Shinkansen Express Volume 1, Issue 4

しんかんせん EXPRESS
Volume 1, Issue 4, September-December 2009
こんにちは！
こんにちは
！
In this issue:
Upcoming Events ......................................................................................................................... 2
CJCA Mochi Party..................................................................................................................... 2
Cultural Day at the Consulate General’s Home ............................................................................ 2
Annual General Meeting ............................................................................................................... 3
Tea with Tachibana-san ............................................................................................................... 3
Japanese Film Festival ................................................................................................................. 5
Harmonizing Technology with the Real World .............................................................................. 6
Book Review: Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto ............................................................................... 6
Restaurant Review: Sukiyaki House............................................................................................. 7
Japanese Lessons Update ........................................................................................................... 8
Stay in Touch with SAJETAA ....................................................................................................... 9
Photo of the Season ................................................................................................................... 10
Useful Websites:......................................................................................................................... 10
SAJETAA Contact Information ................................................................................................... 10
Message From the (New) Social Coordinator: Miho Trudeau
Hello everyone! I was an elementary school ALT in Nakatsu-shi, Oita-ken from 2007-2008. I had a
wonderful year exploring southern Japan, especially trying all the incredible onsen and Japanese
food. Now it’s great to be involved with the JET community again as Social Event Coordinator.
Also I am the new JET programme coordinator at the Japanese consulate here in Calgary. I look
forward to meeting some of you, hopefully at some of our upcoming events.
Miho
SAJETAA: Southern Alberta Japan Exchange & Teaching Alumni Association (www.sajetaa.org)
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Upcoming Events
Cultural Day at the Consulate
General’s Home
CJCA Mochi Party
September 20, 2009
By Carrie Fischer
Sunday December 13, 2009
1:00-4:00p.m.
Nikkei Centre, 2236 29 Street SW
The Calgary Japanese Community
Association is hosting its annual Mochi
Party.
Mochi is a Japanese delicacy made from
sweet rice and is traditionally enjoyed for
the New Year in Japan.
Price for this event is $5
Mochi Price: $5 per pound (453g) please
pre-order.
For pre-ordering of Mochi, please contact
Taeko at (403) 251-1762 or email
[email protected] by Thursday,
December 10, 2009.
On September 20 the Consul General of Japan
and his wife hosted an Introduction to the
Culinary Culture and Tradition Arts of Japan at
their home. Students from Mount Royal
University’s Asian Studies and Japanese
language programs, as well as members of the
local community, were treated to an afternoon
of Japanese food and culture.
The afternoon began with a sushi
demonstration by the chefs at Kinjo’s
Restaurant (http://www.kinjosushiandgrill.com/).
Shortly after a sashimi demonstration by Chef
Tetsuji Hiromatsu was presented. After the
demonstrations all the guests were invited to
try some of the fish for themselves. The
Consul General’s chefs had also prepared a
delicious banquet luncheon.
After lunch was cleared away the guests
watched a demonstration of the Sogetsu-style
art of Ikebana. The demonstration was led by
Ikebana instructor Keiko Otsuki. According to
the Sogetsu Ikebana website
(www.sogetsu.or.jp/english/index.html) the
Sogetsu school was founded in1927 by Sofu
Teshigahara. Teshigahara believed that
“Anyone can enjoy Sogetsu Ikebana anytime,
anywhere, using any material.” Keiko Otsuki
demonstrated this versatile form of Ikebana
while teaching us about the school’s formation
and the importance of not only the flowers
chosen, but also the container used to hold the
greenery.
Picture from google.ca
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Annual General Meeting
October 29, 2009
By Carrie Fischer
October 29 SAJETAA held its Annual General
Meeting at Kinjo’s restaurant
(http://www.kinjosushiandgrill.com/).
Picture by Carrie Fischer
Shortly following the Ikebana
demonstration Sado Master Takako
Yokoyama and her students performed
the Omotesenke Tea Ceremony for the
crowd. The Omotesenke Tea Ceremony
is “a communication of the minds of host
and guests through the enjoyment of
delicious tea together” according to the
Omotesenke website
(http://www.omotesenke.jp/index.html).
At the meeting we welcomed our newest
executive, Miho Trudeau, who agreed to
become our events coordinator for the ’09-’10
year.
