Update on Japan

As an American that is so in love with Japanese Culture, I know some of the ins and outs that both Japanese and Americans when it comes to experiencing each other culture. Once interesting aspect of this how one expects the other to handle culture shock and become accustomed to their new live conditions/culture. Many times we do not expect a person from the opposite culture to internalize their society beyond what is expected and vice-verse. For example, One common thing to be easily accepted by Japanese when they come to live in America for long terms is to become Christian and sometimes adopt our bad eating habits which usually leads to them gaining weights. These are small things that are not to be usually expected, it seems that Japanese usually never lose their Japanese Character. On the other hand we American seem to blow to scale when we have the tendency to easily adapt the Japanese Character and being many Japanese to shock at our adaptation. We usually internalize it so when that we tend to start bowing while talking on the phone or quoting a kotowaza (Japanese Proverb) to make a point. According to an interesting online poll, some other things gaijin do that surprise Japanese include speaking using dialects like Osaka-ben, singing enka songs at karaoke, giving dates in the Japanese calender system (e.g. Showa 43 instead of 1968), drinking fruit-flavored milk with a hand on one hip after a bath, and sitting seiza, or in proper Japanese kneeling position. Another thing that surprises Japanese people is when foreigners are polite, or then they line up properly in crowds. When Japanese go drinking with a foreigner they always seem to expect them to order a Budweiser, since that's what all foreigners drink, right? But, I personally do not drink but I hear many gaijin tend to order popular Japanese drinks instead like atsukan, Hot Sake. The holy grail of a foreigner living in Japan is when a Japanese person temporarily forgets how to write a difficult kanji -- You know what I mean, we Americans usually call this a Brain Farts -- and you casually jot it down for them. I really wonder if this might happen to me someday.

Japanese Visa

It seems that more changes are coming for foreigners living in Japan, which will be welcomed indeed. Gaijin -- the work literary means "outsiders" -- living in Japan must naturally be registered with the Japanese government, and since 1952 foreigners have been issued an "alien registration card" which records the pertinent information Japanese officials might need access to. Not this card is going away, replaced by a streamlined ID card that embeds various information about cardholder in an IC chip. The new cards go out of their way to abolish the work "alien" (which a lot of people disliked), fingerprint information is also kept out of the registry system entirely (since it made honest foreigners feel like criminals). The new registration system being many improvements, including increasing the length of stay for most types of visa-holders and ending the requirements that zainichi ("residing in Japan") Koreans and Chinese, were born in Japan but maintain Korean and Chinese citizenship for cultural and/or political reasons, carry ID cards at all. Best of all, the "re-entry stamps" most foreign residents had to get before leaving the country (which required a day waiting in line and the local immigration office and cast $60 a year) are eliminated. The goal of the new system is to make gaijin feel more welcome in Japan and hopefully reverse the trend of foreigners leaving, just as the country needs them most. I know I feel a bit more confident that my stay in Japan one day will be much more pleasant because of these changes.

Happy Pre-4th of July

It really can amaze me how no matter that you are doing or what problems you or any is dealing with life goes on. You can not stop it. The great train of life has no emergency break and two stops -- Birth and Death. When I was young I never imagined that my adult life would be like this.

The think that really gets at me is this business that I started back in January. Right now I am on the tipping edge of success or failure. For the last four years or so, I have been giving interesting title to what that year would hold for me -- Even though the actual result would not be what I expected -- and last year I told myself that the year of 2012 would be the year of rewards. Little did I know that I said rewards but I would actually be developing a rewards system for Small Businesses like Dunkin' Donuts. Don't get me wrong it is still a year of rewards but this takes the cake.

Our first official Dunkin' Donuts using my rewards system.

A common theme in many anime titles is a world of separation, where one society is either plotted against another society or the two have nothing to do with each other, let alone they even know about each others existence. The reasons being great differences or understandings. In essence this is what GOD did in the tower of babel when he mixed up their languages so they would forcefully fulfill GODs command to go forth and conquer the earth. GOD know that the day would come, such as a day as now where we can now communicate freely with these people with a click of a button without even knowing their language. But these side by side separated existences still exist and sometimes I feel this way about the Japanese and the English web: both are vibrant, constantly inventing new mini-trends and memes and fads, yet they're largely separated by the Great Wall of Language. Most Japanese people will instinctively click away from an English page they happen to land on, perhaps as a result of being forced to study it for all those years in school; likewise, most native English-speakers I know won't spend a lot of time trawling Japanese-language websites unless they're there for a reason. They come together at certain points, of course -- YouTube is a good example of a bridge that has joined the two halves nicely -- but by and large, English-speaking web surfers will tend to be more familiar with the latest "I Can Haz Cheeseburger" cat jokes while Japanese fans know entirely different memes.

