Since I last updated my blog, my stay in Japan has hit its two month mark. As a young man with a BA in Psychology I've been watching myself carefully for interesting developments, but thus far I have failed to go raving mad...which I will put down as a promising sign.
Before I continue on to the meat of today's entry, I have an announcement of sorts to make. I'm fond of repetitious crafts and recently set my sights on making 1,000 paper cranes. According to Japanese tradition, a person can fold 1,000 paper cranes in order to wish for something very important. The most famous example is a little girl by the name of Sadako Sasaki who was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 11 after being exposed to the Hiroshima atom bomb radiation at age 2. Sadako had wished to survive her leukemia, and began folding the cranes to make this hope a reality. Unfortunately there was very little paper in the hospital, and Sadako only completed 644 cranes before she succumbed to her illness at the age of 12. Her friends completed her project and buried her with the strings of paper cranes.
Today paper cranes are offered at the memorial of the Hiroshima bombing in memory of the children who died, and also as a hope for world peace. The preexisting traditions of the paper crane also live on, with newly weds and new born babies receiving 1,000 paper cranes to wish them one thousand years of happiness. Mercifully I am not terribly ill, nor am I expecting an impending marriage or pregnancy, but I thought it would be a fun gesture to fold a set of paper cranes and wish for a good year here in Japan. As of a few days ago I hit my 500 crane mark, and thought I would show everyone my progress so far:
(this is what 548 cranes looks like)
(and here's one in my hand for a size comparison)
Presently I'm up to 700 cranes, and still going strong. I'll update you when I start stringing them together!
And now from the sublime to the ridiculous- as promised here's a sampling of the junk mail I've received since I arrived here in Japan.
The 7-11 near my apartment recently had a remodel, so they sent out this ad for their grand reopening. 7-11 is one of the big convenience store chains here in Japan, it's a bit surreal that there's a 7-11 near my home both here in Japan and in Oregon.
I haven't tried reading the Japanese on this pamphlet, but I'm guessing that this fellow is a Japanese politician running for office. The “Kyoto Party” business in the top right corner seems to affirm this, unless it's asking me to go party with this good looking fellow somewhere in Kyoto. He's also got the stock politician photo near the bottom of him raising his hand while undoubtedly explaining something intelligent and reasonable to the cabinet.
(“I motion that we all go out to give speeches on street corners and enrapture middle-aged women by holding their hands.”)
KFC is big in Japan, and they deliver! Alongside the Colonel there is always a logo of a delivery man on a scooter rushing to inflict heart attack on the unsuspecting Japanese public.
By far I get the most Pizza ads in my mailbox. It's like they know I'm young, male, and single. Fortunately for my waistline, pizza here in Japan is really expensive. If you look at the prices you'll notice that a large pizza can go for 3500-3900 yen. That's a $40 pizza. Also, please note the seafood pizza and the “Mayo-Jyaga” pizza.
Apparently you can also get sushi delivered, or at least that's the sense I get from the piles of sushi ads that like to vie with the pizza ads for “most likely to be seen in Andrew's mailbox”. They usually also come with hefty coupons, which is good because even after a 1000 yen discount a party platter of sushi is still around 55 dollars.
Once you've eaten all that KFC, Pizza, and Sushi, you can find yourself inspired by “Brain World News” to improve your stress levels and your waistline. I suspect that this is actually a front for mind-controlling aliens who are using this as a thinly veiled pretext for abducting people and taking them back to this “Brain World” of theirs. Undoubtedly these hapless victims then spend the rest of their lives wearing brightly colored spandex, running through mazes, and posing for exercise ads.
I got this the first week that I was here, and honestly didn't know what to make of it. Christianity isn't very big here in Japan (although there is a Catholic church just down the road), and I have to wonder if this artist's rendition of Jesus will make it appeal...I have a difficult time with the artists who capitalize on Christ's suffering (rather than his dignity) by making him look like a kicked spaniel.
That's all for now! If you'd like to send me paper mail to thin out the junk and bills just contact me by email or facebook, or let my parents know! We'll hook you up with my address.
-Andrew
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