2007-11-18, 02:24 | Link #361 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Land of the rising sun
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Forests in Japan, well there are actually two words for it in which one is 林(hayashi) and the other 森(Mori) both meaning a patch of woods. What most do not know is that hayashi has a meaning of forest developed for benefit of the village and Mori meaning untouched woods. Hayashi is a patch of woods that surrounds a village. The species that grows are selectivily chosen for various means by the villagers. It is not an orchard or a tree farm where only a single species or fruits are planted but variety of different species beneficial to everyday life are taken care as a whole. Shrubs and dead wood is cleared and young shoots are culled for planned forestrization. The collected shrubs, dead wood and culled shoots are used to make charcoal and/or other products. The maintained forest is also good for various mushrooms to grow. This area of maintained forestry also acts as a buffer zone to wild animal to let them know that man lives near and to stay away. The general area consisting hayashi and village is called 里(sato) and 古里(furusato) means home town. Some westerners seeing a rural village praises how nature is preserved but this not totally true since to make a sato a whole valley was cleared away and then modified to meet man's needs including the width of the valley and a stream that flows within the valley. As you can see this has nothing to do with Shintoism, it was the way of life for rural villages of Japan but at various truning points during the course of a year various festivities were carried out to enjoy the fruit of labor in the sato. These festivities were presided by shintoism and the shrine. |
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2007-11-18, 02:24 | Link #362 | |
King of Nothing
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Hell
Age: 32
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Quote:
but thanks for the insite into this it helps a lot (and yes but google also crams useless junk into the search) |
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2007-11-18, 08:18 | Link #363 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Neo-Venezia...I wish!
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Wiki articles tend to be good for a general introduction. The treasure trove of a Wiki article however is contained at the bottom - the references section!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinto |
2007-11-19, 00:48 | Link #364 |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 66
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Just to shift the direction a bit... I recently purchased a pair of zori ... real ones that actually cost about as much as shoes. None of the American stores are carrying "tatami and cloth" zori anymore (the cheap $4 ones) --- they've ALL switched to skin-scuffing plastic shit in some damned 'one choice capitalism' crap conspiracy.
Though these 'authentic' tatami zori are sized just fine, the toe thong is really tight and I've read that most people (yes, even Japanese) have to stretch them a bit before they feel comfortable (e.g. the recent Sketchbook episode where Sora had to wear sandals because she'd forgotten to stretch the toe thong on her geta/zori. "itai..." Any tips appreciated. Right now I've got two power strips jammed into my zori to stretch them a bit.
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2007-11-19, 02:36 | Link #365 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Land of the rising sun
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Quote:
I also suggest you wearing a tabi when you use those Jori to prevent sandle sores. |
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2007-11-19, 02:43 | Link #366 |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 66
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roger on the tabi.... there's actually a sock company in my city that makes pretty darn durable tabi that I've been using the last few years.
Unfortunately, I ordered them online but if I'll take a look (and may ask around locally if I think I'm over my head). Thanks.
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2007-11-19, 04:03 | Link #367 |
Moving in circles
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 49
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Pardon the "old" foggie for bringing in this subject. I do think it's related to the topic though.
Japan eyes demographic time bomb Like in many other areas, Japan will be a very interesting case study to follow over the next two decades, as it deals with its shrinking population while having to take care of an aging population that is living longer. From a creative perspective, I wonder what kinds of stories this on-going trend may inspire in the years to come. We've seen hikkikomori featured in anime like Welcome to NHK and Rozen Maiden, so who knows? Maybe some new stories to deal with the incredible shrinking Japan. Or maybe a future where immigration becomes a norm (gasp!). That theme was already explored in Stand Alone Complex: Second Gig. The Japanese are living in "interesting" times. |
2007-11-19, 04:31 | Link #368 |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 66
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Actually, Manabi Straight obliquely addressed this (school systems merging as fewer and fewer young people existed and those that did were encouraged to work --- to pay taxes).
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2007-11-19, 20:41 | Link #370 |
~
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Boston
Age: 35
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http://economist.com/world/asia/disp...ory_id=8680941
Is the judicial system in Japan really this bad? Holding suspects for up to 23 days without council with unrecorded interrogations with some suspects dying in the process and a 99.9% conviction rate seem appallingly extreme for a nation like Japan. |
2007-11-19, 21:49 | Link #371 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Land of the rising sun
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2007-11-19, 21:52 | Link #372 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Neo-Venezia...I wish!
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My lecturer gave us this article yesterday. Quite an interesting read about Japan's "hidden" homeless.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/japan/stor...178960,00.html |
2007-11-19, 22:08 | Link #373 | |
神聖カルル帝国の 皇帝
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Korea
Age: 37
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2007-11-20, 18:31 | Link #377 | |
神聖カルル帝国の 皇帝
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Korea
Age: 37
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Quote:
Internet Cafe: ¥1800-2000 a night (if one uses the 'night pack', usage of the pod from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m) So yes, it's comparable. |
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2007-11-20, 19:04 | Link #378 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Neo-Venezia...I wish!
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Quote:
What I found interesting is the use of the internet/manga cafes for such a surprising purpose. It's definately a good thing at least some of the cafes are being hospitable to the semi-homeless. It's also a little harder to dig through "the other side" of Japan compared with say the UK because of the culture. |
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2007-11-20, 19:36 | Link #379 | |
9wiki
Scanlator
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- Target market: Capsule hotels are generally targeted toward businessmen with no other options. - Amenities and upkeep: Capsule hotels are designed to be a place to sleep and relax. It certainly costs more to build these beds and integrate all the creature comforts for a capsule hotel than it does to rent a space and drop in some chairs, books, computers and partitions that is the minimum for the manga cafe. The capsule hotels must also be maintained with more frequency and care than the manga cafe. Of course, it manga cafes were actually marketed as hotels, things would be different. - Location, location, location. A manga cafe simply needs to be in a location on "the beaten path". A capsule hotel is generally going to be by a train station, where property is very expensive. There are more reasons, I'm sure, but those go further into speculation on my part.
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Tags |
culture, discussion, japan, japanese culture |
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