Update 6.15

The blessings of GOD never discontinue to amaze me. For example, My business partner and I were doing some business stuff in the northern area yesterday when I had three awesome blessings. First, We were removing a LCD TV from a Dunkin Donuts, When I noticed a nice AV Receiver on the top shelf in the office that was not being used for anything other then to switch auto inputs between TV and Satellite Radio. Seeing that we were removing the TV they offered for me to take home the AV Receiver. Now the back story to this is that just about two months ago, my Surround Sound AV Receiver in my bedroom started acting up and started sounding just terrible, I told myself that I will just have to deal with it since I'm living on a low income due to my business start up. When I got home, I discovered that this AC Receiver was far better then the one I already owned and was not only surround sound capable but also had HDMI inputs. Now, I had to wonder why on earth did someone use this $300 receiver just to switch audio inputs? Later in the afternoon, we went to "HH Gregg" -- A newer electronic retail store that personally I dislike -- and had a look at their android tablets -- Whole another story that I hope to touch on later -- After some looking we liked Linsay F-10HD Tablet for $199.99. But, I had only budgeted $150 for tablets at most. After my partner got turned down when asking about cheaper pricing and etc. We noticed an open box of that same Tablet in the cage, I had to be the downer -- I know it was wrong of me -- and said there was no way the store would go any lower then the already low $168.88. But, regardless of my opinion he asked and also without hesitation the Department Manager said he would sell it for $148.88. It happened so fast that my mouth dropped to the floor. Then finally after that we got a call from our first Subway location owner. He told us that the Subway Field Inspector came in and saw our Rewards Program. He was so impressed that he wants to pursue getting approval from the Subway Corporation to make our program an Approved Subway Rewards program in Chicago Land. This was one of the first time I've so clearly seen GODs hands directly in contact with my life. I believe it is my dedicated tithing that has really helped.

Everyone is getting an anime mascot these days!

I really like the idea of marketing your business using an anime mascot. I remember when I first started using Chiori-chan as my mascot for Greenetree LLC and getting many mixed responses from people. Ranging from being weirded out to thinking it was an awesome idea. -- Of course the weirded out being quite rare. -- Now this age old Japanese tradition is catching on with many American Companies which includes Microsoft. As much as I dislike Microsoft, I still gave a thumbs up to this one. So, The idea comes from a long time doujin meme called OS-tan in which amateur artists would create cute anime girl avatars of Computer Operating Systems. (Incidentally -tan is the endearing -chan name suffix, but pronounced as if a small child were saying it, making it even cuter) With the release of Windows 7, Microsoft got in the game and commissioned an "offical" OS-tan character called Nanami Madobe (nana = 7, mado = window) to promote its new OS. Microsoft has continued the series with an official Silverlight character as well as Claudia Madobe (Nanami's Cousin), who promotes the company's cloud-based computing services. Now Microsoft is raising the otaku-bar again by bundling a PVC figure of Claudia with purchases of Visual Studio Professional. -- That one would be interesting to see. -- Personally, I've branded my room with the character that is Chiori-chan with my new Wall Scroll and Bed Pillow, Of course all hand made. -- Is it creepy that my family calls Chiori my daughter, yet she is in my bed every night?


Another thing that I have come to find interesting is the fact that you could live within short driving distances of some great attractions but never actually visit. One example would be Jack Stack, An awesome mouth watering barbecue joint in Kansas City, MO but yet very few people I meet in KC have never ever been there. -- I could also include Firehouse Subs in this but one just opened near my house. -- But in return I am guilty of the same crimes because my friends in KC could not believe that I only visit the Beach and Six Flags maybe only once or twice a year. This same goes for the Japanese who think that all Americans know perfect English grammar and the Beatles. Personally, I think the Japanese can become over obsessed about American/Western Culture like tipping exactly 18% -- that includes the pennies -- or actually correcting an Americans English Grammar. I've met many American who get frantic over no tipping in Japan but for some reason when I learned of this, I was like "YAH! No more tip calculations or forced gratuity. I could live there.". I guess the grass is always greener on the other side.

It would be cool to visit the real High School from the anime k-on

Update 5.4

This was the year I finally said "I will start my own business" and the first five months have been extremely bumpy and have given me many head aches. It seems that many things I encounter in this venture require skills and experience I obtained from the last 9 years. -- for example Selling skills from Radioshack and Technical Skills from AT&T -- This is the month of growth that I have been waiting for since January. I have always been a believer in perpetual income and selling a product that someone will only buy once is not perpetual. -- Why do you think anything made in the last 40 years breaks with ease. -- With my experience of dealing with Dunkin Donut owners I finally found my gold mine. In January I decided to start offering Text Marketing, Rewards, Web Filtering and Streaming Television. Yesterday I got my first big customer. I have so much I could say and still more to come but I would like to wait. LOL

