Retired Life!

My computer got broken some two weeks ago. It was an old one my husband had used before. I don't use a computer a lot and my husband and son have their own.　.So, I thought we didn't need three compurters in one family. And of course I'm living with too small pension to waste money. But soon I found I couldn't write my blog or send mails, because my husband were using the computer when I wanted to use it, usually in the evening. And so, I got a used computer for me. I'm writing this on it now. To tell the truth, I'm not sure if I use it enough, but it's good to have my own one.

Now winter is coming. Almost all the flowers and leaves in my garden are gone. We are preparing for the long and cold winter, harvesting the vegitables and crops in the vegitable garden, making pickles, cleaning the garden, and so on. Today, my grandchildren and their parents made a fire with the fallen leaves and baked the potatoes in it. It's a great fun for children. My niece who visited us today saw me and said, "You are now a traditional country woman." I don't hate this role, but it's quite different from me some years ago.

The people of America have elected Obama as the next president. I hope he will lead America to the better direction. We, Japanese people didn't choose those stupid men as our prime minisers, but we are responsible for it because we have been chosing the LDP for so long. I sometimes feel desperate.
No, no! We can't give up. Cora Weiss, an American peace activist, said in the Global Article Nine Conference "Let's be the ambassador of the Article Nine." So, I made a small sticker of the Article Nine for the New Year cards. I asked Yoko, my son's wife, to design it. When you put it on your cards, you can send the message of the Article Nine to your friends. The message is" We will never go to war. We will never take weapons." Many of my friends said it's a great idea and took some for their own cards or letters. One person put them on his notebooks, and wallet. In Japan young people are made too busy to think or act.(It's a serious prolem. Someone must be intending it and it is someone's benefit. ) So, retired old people like me, who have much time, will do something!

KIMONO;WEARING TRADITION

I started learning kimono, and I can wear it myself only these days, but not well enough. You must feel strange.that we, Japanese people, cannot wear our own ethnic wear without learning how to put it on. I think so, too, and it's one of the reasons I am learning it　.
My mother was always wearing kimono in her pictures. I remember her putting kimono on in front of the mirror. But kimono disappeared quickly after the World War II, when Western, especially American culture rushed into Japan. Our way of living , houses, food, and clothes, changed a lot. The people of my generation have grown up in western clothes. Shirts and skirts or pants are far easier to wear when we work or do sports. I was not interested in kimono because I had no time to waste in kimono and kimono was so feminine that it seemed narrowing women's way to live. I felt no needs to know about kimono.
In this way we have lost a lot of skills and cultures of us. These days some people find the good things or beauty in our old way of living and culture. Some people says our traditional food is good for health, and some people live in old Japanese style houses. Kimono also has a long history, and so, many kinds of skills were born and used to make it. I know a woman of 81 years old, and she showed me a beautiful kimono she made. It means that she spun silk thread from the cocoons, wove it into a cloth, sewed it into the kimono. She was not a craftsperson, but just a young girl then. I am surprised that women usually had such a skill only some fifty or sixty years ago. They are all lost now. Today, kimono is considered a special dress only for special days like wedding, tea ceremony, or coming of age ceremony. At the same time, kimono became such an expensive fashion, and it's one of the reasons why we don't wear kimono often.
I had only a few kimono, and I needed some more to learn , but they were too expensive for me. So I got some used kimono at the antique shops. Rich people never go to those shops, but I sometimes find almost new ones .there I think wearing used kimono is the way to revive the work of old handicrafts. I went to a concert in an antique kimono the other day, but to my rich friends it's a secret that the kimono is a very cheap used one I got at an antique shop!
I will tell you one more reason I'm trying kimono. Have you ever heard the name " Sawachi Hisae"? She is a good writer and a big activist for peace and the Article 9. She is always in kimono and looks cool. I really respect her and I wish I could be like her. If I wear kimono, can I be like her?
In Saku-city, the international festival is going to be held on November 30th, and you can try kimono on there. If you are interested, why don't you come? I'll be there in kimono and help you in the morning on the day. See you there! .

Traveling is a Good Way of Understanding

Thank you for the nice comments about my blog., Erika and Craig. My younger son called me from Tokyo and said ," You should answer the comments quickly.!" I'm sorry I did not answer for a long time. One of the reasons is that I was on a trip to Switzerland about two weeks.

Our niece arranged everything for the trip and guided her parents (my husband's sister and her husband) and us (my husband and me). We stayed at a chalet in a small village at the foot of Mt. Jung Frau for a week. Everyday we went hiking or sightseeing with lunch we made. It was great holidays. We saw many people from other countries enjoying holidays in Switzerland, too. I heard that the small village have far more people than its population in the season for skiing.

