Ame ni mo makezu (雨ニモマケズ) roughly translated as "Be not defeated by the rain" is the most well known poem of Kenji Miyazawa (宮沢 賢治) , a poet and author of children's literature of the early Showa period (1926-1989). Born at a wealthy family, he abandoned the lifestyle of his family when he was exposed to the life difficulties of the impoverished farmers of his area and dedicated his life in helping people in need. He passed away still young, at age 37, on the 21st of September 1933. His life path and beliefs are reflected on his work as it is evident from "Ame ni mo makezu". The poem was found after his death in a small black notebook in one of the poet's trunks. I will leave the poem do the talking. If you want to know more about Kenji Miyazawa please check the following:
ame ni mo makezu
kaze ni mo makezu
yuki ni mo natsu no atsusa ni mo makenu
jōbu na karada wo mochi
yoku wa naku
kesshite ikarazu
itsu mo shizuka ni waratte iru
ichi nichi ni genmai yon gō to
miso to sukoshi no yasai wo tabe
arayuru koto wo
jibun wo kanjō ni irezu ni
yoku mikiki shi wakari
soshite wasurezu
nohara no matsu no hayashi no kage no
chiisa na kayabuki no koya ni ite
higashi ni byōki no kodomo areba
itte kanbyō shite yari
nishi ni tsukareta haha areba
itte sono ine no taba wo oi
minami ni shinisō na hito areba
itte kowagaranakute mo ii to ii
kita ni kenka ya soshō ga areba
tsumaranai kara yamero to ii
hidori no toki wa namida wo nagashi
samusa no natsu wa oro-oro aruki
minna ni deku-no-bō to yobare
homerare mo sezu
ku ni mo sarezu
sō iu mono ni
watashi wa naritai
Be not defeated by the rain, Nor let the wind prove your better.
Succumb not to the snows of winter. Nor be bested by the heat of summer.
Be strong in body. Unfettered by desire. Not enticed to anger. Cultivate a quiet joy.
Count yourself last in everything. Put others before you.
Watch well and listen closely. Hold the learned lessons dear.
A thatch-roof house, in a meadow, nestled in a pine grove's shade.
A handful of rice, some miso, and a few vegetables to suffice for the day.
If, to the East, a child lies sick: Go forth and nurse him to health.
If, to the West, an old lady stands exhausted: Go forth, and relieve her of
burden.
If, to the South, a man lies dying: Go forth with words of courage to dispel his fear.
If, to the North, an argument or fight ensues:
Go forth and beg them stop such a waste of effort and of spirit.
In times of drought, shed tears of sympathy.
In summers cold, walk in concern and empathy.
Stand aloof of the unknowing masses:
Better dismissed as useless than flattered as a "Great Man".
翼をください (tsubasa wo kudasai = please give me wings) is a very melodic song, sung by several singers. I especially like the lyrics of the song. I'm posting two video clips, one with the lyrics subtitled and one showing a recent rendition of the song by Hideaki Tokunaga (徳永英明). Enjoy!
Recently I read a Lifehacker.com post describing how you can trace a Domino's Pizza order on a GNU/Linux using a python script (the post can be found HERE).
Very impressing I might say! That same night I watched an interesting show on TV describing a very radical program currently active in Japan called "The Cow Traceability Program". Tracing a pizza order online sounds cool, but tracing online the origins of the beef you are about to eat is very impressing! You might have read about the quality (and the cost) of prime quality Japanese beef (cf. Kobe Beef). Quoting from Wikipedia:
Kobe beef (神戸ビーフ, Kōbe Bīfu) refers to beef from the black Tajima-ushi breed of Wagyu cattle, raised according to strict tradition in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. These practices may include a diet of saké and beer, and daily massages to relieve muscle stiffness, presumably resulting in tender meat.
So, what is the cow traceability program? Basically, a 10 digit number printed on selected packages of high quality beef (牛の個体識別番号 = Cow's ID number) can be used to view the history of the cow online.
