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January / February 2011
| ISSUE 9 |
Forward 初めに
REASONS TO LOVE NAGOYA
Y
o, I’m dead tired of hearing people complain about
Nagoya. It isn’t that I’m in love with this city, far from it,
but the same old complaints just create a really vicious
cycle of that same stuff over and over again. That in mind,
there are some things I love about Nagoya:
Great Transportation, even if it stops running at 12am,
the public subway system here rocks! It’s on time, fast, clean,
reliable and dare I say, comfortable? I mean, compared to
Tokyo’s sardine tubes and New York’s ‘come-whenever-we-
damn-well-feel-like-it’ subway system, Nagoya’s lines seem
almost perfect by comparison. I’m on the Sakura Dori line,
catch me if you can…
Parks. Come on, lots of folks say Nagoya could use lots
more green space, true, I’m one of those people, but Nagoya’s
park system is pretty good. All the major parks I go to,
Shirakawa, Meijo Koen, Tsurumai Koen, Heiwa Koen, Shonai
Ryokuchi Koen, Higashiyama Koen, even Central Park, these
are great places to lounge, play, chill, sport it up, dance, eat,
relax, learn, meet, refresh and progress! Here’s to Nagoya’s
PARKS, see you in one this year!
Ease of living. Lots of folks complain that Nagoya is
‘boring’, ‘uninteresting’, ‘not exciting’, etc, well, let’s turn that
around and say Nagoya is calm, peaceful, low stress, and
relatively friendly. Sure, Nagoyans aren’t the cosmopolitan
bunch Tokyo-ites like to think of themselves as, nor are
Nagoyans the loud and outspoken brash comedians Osakans
proclaim themselves to be, we’re somewhere in between.
We’re laid back but upbeat, we’re mellow but interested, we’re
fun without being obnoxious. We’re down for the cause but
we’d just as soon stay home and chill. Nagoya and Nagoyans
make for a low maintenance but lively combination, all in a
safe and easily-commutable city, best of all worlds I’d say. City
life without city strife, heard? Word…
I mean, let’s face it, where on earth is the absolute perfect
location? Sure, there are lots of spots “cooler than”, “bigger
than”, “more interesting than”, wherever you’re currently
living, but it’s all relative, isn’t it? Me, give me a place with
2 |RAN|
Part 1
a city nightlife, some art and culture, an open-minded
population, a few good restaurants, some decent bookstores,
and throw in some mountains, or a seaside, and I’m good.
It might be said Nagoya has none of those, but what it does
have, I’m adapting to, and still, I’m good…you live inside
your head mostly anyway, it’s up to you how you read your
environment, and the grass is always greener on the other
side, never forget. We all came here for a reason, let’s explore
what that/those reasons might be, and learn something,
contribute something, get something and give something
while we’re here. “You go through stages…”, my friend Yoko
told me recently. Damn right. However you handle those
stages is what decides how your daily life is going to be. Half
empty/half full, how do you see it?
I hope in 2011 here in Nagoya, more people will take
more chances on themselves, their ideas, their dreams, and
rabbit illustration: ADAM PASION; digital alteration: ADRIEN SANBORN
contribute more to the environment of art and culture here
in Nagoya. It’s a really fertile time, the soil seems ready to be
planted with some great ideas, concepts, innovations and
dreams…why wait? Why wait for the perfect moment/time/
place/person? That time is Right About Now, make it happen,
I’m looking at the man in the mirror, are you?
2011 is the year of the rabbit, classy, sensitive, creative,
optimistic, compassionate, this year is a year to PRODUCE, as
the rabbit is so well known for. The rabbit is also expressive,
well-mannered and stylish, so 2011 looks to be something
special! Reinvent yourself as how you see yourself in your
mind, the voice in your head is right-.
Make it your best year ever,
We plan to do the same thing.
BLESS UP!
We still love you Nagoya.
TDHOUCHEN
RAN MAGAZINE PUBLISHER
 CONTENTS

5 Ch-ch-ch-ch Changes
features
8 Walkathon for Life
International Charity Festival 2011

16 The Pagoda Diaries

Half Pagoda Nerd

4 The Green Spot

departments

cover photo: ACHIM RUNNEBAUM

table of contents photo: YUKO SANBORN Arriving in "Eco" Style

6 Media
Nagoya Radio Rocks!

10 Success
Maki Means Business

12 Health
Yogini Sarah Speaks

Publisher: TD Houchen
Layout Designer: Adrien Sanborn
Editor: Adam Pasion 14 Listen
Ali Huggins
Photography: Achim Runnebaum
Web Manager: Jason L. Gatewood

Send story ideas, art, photography,

20 GoTaiheiyo! See Japan by Sea
and advertising inquiries to:
tdhouchen@ranmagazine.com

Promotional Events/Co-Promotion:
22 Read
Hagakure: The Code of the Samurai
tdhouchen@ranmagazine.com

www. 24 RAN Map & Club Guide

ranmagazine
.com
27 Comics
Art, comics, and other amusements

|RAN| 3
The G reen SPOT
環
境
Arriving in "Eco" S tyle
D
uring my time living in America so many years ago,
gasoline was 89 cents per gallon, and fast, powerful
cars were the holy Grail of the car industry. In a world
with abundant resources, seemingly endless kilometers of
open road and clear skies, it made sense. Unfortunately
we no longer live in such a world. Now the buzz words
are conservation, environmental protection, limited/ finite
resources, and cost cutting. Demands for clean air plus a
need for reduced oil consumption have caused some car
manufacturers, particularly in Japan, to look for a temporary
solution before we can switch to non-gasoline power sources.
Thus was born the hybrid.
The classic example of a hybrid is the mule- a cross
between a donkey and a horse. In the automobile world, In
simplest terms, a hybrid combines a gasoline engine and an
electric motor to provide adequate power with minimal fuel
usage and low emissions. They don't need to be plugged
into an electric outlet in order to be recharged. They charge
themselves by using energy normally lost during coasting and
braking, and can also be charged by the car's gasoline engine.
Critics consider hybrid vehicles to be the jackasses of the car
industry, but don't get suckered into that whole hybrids are
for wussies nonsense. Considering that at highway speeds
the average car requires only about 20 horsepower to keep it
running, a large gasoline engine makes little sense except for
when pulling heavy loads, which is the whole idea behind
hybrid cars - a small gas engine combined with an electric
motor.
With dropping prices, more consumer options, and
ever more efficient production techniques, hybrids, such
as the Toyota Prius, Honda Insight, or the Hyundai Sonata
are becoming more and more popular with "Eco-friendly"
consumers. And who could blame them? With better mileage
than even the best gasoline-only car, efficient performance
in just about all driving situations, whisper quiet operation,
and much lower emissions, hybrids are fast becoming a great
alternative to the gas guzzlers of old.
But its not all sunshine and butterflies. Some people have
4 |RAN|
| Story and photos by Achim Runnebaum |
criticized hybrids for their larger and much more unwieldy
batteries, their lower resale value (battery is very costly to
replace), and higher repair costs. However, since hybrids
are still a relatively new technology many of the current
maintenance hassles unique to hybrids will improve with
future models.
As mentioned above, another criticism certain people
have about hybrids, is about power output being lower than
in regular gas-only cars. Well, that's kind of the whole point,
isn't it? Gas is consumed much more quickly during hard
acceleration. If you spare the horses when the light turns
green, you can save a significant amount of money, not to
mention cutting down on Eco-unfriendly emissions. According
to customer satisfaction surveys, a large number of people
who have switched to hybrids recently reported a change in
their driving habits, greater overall relaxation while driving,
and significant savings at the pump. The most surprising part
is that these former self-proclaimed road warriors thought
they would miss having all that power at their fingertips, but
actually the opposite is true.
Whatever you may think about hybrids, one thing is for
certain: They do have a lot of potential to significantly cut
down on harmful emissions and thus reduce the burden on
our already strained planet. So if you’re in the market for a
new car in the new year, give hybrids a chance. Do a bit of
research, and you too might be surprised to find out that many
people who have recently switched are very satisfied with
their new “green” wheels.
Conservation is the new name of the game, and if the
hybrid technology keeps improving and catching on, it might
just be those stubborn mules in the automobile community for
whom high performance is the Holy Grail, that may end up
looking like jackasses.
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/
how-does-a-hybrid-car-work.html
 - c h - c h
C h - c hCH A N G E S
m Runnebaum |
| Story and photos by Achi t it, and
t it, Tupac rapped abou

