!

The history of the "inside-outside" mentality in Japanese culture and society and how it has acted as an agent of cultural preservation against cultural imperialism, how it has allowed for a somewhat balanced relationship between taking in new ideas and protecting indigenous culture.
how it is reflected in art and music and pop culture and consumerism
"making oneself 'cool'"

(what my spur-of-the-moment research notes look like)

(these videos are what inspired me:





display a uniquely Japanese aesthetic while embracing Western rock and taking part in new explorations of music, art, and technical engineering?)

Los Angeles Music

What if the next big (underground (for now)) music movement in L.A. was made up of artists inspired by the pop music of the '60s reinterpreting it with the addition of the noise, psychadelic, electronic, and other musical-artistic elements that have developed since that time?

Yes! Kick! Martial Arts.

Yes! I went to a budousai, ie. martial arts festival!!, in town today. It was awesome! I got to try some basics of nippon kenpou (which apparently is just the characters for "Japan" followed by those for "kung fu"), even though we showed up a little late. So, yes, there was initially a little drama, but after that was quickly overcome, it was a good time.

*Also, quick observation:
When we started practicing, the young kenpo guys all went to the three white people I was with to start helping them out, and I practiced without a partner for most of it at the beginning, but then the headmaster-instructor himself started coming up to me and giving me advice and having me practice on him, which was reeaaally cool! Kind of went along with what I've supposed might be, and have been experiencing greatly to be, the case in Japan with me: not being white, and thus not having white features (like white skin and light brown, blond, or red hair) usually leads me to not get the so-called "special treatment" a lot of Japanese give foreigners (mostly comprised of people putting you on a pedestal and asking you how amazing it is in "America" and complementing you on everything, giving you free stuff, etc.), especially with young people, who don't see me as that "neat" or "exciting" because, hey, I look kind of like them (in the joking words of one of my past middle school students, "Man, you just have dark brown hair even though you're a foreigner, that's sad." My response: "You better not dye your hair. Dark hair is the most beautiful!"). On the other hand, I've noticed that people in general tend to feel more at-ease around me and tell me they can relate to me well, even forgetting the fact that I'm not Japanese. Lots of times, older people, especially in their near 40s and mid-50s, tend to hang out with me in a really relaxed atmosphere, not stuffed up with all that Japanese-foreigner hype. It feels like a cultural affinity, only reinforced by the relative physical similarity we share (ie. We aren't joltingly reminded just by looking at each other that we're different.). I kind of sensed that when the older kenpo master, who maybe not as interested as his younger pupils in white girls and big, red-haired white guys, took me under his wing, if even for that short period of time, to teach me how to do the attacks the right way and even let me practice on him (HIM! as in the guy who watches the matches and tells us what to do - definitely not the same as practicing on young students who played the role of sparring partner for the people taking the workshop). Anyways, that was cool. It confirmed some of those observations I've had from the outset, but recently come to appreciate more from experience and not be so bitter about. I'd take my position in this society as it is any day.*

Later, we got to see demonstrations of all sorts of martial arts, including judo, kendo, junkendo (kendo with rifles), karate, sumo, aikido, kyudo (bow and arrow), naginata (long spear/staff?), shorinji, nippon kenpo, taekwondo and maybe a couple other ones that were really cool but I forgot. It was cool to get to appreciate the differences between the arts better. I definitely started feeling again like I'm going to want to make martial arts a constant fixture of my life from now on. I mean, it has been up to now at certain points of my life, but it'd be cool to really pursue one, or try experiencing different ones, from now on throughout the next few years or more of my life. It just feels so good. Anyways, I really liked the weaponless martial arts, as I thought I would, in particular nippon kenpo, karate, and shorinji. Aikido was cool, too, ESPECIALLY the flipping and sparring all done from the sitting position. Really sweet.
That's what I did today. Then I got home and was so tired that I fell asleep curled up in a blanket, still wearing the clothes from that day, and with my face rested nicely on the hard tatami mat floor.

