The Sport of Jūdō 柔道

Jūdō (柔道), literally "gentle way" is a martial art founded in Japan by Kanō Jigorō (嘉納 治五郎) in the late 19th century. It mainly involves throwing and subduing one's opponent. Striking and weapon defenses are also taught, but these aren't used in competition or sparring.

Judo has evolved much over the years and is now an Olympic sport (my aunt was once in the Olympic judo team!). A referee judges the match and makes all scoring and penalty calls. If needed, he will call "sonomama" which means "do not move" and may discuss some element of the match. He will then call "yoshi" which will restart the match.

The object of a judo match is to score one point, or ippon (一本). This can be scored immediately by throwing your opponent on his or her back, or by subduing your opponent with a choke or armlock. It can also be scored if you keep your opponent on the mat off his or her feet for 25 or more seconds.

A waza-ari counts as half a point and is awarded for a throw that does not have quite enough power or control to earn an ippon, or for keeping your opponent on the mat for 20 seconds.

A yuko is even lower than a waza-ari and is mostly used for tie-breaking. It is awarded for a hold of 15 seconds, or an even weaker throw. A waza-ari beats any number of yuko, but a waza-ari with yuko beats a waza-ari without yuko. No number of yuko can make an ippon.

The lowest score is a koka, and is only used when both players have equal waza-ari and yuko. One yuko beats any number of koka. A koka is scored for even weaker throws.

Penalties can be issued by the referee. The first is a warning, the second is a yuko for the opponent, the third is a waza-ari for the opponent, and the fourth is an automatic ippon for the opponent.

日本語 の キーボー ド

Japanese keyboards are in QWERTY format just like the English-language keyboards we’re all used to. The Japanese can use their keyboards to type in both ローマ字 (romanji) and 仮名(kana). Writing in Japanese on the computer however is much more difficult in Japanese than it is in English. The biggest reason for this is because there are very few “character” or letter possibilities in English, whereas in Japanese there are hundreds of characters causing complications.




Katakana and hiragana don’t tend to pose too much of a problem to type on the computer, but kanji is a bit trickier, as there are far more kanji than there are keys on a keyboard. To input kanji on modern computers, the reading of kanji is usually entered first, then an input method editor (the process is pictured below) or front-end processor, shows a list of kanji that are possible phonetic matches.

すも

Sumo wrestling is an ancient sport that originated in Japan. A sumo match takes place inside of small, circular arena. The object of the match is for one sumo to push the other outside of the ring. Surprisingly, sumo is a sport shrouded in ancient rituals. These rituals are based in the Shinto religion. Today, sumo wrestlers are known as gendai budou (げんだい　ぶどう） or martial artist and are very popular and famous, similar to MLB and NFL players in America.

Cultural Note: カプセルホテル

My cultural note is on a concept that originated in Japan. Though, it is now in other countries, it has not become as popular as it has in Japan. Capsule Hotels have become a a very cheap way for travellers or locals to spend a night in a hotel.

They range from anywhere between 2000-4000 yen. That is roughly $20 to $40 American dollars. The reason Capsule Hotels are so cheap is because, as the name suggests, you stay in a capsule. The dimensions are around 2mx1mx1.25m. And they are made from either plastic or fiberglass. The capsules are stacked on top of each other and next to each other. There are stacked two capsules high.

Though, they are small, they still have some modern conviences in them. Such as television, internet, or some kind of electronic console. The one thing that the hotel owners ask that the people do not do is smoke or eat inside. Most likely due to cleanliness or the health risk it could have on the people.

Of course the capsules are too small to have any type of restroom of sorts. So there is a communal restroom set up. There is privacy between the capsules. There are curtains or a fiberglass door. The hotels also may provide a yukata for the person spending the night.

The first capsule hotel was the Capsule Inn Osaka. It was designed by Kisho Kurokawa and located in the Umeda district of Osaka. It opened up on February 1st, 1979 and the rooms only cost 1600yen.

Culture Note: 芸者（げいしゃ）

芸者（げいしゃ）are traditional, female Japanese entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.　The word consists of two kanji, 芸 (げい) meaning "art" and 者 (しゃ) meaning "person" or "doer". The most literal translation of geisha into English would be "artist" or "performing artist". Another name for geisha used in Japan is 芸子（げいこ）, which is usually used to refer to geisha from Western Japan, including Kyoto.

Apprentice geisha are called maiko (舞子＜まいこ＞) or hangyoku (半玉＜はんぎょく＞), (meaning that they are paid half the wage as opposed to a full geisha), or by the more generic term o-shaku (御酌＜おしゃく＞), literally "one who pours (alcohol)". Maikos' white make-up and elaborate kimono and hairstyle is the popular image held of geisha. A woman entering the geisha community does not have to start out as a maiko, having the opportunity to begin her career as a full geisha. Either way, however, usually a year's training is involved before debuting either as a maiko or as a geisha. A woman above 21 is considered too old to be a maiko and becomes a full geisha upon her initiation into the geisha community. However, those who do go through the maiko stage can enjoy more prestige later in their professional lives.

Tokyo geisha are more likely to start at 18 years old for hangyoku, so on average, Tokyo hangyoku are slightly older than their Kyoto counterparts.

Throughout history, geisha often began the earliest stages of their training at a very young age, sometimes as early as at 3 or 5 years. The early shikomi (servant) and minarai (watching apprentice) stages of geisha training lasted years, which is significantly longer than in contemporary times.

It is said that geisha and courtesans inhabit a separate reality which they call the karyukai or "the flower and willow world." Modern geisha continue to use this term. The courtesans were referred to as the colorful "flowers" and the geisha were the "willows" because of their modest, strong, and resilient nature.

