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#bullet train to niigata
beardedmrbean · 3 months
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Jan. 1 (UPI) -- A powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake rocked western Japan on Monday, likely killing two people, as tsunami warnings issued earlier in the day were downgraded to advisories.
The earthquake struck about 26 miles northeast of Anamizu in Ishikawa prefecture, along the Noto Peninsula.
Authorities initially warned that tsunami waves could be as high as 10 feet along the Sea of Japan coast but the Japan Meteorological Agency later downgraded all of the tsunami warnings to advisories.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters emergency personnel are working to assess damage from the earthquake so far.
"In response to the M7 earthquake at Noto region in Ishikawa prefecture, we have immediately set up the Prime Minister's Office of Response, Disaster Counter Measure HQ," he wrote on X.
"Putting human lives as a priority, we are making every effort to assess damages -- putting forth all efforts in disaster response. For those in affected areas, please pay close attention to the latest information and place personal safety as your priority."
The quake shook buildings in central Tokyo, while local police on the peninsula reported two people were found showing no vital signs. The central government also confirmed six separate incidences of residents trapped alive in under collapsed houses in the area.
The earliest waves measured about four feet along the Noto Peninsula and around Ishikawa and Niigata. Some have been identified as far north of the Hokkaido Prefecture.
It marked the first time Japan has issued a major tsunami warning since 2011, when a 9.0-magnitude quake struck Tohoku, causing catastrophic damage from deadly tsunami waves.
Officials suspended bullet train service while Japan Airlines and Nippon Airways canceled all fights in the western region. Western Japan hospitals reported power outages but there were no confirmed numbers of possible injuries from the earthquake so far.
Strong aftershocks, ranging from 4.0 to 5.0 magnitude came in a rapid-fire succession of 21 incidents in central Japan, according to the JMA. The country's nuclear authority said there was "no risk of radioactivity leaking from nuclear power plants" in the affected areas.
Japan sits in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where many tectonic plates meet, causing a constant threat of earthquakes that has led it to develop one of the world's most sophisticated tsunami warning systems.
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redheadinjapan · 2 years
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My First Week(s) in Japan as a JET
Well, this was supposed to be about my first week in Japan, but the first week has quickly turned into the first weeks. It’s strange to think I’ve been in Japan for almost a month. Part of that is because the first week was so different, between orientation and traveling, but time also flies when you’re trying to adjust to a new location, new schedule, new everything. What does time matter when your first classes are tomorrow and you barely know what you’re doing? So, here’s a quick look at my first week(s) in Japan as a JET.
I started off the move with whatever the opposite of a bang is. Right as we were rushing to the airport, I learned my flight had been delayed, first by several hours, then later by nearly a day. While it was nice to have the extra time to spend with people and double-check my bags, it also put us behind schedule. None of us knew what this would mean for orientation, since we hadn’t heard much about it to begin with. It turned out our two-day orientation got cut to one, with the work we missed assigned to be finished in the next couple of weeks. While the orientation touched on many important topics like Japanese law, teaching English to young kids, and disaster preparation, we missed a lot due to the delay and jet lag. However, the time did give us the chance to set up a phone number or get pocket wifi from phone companies at the hotel. Plus, they also had currency exchange machines, which was good for anyone like me who hadn’t been able to change all their dollars to yen. I could do a whole post on the Tokyo orientation–and probably will later–but after our extra short stay, we were headed to our placement towns.
Though everyone started in Tokyo, we were all ultimately going to various locations across the country. Based on our placement location, we met in the lobby at a specific time so they could help us get to our transportation. Some people took planes, others trains or ferries. I took the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Niigata City, the last stop on one of the lines. A representative took us to the train station and made sure each of us got on our trains. My trip was only an hour and a half on the fast train that makes fewer stops. Naturally, I managed to lose my ticket on the train (I forgot I needed it to get out of the train station when I arrived, or else I would’ve looked harder), so the person from the Board of Education who met me at the station had to talk my way out. That same person helped me get my bank account and apartment set up, buy some necessities (like a futon), and visit my schools over the next few days.
Because of our late arrival since they staggered the groups as a COVID precaution, I started classes the day after I went to visit all my schools. Normally, JETs arrive during the summer and spend some time working at their schools before the students come back at the end of August. This gives you a chance to meet the other teachers and work on your self-introduction lesson. However, that might differ for early arrival JETs who arrive in April and JETs who get upgraded after the main groups leave. For me, the timing meant that I was thrown right into classes with students and teachers I didn’t know. My first week(s) in Japan as a JET were a little bumpy, and I’m only now starting to feel like I have a grasp of what to do. I did get lucky that my first day started with a free period and my second day was largely free too due to sports day practice. It gave me more time to get ready.
My first week(s) in Japan as a JET have flown by. I’m growing more and more used to everything, but I still have a long way to go. Right now, I’m still mostly doing self-introductions or pronouncing words and checking spelling. I’d certainly like to get more involved in my schools and student activities, but for now, I think it’s okay if I take my time. It is, after all, an entirely new–well, everything!
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seiin-translations · 3 years
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2.43 S1 Chapter 5.3 - Stand By Me
3. FAKE
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Kuroba and Haijima hit the big city~
Translation Notes
1. Tohoku is the northeast portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan and consists of Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Hokuriku is the northwest part and consists of Ishikawa, Fukui, Niigata and Toyama
2. A school with an escalator system is one where the school allows you to advance from one stage of education to the next without having to do entrance exams; these kinds of schools are usually private schools
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He could feel the train shaking, but his consciousness seemed to be clouded.
So noisy… The noise around him grew louder, his consciousness, which had been drifting just below the thin film of his dream, popped to the surface. The sounds of people talking in the distance suddenly became clear in his ears. Passengers began to hurriedly move about, returning seats and tables to their original positions and unloading luggage from racks. For a moment, he thought they were in Maibara, but they were supposed to have already passed Maibara and transferred to the bullet train.
I feel kinda…sluggish…?
After he fell asleep and woke up, he suddenly felt sluggish. I felt somewhat tired before getting on the train, but there’s something strange about this… His whole body felt faintly heavy, like it was covered in a leaden shell.
And then the thing he was resting his head on suddenly disappeared, and his entire upper body slumped to the side.
“Ow…”
His temples throbbed where earpieces of his glasses dug into them. One side of his neck muscles was stretched out and stiff. He screwed up his face as he pressed his neck and saw Kuroba’s back in front of him.
“Wow. We’re really in Tokyo. Wow…”
Kuroba leaned toward the window and shouted with child-like glee, and he could see the smoggy sky beyond his head. The skyscrapers in the city center shone in the pale sunlight. The in-train announcements announced their arrival at Tokyo, the last stop. The train temporarily separated from the dazzling cityscape and slid into the neutral-colored platform.
“…Wait, Tokyo!?”
Haijima pushed Kuroba’s back aside and quickly raised his heavy body.
“Why didn’t you wake me up at Shinagawa?”
“Shinagawa? That’s not Tokyo.”
“I told you we’re getting off at Shinagawa. It’s closer from there.”
“Yeah, but the tickets said Tokyo, right?”
“It says ‘Within the wards of Tokyo.’”
“…So, that’s Tokyo…?”
In all probability, Kuroba didn’t have the Tokyo transit map in his head, so there was no point in engaging with him.
He pulled his bag down from the rack and headed for the doors, pushed by the waves of passengers getting off one after another. As he stepped onto the platform, he felt the air flow and realized how stagnant the dense air inside the train had become. It was the first time in a long while that he felt the air of Tokyo. The air filled with the body heat of people in close quarters definitely wasn’t clear, but the sluggishness eased a little when he breathed in the outside air.
Although he wasn’t nearly as provincial as Kuroba, Haijima hadn’t used Tokyo Station much, so he was bewildered. However, they would cause congestion if they stood in place too long. He started walking before looking for the information board, thinking that if he followed the flow of people, he would soon reach the ticket gates for transferring to the non-conventional train lines.
“Hey, don’t leave me behind. I’ll cry if I get lost here. I’ll definitely get lost.”
“If you get lost, turn on your phone. I’ll call you.”
“I never exchanged my email address or phone number with you. I didn’t get a phone until I was in high school.”
“…Is that right? Then, let’s do it now…”
Passersby roughly pushed them out of the way as they were standing in their way talking. He stumbled back two steps, but when he turned around, he saw that Kuroba had disappeared into the crowd.
“Kuro…”
He was overwhelmed by the scenery that zoomed past before his eyes and froze.
He felt as though the world around him was moving at a speed of 1.3 times faster than he was used to. The pace of the people around were extremely hurried, and the train station announcements sounded high-pitched and rapid. He didn’t feel like that when he lived there before, but he wondered if the world had accelerated in the two years he had been away—he felt like he was going to get thrown from this swift current by centrifugal force, and he was subconsciously looking for something to cling to.
Suddenly, his bag was yanked from the side and he was pulled back into the crowd. He felt the strap digging into his stomach and almost threw up, but it kept him connected to the world. He unintentionally let out a sigh of relief.
“I told you not to leave me.” Kuroba was gripping the strap tightly. Well, he’s the one who has a miserable look on his face like a little kid pulling on his mom’s skirt.
“I didn’t leave you…”
I was the one who thought I was left behind for a moment.
***
“Meisei Academy – High School”
The name of the school was engraved in a ceramic board set into the brick wall.
It was just after school, and the open school gates spewed out students in uniforms with the somewhat pretentious designs typical of private schools. On the grounds of the school, they could see students from athletic clubs dressed in jerseys forming large and small groups and coming and going in whichever directions they wished.
If they had gotten off at Nanafu Station this morning and gone to school as usual, they would have finished their day of classes and gone home by now. It had taken them a whole school day to get here. It might have been closer than he thought, or it might have been farther, because a whole school day of classes was quite painful for him.
“This school looks like it could be the setting for a drama. Private schools in Tokyo really are different.”
Kuroba said in a stupid voice, after opening his mouth stupidly and gazing at the school building towering over the gates. Haijima didn’t know how to feel about that impression, since he rarely watched TV dramas, but standing in a corner of a crowd of uniforms with a distinctive color scheme of dark red and grey, he felt like Seiin’s uniform of just a white shirt and black pants really did seem extremely simple. Some carried non-designated bags or backpacks, but the majority carried the dark red school bag on their shoulders.
“The skirts are shorter than I thought. The way they wear their uniforms are different too. What the hell are Itoko and the others copying?” Kuroba muttered as he watched groups of Meisei girls passing through the school gates.
Then, those girls turned to look at them. “Whoa!” Kuroba was startled and leaned towards him.
The girls started chatting with each other and giggling as they pulled on each other’s uniforms that were worn in a different way and looked at them. Haijima felt a chill in the pit of his stomach.
“H-Hey, those Tokyo girls are looking at us. They’re kind of talking happily. Do you think we might be standing out a lot? Maybe that girl over there thinks I’m cute? What should I do if she’s saying something like that?”
He took another look at the girls’ uniforms from behind Kuroba, who was losing his mind and whispering into his ear, and secretly let out a breath. They weren’t in the same year as him—the Meisei girls’ uniform had ties for the middle schoolers and ribbons for the high schoolers, and the school years could be distinguished by the color. He remembered that his own year was dark blue. The ribbons of those girls were dark green. That was probably the third years’ color. If they were two years above him, they probably didn’t know about back then.
