30 June 2014: Culture classes and Exercise time

6/30

Yahhou! 

Today, students were given free time to practice recreational activities in the Brock Center. While a large majority of students focused on the weight room and basketball courts, others treated themselves to the gymnasium’s pool, racquetball court, and a display of martial arts presented by the academy’s two residential martial arts experts, Michael and Antoine (completely a coincidence). The students utilized their two and a half hours to the fullest, making use of the wide variety of facilities offered by Randolph-Macon College. Whether getting their blooding pumping on the treadmill or simply shooting a few rounds of pool, each student had a great time being able to freely choose their activity of choice and had fun competing with their peers.

- Antoine

In Lawless-Sensei’s culture class, we are studying Japanese pop (or J-pop).  Today, we looked at a little known subgenre of J-pop, Japanese hip-hop. Japanese hip-hop is very heavily influenced by American hip-hop. Many lyrical aspects of American rap culture are borrowed, like “Listen up!” or “Yo!”, along with actual English words inserted into the Japanese rap. The Japanese rappers also take common conceptions of American rappers, such as baggy clothes, basketball shoes, chains, dreadlocks, and so on. Some of these artists even rap about pressing issues like the Japanese economy. A few of the artists infused a bit of Japanese traditional instruments into their music, like shamisen (Japanese string instrument), taiko (Japanese drum), and fue (Japanese flute). Some Japanese rappers even toured with American rappers like Kanye West. Everyone in the culture class learned a lot about the subject.

-Amy

Today’s cultural lesson with Uchida-Sensei was the beginning of a wondrous experience for all food lovers. Uchida Sensei began the lesson by giving a brief summary of the local food in a few different areas of Japan, like Kyoto and Tottori.  Then, the students tasted something not very common to us: green tea chocolate. It was quite delicious for many, and an interesting experience for all. After that, Uchida-Sensei told us the basic ingredients of udon; a simple soup made of flour, water, and salt. The students will make their own udon on Saturday during the second culture class, but for the time being, they will be watching a movie about the popularization of udon.

 - Matias 

Beginner students practicing hiragana on the sidewalks

Beginner students practicing hiragana on the sidewalks

29 June 2014: Arts & Crafts and Movie Galore!

6/29 

Our First Art Class

Sunday, the students participated in our first art project: paper mâché Daruma. The craft was named after the Buddhist monk, Daruma. He meditated for so long that he lost control of his arms and legs. The Daruma doll traditionally is a red head with exaggerated facial features. Legend says that after crafting the doll, one must make a wish and fill in one of the eyes. If the wish comes true, the creator then fills in the second eye. If the wish is not fulfilled, most Japanese people will burn the Daruma during New Year’s celebrations. After learning about the legend of the Daruma, students created their own. Whether intentionally or accidentally, many students ended up covered in the paper mâché paste! Most only finished sculpting the shape of the doll, but we all enjoyed the activity. We are all looking forward to finishing our Darumas sometime during the upcoming week.

- Lindsey

Daruma doll

Sunday was jam packed with fun activities, including an opportunity to watch a film called Water Boys.  Together, we snuggled up in our PJs with pillows, blankets and a variety of snacks. The film was loosely based on a true story about a male synchronized swimming team. The movie was very comedic and strange as we followed the story of the boys as they trained for their school’s festival.  The swimming team became famous through an unlikely incident.  Their fame is credited to a family who called emergency services to report what seemed like a group of boys drowning, but in actuality the team was practicing their synchro routine. This live action Japanese film utilized physical and situational comedy that was able to appeal audiences around the world. After the movie we celebrated two birthdays of James G. and James M. , with singing, candles, wishes, and cake.   

-Melissa

Japanese Movie: Water Boys

28 June 2014: Field Day!

6/28

Yahhou!

