National Diet Library photo exhibit

THE NATIONAL DIET LIBRARY is now presenting an e-exhibit of photos from the Meiji and Taisho eras (1868-1925) selected from its archives. Here’s the best part: the explanatory material is in both Japanese and English. The photographs are of sites in the Kansai region, which includes Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto.

If you’re a sucker for historical photos, now’s your chance! You’ll find the English version here.

There’s also a permanent link to the National Diet Library on the right sidebar.

Japan Navigator

WHILE SEARCHING FOR SOMETHING ELSE on Google, I stumbled across the Japan Navigator website, written by a foreigner who seems to be based in Kyoto. He focuses on art, business, travel, culture, and food, and makes excellent choices in subject matter. Two of his posts in particular that I would like to have written myself are this one, called “Graves in Kyoto’s Shopping Arcades”, and this one, called “The Shogun’s Mausoleum in Shiba”. That building, reputed to be one of the finest examples of traditional Japanese architecture, no longer exists, but the post reproduces photographs from the 19th century!

Pay the site a visit if you have the time.

P.S.: A (herring)bone to pick–are one-third of all Japanese television shows really “devoted to food”? I don’t know about that…

Japan-related websites added

IN ADDITION to the website for the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, I’ve also added links on the right sidebar to the sites for the National Institute of Japanese Literature, the International Research Center for Japanese Studies, University Libraries in Japan, the National Institute of Informatics, the National Astronomical Institute of Japan, and the Oriental Library.

Knock yourself out!

Japan Center for Asian Historical Records

I ADDED A LINK to the Japan Center for Asian Historical Records to the right sidebar. Here is how they describe themselves:

JACAR is a digital database of Japan’s historical records testifying to its pre-war relations with the Asian countries. It is an ongoing project archiving official documents of the Cabinet, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the Army and Navy, dating from the Meiji era through 1945. In an effort to share the facts of history, images of the original documents are made public through this site on an unprecedented scale.

I haven’t looked at the information in detail, so I don’t know if they have an ideological bias, but the site itself seems as if it could be very useful.

And that led to me to the site for the National Institute of Defense Studies, which I’ve also added to the links. Here is their mission statement:

The National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS), as the main policy research arm of the Ministry of Defense(MOD), is dedicated to strategic studies of policy relevance. It also functions as a war college-level educational institution for senior uniformed officers of the Self Defense Forces (SDF) and civilian officials of the MOD, and other branches of the government. In addition, The NIDS serves as the nation’s sole military history research center.

There should be plenty of interest there, too.

Iaido: Cutting to the quick

MANY PEOPLE OUTSIDE JAPAN have become aware of the martial art of kendo, in which the participants use bamboo sticks as sword substitutes in a competition that resembles a fencing match.

Yet few people even in Japan know of the martial art of iaido, which uses real swords. Even the most basic acts can be dangerous:

Intense scrutiny is also paid to the drawing and sheathing of the swords — “it’s easy to lose a thumb if you do that wrong” — and to the spiritual aspects of the samurai code.

This article in the English-language Mainichi profiles iaido master Yuta Kurosawa. Here’s the English website for his dojo, Butokuin. I’ve added the link to the column at right.

UPDATE: Reader Tomojiro passed along a link in English for koryu, or the older martial arts. Read more about them here; I recommend the Ryu Guide page. I’ve also added this link to the right sidebar.

Ramen research

THERE’S NO TELLING what little treasures you’ll find when you look around on the English-language versions of Japanese websites. That’s why I keep adding sites to the list on the right.

For example, those of you who just can’t get enough ramen in your life and prefer Asian junk food to Western junk food might enjoy the website of the Japan Instant Food Industry Association, which will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about instant ramen, plus a few other things besides.

Accessing this website (which is also on the right sidebar) will enable you to discover the history of instant ramen starting from 1958, definitions of noodles and noodle categories, instant ramen ingredients, safety regulations, and the materials used to make the cups in which the soup is sold and eaten.

Want more? They’ve got it, including descriptions of how the noodles, soup, and condiments are made.

For the really hardcore ramen devotees, they also offer a file of statistical information, including the amount of flour used annually in Japan to make instant ramen, the length of one noodle, the length of all the noodles in one package, and the number of noodles in one package.

The last page on the site provides handy hints on how to diversify instant ramen meals, including recipes for ramen cabbage rolls, quail eggs in ramen, clams with milk ramen, crab, spinach and egg ramen, and other delights.

If that’s not enough, you can always slide on over to Worldramen.net, also on the right sidebar. The previous site gives you the industry’s perspective, but here you get the noodle gourmand’s view.

