Living with a… Volcano?

Posted by marcel No Comments
Jan 26 2012

It spit some ash into the air, and where it land I know not where.

As indicated in my last entry, I live in 鹿児島(かごしま/Kagoshima), which is very close to 桜島(さくらじま/Sakurajima), an active 火山(かざん/volcano). Actually, an active 火山 that is getting more and more active as the years go by. Unsurprisingly, this affects our day to day lives in many ways, but it’s all due to one factor: volcanic 灰 (はい/ash).

My poor car...

灰 covers everything here. Wash your 車 (くるま/car) on a beautiful clear day, and soon after you will see a light coating of 灰 on the hood, even though you see nothing in the air. Do it when the 風 (かぜ/wind) is blowing in the wrong direction, and soon you will see your 車 change from its natural colour to a dark gray.

雨が降っています。「あめがふっています/ame ga futte imasu」。(“It is raining”, or more literally, “Rain is falling”)

灰が降っています。「はいがふっています/hai ga futte imasu」。(“Ash is falling”. Much like we use 降る(ふる/Furu) to say rain is falling from the sky, we can also use it to say ash is falling from the sky).

桜島 is located about 10km directly 東 (ひがし/east) of 鹿児島市 (かごしまし/Kagoshima city), on the other side of Kinko bay. When the wind blows from 西 (にし/west) to 東, the villages and towns 東 of the volcano get the most ash. When it blows from 東 to 西, 鹿児島市 gets coated. Since the 風 is so important to our daily lives, we pay a little closer attention to the 天気予報 (てんきよほう/weather forecast) than most people. There is even a special 火山 forecast, showing an aerial view of the 火山, and two arrows. One showing the direction and speed of the ash expected at 9am, and another showing the same for 3pm.

While most people still love living here, it is getting increasingly annoying as 桜島 has been getting more and more active. As of this writing, it has erupted(explosively) 158 times since 一月一日 (いちがつついたち/January 1st). Last year was record breaking for both the number of eruptions, and the volume of 灰 that fell on the city. If this month is any indication, it’s not getting better . When the wind turns towards us in the spring, we might have to rethink how we go about our daily lives.

The wind is blowing east to west, so the ash fell directly on downtown Kagoshima.

桜島 Sakurajima

Posted by marcel No Comments
Jan 15 2012

Sakurajima spits up grey ash on a hazy day. Viewed from my bus stop.

I’m lucky that my current home in 鹿児島 (かごしま/Kagoshima), in southwest Japan, has a good view. Then again, maybe it isn’t luck, as most people plan their houses to have at least one window/balcony with a view of Kagoshima’s most famous sight, 桜島 (さくらじま/Sakurajima).

The long, horizontal piece originally stood several meters above the ground, but the lava flow buried it almost completely.

Originally a volcanic island, Sakurajima has been pretty active for as long as 日本 (にほん/Japan) has been keeping records. The 島 in 桜島  means island, but 桜島 is not actually an island, at least not anymore. Usually, the 火山 (かざん/volcano) simply burps up gas and 灰 (はい/ash), but occasionally there can be some very large lava flows. One particularly large one in 1914 filled the sea between the island and the mainland with 灰 and lava, connecting the two and 桜島 was an island no more. A good way to see the damage from that flow is to visit the shrine that was partially buried.

Recently, 桜島 has been getting a bit more active. 日本 started keeping a closer eye on the eruptions in 1955, and has been counting and numbering all eruptions considered “explosive”. For over 20 years, the record for explosive eruptions in one year was 474 in 1984. For unknown reasons though, 桜島 has recently increased it’s activity drastically. 2009 brought us 548 explosive eruptions, 2010 saw a big leap to 897, and the year ending December 31, 2011 had 996! Is this a sign that something big is brewing deep in the belly of the beast? Only time will tell, but within the first two weeks of this year, it is already up to over 100 eruptions, well on track for another record breaking year.

For the curious among you, there are a few live cameras set up at this web site, though they may only work in internet explorer: 桜島ライブカメラ (Sakurajima Live Camera). Occasionally, if you look when it is nighttime here, you can see the bright orange glow of lava reflecting off clouds above the crater.

If you want to follow the eruption details, they are listed here: Sakurajima Eruption Details (Google Translate)

Night sets as Sakurajima lets off some steam.

はじめまして! Nice to meet you!

Posted by marcel 4 Comments
Jan 5 2012

Marcel and Erika's Wedding1はじめまして(Hajimemashite)! My name is Marcel and I have been handed the reins for the Japanese Language Blog. I have been writing a lot to family and friends about my life in Japan, so it’s a good next step to take what I’ve learned and seen to a more public stage. With Erika, my wife, I hope to bring everyone some interesting facts and news about Japan, while also introducing some basic Japanese. Erika may contribute as well using much more advanced Japanese, likely about current events as well as views on Japan and the western world through the eyes of a Japanese person.

First, a little information about myself: I was born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Looking for something new and exciting, I decided to try teaching English in a foreign country. I had always been interested in Japan’s mix of tradition and pop-culture, so I took the plunge and was on my way to the 関西 (Kansai) region of 日本 (Japan), which is the area surrounding 大阪 (Osaka).