Why did I think they were talking about that just because they looked over here and laughed…more than I expected, I’m…
“You know, I got a sense of it when we arrived here, but we’re pretty tall even in Tokyo.”
“Kuroba…I…might be nervous.”
He muttered that in a hoarse voice, and Kuroba’s face turned serious again like he just remembered.
He was trembling slightly, as though the ends of his body were numb. The feeling of stepping on the ground felt light and fluffy. His throat was unusually dry. He didn’t think his body would react like this when he stood before the gates of Meisei—he had never been nervous in a volleyball game.
“…Haijima, you’re not turning back, are you? You understood and came this far, didn’t you?”
It wouldn’t have been strange if the usual Kuroba told him that he could turn back if he didn’t want to do this. He might have been hoping for that somewhere in his mind. But the slightly harsh voice encouraged him.
“I’m the one who spurred you on. I’m not going to make a way out for you. You’re fine with that, right?”
“…”
He nodded. He remembered that, didn’t he.
“Excuse us!”
They heard a voice in the distance. He didn’t think it was calling them, but Kuroba looked back at the gate with a “Nnn?” and Haijima was influenced to look up as well.
“Sorry we’re late, you’re from H High, right? The captain told us to come welcome you…”
Two boys came running towards them from inside the school. They looked like they were from a sports team with their matching T-shirts and knee-length track pants, and both of their heights were in the 170 centimeter range, which was taller than the average height for boys. However, rather than their heights, he guessed that they were volleyball players because of their builds that gave the impression that they were stretching lankily upwards, and they probably judged them to be the same for the same reasons. He could clearly see the logo “MEISEI VOLLEYBALL TEAM” printed across their chests.
They came running up to them in a friendly manner, but seemed to realize they had mistaken them for the people from H High because of their different uniforms, and they immediately looked suspicious.
“Huh? Sorry, which school…”
One of them was about to say when the other boy next to him spoke up.
“…Chika?”
The only people who called him by his childhood nickname were his acquaintances from his elementary and middle school volleyball days in Tokyo. The name itself now sounded like an accusation to Haijima, and his heart twinged. “Huh? Ah…” The boy next to him also stared at his face, and then exclaimed, “Seriously!? It is Chika!”
“…Tetto and, Kou…?”
Haijima called the names of his former teammates.
Komukai Tetsuto and Ikawa Kou. In middle school, their positions were libero and reserve setter respectively. It was no surprise to him that they made it this far. The school had an escalator system, so about seventy percent of the students came from the middle school division. In addition, athletic team students generally participated in the same club activities in both middle and high school. One of Meisei Academy’s selling points was the long-term development of athletes through an integrated junior and senior high school system.
“You’re here to watch us practice, right? I knew you’re still doing volleyball. There’s no way Chika would quit volleyball.”
Komukai took the initiative to speak as he led the way down the tree-lined path towards the gym. The unexpectedly cheerful welcome left Haijima bewildered.
“Go tell everyone, Kou. Chika came to hang out.”
“Isn’t practice about to start? And what are we going to do about the people from H High?”
Ikawa pulled out his phone while sneaking glances at Haijima. Unlike Komukai, he could read a hint of hesitation in Ikawa’s voice.
Komukai, Ikawa, and Haijima walked side by side. Kuroba, looking out of place, walked several steps behind.
It was Komukai who first heard about Yoshino’s suicide attempt and told everyone on the team about it. Haijima also clearly remembered that Komukai was part of the outbreak of people who blamed him for it afterwards. What if I meet someone who knew about what happened at that time? …Will I be treated like a “murderer” again”…? He had been bracing himself for that, but he had no idea what to do with this reaction that made him forget why he even transferred to another school.
“I think I heard that the school you transferred to was in your grandma’s town, but where was it again? It’s in Tohoku, right? Are you going to high school there now?”
“Fukui’s not in Tohoku, it’s in Hokuriku. (1) It’s Fukui’s Seiin High School.”
Kuroba corrected him unhappily from behind. “Who’s that, your friend from there?” Komukai asked. Haijima answered him while looking over his shoulder at Kuroba.
“My high school teammate, Kuroba, …He’s my friend since kindergarten. …And our ace attacker.” Kuroba looked shocked, and he himself wondered why he had said it like they were separate items.
“Wow. Pretty amazing for a first year, ace attacker. I’m Komukai,” Komukai said carefreely, and Ikawa introduced himself with “Hello, I’m Ikawa,” while texting.
“I’ve never heard of Fukui’s Seiin. Are you guys strong?”
“Unh…we still don’t have any achievements yet, but we’ll get there.”
“Our team made it to the Kanto tournament this year, but we finished in the best sixteen.”
“That’s the power of the upperclassmen, you mean. Did you do anything?”
He interjected because he felt something off about the way he said it. Komukai, who had been talking smoothly, broke off. Ikawa looked up from his phone as though he was startled.
Komukai shrugged his shoulders as though he was exasperated for some reason.
“That part of you hasn’t changed at all.”
“…What do you mean by ‘that part’?”
“You know what I’m talking about.”
Unlike Seiin, Meisei didn’t have a shortage of freshmen on the bench. It was the efforts of the older students that got them to the Kanto Tournament, and he was sure that was why the older students were so disappointed that they finished in the best sixteen. The only people who could say “in the end” were the players themselves. He felt that there was something wrong about someone who hadn’t contributed to that talking in a self-depreciating way about it…was that wrong?
Suddenly, the back of his collar was grabbed and yanked hard. Haijima stumbled as Kuroba thrust his face between them and cut into the conversation.
“Hey, more importantly, is that Yoshino guy here today?”
“Yoshino? Oh, Yoshino Souta? Well, he doesn’t go here, but…he went some place near my house. You’re still in touch with him, right, Kou?”
“Ah, yeah, he went to a different high school.”
“What…but this place has an escalator system, doesn’t it?” (2)
“Yeah, but Souta quit the volleyball team.”
Ikawa timidly replied to Kuroba’s naïve question, and Komukai supplemented it. “It gets tough when you change clubs midway here. It’s perfectly fine to change, but it’s assumed that in high school you’d be staying in the same club.”
One step behind the three of them, Haijima was rooted to the spot like he had been thrown out of the conversation.
He’s lying, right…? Souta quit volleyball…?
He had just taken it for granted that he would be in Meisei High School’s volleyball team, and no other option had ever crossed his mind. When he thought about, of course there would be other options, but he never doubted that Yoshino would continue to play volleyball.
“…Was it, because, of that…?”
His voice became a lump and got stuck in his throat, causing him to speak in a strangely clumsy way. His vocal chords were blocked by something hard and he could only speak in chunks. He got these symptoms from time to time. The words hardened inside his body. Kuroba looked back at him and gave him a worried look. Komukai looked at Ikawa with a puzzled look on his face, and Ikawa whispered, “You know, Souta’s…incident,” while minding him.
“Incident? Oh, that—.”
Komukai lightly responded and scratched his head with a forced smile.
“I’m surprised, Chika, you still care about that. Uh, yeah, that doesn’t have anything to do with this, I think, because that was…what do you call it, a performance, you know? We did a lot of research on the internet to find out where you can cut and not be in too much danger. Half the team knew about it. Kou, you knew it too, right?”
“I, I didn’t know about it…”
“Souta’s not here anymore, so I can say this now, right? Well, we were talking about how no matter how dense Chika is, even he’d get it if someone died. Then we got excited and decided that someone should really do it and Souta volunteered. Well, even we were turned off when he really did it, but Souta probably couldn’t back down either——”  
…? What is he…?
He spoke so lightly that it slid smoothly over the surface of his ears before he could grasp the meaning of his words. What…is he talking about…? Is he talking about something that he can confess about with a half-smile like that right now? Komukai’s face was twisting and looking like a grotesque creature spouting unintelligible words. It’s disgusting——. Komukai’s face was twisting and looking like a grotesque creature spouting unintelligible words. It’s disgusting——.
A tall shadow flashed at the edge of his vision. Komukai’s slippery voice was cut short with a short cry.
“What the hell is that!? Is that true!?”
The one who grabbed Komukai’s collar and shouted that was Kuroba.
“Do you guys even know the difference between things you can joke about and things you can’t…”
“What’s it got to do with you? We didn’t think Chika would transfer to another school with just that back then…”
“With just that…!?” Growling that as though squeezing the words out from between his grinding teeth, Kuroba raised his fist.  
“Hey, what’s with this guy? Oi, Chika…” Komukai asked for help while covering his face with his arms. If I don’t stop him—even if he’s still suspected of fighting, it’s absolutely no good for him to cause trouble at another school. Are you saying that this is for you alone? Did it become like this because you want to be in a game? No…this is wrong, Kuroba, no—his voice was stuck in his throat and he couldn’t speak. He couldn’t move his body.
“Oi, what are you guys doing!?”
When a suspicious-sounding voice came flying from somewhere, he got impelled by it and somehow managed to step forward. He jumped at Kuroba while getting his legs tangled up and grabbed his arms. He shook his head slightly and appealed with his eyes to Kuroba, who ground his teeth in dissatisfaction. Kuroba clicked his tongue and loosened his hold on Komukai.
The wall of the gym could be seen at the end of the tree-lined path. Someone who appeared to be an older student on the volleyball team was standing in front of the metal doors of the entrance.
“Komukai, Ikawa? Where did you guys go! The guys from H High are already here, so there’s no point in making me go to welcome them.”
“Huh, really? Then we must have just missed them!”
While answering the angry shout with one of his own, Komukai tried to keep a distance from Kuroba, but Kuroba roughly grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. “What the hell?” he protested, but his voice was quiet and he backed off.
The upperclassmen looked at them warily, since they came into the school wearing the uniforms of another school, but when he saw Haijima’s face, he seemed to recall something and he turned back to the gym and said something. It was then that Haijima also recalled the name of that team member. His name was Tatsumi and he was one year older than him. In middle school, Haijima had been on the bench since early in his first year and became the regular setter when the third years retired. In the high school, the upper and lower members would have remained almost unchanged, so there were probably not a few upperclassmen who remembered standing on the court with him.
Some more members came out of the gym as Tatsumi called them. He couldn’t make out the conversation, but the words “Haijima” and “Chika” kept leaking out.
“What’s with them, they’re acting like you’re a panda in a zoo.”
Kuroba muttered, sounding like he was unable to clear away his anger.
“Don’t you know, they’re wondering who’s that guy who looks like a delinquent from the boonies over there.”
When Komukai said that snidely, Kuroba pushed his shoulder with an indignant look and shoved him away. As Komukai was trying to straighten his stretched-out T-shirt while grumbling, Kuroba made a gesture of driving him away with his foot.  Just when Haijima wondered what he was going to say,
“Go tell them that Haijima and Kuroba from Seiin High School, the representative of Fukui Prefecture, came to challenge Meisei High School!”
“Hah?”
Komukai cried out wildly.
“You’re challenging us? Are you stupid? Where the hell is Seiin anyways?”
“I really don’t like the way Tokyo people say ‘stupid.’”
He put his face closer to Komukai’s, almost hanging over him, to silence him and reiterated it in a tone filled with intimidation.
“Didn’t you hear me? We’re Haijima and Kuroba from Seiin High School, representing Fukui Prefecture, have come to challenge Tokyo’s Meisei High. Now, go.”
He half-kicked Komukai’s behind and made him run. Ikawa looked back and forth between them as he hurriedly chased after him. “Keh,” Kuroba mimicked spitting at their backs before turning to him.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
He said with a sigh. He didn’t know what kind of face he was making because the nerve in his face had gone off somewhere.
