Media Well: Okinawa

Watching the river run: While I was in Fukuoka on Friday to...

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 09:33:00 +0900

Watching the river run: While I was in Fukuoka on Friday to lecture at a couple of universities, the rain didn’t stop. In fact, it was continuation of record rainfall so overwhelming that more than 20 people have died in floods and mudslides.

My wife and son’s hometown, Kurume, was not damaged much because it sits on a wide plain, and the major river that surged through it, the Chikugo, has been designed to bulge, with wide pedestrian spaces inside its banks.

By Saturday, the play areas and walkways were under water, but the banks were fine. These shots catch the scene at the riverside Suitengu Shrine, where leaders were reining in their ceremonial boat and handling other weather-related chores. Normally, the distance from that wall to the water is more like 35-40 meters. Now the water splashes against the slope.

On the other side of the river, a nine-hole golf course was missing from view, along with most of a van.

Apologies to those who have seen this already on Facebook, but the conditions were serious enough to merit inclusion here, too.

As the sign notes in the bottom photo, the river banks are the site of a fabulous, two-hour fireworks show in the first week of August each year. Right now, the seating areas are mostly submerged. But I imagine the water level will decline and the aptly titled Water Festival fireworks will sparkle and crack as usual for as many as 200,000 people.

As long as it doesn’t rain.

Greasing the tunes: It takes long days to teach classmates to...

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 13:40:00 +0900

Greasing the tunes: It takes long days to teach classmates to sing show tunes in a second language. Miki Taira, left, and Asami Minema, at the grand piano at top, are the music directors in charge of leading classmates in learning the many songs of the musical Grease.

They estimate they’re investing 12 hours a week in preparation and practice time with the 35 or so second-year English majors at the University of the Ryukyus who are staging the musical in December. The rehearsal hours will rise during the summer break and again in the fall as the production date approaches.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I’m following the students’ progress as they build their production, with a little help on pronunciation from volunteer ESL teachers. They are doing all this to present a single performance in late December. Their rewards: No money, no grades, but new experiences with English and a tighter bond for lifetime friendships.

Yuki Kaneko, in the cool Captain America shirt beside Ayami Maekawa, is one of a few first-year students who asked to join the group. Yuki spent her senior year in high school in Denton, Texas, so her pronunciation is advanced. She has a few motives for joining. One is to get to know her sempai — students who rank above her in seniority. Another is to learn the basics so her class next year will be ready to continue in a 25-year-old tradition to do the so-called English Play.

“Also,” adds Yuki, “I really enjoy practicing singing and dancing.”

One of the advantages for this group is that many students like Miki, Asami and Yuki are well-drilled in musical skills. More than half of the entire class of English majors are involved in this play, and so far everyone I’ve heard can sing accurately. I’m sure many can sit confidently at a piano. Asami, who has been playing for seven years, can knock out the melodies, chords and warm-up scales with easy confidence.

Makes me wonder if a Ryudai English major is a special breed of entertainer, as if those willing to acquire the language skills aren’t also known as the type who enjoy attention. When I posed that to several of the classmates, though, they found no connection.

This is just something that English majors do.

More on that later as I keep studying the weekly mechanics in producing the English Play.

Rewards on Independence Day: The brave 36 students in my course...

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 12:42:00 +0900

Rewards on Independence Day: The brave 36 students in my course in American Culture & Society competed in a July Fourth test of recall dubbed the Americana Quiz, and these are among the best at trivia recall.

The winning question: How many Americans would be joining in outdoor barbecues during the Fourth?

Answer: 75,000.

Here are the two teams that tied for first, holding the individual wrapped chunks of chocolate cake that went to winners. Not sure if you see the designs, but the boxes came with dual flags: one with an outline of Okinawa, the other with the Stars & Stripes.

We divided up by state names. Just a coincidence that two West Coasters won.

Washington: Arata Shimabukuro, Yuka Yamashiro and Shun Endo.

California: Tsubasa Aragaki, Saya Nakama, Yasuyuki Tokuda, and Maiko Yogi.

Not everything we study qualifies as trivia, of course. The deeper questions are reserved for the exams.

These winners, by the way, approved of this blog fame.

Are We There Yet? Mining the Minutes to London

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 18:27:00 +0900

For those ready for your next big heaping spoonful of media spectacle, the countdown has reached 16...

Learning by Staging: Among the many methods for learning...

