Author: Iris

Visa Relief

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.

Folding Fans

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.

File source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:36_shonosuke_1.JPG

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.

Sun Protection

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!

Revenge

Yoko Ogawa

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.

Woodblock Print Exhibition

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.

Boring?

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.

So, no: not boring at all. Sorry to disappoint.

Ring

Koji Suzuki

cover for "ring" by Koji Suzuki.

When news reporter Kazuyuki Asakawa’s 17-year-old niece and three of her friends die from a sudden heart attack at the very same time, he is determined to get to the bottom of it. He traces the strange coincidence to an eerie video the four watched one week before their deaths, which told them exactly what would happen – unless they perform a certain task.

This part of the video, however, has been erased, and Asakawa and his friend Ryuji race against time to find out what they need to do to save their own lives. When Ryuji dies unexpectedly, Asakawa have to make a final choice between whom to save: his family or mankind.

I borrowed this book from the library without realizing that it had been made into a horror movie in 1998, eventually spawning an entire franchise. I don’t usually read horror (or romance), but this book is very light on the genre elements and does its trick without blood and gore. However, a dark presence looms throughout, and once Asakawa and Ryuji take the video’s threat seriously, the pace never slackens. I would rather call this “thriller with supernatural elements” than outright horror, and I don’t regret picking this up.

Koji Suzuki was born in 1957 in Hamamatsu near Tokyo and majored in French at Keio University. After holding a number of odd jobs – one of them writing books on child-rearing sharing the expertise he acquired as house husband taking care of two daughters – he published his first novel in 1990. Rakuen (Paradise) won the Japan Fantasy Novel Award, and Ring was made into successful movies both in Japan and, eventually, in Hollywood. Suzuki is often called the Stephen King of Japan. When he’s not roaming Japan in his RV, he lives in Tokyo.

If you’re in for a suspenseful thriller at the edge of the horror genre, get this book (or the whole series) from amazon.

Weekend Project # 8

It got rather warm the last few days, and I’ve switched out bedding and clothes and shoes to be prepared for when summer hits for real. Interestingly, I never liked going barefoot indoors. When I grew up, we had carpets everywhere, and walking on them barefoot felt unpleasant. So, I wore socks throughout the year, in appropriately varying lengths and thicknesses, of course. In Japan’s summer, however, socks are too warm even for me, but there is a solution: zori.

Zori are traditional Japanese straw sandals resembling flip-flops. People, especially the poorer ones, would wear them outdoors when going about town, for longer travels everybody wore waraji, also a type of straw sandals, but a different design that could be tied securely to the feet.

These zori are surprisingly sturdy, especially when worn only indoors. I wore the same pair of zori for the last three summers before the edges disintegrated, and I left little pieces of straw all over the house. But since they are so cool, not to mention comfortable, I decided to go with the trend and make my own – from old T-shirts.

I followed the instructional video I posted a while back, it explains all the necessary steps. I made one major change to the design: instead of the PP rope as suggested, I cut up an old bedsheet and made a braided rope for the skeleton of the zori. Technically this means that my version is fully washable, if this is advisable, I’m not sure. In any case, here’s the result, next to my old straw zori:

The colour combination turned out very nicely, and I’m quite happy with the result. One mistake I made is not cutting the T-shirt strips wide enough. Three centimetres seemed fine at first, but when stretched according to the instructions, they become quite thin, so weaving the base took ages.

Also, the red fabric I used for the straps may turn out a bit too dainty, but since I made the zori myself, I know how to replace them when the time comes. Theoretically, at least.

Finally, they turned out slimmer than I had hoped, but I think that walking around in them will take care of that problem in no time.

On to the next project!

The World is Always…

Sorry for missing the post yesterday, I was kinda busy going to concerts. Yes, several, on a single day!

Yesterday, starting around noon, was the 11th edition of the “The world is Always…” (いつまでも世界は…) music festival. This year, there were more than 120 bands and solo artists performing in 21 venues throughout Kyoto’s inner city, including on the square before Kyoto City Hall.

According to the main organizer, Marmoru Nishijima (from “The Six Bullets”), his goal for this free festival was

I want people who don’t know music yet to listen to music.

So, technically, with my ongoing BATI-HOLIC obsession, I wasn’t really the target group for the festival, but I went anyway, and so did many other fans, and lots of people who wanted to try out something new (according to what I’ve seen on x/twitter).

I wasn’t really up for running around all afternoon, so I made my choice of three bands beforehand, all of which I had seen before:

Yuukai Kenchiku from Kyoto play what they call “Multi-Dimensional rocK: sublation of complex rhythm and simple melodies.” I would call it instrumental rock music where a flute is responsible for the main “vocal” of each song; there are also drums, guitar and bass, and a piano. Two years ago or so I saw a full solo concert, and I enjoyed it very much. Sometimes, instrumental music can get a bit monotonous over time and you get bored, but not here. Yuukai Kenchiku – it means “Melting Architecture”, btw. – have plenty of variety that even a 2-hour concert stays fresh and invigorating throughout.

Next on my list was So-on-g, Kyoto’s “Noise Temple”, founded 30 years ago. They play what I would call 70s glamour rock, and the band leader Nabe-san, complete with wig, make-up, and enormous legs (he’s tall even by Western standards) definitely fits the bill. They played at the Kyoto MUSE, one of the larger venues, and it was pretty much full house with lots of dedicated fans who knew all the songs already. The atmosphere was fantastic, it always is when there are many fans around. And I’m sure that even newbies to So-on-g got a kick out of Nabe-san coming down into the crowd during one of their last songs. I wasn’t one of them (newbies, I mean), it was my second time seeing them and hopefully, not the last time.

And finally and of course: BATI-HOLIC, Kyoto’s, no: Japan’s one-and-only taiko drum rock band! They were on after So-on-g, but most of the crowd changed in between. I was a bit worried that there wouldn’t be many people, but the place filled up nicely just before the concert started. However, except for two of my friends, who were standing in the front row with me, I didn’t recognize any other regulars. Then again, BATI-HOLIC often play in Osaka, Nara, and Kobe as well, and I’ve never been there.

I enjoyed myself, as usual, but I’ve since found out that the band weren’t 100& satisfied with their performance yesterday; maybe that’s because leader Nakajima-san was also involved in organizing the festival and was too stressed with other things? As for me, I was perfectly happy, although I would’ve appreciated if they had played longer than just 30 minutes…

Most bands only played 30-40 minutes concerts, and there was just as much time in between them. I guess that was so that visitors could move between the venues without missing (too much) of the fun, and also the bands had to set up their equipment and do a sound check that was longer than usual. Not to mention that they had to clear out the backstage areas, which seems to be tiny pretty much everywhere…

Anyway, I had a fun time yesterday, and I’m looking forward to the 12th edition of “The World is Always…” next year. And who knows, I may even find other bands I’d like to watch more of until then!