“I know. I know that we can’t commit violence. That’s why, if you want to beat them up, you beat them in a match. That’s the way in sports manga, right? Don’t tell me you’re just gonna slink back home like this, Haijima? After you…got looked down on like that.”
When the corners of his mouth lifted to show his canines and made a disturbed face that looked like a combination of anger and a faint smile—he had never thought this even once until then, but he discovered that he looked exactly like Kuroba Yorimichi.
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dannychoo · 3 years
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I took these photos at the end of Feb, but I never got round to sharing them. We have constantly been looking for travel destinations that have as few humans as possible during the pandemic. This usually involves traveling outside of Tokyo. This time we are in Niigata, which is a 2 hour Shinkansen bullet train ride north of Tokyo. These photos were taken around Echigo-yuzawa station where we got off to explore before taking another train to a nearby village. There was still a lot of snow, but the temperatures were comfy - probably because of the gorgeous weather. Yuzawa is a resort town in the Japanese Alps with a few ski areas but we were there to relax and enjoy the hot springs and lovely views. When Japan opens up again, do make a point of visiting places other than Tokyo and Kyoto. I've got a ton of photos to share, so I will do a few posts of our trip over a few days. Are there places that you enjoy visiting in Japan that are not big cities like Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya and so on? #tokyo #smartdoll #anime #manga #doll #fashion #3dprinting #fashiondoll #design #madeinjapan #japan (at 越後湯沢駅) https://www.instagram.com/p/CN2LZ3rh6Jf/?igshid=180hkz2vfgw98
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usotranslations · 3 years
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Regional Tours || Niigata || Shogi Club
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Guy: So Chigasaki plays games even at a place like this.
Itaru: Shinkansen[1] time is just LP drainage time.
Misumi: Does Itaru want onigiri~!
Azami: Where did you even get that from…
Taichi: It must be because Niigata’s famous for rice, right…!?
[1] Bullet train
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targetsports · 3 years
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Knights in White Lycra
Words by Susan Burton
Why a group of foreigners bicycle to Fukushima every year – and what this says about charitable giving in Japan
The Knights ride out from Tokyo on the Friday evening bullet train, their bicycles dismantled and stowed in the obligatory rinko carry-on bags. They overnight in Takasaki city in Gunma Prefecture and the following morning they rise early to begin their quest – to ride 500 kilometres in four days to the Aiikuen Children’s Home in Fukushima prefecture and to raise money for the 72 children who live there.
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In the peloton this year there are 42 riders from 14 different countries, ranging in age from 23 to 63. Twenty-six are attempting the ride for the first time. They are grouped together in seven teams of six, by experience, ability and willingness to stop for lunch. Each group is led by an able, veteran Knight.
Rob Williams (53, works in finance) is the Knights’ spiritual leader. In 2012, he and a group of fellow British expatriates were slumped disconsolately in the Hobgoblin pub in Tokyo staring at their beer guts. They concluded that they either needed to stop drinking or take up some form of exercise. They chose cycling because, “Brits are good at sport that involves sitting down.” There was also a more serious side to their quest. Following the Great East Japan Earthquake and nuclear disaster in March 2011, several of them had made repeated trips into the disaster area delivering emergency aid and public donations. But a year on, many places still lacked even basic necessities. One of these was Minamisoma, a city 25 kilometres north of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Minamisoma was partially destroyed by the tsunami and most of the surviving residents were forced to relocate outside the 30-kilometre mandated radiation evacuation zone. In April 2012, when the zone was reduced to 20 kilometres, some residents had been allowed to return but many still had no electricity, running water or medical facilities.  
That evening in the Hobgoblin pub, Rob and his friends decided they would cycle to Minamisoma to raise money to supply the residents of the city’s temporary accommodation with food and drinking water. Later in a karaoke bar someone stood up and sang the Moody Blues song, and the Knights in White Lycra (KIWL) were born. Their motto: get fit and give back.
Rob is also one of the ride’s team leaders this year. His team are strictly A to B cyclists, speeding to their destination in the shortest possible time. For lunch he allows them eight minutes to grab rice balls and Pocari Sweat drinks from the local convenience store.
Andy Abbey’s group prefer to stop for a sit-down lunch at a café or roadside noodle bar. Andy (British, 47, works in management consultancy) joined the Knights in its second year. Hours after the earthquake, a Facebook page called Foreigner Volunteers (now Foreign Volunteers Japan) appeared calling for contributions and helpers. Their first donation was a case of baked beans. When they had filled six two-tonne trucks, Andy and several other foreigners drove north. Recalls Andy, “Everything was just flat. It was terrifying.” The tsunami had swept away houses, cars and people up to 5 kilometres inland and 200 kilometres all the way up the east coast of Japan. Compounding the catastrophe was the nuclear radiation which was spewing from three exploded reactors and spreading unchecked on the spring winds and coastal currents. “It was very obvious that this was an unmanageable situation,” says Andy. Some foreigners went north only once, too traumatised by what they had seen to go back. Andy made repeated trips to the disaster areas. But he wanted to do more. He’s now a member of the KIWL committee.
Miho Inosaki (Malaysian-Japanese, works in public relations) is in Andy’s group. At 23, she is the youngest and least experienced rider and one of only five women in the peloton. She first encountered the Knights when she was tasked by her company Custom Media, one of the Knights’ sponsors, with filming their annual promotional video. Before becoming a ‘Knightess’, she had never cycled before and she averages one crash every third time she gets in the saddle. Within five minutes of picking up her new bicycle for this year’s ride she collided with a motorcycle. (During the ride, she somersaults over her handlebars and hits her head on a fence post.)
Egon Boettcher (New Zealander, 48, works in banking) leads another group and plans the Knight’s route, a difficult task due to Japan’s mountainous terrain and the fact that the ride takes place during the rainy season. Japan also has the world’s highest incidence of earthquakes, but the Knights have been fortunate. Earthquakes tend to strike in areas Egon has just left. This year, a magnitude 6 rattles Niigata two days after the Knights’ departure.
In previous years, the Knights had started their quest in Nihonbashi in central Tokyo but with heavily congested streets and numerous traffic lights it took more than three hours to clear the metropolis. Now they take the train and begin in another prefecture. This also enables them to vary the journey every year and to make it a challenge worth sponsoring. Tokyo is only 300 kilometres from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, a distance that has been imprinted on every Tokyo resident’s mind since the plant’s meltdown. (By comparison, Chernobyl is over 2,000 kilometres from London.)
On the first day, the Knights cycle from Takasaki to Yuzawa in Niigata prefecture, a distance of 55 kilometres in 27-degree Celsius heat under a sun unobstructed by a single cloud. The journey takes them through the Japanese countryside in early summer, past flooded rice fields sprouting green shoots and to a height of 1,200 metres, in sight of mountains from which the snow has yet to melt.
They spend the first night in the town of Yuzawa, in a mountainous region of Niigata prefecture known as ‘snow country’. Their lodgings, a resort called Twin Towers, is a complex of privately-owned apartments developed during the economic boom in the 1980s. More than two decades into an economic recession, many of the owners are unable to sell and now rent out the rooms to cover exorbitant maintenance charges. There are few guests in green season. Andy appears to have the 11th floor to himself. Egon rattles round a duplex penthouse that he learns was refurbished for the Emperor and Empress during the 1998 winter Olympics in nearby Nagano (but they never stayed there). “We never saw a soul who wasn’t with us,” says Egon. “It was like the Shining.”
On the second day, they pedal further north to Niigata city on the Sea of Japan along routes lined with lush spring greenery and across wide bridges spanning streams that will swell into torrents in a matter of hours. With the rainy season approaching, a searing heat reflects off the tarmacked roads and a thick, stifling humidity envelops the riders.
Rainy season arrives on the morning of the third day, bringing 50-kmh head and cross winds. Three riders are blown off their bikes on the 150-kilometre journey to Aizu Wakamatsu, where the riders ease their aching limbs in the steaming onsen (volcanic hot spring). In case of accidents, injuries and punctures, the riders are followed by two support cars. Padded cycle shorts and ‘bum butter’ are essential on the road. But a soak in a hot spring eases the muscles at the end of the day. And that’s one good thing about having so few women on the ride, notes Miho. There’s always plenty of room in the women’s onsen.
On the fourth and final day, the winds have blown themselves out but the rain continues to trickle down the backs of windcheaters and seep into microfibre shoes. The morning begins with a long climb to a plateau on which sits Lake Inawashiro, the fourth-largest lake in Japan, also known as the Heavenly Mirror Lake because of the glass-like clearness of the water. The sun reappears just as the riders reach the Aiikuen Children’s Home which is situated south of Fukushima city and, gallingly for the exhausted riders, at the summit of one of the ride’s steepest hills. As they round the final bend, the excited children are waiting to greet them, waving flags of the Knights’ home countries and stretching out their hands for high fives. “It was just a wonderful moment,” says Miho later. “Just this overwhelming feeling of emotion where you went, ‘Oh my god, that’s why we do it.’” The riders dismount and the children, aged from 2 to 18, rush up. They want to know all about the Knights’ road bicycles. One little boy tries on Andy’s cycling helmet. “He decided I was his best friend and would show me the children’s home,” Andy recalls. The riders are led by the children into the gymnasium where they sit cross-legged on the floor to listen to a speech of thanks.
Aiikuen was founded in 1893 by Uryū Iwako (1829-1897), an orphaned daughter from a merchant family who dedicated her life to the improvement of living conditions for ordinary people. Situated 49 kilometres away from Daiichi, the orphanage is outside the evacuation zone. But because it stands on a hill facing the plant, when the reactors blew, its seven hectares of thickly-forested grounds – sports field, campsite and lawn – were coated in caesium-137. The prefectural government paid to have Aiikuen cleaned, hosing down the modern concrete buildings, removing grass and chopping down trees. But hotspots remained and for several years after the disaster Aiikuen staff (like many parents in the Tohoku region) limited the children’s outdoor playtime. They also tested food for contamination and regularly checked the children’s health. The immediate danger may have passed but Aiikuen still needs more support, which the government is slow to provide.
Nationwide, only ten per cent of approximately 30,000 children in care are orphans. The rest have been removed from neglected or abusive homes or given up by families who are unable to care for them financially. Fostering and adoption remain rare in Japan because parents must give legal permission for their child to be cared for by someone else and for cultural reasons – predominantly loss of face – they are unlikely to agree to this. Adoption is registered on the koseki (the family register) which is a publicly available document, and the stigma of having an adoption in the family bloodline (suggesting an unplanned pregnancy or a lack of financial stability) can affect job and marriage prospects. Less than ten per cent of children in welfare are fostered or adopted. Most remain within the welfare system long-term (just under half live in children’s homes for more than five years), sometimes with little or no parental contact. They are termed ‘throwaway children’, trapped in a legal limbo until they must leave at 17 or 18.
The attitude of some Japanese towards marginalised and disadvantaged groups is not always sympathetic, and the needs of children in care homes is not an issue that many Japanese wish to look at too closely. Says Andy, “I think there’s a blanket assumption here that the government takes care of everything. That’s good in some respects because generally the government kind of does but when something goes wrong – and the Tohoku earthquake was a perfect example – the government literally couldn’t take care of everything. No government could take care of that. It was impossible.” This is why KIWL has focused its money-raising efforts on children’s charities, in particular grassroots organisations for whom even a small amount of money can make a big difference.