Wikipedia

the famous movie :the Memoirs of a Geisha 小百合＜さゆり＞
, which is acted by three famous Chinese actress and Japanese actors and actreses.

パンダも木から落ちる！

two main religions

The two main relgions of Japan are Shinto and Buddhism; with shrines basically resembling the shinto and temples representing buddhism. Shinto means way of the gods and also does involve formal structure of rules. Shinto religion involves the belief of there being gods everywhere in nature, in such places as forests, mountains, and rivers. These represent good and bad spirits.

Buddhism was inherented from china during theKamakura period in which its Nara kanji was derived from. Buddhism revolves around the path to self liberation in which the three jewels are followed. 1.)Dharma=the teachings. 2.)Sangha= the community. 3.)and the Buddha.

Culture Notes: Jump Magazine

The ジャンプ, or the“Jump” Magazine line is published by 株式会社集英社, (Shueisha Inc.), which is a major publishing company in Japan. Shueisha’s first attempt at creating a manga magazine was “おもしろブック,” (which literally means “funny book”) and a magazine for girl’s manga called “Soujo Book”. Following Soujo Book’s success, Shueisha created a “Shounen” version aimed at a boy demographic. “Shounen Book”, while it was still in publication, ran several historically famous mangas (Speed Racer, for example). In the middle of Shounen Book's publication, Shounen Jump was created, making Shounen Book a special issue. Eventually Shounen Jump became a weekly magazine and Shounen Book was discontinued. Jump’s magazine line today includes it’s weekly magazine Weekly Shounen Jump (週刊少年ジャンプ,), It’s monthly magazine Jump Square or Jump SQ (ジャンプスクエア)and V Jump (ブイジャンプ,) which is magazine all about new manga and video games based on popular manga. Jump also publishes a series of Seinen manga aimed at young adults/men. Jump’s magazines are aimed at a male demographic, but are also popular among female fans.

Moku Hanga (木版画)

Japanese woodblock printing, called moku hanga (木版画), began in the 11th century in Japan as a way for Buddhists to record sutras and mandalas. Mass production was not possible until a movable-type press was brought back from Korea in the last 1500s. The first secular and mass-produced print was the Setsuyōshū (節用集), a Chinese-Japanese dictionary.

From this, not only was literature made, but art. The first type was Sumizuri-e (墨摺り絵), or "ink-printed pictures". These pieces were made by drawing an image, laying a piece of wood over the image, and cutting the wood into the shape of the picture. This wood piece would become the print, and after applying ink, the artist could make as many copies of his art as he or she wanted.

Here is an example of sumizuri-e: http://japaneselanguageculturefood.com/graphics/culture/japanese-culture-woodblock-printing.jpg

Later, colored ink would be introduced, some orange, some red, some blue. My favorite is aizuri-e (藍摺り絵), or "indigo-printed pictures".

Here is my favorite aizuri-e piece: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/White_Falcon_in_a_pine_tree%2C_woodblock_print_by_Sawa_Sekky%C3%B4%2C_13.5_x_7.75_inches.jpg

Eventually, moku hanga began a whole new genre of visual art, called Ukiyo-e (浮世絵), which literally means "pictures of the floating world", because artists would normally depict the vivid natural landscapes of Japan. The most famous is "Kanagawa Oki Nami Ura" (神奈川沖浪裏,) or "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" by Katsushika Hokusai from his series 26 Views of Mt. Fuji.

You can probably recognize it immediately: http://math-art.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/the_great_wave_off_kanagawa-small.jpg

Japanese Population

The population of Japan is approximately 128 million people. During the 20th century- Japan experienced a high increase in population although it has been slowly declining ever since. Both birth rates and immigration have been decreasing for the last 10 years. One of the main factors of Japan's great population is their high life expectancy. The average japanese citizen lives to about 81 years of age, making it one of the highest life expectancy countries. 95 % of Japan's population live in urban areas with only 5% among the country side. Population rates have became a serious issue in Japan's future; If the population does not continue to grow then their economy may face serious threats as well as its social stability. It is estimated that 1/4 of the population of Japan will be over 65 in the year 2030.

Bullet Train (しんかんせん)

The bullet train, called shinkansen (しんかんせん) in Japanese, is one of the fastest mode of transportation in Japan. The earliest shinkansens were in use by the early 1870s and play a huge role in daily travel. These trains aren't called bullet trains for no reason. The some of the lastest models have a clocked speed of 300 km/hr or roughl 180 mph. Not only are these trains fast, but also very punctul. A shinkansen is considered to have arrived late if it arrives even 1 second after it was scheduled to be at a destination. According to amphi.com, the average lateness of a shinkansen is about 24 seconds. For most of us, we would consider that to be on time.

日本語2 Cultural Note ギャル - Yamamba

ギャル in English is translated to the word 'gals'. The word is taken from a popular jean company from the 1970s. The word can be used in many ways to describe many different types of females in all different times of their life. The particular style I am going to talk about is the Yamamba style.
Yamamba style is very... 'odd' so to say. But, if you try to compare it to how girls dressed in the 80s in the USA, it's not that much more odd. From what I have seen in pictures and have read online, the girls pretty much try to be as flashy as possible. They wear these very bright colors for makeup and often have their face painted with either white or silver color. They can also use a rub-on tan to make their skin look very, very dark. Their hair is usually dyed blonde or another bright color. Such as orange or pink. And of course, their clothes are just as bright.
So, if you are walking around Japan and happen to see a group of girls dressed in such fashion, don't run. Take a picture.