Japanland Online

Japanland in Google+

2011-11-16T17:28:00.001-05:00

We just joined in Google+ please circle us there at this link. We will add updates besides this blog in Google+ also from now on. Hope to see you there.

Arigatou gozaimasu. ありがとうございます. Thank you.

Japan: Heartbeats of Time

2011-11-08T16:47:00.003-05:00

Trey Ratliff, a brilliant photographer, captures some brilliant moments frozen in time in Japan.

Feedback #3: Opened My Eyes

2011-10-18T10:44:00.004-04:00

We received the following feedback for Japanland from one of the PBS viewers. Thanks John.

Ms. Muller,
I'm in the middle of watching your special on Japan on my local PBS station and wanted to tell you how much you have opened my eyes. Culture is wonderful, but different culture is captivating to me. I've been to Europe several times but never to the East. It's now on my list of places to visit.
Great show !!!!

All The Best,
John R.
NC

Pic from Japanland movie via GPB Television.

Photo: City Lights of Tokyo, Japan

2011-08-22T18:12:00.006-04:00

This is a high resolution photo of city of Tokyo in Japan by Trey Ratliff, one of the top Google+ user and brilliant photographer.

Japanese Sacrifice

2011-07-22T10:29:00.004-04:00

I saw the above image in Google+ post by David Seaman. It gives a new meaning for the word "Sacrifice".

The image reads:

"Old People Line Up To Cleanup Radiation in Japan
Mr. Yamada

I am 72 and on average I probably have 13 to 15 years left to live.

Even if I were exposed to radiation, cancer could take 20 or 30 years or longer to develop. Therefore us older ones have less chance of getting cancer."

Basically a group of 200+ retirees are volunteering to expose themselves to high levels of radiation so the younger men and women don't have to. Making the ultimate sacriice protect lives of their children, and their children's children.

Source BBC

Vietnam Hospitality

2011-05-30T10:27:00.002-04:00

This is Karin's experience of the less known Vietnamese Hospitality while filming the "Hitchhiking Vietnam" documentary.

I was 28 when I put on a backpack and left for Vietnam. The country still had an evil reputation in the USA, and I naively thought that if a woman could hitchhike alone there for a year, then people would have to rethink some of their negative perceptions.

Early one morning I found myself on a dirt road just outside of Hanoi, waiting for my first ride. Suddenly I wasn’t quite as confident as I had been in front of my family and friends. The voice of a Vietnam vet I’d met in Boston kept ringing in my ears. “You’ll be raped and mugged and murdered. Snakes and Commies in the grass.”

An enormous military truck suddenly appeared and pulled over to pick me up. I climbed in next to the driver. He was a north Vietnamese lieutenant, impeccably dressed in an olive-green uniform. “Where you from?” he asked. “America,” I mumbled out of one corner of my mouth. “America!” he said in shock, then grinned from ear to ear. He made a thumbs-up sign with both hands and used up the last of his English. “America number one! Welcome back!”

We drove together for sixteen hours before pulling up beside a truckers’ flophouse in a remote village. He looked at me. “Where are you going to sleep?” he asked.

“Oh don’t worry, I’ll sleep here,” I said.

He wagged a finger at me. “You can’t do that.” He got out and walked down the main street, knocking on doors until he found a hut that had women and children inside, and convinced them to put me up for the night. The next morning he was outside their door at 5AM, honking for me to climb back into his cab.

Three days later we finally reached a fork in the road. I thanked him as I climbed down. “Who is going to drive you?” he asked.

“Oh don’t worry, I’ll find a ride,” I assured him.

Rice PaddyHe wagged his finger at me. “You can’t do that.” He drove me around until he found another truck driver that he knew and trusted, and handed me to him.

I hitchhiked through northern Vietnam for three months. I never got a ride. I never had to find myself a meal or a place to stay. I was passed from one person to the next until I found myself back in Hanoi, at almost the same spot that I had begun - but now with an indestructable faith in the kindness of strangers in what had once been a war-torn land.

Video: Karin Muller's Journey Into the Soul of Japanland

2011-04-24T17:19:00.001-04:00

This video is from a conference in Williams College.

Filmmaker, author, photographer Karin Muller, Williams Class of 1987, explores the differences between Japanese and Western cultures in "Japanland: Journey Into the Soul of an Ancient Land.

Haikai: Barn's Burnt Down

2011-04-12T17:53:00.003-04:00

Haikai or Renku is a form of poetry in Japan. Here is one of the most famous Haikai poems by Mizuta Masahide:

"Barn's burnt down --

now

I can see the moon."

— Mizuta Masahide.

This is how we should feel whenever something bad happens, we should be grateful for what we have.

Hara Hachi Bu - Eat Only 80% Full

2011-04-11T14:26:00.003-04:00

I was reading this excellent article about Mindful Eating and came across with this wonderful Japanese expression, "Hara Hachi Bu" which means "Eat only 80% Full".

Okinawa residents in Japan follow this principle (along with an healthy diet) and this is the main reason they are known for their longevity. Their residents cross 100 years very frequently.

Photos from Presentation Zen.

Gateball - A Game in Japan

2011-04-02T11:31:00.002-04:00

This is a game played by the Japanese narrated by Karin Muller. It is taken from the movie Japanland available in Japanlandonline.com

Gateball is a mallet team sport similar to croquet. It is a fast-paced, non-contact, highly-strategic team game, which can be played by anyone regardless of age or gender.

Gateball is played on a rectangular court 20–25 metres long and 15–20 metres wide. Each court has three gates and a goal pole. The game is played by two teams (red and white) of up to five players. Each player has a numbered ball corresponding to their playing order. The odd-numbered balls are red and the even-numbered balls are white. Teams score one point for each ball hit through a gate and two points for hitting the goal pole, in accordance with the rules. A game of gateball lasts for thirty minutes and the winner is the team with the most points at the end of the game.

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateball

For another popular game in Japan see the Tosenkyo game article.