In the gymnasium, the children present the Knights with certificates of appreciation printed by Aiikuen’s Digital Citizenship Club on its laser printer. With little or no parental support, a university education is impossible for young people coming out of the care system and they risk falling into low level work in factories or the sex industry. One goal of Aiikuen is to educate the children in skills that may enable them to find fulfilling jobs when they leave, particularly in the technology industry. During the ceremony, word arrives that the Knights’ cycle ride has raised just over ten million Yen (£75,000) for YouMeWe, the charity which supports the home. It will help to pay for more computing equipment and training in digital skills such as coding and video editing.
Most of the ten million Yen comes from corporate sponsorship. The Knights’ major sponsors are the international companies for which many of the riders work. This year, alongside the Knights’ logo (a plumed helmet and a shield depicting linked hands) there are 26 sponsor names on the riders’ jackets including Netflix, World Family, Land Rover, Boyd & Moore Executive Search and Allied Pickfords, companies which reflect the transient nature of expatriate life in Japan. In western countries, sponsoring someone to do a sporting challenge is a recognised way of raising money for charity. Egon’s first sponsored event at age 8 was cycling round and round a school track on a Raleigh bicycle. But in Japan there is no concept of the sponsored event. When Miho asked friends to sponsor her they were confused. “I got questions like, ‘Why would I pay you to do sports?’” In Japan, charitable giving more commonly takes the form of volunteering in the local community and doing chores – such as managing rubbish collections, street cleaning and watching over elderly residents – for your neighbourhood association. “It’s not that there’s no charitable spirit,” says Andy. “It’s just expressed in a different way.” 3/11 was a disaster on an unprecedented scale and many Japanese reacted immediately, collecting donations from friends and neighbours and forming residents’ groups to travel to the disaster area to provide volunteer labour. But paying foreigners to bicycle there was perplexing. Toru Akiyama, one of the five Japanese riders and at 63 the group’s oldest Knight, had to work hard for the money he raised from friends and colleagues. “He had to explain individually, this is what a sponsored event is,” says Miho. One result of the Fukushima disaster is that the number of charities seems to be increasing along with a shift in understanding about the many ways that donations can be raised. The 500-kilometre sponsored ride is not the only sporting challenge the Knights take on. There are marathons, pub quizzes, golf, futsal and even motorcycling. Once a year Andy organises a walk around the Imperial Palace and gives participants a KIWL t-shirt in return for a donation. “And for Japanese people that’s much more manageable psychologically than sponsoring Egon to ride 500 kilometres,” admits Rob.
In the days after the disaster, it was noticed by the Japanese media that some foreigners (known as ‘gaijin’ in Japanese) were attempting to leave, heading straight to Narita airport which was – ironically – marginally closer to the nuclear power plant. They were termed ‘flyjin’ and accused of ditching Japan in its time of need. In fact, just as many Japanese fled to southern parts of Japan where they had relatives. Most foreigners didn’t have that option. And many, like Andy and other future Knights, were driving in the opposite direction, right into the disaster area and risking their health, if not their lives, in the process. Andy says he never breached the 30-kilometre evacuation zone around the power plant. He drove around it. Nevertheless, he and the others were aware of the implications of a sudden rainfall or a change in the direction of the wind. Andy also took the iodine tablets the British embassy were offering. “He snorted them recreationally,” jokes Egon. The Knights are a good-humoured bunch but there is no denying the dangers present during those first weeks. While tourism (particularly foreign tourism) to the Tohoku region has since recovered, it should not be forgotten that the half-life of caesium-137 is 35 years. Wandering in the Aiikuen grounds after the ceremony the Knights come across a large radiation monitoring station. A nearby golf course appears deserted.
The Knights’ first sponsored ride, from Tokyo to Minamisoma in 2013, was abandoned when for the first time in ten years the region was hit by a blizzard. The highway was closed and several of the riders suffered hypothermic symptoms. Six of the original ten Knights returned two months later to finish the ride. That year they raised 2.7 million Yen (£20,000). Year on year they have doubled the number of riders and consequently the amount raised. In subsequent years, they have cycled to and on behalf of several different children’s charities in the Tohoku area. By riding to the charitable organisation the Knights can see first-hand where their money is going, which Rob observes has a greater impact on the riders. There are tears and, when the Knights move on to a new charity, some riders continue their support for a place they have visited. For two years, the Knights rode for Place to Grow (a charity supporting children and their families in Minamisanriku, a town that was 95 per cent destroyed by the tsunami). Andy and Egon continue to act as cycling Santas for them, delivering gifts to the children at Christmas. The Knights’ support for Mirai no Mori (a charity which offers American summer camps to disadvantaged children) has been maintained by BNP Paribas, a KIWL sponsor.
KIWL is a small group with a big impact. They have raised 62.3 million Yen (£469,000) since they first came together to “get fit and give back.” Says Miho, “The beautiful scenery, the challenge, the camaraderie, the drinking are all very nice bonuses but nothing really compares. Even the sensation of knowing that you’ve cycled 500 kilometres doesn’t come close to what you feel when you see all those kids look so excited to see you.” And Rob Williams has achieved another goal. ‘Fat Rob’ (as the others jokingly call him) has lost 10 kilogrammes since that drunken evening in the Hobgoblin.
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thefinalcinderella · 5 years
Text
Tsurune Book 2 Chapter 6-Door (Part 1)
We’re in the endgame now...
This chapter was surprisingly dramatic. Some people get trapped in an elevator, someone gets hospitalized, and someone declares to someone else that they will make a world without hitting or missing...this chapter took a while. Hopefully, I can finish the book before September ends.
Full list of translations here
Glossary here
Translation Notes
1. Nanao lists a bunch of dishes from all over Japan. Imoni is a type of taro and meat soup eaten in the Tohoku region. Beef tongue, or gyuutan, was a dish created in Sendai. Wappameshi is a dish cooked in wooden containers and a specialty of the Niigata prefecture. Zunda mochi is a Tohoku specialty where rice cakes are coated with soy bean paste. Ika ninjin is a pickled mixture of dried squid and carrots, which is a specialty in Fukushima.
2. The bull’s eye of a hoshi-mato is called a zuboshi in Japanese. Zuboshi o sasu (to guess exactly right) literally means pointing at the bull’s eye.
3. The word used here, geki (檄), can mean encouragement as well as manifesto.
4. This was a bit confusing for me, but I think it’s connected to the idea of seven mysteries (fushigi) (a common trope in manga set in high schools) and how meeting one of them would bring you bad luck. 
5. This is a reference to Shutaro Mendo, a character from the famous manga Urusei Yatsura who is the heir to a rich family and has claustrophobia.
6. “Form is emptiness” and the Heart Sutra are kind of the same thing in Buddhism. I think it means that everything is dependent on their parts and causes, and that forms themselves are inherently empty of existence???? Buddhism is complicated
Previous | Next
Anvil clouds floated distinctly against the sky.
In order to participate in the Interscholastic Athletic Meet Kyudo Tournament, Minato and the others took a connecting bullet train up north. August, over four days. The start of a hot and passionate summer for high school archers.
In the train, Minato, Seiya, and Ryouhei sat in a three-seat row, Kaito and Nanao sat in a two-seat row next to them, and Masa-san and Tommy-sensei sat behind them. So that their bows would not hinder the people around them, they had them put in the gap between the seats and the wall at the back of the car.
Ryouhei and Nanao promptly opened the seals on their bags of sweets. They proceeded to barter across the aisle.
Kaito wrinkled his brow.
"I can't believe you guys can eat so many sweets so often. Just looking at them gives me heartburn."
"Huh? When I get on a vehicle, I get kinda hungry, you know? Imoni, beef tongue, wappameshi, zunda mochi, ika ninjin! (1) Aah, what to eat?"
"Don't eat so much. Eating too much for lunch and getting sleepy, then not feeling so good in the afternoon even though you felt fine in the morning, is a thing that happens."
"Are you not eating then, Kacchan? As in, local cuisine?"
"No, I am though."
"Right?"
Nanao and Ryouhei were energetic since morning, but Minato was flipping through the provided booklet and drinking tea, unable to settle down if he wasn’t doing something.
Seiya spoke.
"Minato, it’s still too early to be nervous. We’re scheduled to shoot at the practice hall today first, after all. Apparently, we can do a practice round of four shots at the actual venue."
"When we got on the train, I just thought, it's finally time."
"I'm excited. To be able to shoot on such a big stage is like a dream. We've done all that we can, so the rest is just managing our health over these four days, I guess."
"Yeah, that's right."
Minato leaned back deeply into his seat and closed his eyes.
They entered the first day.
Shajos for groups of ten people appeared in a wide arena that was used for championship ball game matches and other events. The green mat that resembled the lawn of a yamichi dazzled the eyes. The stands were filled in all directions, and there were many camera lenses pointed at the competitors for web broadcasts and photos. Unlike the semi-open-air kyudojos, sounds echoed, so if one shouted a yagoe, it seemed like it would rebound and pierce one’s own heart.
The competition event was short-distance shooting, divided into girls’ and boys’ divisions, and the categories were group competitions and individual competitions. The targets used were wooden-framed kasumi-mato with a diameter of thirty-six centimeters. Two shajos for groups of ten, the space between the archers were a hundred and eighty centimeters, and the shooting distance was twenty-eight meters.
Following the opening ceremony, the girls’ individual competition began. The preliminaries and semifinals would have four rounds of shooting, and those who had three or more hits would advance. The preliminaries were done in rissha, and from the semifinals on, the matches would be done in zasha.
Kazemai High School was only in the group tournament, but Kirisaki High School’s Shuu was in the boys’ individual competition. His presence that surpassed others could not fade under any circumstances. Even in the most crowded places, one could quickly find Shuu.
Ryouhei spoke to Minato.
"Shuu-kun's as cool as ever. You'd know that he's definitely skilled just from seeing his standing figure."
"Yeah, exactly."
Shuu and Nikaidou both had a four-shot kaichuu, and passed the preliminaries and semifinals.
The individual competition finals were an "izume" competition. The current tournament had twenty-seven competitors.
Each person shot an arrow, the ones who missed were eliminated, and those who hit carried out their next shot. The one who continued to hit to the end was the winner. However, in the event that everyone missed, they can shoot once more.
Shuu and Nikaidou smoothly continued to hit, and from the fifth round, their targets were switched to twenty-four centimeters hoshi-mato. Hoshi-mato were targets with a single black circle in the middle of a white background, and that black circle was called the "zuboshi" which was the origin of the phrase used often in everyday life, "zuboshi o sasu" (to guess exactly right). (2)
In the sixth round, five people, including Shuu and Nikaidou, were left.
In the seventh round, one person was out, and after the eighth round, it became a one-on-one battle between Shuu and Nikaidou.
Nine shots, then ten.
In the midst of the enormous round of applause, the archer who kept hitting until the end slowly blinked his pale, thinly pigmented eyelashes.
The second day. The start of the group tournaments.
Teams were composed of one manager and six athletes, with five starting members. Up to three athlete substitutions were allowed. Each team had a total of twenty shots, and the top thirty-two teams with the most amount of hits would advance. The time limits were eight minutes for zasha and seven minutes for rissha. In the case of competitions that determine which team would advance past the preliminaries due to a tie, each person would shoot one arrow.