Sun, 01 Jul 2012 11:49:00 +0900

Learning by Staging: Among the many methods for learning English, here is a dramatic one: Perform an American musical.

The second-year English majors here already are committing long days to rehearsing for a single presentation of Grease in late December.

Saturday afternoon, I sat in the back of a classroom in the music education building admiring the students as they worked on lyrics and complex choreography for the show’s finale, “We Go Together.” (See following video.)

We’re for each other
Like wop baba lumop a wap bam boom.

That’s Wakana, a fluid dancer, in the top photo. She plays the female lead, Sandy. Middle left: Producer Keeshond seemed happy with choreography progress, along with Ayami, who is on the dance team. Middle right: Ken is focusing on becoming Danny Zuko. Botton left: A busy student’s English tools. Bottom right: A moment of fun during stretching.

No doubt this group is working hard — and working together.

Don’t think we’ll see the actual performance, since we’re returning to North Carolina in another month. But I’ll follow the preparations eagerly because this is perhaps the most energetic activity I’ve discovered at Ryudai in my year as a visiting lecturer.

I’m lucky to have taught and met some of these students, and they’re generous to welcome me to observe, shoot video and take notes. Hoping I can develop this into a decent study of language learning. Of course, it’s more than that, and I’ll try to explore related themes.

The English play is a longtime tradition here. The second-year majors do almost all of the work themselves, including set design. One of my former students will be in the tune “Greased Lightning,” and he is perplexed about how to construct a hot rod that can roll across the stage and yet be stable (and flat) enough for the guys to leap on during the song and dance.

It can’t be a real car, obviously, but it needs to look like one. The guys have to pay for it themselves. There is no school budget for this. Here is one version of the car from a professionally staged play in Orange County, California. Our students will need to settle for a bit less.

I’ll be posting more on this later and introducing you to some of the student-performers.

See if you can learn this in your spare time: Students work on...

Sun, 01 Jul 2012 11:10:00 +0900

See if you can learn this in your spare time: Students work on sit-down choreography for the song “We Go Together.” See post above for more on these students from the University of the Ryukyus as they prepare to stage the musical Grease.

We’re one of a kind
Like dip di-dip di-dip
Doo-bop a doo-bee doo
Our names are signed
Boog-e-dy boog-e-dy boog-e-dy boog-e-dy
Shoo-by doo-wop she-bop
Chang chang chang-it-ty chang shoo-bop

(Songwriters: Jim Jacobs & Warren Casey)

Send out the clouds: Leading meteorologists are declaring now...

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 14:57:00 +0900

Send out the clouds: Leading meteorologists are declaring now that the rainy season has ended in Okinawa. That’s nice. In the past few weeks, if not forever, we’ve had buckets of warm, splashy, mold-inducing rain. The bottom photo offers a glimpse.

I shot the blue-sky overlook of the University of the Ryukyus campus from the fourth floor of my academic building, one of a cluster of general education halls. The light-colored building on the far right is part of our group.

The structures at left are used by other departments in the School of Law & Letters. The white building with red roof in back is a nice conference center. Next to it, center-right, is the administration building where I have yet to stroll. The darker building on the right is the library.

This week, our air has been brilliantly clear and, of course, sharply hotter. We see blue again above us. Last night, we saw stars. Been awhile for them. They’ve been ditching class. See more weather photos in the next blog post.

Each year, a set of boat races occurs in the southern port city of Itoman to mark the expected end of the rainy season and to offer prayers for safety and big harvests for the local fishermen. Click here for more on this. This year, bingo. The races fell on the first sunny day. Remarkable.

This is still typhoon season, of course, and it is the sub-tropics. But for the past three days, at least, the windshield wipers have taken a rest and the apartment balconies are blooming with clothes, blankets and floor mattresses hanging out to absorb sunlight.

I’m being followed by a sun-shadow: The rain is gone but...

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 14:10:00 +0900

I’m being followed by a sun-shadow: The rain is gone but not the umbrellas. They serve a new purpose now, shaping shadows to help holders to dodge the heat rays. Staw hats work too.

Shot these about 10 minutes before noon today, when the light cut sharp geometric designs on the ground. Interesting to see how well the umbrella-holders stayed in the shade.

Apologies to singer Cat Stevens (‘Moonshadow’) for my sub-head.

World of perspective: Sunday was Kevin’s final aikido...