Initially, I lived in 神戸 (Kobe city), in 兵庫県 (Hyogo prefecture), about 30 minutes by express train outside of 大阪. While I loved 神戸, most of my friends lived in 大阪 itself, so after a year I moved to 大阪. Being centered in 大阪 is great if you are interested in historical 日本. You are just a quick train ride away from dozens of important cultural sites in 神戸, 奈良 (Nara) and of course 京都 (Kyoto). While I lived there, I did my best to visit as many different places as I could.

Volcanic Sakurajima

Sakurajima looms over Kagoshima City

In my first year, I met Erika on New Year’s Eve (so it’s easy for me to remember!) We hit it off and have been together ever since. Born in 鹿児島 (Kagoshima), the southernmost city of Japan’s main islands, she was living in 兵庫 (Hyogo) as well. After we got married, we decided it would be nice to move closer to her family. We now live in a suburb of 鹿児島, and have been here a year and a half. While far from the major city centers of Japan, Kagoshima has lots of interesting things to see and do, the most notable being the active volcano 桜島 (Sakurajima), which I will of course report on!

That’s all for now, so I leave you with some idea of the topics I have in mind for the next few weeks: Kagoshima, Volcanoes, New Year’s celebrations, and Weddings!

よろしくおねがいします(yoroshiku onegaishimasu)！

Pickled Food

Posted by Ginny 1 Comment
Oct 3 2011

Pickled food is often a side dish in Japanese cuisine but it’s one of the must-have items that many Japanese households have for meals. Almost anything can be pickled. (Here’s a previous post on some pickled foods: http://www.transparent.com/japanese/pickled-food/) For example Rakkyōzuke (ラッキョウ漬け) is a type of pickled onion that is used as a side dish to curry. The rakkyōzuke is consumed to offset some of the spiciness of the curry.

Kasuzuke (粕漬け) refers to a type of pickling method whereby fish or vegetables are pickled in the yeast of sake (酒). The picture on the left is an example of a fish that has been pickled in sake kasu (酒粕). Sake kasu is a type of yeast that can be found in sake that serves as a powerful pickling agent. When fish is pickled in using sake yeast, there is a pungent to mild taste. However when vegetables are pickled in this way, they can taste sweet or mild.

Nukazuke (糠漬け) is a type of pickling method where vegetables are fermented in nuka (糠) or ‘rice bran’. Some people use cornflakes or wheat bran as an alternative to rice bran, but whatever is used, it is mixed with kelp, salt, water and sometimes wine, beer or ginger. Then vegetables like radish, cucumber, carrots, eggplants are placed in this mixture and left for a few days to ferment. For a strong flavor some people even ferment the vegetables for a month.

Asazuke (浅漬け) is a type of pickling method where vegetables are pickled for a very short time period. Due to the short time period, asazuke vegetables are less pungent and contain some of the original freshness of the vegetable. The vegetables commonly used for asazuke are cucumbers, carrots, daikon (大根) or radish, eggplant and hakusai (白菜) or white cabbage. The vegetables are pickled in salt or vinegar that range from an hour to several hours.

Japanese Dragons

Posted by Ginny No Comments
Sep 30 2011

Dragons are a familiar staple of Japanese fables. Take for example the water dragon deity Mizuchi (蛟). In one story Mizuchi came to Emperor Nintoku (仁徳天皇) in a dream. Mizuchi offered to prevent the flooding of a river in exchange for a human sacrifice. One of the men chosen as a sacrifice saved his own life by waging a bet with Mizuchi. If Mizuchi could sink a calabash into the water, then the man would willingly take his own life. Since the calabashes floated to the top of the water, the man won. This story about Mizuchi may have been a metaphor for the mysterious benevolence and malevolence of rivers. On the one hand Mizuchi/rivers are life sustaining by providing water for irrigation and other uses but on the other hand Mizuchi/rivers are unpredictable and can take unwilling victims through floods and other disasters.

Ryūjin (龍神) is the name of another water-dragon deity in Japanese mythology. Ryūjin was the father of the beautiful princess Otohime (乙姫),who was the grandmother of Emperor Jimmu (神武天皇). Emperor Jimmu was the first emperor of Japan and it is from this lineage that the royal families of Japan have claimed to be descended from divine entities like the water dragon Ryūjin. Dragons are considered powerful creatures so it’s only natural that the royal families of Japan would want their ancestry to be associated with a deity like Ryūjin. In one story Ryūjin sent a jellyfish out for an errand. When the jellyfish returned without completing the errand, the water dragon deity beat the jellyfish until all its bones were broken. This was a story used to explain why the jelly fish now has no bones. Like with Mizuchi and Ryūjin, dragons were used to give meaning to unexplainable phenomena.

Kuzuryū (九頭龍) is a nine-headed dragon that is worshipped in many parts of Japan. In the town Hakone (箱根町) there is a famous fountain of Kuzuryū. The local legend states that Kuzuryū settled on Lake Hakone and demanded the townspeople a human maiden as a sacrifice. A priest named Mankan (万巻上人) decided to prevent future victims by chaining the powerful dragon to an underwater rock. A shrine was built near the area where the ferorious dragon was chained. From that day onward, the townspeople have worshiped a shrine that is dedicated to the dragon and instead of offering human sacrifice they set aside offerings of steamed rice with red beans.

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