Respect The Aged

Nice Pic from Shodo Shima

As I sit here writing this the winds are picking up and rain is on its way. A large typhoon, which has already hit Kyushu, is due to make its way inland and reach Okayama by tuesday morning. I'm hoping for something spectacular- though I could be dissapointed. Two 'typhoons' have already hit, though 'a bit windy' would be a better way to have described them. Mind you, one did almost kill me- I was cycling back from work, holding an umbrella, and listening to music while it was raining like hell and really windy. Suffice to say I almost hit several cars before deciding to just give up, get soaked, and live a little longer!

My grand weekend plans were sadly shelved, for a number of interconnected reasons. Still, I had a nice weekend as it was, and I'm getting the shinkansen next weekend, and going to Kyoto a couple of weeks after, so its all good. On Friday evening I went to an outdoor performance of Kyogen theatre in Soja. It was a really nice evening, even though I didn't understand most of what was going on! Kyogen is a bit like the more famous Noh Theatre, except that the players don't wear masks, and its intended to be more entertaining- i.e. funny jokes and silliness rather than death and honour stuff. The best performance (there were three short plays) was by some local 12-year olds, who performed one of the more classic Kyogen stories. It was really well done, and they obviously enjoyed the acting. My school secretary took me there, and we went back to her friends house after and had some food- they had 4 cats!!

On Saturday I went shopping, buying lots of CDs, fancy stationary (pointless, but its so shiny!) and Japanese tack. I'm getting into J-pop, and I'd recommend the band Puffy, who go by the name Puffy AmiYumi in the west. Doubtless all those reading this will go racing to their nearest record shop and order it right now! On the subject of music I'd also, obviously, have to recommend Bob Dylan's new album, Modern Times. I also got another Murakami- 'Underground', about the Tokyo Subway attack of 1995, which has topical significance as the ringleader Shoko Asahara was today sentenced to hang. I've already read about 1/2 of it- it's very different from other Murakami, but to my mind further confirms how amazingly talented he is. He writes little in this book, but organises and presents the stories of people who experienced the attack incredibly well, turning what could be a repetitive and boring catalogue of personal experience into an engrossing look at both the attack itself, and the idea of ordinary people being caught up in extraordinary events. Finally its a really good look at Japanese culture- particularly of the life of the 'salarymen'. I want to get through it quickly so I can concentrate on the two dense novels I'm also reading- Crime and Punishment (my third attempt!) and 'I Am A Cat' by Soseki Natsume, which is a commentary on mankind and Meiji Japan from the perspective of a pet cat with no name. It's really funny and well written and I'd definately recommend it, although so far it's not as engrossing as Kokoro, Soseki's 'masterpiece'.

On Sunday I went to Kurashiki City, took it easy, and did some touristy stuff. I visited a nice shrine on top of a hill to the east of the centre, and went to a famous art gallery in the old quarter, which had some famous names as well as a really interesting modern art gallery.

On Monday it was Respect The Aged Day, so I had a day off- hurrah! I went to Ushimado, a lovely seaside town to the east of Okayama. It was a really sunny day, and it was nice to stroll around temples, and chill out with great views of the Inland Sea. The last two photos are from Ushimado, and I'm really pleased with them.