Last week I attended Anime Central for the third year in a row and very much enjoyed it. I hand made a Arrietty costume for my little sister, Emily. She came with me on Sunday and we had lots of fun. I personally enjoy and think others love it because the people can come and be their self. I think we live in a world that judges everyone and expects certain people to follow one line and others to follow a different line. But at Anime Conventions there is the one major rule, Judge No One. Not even Startrek conventions give this freedom to people. Last year I once saw a 90 year old lady wearing kitty ear and tons of Anime Product hanging from her walker. Some people tell me they dislike Anime Conventions because of all the weirdos that come around. But take this in consideration, Who do you think those weirdos are??? Your co-worker, neighbor or that guy who rear ended you last week? I think I would prefer to see them coming instead of never knowing. If you think about it, just like Anime Characters have blown up puffy personality that same happens to Anime Convention Attendees.

The Japanese Nuclear Disaster was and still is extremely overrated.

Some time ago, I was listening to WGN when they made a urgent announcement that Radioactive Seaweed was landing on the California shorelines. Hearing this made my extremely disappointed in this countries news system, leaving me asking myself, "Is really what they call news". If you look deeper in the news report you will find that the radio active levels are well below dangerous levels. It has been over a year since the twin disasters and tourism from china has returned to pre tsunami levels but tourism from America is still well under 10%. What is this countries problem. We just seem extremely scared of such silly matters.

Upotte!!, An anime featuring anime girls with personalities like famous rifles. What will Japan come up with next.

Japan has extreme gun control policies allowing nothing more then hunting rifles and handguns to cops. Cops even wear a strip that prevents someone from stealing their gun. Many people credit Japan's third lowest crime rate in the world to the Gun Control. I recently was reading a blog post from Peter -- Owner of J-list -- saying that many Japanese he encounters find it surprising when he telling them he has never owned a gun. Many Japanese students believe that America really is the land of the free, Freedom to own a Gun and freedom from school uniforms. -- Even though I actually kind of like the School Uniforms idea -- Many pro-gun control people here in America try to use Japan as a example to why America should ban all guns. The thing these people need to realize is that the low crime rate can be more credited to the Japanese National Character. Remember the Japanese people come from a past of arrows and melee weapons. Policies that work in Japan will not work the same in America.

Pedo Bear

Japanese Citizenship System

I find the Japanese Citizenship System is interesting.

Many times I get asked by friends and family to explain the Japanese Citizenship System but since I've never experienced it my self, I have trouble getting my facts completely straight. I just saw this post by a guy named Peter who lives in Japan and owns a very successful business. I read his blog quite often for some interesting inside information and So I thought everyone I know should read this post he made, for it explains the system in good detail.


Peter:
Last time I talked about Donald Keene, the Japanese scholar and translator who came to Japan and took Japanese citizenship, and I thought I'd expand on that a bit. It's quite easy for residents of Japan to become naturalized citizens if they desire it, with the basic rules being five years of consecutive residence in Japan, a history of good behavior, and basic Japanese language skills. In the past anyone wanting Japanese citizenship was required to legally take a Japanese name in officially-designated kanji characters.  While I'm all in favor of writing Western names in kanji characters , this requirement led to strained relations with Japan's large Korean minority, who maintained South or North Korean nationality in part because they were insulted by the idea of taking a Japanese name. While most countries including the U.S. have no issue with allowing dual citizenship, Japan officially requires that anyone desiring to be naturalized renounce citizenship in any other country; however this appears to be a classic case of tatemae (a facade, a social rule that's ignored by everyone in practice), and the requirement is not enforced in practice. Incidentally, I live in Japan on a permanent residence visa (eijuken), not bothering to get Japanese citizenship because, as my wife points out, I'm more interesting as an American than a Japanese who's is bad at kanji. (If you have more questions about possibly living in Japan, there's a handbook for that .)

March 11th Anniversary

This Sunday marks the first anniversary of the terrible 9.0 earthquake and tsunamis which caused so much pain and loss of life in the Touhoku region of Japan. The quake was the strongest ever recorded here, moving the country 2.4 meters towards North America and slowing the Earth's rotation slightly. Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world, and if it had only faced the quake, it would have come through with flying colors thanks to its excellent building codes. It was the unprecedented waves that did the real damage, an unstoppable wall of water that reached as high as 40 meters (133 feet) and stretched 10 km inland in places. Now the names of towns like Kuji, Ofunato and Namie live in infamy as regions which were greatly damaged by the disaster -- in the single hardest-hit area, half the town of Minami-sanriku's 18,000 inhabitants wer e carried away by the waters.