Down here in Kyushu, ramen means the variety made with pork broth (tonkotsu), and for the outlook in Fukuoka, take a look at this feature article in the magazine Fukuoka Now. You’re sure to enjoy it because I wrote it! (Note: neither of the two people in the photo are me.)

This is just a small sample of the discoveries that await the intrepid Internet explorer. And no, I don’t mean the browser!

Of course, if you’re above ramen culture and the riff-raff that eats it, you can always use the sidebar to access the Hagakure in English!

To say ‘Dying without attaining one’s aim is a foolish sacrifice of life’ is a flippant attitude of sophisticates in the Kyoto-Osaka area. In such a case, it is difficult to judge rightly. No one longs for death. We speculate on what we like. But if we live without attaining our aim, we are cowards. This is an important point.

From measuring the length of ramen noodles to examining the meaning of life and death…whatever your taste in websites, we got ‘em!

N.B.: The above photo is a still from the film Tampopo, which is about a ramen shop, among other things. You should make a point to watch it if you get the chance. Or even better, make your own chance!

HDR Japan

HDR JAPAN is the website of John Burgreen, the Art Director of Okinawa Living Magazine, which is a free English-language publication distributed in Okinawa. The photography shown on the site is excellent, and there is an abundance of information about Okinawa from a variety of perspectives. It also has a section featuring headline news about Japan, as well as discussion forums for site visitors.

The site is attractively done, and well worth a visit. You can find it here.

Oniazuma

GOT A MAIL from Oniazuma telling me about his new blog, which is mostly videos. Most of the videos in Japanese seem to have English subtitles added. You can check it out here.

Ignorance on parade

GORDON CHANG, writing in the Commentary blog Conventions, has a short post about Japan’s forthcoming suspension of refueling activities in the Indian Ocean. He seems to be aware of the current political situation in this country and the difficulties that presents, but still concludes:

The one thing we can say with assurance is that Japan in the Fukuda era is about to take a large step backward as a member of the international community.

Well, almost. It doesn’t have anything to do with the “Fukuda era”, however. It’s an understandable mistake considering how little Western journalists know about Japan, and their mistaken belief that individuals drive policy. What we can actually say with assurance is that it is a backward step taken because Japan is trying to come to terms with a divided legislature for the first time in its postwar history.

But that’s not the real problem. Just scroll down to see what the posters are saying. Another thing we can say with assurance is that one will seldom see such a concentration of ill-informed intellectual piglets wallowing in their ignorance and thoroughly enjoying it.

Try on some of these:

“It amazes me that a country, so close to danger with China and North Korea, would pull back its commitment to security.”

“Dai Nippon” is truly a “great” nation…It’s long past time for the Japanese to trash the nonsense about non-violence within their constitution. It’s all garbage. It’s all nonsense. And it’s s*#t stupid….It’s all a joke. A pathetic, pusillaminousness (sic) joke.”

And the best (?) for last:

“…in 62 years under the pacifist Constitution and the nuclear umbrella provided by Uncle Sam, the Japanese have produced the likes of Toyotas, PlayStations and manga for adults. Because these products have nothing to do with values worth defending at the risk of their lives, this archipelago is now filled with 127 million purposeless people caught in the endless chain of means. A Tokyo-based Canadian journalist once likened them to zombies.”

This poster pulled off the hat trick: (1) No knowledge of Japan, (2) No knowledge of the inadequacies (or agenda) of the average Tokyo-based journalist, and (3) No knowledge of his own incoherence.

Even the people who disagree with my point of view should find this appalling. You’re of course free to write your comments here, but it seems to me those folks are desperately in need of some facts. In their face, where they can actually read it.

Want to bet they can’t handle the truth?

Diet Library, Statistics Bureau, and ReaD

THERE ARE SOME NEW LINKS in the right sidebar that I highly recommend.

One is for the National Diet Library. They allow people to register as users to receive copies of documents by mail. Also, the library is now featuring an excellent exhibition of photos from the Meiji and Taisho eras (1868-1925). If you have the time and inclination for photo browsing you’ll be glad you visited the site.

Here is the link to the Statistics Bureau. One section on their site is called Japan in Figures, which includes updated statistics in many different sectors. There also is a section for international comparisons.

Then, there’s ReaD. Here’s what they say at the top of their website:

Directory Database of Research and Development Activities (ReaD) is a database service designed to promote cooperation among industry, academia and government. ReaD is the only Web site that collects and provides scientific information on research institutes, researchers, research projects and research resources in Japan.

I chose the design for this page based on the readability of the center section and the overall layout. One disadvantage of the design, however, is that the lack of separation for website links at the right makes it more difficult to read. You shouldn’t let that stop you from browsing, however. There’s some good stuff over there!