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 14:04:00 +0900

World of perspective: Sunday was Kevin’s final aikido event before we depart. Timing was excellent because on this date the sensei from dojos around the island assembled in the Budokan in Okinawa City for a regional session with wise advice and chances for students to qualify for higher levels of accomplishment.

The top sensei in the region (lower right, beside photo of founder Ueshiba Morihei) in the region reminded everyone of the higher principles that connect the physical and spiritual dimensions. For instance, artful practitioners develop the skills to pivot and turn so their movements open a 360-degree view of their surroundings, their world.

This should be both a physical and metaphysical perspective, he counseled. Along with surveying the environment, a skillful person also can try to comprehend a full, circular view of events, attitudes and responses that perhaps have shaped the immediate situation. Once that is achieved — once everyone’s concerns are absorbed — threats may subside.

Aikido, he explained, thus seeks a balance and harmony in that space where the urge to act violently is removed.

The discipline, physical practice and knowledge have been healthy for Kevin, who incidentally passed his test. He also savored a last day sharing the mats and practicing moves with his two fine sensei and two other similarly-aged mates from the dojo. (Most other students are adults.) In the group photo, the two adults are his teachers, wife and husband, who patiently guided him the past several months.

The two boys have become trusted pals. They’ve promised to stay in touch to sustain the harmony and a little more balance.

Just a little wheel longer: Kevin will be sitting on this bus...

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 10:50:00 +0900

Just a little wheel longer: Kevin will be sitting on this bus for a short two more days before Okinawa Christian School International finishes for its school year.

We live quite a distance from the school, so he has been riding an hour in the morning and another hour in the afternoon most of the time. I’m not sure he’ll miss the bus so much, but he has declared several times that he’s sorry to see the school year end.

He has made good friends, enjoyed his teachers (as well as the small class sizes) and done very well academically. I could brag more, but that’s enough.

OCSI operates on an American-type school schedule because, I suppose, so many of the parents are affiliated or retired from the U.S. military activities here on the island. The schedule fits those who must connect with American schools, including other Department of Defense sponsored schools around the world.

Lots of fathers of Kevin’s classmates are retired, but they’ve stayed here either with civilian jobs or because of family connections. The one point almost all OCSI students share is this: Their moms are Japanese.

Thus, OCSI is an international school with an interesting (and logical) thread of homogeneity.

Meanwhile, my university chugs along on the normal, Japanese schedule. We’re moving into Week No. 10 of a total of 17 weeks. Final exams end in the second week of August.

Evidence about Okinawa: This rear-view photo may not astonish,...

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 09:47:00 +0900

Evidence about Okinawa: This rear-view photo may not astonish, but it tells a lot about what we are experiencing in our part of the island. To wit:

— In this typhoon-famous location, concrete is the answer. Most every structure is built to endure lashing winds. Here we see a new home going up, with another interesting concrete design behind it. And a ubiquitous concrete-block fence and power poles, too.

— As residential roads go, this is relatively wide. It’s also new, hence new construction. Not so long ago, the hilltop that used to be here was, well, lopped off in favor of new housing. We’re in a developing neighborhood.

— Where no buildings rise, grass and weeds do. I think that says it all.

— For those monitoring our 13-year-old’s progress, you can note that he is now much taller than his mom. They were the same height when we arrived 10 months ago.

— The ocean is never far. That light blue on the horizon is Nakagusuku Bay.

All on display: Rows and rows to appeal to the crowds. At the...

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 09:30:00 +0900

All on display: Rows and rows to appeal to the crowds.

At the Castle cake shop not far from our place, the choices for a slice of leisure can be overwhelming.

Baseball players have many tones and colors to pick through at a sporting goods store. The leather gloves are enviably well-made, with thick and lasting cowhide. But they come at a price. Most of these gloves go for around $300.

Also lined up in rows were the members of the Ryukyu Golden Kings, the recent champions of the professional basketball league in Japan. They made a victory appearance to sign autographs at our favorite Aeon shopping mall (where Kevin takes his Sunday aikido classes).

The Kings were good. We watched a few games on TV, including the playoff rounds. They played the best team ball in the Basketball Japan League. See this story. When you mix tall imported talent with quick local guard play, the result can be sublime or it can be an ugly mess, with five guys trying to score on their own, with too many American guys yapping immaturely at the refs.

The Kings figured out how to pass and play defense. And how to keep their heads. They earned this crowded moment to be on display.

Click on photos for larger, sharper images.