While March 11 marked a terrible tragedy, there were bright spots, too. Television images of people calling out for loved ones, fearing the worst yet being reunited with their family members in the end. A baby, found alive and unhurt in the midst of so much destruction. One happy tale was the "Miracle of Kamaishi," a town in windswept Iwate Prefecture that had strictly adhered to a regiment of disaster preparedness drills in its schools when most other towns were lulled into a sense of security by their offshore breakwaters. As a result, 98.8% of the town's 2900 children were able to evacuate safely. The aftermath of the destruction was touching, too, as the entire world moved to help Japan get back on her feet, from the U.S. military's "Operation Tomodachi" relief mission to the huge amount of help from the Red Cross and people like you. The popular Japanese picture sharing site Pixiv  was filled with images  of support by artists from Japan and all around the world. Although the new Japanese tourism slogan of "Japan. Thank you."  is somewhat cryptic and odd-sounding, the country is very thankful for the help she received.

AKB48 are "Gatekeepers" for Suicide Prevention 

One of the many challenges Japan faces in the 21st century is getting a handle on its suicide rate, which has remained steady at about 30,000 per year over the past decade, about the same as in the U.S. despite Japan having less than half the population. Don't worry though, because The Government Has a Plan: it's designated popular singing group AKB48 as the official "Gatekeepers" in a campaign to draw attention to the problem and suggest ways we can all help. While some are critical of the new initiative, dubbed GKB48 (the letters stand for "GateKeeper Basic," though they remind Japanese people of the word gokiburi, or cockroach), at least it's a start, as long as more concrete steps are taken. Part of Japan's suicide problem comes from differing social mores -- suicide has at times been seen in a positive light, a way to regain honor and a source of romantic stories about lovers' suicide (shinju) during the Edo Period, for example.

Since we are coming up to the one year anniversary of the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear plant disaster in Japan, I decided to post this documentary from the BBC about it from the children's point of view.

If you have an hour to watch, I would highly recommend it.

Valentine's Day in Japan

Valentine's Day in Japan

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, when millions of Japanese males will wake up hoping to receive chocolate from their wives, girlfriends, mothers, daughters, female co-workers and any random girl who may be in a chocolate-giving mood. The story of how February 14 became a day for females to give chocolate to the men in their lives (as opposed to the other way around) is an interesting one. The first Valentine's Day advertisement in Japan appeared in Showa 11 (1936), when a chocolate shop in Kobe called Morozoff promoted its wares as being perfect for lovers to enjoy together. World War II got in the way soon after, and it was a long time before anyone could think of anything as frivolous as chocolate. In 1958, the manager of the Isetan department store in Shinjuku got the idea of having a Western-style Valentine' s Day chocolate sale, but it was a total flop (just five boxes of chocolates were sold); however things picked up a few years later when Morinaga  started promoting Valentine's Day as a chance to "give chocolate to the people you love." It was around 1975 when the meme of women giving chocolate to men took off, as girls decided to take the initiative and confess their feelings to boys they liked, and also show thanks to the men in their lives who help and support them. There are two kinds of chocolate, honmyo or "real heart" chocolate, received from someone who really cares for you, and giri or "obligation" chocolate, given by female office workers to their bosses or male co-workers because they feel it's expected of them.

Japanese Immigration Update

Some good news for foreigners living in Japan (or soon hope to be living in Japan, Amen): a new Alien Registration System is coming which will make it easier for gaijin residents here. The new system has several new benefits, the most welcome being the elimination of the "reentry stamp" system, a $60 official stamp foreigners had to get in their passports if they wanted to be able to re-enter the country after going abroad, which was both inconvenient and potentially a big problem since it was easy to find yourself with an expired stamp suddenly. Since the problem of Japan's declining population is only going to get worse -- this year the number of "new adults" turning 20 years old was just 1.2 million, exactly half the peak of 2.4 million back in 1970 -- I believe the country should take real steps to encourage people to immigrate to Japan permanently. Just to be clear, I'm not knocking the treatment foreigners in Japan receive currently, as I know that gaijin have it better in Japan than foreigners in almost every other country. But making changes that make it easier for foreigners to live easily in Japan, like getting rid of that annoying re-entry stamp system, is a positive step forward in my book.


Other changes to this system our still on the table. One that I am familiar with is the problem of gaijin who would like to fully immigrate and because a Japanese Citizen but because of Japanese law you would have to renounce your current citizenship. Which so few Americans are willing to do. The other is their marriage registration system that foreigners do not show up on. If you marry an Japanese citizen you are not recognized as their spouse by the federal government only by your local government. This causes problems for parents that receive frequent visits from social services due to them thinking they are a single parent.

Child Like Heart

Something that seems to be a quite different with home schoolers is the fact we can be much more entertained with the simplest of things. I personally noticed this in my own self, I don't believe it makes us weird and neither can I say why others are not entertained by things like that. I remember when we were young we would play we the door stop on our back door several times over and laugh like mad. Our parents have always been amazed that the things we remember over other amazing trips we have taken in the past.