Other discussions included future events
SAJETAA would like to arrange for its
membership and a review of our ’08-’09 year’s
events.
If you’re interested in volunteering at future
SAJETAA events, please contact Miho
Trudeau at [email protected].
Picture by Carrie Fischer
Tea with Tachibana-san
November 14, 2009
By Miho Trudeau
Picture by Carrie Fischer
SAJETAA would like to thank the Consul
General for inviting us to this beautiful
event.
This year we were fortunate enough to
organize a tea with Misako Tachibana, a
Hiroshima A-bomb survivor. Ms. Tachibana
shared her life story with a group of JET alumni
and friends on November 14th at the Calgary
Nikkei Cultural and Senior Centre, just days
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after Remembrance Day. Her story of
personal courage and endurance was an
inspiration, as well as a reminder of the
past. Although her message of peace
was simple, its’ strength was powerful.
Picture by Carrie Fischer
Misako Tachibana grew up in a small
town outside of Hiroshima but on August
6, 1945, at the age of fifteen, she was in
the city on a class trip. In a matter of
seconds, she experienced the full force
of the explosion and was blasted 100
feet into a nearby river but survived.
Although badly burned by the bomb, she
was still able to make her way to a
school serving as temporary hospital for
all the bomb victims. After months of
intensive care by her immediate family
she was nursed back to health. With little
first-aid materials her parents cared for
her around the clock. She suffered
routinely from haunting nightmares and
was left with many keloid scars. Despite
this, Tachibana-san returned to school,
finished her high school education and
helped work to support her family. It was
not until almost a decade later that
surgery would be available to her, since
Japan was in a post-war depressed
economy. This meant only local
anesthetics and reused bandages were
available for intensive rounds of skin
reconstruction. After a few weeks of intolerable
pain she was unable to continue the planned
month of surgeries to repair her scars.
Tachibana-san continued working and living at
home but became ever more depressed. In
1955, along with 24 other young single
Japanese women, she was given an
opportunity to receive plastic surgery in the
United States. Labeled the “Hiroshima Maidens
Project”, the opportunity was a charitable
project partially funded by Quaker families in
the U.S. For over a year, Tachibana-san
stayed with Quaker families while receiving
surgery. The experience changed more than
her physical state. The welcoming care
Tachibana-san received while staying with her
host families transformed her and she returned
to Japan a different woman.
Returning home, she also held a new dream:
to become a beautician. Despite two nonfunctioning fingers of her left hand – another
result of the bomb – she wanted to pursue a
career with her hands. In fact, Tachibana-san
has always enjoyed working her hands; the
spectacular display of her donated origami at
the Calgary Nikkei Cultural and Senior Centre
attests to her skills. After training as a
beautician both in Japan and the United
States, she came to Canada to practice her
trade. Ever the courageous adventurer, she
came alone to live in the middle of Canada:
Winnipeg, and unexpectedly at the age of 36
she met her husband Hiroshi there. Only
recently after decades of cold Winnipeg
winters, Tachibana-san and her husband came
to retire in Calgary. Reflecting on their life, she
describes their years together as happy ones.
Sadly, Hiroshi passed away a couple of years
ago.
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After hearing Tachibana-san’s story, it is
not surprising that one listener asked,
“What kept you going through everything
that happened?” Smiling Tachibana-san
simply responded, “because I am
breathing.” The messages she shared
were simple, but their strength and
veracity left a great imprint. I am sure I
speak for all when I say it was truly an
honour to hear her speak. Thank you to
all who came to hear her story.
Picture by Betty Saskiw
the big screen – definitely not something
readily available!
All the movies featured this year were dramas,
some more serious than others. Well-attended
in both Lethbridge and Calgary, great reviews
came from the movies Dog in a Sidecar and
The Milkwoman.
I saw the flim, The Stars Converge - a story set
in the 1970’s about a Japanese school girl,
also the star high jumper at her local high
school, who falls in love with a Korean high
jumper at a goodwill track competition in South
Korea. Son of a diplomat, the boy has dreams
of following in his father’s footsteps to bring
peace between North and South Korea.