On Saturday, the six student companies participated in the academy’s sports festival (undoukai). The 6 companies were as follows:

The Blogging company (of course)

The Recreational company (who were responsible for organizing the festival)

The Variety Show company

The Memory Book company

The Closing Ceremony company

The Tanabata (star festival) company

All 6 companies competed in 7 events which stretched each member’s physical capabilities to the limits in events such as a 3-legged race, blindfolded piggyback, and finally a game of ultimate Frisbee. Unfortunately, your favorite company, us, came in last in the festival, but not without a strong showing of course! Our own beloved writer, Antoine, caught the final catch in the game of ultimate Frisbee to the round out the end of the festivities, so big props to him. In the end, the festival resulted in a tie for first place between the Recreational company and the Variety Show company who bulldozed over all competition throughout the festival. Overall, all of the students enjoyed the undoukai and had a great time competitions for bragging rights among their peers.

-        Antoine

Tyler writing the kanji for "fire" in Calligraphy class

On Saturday, we had a guest speaker, Yuda-san, come to the Academy. She taught us the principles of sadō, (the tea ceremony) and shodō (calligraphy). We were divided into two groups. One group watched Yuda-san perform the tea ceremony, while the other group practiced calligraphy, with the help of the sensei. After half the allotted time had passed, the two groups switched. The tea ceremony originated as a calming, meditative practice that helped practitioners shed the worries of life. It remains so today, and its main tenets reflect Japanese philosophy as a whole. They are communicated in the expression “wa-kei-sei-jaku,” meaning harmony (wa), respect (kei), purity (sei), and tranquility (jaku). Each student drank the bitter green tea, called matcha, and ate a small Japanese sweet.

While some students were drinking tea, others were practicing calligraphy. The process was difficult, especially for students who had no previous calligraphy experience. Those who had barely learned to write Japanese in pencil had an even more difficult time. However, it was very enjoyable for everyone. The process of calligraphy involves a brush, ink, and lots of practice paper. The students used newspaper to practice before moving on to actual sheets of paper. Some students wrote their names, while others wrote kanji like “love” and “understand,” or proverbs such as “even monkeys fall from trees.”

We are extremely grateful to Yuda-san for her time and we all enjoyed the experience.

- Christina B.

27 June 2014: Cooking Japanese Cuisine

6/27

Today’s word is ryōri, meaning cooking or cuisine. It can also be made into a verb, “to cook,” with the addition of suru.

Today, we participated in our daily Japanese exercise routine, rajio taisou. Rajio taisou is an aerobic exercise which focuses on a full range of mobility of the body, from someone’s arms to his torso and finally to his legs. Rajio taisou helps loosen up muscles and relieves tension throughout the body by combining stretching with consistent movement. Consisting of about ten steps, rajio taisou begins with simple arm flails and gradually evolves into downward stretches as well as side shuffles and jumping in place to get the blood pumping. Also, today we, the oh so wonderful students of the academy, led the exercise ourselves without a senpai or sensei leading us in order to learn the process by memory instead of simply mimicking another’s movements

       - Antoine

Katherine making an obi in Otani-sensei's culture class

      Today, we cooked our own dinner of onigiri (rice balls) and gyoza (dumplings). The advanced Japanese class aided us with visual descriptions of how to make onigiri and gyoza. For the onigiri, we wrapped some rice in saran wrap, shaped the rice ball, added seasoning and enjoyed! The gyoza was a little more complex. We added various ingredients to a bowl of meat, stuffed the mix into a dumpling, and fried them. There was also the option to put tofu into the gyoza, instead of meat, for vegetarians. The food was all so much more delicious with the knowledge that we had made it ourselves!

        - Amy

Suyun (L) , Sara (M) and Javan (R) explaining to the GJA students in Japanese how to make onigiri (riceballs)

Amy and Camilla making the filling for gyoza (dumplings) 

     

      Tomomatsu Senpai’s Taiko Class

   

      Today in the culture classes, one of our groups learned the history of Japanese taiko drumming from Tomomatsu Senpai. When taiko drumming, the drummers do not use sheet music. Instead, the notes are represented by certain sounds: “don”, for the loud drum sound, “ka”, for the rim sound, “ten”, for the sound emitted by a shime-daiko, or small taiko, and “tsu,” for a light tap. Tomomatsu Senpai had each of us play a few notes on the taiko. Many students were surprisingly strong, and the students who enjoyed it will be playing the taiko on a team with Ōtani Sensei. 

