日本のブログ

I watched a video about the Nakasendo trail from Abroad In Japan. Seeing the trail even on video was super beautiful because its up in the mountains with many tiny spots for shrines and other little hidden gems along the way. I also learned that the Nakasendo has a rich history with Tokugawa Ieyasu establishing the trails as apart of his system of  参勤交代 (sankin kotai). This system kept all the lords spending their money on traveling, limiting their ability to rise up against him. In all, the Nakasendo has a rich history, but its also very beautiful. I hope to be able to go and visit it someday because the towns and trail itself all seem to hold a very quaint feeling. 

 The Kyudo informational session was quite cool. I thought the most interesting part about it was the history of how they used the bow and how it transitioned into almost like an art form from there. For example, the bows were used in battle, to play with dogs, hunting, or for other purposes like competition. But now, its much more about using Kyudo as a means for spirituality. Seeing the amount of practice that it takes for people to become close to being masters at the art was cool, and the provided videos helped me understand a little bit about how the Japanese may think of their "arts".  One thing I thought that was interesting was the fact that Judo, Kyudo, and Budo, all end with the same "way of" 度. This was cool because it seems like a big part of Japan's culture and way of thinking about artforms. 

 週末はとても楽しかった。私のコスチュームはコウモリです。それから、私のデートがとても優し人と思いんだから、SYRがよかったです。SYRの後で、Morrisseyの家に行って、たくさん活動がありました。Morrisseyの家が広くて、人が’World Series’を見ていました。SYRのデートのなまえはロージーさんです。彼女が猫の格好をした。彼女は黒猫に似ていると思う。他の人はカリムです。彼は’Gangnam Style'です。

  I watched the Chainsaw Man Reze Arc movie this last Saturday. I thought that it was a great movie. The music done by Kensuke Ushio, who is also the artist for other films like "A Silent Voice" and other anime sound tracks splendidly created an emotional and beautiful collection of songs to accompany this amazing movie. The almost psychedelic action, accompanied in its first half by soft almost artfully crafted slow scenes, really adds to the movie's overall experience. It has made me enjoy Tatsuki Fujimoto's work even more, and now I want to be able to speak and read Japanese to be able to understand it in an entirely different way: through Japanese. Overall, I think the experience has shown me just how masterful anime can be when done well; this movie is a great representation of that; and it makes me wonder about all the other amazing work that Japanese artists, writers, and filmmakers put out. 

日本に行ったら’しまなみ海道'というところに行きたいです。自転車で四国と広島を見に行こうと思っています。しまなみ海道は初心者にも走りやすいそうだ。島が連なっているみたいだ。しまなみ海道は橋が一つだけじゃありません。大きな橋と綺麗な景色と綺麗な景色が見られます。日本に行く前に、自転車を予約しておきます。それから日本に行った後で、新幹線を乗って、広島に行きます。天気が良かったら、厳島に行きたい。厳島がお寺や鳥居を見られるそうだ。その後日本で自転車に乗ったことがないので、しまなみ海道を走ってみたいです。

  Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is one of the greatest anime to come out in recent years. I watched the entire anime, but multiple times I would hear Japanese phrases that I already knew. One of the interesting things about hearing the dialogue in Frieren is the stark differences in how the main character Frieren talks to her close friends and people she loves around her, how that develops, and how that differs from how she talks to demons. At first in the story, Frieren is hundreds of years old, she treats most people with indifference, which comes out in curt and polite responses; sometimes becoming blunt. But, as her perspective of the world changes, her speech starts becoming more casual with characters like Fern. Further, this can be seen in her speech with demons, which is would be very rude and casual Japanese. Overall, the anime exposed to me the minute differences in speech in Japanese, and how using different forms can come off as polite, rude, or indifferent. 

   Dramaturgy by Eve is another one of the artists many popular J-Rock songs coming off the Album "Bunka". The song's accompanying music video showcases themes of acting on stage. This idea, when taken in the context of the songs lyrics, evokes emotions of being unable to find a place for oneself, or struggling to express emotions. As the song goes:  "寂しいとか愛とかわかんない 人間の形は投げだしたんだ" Eve's lyrics can be confusing, but also highlights a feeling of confusion that one who might not understand even themselves might feel. To be in an inbetween state of not understanding one's own loneliness or lack of love; this is the feeling that Eve describes. In the context of Japanese culture, Dramaturgy might be a jab at those who wear masks during daily life, hiding their corrupted sense of identity.