D
avid Bowie sang abou sai d:
, a no ted Au tho r on ce
No rm an Vin ce nt Pe ale world”.
and you change your
“Change your thoughts in a state of
rea lly thi nk ab ou t it, everything is always
If yo u life - change.
ge . Iro nic all y, tha t’s the only constant in
ch an different, every
ess en ce of ex istence. Every year is
It is the tha n the las t,
ter we ha ve wi th pe op le is dif fer en t
en co un apes change.
ange, and whole landsc
people change, lives ch really notice it
is slow and we don’t
Sometimes the change eone else. Other I wish we had
reminded of it by som
that much until being recognizable.
times the change is sud
den and immediately a Theme Park
many people
g conundrum; there are in Nagoya, so
It’s kind of an interestin than they are
more afraid of change people could
in the world who are every one of us
ry new year, each and
of death, but with eve r lives. For some enjoy their free
ys for a change in ou
secretly or openly pra ng year. Some time.
ght change in the comi
people relationships mi place, go back
s, or move into a new
people will start new job an old friend,
s, find new love, lose
home to their countrie ing completely
akthrough, start someth
strike it rich, make a bre ve direct power
me of the time we ha
new, etc, etc. etc. So don’t have any,
place. Sometimes we
over the changes taking about Nagoya,
r to change something
but if you had the powe some way, what
me; to make it better in
this city we all call ho
would it be?

I wish people wer

e
more open minde
d.

le
i s h peop
I w d drive
woul arefully It would
be
c
more respect there we nice if
re more
and ules in tradition
cr al places
traffi goya. like in Ky ,
Na oto.