Door stops!, Entertaining home schoolers and elderly people since 19...? 18...? something...

Well, starting this year I have put the initial work into finally starting my own business. As some of you know I was contracting for someone last year installing March Network DVR in over 300 Dunkin Donuts across Chicago Land, USA. I had made many contacts, so now I have the opportunity to sell my service to a vast group of people. I have several people interested in my service and I hope to launch the second phase of my service starting February first. This is just a blurb but I want to post more about it in my next major update.

Only in America

1. Only in America......can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.
2. Only in America......are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink.
3. Only in America......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.
4. Only in America......do people order double cheese burgers, large fries, and a diet coke.
5. Only in America......do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.
6. Only in America......do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.
7. Only in America......do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won't miss a call from someone we didn't want to talk to in the first place.
8. Only in America......do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.
9. Only in America.....do we use the word 'politics' to describe the process so well: 'Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking creatures'.
10. Only in America......do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.
11. Only in America......can a homeless combat veteran live in a cardboard box and a draft dodger live in the White House. (This was popular when Clinton was in office)
12. Only in America......can you buy mulch and firewood at your local gas station.

Politics in Japan

Haruhi Suzumiya for President 2012

It's quite nice to not live in the U.S. when a Presidential election rolls around, because you can look forward to a peaceful year without being bombarded by a lot of negative political messages 24 hours a day. That's not to say Japanese elections are a walk in the park -- the primary method of getting people to vote for you involves driving around in a car shouting "I am Yamada! I will work hard for you! Please support me in the upcoming election!" through a loudspeaker from dawn til dusk -- but at least that part is over within a week or so.

Politics in Japan are fundamentally different from in the U.S., as they are probably are in every country. While the U.S. has a two-party political system with Republicans and Democrats, even tough it was not that way in the beginning, Japan has a number of active parties, including the current ruling Democratic Party of Japan, which is a lot more like the democratic party of President Kennedy then the version we have today (eh! hem!), which rode to power on a "manifesto" of promises like making expressways toll-free and paying every family $130 per child per month, most of which have been repealed quietly; the pro-business Liberal Democratic Party, which held power for nearly 50 years in postwar Japan; the New Komeito Party, once the official political arm of the Sokka Gakkai evangelical Buddhist religion; the Japan Communist Party, and so on. To be right-wing in Japanese politics means to be pro-Emperor as well as pro-Yasukuni (the controversial shrine where Japan's wartime leaders are interred, as well as the souls of all the normal souldiers who faught and died). Right-wingers famously drive around in loudspeaker trucks blasting songs from World War II, and sometimes (awesomely) the theme to Space Battleship Yamato (Sort of the Star Trek of Japan); they also lament Japan's weakened position in international politics and get very upset over territorial disputes with China, South Korea and Russia. Left-leaning Japanese dislike the Emperor and the Japanese national anthem Kimigayo, seen as a symbol of Japan's wartime aggression, and some educators have been fired for refusing to sing the song at official events. Left-wing Japanese are apt to be pro-China and critical of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty that has bound Japan and the U.S. militarily for the past half-century. So next time you get all upset over how messed up our country is think about Japan. For they have quite a more interesting struggle on their hands.

Happy New Year 2012

Happy New Years

As my family watched the remaining moments of 2011, My Mom and I thought of some interesting points about this world. Such as why people find that drinking them self's sick is seen as a celebration and why kissing someone (anyone, even strangers. Disclaimer: I am not promoting it.) on new years is not as much a big deal as it used to be. I opinion is this, first: people see drinking till the point that they have no sense of oneself is exactly the reason. There life is so messed up that being sick on alcohol is the only alternative to them. They need to know that Jesus is the one and only answer. Second: I think that when Satan pollutes something as beautiful as kissing or sex, we become desensitized to the uniqueness of it. Think of it, We humans are uniquely made by our creator. Did you know that there are several things that make us humans different of the rest of the animal world that not even monkeys or apes can do brains and biologically, But for the sake of length I will with hold this one. We just need to remember GOD is GOD and drinking sick or corruption by Satan is just an illusion of the big picture.

The End is Nigh!!

As many of my reads my not know, one of Japan's most popular singers is not even human but in fact a computer generated female persona. Her name is Miku Hatsune (Click for More Information) and shes the creation of Yamaha. She can sing at higher pitches than a typical know signing voice. Over the years with her increased popularity they decided to take her on tour around the world [Watch Her Concert on YouTube] as a hologram. But before all this some guy made a windows program called "Miku Miku Dance" which generates a homemade 3D video from 3D custom models which includes Miku Hatsune. Watch some of the videos on YouTube there quite interesting. Now the latest feature to come to MMD is an option to connect the Kinnect from the XBOX 360 to your computer and virtually control one of these characters with your movements. I've tried it and it is quite fun but now I can surely say "The End is Nigh" by artificial intelligence (programmed by people don't you forget!!!).

