"100 yen shops" were a typical phenomenon of the long economic crisis in Japan. In the nineties, they mushroomed all over the country, and even reared their heads in upperscale shopping districts.
You now find them everywhere in Japan. Their stock consists of a variety of items from clothing to stationery, housewares to food, with each item neatly priced at 100 yen (before VAT). Important chains are Daiso (1300 shops) and Cando (800 shops). They are able to offer their low prices by buying large volumes in Asia, mainly China.
But now things are changing, according to the Mainichi Daily News. It seems the formula is getting a bit tired... the novelty has worn off and the number of customers is falling. To counter the trend, in last April Cando has set up a test shop called Seikatsu Zakka where all 3000 items are priced at either 315 or 525 yen, from shirts to frypans to slippers. The higher price allows the shop to stock a wider variety. If succesful, Cando will set up Seikatsu zakka sections in its other stores as well. Other 100 yen shops are following suit or expected to do so.
They have to, because at the same time competition is coming from below as well. Lawson and similar convenience stores are setting up 100 yen supermarkets and these are eating away into the profits the 100 yen shops used to make on foodstuffs. Home centers, too, are now selling the same merchandise that in the beginning allowed the 100 shops to make a profit.
So it does not sound so strange that Cando has choosen to move to a higher echelon of merchandise and customers. Or is this all simply a sign that Japan has left the crisis squarely behind it.
July 30, 2006
July 26, 2006
What to do in August in Japan
August is hot and humid in Japan, the time expats fly out to cooler climes, but early August is also the month of the great (and wild) summer festivals - the Nebuta Festival in Aomori, the Awa Odori dance festival in Tokushima, and many others. The middle of August is the period of Obon, the Buddhist All-Souls Festival when the ancestors return for a few days to the earth. In every locality Bon dances are held and at the end of Obon the souls are sent off by floating lanterns in rivers and bonfires on hills, such as Daimonji in Kyoto. And, finally, in late August, there is a number of great fire festivals...
August 1-7, Chuzenji, Nikko: Tohai Matsuri (Pilgrim's Festival), Futarasan Jinja
Midnight ascent of Mt. Nantai
August 1-7, Hirosaki (Aomori Pref): Neputa Matsuri
Giant lantern floats are paraded through Hirosaki to the sound of drums and hand-gongs.
August 2-7, Aomori: Nebuta Matsuri
Giant lantern floats, carrying images of warriors and fantastic creatures, make their way through the city to the sound of drums and flutes. Frenzied dancing in which everyone can take part.
August 5, Kyoto: Traditional Bon Dance
Okazaki park, 18:30-.
August 6, Kyoto: Nagoshi no Shinji
At Shimogamo Shrine (18:30-). Men in fundoshi jump in the water to grab talismans.
August 6 & 7, Kyoto: Yuzen Nagashi
Washing of hand-dyed yuzen textiles in the Kamo River between Sanjo and Shijo.
August 5-7, Akita: Kanto Matsuri
Kanto are enormous poles with side beams on which numerous lanterns hang. More than 150 of such heavy contraptions are balanced by young men through Akita City.
August 6-8, Sendai: Tanabata
Main streets and shopping arcades in Sendai are festively decorated for the festival of the meeting of the stars of the Cowherd and Weaver girl. In other locations, Tanabata is usually held in July.
Early August, Kamakura: Paper Lantern festival at Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine
On the eve of the first autumn day in the calendar, 400 paper lampstands are set up, decorated with poems or paintings. A beautiful sight at night, the lanterns are kept standing for 9 days.
August 7-10, Kyoto: Rokudo-Mairi and Pottery Fair
"Six States of Existence Pilgrimage" is held in the area of Rokuharamitsuji and Chinkoji. Vendors sell goods from stalls set up in the streets around the temple. In Chinkoji, worshipers visit the temple to ring the bell to call their ancestors back from the other shore for the Bon festival. In the same period, in Gojo-dori, a pottery market is held.
August 8-10 and 16, Kyoto: Manto-e in Rokuharamitsuji
Memorial services are held and wicks are lighted on dishes of oil representing the souls of ancestors being called back (evenings at 20:00). On Aug. 16, in contrast, the path to the other world is lighted back by the same ritual.
August 9-12, Kochi: Yosakoi festival.
Yosakoi teams with naruko clappers dance through the streets. Popular festival imitated by many other cities in Japan.
August 9-11, Shiga: Light-up of Konponchudo of Enryakuji on Mt. Hiei.
At 18:00 there is a shomyo service in the Konponchudo; at 19:00 the lanterns are lighted. The hall closes at 21:00. There may also be a mini-concert on an improvised stage.