Separated by distance and family tension, the
story mimics the Japanese tale of ‘Tanabata’ or
‘Chirusoku’ in Korean, a famous story about
two star-crossed lovers. Although slightly
cliché, the movie’s historical backdrop of social
prejudices and changing times was a good
contrast for the dramatic young love plot.
Japanese Film Festival
November 14, 2009
By Miho Trudeau
This year I attended one of the four free
productions featured in the annual Japan
Film Festival. Held on November 9th and
10th at the Plaza theatre in Kensington,
as well as November 5th and 6th at
Lethbridge’s The Movie Mill, the festival
was a great success. Every year the
Consulate-General of Japan in Calgary
puts on a free film festival showing
productions chosen by the Japan
Foundation in Toronto. Along with
hundreds of other Albertans, I was able
to enjoy a free subtitled Japanese film on
Picture from http://www.bosnia.embjapan.go.jp/index.html
Watch out next fall for the Japan film festival,
which is always advertised on the Japanese
Consulate website (http://www.calgary.ca.embjapan.go.jp/index.html) or on the SAJETAA
FaceBook group.
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Harmonizing Technology with
the Real World
November 19, 2009
By Ted Photinopoulos
Steve Jobs once said, “Innovation
distinguishes between a leader and
follower.” Such a quote captured my
feeling when I read a recent article
written by Michael Kerferl on the Japan
Inc. website entitled Augmented reality is
a marketer’s dream, and it is about to hit
home. In the article, Kerferl gives a
number of examples in Japan where the
real world is starting to harmonize with
the technology of today to produce an
augmented reality of tomorrow.
Kerferl provides a hypothetical example
of an augmented world where one could
point one’s cell phone camera at Tokyo
Tower and it would label the landmark,
give directions to get there and provide a
coupon to take the elevator to the top.
Further examples include pointing the
same camera at a restaurant which
would generate a history of reviews or
aiming the device at a street corner to
bring up graphics of buildings that stood
there in the past. In Japan, the platform
is there for this to happen in the near
future.
Though the article focuses mostly on
marketing applications, the concept
challenges the imagination. I think back
to episodes of Star Trek – The Next
Generation and wonder if this technology
could lead to one day having a hand-held
device much like the “Tricorder” that can
do mechanical or bio-medical
diagnostics. Will I be able to one day
wave a device around a rash on my skin
and have it relay to me an instant and accurate
diagnosis, suggestions for treatment and
directions to the nearest drugstore to purchase
the cure, all in about 10 seconds?
Regardless of you level of techno lust,
innovation is what is exciting here. That drive
and spark of futuristic innovation in a land
where I slept on straw mats is what I have
always found interesting about Japan.
Kerferl’s article can be found at:
http://www.japaninc.com/mgz86/reality-bytes
Book Review: Kitchen by Banana
Yoshimoto
By Miho Trudeau
Picture from http://www.amazon.ca/Kitchen-BananaYoshimoto/dp/0802142443/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=boo
ks&qid=1259977260&sr=8-2
Kitchen, often considered Banana Yoshimoto’s
debut literary effort, is the first book I ever read
by Yoshimoto, now one of my favourite
authors. The story follows the character
Mikage Sakurai, a young woman mourning the
death of her grandmother, as she discovers
her path into the adult world with no surviving
family. Bewildered by her sudden solitude
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Mikage quickly befriends a young
acquaintance of her grandmother’s and
finds she is invited into the eccentric life
of the Tanabe family, comprising the
young university student Yuichi and his
beautiful mother Chika.
The story is a brief snapshot, only a short
novella of concise sentences. Yet it
seems to conjure up images of great
precision and leaves its readers satisfied.
For those foodies out there, it also brings
back images of a Japanese kitchen and
homecooked food: hearty miso, pungent
tsukemono, donburi…
Beware that this small novella is usually
sold alongside Midnight Shadow, another
novella printed in the same book, and
often readers will think they are reading a
continuation of Kitchen. Although this
story also shares themes of love and
mourning it is a complete work unto itself
– also worth the read!
Restaurant Review: Sukiyaki
House
Picture from the Sukiyaki House Photostream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37302653@N03/34326694
16/in/photostream/
We started our meal with standard gyouza and
tempura. The gyouza came with a sweet chili
soy sauce and was lightly sprinkled with chili
powder to give it a slightly different taste.