Minato’s team hung their ID cards from their necks, attached their numbers to their right hips, and put on their yellow-green headbands. The girls’ division took place in the morning, and the boys’ division would take place in the afternoon. Their parents, the girl members, and the elite members of the Nanao Fan Club, rushed to support them over a long and distant journey. The stands were divided into blocks of average people and competitors, and female staff members were patrolling around with plates that read "Please stay quiet during the competition.”
While waiting for their turn, the Kirisaki archers appeared before Minato. He readied himself to exchange sharp words with the twins, but their treatments of him were different.
Manji opened his mouth.
"I heard that the suggestion for me to shoot together with Shuu while standing behind him came from you and that coach of yours."
"Are you saying that I did something uncalled for?"
"Teams from the same prefecture would be separated into different blocks for the finals tournament. We’ll be waiting for you guys in the finals."
"Oh, yeah, wait for us," Minato answered.
Senichi and Manji stepped back, and then Shuu stepped forward between the two. His silhouette was bordered in gold, and it seemed like there was a blue-purple flame swaying upwards.
Shuu smiled brilliantly.
"Hey, Minato. I owe you for the other day."
"Congrats on winning the individual competition, Shuu. Your shooting was kinda like Saionji-sensei's."
"Fufu… Are you planning on pleasing me and make me turn into a fool? I will embody 'one shot and expire’ at this tournament."
"…One shot and expire?"
"That's right. A world where, other than drawing a bow and releasing an arrow, there are no such things as hitting and missing——. Minato, you follow me too."
Only informing Minato of that, Shuu left without waiting for a response.
What’s with Shuu?
Did he meant to do a Zen dialogue kind of thing here? I couldn’t even raise a question, much less answer him.
Tommy-sensei and Masa-san stood before the five boys.
"Thank you all for continuing to practice up to now. I have received all of your tenacity, for certain. Now, let’s start the mission!"
"Yes!"
Minato and others entered the third waiting room. When they were there, they felt like warriors taking on a battle. Beyond the partitioning white cloth was the shajo, and the moment one came out there, the immoveable enemy would be right before one's eyes.
They advanced to the second waiting room, and when they entered the shajo, they sat down in the chairs of the first waiting room.
At the signal to "start," they did their yuu bows and stepped forward to the shooting line, then they did ashibumi without squatting. They selected a pair of arrows from four.
First was to shoot was the oomae, Kaito. He carefully brought the tip of his arrow closer to the center of the target, and waited for the moment of release. After his arrow headed for the target along with a nimble yugaeri, there were shouts of "Alright!"
When Kaito was entering kai, the second archer, Ryouhei, raised his bow. His recent progress was amazing. He was so honest and straightforward that he absorbed what he learned as he was taught them. A lively matooto sounded.
The third archer, Seiya, was unusually relaxed. At the prefectural tournament, he was a bundle of nerves with a prim face on, but this time, the unity of the five was excellent, and he felt like they could win the championship like this. Of course, he hit.
It was then the fourth archer’s—Nanao’s—turn. The group with the yellow-green frog-shaped uchiwa fans in their hands pitched forward. While being aware of his tenouchi, Nanao carefully drew his bow. A circle appeared on the scoreboard, and the Nanao Fan Club elites sent out a big shout of support.
The fifth archer, the ochi, was Minato. The pain in his wrist was completely gone. He tensed his little finger, stretched his elbow, and stretched himself in all directions as much as possible. His arrow shot through the target with a ringing tsurune.
The five-person kaichuu was clinched, and a huge round of applause swelled from the venue. In the stands, Hanazawa, Shiragiku, and Seo were doing fist pumps in their minds.
"They did it! The boys were incredible from the very beginning."
"So you've been enlightened or something?"
"Maybe."
In the second round, the five got a kaichuu once again, and the Kazemai High School cheering squad was unexpectedly enlivened.
However, in the third round, Ryouhei, Seiya, and Nanao missed.
In the fourth round, Kaito had one more shot to go for a kaichuu, but missed and exited the shajo. Minato got a four-shot kaichuu and there was a round of applause.
As a result, Kazemai High School had three, three, three, three, four—a total of sixteen hits.
When all the teams finished shooting, the results were that Kirisaki High School and Tsujimine High School both had eighteen hits.
The three schools were in the top rankings and would advance.
The third day.
The finals tournament finally began.
This day was done in two matches, until it was whittled down to the best sixteen.
Their first match was with Iwakurisawa High School. They stood out quite a lot due to their buzz cuts and bright red headbands. When the person who appeared to be the captain commanded in a loud voice, "Form lines!", the athletes and cheering squad quickly formed five rows.
Their manager, with a similarly shaved head, issued a manifesto of encouragement. (3)
"All of you, things like losing to a school with only first-years are not needed!"
"Yes, sir."
"Too quiet!"
"Yes, sir!"
At that ferociousness that was more like something from the military than sports-oriented, the athletes from the other schools drew back a little. However, with the influence of their opponent’s manager, Minato’s team became calmer instead. They did rissha in the preliminaries, but from now on they would be doing zasha. From the stands, Masa-san watched Kazemai High School enter the first shajo and Iwakurisawa High School enter the second.
From "standing" to the end of "nocking," the five people’s movements were matching each other’s as much as possible, but Iwakurisawa was all over the place, and it could be perceived that they didn’t even feel like getting it together. And conversely, the timing to stand for the first shooting round was said to be when the person in front stood and put their right fist on their hip, but the five people from Iwakurisawa stood up together and did ashibumi together. Although it was alright as long as one didn’t overtake the movements of the person in front of them, there was a sense of discomfort felt from looking at that.
After they began shooting, shouts of "Alright!" came for both teams in succession.
Iwakurisawa used a shooting method where they moved themselves towards the targets to the extent that they were tilting their bodies. They firmly pushed their left arms and released their arrows immediately with just their right hands. It was a unique way of shooting, but they hit very well with it. But there was one person who was being put into disorder. The arrows their ochi was releasing were scattering left and right, and their landing spots were in disarray.
On the other hand, the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club showcased their composed shooting. Their raised their bows with their right arms and passed the initiative to the left arms at daisan. Rolling the targets that could be seen around their left elbows to above their arms and moving it to their fists, they then moved their right hands to their shoulders and pointed their right elbows to their hips before parting their bows. When they entered kai, they quietly exhaled. They flicked their right thumbs and their arrows rushed towards the targets.
For the results, Iwakurisawa had four, three, three, four, and one hit for a total of fifteen hits. Kazemai, opposing them, had four, two, four, three, and three hits and won with a total of sixteen hits.
After the first match was over, Tommy-sensei praised them all. No matter how old one was, words of praise from one’s teacher were something to be happy about. Next to them, the Iwakurisawa manager was yelling at their ochi.
"If you missed the first shot, then shouldn’t you change your aim for the second shot!? Why did you miss three of them!?"
"I’m sorry…"
"Why aren't you able to do what I taught you!?"
"I’m sorry, I’m so sorry——!"
The ochi continued to apologize, but his manager did not stop rebuking him. The voice that was relentlessly criticizing someone who had already broken down into tears was painful for those who were listening to it as well.
When Minato took a step, he heard a loud fit of coughing.
"Kaaaaa—" Coughing sounds. "Ah, please excuse me. As one gets older, there would be more phlegm stuck in one’s throat." Another cough.
The sounds of the Iwakurisawa manager’s rebukes were drowned out by the incessant and violent coughing. Perhaps their interest was dampened, Iwakurisawa High School started to move in silence. If Minato and the others copied them, they could be adding fuel to the fire, and the people around them couldn’t close their open mouths at the feat only Tommy-sensei could do.  
The second match began. Their opponent was Chikuten High School.
The Chikuten oomae was petite but the ace of his team, and was skilled enough to be in the top three of the individual competition. The other members’ standing postures were also good, and they looked quite dignified. When they stood at the shooting line, they took forward-bent postures. They raised their bows while keeping that tilt, firmly put in their shoulders and pushed open their bows. Their arrows headed towards their targets with a sharp release.
Of course, Minato’s team did not yield to them either. The five’s movements were perfectly overlapping from moving their bows to nocking, showing their amount of training. They drew their bows to the limit and waited for the moment to release their arrows.
At the end of the four rounds, Ryouhei and Nanao got kaichuu, and they got three, four, three, four, three hits for a total of seventeen hits.
At the end of the tie-breaking match, Kazemai won with four hits to three.
Minato, dressed in the casual outfit of a t-shirt and a jersey, was on the first floor of his hotel.
After the schedule for the third day was over, the manager and athletes went back to their hotel to rest their bodies. This hotel had twelve floors and was fully equipped with a large public bath, and Minato was returning to his room after having finished bathing a step before everyone else.
Tomorrow, the curtains would close on the high school generals. He wondered what kind of results would be waiting for them. If they went on winning at this rate, they would face Kirisaki High School, where Shuu was.
Drawing their bows at the same place, at the same time.
The secret, violent throbbing in his chest would not stop until the competition was over.
When Minato headed for the elevator landing, he saw someone he recognized there. It seemed like he had also just come out of the bath.
"Nikaidou-senpai."
"…Yo. I sure bump into you a lot, Minato-chan. I don’t even use the elevator normally, so this must be fate or something."
"Oh, I saw the notice on the way here. It seems that the stairs can’t be used due to a lighting failure. Nikaidou-senpai, you have a rule of not using the elevator or escalator as much as possible to train your legs, right?"
"That’s Minato-chan for ya. You even remember stuff that don’t even matter. Even though I was able to use the stairs on the way to the baths, but, well, things happen sometimes."
Staying in the same lodgings as Tsujimine High School again was unlucky. The desire to not meet each other as much as possible was probably mutual for the two of them. They waited for the elevator to come in silence, and then got in when the doors opened.
Nikaidou asked him a question.
"What floor?"
"Eighth floor, please."
"Got it."
He pressed the buttons for the seventh and eighth floors. The elevator rose with an indistinct sound.
Four, five, six…
They would finally be approaching the seventh floor soon.
Minato was at the back of the elevator, and Nikaidou stood before the doors as he was about to get off. But, the elevator stopped just a little bit before its destination.
"…The hell? The door’s not opening."
Nikaidou pressed several of the buttons, but nothing happened. Minato also tried pressing the buttons as a test, but the results were the same.
"Oi oi, is this for real…"
"Should I try pressing the call button?"
"Go ahead."
After Minato pressed the button, a voice could be heard from the speaker.
"What is the problem?"
"The elevator stopped and the doors aren’t opening."
"We are very sorry for the inconvenience. Which floor did the elevator stop near? Also, how many people are in the elevator?"
"We’re almost at the seventh floor. There are two people."
"Understood. We will now be sending people to your location, so please wait. They will arrive in about fifteen minutes."
The voice broke off.
That they were trapped in an elevator in a place like this was completely unexpected. It wasn’t like they didn’t feel like they could get out if they force the door open either, but for now they could only wait. It was fifteen minutes of endurance.
When the two left the elevator panel, the lights suddenly went out.
"Uwah!"
Nikaidou slammed his hand against the wall hard, and the impact caused the elevator to shake violently. That made the fact that they were in a hanging box right now feel all the more real.
"Are you okay, Nikaidou-senpai?"
"Shut up, I was just surprised!"
Nikaidou’s voice echoed in the cramped chamber. Minato could even hear the sound of him clicking his tongue. In the darkness, the two held their breaths, at a loss as to what to do.
They waited for the time to pass without stirring a muscle.