Mid-August, Kyoto: Rokusai Nembutsu in Mibudera
Lion dances and pantomime for Obon.
August 12-15, Tokushima: Awa Odori
People clad in yukata dance in the streets of Tokushima to the music of shamisen and small gongs. This is Tokushima's version of Bon Odori, the Bon Dance.
Aug. 13-16, Nationwide: Bon Festival
Buddhist festival in honor of the dead, celebrated every year between August 13 and 16 (a month earlier in the old calendar). It is believed that the souls of the dead return to earth during this period and visit their family home. The houses are cleaned for this occasion, and food and drink are set out in front of the family altar. Lanterns are placed everywhere in the evening, specially on the seashore and shores of lakes and rivers to welcome the dead. Dances are performed at local temples and shrines throughout rural Japan, which are referred to as Bon Odori. After the feast is over, the dead are conducted back to the spirit world. Sometimes bonfires are lit on hills, or lanterns are set adrift on rivers or the sea (toro-nagashi).
August 14, Hiraizumi (Iwate Pref.): Noh Performance
Noh in Chusonji.
August 14-16, Kyoto: Manto-e
Thousand of lanterns are lit on the graves in the huge Higashi-Otani Cemetery near Maruyama park (20:00-). The cemetery belongs to Higashi Honganji. Of the same nature is the Sennichi-mairi observance in Kiyomizudera.
August 15, Hanase (Kyoto Pref.): Hanase Fire Festival
In a dark field hundreds of small torches are lighted around a huge, central one called matsuage, which is finally set afire.
August 16, Kyoto: Daimonji
Between 20:00 and 20:20 five fires are started on hills around the city: two in the shape of the character for Dai, Great (the best Dai character is on the hill above Ginkakuji); one in the shape of the boat (reminder of the voyage to China of Priest Ennin); a torii gate (symbolizing the Atago Shrine) and the characters for Myoho or Wonderful Law, pointing at Nichiren. It is difficult to see them all due to the many high buildings in Kyoto nowadays. Best places are in the northern part of Kyoto - for the Dai I advise the banks of the Kamo River. Later there are Bon dances at several locations in the town.
Aug. 23-24, Kyoto: Jizo Bon
Festival held in several Kyoto neighborhoods for Jizo, the guardian of children.
Aug. 26-27, Fuji-Yoshida (Yamanashi Pref.): Yoshida Fire Festival
At Sengen Jinja in Fuji-Yoshida, from 15:00 on the 26th.
Aug. 31, Dewa, Yamagata: Saito Matsuri of the Haguro Shrine
Fire festival to mark the end of a pilgrimage by yamabushi "mountain priests" in Haguro.
August 1-7, Chuzenji, Nikko: Tohai Matsuri (Pilgrim's Festival), Futarasan Jinja
Midnight ascent of Mt. Nantai
August 1-7, Hirosaki (Aomori Pref): Neputa Matsuri
Giant lantern floats are paraded through Hirosaki to the sound of drums and hand-gongs.
August 2-7, Aomori: Nebuta Matsuri
Giant lantern floats, carrying images of warriors and fantastic creatures, make their way through the city to the sound of drums and flutes. Frenzied dancing in which everyone can take part.
August 5, Kyoto: Traditional Bon Dance
Okazaki park, 18:30-.
August 6, Kyoto: Nagoshi no Shinji
At Shimogamo Shrine (18:30-). Men in fundoshi jump in the water to grab talismans.
August 6 & 7, Kyoto: Yuzen Nagashi
Washing of hand-dyed yuzen textiles in the Kamo River between Sanjo and Shijo.
August 5-7, Akita: Kanto Matsuri
Kanto are enormous poles with side beams on which numerous lanterns hang. More than 150 of such heavy contraptions are balanced by young men through Akita City.
August 6-8, Sendai: Tanabata
Main streets and shopping arcades in Sendai are festively decorated for the festival of the meeting of the stars of the Cowherd and Weaver girl. In other locations, Tanabata is usually held in July.
Early August, Kamakura: Paper Lantern festival at Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine
On the eve of the first autumn day in the calendar, 400 paper lampstands are set up, decorated with poems or paintings. A beautiful sight at night, the lanterns are kept standing for 9 days.
August 7-10, Kyoto: Rokudo-Mairi and Pottery Fair
"Six States of Existence Pilgrimage" is held in the area of Rokuharamitsuji and Chinkoji. Vendors sell goods from stalls set up in the streets around the temple. In Chinkoji, worshipers visit the temple to ring the bell to call their ancestors back from the other shore for the Bon festival. In the same period, in Gojo-dori, a pottery market is held.