They say the number of the tourists to Japan isn't increasing. I'm not intending to support tourism, but I hope more people, especially young people visit Japan and have time with us. Traveling and learning other cultures and ways of life will help people understand each other. It must work to make peace.
What is the difficulty in visiting Japan? What can we do? I can do nothing about flight ticket price or eyesore buildings, but I think most of us, Japanese, are kind enough to welcome and help tourists. I know many people, including my husband, who are ready to guide amd show our towns and life if wanted.

By the way, I am feeling desperate with our new cabinet, unintelligent and arrogant. Of course I didn't expect them to be good. We Japanese people are too pacient, or stupid, but things must be changing verry little by little, I think.

2008/10/3

Amazing Eastern Medicine

I was thinking of closing this blog when Abby left Japan, but she cheered me to keep on writing. I'm not sure if I have some more to write about, but I will try for a little while longer. It's already been one and a half years since I left school, and I have no contact with schools now, so the word 'sensei' for me is a little strange. But the title of this blog will be as before.

I know many new people came to Nagano as ALTs this summer, too.. I hope all of them feel comfortable and start enjoying their new life here. But I have no contact with any ALTs now, and so, I'm not sure if my blog is interesting or useful for you. When you have any comments or questions, please don't hesitate to tell me.

Today's topic is "Eastern Medicine". Have you ever tried acupunture or moxibustion? I did not believe in that kind of Eastern medicine before, but it's working for me now! Amazing!

For the last two or three years I have had pain and deformation in my hands and it's getting worse. I visited some hospitals and doctors, but the doctors said they found no problems from the X-ray films and blood tests. I came back home tired and disappointed. A few months ago, one of my friends recommended acupuncture and moxibustion. I have never tried it, but i wanted some way to cure my pain and fear,and so, I visited a practitioner she often visits . Everything was new for me there. The practitioner listened to me carefully and treated me with acupuncture, moxa, and some stones for more than one hour. (Moxa is dried mugwort leaves, and they put a small pile of it on our skin and burn it. Don't worry, it doesn't burn the skin.) After that my pain is decreasing magically. The deformation is also getting better, and I can play the piano more lightly now. I was surprised and I asked many questions to the acupuncturist. His philosophy was so interesting that I'd like to write it here, though I'm not sure if I can put the special words into English.

" How were you after the last treatment? Tell me anything. More information is better for the next treatment." (The doctors at the hospitals wouldn't listen to me.)" Sickness is caused by the facters both outside of the body and inside of the body like sadness, or anger."" We relieve the symptoms, but we treat the causes of it at the same time. For example, we think a corn on the foot is caused by the internal organ. Let's think of the condition of your whole body. When the condition of the body gets better, your pain wll berelieved. " " We say the doctor who cures the disease is the second best, and the one who prevents disease is the best doctor." " We need to know the condition called 'mibyou', 'not sick yet' You may be already sick, but there are no symptoms yet. We treat an illness before the symptom appears. Doctors and acupuncturists served emperors in China and when the emperor got sick, they wre killed! So they got the skill not to be killed or to escape before the emperor's sickness. . " The U.S.A. occupying army tried to ban acupuncture as it seemed so barbarous, but a reporter from the New York Times wrote about his experience (He suffered appendicitis ,but recovered with acupuncture), and so the idea disappeared." Cuba has a very high level medicine and acupuncture is used a lot there. They say it is workin well."" The reasons for stress change as society and the people's life changes, so, don't cling to the texts. This was taught in a textbook written thousands of years ago!." " We don't use surgeries to cure. But we have anatomical charts. It's different from Western one. We think of the function of the organs, not the shape" " We stimulate the current of the spirit with acupuncture and moxa. When it is smooth, you are healthy." (I'm not sure with the traslation.)

If you are interested, why don't you try acupuncture? Oh, you don't have to be afraid of the pain with the treatment. It's incredible, but I feel almost no pain with the thin needle.

To the Young Foreigners Working as ALTs

Abby, a great helping hand for my blog, is leaving Japan this summer. I'll miss her a lot, but I won't stop her from leaving because she needs to leave. She is so talented and her ability wants a greater field to work. It's time for her to find another place or field that needs her, or, to follow and deepen her vision.

I worked with many ALTs. I learned a lot from them, not only English. You jump over the borders so easily to the other side of the Earth. You are open-minded to accept a quite different culture. You are positive and active in many things here. I enjoyed working and talking with you, young foreigners.

But some of the ALTs I worked with seemed not to be interested in children , or bored in teaching. You may say your aim here is not working or teaching. We, Japanese teachers know that you are not trained as teachers, but we expect you are interested in education, or you like children, at least. And we see you as co-workers, not as guests.

To tell the truth, the work as an ALT is boring, I think. You are talented and curious, but your work is not always creative. You have to repeat the same dull things many times. Sometimes you are like a CD player, sometimes you have nothing to do in class. When you are not going to be a real teacher, all these things seem to mean nothing, I guess. I feel sorry about it.

The JET program started nearly thirty years ago, I think. The reason why Japan started the program is that we had too much foreign currency holdings in those days. Japan was expected to decrease it, and the program was one of the ways to use money. So it was not the idea of the Ministry of Education, but of the Ministry of Finance! So the program was a little strange for us from the beginning.