Footsteps could be heard from somewhere, passing by.
The lights came back on after a while, and they became able to maintain their sight. Minato rubbed his chest with a sigh of relief, but a strange change was happening in Nikaidou.
His complexion was bad, and there was cold sweat beading on his forehead. He was panting in quick, rough breaths, and then he bent at his waist and curled his back. Perhaps not being able to stand, he pushed his body against the wall and scrunched down.
"Shit, what the hell is this crap… I need to get out of here now. Pretty sure it’s been fifteen minutes a long time ago…"
During Minato’s hospitalization, he had had similar symptoms.
He reached out his hand to rub Nikaidou’s back.
"Don’t touch me!"
"Nikaidou-senpai, you are probably hyperventilating. You are breathing in too much oxygen. Please breathe more slowly."
"Shut up. Don’t order me around…"
"I am not. I think it will soothe you, so please try it."
"Shut the hell up! This is all because I’m riding the same elevator as someone like you. I need to get out of here, now!"
Beneath his pale face, his eyes shone with a tinge of bloodlust.
"…It’s all your fault. Heard that the Kazemai coach got injured protecting you, didn’t he? Misfortune befalls anyone involved with you…"
Minato felt like he had been struck with a blunt object. He couldn’t deny it and the core of his head was numb. Before his eyes was a person who was clearly in bad condition and becoming panicked, but since he was told that anyone who gets involved with him becomes unlucky, he wouldn’t be able to interfere with him. But, there should be some way calm him down.
Think, think.
Rack your brain.
Minato crouched down and matched Nikaidou’s gaze.
"Nikaidou-senpai, if you sleep here, a zashiki-warashi will come and draw whiskers on your face, you know?"
"…Hah?"
"If you say misfortune befalls anyone who gets involved with me, isn’t something unfamiliar approaching you also mysterious? (4) At the summer training camp, when one of our club members woke up, a zashiki-warashi drew whiskers on his face. And it was with permanent marker."
Are you serious, the graffiti artist wasn’t a zashiki-warashi, but unmistakably a human—was what Nikaidou wanted to retort, but he was already in a state where it was difficult for him to talk. There was buzzing in his ears and was barely keeping conscious with the dizziness and numbness throughout his whole body. In the first place, for a joke that was just waiting for a sarcastic retort, telling it with a serious face was just too scary.
Minato placed his hand on Nikaidou’s back arbitrarily.
"I told you not to touch me…"
"Please breathe slowly, like you’re entered kai. It’s your strong point, right, senpai? I will count. One…two…three. You’ll be alright. Let’s breathe slowly one more time."
Without any strength to disobey, and with the single-minded desire to escape from this pain, Nikaidou breathed out as he was told. In the meantime, Minato continued to rub his back.
How much time had passed? Nikaidou, whose breathing was now stable, raised his hand in indication that Minato no longer had to rub his back. There were people’s voices outside, but rescue still hadn’t come yet. Maybe the hallway was busy.
Nikaidou let fall a few words in a low voice.
"…My uncle asked Saionji-sensei to take him as a disciple. Although he begged him with the willing resolution to even change his school, he wasn’t accepted, and nowadays his body is ruined and he can’t even draw a bow. I always thought this. That if Saionji-sensei chose my uncle instead of you guys, then the future might have changed. Why was it an elementary schooler, and what’s more, someone like you who just passed by… Even now, you’re blessed with an advisor and coach. I can’t forgive you…"
Minato thought that meeting Saionji-sensei and Masa-san were events akin to miracles, so he truly was blessed. But, even if he could redo his life once again, he wouldn’t give up anything.
A beautiful tsurune that shot through his heart.
His encounter with the bow.
"Nikaidou-senpai, you're actually a kyudo nut. I didn’t realize that until now."
"…Hah? How did you get that?"
"And, I think you and I are both lucky. Tsujimine High School’s total number of hits in the preliminaries was eighteen, right? Even though you aren’t a powerhouse school, a school that had people with that high of a hitting rate gathered together surely means that your passion towards kyudo had drew comrades towards you. You can’t win group competitions even if just one person was skilled."
"…Quit it. That’s just a coincidence."
"Yeah. A lucky coincidence."
At that moment, the elevator slowly ascended, and the door opened. Right on the other side were several people, and a nostalgic face greeted Minato.
"Minato! Thank goodness. Here, drink some water."
"Did you and the others go to the bath?"
"We got out of it a long time ago. There was another elevator that was working normally."
"I see. I guess our elevator broke down by chance."
When he checked the time, he learned that they had been confined for forty-five minutes, but it felt like about two hours had passed.
Right after Nikaidou exited the elevator, he collapsed on the spot, and was caught by Fuwa and Ootaguro.
Ootaguro spoke.
"Here, I’ll lend you my shoulder."
"No, I’m fine…"
Fuwa also inserted his arm under Nikaidou’s armpit.
"If you try to be thoughtful in a situation like this, we won’t win tomorrow’s competition, right? Ootaguro and I both know that you have claustrophobia. You should really muzzle your brother. When you were little, you were accidentally locked into a cellar, right? You’re like a certain countryside rich boy." (5)
Nikaidou met his eyes. A nasty smile appeared on his face.
"What the hell … I really am the lamest…"
"Yeah, you're super uncool. It’s too late for you now."
"Shit… Fuwa, I’ll punch your lights out later."
"Can you even punch me when you’re so unsteady like this?"
Nikaidou stood with the support of Fuwa and Ootaguro. They slowly began to walk.
"Sorry about this, Kuro-chan."
"It’s nothing, since you’re so light!"
"…I can’t really be happy about that. Since I’m a boy."
Nikaidou’s brows lowered.
Afterwards, Minato got apologies and explanations from the person from the elevator company and the hotel manager, and then was finally released.
Tommy-sensei placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You must have had quite the scare. Go take a long rest for the rest of today."
"Yes, sir. I am sorry for all the trouble."
Minato was sharing a room with Seiya, but he climbed into bed first and fell asleep just like that. To not wake him up, Seiya passed the time in Kaito, Nanao, and Ryouhei’s room.
Before long, Seiya decided to go to bed and returned to his room, where he noticed that Minato was curled up in blankets that he had brought out from the closet, in addition to his comforter.
Seiya called out to him softly.
"Minato, what’s wrong? Aren’t you hot covered in so many blankets?"
"…I feel way too cold. And my body hurts all over…"
"Cold?"
It wasn’t like the air conditioning was too effective. His exposed skin was red, and he was covered in a faint sheen of sweat. When Seiya felt his forehead, he could feel that he was burning up without having to check his temperature. He could imagine that his body pains were muscle pains from a high fever. Seiya rubbed Minato’s arms, back, and feet.
"How do you feel? Do you feel a little better when I massage you?"
"…Yeah, I feel better. But, Seiya, you should stay away from me. I don’t think it’s the flu or anything like that since it’s summer, but it'd be bad if you caught a cold…"
As soon as he said that, Minato turned over. Frequently turning and tossing in bed happened when one trying to escape from pain or suffering, so he seemed to be in quite a lot of pain. Since muscles covered the entire body, the range of the pain was wide, and Seiya alone could not attend to all of them. Seiya contacted Tommy-sensei and Masa-san.
Thinking how suspicious that people kept entering and exiting the room, Kaito, Nanao, and Ryouhei also visited. Following Seiya, they also volunteered to care for Minato, but the sight of the four boys massaging Minato’s whole body was nothing but hilariously absurd to the point of view of an onlooker.
Masa-san stilled everyone’s hands, and then put the back of his hand to Minato’s cheek.
"He is certainly burning up. I think it’s something like a developmental fever, but let’s take him to the hospital."
He changed his sweaty clothes with the help of Tommy-sensei, and wrapped them in a blanket. They had decided to go to a night hospital, but Minato couldn’t stand up because of the pain all over his body.
Masa-san turned his back to him.
"I'm carrying you."
"…Sorry, Masa-san…"
When they were getting into the taxi, Masa-san spoke.
"Seiya, switch rooms with me. Move to Tommy-sensei’s room."
"But, it’s better that I stay with Minato."
"If you get a fever too and it affects tomorrow’s competition, then Minato would be the one who would feel the most depressed. I'm leaving this to you. Seiya, you are the club president. I’m counting on you to support everyone else."
"…I understand."
Seiya saw the taxi off.
After they reached the hospital, they waited for their turn for a medical examination in the waiting room. They came after they called ahead, but it seemed that it was unexpectedly busy and it would take a while.
The TV would be on during the day, but the screen was turned off at night. Other than this corner, the lights were turned off, and in the darkness, the underwater forest in the aqua terrarium looked like it was floating in the sky. Foam bubbles burst open at the water’s edge.
Masa-san wiped the sweat off Minato’s forehead with a towel. Minato then closed his eyes.
"Do you want to lie down?"
"No. But more importantly, Masa-san, you should keep a distance from me."
"I’ll be fine, since when my whole family had to stay in bed because of the flu, I was the only one who didn’t catch it."
Minato opened his half-closed eyes and smiled a little bit.
"…As expected of Masa-san."
"You can lean on me if you’re tired."
"…No, I’m okay."
Minato crossed his arms to hug himself tightly.
Even though he usually didn’t get fevers, what was he doing after having come such a long way here? Tomorrow was the last day, the day of the finals that he made a promise to Shuu and the others to be in. He even talked with Seiya about managing their health.
He felt like crying at his own feebleness.
Why am I so weak?
Names were called by order, and before long Minato and Masa-san were the only ones in the waiting room.
Minato muttered.
"With my condition like this, I might not be able to be in tomorrow’s match…"
"You went through the experience of being trapped in an elevator, so your body’s been through a shock. You’ll be cured when you take medicine and have a good night’s sleep.”
"It’s okay, you don’t have to comfort me."
"That’s pretty negative for you to say, Minato. I thought you said that you would be in the competition even if you had to crawl. If you weren’t there, then Kazemai would only have four people, you know?"
The jade-green colour of the aqua terrarium was reflected in Minato’s eyes.
"…Sorry. I was being timid just now. That wound on your forehead didn't disappear, Masa-san. Misfortune befalls those who get involved with me…"
"What’s with that chuunibyou-like thing you said? My wound is mostly gone, and even now you can’t see it because my bangs are covering it, right? Oh, did Nikaidou say something to you? He’s quite the talker."
"That’s not it…"
"Your face tells me otherwise. Then let me ask you, do I look unlucky to you?"
Minato shook his head.
"See? The only one who decides if I'm lucky or not is me. It’s not something to have other people decide for you. For me, what’s unlucky is not having that place."
Masa-san grinned.
What they did not hear until now was the sound of the river flowing in the forest of the aqua terrarium.
The clear murmuring of the stream reminded him of a scene from summer training camp. It was fun and pleasant to spend the time together with everyone, and he wished that it could continue on like that forever.
Memories of summer vacation.
His precious bow friends.
"This is often used in analogies, but there is a cup half-filled with water. The levels of happiness are completely different for the people who think it’s half-full, and the people who think it’s half-empty. The one who associates the matter of a cup half-filled with water with things like happy or sad, good or bad, is oneself—"I." The matter itself is not good or evil."
"'Form is emptiness’—it’s similar to the Heart Sutra. Saionji-sensei taught it to us as a breathing method in the past." (6)
"Buddhism preaches casting away worldly desires. That fixations and desires cause people inconvenience. When those limiters are removed, a person are able to perform at their best.”