d
t i o n s for goo s
Op ool
l e m e n tary sch ow.
e ht n
ited rig
are lim open more Nagoya buildings
I would ry/middle should be more
ta
elemen n Nagoya. fashionable/cool
.
i
schools Around Nagoya
Station it’s starting
to look nicer, but
a
lot of areas are st
ill |RAN| 5
very drab looking.
Media メディア
NAGOYA RAD
| By TDHouchen |
R
isen from the ashes of ‘terrestrial radio’ like a fiery
phoenix of sound, NAGOYARADIO.com is on the air,
sort of, in Nagoya and all over the world, anywhere
an internet signal can be received. Don’t quite know what
Nagoya Radio.com is? Nagoya Radio is an online radio
station that promises to be everything Radio I should have
been and more. You do remember Radio I 79.5FM don’t you?
After a 10 year stint as Nagoya’s one and only ‘international’
radio station, RADIO I now sleeps with the fishes. After
broadcasting it’s last signal on the last day of September last
year, they quietly faded into the ether. Enter NAGOYA RADIO.
com - born of the need for ‘real radio’, as general manager
Mark Bailey puts it.
Question: What the hell is online radio and why does
Nagoya need it?
Answer: Ask Mark Bailey.
TD: Mark - first, where are you from, how did you get here,
and what are you up to?
MB: I’m from Brooklyn, New York. Been in Nagoya 20 years.
I came here wanting to teach. I had taught radio in the US
but outgrew my need to teach within a year here. I missed
radio but I couldn’t speak Japanese. This was 1990, and there
was only one real FM station, that was FM Aichi. I went to
them hoping to get on air but they told me to forget it since I
couldn’t speak Japanese. So I started learning Japanese. Then
in 1993, ZIP FM burst on the scene and they sounded like a
real western-style FM station. I went there and they said my
Japanese still wasn’t good enough, so I started practicing with
phrases the Japanese DJs said. By 1995, I got on with ZIP as a
news announcer/translator. In the meantime, I passed Level 1
Japanese, was with ZIP for about 2 years, then in about 2000
Radio I came on and I was with them from the beginning to
the end.
TD: Tell me about Radio I. Why did they die? I really dug
listening to some of the shows…
MB: They didn’t have enough advertising. They were waiting
for advertisers to come to them, which is not the way a
business in this economy is going to thrive. KOWA was
the parent company of Radio I, they are a pharmaceutical
company, and they were doing very well outside of Radio
I. I think they were using Radio I as a tax write-off. Radio
I was hemorrhaging lots of money every month. I used to
see the sales staff everyday just sitting at their desks on their
computers, and I’d ask them, ‘why aren’t you out selling or
getting ads?’, and they’d tell me they were salaried employees.
Give a salesman a salary and where is the incentive for him to
sell?
TD: Do you think Radio I did a good job at marketing
themselves?
MB: With a new station it takes about 10 years for people
to know you exist. Radio I did no promotion. You have to be
6 |RAN|
really aggressive. Everybody heard when they went out of
business on September 30th last year, but no one knew who
they were before that. I think they should have ‘gone out of
business’ the first day. What a great publicity concept, you go
out of business on your first day, then come back the next day
after everyone has heard you’re going out of business, and you
say ‘we’re baaaaaack’. But it was a shame, Radio I going out
of business was a first in Japan for a radio station, and it’s a
huge shame.
TD: Talk to me about Nagoya Radio.com
MB: Right now, Nagoya only has 3 stations. Nagoya is
roughly about the same size as Atlanta in the US, which has
34 stations. We think 3
stations isn’t enough.
TD: Why is radio so
overlooked in Japan?
MB: I think radio is seen
as the little step brother to
TV in Japan. If you’re on TV
here, you’re successful- if
you’re on the radio, you’re
just not on TV yet. Here in Japan, they don’t have the radio
history and culture that we do in the US. They don’t really
know what radio is good for here. Radio is something that you
do in your life, you get involved, it affects you. That’s what
we want to do with Nagoya Radio.com. We see ourselves
as an FM station that doesn’t happen to have a tower- we
happen to be online. We’re a real radio station, we live, eat,
work, sleep and breathe here, and we’re worldwide. We serve
two communities- we want to be the ‘voice of Nagoya’, if
something big happens here, you won’t hear about it on the
regular broadcast stations, and you certainly won’t hear it
in English, so we want to fill that niche, but we also want to
serve people with a general interest in Japan from all over the
world.
TD: Nice. Explain to me what ‘internet radio’ is all about.
MB: Until now, internet radio has been the sound of an MP3
player playing music, and only that. There are thousands of
internet radio stations online, but the majority of those have
no one actually communicating with you. You won’t hear
anyone ever saying, ‘hey, it’s 4 o’clock, thanks for listening.’
We want to change that. Internet radio has servers just like any
site online. Normally online, when you click on something
you see it and read it, with online radio, when you click on it
you hear it.
TD: Do you think Nagoyans will be more receptive to
NagoyaRadio than they were to Radio I?
MB: It’s not going to be easy, but we’re determined. Again,
Japanese don’t have a radio culture and/or history. We have
to teach them what it’s all about. They’ve never had a culture
DIO ROCKS!
where DJs are rock stars. We’re going to have to teach the
community what FM radio is, but we’re also having to explain
how to operate an internet radio dial. It’s a lot of work, but
we’re up for it.
TD: When did Nagoya Radio.com actually begin it’s first
broadcasting?
MB: October 9th last year, at the kick off to the COP 10
event. We wanted to connect with the foreigners who were
here visiting for that event last year. Our main audience are
expats primarily in Nagoya, but also the rest of Japan, and as
I said we’re online, so we can potentially have a worldwide
audience. Seems right now the people who like what we’re
playing are Japanese guys
between 30 and 50- they
speak the language of rock.
TD: What’s the format?
MB: It’s constant rock, and
news when it breaks. If you
listen to rock stations, they
don’t have any news. If
you listen to news stations,
they don’t have any rock. So basically if you like Zeppelin or
Green Day, you can hear that with us, but you also know that
for example, if there’s an earthquake, we’re going to tell you
about it. An MP3 player can’t do that. We play rock, and if
something happens in our community, we break in. No other
station around here does that.
TD: What’s the language ratio of English to Japanese on
Nagoya Radio.com?
MB: Right now were about 100 percent English. We don’t
have to explain to foreigners what radio is, all we have to
do is direct people to the page. Eventually we plan to have
a Japanese talk show, we’ll have some English lesson shows
also. When we do our Japanese talk radio show, it’s going to
be talk radio with balls.
TD: By it’s nature, it seems internet radio is a medium where
one has to be essentially homebound to be able to listen. How
will you get around that?
MB: True. Especially in Japan. In most European countries
and the US, you can get a WiFi signal at Starbucks and lots
of places outside the home- here you can’t do that. You may
have heard that Japan is a technologically advanced country,
so we’ve got confidence that the WiFi revolution will hit here
too. What we have to do now is figure out when people are
online. Seems that time is from 8 to 10pm at night.
TD: Your take on Nagoya.
MB: Nagoyans are slow to adapt to things other places have
been on for a long time, but basically I think if you give the
Nagoya consumer a chance, he’s going to like what you like.
Case in point: for a long time I was drinking horrible coffee
from lots of these mom and pop coffee joints when I first
came. I remember telling my wife, if a chain were to open
here, it would do great business. A few years later Starbucks
came and now they’re all over the place. Same with Subway,
I’m a New York boy who was dying for a pastrami sandwich,
and now they’re here. So yes, I think Nagoya is a conservative
town, but things are changing, and people have to take
chances.
TD: What do you think Nagoya needs?
MB: The UN has been saying Japan has to open up it’s
immigration. They’ve been saying this for 30 years. Right now,
Japan is about 1 percent non-Japanese in it’s population. The
UN says that number has to go up to 13 percent for Japan to
continue as it is now. That doesn’t mean growth, just for it to
stay at it’s current level. I’d like to walk down the street and
see diversity. I think if Nagoya were more diverse it would
make life better for everybody, not just non-Japanese. I think
a major media force and a few really super successful non-
Japanese businessmen are necessary to push Nagoya in the
direction of being more diverse. I feel like if I can make
it in Nagoya, I can make it anywhere. I’ve put 20 years of
connections and business savvy into my life here. Plus, I’ve
got my family here. I stay here because I’ve put so much work
into my life here.
TD: What else besides NagoyaRadio.com are you into Mark?
MB: We do rent-a-bike-japan.com, renting bikes to foreigners,
we do Minato Bridal, which is a wedding dispatch business,
we’re doing Peace English which dispatches teachers, we also
have in-house classes. We do Radio Results, we get orders for
commercials and jingles from the US, people who outsource
native New York accents, but who can’t afford to pay the
prices that US agencies charge, they get it done with us.
We import food, those are the main businesses that bring in
money for us.
TD: What’s on tap for NagoyaRadio.com in 2011?
MB: Two Saturdays a month, we’re going to be promoting
the station out in the streets of Nagoya, giving gifts to people,
doing man on the street interviews, and basically just touching
Nagoya. We want Nagoya to know we’re here, so we’re
going to introduce ourselves. We’re radio guys, and we’re
Nagoya guys. We sound like a real station because we are a
real station, we’re on all over the world, but we’re here for
Nagoya. Any questions, write us at
sales@nagoyaradio.com or
requests@nagoyaradio.com,
it’s very easy to get in touch with us.
Right on Mark.
We’re listening..