2012?

Well, It looks like we are staring down the barrel of the 2012 gun. It's so amazing to think about all the disasters this world has encountered within just one year, from disaster to prosperity, we seem to make it though this thing we call life as well as we do. I really can not believe that it has not been almost 9 months already since the Twin Disasters in Japan that devastated their country and interestingly tourism from the west (Asia) for them has returned to pre-tsunami levels but the tourism from the east (America) is still not even 1/10th of what it was before. It makes me sad that we, Christian America (or what remains to be christian), seem to show very little compassion to their situation. I've heard though the grape vine that it's so bad that the Japanese Government is considering to offer a Airplane ticket to westerners on their dime to help bring the tourism back, in exchange they want the people chosen to write blogs and stories about their trips to encourage others to go (So, Yes. Existing bloggers have a better chance of being chosen.), But interesting if the proposal gets passed by their government, entries will not be accepted until at least March.

Wishing you a Merry CHRISTmas!

In light of it being Christmas Eve I want write about some of the history of Christianity in Japan. The first documented christian to visit Japan would be Francis Xavier in 1549 whom was affiliated with the Portuguese Catholics. It was assumed by the Japanese that Christianity was a new religion from India for several mistaken reasons. Over the next 50 years the Christian faith had grown to very large numbers until 1603 when Leyasu Tokugawa became the shogun of Japan, he placed limitations on missionary work, which lead to the outright banning of Christianity in 1626, in part because the Shogun was concerned that Japan might end up as a colony of foreign powers, as was happening in asia already, and they were also concerned that the rice farmers would turn on the government over the rice taxes. Despite the banning, thousands of kakure-kurishitan (hidden Christians) continued to practice their faith in secret, creating statues of Maria reworked to resemble Buddhist Bodhisattva and passing the torch from generation to generation. They even hidden icons of the reworked Maria image into lamp posts and roof tiles of temples, to let Christians that were on the run that they were with fellow Christians at these locations. Some hidden Christians ran to small islands to continue there faith, in which one island colony of Christians was not even known to exist until 1890 went they made them self's known. When Japan was reopened to foreigner access in 1853 many Christian clergymen were sent from Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox churches, though proselytism was still banned. After the Meiji Restoration, freedom of religion was introduced in 1871, giving all Christian communities the right to legal existence and preaching. Since World War II the number of Japanese Christians has been slowly increasing. I believe GOD has a plan for Japan and we Christians need to continue to empower these people to push forward. The thing that make me so mad about missions to Japan is missionaries have to rely on numbers to continue their work, every mouth asking for donations, this is not the way we should be going about this. I know money is important to missionaries but I feel like something is lacking when it comes to Japan. Please pray and support someone in Japan Today, I know I am.

A Japanese Kirishitan crucifix, 17th century. Christ is depicted as Buddha-like, in the center of the cross.

Christmas has been established as a secular holiday which was first capitalized on around 1910. Today Christmas Eve is seen as a romantic night young couples to go on a date and then on Christmas day many Japanese eat Christmas Cake (A Japanese Invention) and chicken from Home or incidentally KFC, in which has long lines on Christmas Day due to Turkey being rare is Japan and the Japanese don't have much taste for it.

Well, Just a little update about my latest life challenges. I'm out on my own, working with a friend, starting a Text Message Marketing business which will be one of dozens of services I will be offering to small businesses over the next year. Within one month we should have 31 clients and then he thinks he could get a total of 100 clients by the end of the year, per his relationship with dozens of Dunkin and Subway owners. Ever since my mom re-awoke my passion of Revival, I can't get enough of World Revival Church in Kansas City. I want to see Revival flood this globe and this is my fuel to reaching Japan. I see people whom I have known since I was little and they still struggle over tithing and believing GOD will get them though. Now, I'm not saying I'm perfect but come on this is not hard. That is one reason I like WRC because they being a new challenge to my walk with GOD. People want meat in their relationship with GOD not watered down kool-aid. Well, time for bed! Sleep Well and merry CHRISTmas.

Pocky Day 2011

Today is a day for celebrating Pocky.

Today is a very special day, one I've been waiting for for a long time: Pocky Day, 2011. The Japanese are fond of assigning special importance to days of the calendar, often for arbitrary reasons, like October 10 being "Moe Day" because of the way the date looks like the kanji for moe when written a certain way, or November 26th being designated ii furo ni hi or "good bath day," a day for companies that make interesting bath products to promote their wares. Since Heisei 11 (1999), the makers of Pocky have designated November 11 as Pocky and Pretz Day, since 11/11 looks like four little sticks lined up. Well this year is extra special since the date is 11/11/11, the only such day this century. So grab some Pocky and much on it now!