     - Christina B. 

Tomomatsu-senpai teaching Antoine how to play the Taiko

Tomomatsu-senpai teaching Erik how to play the Taiko

26 June 2014: Picnic and Community Service at Maymont

6/26 

Word of the Day: Garden, niwa

Stone bridge in the Japanese gardens at Maymont

We were able to visit the beautiful Japanese gardens at Maymont in Richmond, VA. There were various aspects of a typical Japanese garden including a waterfall, stone islands, and a meditation rock garden. The irregular paths in the garden are designed to have the visitor slow down, stop, and look at the beauty and wonder around them. Some of the trees original to the owners are over a hundred years old.  It was a hot and humid day; so many were thankful to find areas of shade and cool off. 

-Melissa

Yesterday, the Japanese Academy visited the Maymont Japanese Garden in Richmond. The students split up into two groups and went on a tour with Ruth and Diane. After the brief tour, the groups split up once again to participate in some community service. Each group had an individualized task to help the garden. The tasks included students cutting down bamboo, picking out weeds, and cleaning algae from the pond. A few willing students got the opportunity to enter the pond itself and sweep algae towards the edges of the pond. The group worked for about an hour, but it was intense and productive. Maymont Estate does not receive funds to maintain the garden, so it relies on volunteers such as us.

              -Matias

GJA Students crossing the pond on stone steps

25 June 2014: Wonderful Adventures in Japanese Land

6/25

The word of the day today is ohirugohan, or lunch. Sometimes, the initial o is omitted, but as the o makes the word more polite; I have added it here.

           The intermediate class is composed of students with various levels of Japanese language experience. We are currently focusing on clothing and “customer and clerk” scenarios.  Yesterday, we were able explore the online counterpart of Uniqlo, a popular Japanese store, to view Japanese fashion and apply new vocabularies. We learned specialized vocabulary called keigo, which is an honorific form that clerks use to respect the customers. The clerks use this style of speech to honor customers, as they would honor gods.  However, this tends to be confusing for foreigners, because they are unfamiliar with this form of speech.  Lawless Sensei (Teacher) also taught us the art of haggling. 

            -Melissa   

   

Antoine and Katherine learning how to make origami in Otani-sensei's class

Origami birds

Today, before dinner, we had a guest speaker, Sones Sensei. Sones Sensei teaches in Richmond and is interested in Japanese art and bonsai. He lectured on common motifs in Japanese visual arts, as well as Japanese gardens.

One common motif in Japanese art is the sun, which is depicted on the Japanese flag. It is commonly known of as a symbol for Japan. However, what people don’t generally know is that the sun is a symbol of rebirth and renewal, since it rises and sets every day. The motif of the sakura, or cherry blossom, is also very common and important to the Japanese culture. Samurai saw the fragile cherry blossom as a metaphor for their own lives, because it is fleeting, yet beautiful. A tenet of Buddhist philosophy is that humans should live every day as if it were the last, because a person’s life can be here one day and gone the next, just as one big storm can wipe out the cherry blossoms.

Sones Sensei also told us about many different types of Japanese gardens, such as the strolling garden, the rock garden, and the tea garden. The tea garden style originated in the Muromachi Period, when Japan experienced civil unrest. Samurai needed a quiet place to relax and meditate after battle, so the tea ceremony and small, contained tea gardens were started. In general, Japanese gardens are made to blend in to nature so that one cannot tell where the garden ends and the surrounding forest begins. Tomorrow, we will see this philosophy of life espoused by the Japanese people. We will visit a Japanese garden in Richmond. Thanks to Sones Sensei’s lecture, we will be able to fully appreciate the meaning of the gardens.