|RAN| 7
Walkathon for Life
| By Ebony Brown |
L
ast year over 2000 people gathered in Nagoya to perform
a simple task: walking. Yet, this seemingly minute action
has had an incredible impact on the lives of many
throughout the Chubu region. Jointly created in 1991 by the
American Chamber of Commerce and Nagoya International
School the Nagoya Walkathon is all about unity and giving. A
foreign sponsored event, its purpose is to unite the foreign and
Japanese communities through a mutual desire to positively
benefit charitable organizations. Every walker pays a 2000
yen registration fee (or 1000 yen for students) and add that
to the sizable donations from corporate sponsors and we
are talking about a whole
lot of money. But rather
than focusing on change
on a global level, all the
funds are funneled to local
organizations. This means
that every yen goes to help
those who need it most
in the same areas that
participants live and work.
With over 8 million yen
raised last year alone it is
easy to wonder what types
of charities are benefitting
f r o m a l l t h i s ch a r i t a b l e
giving. The answer is many.
Th e wa l k a t h o n d o n a t e d
money to 26 charities last
year alone with a multitude
of groups in need being addressed. A large community that
is being positively affected is the mentally and physically
disabled. Walkathon funds purchase everything from can-
crushing machines and art supplies for expression therapy to
the creation and renovation of various facilities. The theme
of most of these organizations is empowerment. By creating
projects and work opportunities for the disabled, these
programs allow those who society deems unable to contribute,
a chance to assert their independence and showcase their
creativity.
Safuran Kai, for example, provides a communal home
and workplace for the mentally disabled. Residents make
cookies, postcards and engage in recycling as a means of
8 |RAN|
work. For many of the residents and members of such charities
the centers and homes provide a rare chance to leave their
homes and interact with others. On a visit to the Seikatsu
Shien Center PIVOT, a daycare center for the mentally and
physically challenged, a young man was seen enjoying
the music program, it was noted that under the care of his
elderly parents he had no prior opportunities to leave his
home. The Walkathon helped fund the construction of the
Seikatsu Shien Center.
Another program that the Walkathon benefits is the Japan
Service Dog Association. Anyone who has ever taken the
s u b way i n Ja p a n k n ow s
t h a t t h e s u b w ay i s n o t
always the most accessible
transportation system in
the world for those with
physical disabilities. The
relatively new concept of
service dogs has completely
changed the lives of many
of the disabled by allowing
them to navigate on their
own, eliminating the need to
constantly ask for assistance.
While the dogs are a miracle
for those they assist they
do not come cheap. It cost
4,000,000 yen to feed, train,
and place just a single dog.
The overwhelming majority
of this money comes from donations, like the 200,000 yen
donated by the Walkathon in 2009.
Finally the Walkathon supports several organizations
aimed at helping children. They are involved in providing
funds for trips and accommodations for children with difficult
family circumstances. They help provide funds for programs
that teach Japanese to Chinese children being raised in Japan.
They also help make dreams come true by making donations
to the Make a Wish foundation, allowing terminally ill
children a chance to go to Disneyland with their families.
With so many people feeling the wave of hope and change
because of the Nagoya walkathon. I think it’s time we all laced
up and took a walk around the park, don’t you?
 ce
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MAKI MEANS BUSINESS
M
any people say the role of women in Japan needs
to change before Japan itself can move towards
becoming a successfully integrated international
country. Like their Western female counterparts, many women
in Japan today are postponing or shunning marriage altogether
after finding themselves in control of their own destinies,
without the financial assistance historically provided by men.
But this new position in society is uncharted territory in Japan
for most women.
Maki Mizuhara embodies the characteristics of a successful
business woman, and does so with grace, charm, and beauty
to spare. She is a wonderful example of a progressive minded
woman, who happens to be Japanese, carving a niche
for herself in a man’s world right here in Nagoya, while
still holding down some of the traditional roles associated
with womanhood- marriage and children. It’s safe to
say she’s ‘got it all’- money, career, family, beauty, and a
healthy dose of her own ideas about what womanhood
means.
As a recruiter for Wall Street Associates, an executive
recruitment firm established here in Nagoya, Maki has come
across dozens of successful people and shares what she feels
is necessary to become successful here, or anywhere.
TD: So Maki, tell me a bit about yourself.
MM: I’m originally from Mie prefecture. I’m the
director of the Nagoya office for Wall Street Associates.
I’ve worked in Nagoya for 14 years. Our company focuses
on bilingual people, and finding them executive positions
with established firms.
TD: What type of jobs does your company find for people?
MM: When our company was formed, our president focused
on bankers. Gradually we changed our focus to accounting
and finance, people with those skills plus English. Now we
also work with Human Resources people, and supply chain
management as well, purchasing, factory manager, like that.
We also have sales and marketing for bilingual people.
TD: You meet many company presidents. How would you
describe their personalities?
MM: There are basically two types of company presidents
that I’ve seen in Nagoya. There is the company president who
established a company from scratch. He is usually very open
minded, very aggressive hiring people. They’ll join meetings
and say exactly what kind of people they want. They’ll express
their philosophy, they are very hands on. The other type is
the second or third generation president who is the son of the
former president, like that. They are more relaxed, they give
their authority to senior directors, they aren’t quite so dynamic
10 |RAN|
Success 成功
| By TDHouchen |
as the first type.
TD: What type of business environment do you think is
prevalent in Nagoya?
MM: In manufacturing, Nagoya is very well known for
automobile and aerospace manufacturing, heavy industry. On
the other hand, the biggest semiconductor factory in Japan is
located in Yokkaichi, that’s Toshiba, it’s not far from Nagoya.
Manufacturing is big in Nagoya.
TD: Do you think Nagoya’s economy is growing, contracting,
or stagnating?
MM: Because of the economic crisis of last year and recently,
it gradually became bad, but now, it’s gradually becoming
better. Gradually bad, gradually better is the Nagoya story.
Things don’t suddenly happen here, it takes a while to happen
one way or the other.
TD: What do you think is the basic character of the average
Nagoya business person?
MM: Everybody says Nagoya is very closed. People wanting
to start a new business, etc, maybe it’s hard here. It’s very well
known that Nagoya is a conservative town. For example my
office, we do not hire people if they are not from this area.
First thing business people from here ask is ‘where are you
from?’ If you say you are from, for example, Tokyo, they put
some distance between you and them. I guess Nagoya people
are conservative naturally. But once you get to know them,
once Nagoya people accept you, they accept you for life.
They (Nagoya people) want to make sure before they accept
you. Once you earn the credibility, or trust from them, it lasts
a long time. Even, for example, if someone comes along
and offers a better price or something, Nagoya people won’t
change because they want to keep relationships for a long
time. The door might open faster in a place like Tokyo, but it
closes faster also. Here in Nagoya, it might take a while to get
the door open, but it will stay open longer.
TD: What would you say is the best way a foreigner should
proceed here in Nagoya if he or she wants to start a small
business?
MM: I think a person who wants to open a business here
should focus directly on who he wants to attract. There
probably isn’t much competition for certain businesses here,
so you can get success if you can find your market. If you
want your business to be huge, then maybe Nagoya isn’t such
a great place. But Nagoya is a great city for smaller businesses,
and also for businesses that want to test market products
or services. You can also tailor make your business to your
audience here, but in a bigger city, you can’t quite do that.
TD: What do you personally like about Nagoya?
 MM: This city has most of what you need for city life. It’s easy
to get around and get along here. The people are friendly,
it’s easy to live here. Because of the medium size of Nagoya,
networking is easy here, people support each other a lot. I
really like that.
TD: If a foreign businessman wanted to tap into the Japanese
market, how might he go about doing that?
MM: Difficult. If you mean the Japanese person who isn’t
naturally interested in international things, it’s difficult. I
think your product or event should have some theme, not
necessarily international. For example fashion, flowers,
whatever the event is should focus first on the theme aside
from the international aspect of it. The topic is important
rather than the international part of it. It depends on how you
promote the event, how you put it, how you make it. If you
make an event, for example a rock event, if I’m interested
in rock and I’m Japanese, I’ll go whether or not there are
foreigners there. Even if I don’t speak English, I’m there for
the rock, right? I used to organize a lot of events, and they
were international events, but the subject of the event itself
wasn’t necessarily international. I used to do wine events
photos: EJP
with Canadian wine importers, and I’d get the entertainment
and people would come because of the wine. Or the
entertainment. Not because of the international-ness of the
event. I did flower events also- I used to promote Australian
flowers because Australia has very unique flowers and people