August 8-10 and 16, Kyoto: Manto-e in Rokuharamitsuji
Memorial services are held and wicks are lighted on dishes of oil representing the souls of ancestors being called back (evenings at 20:00). On Aug. 16, in contrast, the path to the other world is lighted back by the same ritual.
August 9-12, Kochi: Yosakoi festival.
Yosakoi teams with naruko clappers dance through the streets. Popular festival imitated by many other cities in Japan.
August 9-11, Shiga: Light-up of Konponchudo of Enryakuji on Mt. Hiei.
At 18:00 there is a shomyo service in the Konponchudo; at 19:00 the lanterns are lighted. The hall closes at 21:00. There may also be a mini-concert on an improvised stage.
Mid-August, Kyoto: Rokusai Nembutsu in Mibudera
Lion dances and pantomime for Obon.
August 12-15, Tokushima: Awa Odori
People clad in yukata dance in the streets of Tokushima to the music of shamisen and small gongs. This is Tokushima's version of Bon Odori, the Bon Dance.
Aug. 13-16, Nationwide: Bon Festival
Buddhist festival in honor of the dead, celebrated every year between August 13 and 16 (a month earlier in the old calendar). It is believed that the souls of the dead return to earth during this period and visit their family home. The houses are cleaned for this occasion, and food and drink are set out in front of the family altar. Lanterns are placed everywhere in the evening, specially on the seashore and shores of lakes and rivers to welcome the dead. Dances are performed at local temples and shrines throughout rural Japan, which are referred to as Bon Odori. After the feast is over, the dead are conducted back to the spirit world. Sometimes bonfires are lit on hills, or lanterns are set adrift on rivers or the sea (toro-nagashi).
August 14, Hiraizumi (Iwate Pref.): Noh Performance
Noh in Chusonji.
August 14-16, Kyoto: Manto-e
Thousand of lanterns are lit on the graves in the huge Higashi-Otani Cemetery near Maruyama park (20:00-). The cemetery belongs to Higashi Honganji. Of the same nature is the Sennichi-mairi observance in Kiyomizudera.
August 15, Hanase (Kyoto Pref.): Hanase Fire Festival
In a dark field hundreds of small torches are lighted around a huge, central one called matsuage, which is finally set afire.
August 16, Kyoto: Daimonji
Between 20:00 and 20:20 five fires are started on hills around the city: two in the shape of the character for Dai, Great (the best Dai character is on the hill above Ginkakuji); one in the shape of the boat (reminder of the voyage to China of Priest Ennin); a torii gate (symbolizing the Atago Shrine) and the characters for Myoho or Wonderful Law, pointing at Nichiren. It is difficult to see them all due to the many high buildings in Kyoto nowadays. Best places are in the northern part of Kyoto - for the Dai I advise the banks of the Kamo River. Later there are Bon dances at several locations in the town.
Aug. 23-24, Kyoto: Jizo Bon
Festival held in several Kyoto neighborhoods for Jizo, the guardian of children.
Aug. 26-27, Fuji-Yoshida (Yamanashi Pref.): Yoshida Fire Festival
At Sengen Jinja in Fuji-Yoshida, from 15:00 on the 26th.
Aug. 31, Dewa, Yamagata: Saito Matsuri of the Haguro Shrine
Fire festival to mark the end of a pilgrimage by yamabushi "mountain priests" in Haguro.
July 20, 2006
Akutagawa award
The Akutagawa Award is a bi-annual literary award for upcoming authors in the field of pure literature and the winner of this summer was announced just a week ago. It is Takami Ito with Hachigatsu no rojo ni suteru (Throwing Stuff Away on a Road in August).
The prize is named after the famous author Akutagawa Ryunosuke and is considered as very prestigious, in fact bringing recognition as a first-class writer. The prize is awarded in January and July; nowadays the prize money is 1 million yen.
The award was established in 1935 by Kikuchi Kan, himself a famous author. (There is another award, the Naoki Award, for popular literature). Wikipedia has a list of all Akutagawa Prize winners.
In the summer of 2003 the prize was awarded to the youngest persons ever, the twenty year old Kanehara Hitomi for Snakes and earrings and nineteen year old Wataya Risa for A Back I want to kick. Snakes and earrings went on to become an international sensation.
Here is a site about Japanese literature with reviews of all Akutagawa prize winning novels since 1998.
The prize is named after the famous author Akutagawa Ryunosuke and is considered as very prestigious, in fact bringing recognition as a first-class writer. The prize is awarded in January and July; nowadays the prize money is 1 million yen.