- Christina B.

Examples of Japanese symbolism in art

Lesson about Japanese gardens: Sones-sensei (Guest Speaker)

Today’s culture lesson with Chung-Senpai included topics about ongaku (おんがく), also known as music, and Japanese game shows. His music lesson mentioned various Japanese and Korean artists such as Supercell, Younha, 2PM, Jyongui, and Spyair. A few of these artists sang the opening songs for popular anime. Aside from the deep lyrics that can be found in many of the song covers, we learned that songs can be created without a real person being there. Software developed in 2000 allows anyone to create a song using the pre-recorded voices of famous singers. This development is called Vocaloid and is popular throughout the region.

After Chung-Senpai’s lesson, we participated in a mock Japanese game show. The game show had three groups participate in three rounds of activities. The first had students present a PowerPoint on the spot without knowing the subject and information, the second round was a hiragana matching game, and the third round was a quiz that required students to recall information from the lecture. At the end, all teams performed a comedic skit using three new Japanese vocabulary words. Students were rewarded with a shiny, star sticker. YATTA! (Hooray!)

- Matias

Adam and Katherine learning how to write numbers in Kanji

24 June 2014: Recap of Day 2 & 3

6/23 (Day 2 Recap)

Word of the day: Nihongo (Japanese language)

Yesterday was the start of our three week Japanese language and culture journey. In the beginner’s class, students learned about the Japanese language, encompassing vocabulary and hiragana, one of three Japanese writing styles. Uchida sensei taught the beginners basic greetings to provide the students with the ability to strike up a conversation in nihongo (Japanese). In addition to expanding students’ knowledge of vocabulary of nihongo, students practiced the formation and stroke order of hiragana. Afterwards, students were treated with an authentic peer-to-peer nihongo experience, pitting beginning, intermediate, and advanced students in an all-nihongo lunch where for one hour students were only allowed to speak nihongo  where many less-experienced students reiterated the phrase “nani desuka?” (“what is that?”). This allowed beginning students to utilize their newfound knowledge while higher-level students aided in any language mishaps along the way. After lunch, students were treated to a one-hour film class, which featured he film Princess Mononoke, held by one of the campus’ professors in which the students learned about nihongo animation, specifically Miyazaki films, and how he encompassed elements of modern themes and utilized the Japan’s vast history. Afterwards, students were lectured on campus safety by the assistant director of campus safety, Mr. Daugherty, on the campus in which students learned about the many safety features located throughout the campus. Following campus safety, students were allowed two hours of recreation time within the campus’s gymnasium, enjoying a plethora of equipment such as a pool, racquetball courts, and basketball courts, as well as a fitness center and others facilities. After cleaning up, students were treated to dinner and then attended their first of many culture classes hosted by their senpai. Kim-senpai taught one group about the differences and similarities between Japanese and Western animations, which included how audiences’ perception of each animation style varies from country to country. Chung-senpai educated students on the evolution of Japanese pop music and culture in Japan. Tomomatsu-senpai displayed the art of Taiko drumming to her students and showed them the techniques required to play the drums. Rounding off the day, students elected company leaders to perform various activities around campus throughout the duration of the academy and the company leaders recruited students to assist them on their tasks. After a fun-filled day of various activities, students recorded their experiences in their journals for the purpose of reminiscing at the academy’s end. 

-  Antoine and Melissa

    6/24 (Day 3)

Today, the beginner-level students continued to learn hiragana, one of the three Japanese writing styles. Uchida Sensei revealed many tips and tricks to facilitate memorization. The students have only had three days of exposure to the language, but are continuously learning new symbols and phrases. The students participate in group learning to mimic the Japanese group-mentality. After reviewing the hiragana symbols, Uchida Sensei passed out a blank board game and asked the students to fill in the spaces with the new symbols they had learned. This game required quick recollection and encouraged students to memorize the hiragana characters. This creative activity was an enjoyable and effective method! At the end of language class, the students all introduced themselves to each other and conversed completely in Japanese. This is a huge accomplishment considering the minimal experience these students have. So much progress is being made, and this is only the beginning!