I also got a call from an old friend today. A reminder of time spent having a lot of fun - drinking with random Japanese people, exchanging info, and ending up hanging out with them for the next couple of days, then hosting them when they came to visit Los Angeles. Wow. Life is looking up, and I'm looking up toward a new way of having fun and just living. Woohoo!

Also, I'm super excited about the possibility of doing this grass-thatchcutting in a couple of weekends. I was invited sincerely by our mutual friend who's name begins with an A, and just watching this video got me suuuper psyched to help out if I can! Oh my gosh, wouldn't this just be the coolest opportunity ever! Or that you've heard of recently!? Who knew thatching could be so cool! Actually, the working hard and sweating and laboring together with other people toward a common goal is what initially drew my attention, but also the cultural and historical aspect of it is cool! And looking at some of these other related videos about thatching...man, it looks like a cool process and trade/skill to have. To Life!!

I'm Ten Years Old...And My Name Is Platypus-Ninety-Nine

• Yesterday I did a lot of caulking around the house to keep cockroaches from making their crawly way back in again. I did this with great vigor and enjoyment, but when I opened the package of black, symmetrical, pentagon-shaped, and seemingly born to judge and kill poison traps - infect roaches so even their poop is poisonous and kills the others in the nest when they eat it - I just lost a lot of my enthusiasm. If I could just keep the cockroaches out, what is the point of going out of my way to kill them all? A re-occurring thought: what is even so bad about living with cockroaches, maybe even sleeping with them crawling on me every now and then? They don't bite, and I'm beginning to think that they might not actually sleep in peoples' ears and lay eggs (just barely though). What is the concrete disadvantage to living with cockroaches in your apartment, besides the fact that no one will come over because they think you're really dirty? Perhaps they are filthy, I thought after a bit, and they would be bad for your hygiene. Ah well, I thought, as I put the four traps around my apartment. I only felt like I needed two, but since the pack came with four and they started losing their effect as soon as the bag was opened...

• I had an awesome time in South Korea. I'm really grateful to my great (grate) friends who showed me all over the place, housed me, fed me delicious food, and just shared with me their great company. Great/What's happening to my vocabulary?　もしかして、日本語の邪魔・・・Here are some pictures, right...here:

Han River on a *** night.

By the way, I'm listening to Yura Yura Teikoku's "Kuukou Desu." So if you've got it, put it on...now.















Mmm?
















Mmm...
















Mmm.
















Rice Baby. Kind of scary. And talk about about bad table manners...little brat.
















Inordinate amount of cops before a parade. This was about a twentieth of the cops there.

Beautiful.















Protesters. Against South Korea's current president.














Drumming. Amazing.















The parade was planned to file into a covered, outdoors area where there would be pop concerts and the like. The protesters, of course, were not invited to this part of the ceremonies. Eventually, however...














Took the stage.














I felt like I was flying.














Until.














Ran in file through and over the people in front of me.






























Some cops tried to push their way inside a group of protesters only to be hit repeateldly, yelled at, and pushed out helmetless and covering their heads, cowering.














Media interviewing.














The area cleared up and people went on to sing and dance and pass out fliers.
It was inspiring and refreshing to be surrounded again by people who care enough about something to educate themselves about it, at least to a degree, mobilize together, and publicly show their feelings against it. I felt a certain kind of connection even though I didn't know anybody there protesting.

And that will take you to the beginning of my second night and day in Seoul! I have much more to write and show, after all it was a trip full of different beautiful and interesting experiences. You can look forward me recounting these tales in future posts (South Korea pt. 2!!). But for now...

• I keep coming back to a desire to be able to play a role in helping people understand each other better. I feel like so many of the world's problems are caused just by people not understanding each other and instead fearing and reviling what (they perceive) is different about them. If we could just communicate with each other.

• At the same time, I'm learning to take it slow. I would do best to not try to decide now how I'm going to offer time and energy to this movement. I'll just decide some tools I'm going to use for now.