Now well into the New Year, Americans have witnessed the descending of New York City’s Times Square Ball and toasted their first glass of champagne for 2008. Meanwhile, the Japanese have finished preparing boxes of osechi-ryôri (New Year’s food). The rush to purchase New Year’s decorations, like kadomatsu (gate pine; doorway) and kagami mochi (mirror rice cakes) is over, and children have received their otoshidama, gifts of money often presented in decorated envelopes, from relatives.
In Japanese culture, Christmas is overshadowed by Shôgatsu (New Year’s) and ômisoka, the final day of the year and the second most important day of the Japanese calendar. Businesses and households alike do their ômisoka ôsôji (house cleaning), similar to Western spring cleaning, to provide an atmosphere of a clean and fresh beginning. It is also traditional to pay off all debts and finish any work-related business or schoolwork before the New Year.
Similar to the Western tradition of sending Christmas cards, Japanese families send New Year’s postcards, or nengajô. Nengajô often include illustrations or photos with a short message notifying family, friends, and acquaintances of the senders’ well-being and wishes for an Akemashite o-medetôgozaimasu (Happy New Year). The only time nengajô aren’t sent is when there has been a death in the family during the year. Even with the rise of e-mail, sending nengajô remains popular, though not as much as the tradition of giving otoshi-dama. The tradition of giving otoshi-dama originated in China where red packets called pochibukuro were given to children. During the Edo period, mikan (Mandarin oranges) and mochi, Japanese symbols of happiness and prosperity, were distributed rather than money.
Families and friends gather for an end-of-the-year meal of toshikoshi soba, a simple dish that consists of long brown noodles in a plain broth, or toshikoshi udon. Toshikoshi means, “from one year to the next," and the long thin noodles are believed to be a symbol of longevity and prosperity.
One of the most ancient practices of ômisoka occurs on New Year’s Eve. The jôya no kane, or the 108 chimes of the temple bonshô (cast bell), ring through the night to drive away the 108 mortal sins, thus purifying the spirit for the New Year. A more contemporary feature of ômisoka is the airing of NHK’s (Japan’s public broadcaster) annual New Year’s music special, “Kôhaku Uta Gassen.”
So, while American families toasted champagne and counted down the seconds to midnight, Japanese families slurped on toshikoshi soba, gathered around the TV to cheer on the Kôhaku performers, or perhaps even stayed up and chatted until the Jôya no kane tolled in the New Year.
Akemashite o-medetô-gozaimasu. Kotoshi mo yoroshiku o-negai-shimasu. (Happy New Year. May this year be blessed with good tidings.)
2008-01-29
culture corner: Shôgatsu
2008-01-25
MCCS offers service members, families sweet, salty experience
Lance Cpl. Robert C. Frenke
OKINAWA MARINE STAFF
Marine Corps Community Services Tours Plus gave service members and their families a chance to tickle their palates Dec. 15, while learning a little more about Okinawa’s agriculture during MCCS’s Sweet and Salty Tour — a tour of a sugar cane refinery and a salt factory.
During the tour, the group of 20 people saw just what it takes to get sugar and salt ready to ship to homes around the world.
In 1623, Shinjo Gima, a local farmer, introduced sugar refining to Okinawa, according to Chris Majewski, a tour guide with MCCS Tours Plus.
The first stop on the tour took the group to the Okinawa Kokuto Company, a sugar factory in the village of Yomitan.
Once the tour reached the refinery, Natsuki Hayes, a sales woman with Okinawa Kokuto Co, gave them a guided tour of the process of refining sugar cane into brown sugar from start to finish.
This is a busy time of year for sugar refiners, because sugar cane harvesting season lasts from January through March.
The cane is cut by hand, bundled and picked up each morning, Majewski said. It must be processed within 24 hours of being cut so it does not dry out.