who didn’t really care about Australia came.They wanted to
see the flowers but they’d never been to Australia. It’s always
the theme and the contents that are more important than just
international.
TD: What qualities do you think are necessary for a person to
be successful?
MM: Energetic. Passionate. Genki. Successful people are
sugoi genki. They usually have a dream. Often they are very
nice people. I mean usually entrepreneurs are humble people-
they are very polite, kind, and they look you directly in the
eye. Also, they are very strong, they believe something very
strongly.
TD: How would you improve Nagoya if you could?
MM: Personally, I’d like to see more ethnic restaurants. I like
going to places where I feel like I am in a foreign country. I
like that a lot. Also, there needs to be more places for women
like me to go out and feel comfortable to network, have a
glass of wine, talk, meet people, like that. Nagoya needs more
of that.
Working on it Maki.
|RAN| 11
Health 健康
YOGINI SAR AH
S SPEAK
“Health”, you know…the well-being of your
mind, body and spirit?
As an Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga instructor with a background
in humanistic and developmental psychology, I am always
hoping to promote health and wellness among my yoga
students. Whether it is teaching correct Asana (yoga poses)
alignment, encouraging regular water consumption, or
facilitating relaxation through Pranayama (breathing
exercises), one must consider that the mind, body and spirit
are a dynamic interconnected system and each component
has an effect on the other. Achieving overall health is a great
balance of this system. There are the obvious ways to improve
one’s health that you are well aware of, like quitting smoking,
exercising and eating your greens, but there are ways that
perhaps you have never considered. Without trying to sound
like your mother nagging “Eat your broccoli!” I would like
to offer you a few insights on how to live healthier. These
things, and I speak from experience, will have a major impact
on your health and overall well-being if you try them. If you
really, actually want to be healthy, I`ll tell you now, it`s not
just a 2 week diet or a sporadic exercise regime. It`s a lifestyle
that takes perseverance and commitment. What’s worth more
than your health anyway, seeing as your life depends on it?
Smiling and Creating Good Energy
Think about it. Energy is everywhere and runs at various
frequencies. As Rhonda Byrne, author of the fascinating book
The Secret points out, when you decide to smile and be
happy, you are sending your energy out into the world and
matching energies will be transmitted back to you along your
chosen wavelength. When you feel great and everything is
going your way, when you maintain and emit that “genki”
energy, it just keeps on coming back to you like a boomerang!
What goes around, actually does come around. So, maybe
you woke up on the wrong side of the futon and your angsty
teenage self has been resurrected from your Degrassi days-
don’t fester in this chosen bad mood state. While you may
feel dark inside and you think that smiling is just for pleasing
others, when you begin to smile you are releasing endorphins,
the body`s natural opiates. Your smile will eventually become
real. You are also passing your energy onto everyone you
associate with, so chose a good energy frequency! I love the
way Roald Dahl expresses this in my favourite childhood book
The Twits “…if you have good thoughts they will shine out
of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”
Remember that even laughing and smiling when you`re alone
is not crazy, it`s healthy!
Good relationships
Part of creating and maintaining good energy in your
life can be heavily influenced by those you associate with.
Consider the expression that’s a little cliché for a good reason:
“Surround yourself with people that inspire you.” Saying
sayonara to friendships and relationships that drag you down
12 |RAN|
| By Yogini Sarah |
with bad energy may seem selfish, but you have the right
to be happy and, you can be happy now. Don`t go through
that checkout with the cashier who is seeping bad energy. If
you do, be ready to amp-up your good energy and hope it
transmits to and transforms your “un-genki” target! Of course
people who are close to us go through bad times and as a
friend or partner you should be supportive, but being with
someone who is perpetually cynical and/or nihilistic is no
good for the chi! Friendships and relationships should be fun!
If a relationship does not improve the quality of your life and
happiness, than perhaps it`s no longer worth having. Change
that bluesy track, turn up that roots positive music and dance
it solo!
Food choices
As a yogini, I must say something about the yogic diet.
It’s kind of ridiculous, some of the things that are actually
considered to be food these days. I’ve got to agree with the
co-authors Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin of Skinny
Bitch (excuse the language) when they say “Avoid processed
foods!” Yes, that is printed in bold for a reason. The villains
are: processed white sugar, artificial sweeteners, processed
flour and hydrogenated guck full of preservatives! I am sorry
to break it to you, basically most conbini foods (convenience
store, for those of you who are new here) are processed. Just
read the packages. Even conbini onigiri contains preservatives.
All of the energy bars in the “healthy section” of any
convenience store are also highly processed. Also beware of
hormone, pesticide and anti-biotic laden foods such as meats,
dairy products, and eggs. The list goes on... My favourite quote
from Rory and Kim’s no-nonsense book that makes me crack
up every time I think about it is, “Candy bars, potato chips,
and ice cream taste like heaven, of course. But they will pitch
a tent on your hips and camp out all year.”
Give your body and taste buds a chance to heal and learn
to enjoy wholesome foods whose chemical structures are
naturally processed by the body. You’re in Japan! Here’s a
chance to try a whole new world of food that is actually good
for you. There are so many seasonal delicacies to tantalize
the adventurous palate. Study and learn to read packages in
Japanese. The benefit to you is two-fold! There are healthy
alternatives if you look, such as organic soy products, organic
free-range eggs, organic fruits and veggies, brown rice,
quinoa, oats, wholegrain noodles, soba, nuts, seeds, legumes,
pulses, seaweed, miso, konnyaku, red bean paste and so
many more healthy foods in great abundance here. Truly a
cornucopia of versatile and delicious foods! So for the love
of natto, try it! Though they are small, there are a handful
of health food shops in Nagoya that will help you subsist
naturally. Ever heard of macrobiotic? Japan’s Zen diet- Check
out Nagoya’s macrobiotic selection of eating establishments
and know that everything that you’re consuming at
that moment is wholesome beyond anything you’ve probably
ever eaten.
My favourite topic: Cross-training
If you don’t have a workout already, I suggest you get
crackin’ before the osteoporosis sets in! I love yoga and I love
the gym! Once you get past the first few weeks of feeling like
you’re dragging your tush to get active, you will soon realize
how amazing you feel after every workout. Make it social,
change it up with lots variety, pump iron, feel the burn, ride
the runner’s high, dance till sunrise, and get “yoga stoned” as
I like to joke! Realize the real human in you! Whatever you’ve
got to do to get moving, do it. You won’t be sorry…well maybe
only for the first week when you discover all the muscles you
actually do have as you limp down the stairs. Just warning you,
nothing worth anything comes easily.
Yoga! What can be better than a workout with a nap at
the end? Well, technically you’re not actually supposed to fall
asleep in “Savasana” (the resting period at the end of an intense
yoga routine) but I just chuckle to myself when one of my yoga
students is off in their sleepy happy place and still laying there
after everyone else is up because they missed the cue. Yoga is
amazing because it does truly have a positive effect on all body
functions and there’s literally a pose for every health problem
imaginable! As an aspiring yoga therapist, I have been studying
that yoga can be used in helping to treat everything from injury
and digestive issues to cancer and depression! Though I enjoy
weight training and can’t deny the benefits of it, yoga also
builds nice muscle without the lactic acid build up resulting
from regular weight bearing exercise. Yoga: give it a go and go
with the flow!
If you’re still moaning and groaning thinking, “Naw…I’ll
work out tomorrow,” think about how great you’ll feel after you
do your workout as compared to how you would feel sprawling
out on the couch after another guilty encounter with makudo and
the indigestible “McBrick,” watching TV “talent” who discover
that it’s fun to bounce ping pong balls off their foreheads. Well,
perhaps bouncing ping pong balls off your forehead isn`t such
a bad idea after all. Just maintain it for at least 30 minutes to
work up a sweat. Oh, you’ll be happy to hear this next bit. Did
you know that shagging is also considered to be exercise and
conversely exercise makes you a better shag? Sex, according to
Jose Temporao, Brazil’s minister of health (bless the Brazilians)
will help reduce the incidence of chronic disease. He even
goes on to prescribe sex at least five times a week for best
results! Though it provides only a modest workout not quite
on par with a moderate 30 minute cardio routine, it does have
the effect of lowering blood pressure and releasing hormones
such as dopamine and cortisol. These hormones in turn reduce
depression, giving you more energy, and GOOD energy! Just
remember, and I know you know this so you have no excuse…
use condoms! You can buy them at pretty much every conbini.
So, yes, exercise, sexercise…whatever. You are meant to move,
so tear out of that couch potato costume and get going!
Oh my, I really could write a whole novel about health,
but man, it’s hard sitting here typing…when you`re fantasizing
about your date with the stair master at Gold`s Gym and all the
hot musclebound guys you get to check out! For now, I’ll leave
you to digest all this information. Oh, oh, oh…and eat slowly
and chew well! Sending out smiles and good energy vibes to
you! ^^

