Wilma Mankiller, great leader, passes

Cherokee Nation

[ChanMi's star news] Choi Jin-young's funeral brings much mourning

Interruption in the Japan posts for this:

I am really concerned about living in a society that glamorizes suicide. This actor's sister committed suicide not even two years ago and now he commits suicide, leaving his mother alone to raise grandchildren. The lack of sufficient support and care for depression here, as well, is shameful. This is just ridiculous, and not sure I can be confident about raising my kids in a society that continues to glorify the act of ending one's life and not looking at causes or adequate treatments for depression. Many people here worship celebrities (especially young people) and I worry about the impact these frequent celebrity suicides will have on children if their parents are stupid enough to let them watch the news.

[ChanMi's star news] Choi Jin-young's funeral brings much mourning

Kamakura: Out-takes

Here are some shots that got cut out of the other Kamakura shots, for some reason. Above is a shot of me drinking tea and of the Buddha from the 'Divorce Temple.' Below, is a shot of the green tea we drank at Engakuji temple.

Japan! pt. 2: Kamakura

Kamakura is a city that is located about 50 km SW of Tokyo. Kamakura is famous for its historic buildings, Zen temples, and Shinto shrines. Most of the original structures were destroyed in the Kanto 1923 earthquake, so many of these buildings are replicas.
We took the train from Tokyo to Kamakura. Glad to be in Kamakura after the 1 hour train ride, Professor Yi Ji-Young and Professor Jeong Dae Seok pose in front of the station sign.
Our first stop in Kamakura was Engakuji Zen Buddhist temple.

Engakuji is one of the leading Zen temples of eastern Japan and the number two of Kamakura's five great Zen temples. It was originally built in 1282 in the slopes of Kita-Kamakura's forested hills. I am standing in front of the sanmon, the main gate which was built in 1783.

A better shot of the main gate, starring Professor Jeong Dae Seok.

Our site-seeing companions were a fellow professor from SNU who was in Tokyo for a German musicological conference, a famous German musicologist, his wife, and his student-now-professor at the University of Tokyo. I took the shot above and include it because it's just too darn good to exclude. I mean, just look at that perspective! The shot below was taken by our guide for the day, a retired professor of Tokyo University who calls Kamakura home.

Below is the Butsuden, a hall displaying a wooden statue of the Shaka Buddha.

The weather that day was so beautiful. I was delighted to see the cherry blossoms beginning to bloom. I learned that the Japanese plant a red cherry blossom and white cherry blossom together because the colors red and white bring good luck.

The statue, above, looks like it's barely got a hold on the money. People put money on most of the statues as they prayed for various reasons.

The gardens were beautiful. I liked seeing the koi and the turtles.The sariden is a shrine holding the tooth of Buddha. It has been designated as a national treasure but can only be seen from a distance most of the year.We weren't allowed to take pictures at this shrine, so I took a photo of the incense burning. We were given incense to burn upon entereing this area. In order to enter, you had to buy tea. Once done paying our respects, we set down for a great cup of green tea and some dove-shaped cookies. The dove, I learned, is the symbol of Kamakura, so dove-shaped cookies in all sizes are very popular. The tea is powdered--seems to be the popular way to serve tea in Japan. In Korea, tea leaves are prefered so it was quite different from drinking Korean green tea.

After leaving the temple, we were on the hunt for lunch. All of the ramen houses were full, so we decided on this Kamakura country fare. I thought it was super salty and so not my favorite, but I learned that it's a pretty famous dining spot. We did some eye-shopping after lunch, but very few of us actually bought something. A bit overpriced and shi-shi poo-poo. I guess they can do that since Kamakura is a tourist spot and relatively isolated.

The next stop was Tokeiji, a small branch temple of the Enakuji school of Zen Buddhism. It is also a former nunnery, and its head temple is the temple we visited above, the Engakuji Temple. Tokeiji was founded in 1285 by Hojo Tokimune after her husband's death. She had become a nun after his death because it was customary to do so. She dedicated the temple to his memory. She also made it a refuge for battered wives. Until the end of the Edo period, it served as a shelter for women who suffered abuse from their husbands and sought a divorce. Once they made it to the temple and stayed their for three years, their divorce was granted. It is for this reason that the temple is sometimes referred to as the "Divorce Temple."

After visiting the "Divorce Temple" we stopped for some snacks and ice ream--love the ice ream vending machines!

Then our gracious guide for the day invited us to his home for some tea and coffee. We were too full to eat the dove-shaped cookies they offered us (gotta love that Kamakura pride), but since the cookies were all individually wrapped, both Yi Ji-Young and I packed a few away in our bags for our kids. The professor and his really sweet wife lived in a beautiful little home with this very cool driveway--stairs in the middle so that you could easily climb, but a drive on either side of the stairs so that a car could climb easily as well.After the lovely visit, during which we looked at paintings the professor's wife had done (quite the artist!) and photos of their daughter, we headed back to the train station and back to the noise of Tokyo. I really, really liked Kamakura. The mild weather reminded me a lot of Oakland--the blossoms even made the air smell like perfume, so I got a bit homesick. Kamakura is a lovely little town. Next time I go to Japan, I will definitely book a bed and breakfast there. Worth more than just a day trip.

Scared Straight: Akita extra

These lovely demons scare kids straight during New Year celebrations. I'm all for that! These are Japanese goblins--blue is female and red is male. During New Year's celebrations, these 'demons' go from home to home, stomping their feet and waving cutlery and screaming "Where are those darn kids!" (or something like that). People in the homes give them drink and food and the goblins remind the kids to be good or else they'll be dragged away to hell. Yes! something more potent than 'Santa won't bring you presents.' The Chair of my dept bought a goblin keychain and gave it to me to give to Dahin. The story freaked her out, but she attached the goblin to her pencil case since I told her, "They'll know if you throw it away.' he, he, he....