-Lindsey

Today, Lawless Sensei taught the advanced class in the afternoon (We normally have Ōtani Sensei ). Lawless Sensei started off the class by having the advanced students play Taboo in Japanese. The students did well, but having a smaller vocabulary makes the game a lot harder. In preparation for Friday’s cooking class, in which everyone will make gyoza (dumplings) and onigiri (rice balls), Lawless Sensei helped the students re-learn cooking vocabulary. The advanced students will be asked to explain the recipe to the beginning students in Japanese. The Taboo game was a way to prepare the advanced students to explain unknown words using circumlocution. Finally, the advanced students read a story about an exchange student in Japan who ate her meal with gusto until she realized the meat was suppon, or snapping turtle!

- Christina B.

Today for our guest speaker we had Kristen Luck, a Ph. D candidate at VCU, come and give us a lecture. It was about Japanese politics. She analyzes documents and labor laws in Japan and searches for keywords referring to woman’s rights, specifically laws referring to the objectification of women’s bodies for childbirth and child rearing. We also watched a PowerPoint explaining the governmental and political system in Japan. She explained that the Edo and Meiji periods of Japan were a time where the emperor was revered. Afterwards, she explained how Japan’s political system had changed so drastically from imperialism to capitalism. Today, instead of an emperor executing all major actions for the country of Japan, there is now a parliamentary system in place similar to England. This is because of the occupation of Japan by the United States, where the United States wrote a constitution for the previously imperial country. The emperor is now currently a figurehead, and now the Prime Minister carries out most executive duties (sort of like a president). She also touched upon the issue of discrimination in Japan, mostly directed towards people of a race other than Japanese and Japanese women, her specialty. There was a question-and-answer session afterwards, where we asked questions and had a discussion.

All of the Japanese Academy students were very engaged throughout the lecture!

-Amy

22 June 2014: The First Day Begins!

Day One

Decorated Bulletin board with all the students at the GJA Academy displaying where they're from

Today was a day of adjustment and settling in for the students as they spent their first day getting to know each other and the staff of the Japanese Academy. The RAs taught the students Icebreakers, Japanese etiquette, Origami, giving them a taste of what's in store for the rest of the Academy.

Students learned honorifics such as Sensei (Teacher), San (Mr./Ms.), Senpai (upperclassmen) in order to start engraining the colloquialisms found in Japanese speaking. At the Academy the students are told to address not only their teachers as "sensei" and RAs as "senpai," but also when addressing one other, they will use "(Name)-san" with one another. Other cultural words they learned were "Itadakimasu" and "Gochisousama deshita." These terms translate as "I am thankful for this meal"(before eating) and "I enjoyed my meal" (after eating),  respectively. Students will begin to incorporate Japanese terms little by little in their routine here at meal time, nightly meeting and more.

Speaking of meal time, at the Japanese Academy, students will be diving head first into Japanese immersion during lunch time, where they will be speaking ONLY Japanese, no matter the level. Thus, students with varied degree of experience can help one another and push themselves to use and learn Japanese outside of classes. Ganbatte minna! (Good luck everyone!)

One thing that everyone made sure to do by the end of the day was make a "tsuru" or crane for good luck during their time at the Academy. The "tsuru" origami has a legend that if one makes a 1000 cranes, they will be granted one wish. Whether it be to get into a good school or ace a test, making tsuru is a tradition from Japanese ancestry in hopes of peace, happiness, health and so forth.

This is only the tip of the iceberg of activities that the Japanese Academy has in store. With future field trips, cooking classes, cultural endeavors, three weeks may soon pass like a breeze~

Close-up of students' cranes attached to their names tags