Pocky has gone from being a wonky snack worshipped by anime fans to become the flagship of Japanese snack culture all around the world. The chocolate-covered pretzel stick, which gets its name from the pokki! sound you hear when you snap one in half, was first introduced in 1965 by the Glico Confectionery Company under the not-so-cool name of Chocoteck, where it was an instant hit. The story behind how the company was founded is quite interesting, by the way. At the start of the 20th century, the son of Riichi Ezaki died due to poor health, and the saddened Ezaki went a seaside fishing village where he happened upon some children playing. They were exceptionally healthy, which caused Ezaki to look into the reason for their good health. He determined that a compound found in oysters called glycogen was a factor, and in 1919 he resolved to found a comp any that would manufacture sweets for Japan's children that would improve their health, to be named Glico, after the glycogen compound. The now-famous image of the Glico Running Man was adopted because one piece of Glico candy contains the energy you need to run a 100 meter dash. The company has brought out many hit products over the years, but none quite as iconic as the legendary Pocky. We hope everyone has a fun Pocky Day today!

October Post

Well, The month is almost over and the cold is setting in more and more every day. Halloween is only days away and the abandoned store fronts that are rented though the month of October to just sell Halloween stuff are now in full swing. I don't celebrate Halloween nor believe in it but I do like that idea of anyone getting the chance to dress up like anyone they want. I actually think that pretending to be someone or something else can be a very healthy way to release stress and for once not care what people think of you. That is one reason I love the idea of cosplay so much. I remember dressing up as a Samurai (I was just wearing a kimono.) at Blockbuster one Halloween night.

Halloween is here again. Time to get the cosplay out.

The other day I was thinking about the interesting fact that we Americans find modern Japan so interesting, such as sleeping pods that you can rent for just a couple hours to get a nap or the fact that their  large soft drink is about the size of an American small soft drink, like wise I was thinking that there are many things that the Japanese find interesting about us such as why our drinks are bigger then theirs or that you can buy mulch at the gas station in the spring (This one recently interested me) or a pizza can get your house faster then an ambulance. These sorts of things interest the Japanese about us as much as it interests us about them.

My Japanese tutor is returning this weekend after extending her trip to Japan by three weeks due to her daughter getting burn. Hope she has great things to share.

Japan has the third highest suicide rate in the world.

The other day I learned that some young girl (I really don't know much about the story) last week committed suicide by letting her self get hit by a passenger train in Peotone, Illinois. I heard that just as the train was about to kill her; she made eye contact with the engineer. Regardless if I got the story right or not the point is that this kind of thing is happening everyday in Japan and being that Japan has the third highest suicide rate in the world, it make me ever the more persistent in getting to Japan. Yesterday, something very interesting happening to me which I am surprised it took me so long to realize it. A few weeks ago I went to World Revival Church and had a really awesome time and one thing that I remember as being good but did not fully understanding was a quote that Steve Gray made during his message, He said "Use what you have... Take action! Take what you have and give it out for the Kingdom of God! Stop wishing upon a star.", as I said, it was good but I did not know what to make of it until yesterday when I was downtown walking to my first stop when I noticed a homeless man sitting on a crate along the side of the walk way reading a bible. As I continued to walk; I remembered Steve's quote and thought to my self, how can I expect GOD to send me to Japan to help the suffering if I am unwilling to help those in my own backyard. So without much hesitation I walked into the Dunkin Donuts I was about do some work in and asked for a cup of hot chocolate (Yes, It was free because I was working there) and on my return trip I offered it to the homeless man and continued on my way. Some time later I was walking to my second stop when again I noticed another homeless man, I passed that guy several times as I brought stuff from my car to the store and each time thinking more or more about if I should help him too. My self was saying stuff like "You already did your good deed for today" or "People are watching, What will they think of you?", On my last pasting I finally thought "I do it or not, God help me decide!" when suddenly I was just pasting the guy and some string came lose from my bucket of string (A professionals must have.) and got tangled around my feet like it was being controlled to, I struggled to make the last few steps when the string got worst and tangled in my hand carts wheel so bad that I came to a complete STOP!. Tided up with nothing to do but free my legs and cart, I thought "OK, God you got my attention.". I went to the store and dropped that stuff off and headed back the homeless guys way and ask him to join me for lunch. I found out that his mother was abusive and left his dad who just died the year before from illness and he is now homeless since this summer. I bought him a sandwich and when we were talking I asked him what his next steps were to getting back on his feet. His answer was that he was in need of a job. I offered to call an owner of some Dunkin Donuts in Chicago and put in a word for him and he was more then willing to take my offer. I called and he went his marry way. If I improved that guys life or not the point is that I must use what I have to carry out GOD plan on my life instead of complaining. Why wait for the position within an organization before I work for his kingdom.