Once the cane reaches the factory, it is put through a massive crusher two times to squeeze out all the juices from the cane. The remains of the cane are used as fuel for the fire that boils the juice into a thick, syrupy liquid. When crystals begin to grow, the liquid is taken off the fire and allowed to cool.
The factory then packages the brown sugar as well as makes baked goods, which are sold at the gift shop.
The next stop on the tour brought the service members and their families to Gala Aoiumi, a commercial area in Yomitan where sea salt is processed.
While there, the group saw how the Okinawans make salt. They also had the opportunity to see some of the rigors people went through to make salt in the past, while touring the Salt Museum in Gala Aoiumi.
Majewski and Heather Alan, the creator of the tour, showed how sea water is filtered through giant nets to collect the salt. They then showed the group how the salt is boiled down for five days, packaged and sent to homes all over the world.
Anyone interested in taking the Sweet and Salty Tour, or other tours, may call MCCS Tours Plus’ main office on Camp Foster at 646-3502.
Music studio on Futenma opens doors to musicians
Lance Cpl. Ryan Wicks
OKINAWA MARINE STAFF
Looking for a place to jam, rehearse or sharpen your harmonic skills without disturbing your neighbors?
Cunningham’s Rocking Cabana Rehearsal Studio on Marine Corps Air Station Futenma offers such an environment free of charge.
Cunningham’s, which opened Jan. 16, features two full-sized studios and one individual-sized studio. The sound resistant studios collectively offer two drum sets, three guitars, three base guitars, amps, microphones, audio mixers, compact disc players and keyboards for musicians to use for free, according to Andrew R. Coy, an audio visual technician with Marine Corps Community Services.
Cunningham’s is made to accommodate musicians of all skill levels, said Dureil Farnell, an entertainment program manager with Marine Corps Community Services.
“The studio is here for [Status of Forces Agreement personnel] to release themselves from the normal everyday routine and also help them become a musician or bone their skills depending on the ability of the individual,” Farnell said.
Cunningham’s is located in building 104, MCAS Futenma.
Reservations require at least one adult and are limited to one hour. For more information or to make reservations, call 636-1015.
Battle sites tours tell story of Battle of Okinawa
Pfc. Aaron Hostutler
OKINAWA MARINE STAFF
Hollywood’s romantic depictions of war often suggest one man can take on an entire army.
But on Okinawa, the lead tour guide with the Single Marine Program is determined to erase the delusion Hollywood has created.
SMP tour guide Chris Majewski leads battle sites tours on the island, educating tourists about the history behind several significant sites, including Hacksaw Ridge, the Battle of Okinawa Historical Display, the Japanese Naval Underground Headquarters and Peace Prayer Park.
“The Battle of Okinawa was one of the most ferocious battles ever fought,” said Majewski, a former Marine who has been conducting tours since 1996. “We had the Japanese in a corner, and they knew the Americans’ next stop was going to be at their front door. How hard would you fight if there was an enemy approaching your front door? The only thing standing between the enemy and your kids and wife is you and your rifle. That would give you something worth dying for.”
Majewski described how the Japanese fought outmanned and outgunned. They had to resort to defensive positions in caves, which protected them from bombs and artillery fire and gave them the element of surprise. Japanese soldiers also used hand-to- hand combat because they knew the U.S. wouldn’t fire their heavy weapons near their own troops.
“There were times in the battle when their rifles were only useful as clubs,” Majewski said.
The Japanese gained a better view on the battlefield by holding the high ground on various ridges throughout Okinawa.
The Battle of Okinawa was projected to last one month, but the Japanese soldiers’ style of fighting forced the U.S. into a three-month-long engagement.
More than 240,000 people died including more than 14,000 Americans, more than 149,000 Okinawans, and almost 77,000 Japanese.
“No one can truly grasp the size of those numbers unless they’ve seen it,” Majewski said. The Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots, seats 68,756 fans. Imagine that stadium filled to full capacity three and a half times.