"Masa-san, I want to ask you something."
"Hmm? What’s that?”
“I want to touch the wound on your forehead——”
The current me can’t be like this person, who has such a clear view of things. "if at that time, if I didn’t stay in that spot and acted with everyone else, Masa-san wouldn’t have been injured”—I can’t erase that regret.
In that case, I’ll accept it all properly. I will continue to bear the truths that I want to turn my eyes away from, that I want to pretend doesn’t exist.
"Go ahead."
Masa-san moved his face closer, presenting his forehead. His eyes, deep blue like the sea, were slowly blinking.
Minato ran his heat-tinged fingers through Masa-san’s bangs.
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msp-j · 5 years
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上越新幹線車窓より 夏の越後山地の山々
The Jo′etsu Shinkansen bullet train runs from Tokyo to Niigata, making a rapid showcase of Echigo Mountains it passes by at 240 km/h.
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yousakana · 4 years
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新潟の『潟』 息を呑むほどの美しい景色 The Fukushimagata Lagoon is in Niigata prefecture located on the Sea of Japan side. It’s takes 2.5 hours by shinkansen(bullet train) from Tokyo. The Fukushimagata Lagoon is a fresh water lake approximately 271ha in the area. The history of this lagoon is the struggle with the water flow in from the 13 streams. People who lives in this area, tried to reclaim and increase the yield of rice. But the period, reduce acreage, had arrived, they have chosen to coexist with this lagoon. And having allowed it to restore to the past, so it can be given to the next generation. Around this lagoon, you can see the birds over 220 kinds and 450 kinds of plants. #新潟 #福島潟 #日本の重要湿地500 #重要里地里山 #21世紀に残したい日本の自然百選 #にいがた景勝100選 #福島潟の草いきれ #環境省 #かおり風景100選 #nigata (福島潟の遊潟広場) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5XeE27jiFT/?igshid=19otvrtfj21b5
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dagurasu71 · 4 years
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On the Shinkansen going to Tokyo Station to catch my next bullet train to Niigata. #bullettrain #shinkansen #train #日本 (at Tokyo, Japan) https://www.instagram.com/p/B33Hv2_HdFH/?igshid=1f014wzrcte91
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whitewavewinemaker · 5 years
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Tanaka Kakuei
One of my favs, and a very important figure in early modern Japanese politics. 
The shadow shogun, Tanaka Kakuei, a ground breaking figure of the Japanese political machine. 
born in 1918 in Niigata on the island on Honshu. The west coast of which was rather poor compared to the areas nearing Tokyo. He was the only son among 6 daughter. We know very little about his younger life since most of what we know comes from him. Tanaka built up a image as a man of the people. So much of what he wrote of himself was to fit this image. According to him the family farm went under and his father became a drunk, so at 16 he left for the city. At this time many young people flooded to Tokyo. He claimed to have been treated like just another farm boy in the big city. Tanaka did manage to recieve a degree in architectural drafting. His career in construction soon ended as he was enlisted in 1939. 
Sent to Manchuria he worked as a desk worker but was discharged only about a year later due to pneumonia. He returned home and became a war time construction tycoon where he married Sakamoto Hana. Towards the end of world war two he was sent to Korea with a large grant from the Japanese government to set up a construction company. Japan surrendered while he was there, pocketing the money he quickly returned to Japan. 
His first run for office came in 1946 but he only won 4%. Tanaka then took up his greatest strength, networking. That next year he would rank 3rd in his party of Minshuto and slowly work his way up the political scene. Through this networking he became close to Yoshida Shigeru (who I will write about), this friendship wouldn’t last however. The money he pocketed came to light and Tanaka went under investigation. Shigeru saw it as too risky, booting him from his office and distancing himself from Tanaka, dispite charges being dropped in 1957. Tanaka remarked on the incident saying “you can’t claim to be a man if you fear prison”. He became a staple in the LDP party after it’s formation in 1955. 
Tanaka is most famously, or infamously, known for his bribing. Since Tanaka owned a successful construction business and was a political figure, he used “business transactions” to keep political allies loyal. he was also rather quick tongued. Using the anti-left beliefs of the cabinet as weaponry against opponents.  This act of calling your opponents “anti-Japanese leftists” is still widely used in Japanese politics today. Despite all the scandals he remained in power due to his promises of reform in Niigata and his image as a man of the people. One of his more famous groups focused on bringing government money “over the mountains” and to Niigata on the opposite shore of Japan. Often he used Japanese cultural practices to further his goals. When a political ally would mention a hardship to him, that hardship disappeared. While he would not verbally use this against then, there is a cultural expectation of repayment. One diet member who refused such offers of money was simply given a very generous wedding gift. In Japan it is customary to receive money as a wedding gift, if he refused it would be seen as rude, if he accepted then he owed Tanaka. He even gave such gifts to opposition members so he had a foot in both sides of Japanese politics. He was so well known for his loyal followers that they became known as “Tanaka Gundan”, the Tanaka army. 
He also made his way into the bureaucratic. in the 60′s and 70′s he received two major titles: “minister of finances” and “minister of international trade”. he complimented and gave lavish gifts to others in the bureaucracy. He had such a hand in all fields that he often settled disagreements between branches. Using these ties he got a large bullet train built in Niigata, it was larger than the area it served. It was said Japan wasn’t a “democratic state” or “socialist state”, it was a “Construction state”.  
Becoming prime minister in 1972 at the head of the LDP. Watergate over seas in America would have a chain effect on revealing many scandals in many countries. He was tied to the Lockheed scandal and was arrested for such connections. Connections to far right wing underground king pin of the Yakuza and convicted war criminal, Kodama Yoshiro (will write about), were also exposed. Due to the arrest he could no longer be Prime Minister. This arrest and conviction caused a huge political uproar. The lower house was dissolved to try and settle but Tanaka still didn’t loose his seat. The LDP did loose some seats but all of Tanaka’s army stayed. He was convicted in 1983, sentenced to 4 years and 5 million yen fine. Even though he was imprisoned he still won in a 400% margin against his closest rival for his seat. Since he still had a huge army in both the diet and bureaucracy he held massive amounts of power. To the point were all prime ministers were pretty much his puppet. If something was needed done, you went to Tanaka, not the prime minister. The working class viewed him as a martyr. He was a small town man getting arrested and held under by city folk. 
The Tanaka army was almost invisible, that was until three of his students broke the army apart. Takeshita Noboru, Hozawa Ichiro(will write about), and Kanamaru Shin took over 1/3rd of his followers using similar tactics to that of their teacher. Due to this stress, Tanaka did have a stroke which pulled him from the public for about 2 years. Even though the public didn’t see him he still won his seat again in 1987. When he was shown to the public again he lost almost all support, between extreme health issues, mild paralysis, and age he just wasn’t seen as capable. He passed away in 1993, but his student Hozawa Ichiro has continued his legacy. 
Tanak played a huge role in Japanese post-war politics. He is often called the Shadow Shogun due to his ability to rule behind the scenes. He also set a precedent when it came to scandals. Anyone who pays close attention to Japanese politics will start to realize that even though a figure has major scandals they may still receive a lot of support.  Some believe this to be because of figues like Tanaka Kakuei and Yoshida Shigeru, who helped restore Japan after the war while still have a number of scandals. He is a facinating figure who can offer a unique glimpse into Japanese political machine. 
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aja154ever · 6 years
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GRANRODEO LIVE 2018 e-ZUKA Tokamachi Gaisen Rodeo Gottaku - 05/20/2018
Just a quick very personal write-up about this Sunday’s live because I’ve been sent to paradise again. I need to let my feelings out.
Set List
SEED BLASTER
SUPERNOVA
Pierrot Dancin’
Can Do
move on! イバラミチ
Y.W.F.
マジカルストーリー
Urban Sweet
Snow Pallet
HAPPY LIFE
少年の果て (Acoustic)
Deadly Drive
メモリーズ
NO PLACE LIKE A STAGE
カナリヤ
modern strange cowboy
delight song
Infinite Love (Acoustic)
The Other self
バラライ
Go For It!
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And ofc special tag @ikiyou Congratulations on overcoming the culture shock of a GRANRODEO live! How about the muscle pain the day after? 😂😂
So first of all, wow. I really went all the way to Niigata prefecture this time, which took like two and a half hours by bullet train + local train + walking, just to see GRANRODEO live. Is this the start of my “I’ll follow you wherever you go, Kiiyan” love story? (But hey, Niigata is actually e-zuka-san’s home lol)
It was my first time going out of Kanto region, and thus my first time to ride a bullet train. Luckily, ikiyou was able to go with me yayyy though we both were clueless most of the time during the whole trip lol.
When we got off at Tokamachi station, we were like, “Oh.” We were literally sent in the middle of the mountains and the rice fields, “Where the hell are we?” It was nevertheless very refreshing and calming to see Mother Nature for a long time.
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Tokamachi is supposedly the nearest station to the concert venue but it was still more than a kilometer away so we had to walk our way there. Because of the tight schedule, unfortunately we didn’t actually have the time to go around the town for sight-seeing or smth. So the walk from the station turned out to be our only chance to see the place. It was kind of shocking as the place looks very rural, far, far from the metropolitan that Tokyo is. There was not a single convenience store in the area (which is really weird because hey we’re in Japan) and for some reason we do not know, almost all the stores were closed. Aside from fellow Rodeo girls/boys heading to the venue, there were almost no people walking on the streets. But anyway, speaking of the streets, oh my gosh. They were playing GRANRODEO music on the town streets’ speakers. 😭😭😭
It was a wonder that a concert venue actually exists in that rural place. When we arrived at the venue, finally we got food yey. They were selling some GRANRODEO-themed food like the curry which recipe is made by e-zuka-san’s mom, crepe, and even bottled water.
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So we went inside and apparently the venue was smaller than I expected so our seats which are on the far right in the 7th row turned out to be closer to the stage than I imagined.
I’ve heard most of the songs in previous live concerts, so I’m not gonna talk about each song here.
SEED BLASTER - I am still wondering why they chose this song as the entrance for the two days. I’m not complaining but I was just not expecting it. 😊
Y.W.F - e-zuka-san made us dance the YMCA steps. Takita-san and Shin-kun also joined.
マジカルストーリー - This is magical. Kiiyan was so cute the whole time I don’t even know why
Urban Sweet - Just wanna say that I always like Kiiyan’s vocals for this song
Snow Pallet - OH MY GOSH. My inner self was crying. This is one of my favorite GR songs and finally, I heard it live! And we got to dance the cute steps with them. Gosh. I didn’t really expect this dream to come true this night. Me looking at Kiiyan’s big smile and biceps as I dance along with him while listening to him singing it. “Back-up dancers” in cow kigurumi costumes came out on stage to dance with us.
HAPPY LIFE, delight song - They are indeed happy songs. Also my first time hearing them live and they do sound better live!
少年の果て - Acoustic. Tbh I’m not a fan of this song but hey, it’s acoustic. Kiiyan was definitely shimmering akin to the flicker in my eyes as I looked at the source of the most beautiful sound in the world.
Deadly Drive - Oh my oh my oh my. It’s right there. My life. Bungou Stray dogs and GRANRODEO. I’ve been blessed.