Bowing for baseball: At the end of the game between my...

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 09:01:00 +0900

Bowing for baseball: At the end of the game between my University of the Ryukyus (blue and white) and Okinawa University, players and umpires lined up to bow in their ritualistic gesture of sportsmanship and respect. Note the team captains, next to the umps, are striding forward to congratulate each other on behalf of their teams. Ryudai won.

These are called club teams. They are run and coached by players themselves. No paid coaches. This system teaches leadership and keeps down costs. It’s all done for the love of the game and for the glory of identifying deeply with teammates.

We see the Ryudai guys out practicing on the campus field all the time, most every day. Sometimes Kevin and I play an active game of catch — active for him, at least — outside the fence. The guys have been generous to let us use the practice pitching area, the bullpen, to give Kevin a chance to work on a mound.

They run serious practices. Plenty of spirit. And they play skillfully.

One sophomore player, Nakaima Kenshi, took my American Culture course last semester, and we meet still every week to work on his English. He drove in on a Sunday recently to work with Kevin on his baseball skills. Great fun watching Kenshi taking grounders with such fluidity and making lightning throws to first base.

His advice: When taking grounders, don’t stop moving. Stay in a flow. Charge and slide feet and stay balanced. If you plant and wait for the ball, you can’t adjust.

The players are diligent about caring for the field. During this game, which was played in the large stadium in Naha (where the Yomiuri Giants practice in February), uniformed players from both teams grabbed tools and groomed the field — even re-applied the white foul lines — during a sixth-inning break.

Memo to students: You can do anything.

2020 Olympics down to three: You probably saw the news by now...

Sun, 27 May 2012 11:42:00 +0900

2020 Olympics down to three: You probably saw the news by now that the International Olympic Committee has narrowed its candidates to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games to three: Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul.

Doha, Qatar, and Baku, Azerbaijan are out.

The final selection will occur on Sept. 7, 2013 — more than a year from now.

Given the local interest in Tokyo, and my background with the Olympics, this blog will try to keep track of developments. For now, at least, we can inspect the latest twists in the story and, of course, highlight the logos. Click on the graphics for better views of the logos.

A few links:

This story from the Associated Press is the most informative and well-researched I’ve found so far on the IOC’s decision. The story ran in Business Week. I also saw it on the Sports Illustrated website.
In Japan, the Yomiuri Shimbun, the largest circulation daily newspaper in the world, offered this follow-up story on what Japan must do to win the bid. For starters, it needs to generate a lot of electricity now that all of the country’s nuclear-powered plants have been taken offline as a safety response after last year’s quake and tsunami.The IOC’s vetting process weighs the reliability of the power supply.
Winning the nod to host an Olympics Games requires exhaustive research and effort. No surprise that cities contract for massive public relations activities. Tokyo has signed a deal with Weber Shandwick. Here is the story.
For the story of Tokyo’s logo featuring a cherry blossom, see this story in Tokyo Weekender.
Madrid’s new logo, meanwhile, has drawn much local criticism, partly because organizers rounded the top shapes and lopped off the bottom of the original version, which was supposed to show “M20.” Now critics say it looks more like “20020.” Here’s the story from a British paper, The Telegraph.

I’ve added the before-and-after graphics of Madrid’s logo. I like the text choices in the newer version, but I’ll bet the bottom of the older version returns.

As for Istanbul, I couldn’t find a larger logo than a stylized city name on its website. I suppose a logo will arrive with a great splash sometime soon.

I also included the rather logo from London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro’s clever design of fluid, celebrating dancers — no doubt the samba — for 2016. Far superior.

If you want to review the official sites of the three cities, click on them here: Tokyo, Madrid, Istanbul. You can tell quickly that these sites are conforming to the formatting requirements of the IOC. But we’ll see far more glorious, interactive sites soon. We always do.

I admit to obvious interests in seeing Tokyo succeed, but my aim is to cover the developments as an open analyst, without tilting too favorably toward Tokyo.I’d be happy to cover or watch the games at any of three cities.

More on Futenma: Thoughts from a think tank

Sun, 27 May 2012 10:57:00 +0900

Here is a new article arguing that local unhappiness over the presence of U.S. military bases on...

Not the moon: We saw the moon on the sun this morning in...

Mon, 21 May 2012 08:15:00 +0900

Not the moon: We saw the moon on the sun this morning in Okinawa, a solar eclipse.

