Articles in the CrossCurrents Category
2010.3 March, CrossCurrents »
How Did Japanese Visitors and Viewers See Our Community?
Now that the Winter Olympics have come and gone, it all seems like a big blur – with an overall impression that Canada did well. Leaving the medal count and the rest of the big news to the mainstream media, I’ve strung together some comments and vignettes, heard personally or seen on the internet, about some cultural facets of the Games and about Vancouver, its setting. Of particular concern for us living in the cusp of Canadian and Japanese cultures must be …
2010.2 February, CrossCurrents »
So we are finally about to see the 2010 Winter Olympic Games go into action at venues around Vancouver and Whistler. For Canada, it’s the second winter games she’s hosted since Calgary ’88, while Japan has already hosted two winter games, Sapporo ’72 and Nagano ’98. In the usual scenario when the Olympics are held in Japan, the officials, spectators, local citizenry and the media come together in a spirit of “let’s show Japan’s best face to the folks from around the world,” the competition between athletes turns out to …
2010.1 January, CrossCurrents »
09.12 December 09, CrossCurrents »
Why don’t young Japanese these days want to venture out? Some say it’s because of the economic downturn but then, the Japanese were generally poorer in the old days. The columnist concludes that people would rather go to a hot-spring resort inside Japan where they can relax feeling “mattari.” Having apparently entered general usage about five years ago, the word “mattari” is nowadays even used by elementary school kids.
09.11 November 09, CrossCurrents »
09.10 October 09, CrossCurrents »
09.09 September 09, CrossCurrents »
The first time I became fully aware of the existence of the present emperor was when I was still in primary school and there was a festivity of some kind. So I checked and came upon his coming-of-age and ceremony of investiture as crown prince (rittaishi) in 1952.
09.08 August 09, CrossCurrents »
We can hardly compare ourselves to a mountain village in rural Thailand. But it would seem a certain amount of “reserve of looseness” might be handy in getting along with in the multiracial society of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, which probably has as many different racial minorities and cultures as anywhere.
09.07 July09, CrossCurrents »
It is quite selfish of me, but I would rather not say a “formal goodbye” to those who live on forever in my memory. They were —and are—all wonderful praiseworthy people each in his/her own way. By not bidding them farewell, I’m sort of asking these people to live on, to “stay alive,” if that makes any sense.
09.06 June09, CrossCurrents »
‘Carnivorous’ or not, the women realize that such a classification is practically meaningless in North America where it has been normal, especially since the sexual liberation of the 60s, for members of both sexes to seek partners pro-actively.