NO PLACE LIKE A STAGE, カナリヤ, modern strange cowboy - Classic favorites for live performances. Always. Also, the main cause of post-live muscle pain 😂
Infinite Love - Acoustic played and sang by e-zuka-san as requested from his birthday last February. I really like this song in acoustic but I doubt if I’d ever have the chance to hear Kiiyan sing this live, so it’s actually remarkable that I heard it instead from e-zuka-san. And wow, it was definitely good! He was shining huhuhu and he even hit the high notes yeyy
Go For It! - IGPX will always be fun. Takita-san called out the Rodeo girls, Shin-kun the Rodeo boys, Kiiyan the swimsuit girls, and e-zuka-san playing around with Tokamachi locals and people not from Tokamachi which occurred for God knows how many times. And finally, IGPX 10 times with everyone!
Other notes:
Is it just me but Kiiyan’s biceps look bigger this time?? Or maybe I just missed them wait what are you saying I was not staring that much okay don’t judge me asdfghjkl but we can talk about it all day Anyway Kiiyan appeared in a hot red coat the first time aaaaahhhhh but ofc he had to take them off after two songs because he’s it’s hot
e-zuka-san talked a lot during the MC parts. I mean, A LOT. I didn’t understand most of them because he was speaking so fast (in Japanese ofc) and at times he even forgot what was he mainly talking about since new topics continued to branch out. One of the main talks was him talking about people he knew who came from Tokamachi who also got successful in music. It got too long he even suggested for Kiiyan to go take a rest backstage for a while lol
In the morning, Kiiyan and e-zuka-san walked around the town. Kiiyan found the place to be really beautiful (as seen in the photos he uploaded on Twitter). The first time he went to Niigata was last winter for Odorodeo, so back then it seemed like everything was pretty much covered in snow. Moreover, yesterday was raining and so it was only today that the weather turned out to be the best. He was like, “Ah so there are also other colors here aside from white.”
Meanwhile, Shin-kun and Takita-san shared that they really liked the food in Tokamachi like the soba, e-zuka-san’s mom’s curry, and the fresh vegetables.
In one of the songs (om I don't remember which), e-zuka-san went around the audience area on the first floor, from left all the way to the back then to the right 😭😭😭
Kiiyan gave us a special bonus when he walked all the way on both sides of the extended stage during Go For It!. On our side, he stopped in front of the farthest right seat on the sixth row so he was almost in front of us. I couldn’t handle it, I slapped ikiyou’s back a bit too strong and maybe I was squealing way too much. 😂 I really hope he saw us because hey it’s easy to spot foreigners in the crowd. Anyway two other blessed girls got to high-five him OMGeeeeeeeeeeeee
While Kiiyan always does the last jump at the end of every live, he made e-zuka-san jump this time. Our ojisan was so cute! He was definitely the star in this live!
Photos/Posts from Official Accounts:
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Oh my, I missed writing fan reports here! I did go to other events but I haven’t been feeling of writing them on tumblr. But this event is totally special being my first live outside Kanto, and also as GRANRODEO’s first full live this year. I definitely missed this feeling!! (Oh yeah including the muscle pain the morning after lol) Furthermore, venues with seats really provide a good space for a lot of movement. I am given the freedom to move and groove as much as I want compared to all-standing venues where we all squeeze and smh hurt one another, though that kind of fun is also special in its own way. But the good elevation of seat rows really gave us a good view of the stage the whole time.
Now, what’s next? Kiiyan’s birthday celebration in Yamaguchi? I absolutely want to but I still don’t know if I can afford to go there! Argh, it pains me to think about  it. Actually, it’s kinda sad that GR doesn’t seem to have a national tour this year. Anyway, no matter what, there’s still G13 in December! Time to go to Osaka yeyyy!
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hotarutranslations · 5 years
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Is That So!
Evening Its Ishida Ayumi
 Today in Osaka,
 We had a cheki, sign and handshake meet! The release of “Best! Morning Musume 20th Anniversary” on March 20th events, all of them have ended! Thank you very much! Those who bought the CD, please listen to it a lot ❤
 Todays events BGM as well, was really flowing with the album but,
 When it was Mikaeri Bijin, Uwa, I felt like it was nostalgic,
There aren’t many opportunities to show that off, so all the more huh
 It had been a while since I saw the Dokyuu no Go Sign MV Since I thought it was fun (lol) I’d be happy if everyone saw it!
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By Yokoyan
We ate takoyaki~
 It wasn’t the first time but, It had been a while, Huh!?
 The flavor is this delicious!?
 Is what it became like… I realized it was delicious again… That’s Osaka for you
 I thought, I like crunchy takoyaki! I also liked it sticky, I’m happy!
 How does everyone like it ❤
 Those from Kansai, is the standard for it to be stick in the end!? or does it depend on the shop!?
 Well then, today was Children’s Day
 I don’t really have memories of it from when I was a kid, Children’s Day…I don’t have a particulary memory when I’m told its Children’s Day
 Carp streamers…
 Kashiwa Mochi… Helmets…
 Hm--? That’s what it feels like
 In the first place, What day is “Children’s Day”?
Is what I thought,
 If you search it now! May 5th is, Children’s Day, but its also Boy’s Day
 ?
 For a “Boy’s Day” event,
You decorate with carp streamers and helmets,
To celebrate the growth of children,
 After, as a national holiday, Boy’s Day became established as, May 5th as “Children’s Day”
 Therefore its totally different, Its like that… It’s a bit difficult… Moreover with Children’s Day,
 “Weigh the children’s personality, for the children to be happy, as a thank you to the mothers” was also an explanation
 Somehow, I’ve always misunderstood it!
 I’ve just been living without knowing it, With Reiwa as its become a new era, I’m interested in various things, Lets increase our knowledge a bit!
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 From Nagoya to Osaka on bullet train, Kyoto Station is in the middle of that,
 At last,
 Oh oh oh! Kyoto! is what I was like
An affinity lol
 Children’s Day,
 In other words,
 Its Conan-kun’s Day!
 Its not! But it really seems so! May 5th is, Conan’s voice actors, Takayama Minami-san’s birthday
 I like a lot of Conan’s lines but, to appear in the most recent movie,
 With A—sa—kun,
I’ve increasingly liked it
 The voice with A—sa—kun is too cute,
 At the Handshake, there were a lot who said “I saw the movie!”,
Somehow that made me pretty happy! Lol
 Tomorrow is a performance in Niigata The end of Golden Week
 See you ayumin ❤
 https://ameblo.jp/morningmusume-10ki/entry-12459214734.html
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wildangoh · 4 years
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The world-renowned bullet train offers you the highest rail speeds to match its peerless comfort with its comfortable and futuristic design. Japan famous train ’Shinkansen’ bullet train 🚅 brings you with a new experience journey across cities in the State of Japan 🇯🇵. Shrinking travelling time, comfortable, with a lot of amenities and facilities. This train will not disappoint you while you travel to Japan. . I think this is one of the best things in Japan 🇯🇵, you can travel from Northeast to Southwest of Japan. Tokyo to Osaka only four hours. Let's check it out my story. So, you can know how cool Japan ’Shinkansen’ bullet train is. . 🎥: My 25th story video; 🤟: Signed by me (American Sign Language and Japanese Sign Language Standard) 📍: More cities in Japan such as Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Hakata, Kagoshima-Chuo, Shin-Aomori, Hakodate, Yamagata, Akita, Niigata, Joetsu-Myoko and Kanazawa. . . . #japan #日本 #日本国 #shinkansen #japantravel #japantrip #tokyo #東京 #osaka #大阪 #新幹線 #東京駅 #東京都 #tokyostation #hiroshima #hakata #kagoshima #広島 #博多 #鹿児島 #新青森 #函館 #札幌 #shinaomori #aomori #hakodate #sapporo #japanrailway #japanrailpass #japanendlessdiscovery (at 東京駅 (Tokyo Station)) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_wpJxllcm1/?igshid=btxbsxqidy8n
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Interesting Facts About Japan
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Interesting Facts About Japan There are so many incredible and amazing things about Japan, the people, culture, economy, food, and more. Read on to learn about this country that TBH, leaves us with all kinds of HIFW moments we could share on Tiktok or Twitter. Japan encompasses about 6800 islands, but five of those islands make up about 97% of the land massthe five islands are Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, Hokkaido, and OkinawaJapan is densely urban, with only about 1/8th of the land suitable for agriculture. Thus they need to import food. Fossil fuels, beef, and chemicals are some of the top imports into Japan Many people are curious about Japan's growth and where it has been and where it is headed. The Japanese economy has always been one of the main factors people are interested in learning about because of the huge appeal it offers when it comes to traveling. Columbia University published extensive research on the breakdown of the Japanese economy. The aging population and difficulty achieving long term growth remain challenges for Japan's economy. New technology like Youtube, deep learning, computer vision, and robots can certainly help Japan, but the demographics are a serious hurdle. The population challenges put a strain on the economy. Let's start by talking about Japan and its main city, Tokyo. Tokyo was created over a period of many centuries and today it is one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the world. Japan's economy is very strong and if you wanted to see how large of an economic engine it is, all you had to do was take a ride on the bullet train that travels in and out of Tokyo. SMH, as the train system in Japan is so far superior to that of the West. Tokyo is a large metropolitan area and a city that is surrounded by mountains. These mountains provide shelter from the stormy weather that is seen almost daily. Because of these mountains, Tokyo is said to be the most favored vacation spot for the rich and famous and it was for this reason why it was considered to be one of the biggest tourist attractions in the world. There are so many islands in the Pacific Ocean that make up the Japanese economy. The largest island is Hokkaido, which has five main islands that are very important to the economy of Japan. These islands form the four main sectors of the Japanese economy. The economy of the two largest islands, Honshu and Shikoku, have three sectors. The tourism sector of these two is very strong. They are also the top two export destinations of Japan. All of these people who visit Japan come here for one thing, they are here to visit the places that are part of the two largest islands and so they usually spend their time here. On the north east side of Honshu lies Inuoka. This island is said to be the fishing capital of Japan. It has some very beautiful beaches that you can enjoy. This is a great place to visit if you want to swim you can. Also known as Aokigahara, this mountain is also very popular. Its name came from the myth that there was once a ghost of a young girl who committed suicide in the mountain's cave. She was chased out and eventually became a beautiful woman in her own right. Another island that is located just north of Inuoka is Hokkaido. It has two main islands that are together known as Iki. The northern most island is named Hokkaido. This island is known as one of the richest islands in the world. Its blue water beaches make it a favorite destination for tourists. The two main islands are very close together and you will find plenty of different accommodations on each island. All of these resorts are located in nice spots and the food is of the highest quality. Finally, we get to talk about the far northern island of Niigata. This island is known for the Sanriku Falls. It was around five hundred years ago that the first glaciers started to melt and it is here that the waterfall is located. You will not only be able to enjoy the beauty of this waterfall but you will also be able to enjoy the exquisite views of the region. Now let's go over to the east side of the country, Tokyo. Tokyo is considering the financial center of Japan and the center of the entertainment industry in the country. You can visit the shopping district called Shibuya, which is famous for its clothing and leather goods. If you want to experience the tastes of sushi and other items of Asian cuisine, then you should check out the Ginza. Mostof the shops in this part of Tokyo sell Japanese items and this is a popular shopping area in Tokyo. Check out other amazing and incredible places and stuff on Earth such as the coldest city, Russia, China, Peru, Mexico, fire rainbows, Belize Blue Hole, living underground, Canada, Australia, New York, Florida, Hollywood, and Boston. https://youtu.be/s1m_yhi9oqA Read the full article
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