.
The one negative aspect of this line is that it only comes a handful of times a day. I suppose it’s not the end of the world, but it makes weekend activities or shopping almost impossible without a car. It also means I have to wait until 5:30pm to get home every day. Still, riding the train to work everyday is pretty awesome.