Chiori Version 9

Just thought I would post the 9th Release of my Original Character "Chiori Greene" on my blog.

The sketch I used had been a requested I made from a freelance artist at the Anime Central Convention.

September Post

This is a time in my life where I need to make progress within my life and I find harder then ever to make progress. I am making some good money again and I have been determined to finally make it to Japan by next May. Because of some mistakes I have made I own a little money here and there but I am unable to pay back any of it with ease. I lost my unemployment back in June and now I am making just enough money to make small dents in my debt. This is discouraging because I wanted to have visited Japan since 6 years ago. I have made no wasteful spending for a last couple months now and I am looking forward to this May that it will finally be my turn for some reward.

I hate making progress then other things fall apart. I finally made a few hundred on the side which could have given me some progress and then I had an on the job injury last week. I have been off work for one week and just went back today. 8 days ago I was pulling some wire in the ceiling in a Dunkin' Donuts up north and behind my back a Light Fixture fell from the ceiling and cut the back of my calf. There was four code violations with the construction of the drop ceiling which includes: 1. The fixture was 2'x2' in a 2'x4' opening with no cross bar. 2. No side clamps holding the fixture to the bars. 3. More then 5' of BX from the light to the junction box. Which left the light hanging 6 inches from the ground. 4. No anchors (Wire or Chains) connected to the fixture and the joists. I went to the Hospital and received 8 stitches and an expensive hospital bill. (Don't get me wrong we have the best health care system in America with some faults that far exceeds to quality of any system in the world.)

On a lighter note the guy who took me to get an X-ray was named Ray. So now I have the joke X-ray Ray. LOL.

As I mentioned before I have been learning Japanese from a private tutor. My progress of learning Japanese is coming along. I get all fuzzy inside when I make my own combinations of words to form sentences that where not directly thought to me. My vocabulary has been lacking since my primary focus is on learning the Japanese alphabet.

By the way, For anyone out there that is interested in learning kana like I am should check out this website I found. (http://www.manythings.org/q/kana.php?u=hiragana) It has some different kana (hiragana and katakana) quiz flash card games. I can already see my progress in learning kana when I get 102 out of 105 correct. That right, 105 variations of unique sounds in the Japanese alphabet. Plus, not to mention that their are two different alphabets with the same sounds and the over 2000 kanji characters which are combinations of kana sounds. This is nothing like when I used "Hooked on Phonics" when I was a kid.

One interesting thing about Japanese is the heavy use of loans words from other languages. Many loan words we use in English come from French, for example, words like beef, pork and poultry came to indicate the meat of cows, pigs and chickens through the interaction between French-speaking landowners (who ate the meat) and their English-speaking hired help (who tended the animals). Most foreign loan words in Japanese are from the 20th Century but quite a few others came into use in the Edo Period and before, including tempura (from the Portuguese word for spice), ga-ra-su (window glass), ko-hi (coffee), and ki-ri-shi-tan (Christian). (Remember, In Japanese, "i" makes the sound of "e" as in "he") In fact, these words have been used for so long they have kanji characters assigned to them, which violates the (modern) rule that katakana is to be used to write foreign loan words.

This time will be different because this time I am laying the stepping stones to solidly hold feet as I make progress to Japan Such as supporting a missionary family in Japan since last march and now seriously learning Japanese. I am putting my money where my mouth is. Please continue to pray for me.

June Update

I can not believe the craziness that had prevented me from keeping my blog more up-to-date. I have been doing contract work for someone on the side, installing DVR (Digital Video Recorders) in over 300 Dunkin Donuts within the Chicago land area with very little time to focus on other things and my favorite of all announcements is that I am now taking Japanese Lessons from an Private Tutor. Unforchantly, I have to drive 45 minutes every Sunday to north Chicago. The cost is only $30/hr which I hear is very competitive. I am learning a lot and can not wait until the next lesson. That was my quick update and I wish I could say more but time is not on my side right now.

Sayonara,
Joel Greene

Facts of Japan: Vol. 5.30

One reason anime is able to affect us so deeply is the quality of the voice actors, and without the outstanding performances of names like Megumi Hayashibara (Rei Ayanami), Kikuko Inoue (Belldandy, Kazami from Please Teacher), and Toru Furuya (pretty much every major male role in the 80s), the characters and stories wouldn't be so enjoyable. Back in 2007 attendees of Anime Expo were treated to a visit by the voice actresses of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Aya Hirano, Chihara Minori and Yuko Goto. One of the most embarrassing moments came with the M.C. asked the girls how they came to be professional voice actors, which in the case of the Japanese stars involved attending special "talent" schools for years and giving up much to realize the ir dream of going pro. When the English voice actors were asked the same question, the answers were basically, "I saw an ad in the newspaper, went down for an interview and got the job that day."