For more tips and links, check out:

www.happyheartyoga.wordpress.com
| By TDHouchen |
T
his month’s LISTEN is a performer/producer who
performs as a working musician in clubs and at events
scattered around Japan. He’s also performed in Europe
and the US. His style is multi-ethnic, crossing all kinds of
musical boundaries. Ali Huggins will sing pop, ballads, upbeat
dance music, switch into classic rock, reggae, and blazing
hip hop, then segue into a series of blistering originals all in
one 40 minute show. He’s a one man radio dial. Colourful,
smooth, professional, fun-Ali gets the job done.
As well as multi tasking as a producer, performer, writer,
and essential musical svengali, Ali is also a family man.
This Trini funkster gets the party jumping from start to finish.
He’s about half a degree separated from the leaders in the
music game here in Japan and abroad, and that half a degree
decreases daily.
Feel Ali’s vibe.
TD: where are you from originally?
Ali: I’m originally from New York. I moved to Cali in the late
90'S as part of a band on Capitol Records. My parents are
West Indian. My Father is from Trinidad & Tobago and my
mother is from Antigua. I’m of African, Indian, and British
heritage.
TD: How long have you been in Nagoya?
Ali: I first came to Nagoya seven years ago. Moved back to
Cali since then, but been calling Nagoya home for the last
three years.
TD: What brought you here to begin with?
Ali: First came to Nagoya on a music contract as a singing-
drummer in the “XChange Band,” working at Gary’s Motown
Club here. I worked at Gary’s again in 2005 as leader and
singing drummer in “Common Culture” band. The World Expo
was going on then so there were loads of people here. We
did many great shows and also performed at the Australian
pavilion at the Expo main site.
TD: Had you had any interest in Japan before coming here?
Ali: Japanese gigs popped up occasionally over the years and
I was always intrigued about Japan. I toured everywhere else,
just about, so when my agent told me about the Nagoya gig, I
auditioned and got it.
TD: What is your current profession?
Ali: I’m a working pro singer/ musician/ entertainer. I sing
and perform at clubs, events, weddings and I perform and
produce music for TV and film. I’m also a music producer for
hire and I have my own new CD of original music that I will
be promoting this summer. Also I’m working with many great
artists such as you(Trevor Houchen), Two-J (Hoodsounds/EMI),
Vinny Vintage, Dejavu from Tokyo, Akane and many others.
TD: How did you get involved in music originally?
Ali: I started in junior high as a band geek I guess. Later
became a Michael Jackson/ Prince imitator. That lead to band
auditions and paid shows since I really sang the songs, I
wasn’t lip-syncing. Gigs got bigger and better, which lead to
getting a booking agent, recording deals etc.
TD: how did you get involved in music here in japan?
Ali: Aside from Top 40 scene here, just really been
networking. Back singers for BOA, Koda Kumi, Exile, Ai etc are
all my friends, so I just gave people my demo and the phone
started ringing and I started getting emails. I may get into the
back singer scene also. I also have you to thank for booking
me in your events, etc. I do a lot of traveling throughout Japan
so I am eternally grateful when I have a chance to effectively
14 |RAN|
promote myself here in my home town.
TD: How would someone who wants to do music
professionally in Japan go about doing that?
Ali: Okay, first make sure you are pro level. Have your
promo kit ready: professional pics, one to three professionally
recorded songs, a performance video. Some nihongo is
helpful. The more Japanese you speak and understand the
better. You should have a decent amount of contacts amassed
so find a booking agent with a good rep who gets their artists
steady work. You don’t need a manager until you have a
career to manage. Get some work first and keep your day
job too. You can’t do anything without money. I came here
originally as a musician but I double-up when I can. Teach in
the day, sing at night. It’s tough but paychecks are nice. Nail
auditions, do a great job on all gigs that you book. This is a
business. Professional image and attitude are a must. I dress-
up. I believe in looking the part. When people see me they
know it’s showtime! No drugs, use your best judgement with
alcohol. Many deals are made at the bar. If you are trying to
get a record deal as an original artist here in Japan, sing in
Japanese. Do all of the above and record great songs. I won’t
say anything negative about it. Everybody loves a great song.
You have great songs and anybody, anywhere will love you.
It’s all about the song! Call me! I get asked for referrals all the
time. I would love to collaborate and/ or produce your music
too!
TD: What role does your agent play in your career?
Ali: My agents get me 70% of my work here. I have a few
personal contacts and I get gigs by word of mouth referrals
also.
TD: What types of venues do you usually play?
Ali: Night clubs, concert halls, hotel ballrooms and piano
bars. The biggest show I’ve done was a festival in Sweden
in 1998. Five thousand people. I was nominated for a Euro-
dance music Grammy that year too. I didn’t win though. Eagle
Eye Cherry won. The biggest in Japan so far was an event in
Osaka with a little over one thousand people, televised etc.
TD: Do you make a good living doing what you do?
Ali: Yes, I make a pretty good living. I have a new car, nice
apartment, support a family. Moderately comfortable doing
what I love, but like everyone I would like to make a lot more
money. So I work hard daily with God’s blessings.
TD: What are the crowds like at your shows?
Ali: I get an occasional audience member that won’t shake my
hand when I offer it, occasional racist and or foreigner-haters
but 99.9% of the time, great, supportive, fun loving people.
TD: Do you have groupies? Any crazy backstage stories you'd
like to share?
Ali: Yes I have fans, groupies etc. They just want a piece of
you. Autographed CD, body part etc. They sometimes want a
souvenir from you, from your body. They give you gifts, send
you fanmail etc. Most of the accessories I wear onstage are
gifts from fans from around the world. Sorry, I can’t really
share any backstage stories. You’ve been on the road with me,
you know how I do! But seriously, I know this is a family mag
so all I can say is that groupies are alive and kicking.
TD: What are your plans or goals for this year?
Ali: I’m on tour now, I will be returning to Nag in May. I plan
to do more great shows at your events and really build my
name and brand in Nagoya and Japan. I am going to start the
next wave of gaijin artists to make it big here. Look out Jero,
Monkey Majik, Def Tech etc.
Listen 聴く
 PAGODA
THE
DIARIES
| Story and pictures by EJP |
S
o the governor is the big attraction here in Miyazaki
these days, but that’s not why you’re here. Even you have
a more meaningful life than that. You don’t go traipsing
around after famous people and you certainly don’t need
any photos of your ugly mug lined up cheek to jowl with a
cardboard cut out of a bald guy in a hapi coat. No. You’re here
on far more important business.
Well, okay, you’re exaggerating again. It’s not necessarily
important business. But it’s important to you, if only because
you’re a goofy weirdo. You are what the Japanese call an
otaku. This word translates loosely to nerd, like in computer
nerd. Etymologically it simply means house or home—
somebody else’s house or home. The connection is that
otaku—nerds—tend to stay home, or at least they give that
impression because they don’t tend to socialize. Or rather,
they don’t do it well. The story’s the same all over the world,
you suppose. And what otaku really means in this context is
a person with a hobby. And he’s in too deep. The impression
is that otaku tend to stay at home with their hobbies, and that
generally everybody’s better off when they do. You’ve become
a certifiable otaku. You’re a nerd. So earlier, when you said