A New Zealander I worked with once said, " What a stupid program this is! Business class flight, gorgeous hotels, and more pay than Japanese teachers... to us, just young English speakers. We enjoy the life here for one or two years like a vacation and leave. It's no use for your English education. One of your problems is the English ability of the Japanese teachers. When you have this much money, you should send the teachers abroad to study English. Then it works for a long time. But this is a good program for us. We are lucky. Thank you!" I'm sorry, but I almost agree with him.

I want to say one more thing. Many of the ALTs are the people sent by the JET program, but there are ALTs who are hired by personal service companies. Their working conditions are far worse and the pay is far less. They have no chance to communicate with other ALTs or learn about their jobs. I once worked with one of those ALTs. She was one of the best ALTs I worked with, but she was dismissed by the city and she left. JET ALTs, you are so lucky, and please be friends with people in other situations.

However, I see many good points in this program. Children can have a chance to talk and live with foreigners and to know they are the same human beings. For children, you are the windows opened to the world. (It's a problem, however, that all of you are English speaking Western people.) Children listen to real English and know the power of language as a tool of communication. Also, many of you young foreigners live near us in small towns and villages all over Japan and learn our local lives and cultures. On your TV or newspapers, most of the news from Japan must be about Tokyo or the big cities, I think.

Some of you will finish your stay and go back home this summer, like Abby. I hope you enjoyed your days in Japan, and get interested in our life and culture. Please be ambassadors between your people and our people. As this many young ambassadors start working for understanding each year, we can understand more, and some day we can make better world.

Good luck, young people!

Thank You for Your Comments

I'm happy to know you are interested in my blog.

To Abby,
I always check the producing districts when I do shopping. You can read them on the packages or the notices on the shelves. (I'm sorry but they are written in Kanji.) Some supermarkets have a place for the local products JA shops usually sell the local products. And on the roadside, you can sometimes find small shops to sell local products. For example, "Nanairobatake" and "Nonkimura" in Tatashina-town, near Ysuruya. I will tell you the best way to get the local food. When you walk beside a vegetable garden, say hello and give some ompliments or ask some questions on the vegetables to the garden owner working there. I'm sure you can get some fresh cucumbers or tomatos. Good luck!

To Hudson,
Thank you for your appreciation I don't know what PEAK OIL is. What is it? How and where can I read about it?

To Pete,
I hope you enjoyed your stay here and you are interested in our culture, both good and not good. And I believe you will be an ambassador to connect both countries and their people Good bye.

To tell the truth, I wrote a responce just after I read your comments and I posted it, I thought. But it has been lost! I can't find it anywhere. So I will publish this as my new blogI'd like to say thank you for your comments again.

LET'S GROW CROPS BY OURSELVES, NOT TO TAKE FOOD FROM STARVING PEOPLE

The price of gasoline is increasing terribly, and it is causing a price increase of other things. The price of crops is also increasing all over the world, and as a result, the poor and starving people are suffering. I've heard that the reason for this is the speculation of crops and oil. This "speculation" is difficult to understand, but it means some companies and individuals are getting a lot of money through the starvation and suffering of poor people, doesn't it? Isn't it evil? Capitalism can do this. There are no rules. People do anything to get money.

The world is worrying about this situation, but they can find no effective ways to change it. Our government seems to have no visions about this problem and is not doing anything to help its people. There seems to be no way to stop this movement or protest it.

My family has a small vegetable garden around our house. When I came to live here, I didn't care about the garden and its crops, but while I was raising my children, I learned about food and farm chemicals. I wanted safe food for my children. Later, I learned that this is a problem not only for our health but also for the environment… for all living things.

Now, my husband grows almost all the crops my family needs, except rice. He uses no farm chemicals, so our crops have to live with weeds and worms. Growing vegetables is hard work, but it's also a lot of fun and joy. He goes to the garden and takes care of the crops almost everyday. When they grow well he seems happy, and when the weather is bad, he worries. In the afternoon before dinner, I walk around our garden and pick some crops while thinking about the dishes for our dinner. I think it's very natural to eat what we can get from our own garden, or from local products. Why do we need to bring food all the way from the other side of the Earth? Why should we have tomatoes in winter? The season's vegetables taste the best. We buy rice from our friend's paddies and get some fish and meat through COOP.

We can live like this because we have a garden and enough time now, fortunately. But it's not enough that only we can get good food. Most of the people have to get food at the stores, and the healthy foods and foods that don't use so much energy and don't pollute the environment should be served to them. Is growing crops for the family a selfish way to live?

No. A few days ago I found the words, "Let's grow crops by ourselves, not to take the food from starving people, not to submit to the countries that have food." I'd like to add one more thing: "not to submit to the evil that makes people starve for money." Why don't you grow vegetables on your verandas and buy local foods?