When I woke up this morning and staggered into my kitchen, I found a dead cockroach in the middle of the floor. Pumpkin was unconcerned, but to be fair, he’s not allowed in the kitchen during the night.
Anyway, I really hope it’s one of these scenarios: It died from old age (not likely given how it looked), dropped dead because it had too much of my blackcaps, or it committed suicide (is that a thing with roaches?)
If it was neither of these, then there is probably another HUGE hunting spider hiding out in my kitchen. Or it’s worse, and I have mukade centipedes lurking somewhere…
In other news, I’m pretty busy with some writing assignments right now, hence the short post. Don’t worry, I’m otherwise fine, please hold off from the “are you still alive” emails for a while.
Yesterday was Obon, or rather, Kyoto’s Daimonji fires. On five mountains surrounding Kyoto, huge bonfires are lit to send the ancestors back home to the netherworld after their visit to Earth.
For the first time since I moved here, I went to see the Daimonji. Not to the very best spot – that would be too crowded – but just down to the river, where the large “dai” is clearly visible, if a bit from the side. (Old photo below.) As a bonus, I also got to see the two neighboring fires, the “myo-ho”, which are always a challenge to see fully because they are pretty low on their mountains.
Even though I’m not religious, watching the fires light up is always moving, and I can’t really say why. And I’m not the only one who feels this way. This time, I’ve seen people folding their hands in prayer while looking at the fires, and even small kids are less boisterous than could be expected otherwise. It’s a good feeling, almost like we’re all a big family, united before something bigger, whether we call it god or nature or just death, maybe.
It was drizzling when I was out, and today we had a couple more showers, so I guess summer is over or at least will be taking a back seat for a while. Pumpkin has already started to climb onto my office chair and tuck in behind my back sometimes, but he seems to get too hot rather quickly, so he goes back to sleep underneath my desk.
Sorry for going AWOL for a month. I was very busy during Gion Matsuri with lots of appointments. Now the festival is over, I’m busy catching up with all the things I didn’t have time for in July. And we’re in the middle of a heatwave to boot, so things are going slower than usual as well.
Even Pumpkin, who is an elderly gentleman and doesn’t move with much vigor in general, takes it super easy these days. He’s now trying to find the coolest spots in the house to sleep in. Sometimes that’s under my desk. Sometimes that’s in my office’s oshiire. And sometimes it’s … I have no idea where. He does come when I call for him, though. Sometimes.
In other news, my new residence card has arrived past the due date for renewal and telling banks and other official places that yes, I am indeed legally here again, please don’t shut me down, took less time than I had feared. Now that I’ve been through the process once, I’ve learned a few things that will help me keep my cool in case there are more delays in the future.
I will try to keep posting here in summer regardless of all the things I need to do – including staying cool. Just in case I can’t, don’t worry, I’m just busy with all kinds of stuff – I’ll keep you posted when I have something to show for it.
As my visa is up for renewal in mid-July, my immigration lawyer and I usually start the procedure in late May. Last year, it took only two weeks from application to approval.
This year, when nothing had happened by the end of June, I started panicking. Apparently, since last October, the visa procedures have lengthened considerably, and some of the reasons cited are increased applications and reduced staff at the Immigration Offices.
By now, the Immigration Office publishes average waiting times every month: For a business visa like I have, it’s currently 37 days; an application for a permanent visa can take up to 18 months, three times as much as when I first came to Japan and looked into this.
And there is nothing you can do about it, they simply say “please wait until we get back to you…”. Obviously, this makes sense, since answering emails or calls that just want to know how long it will still take will delay the process even more. Still, it is frustrating, even knowing that there is a grace period of two months after the expiration of the visa, where the (former) visa holder can stay in the country while waiting for a response from the Immigration Office.
Anyway. I’m glad to report that my visa was extended yesterday, less than a week before its expiration. Waiting so long became quite stressful, and now I’ll have to wait for another two weeks until I get my new residence card. Let’s hope things will get better next time I have to apply for an extension of my visa.
To complement last Wednesday’s post, let’s talk about another ubiquitous Japanese summer accessory: Handheld fans.
The first use of hand fans can be traced back 4000 years to Ancient Egypt; already Tutankhamun cooled himself with those – or rather, had slaves who thus laboured for him. In China, fans were invented around the 8th century BC, and from there, they eventually made it to Japan. Old tomb paintings from the 6th century AD count as the oldest depictions of fans in Japan currently known, but it’s conceivable that they were used much earlier.
At that time, all fans were rigid ones, nowadays known as uchiwa. Just like today, they were often made from silk or paper and became lavishly decorated. Nowadays, people wearing kimono stick their uchiwa into the back of their obi when they need their hands free. This makes these fans very popular with advertisers; sadly, these versions are usually made of cheap plastic.
Trust the Japanese to take a foreign concept and improve upon it: The folding fan is a truly Japanese invention. Some time between the 6th and 9th century, the so-called akomeogi was created by tying thin strips of wood together. These fans could be quite large – about 30 cm in length – and were intended for ladies of the court. The number of blades an akomeogi could have was dictated by the rank of its owner, and soon, sumptuary laws had to be passed to curb excessive decorations.
In the 16th century, sensu folding fans were introduced to Europe by Portuguese merchants, and while they were seen as a must-have fashion accessory for a long time, their popularity has declined greatly in the West.