All you have to do is go to https://www.id.nlbc.go.jp/top.html and input the 10 digit Cow ID number and click on the search button (検索). Give it a try using cow ID 1085809113. Below is the output you get (English translation by me):
いのちの名前 (inochi no namae) is a song composed by Joe Hisaishi (久石譲) and sung by Ayaka Hirahara (平原綾香). If you watched "Spirited Away" you will recognize the tune. Here is the clip:
I don't know if this fits in "Unique Japan". Maybe I should create a new category called "Sick Japan"... Here is the story quoted from Japanprobe.com:
"A man has been arrested in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture for assaulting 5 schoolgirls with coffee via drive-by spitting attacks. Here’s a report from Asahi TV:
The spitter, who was nicknamed “Coffee Bukake Man” [コーヒーぶっかけ男] by locals, had carried out 5 attacks since the end of October. All of his victims were junior high school or high school girls wearing their uniforms, and all of the attacks involved spitting coffee onto their faces from his car window. His final attack took place on December 7th, when a 16-year-old schoolgirl he spit on was able to come to her senses quickly enough to spot his license plate number and memorize it. This led to the arrest of 26 year-old Yoshiro Sumiyama, who admitted attacking the girls. Sumiyama told police that he was irritated after having been dumped by a woman and carried out the spitting attacks to relieve some stress."
Sounds yummy? What if I tell you that the main flavoring ingredient is vanillin (vanilla fragrance and flavoring) extracted from cow dung? Sounds like a lot of bullshit? Well, yes, they are the main ingredient! Still yummy?
The ice-cream was created by Toscanini's Ice Cream, considered as "the finest ice cream shop in Cambridge,
Massachusetts", in honor of Mayu Yamamoto a 26 year-old researcher from Japan,
and was introduced at the Ig Nobel 2007 ceremony
Mayu Yamamoto of the International
Medical Center of Japan is the recepient of the 2007 Ig Nobel in Chemistry for her "Novel Production Method for Plant Polyphenol from Livestock
Excrement Using Subcritical Water Reaction". Finally a research uses BS to make something good out of it!
Here is a small clip from Japanese TV about the achievement (in Japanese). Enjoy!
This is based on an article I read recently on the Japan Times website. The article is by Yoko Hani and it is called "Homegrown art ".
Farmers in Inakadate Village in Aomori Prefecture use their rice fields as a huge canvas. The paints are the rice itself and the results are amazing! They achieve their masterpieces by precisely planting four varieties of rice with differently colored leaves. It's seems that this practice is happening every year (have to verify that). This year they have grown reproductions of famous woodblock prints by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). I will leave the photos do the talking! Please enjoy and read the full article for more information. You can also visit Inakadate village's official website for more information (in Japanese).
Click on the thumbnails for the full size picture!
Kazumasa Oda (小田和正) is a very famous Japanese singer/songwriter. He is also one of my favorites. There are several of his songs I like. One of them is "言葉にできない = kotoba ni dekinai" (my rough free translation will be "can't be descrided in words" - correct me if I'm wrong). Last night, while taking a break to browse YouTube , I came across the following clip by a guy from Burbank, CAthat calls himself nbcsaku . From his profile, he is a Japanese major student at UC Berkeley. He will be graduating in May and he will be returning back to
Japan "...to continue with my music career that has been on hold since I
came back to the states to graduate (studied abroad at Keio for a year
and got picked up by a label)" in his own words. I'm posting here his rendition of "言葉にできない" by 小田和正 and hope that you will enjoy it as much as I did. If you can please also listen to the original song (with the lyrics subtitled).
Welcome to the new MinaTSU! If you have comments, suggestions or just want to say hi please drop me a line using the "Contact Us ". You can now leave comments on the posts and register with the site if you want. By registering you will gain access to "Downloads" and other privileges. Please enjoy your stay!
This is based on an article I read recently on the 
Welcome to the new MinaTSU! If you have comments, suggestions or just want to say hi please drop me a line using the "