you’re an asshole, that was only half right. You’re a half-
asshole. You’re also a half nerd. A half-pagoda-nerd. The only
problem is you don’t stay home. You travel. You meet people.
Just abou t anybod y can get laid
ove r he r e . No t y o u , o f c o u r s e ,
but j us t a bou t an y bod y e l se .
You bore them to tears with pagoda talk.
In Miyazaki there’s a five-storied pagoda. It’s a gorgeous
white 1971 concrete hulk flanked by palm trees and greenery.
You’ve seen it before. You’ve talked to the priest there. On
the temple grounds there is a nursery school and you played
with the kids. You took some lovely photos of them. It was
the new-year and you helped the men there pound rice
into mochi. This is a gooey blob of rice that tastes great and
every season chokes a dozen or so old people to death when
it gets stuck in their throats. It’s made by pounding boiled
rice with big wooden mallets till no individual grains of rice
remain but all have been beat into one pasty blob like bread
dough. Generally two or three people pound on this blob in
rhythm together—one, two, three, one, two, three—and you
remember feeling like John Henry with his hammer in the
John R Cash song. It felt good. You remember feeling happy.
There are hundreds of pagodas in Japan, and you’ve
already been to a lot of them. There are at least 125 three
16 |RAN|
Ha l f P
storied pagodas and 75—very soon to be 76—five storied
pagodas here, not to mention a six storied pagoda, two seven
storied pagodas, a nine storied pagoda, a 13 storied pagoda,
and a much larger number of one or two storied pagodas
known as tahoto, which roughly translates to “treasure tower,”
at least 21 miniature five storied pagodas of which 11 are
inside other buildings, and a hotel in Hokkaido built in the
absurd shape of a five storied pagoda—absurd for a hotel, that
is—and if the ridiculous pain in your foot doesn’t stop you, it’s
your intention on this trip to visit 108 of these, starting here in
southern Kyushu and ending in Hokkaido.
This has been your dream, really. This is what you’ve been
dedicating all of your time, energy and spirit to for the past
several years. Now suddenly it feels like a very big project.
Maybe for you, in fact, it’s too big, and you’re starting to think
you probably should have just stuck with your old hobby,
which was drinking beer and chasing women. At least with
that hobby there was an almost certain chance of success in
either one endeavor or the other—maybe you couldn’t get any
girls, but you could always get another beer.
Success here, though, is far from assured. It’s not just that
anything could go wrong, though anything could, but what
strikes you so poignantly all of a sudden is that even now,
after so much study and research, you still know so little about
these pagodas, and empirical observation aside, you know
very little about Japan as well.
Or maybe it’s not that you know so little, but rather
that there’s just so much to know. You’ve planned this trip
to celebrate your 20th year here, and it occurs to you now
that you would have been wiser to do something like this in
celebration of your first year here. You simply didn’t know shit
about the place. And you really were better off here when
you didn’t know anything at all about Japan. This whole thing
would have been so much easier. Just thinking about it makes
your head start to hurt. Not to mention your foot.
After 220 years of near isolation Japan was forcefully
opened to the outside world by Commodore Mathew
Calbraith Perry with his Black Ships in 1854, as everybody
knows. Perry was sent to Japan against his own will,
by President Millard Fillmore, just prior to the American
Civil War.
Had President Fillmore ever actually been elected
Pa go da Ner d
president that feat—the feat of being elected—may have gone
down in history as his second greatest achievement, but it
never happened. He was elected vice president and only
became president when his predecessor died. Then he ran
for a term of his own, but lost, and was never elected to the
office of President. So instead, a voracious reader, his second
greatest feat turned out to be opening the White House
Library. His greatest feat, of course, was opening Japan.
When Fillmore ordered Perry to sail to Japan, the
Commodore gathered all the reading material about Japan
that he could. It turned out to be about 15 books, most of
them translated from Dutch, Spanish or Portuguese. That
was in 1852. Now there are dozens of titles published about
Japan each year in English alone. A simple search for “Japan”
on Google Books will turn up about 10,200,000 results. In
preparing for this trip you read some 200 of these, many of
which turned out to be completely worthless. Many others
proved to be only mostly worthless, but nonetheless say
something valuable, if only to an otaku like you. Few of them,
however, would you recommend to the normal reader—the
average guy with something meaningful to do with his time
and his life, unless he’s unusually interested in Japan, will
probably not want to read any of these tomes. You’re hoping
he will want to read this, however—The Pagoda Diaries.
You’re hoping to write something worth reading. But then
again, so did all these other people, you suppose.
Generally, there are three types of books being published
about Japan. The first are deep academic treatises on
narrow academic pinpoints, most of which are replete with
fascinating information, though often overwritten, redundant,
poorly organized, and difficult to read for anybody without
a previous understanding of the subject—an understanding
which, unfortunately, can only be obtained by reading a
whole truck load of these very same books. Some brilliant
exceptions, though, in terms of accessibility, are offerings by
the late George Sansom, the late John Toland, John Dower,
Walter LaFeber, Stephen Turnbull, Ian Buruma, and Donald
Keene, Professor Emeritus at Columbia University and half
time resident of Japan. Keene has been involved here since
he served as an interpreter and translator during the war, and
by now he’s met almost everybody who’s anybody in Japan,
especially in Japanese letters. He’s your hero.
Unlike you, Donald Keene and all of these men, in fact,
are serious researchers. There’s not an ounce of fun among
them, but never mind that. There is immense knowledge, as
well as sincerity, honesty, integrity and respect that one cannot
help but admire. There is even awe in some cases. And these
men you list here have each been a great pleasure for you to
read. Indeed, you think Walter LaFeber’s The Clash should
be required reading for every American who ever gets on a
plane for Japan, if even for a weekend trip. Maybe they should
give it out at the security check, right after they ex-ray the
traveler’s shoes.
Never mind that in The Clash LaFeber refers to the late
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Wilbur Mills as a
congressman from Ohio. Talk about your congressman caught
in a cat-house! Wilbur Mills was exactly that. He was one of
the most powerful men in Washington when you were a child,
and he blew it all on a hooker, though maybe that’s not the
right expression, because there is some question about what
was being blown by whom, after all.
Anyway, Wilbur Mills was not from Ohio. He was from
Arkansas, just like Bill Clinton, whom everybody knows got
himself into hot water for smoking a cigar with a college intern
in the Oval Office. Of course, smoking a cigar with a college
student doesn’t sound all that scandalous—nothing compared
to soliciting sex with a 16 year old, as the current governor
of Miyazaki has done, for example—and the whole sordid
affair may have just blown over, so to speak, had the college
student not been down on her knees with her dress hiked up
around her waist and her panties hooked down around her
ankles when it happened. All this makes you wonder what in
the world’s going on down there in Arkansas. Also, it makes
you jealous. You after all are from Oregon, and Oregon’s idea
of a scandalous politician is former Senator Bob Packwood,