“While those numbers may show how bloody the battle was, the tour concentrates more on the experience of the individual Marine and soldier,” Majewski said.
One stop during the tour was at the Battle of Okinawa Historical Display on Camp Kinser. The display features several artifacts from the war, including weapons, uniforms and tools.
“When a Marine or soldier was going off to fight in 1945, he wasn’t wearing all of the protective gear we have today,” Majewski said. “He was going out to fight in what would be the equivalent of our utility uniforms and a (helmet).”
The next stop on the tour was the Japanese Naval Underground Headquarters, now a museum offering an insight into the Japanese soldiers’ daily lives as well as a series of underground caves the Japanese used during the battle.
“The caves give tourists an idea of what the Japanese used, but it’s important to remember the conditions that the caves were in during the war,” Majewski said. “There were hundreds of Japanese in those caves, with rotten food, dead bodies, disease and at times more than a foot of water.”
Majewski says the point of the tours is to provide an understanding of what the Battle of Okinawa actually meant to those who fought in it. No one can go back to 1945 and look at the battle themselves, and if they could, they probably wouldn’t live to talk about it.
The final stop on the tour was Peace Prayer Park. The park has an indoor museum, outdoor memorials for fallen warriors and an observation tower that looks over the entire park. The main memorial at the park, the Cornerstone of Peace, is a series of marble walls with the names of all those who died in the battle.
The walls offer another perspective on the gravity of the loss felt by both sides, according to Majewski.
For more information on battle sites tours, call SMP at 645-3681.
2008-01-18
hey, mike: Sugarcane
Since I have arrived on the island, I’ve noticed a lot of sugarcane fields. Is sugarcane one of Okinawa’s chief crops?
There is a popular saying on Okinawa that states sugarcane harvesting is the epitome of a lifestyle that combines the “three Japanese K’s”: kitsui, or difficult; kitanai, or dirty; and kiken, which means dangerous. Sugarcane, which is known as satôkibi in Japanese and uji in the Okinawan dialect, matures for harvesting after 10 to 15 months, and can grow to heights of up to 15 feet.
Sugarcane cultivation reached the island of Okinawa in 1623. Cane seedlings were first brought into the Ryukyu court from mainland China by an envoy named Rin Koku-Yo. These seedlings were given to a gentleman by the name of Shinjo Gima who, along with Noguni Sokan, was already well known for transplanting the Chinese potato in Okinawa and southern Kyushu. After a few experimental trials, Gima was successful in growing sugarcane, and soon sugar production gave Okinawa a valuable item for trade with China and mainland Japan. At the time, sugarcane was celebrated by island residents as a shining ray of hope for the future.
Unfortunately at first, nothing could have been further from the truth. The early history of sugarcane on Okinawa wasn’t all that sweet. Because sugar was an expensive, luxury commodity (in great demand by the rich and powerful) and the southern islands of Japan were the only place in the country that had the subtropical climate conducive to growing sugarcane, its production (as well as the people of the islands) was soon exploited by the mainland. Before long, fields that once produced potatoes and rice for the general populace were replaced with cane—a crop far more valuable to powerful plantation owners. The farmers of Okinawa were tasked with the backbreaking labor involved with planting, harvesting, and processing sugarcane for very little pay and watched helplessly as their chief food sources dwindled.
For many, sugarcane conjures more than mere memories of hardship in the 21st century. To mainland tourists, the rows upon rows of satôkibi batake (cane fields) have become as much a symbol of the Ryukyu Islands as eisa dancers, Shuri Castle, and turtleback tombs. And, for many locals, the fields of white-topped, ready-to-harvest sugarcane personify winter, much like falling snow does in colder climates.
Today, Okinawan sugarcane is utilized in a number of ways, from serving as the chief food supply for Okinawan fighting bulls, to being a source of material for locally produced blue jeans, and providing the base colors for beautiful green dyes to the most important product derived from sugarcane—kurosatô, or brown sugar.
