Gaikokujin Smash!

~The subtitle of this blog reads, "Follow the adventures of a clueless Gaijin as he blunders his way across the Land of the Rising Sun." As you're probably aware, the word gaijin is the generic Japanese word for a foreigner, but I'd like to go into a bit more detail on what the term means.

"Gaijin" (外人) is a compound of two different sounds, "gai" (外) and "jin" (人). "Jin" simply means "person" and can be used to denote nationality; for example, "americajin" is an American. "Gai", however, is a bit more complex. According to my kanji dictionary, it can mean any of the following: foreign, outside, other, remove, undo.

The upshot of all this is that the word "gaijin" indicates an outsider, which is easy to understand when you consider the group-mentality common in Asian cultures such as Japan. As I've written about before, foreigners make up only a tiny percentage of the Japanese population, and the Japanese government is not keen on allowing more gaijin to move here.

However, in an etymological sense, gaijin is actually short for the longer word gaikokujin (外国人), which contains an additional kanji that makes the word more accurate. The "koku" sound in gaikokujin is another way of reading the kanji kuni (国), which means country. Hence, gaikokujin indicates a person from another country (a foreigner), rather than the somewhat more sinister "outsider" that the term gaijin may possibly connote.

Kuni (国) was one of the first kanji that I learned to read and write. More importantly, it's one of the few that I actually remember without any difficulty, because I learned the history and meaning of the symbol, rather than simply trying to memorize the way to write it.

玉 ---> 国

^ As you can see, the kanji kuni (国) has another kanji, jyu (玉), inside of it. This kanji for jyu means "king", and, as my Japanese teacher explained to me, it's supposed to look like the jewelry worn/displayed by Chinese emperors as a symbol of their authority. Note that kuni is simply jyu with a box around it; the box indicates territory or a boundary of some kind. Hence, kuni symbolizes the boundaries of a king's authority: a country.

Another phonetic reading of kuni is koku, so gaikoku (外国) means "foreign country". Add a jin (人) on the end, and you get "person from a foreign country". A bit more polite than simply "person from outside", isn't it?

At the school where I work, the term gaikokujin sensei is used to refer to foreign teachers, and almost all of the parents use this more polite form of address. One parent seems oblivious and always talks about the "gaijin sensei", which cracks me up, although I know she doesn't mean anything negative by it.

While the term gaijin is thrown around all the time in Japan, there are signs that its usage may be fading. Recent letters to The Japan Times have advocated phasing out gaijin in favor of gaikokujin, discarding "gaijin" as a xenophobic relic of the past comparable to the term "Jap" once used by Americans to refer to the Japanese during World War II.

Frankly, I don't really care either way. Even if the words change, the attitudes will remain the same, for good or ill. Besides, "Gaikokujin Smash" just doesn't have the same ring as "Gaijin Smash". ~Oyasumi!

The Façade of Civilization

~Something a bit darker than usual for today, I'm afraid. Ever since I saw this picture a few days ago, I've been mentally debating whether or not to post it. Anyway, here it is:

July 21, 2005 | A security guard’s daughter screamed after her father, Jalil Shaalan, was shot by gunmen outside a Baghdad school compound yesterday. (Photo: Hadi Mizban / AP)

Mr. Shaalan was a security guard employed to protect a school in Baghdad. He was gunned down by unknown assailants right in front of the school; that's the rest of his family on the right crying over his body.

Outside of the heavily-fortified Green Zone, Baghdad continues to suffer from extreme violence that has, if anything, become even worse since this picture was taken almost two years ago. Ever since the U.S. invasion, the city has been in chaos, and I doubt a "surge" is going to fix much.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I'm guessing that you probably haven't seen pictures like this from Iraq. But you should. Because as a tax-paying, voting citizen of the coalition, you are a part of this, whether you want to be or not.

I work at a school. I have a lot of students who are about her age. Form your own conclusion. ~Oyasumi.

Colossal Squid

~In recent cryptozoology news, fisherman off of Antarctica bagged a "colossal" squid 33 feet long and weighing a staggering 990 pounds!

The scientific name of the squid is Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, and it's the first adult specimen ever captured. A younger specimen, thought to be a teenager, was caught in 2003 and weighed 330 pounds.

This is not a creature you want to meet while out for a swim. It's tentacles are over 30 feet long and have razor-sharp, barbed hooks that can spin 360 degrees. It's eyes are the size of dinner plates (the largest eyes of any living creature), and it's mouth has a parrot-like beak undoubtedly capable of shredding flesh like paper. This nightmarish killing machine is described as capable of "mauling a sperm whale" (a.k.a. Moby Dick).

Fortunately, colossal squids are extremely reclusive and live only in the deepest parts of the ocean, which accounts for the rarity of humans finding them. Even today, little is known of the species, which is why this discovery can help shed light on the squids' life cycle.

Of course, we'd best not run around hunting colossal squid just to perform scientific research. We don't want to anger That Darn Squid God or his non-Euclidian counterpart. On the other hand, think of the seafood potential: one squid expert remarked that calamari rings made from colossal squid would be the size of "tractor tires". ~Oyasumi!

The Search for Snow

~Seasonally, it's the middle of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, but today I was comfortable in a T-shirt. This led me to believe that something nefarious is going on in Nagaoka. Yes, that's right, all of our snow has been--stolen!

^ The workers at this institution must be bored out of their minds this year.

But perhaps my intuition had failed, and there really was some snow around here. To gather data, I went for a long bike ride up into the mountains, searching for any snow that may have survived the brief flurries over the past few weeks.

^ My search first took me to Suyoshi, a village at the foot of the mountains. I say "village" rather than "godforsaken hamlet in the middle of nowhere" only because I'm feeling charitable. The truth is that Suyoshi was, on a Monday afternoon, as dead as the proverbial doornail. There are no visible shops, save a small convenience store that was closed (making it an InCon, I suppose). I saw no children playing. I saw exactly four cars. The only people were elderly citizens performing home maintenance.

I felt even more out of place than usual.

^ Despite the lack of...well, anything, Suyoshi did hold a few surprises for me. I came across this torii gate to add to my collection.

^ There are also several small temples in the village. This one is tucked into the foothills against the mountains. The contrast between the bright sun to the left of the temple and the dark, impenetrable mountainous forest to the right, combined with an utter lack of people, was a bit unsettling for me.

^ A closeup of the statues on the left side of the temple steps. I wonder why they're all wearing red caps?

^ The Nagaoka ski area is located near Suyoshi. As you can see, it's not terribly popular at the moment. Actually, as I found out when I got to the entrance, it's closed. I can't imagine why.

^ I rode past the rope barrier and up into the ski area. The first actual snow I came across was here in the parking lot...next to this one very lonely-looking car in a vast field of empty asphalt.

^ The ski area looked almost exactly the same as it did the last time I was here. The only difference was that there were even less people than before. It was completely silent and, to be honest, a bit creepy. I quickly proceeded farther up the mountain, but encountered more blockades indicating road construction, so I had to withdraw.

^ Up on the slopes I found what seems to be a recreation area of some kind. Either that or part of a boot camp. Like everywhere else on the mountain, it was completely deserted.

I am forced to conclude that our snow has indeed been stolen. I can't confirm the culprit, but I do have my guesses about where our snow went. Anyway, here's a panoramic image of the mountains around the ski area (please click on the image to get the full picture):

[Reminder: the "Cleativity Contest" is still open.]~Oyasumi!