禅

Sand and gravel gardens are an intrinsic feature of many Zen temples in Japan, the most famous being the stone and gravel garden at Ryoanji in western Kyoto. Raking the gravel into a distinctive pattern is part of the training of young novices, who seek perfection of form through the practiced and studied concentration of undertaking a singular and repetitive act.



Honen-in Temple, not far from Ginkakuji Temple in the Higashiyama district of Kyoto, has a beautiful raised gravel garden as you enter through the main gate.



The constant formation and destruction of these sand mandalas recalls the Tibetan tradition which symbolizes the Buddhist belief in the transitory nature of all material life - anicca.

Access

Honen-in
30 Shishigatani
Goshonodan-cho
Sakyo-ku, Kyoto
Tel: 075 771 2420

From Shijo Kawaramachi, bus #32. From Kyoto Station, bus #5 or Raku Bus #100. Get off at Ginkakuji-mae. A five-minute walk to your right along Philosopher's Walk, then turn left and walk uphill over the stream. Honen-in is on your left, as you turn right just over the stream at the sign to the temple.

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男根象徴京都

While out looking for cherry blossoms over the weekend, just down the road from the Utano Youth Hostel, we stumbled into a nursery full of cherry trees that also had a collection of statuary.

According to a woman who worked in the nursery, the head gardener is the number one cherry tree man in Japan. The trees he has nurtured can be found in Maruyama Park, the Imperial Palace (Gosho), and many other well-known locations.

We were close to Hirosawa no Ike, a large lake near Arashiyama. The lake is full of herons and circled by cherry trees.

The lake was dug in the Heian period, and is famous as a spot for moon-viewing.

Back in the nursery many were enjoying the many varieties of cherry tree, and the statues.

The most striking was a large phallic symbol with a Buddhist image carved onto it. To its right is a representation of female pudenda.

It was surrounded by other more typical statutes.


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試験の問題：教師の猫の名前




A high school in Yanagawa City, Fukuoka Prefecture, has made the news with the kindergarten-type questions posed in exam questions for last school year.

In both the first- and second-term exams for the third-year botany class and and first-year general science class of Sugimori Municipal High School, questions included those about the model and color of the car the teacher drove, its license plate number, and the name of the teacher's cat.

The answers were all provided, albeit jumbled, for the students to select the correct one from. The teacher also provided verbal clues during the exam.

The overall scores for students taught by the teacher in the courses involved were between 84 and 94%, over 20% higher than the average for other classes.

The principal received complaints from outside the school (supposedly parents) and there was criticism from other teachers, too. The teacher - a male in his 40s - defended the baby-style questions as a way of ascertaining if the kids had listened to him in class. (Hey, why not ask them to remember the punch lines of jokes he'd told them, too?)

The principal admitted that the the exam questions were inappropriate, that there had been insufficient checks in place, and that improvements would be made in the third term.

As anyone teaching at universities in Japan knows, the quality of students is declining in Japan, due mainly to falling demand at educational facilities. While the population is declining, the capacity of educational facilities remains much the same. Universities are therefore easing the entrance criteria in order to keep lecture halls full. However, on the other hand, with the declining numbers of students, the pressure is no doubt on teachers to perform in a profession where personnel cuts are now likely.

A teacher pampering students with questions about his cat's name is symptomatic of an education system facing redundancy that must be fed more students, and of teachers, also facing redundancy, who must produce "results."

Read more about education in Japan.

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吉田松陰記念館




A little south of Hagi is the Yoshida Shoin Memorial Hall (Yoshida Shoin Kinenkan)。
It is most notable for the three bronze statues that stand outside in front of it, one of Yoshida Shoin himself, one of Takasugi Shinsaku, and one of Kusaka Gensui: both the latter having been taught in the late 1850s by Yoshida at his family’s Shoka-sonjuku school that produced over 80 students who went on to become prominent figures in the Meiji Restoration that modernized Japan, beginning in 1868.
The Yoshida Shoin Memorial Hall is free, and just as well, because the exhibits it contains are not particularly remarkable. They include a map detailing Yoshida’s wanderings throughout Japan, a life-size wax museum-style replica of a class at Yoshida’s Shoka-sonjuku, and several documents and replicas of documents such as letters by the great man, his last will and testament, and kakejiku, i.e. calligraphic scrolls bearing exhortative proverbs and sayings.

If you're driving to Yamaguchi from Hagi, it's worth stopping for a look. There are also refreshments on sale. Park only in designated parking spaces. I didn't and crushed the bumper against a pole.

萩市大字椿 字鹿背ケ坂 1258
1258 Tsubaki, Hagi-shi, Yamaguchi
Tel/Fax 0838 22 9889
Hours: 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. every day except Dec 29 – Jan 3.