Brown sugar is an indispensable ingredient in many of Okinawa’s traditional confections, including chin-bin (a type of brown sugar crêpe), amagashi (a chilled barley and soybean dessert), kuzu-mochi (a glutinous, gelatin-like confection), and most importantly sâtâ andagi, or Okinawan-style donuts.
Planting and harvesting sugarcane is still dangerous and exhausting work, even with modern-day advances. And it’s highly unlikely that very many members of the younger generation can be found within a kilometer of a sugarcane field during the harvest season. However, regardless of the exertion required to extract the sugar, and in spite of its somewhat bittersweet history, sugarcane remains one of Okinawa’s most valuable agricultural resources and recognizable cultural icons.
2008-01-11
culture corner: Maneki Neko —The Fortunate Feline
Looking to improve your luck? Get yourself a maneki neko. That’s the Japanese name of those waving cat figurines that seem to be everywhere in Japan, from businesses to homes to dashboards. "Maneki neko” translates into “beckoning cat," an apt name for these animated statuettes that wave you (or good luck) in off the street. Although said to bring luck to individuals, the maneki neko is primarily a charm for the Japanese business owner (traditionally a very superstitious being) seeking more customers and more profits. The beckoning cat encourages people who pass the business to enter and spend money.
There are many theories about how the maneki neko came to be the most popular good-luck charm in Japan. The legend of the Goutokuji Temple is probably the most widely known. It is said that during the Edo period in western Tokyo, a feudal lord was standing by the Goutokuji Temple when he noticed a cat beckoning him inside. As he began to follow the cat, lightening struck the exact place where he had been standing. The cat had saved his life. To this day the Goutokuji Temple honors the clairvoyant cat with numerous maneki neko statues. Owners with sick or lost cats visit the temple to hang ema, small wooden plaques with maneki neko images, and pray for their cats’ well-being.
Others point to the motion a cat makes when washing its face as the origin of the kitty with the raised paw. Cats have a keen sense of atmospheric conditions and frequently wash their faces when weather patterns change. A common proverb is that if a cat is washing its face, you can expect rain. In addition to climate changes, cats can also sense approaching visitors, which may have the same effect on them. So, if a cat washes its face, maybe a visitor will come. From this theory, it’s easy to see why business people would want a figure of a cat with a paw washing its face, which incidentally looks just like a beckoning cat.
If you’d like your very own maneki neko, you should know that not all look alike. Their color, clothes, and pose correspond to different kinds of luck one might seek. Most figurines are made with the left paw raised. This is considered a talisman for business. If the right paw is raised, the kitty will bring money. Incidentally, the height of the raised paw indicates from how far the cat is beckoning the fortune; so to hedge your bets, you might want to buy the one with the highest paw. Most maneki neko are dressed in red collars with bells, reminiscent of pet cats of the Edo period kept by court ladies, who attached bells to collars in order to keep an eye on their prized pets. Some maneki nekos sport a gold coin or koban. Also from the Edo era, the coin represents 10 million ryou. As far as color goes, tri-colored kitties—long known for their good luck—are the most popular. White cats encourage purity; black keep away evil spirits; red exorcize evil spirits and illness; and gold ones bring money. And if you purchase a pink maneki neko, watch out. You just might find yourself lucky in love.
2008-01-03
Krishna Indian Restaurant
Enjoy the BEST! Authentic healthy Indian cuisine prepared by chefs from India.
(last order 2:30 p.m.)
6-11 p.m. for dinner
(last order 10 p.m.)
Tuesday: open only for Lunch
Closed on 2nd & 4th Tue
of Plaza House Mall.
lots of Free parking
Cologne's Japanese Lesson - 3 Jan
(shrine) jinjya
(2) to-ri-i
(gateway at the entrance to shrine)
(3) da-i-bu-tsu
(a huge statue of Buddha)
(4) ka-ne
(bell)