However, hand fans were always more than just fashionable accessories to keep cool. In fact, the heavy akomeogi were rather unfit for that particular purpose. Instead, they helped their owner to hide from unwanted advances – or to send encouraging messages to more appreciated recipients. From the beginning, fans also had ritualistic uses in shinto ceremonies. One of these has been handed down (no pun intended) through gunbai – a military leader’s signal fan – all the way to modern sumo referees.
Speaking of ritualistic use, I must mention tea ceremony, of course. The tiny sensu there are never opened, yet are important in demarcating one’s space at various times during the ceremony.
And then are all the traditional Japanese performing arts where folding fans play a leading role. From noh and kabuki to Japanese kyomai dance they convey formalized emotions. In rakugo they are the only prop besides tenugui towels, and the harisen, a giant paper fan, is made only to hit people with in manzai comedy.
As I said above, hand fans are still an important accessory here in Japan. Sensu from fabric or paper come in thousands of different designs and make for perfect souvenirs. Fans entirely from bamboo create a lovely sound when used, and the large fans used in Japanese noh turn into decorative items. Whatever you go for, whatever you do with your fan – the choice is yours.
Summer has arrived in Kyoto, and it’s been blistering hot the last few days, a few showers here and there notwithstanding. From now until the end of next week at least, we’re looking at 37 degrees with bright sunshine every day. Thankfully, the nights are cool enough, so sleeping is still possible. However, the heat itself is exhausting, even Pumpkin, who now spends his days hidden deep in my office cabinet, looks more sleepy than usual. And the kids next door who usually pitch baseballs back and forth for hours every day are not venturing outside right now either.
Although I’d like to do the same, I do have to go out regularly, to work, to go shopping for me and Pumpkin or to simply escape to my favourite library. While I try to avoid the heat of the early afternoon, it’s not always possible, and to my chagrin, I have made a rather painful discovery: My nice 10 mm hairstyle, cool(ing) as it is, does not provide much scalp protection…
As a remedy, I have two options: Go full-scale Japanese lady and use an umbrella. Or buy a sun hat. Since I’m very much a hands-free kinda girl and umbrellas are really cumbersome on a bicycle, I decided on a sun hat.
Interestingly, finding one was surprisingly challenging: First, I need one small enough so I can wear it on the bicycle without losing it, but still big enough to provide some protection for my neck. And second, I seem to have a surprisingly small head (I’m talking circumference, never mind my ego) compared to the average Asian. And it’s true: I have old photos where my small face stands out among all the Koreans around me. I wonder if that’s me or if that’s a general thing…
Anyway, after some looking around, I found a good sun hat of the right size and proportions. Believe it or not, this is my very first such purchase after living in Asia for 16 years! And the best part of it: I got it for just 300 yen in a second hand shop. So, from now on, I’ll be wearing a sun hat on my trips to the grocery store and the library. Give it a bit more time still, and I’ll blend in perfectly with the locals!
A mother buying strawberry cakes for her son who died years ago. An old lady harvesting strangely shaped carrots from the field where she buried her husband. A lost woman stumbling into a museum of torture. A Bengal tiger dying in the arms of his caretaker. A mistress killing her lover when he doesn’t want to leave his wife…
This is a collection of 11 dark tales that are all connected with each other, and center around death. Together, they create a tapestry of connections between characters, showing how much our lives intersect and how we are influenced by the people surrounding us, whether we know them or not.
Yoko Ogawa was born in 1962, studied at Waseda university, and became a medical university secretary. After her marriage, unbeknownst to her husband, she began writing. She won the Kaien Literary Prize for her debut novel in 1988, and has since written more than 50 works. She has also won many prestigious literary prizes, among them all major Japanese prizes, as well as international awards.
Ogawa skilfully connects the stories through characters and places, but the reader has to do some work to see this. Give it a try and get the book from amazon.
This afternoon, I took a break and went to see a woodblock print exhibition with my friends. One of them exhibited her latest prints, and we were very surprised that they were so much more colorful than usual.
It was a special event because the teacher (whom I’ve also known for many years) was there to comment on some of the prints. Because it was quite technical, I didn’t understand much of it, except a comment about perspective.
Anyway, we sat and chatted afterwards for a while to make it a nice afternoon.
Sorry for being quiet. I’m working on a large (writing) project that takes up most of my time. I hope I can post some progress here soon, but until then, my focus is elsewhere. Sorry ’bout that.
Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of BATI-HOLIC: after the free concert on May 18 mentioned earlier, there was another one last Friday. Not only did they play for 60 minutes, which is rare outside a solo concert, but they also presented a brand new song with lots of sing-along potential! I hope they’ll play it again next time on June 11. In other words: three concerts within less than a month (and another one on the horizon at the end of June)
This recent surge in my BATI-HOLIC fangirling prompted a friend of mine to ask, “But, isn’t it boring?”
On the one hand, I get where she’s coming from: They only have two CDs out, with a handful of additional songs, and they do play current favourites, both the band’s and the audience’s. So yes, on the surface, it does get a bit repetitive.
On the other hand, BATI-HOLIC only play two or three solo shows every year (the next one is in July.) Except for that, they share the stage with other bands, sometimes only one, sometimes as many as five or six if they play at a festival somewhere.
That means: Whenever I go to a BATI-HOLIC concert, I am automatically introduced to new bands and artists. This gives me the opportunity to learn about Kansai’s indie music scene, even though not all of them fit my taste. And besides the music, I’m getting to know new people, which is also a good thing and one of the reasons I started going to concerts to begin with.