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今週の日本

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樱花与日本人

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Public school tuition waived

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Times Online

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Last week's Japan news


Japan Statistics

Child abuse cases hit a new record in 2009. Child abuse cases soared by 15.6% over the previous year to 725.

This was in part due to greater reporting.

However, rights abuses overall - of which child abuse is one - declined 0.9% to 21,218.

Source: Ministry of Justice

Ten countries - eight from Africa - now have moved their diplomatic services from Tokyo to Beijing. For those needing diplomatic services related to Japan for the countries listed below, you will have to deal with an embassy in Beijing:

Burundi, Cyprus, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Malta, Niger, Republic of Congo, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Togo

Source: Kyodo News

Japan's consumer price index declined 1.2% in February, compared to the same month a year earlier.

Source: Yomiuri Shinbun

Average year-end bonuses at companies with at least five employees dropped by 9.3% from the previous year.

The average bonus totaled 380,258 yen (roughly $4,000). That is the first time since 1990 that the figure has dropped below 400,000.

Source: Yomiuri Shinbun


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国立国際美術館大阪

Osaka does have culture, and not just manzai comedy, bunraku puppet theater, and its overrated cuisine.

The National Museum of Art (NMOA), for example, is an amazing cultural center - and building - that houses its galleries underground.

To approach the museum is to come upon an extra terrestrial structure smack in the middle of a banal cityscape.

NMOA opened in 1977, and was later redesigned by Cesar Pelli. The Argentine architect's work opened in 2004.

The striking exterior pictured above right was the work of Yoshio Hayakawa, and is said to represent an image of the museum reaching towards the sky.

You enter and then are directed to ride an escalator down to the lobby. This is where tickets are sold; there are also lockers and the requisite museum store.

Once you have your ticket and enter, you continue down. You ride several escalators down to the galleries in Level 3. From there you work your way back up.

Next door is the Osaka Science Museum.

Access

A short walk from Watanabe bashi Station on the Keihan Line. A 10 - 15 minute walk from City Hall, at Yodoyabashi.

Information

Open 10 - 5 pm (last entry at 4:30), closed Mondays and national holidays
Tel: 06 6447 4680
Fees: 420 yen (separate charge for special exhibitions)

Upcoming Exhibit

Renoir: Tradition and Innovation
17 April - 27 June, 2010

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The Foundation for Shamanic Studies
シャーマニズム研究財団

"Shamanism is a path of knowledge, not of faith, and that knowledge cannot come from me or anyone else in this reality. To acquire that knowledge, including the knowledge of the reality of the spirits, it is necessary to step through the shaman's doorway and acquire empirical evidence."

Michael Harner, Ph.D.
FSS Founder and President
Author of The Way of the Shaman

The Basic Workshop in Core Shamanism (Weekend)

Kyoto: May 15 - 16, 2010
Tokyo: May 27 - 28, 2010

Core Shamanism

Core shamanism is the universal or near-universal principles and practices of shamanism not bound to any specific cultural group or perspective, as originated, researched, and developed by Michael Harner. Since the modern world overwhelmingly lost its shamanic knowledge centuries ago due to political and religious oppression, the Foundation’s programs in core shamanism are particularly intended for modern peoples to reacquire access to their rightful spiritual heritage through quality workshops and training courses. Training in core shamanism includes teaching students to alter their consciousness through classic shamanic non-drug techniques such as repetitive drumming so that they can discover their own hidden spiritual resources, transform their lives, and learn how to help others. Core shamanism does not focus on ceremonies, such as those of Native Americans, which are part of the work of medicine men and women, persons who do both shamanism and ceremonial work.

Michael Harner's
The Way of the Shaman: Shamanic Journeying, Power, and Healing

The Basic Workshop in Core Shamanism (Weekend)

Kyoto: May 15 - 16, 2010
Tokyo: May 27 - 28, 2010

During the Basic experiential workshop, participants are introduced to core shamanism, the universal and near-universal basic methods of the shaman to enter non-ordinary reality for problem solving and healing.

Particular emphasis is on the classic shamanic journey, one of the most remarkable visionary methods used by humankind to explore the hidden universe otherwise known mainly through myth and dream. Participants are initiated into shamanic journeying, aided by drumming and other techniques for experiencing the shamanic state of consciousness and for awakening dormant spiritual abilities, including connections with Nature. Practice includes comparisons by participants of their discoveries in shamanic journeys as well as being introduced to shamanic
divination and healing. They are also provided with methods for journeying to meet and study with their own individual spirit helpers in nonordinary reality, a classic step in shamanic practice. Participants learn how the journey is utilized to restore spiritual power and health, and how shamanism can be applied in contemporary daily life to help heal oneself, others, and the Planet. Basic and Advanced courses to be continuously offered in Japan and Asia.

