The End of Spring 2010 - Another Successful Semester of JSL!

Another semester is ending (I am up to my neck in grading) and it's time to reflect about Japanese Sign Language. We had another successful semester of JSL study. I wish to especially thank J-sensei and our sempai, B-san and J-san, for taking on extra teaching responsibilities. Even though I couldn't be there all the time, it was great to see how much you learned. To all members of the group, please continue to study sign language no matter where you are. Remember (how could you forget?), we are all brothers and sisters... お疲れ様でした!

Beauty in Contemporary Japan: Spring 2010 Body/Comm Poster Workshop

Once again Body/Comm students are searching for beauty in contemporary Japan. In this semester's poster workshop, students cut and pasted images from fashion magazines to illustrate recent trends. Consistent themes included big eyes, skinny legs and bodies (and the diets, cremes and other methods to attain them), fair skin (and methods to attain it if you are not half Japanese), accessories and boots. See what each group came up with:






See posters from previous semesters here.

This year's cherry blossoms...

It's that time of year again - time for ohanami (cherry blossom viewing). Japanese people love their cherry blossoms whether it be for the viewing of the pretty flowers or the eating/drinking parties that go on. These first few shots are from around my neighborhood.



At Osaka Jo Koen. I am assuming the man on the left is passed out from drink rather than dead...

There are plum blossoms as well.

Leaving Osaka Jo Koen and heading towards Yodogawa River.

Festivities at Yodogawa River.




Click here for previous posts on VAOJ about hanami and other spring time themes. Happy Spring and happy Hanami!

Banpaku: The Tower of the Sun, Expo Commemoration Park and Anthropology Museum

Still looking for something to do during spring break? Head over to Banpaku on the monorail (The Osaka Monorail is the longest monorail in the world!) and get a nice taste of Osaka. Get off at Banpaku kinen koen station and this is what you will see.


Banpaku was the site of the 1970 World Expo. The symbol of the expo was the 太陽の塔 or Taiyou no Tou (the Tower of the Sun) created by Taro Okamoto. The Tower of the Sun has three faces which represent the future, present and past. There used to be a face representing the underworld as well but it has been removed and taken to an unspecified location.


More info:
http://www.expo70.or.jp/e/park/


More info:
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/regional/osaka/banpakukinenkoen.html


More info:
http://www1.u-netsurf.ne.jp/~kitada/doc/taiyo/us.htm


More info (in Japanese):
http://www1.u-netsurf.ne.jp/~kitada/doc/taiyo/index.htm


Lots of spaces and places for sports. Gamba Osaka plays its soccer games here. We had a chance to see some baseball - a perfect spring day.


The climax of the day for visual anthropologists was the National Museum of Ethnology. Indeed, Minpaku is an incredible resource for visual anthropologists.


The museum is home to the Videotheque (description from museum website):

The Videotheque was developed by the Museum in 1977 as the world’s first on-demand video library of its kind. It contains video programs that introduce rituals, performing arts, and the living cultures of peoples around the world, as well as information on the artifacts on exhibit at the Museum. After several renovations to incorporate the latest technology, the fourth-generation Videotheque started service in April 2006.

The new system features a touch-panel screen and uses more graphics to increase user-friendliness. In the spacious booths in the Multifunctional Terminal Room, visitors can watch longer video programs of valuable footage from fieldwork conducted by researchers, sitting on a special-effects sofa that provides special effects corresponding to the selected program.


The museum has several impressive permanent and temporary very impressive exhibitions. There are artifacts that you can see and touch (very rare for a museum, I think - you can also take photos inside the museum as well). There are great photographs and videos dispersed among the artifacts. There is also a digital guide that you can borrow (description from museum website):

The Minpaku Digital Guide is a portable audio-visual device that explains exhibits. Visitors can walk through the exhibitions and freely choose from the recordings in Japanese, English, and Chinese. Using this device, you can clearly hear and see information on the exhibited artifact: what it is used for, where it is used and what kinds of people use it.


One can literally travel the world in this museum. I was especially happy to see exhibitions on Korea, Ainu, and Bali. This museum cannot be fully appreciated in single visit.


Don't let Rangda scare you away. The good lion is there to protect you...

For more info on the museum:
http://www.minpaku.ac.jp/english/

New Spring 2010 Semester Student Blogs - Check Them Out!

Tsuyunoten Shrine (露天神社), Umeda, Osaka.

A new semester is already in its third week, so you know what that means: new student visual anthropology photo journal blogs. Students have already enthusiastically posted on their initial impressions of their new setting here in Japan and are now busy researching and photographing for their next posts about their Japanese neighborhoods (with inspiration from Ted Bestor's film, Neighborhood Tokyo). Please scroll down to access their blogs. Come often and leave comments. There are a lot of great photos to see and helpful information to read. But your comments and feedback will make our blogging exercise even more successful. We are all about collaboration, open dialogue and of course good visual anthropology. よろしく！