Next we picked out some sushi. I have found
that most Japanese restaurants in Calgary
believe “bigger is better”, and cut their fish too
thick. Sukiyaki house believes in the traditional
style sushi, not too thick, but not too thin. It
was great to have ‘proper’ sushi at a restaurant
in Calgary.
By Carrie Fischer
The Sukiyaki House has been serving
Calgarians since 1976 and recently
relocated to Suite 130, 207- 9 Ave SW
inside the Penn West Plaza. Due to
renovations going on next door it’s
difficult to find your way to the door, but
the floor to ceiling windows leave no
doubt that you’ve found the right place.
Sukiyaki House’s new location sports a
trendy sushi bar as well as cozy little
tables to enjoy a meal with close friends.
Next (Though we were more than full enough
after the sushi) a sukiyaki pot was delivered to
our table along with all the fixings. You need to
call ahead and make a reservation to have
sukiyaki, but it is well worth the effort. A
beautifully arranged plate of meat and another
of veggies and tofu was joined by a bowl of
ponzu sauce and another of rice. The carrots
had even been cut into beautiful sakura
blossoms. We found, however, that the
sukiyaki broth was flavorful enough that we
didn’t use very much of the ponzu at all.
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Overall dinner was a huge success. The
staff were attentive and knowledgeable
and it was great being able to watch the
sushi chefs as they put our dinner
together.
/5
lessons feature Ms. Taeko Yoshizumi, an
experienced Japanese instructor at Mount
Royal University. Classes are 1.5 hrs each and
16 classes are scheduled with flexibility.
Currently, 8 participants are enrolled in the
class which focuses on vocabulary
enhancement, grammar instruction and
general conversation.
What the students are saying:
“I am enjoying thinking in Japanese again and
have been surprised at what I still remember
and what I have forgotten from when I lived in
Japan,” says Lina Perez.
http://www.sukiyakihouse.com/
Japanese Lessons Update
By Ted Photinopoulos
“It’s great to be learning Japanese with other
JET Alumni since we have common
experiences to draw from,” says Miho Trudeau.
The classes have been well received by the
students and the collaboration between parties
in its formation is a great example of the
success that can be achieved when
organizations work to accomplish shared
goals. On behalf of the students, we would like
to extend a big thank you to Vice-Consul
General of Japan Ms. Yukiko Kobayashi,
Japanese Instructor Ms. Taeko Yoshizumi and
Chair of SAJETAA Ming Ko for making this all
possible. We also would like to send a heartfelt
thank you to Andrea Marsh, Director of
External Relations Calgary at the University of
Alberta Calgary Centre, for allowing us to
utilize the facility weekly.
Picture by Ted Photinopoulos
As a service to its Alumni, this is the
second year that SAJETAA is hosting
introductory Japanese lessons for its
members. A kindly sponsored joint
initiative between the Consulate General
of Japan in Calgary and SAJETAA, the
If you have any questions, or if you would like
to participate in the next round of Japanese
language lessons, please contact Ted
Photinopoulos at [email protected].
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Stay in Touch with SAJETAA
Want to be the first to know when we’re
having an event? Join our FaceBook
group!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2406291059
Also, keep an eye out for our brand new
SAJETAA website! Launching in early
2010!
Picture by Miho Trudeau
Dear SAJETAA members,
Thank you for your interest and support for
SAJETAA throughout 2009! We hope that you have
enjoyed all the events/services we have provided
and hopefully met friends who share the same
experience and passion as you. We look forward to
more wonderful times serving you better and
wishing all your new year resolutions come true!
Happy Holidays~
From Ming Ko, Chair of SAJETAA
SAJETAA Shinkansen Express: Volume 1, Issue 4
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Photo of the Season
Christmas Illumination in Kokura-shi (Kita-Kyushu). Photograph by Ted Photinopoulos.
Useful Websites:
Consulate-General of Japan http://www.calgary.ca.emb-japan.go.jp/
JETAA International http://www.jetalumni.org/158/
JET Programme www.jetprogramme.org
CJCA http://members.shaw.ca/cjcamain/
Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/jet/
JETwit.com http://jetwit.com/wordpress/
SAJETAA Contact Information
For all inquiries, information or submissions, please email: [email protected]
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