The Foundation for Shamanic Studies Faculty for Asia: Kevin Turner
shamanismjapan@yahoo.co.jp
Tel/fax: 075-723-4379

English website: www.shamanism.org
Japanese website: www.shamanism.org/workshops/japanese.html

Kevin Turner’s English bio: www.shamanism.org/fssinfo/turnerbio.html

Kevin Turner's site: www.shamanism-asia.com

シャーマニズム研究財団

The Foundation for Shamanic Studies

「シャー マニズムとは、知識の道であって信仰の道ではない。そしてその知識は、私や或はこのリアリティ（現実）における他の誰からも得ることは出来ない。精霊達の 現実に関する知識を含むこの知識を身につけるには、シャーマンの門戸をくぐり、自らの経験を通して証拠を掴んでいかねばならない。」

マイケル・ハーナー Michael Harner, Ph.D
シャーマニズム研究財団創設者及び財団長
『シャーマンへの道』著者


コア・シャーマニズム
Core Shamanism

コア・シャーマニズム（核心のシャーマニズム）とは、マイケル・ハーナーが考案、研究、発展させた、シャーマニズムにおけるほぼ普遍的と言える原理とその 実践のことであり、いかなる特定の文化組織や観点とも結びつくものではない。シャーマニックな知識の大方は、政治的／宗教的弾圧が原因で、何世紀も前に甚 だしく失われてしまった。その様な背景から当財団のコア・シャーマニズムのプログラムは、現代人が良質のワークショップやトレーニングを通して、正当な精 神的文化遺産との繋がりを取り戻せるようにすることを意図している。コア・シャーマニズムのトレーニングでは、参加者が意識を変性させていく際に、繰り返 されるドラムの音の様な伝統的シャーマニズムの非薬物的手法を使い、参加者がどのように自らの隠された精神的源泉を発見し、人生を変容させ、また他者の助 けとなっていけるか、ということも教えられる。コア・シャーマニズムは、例えばネイティブアメリカン達が行う様なセレモニー（儀式）には主眼を置かない。 これらは、シャーマニズムと儀式行為の両方を行うメディスンマンやメディスンウーマン達の仕事の一部である。

シャーマンへの道：シャーマンの旅、パワーとヒーリング

コア・シャーマニズム公式ベーシックワークショップ

The Way of the Shaman workshop

ベーシックの体験的ワークショップでは、参加者はシャーマンのほぼ普遍的基本体系であるコア(核心の)・シャーマニズムに触れ、問題解決やヒーリングの為 に非日常的リアリティへと入っていく。 ここで特に重要視されるのが古典的なシャーマンの旅である。これは、人類が隠された宇宙を探究する為に使った、最も注目に値する先見的な手法であり、この 手法無しには、隠された宇宙は主に神話や夢を通してのみしか知り得ないものであった。 参加者はシャーマンの旅をする手ほどきを受け、ドラムの音やその他のテクニックの助けを得ながらシャーマン的意識状態を体験し、大自然と繋がることを含む 眠っているスピリチュアルな能力を目覚めさせていく。 またシャーマンの旅の中での発見について、参加者同士で話し合ったり、シャーマンの直感的予見やヒーリングにも実習の中で触れていく。 更に、旅をする中での非日常的リアリティにて自らのスピリットヘルパーと出会い、そこから学んでいくというシャーマンの実践に於ける古典的ステップの方法 も伝授される。 このように参加者達は、この旅が如何にして自らのスピリチュアルなパワーや健康を回復させるのに役立つのか、また如何にしてシャーマニズムが現代の日常生 活の中で自分や他人を癒したり、この惑星を癒すことに適用できるのかを学ぶ。

マイケル・ハーナーによるコースデザイン講師：ケヴィン・ターナー

■京都市：４月３日（土）〜４日（日）
モンロー研究所公式コース（通訳あり）
ゲートウェイ・エクスカージョン　33,000円

■ 京都市：５月１５日（土）〜１６日（日）
シャーマニズム研究財団公式コース
シャーマンへの道　（通訳あり）33,000円

■ 京都市：５月２２日（土）〜２３日（日）定員10名（ 通訳あり）
レベル１：コーディネート・リモートヴューイング（CRV）37,000 円

■ 東京都世田谷区：５月２９日（土）〜３０日（日）
シャーマニズム研究財団公式ワークショップ
シャーマンへの道　（通訳あり）33,000円


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