The award was established in 1935 by Kikuchi Kan, himself a famous author. (There is another award, the Naoki Award, for popular literature). Wikipedia has a list of all Akutagawa Prize winners.
In the summer of 2003 the prize was awarded to the youngest persons ever, the twenty year old Kanehara Hitomi for Snakes and earrings and nineteen year old Wataya Risa for A Back I want to kick. Snakes and earrings went on to become an international sensation.
Here is a site about Japanese literature with reviews of all Akutagawa prize winning novels since 1998.
July 16, 2006
Japanese Archery and Zen
What can go wrong when a foreigner who knows no Japanese but has very romantic ideas studies a particular Japanese "way" (Do) under a somewhat eccentric Master? Everything, according to The Myth of Zen in the Art of Archery by Yamada Shoji (published in the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies). Surprisingly, the foreigner in question is none other than Eugen Herrigel, whose Zen in the Art of Archery is still widely read as a study of Japanese culture.
But did things really go terribly wrong in this meeting between cultures?
Eugen Herrigel (1884–1955) was a German professor who from 1924 to 1929 taught philosophy at the Tohoku University in Sendai. He was fascinated by Japanese culture and was already intent on finding Zen. But as he did not know any Japanese, he first took up the more practical study of archery (kyujutsu or kyudo). His instructor was Awa Kenzo, who was an excellent archer. However, after he experienced a religious revelation, Awa stood apart from the main archery schools and started teaching archery as a form of mysticism (without, by the way, any direct association with Zen Buddhism).
In 1936, Herrigel wrote an essay about his archery experiences and the conversations he had with his Master, and then in 1948 expanded the essay into a short book. This book was translated into English in 1953 and two years later into Japanese - interestingly, the translator was Komachiya Sozo, a colleague professor who had served as interpreter during Herrigel's sessions with Awa.
Zen in the Art of Archery was well written and soon became a bestseller, just at the time Daisetz Suzuki also tried to show the influence of Zen on various aspects of Japanese culture - not surprisingly, Prof. Suzuki also wrote a preface. Many ideas in the book became fundamental tenets of how Westerners would view Japan. After the book was translated into Japanese, there too, practititoners of Kyudo became interested in a spiritual dimension that originally had been (if not absent) at least unspoken of, in what had basically been a utilitarian training.
One could call this a flagrant example of misunderstanding between cultures, as Yamada Shoji does in the article cited above. But then it surely was a very positive misinterpretation, as in the West it led to interest in Japan and Zen, while it also made many Japanese see their own tradition in a different light. One could therefore view it in a more compassionate way and call it the product of innen, the complex web of karmic relationships!
Here is a view of the matter by an archer.
P.S. John Stevens has written a book about Awa Kenzo, called Zen Bow, Zen Arrow - see the review by Donald Richie in the Japan Times.
But did things really go terribly wrong in this meeting between cultures?
Eugen Herrigel (1884–1955) was a German professor who from 1924 to 1929 taught philosophy at the Tohoku University in Sendai. He was fascinated by Japanese culture and was already intent on finding Zen. But as he did not know any Japanese, he first took up the more practical study of archery (kyujutsu or kyudo). His instructor was Awa Kenzo, who was an excellent archer. However, after he experienced a religious revelation, Awa stood apart from the main archery schools and started teaching archery as a form of mysticism (without, by the way, any direct association with Zen Buddhism).
In 1936, Herrigel wrote an essay about his archery experiences and the conversations he had with his Master, and then in 1948 expanded the essay into a short book. This book was translated into English in 1953 and two years later into Japanese - interestingly, the translator was Komachiya Sozo, a colleague professor who had served as interpreter during Herrigel's sessions with Awa.
Zen in the Art of Archery was well written and soon became a bestseller, just at the time Daisetz Suzuki also tried to show the influence of Zen on various aspects of Japanese culture - not surprisingly, Prof. Suzuki also wrote a preface. Many ideas in the book became fundamental tenets of how Westerners would view Japan. After the book was translated into Japanese, there too, practititoners of Kyudo became interested in a spiritual dimension that originally had been (if not absent) at least unspoken of, in what had basically been a utilitarian training.
One could call this a flagrant example of misunderstanding between cultures, as Yamada Shoji does in the article cited above. But then it surely was a very positive misinterpretation, as in the West it led to interest in Japan and Zen, while it also made many Japanese see their own tradition in a different light. One could therefore view it in a more compassionate way and call it the product of innen, the complex web of karmic relationships!
Here is a view of the matter by an archer.
P.S. John Stevens has written a book about Awa Kenzo, called Zen Bow, Zen Arrow - see the review by Donald Richie in the Japan Times.
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