Had the usual clouds blocking much of the view, but the sun burned through a few times. Misako shot this from our balcony.

The tide is high today here, too, with these celestial bodies lined up above.

For much more, including maps of the route of the eclipse, see Eclipser. And here is another site about the eclipse in Japan. Lots of interest here because, according to media reports, this is the first time in 932 years that people all over Japan could see a solar eclipse, clouds willing. (People in certain regions could see an eclipse, but not entire country.) TV networks have dedicated their morning programming to the phenomenon.

The sun looked so moonlike here, it reminded me of the old Ricky Nelson song, It’s Late.

“Look up. Is that the moon we see? Can’t be. Looks like the sun to me.”

Lyrics by Dorsey Burnette.

No worries if you missed this one. Another full (or annular) solar blockage will be coming right up, in June 2030 around here. Just eat healthy.

Developing peace: Where to stick a helicopter base

Sun, 13 May 2012 20:30:00 +0900

With the 40th anniversary of the reversion of Okinawa to Japan coming up Tuesday, we’ve seen...

Reading quiz: What word on the sign in this cool cafe is...

Sun, 06 May 2012 11:12:00 +0900

Reading quiz: What word on the sign in this cool cafe is written in English? And what do you think this says about the use of foreign words in Okinawa?

Actually, there are two words, right? Can’t overlook the ‘or.’ That next circled word (ワィン) means ‘wine.’ 　

Nice handwriting. I love the hand-made signs here. Cheers to that.

Abide with the tide: With the tide out and the rain absent for...

Sat, 05 May 2012 16:34:00 +0900

Abide with the tide: With the tide out and the rain absent for a change, we stepped out on the well-walked reef area along the local coastline to see the sea.

Next time, we might opt for better-gripping footwear than flip-flops, but we slid over the stony surfaces well enough to avoid the living corals and to enjoy close-up views of tide pools and reef life. Misako discovered everything from half-hidden crabs to patterned shells with intact tenants. We watched dozens of the bright blue damselfish scooting through the currents.

The normal on-reef activity around here is not studying sea life so much as angling to eat it. We were outnumbered by those with long poles to fish out a little something for dinner.

The division of leisure: This is the interlude in springtime...

Sat, 05 May 2012 15:58:00 +0900

The division of leisure: This is the interlude in springtime Japan called Golden Week when folks usually earn a few days off work and families aim for some shared if scripted fun. We strolled down to Nishihara Beach, an impressive human-constructed swimming and playing area, to seek some poignant scenes.

The water was crowded and shallow in the one spot where swimming was allowed. Too shallow actually to swim. The photo doesn’t reveal this, but at least three-quarters of the beach area was off-limits, even for dipping a toe into the water. And it’s always off-limits. But kids had much else to hold their fascinations, from rows of coin-fed toy dispensers to large dishes of shaved-ice delights.

You can notice in the photo that lifeguards have strung nets around the swimming area to protect people from any encroaching threats, such as jellyfish. This can be reassuring. Still, there is some logic that yet evades me, such as why on one of the sunniest, busiest days of the outdoor season, so much of the beach area was closed. Maybe they need more nets.

Or why, for instance, officials warn people not to snorkel in open waters because of the danger but also don’t allow snorkeling inside the nets, even on days when no one else is swimming. Liability is a possibility. But why waste all of that inviting sand on a spacious beach if you don’t want people to use it?

My best guess at an answer: Playing in the water is supposed to be an activity for kids, and kids don’t need space, nor should they be snorkeling. Snorkelers, who are mostly non-local, should go pay a lot of money to tour operators to boost the local economy, and that satisfies the business people who influence government policies.

Click here for a letter to the editor of the Japan Times from an unhappy tourist in Okinawa on exactly this subject. I just found it after writing this item. Guess I’m not the only one questioning this policy. I agree with his point that forcing visitors to pay for snorkeling tours is eventually going to hurt, not help, the tourist economy.

The local thinking goes like this: Once people reach, say, age 16, they really shouldn’t want to swim anymore, anyway — except eventually to watch their kids once they’re parents. Everyone else should act like adults and get the portable barbecue warmed up for cooking. The division of labor, and leisure, is well prescribed here.

Makes me wonder what people who run beaches here think when they see video of middle-aged folks surfing or snorkeling in Hawaii. Must think them shameful renegades. Or that Hawaii must be awfully chaotic.