accused of sexually harassing an uninterested secretary.
What a pathetic way
to ruin a good state’s
reputation—a Senator
who couldn’t even get a
paid employee to smoke
a cigar with him, much
less a college intern.
Yo u ’ v e m e t B o b
Packwood. You’ve met
him twice. You’re not
surprised his secretary didn’t want anything to do with him.
He was a dweeb. But nonetheless, it’s a shameful way to have
your state disgraced. And now you’re thinking of settling down
in Arkansas when you return to America. Yes. Arkansas, where
it looks like just about anybody can get laid. That’s if you do
return to the US at all.
You may not.
You love this country.
And this country, in fact, happens to be full of gaijin who
have come here precisely because they’ve heard that over
here just about anybody can get laid too. And they’ve heard
right. Just about anybody can get laid over here. Not you, of
course, but just about anybody else. Especially anybody who
doesn’t know the first thing about Japan. And most of those
gaijin don’t. They don’t know and they don’t care. Or maybe
they’re just smart enough not to learn. Ignorance, again, is
bliss. But come to think of it, if there is one single state from
which you’ve never met a single gaijin here it’s Arkansas. And
|RAN| 17
this Arkansas resettlement program is starting to sound more
and more like a good idea. What are land prices in Little Rock
these days you wonder?
And what are you supposed to call those people from
Arkansas, besides horny bastards you mean? Arkansans?
Arkansassers? Arkansawyers? Maybe you better look into this
before you move there. You could get yourself in trouble if
you’re not careful.
Anyway, a second type of book about Japan is the type
you yourself might have written had you done this trip twenty
years ago, like you should have—written by the type of person
who doesn’t know a damn thing about the place, but refuses
to let that stop him. Now, that’s not to say that none of these
people have managed to write entertaining books. In fact,
many of them have. A few that come to mind are Hokkaido
Highway Blues by Will Ferguson, The Secrets of Mariko by
Elisabeth Bumiller, and especially the lovely Japanland by
Karin Muller. Few people who have lived here very long will
likely learn very much from these books, but they are quite
often entertaining. And such books go way back to the 1860s
when English speakers first began with some regularity to
spend time in Japan. The very best of these, over the years,
may be the one written by a supposedly sickly English woman
who appeared to be anything but sickly. Indeed she was strong
as a mule and just as stubborn. She came here specifically to
travel where no Western woman and precious few Western
men ever had. Her name was Isabella Bird, she didn’t know
the first thing about Japan, and now, a hundred years after her
death, her book is still in print. Also, it’s still a good read. Even
the Japanese enjoy it.
The third is the type of book you hope this one will be.
You have set your sights high. Having already missed your
chance to contribute to the fast growing genre of books
written by those high spirited optimists who know absolutely
nothing about the Japan of which they write, you’re hoping
to join the ranks of those far more guarded optimists—part
time optimists; part time cynics like you—who do know what
they’re talking about, the ranks of those who have spent every
day here for year upon year, the ranks of those who have
written, with experience and compassion, as much as with
knowledge and astute observation, about everyday things.
Books of this kind date back as far as the 16th century when
Portuguese and Spanish missionaries wrote detailed accounts
of their experiences here. Dutch and English traders in the
17th century wrote about Japan as well. One of the most
interesting of those writers was Engelbert Kaempfer, a doctor
with the Dutch mission who traveled overland twice with
the local Daimyo from the tiny Dutch enclave in Nagasaki
Harbor to the capitol in Edo, danced before the Shogun and
his advisors, then demonstrated the western way of kissing.
Unhappily for Engelbert though, no doubt, his kissing partner
was another Dutchman.
The more modern ranks have included Philipp Franz von
Siebold, Sir Earnest Satow, Basil Hall Chamberlain, Lafcardio
Hearn, Edward S. Morse, Oliver Statler, Alex Kerr, Edward
Seidensticker and above all, Donald Ritchie, whom you
admire greatly. He claims to have had sex with over 2000
people, though that’s not necessarily what you admire about
him. In fact, you don’t suppose you’d have had much interest
18 |RAN|
in many of those 2000, as Ritchie’s the type who might have
rather enjoyed kissing a Dutchman in front of the Shogun.
He’s gay. Bisexual, is how he describes it. To each his own, of
course, but you’re a completely different type of fellow. What
you admire about Donald Ritchie, though, is his extensive
knowledge, vast experience, and down to earth insights about
this country where he has spent most of his life. You expect to
refer to him often in this diary, and especially to his own travel
book, The Inland Sea.
Another man you expect to refer to often is Patrick Smith
who published Japan: A Reinterpretation in 1998. He was
a journalist here, and the Japan he writes about is the over
analyzed, over criticized and way over defended Japan
that you moved to in 1988. In fact, one of the things he
writes about in too much detail is otaku—nerds like you.
He says “To be an otaku is merely the final word in private
individuality. It is to reject anyone who would diminish the
protected ego and to acknowledge an inability to achieve the
intimacy of authentic human contact. The otaku draws a circle
around himself—that fundamentally Japanese impulse—and
withdraws within . . . This is the purest imaginable display of
the narcissism inherent in Japanese society. The otaku desires
both an idealized union and an impregnable independence—
the classic drives of the narcissist.”
Is this you? The classic drives of a narcissist? You’re not so
sure. In fact, you’re not even sure what Smith is talking about
here. But a lot of what he says, you are sure about, and he is
one of the writers you will rely upon a lot. Though, of course,
there will be several others.
Everyday experiences for the men you mention here have
varied extensively, as they do for all individuals. They were
doctors, diplomats, scientists, educators, journalists, authors
and critics, but the thing these gentlemen all hold in common
is the plain fact that they wrote about Japan as they knew it
personally, as they knew it intimately, as they knew it daily.
It’s not that these men didn’t study Japan. Indeed, each of
them did study it. James Michener, another writer who knew
Japan well, said of the late Oliver Statler who also began his
life in Japan as a member of the occupation army, in fact, that
he “knows more about Japan than any other living American
and can write about it with great skill, as proved by his
international success Japanese Inn…” But also, each of them
lived here for extended periods of time. They made lives here.
Japan was or is a huge part of all of their lives. It has been a
huge part of yours. It’s been a twenty-year part of it as a matter
of fact. May 25, 2008 was your 20th anniversary.
Now this trip, as well as this diary, is in celebration of that
anniversary. Why not? It’s worth celebrating. Twenty years of
anything is worth celebrating, if only for surviving it. But with
so much already in print about Japan—those 10,200,000 hits
you found on Google Books—you’re perfectly aware of what
you’re doing here. You’re pissing in the ocean. But so what?
Sometimes a guy just needs to take a good long piss, and what
better place for it than the ocean. The water is cool. The air is
fresh and mostly clean. The feeling is good.
Sure there’s more to read. There’s more to learn. There
always will be. But you’re here now. You’re on your way. Your
Journey’s begun. So go ahead. Piss in the ocean. Let it fly. Just
make sure you’re pissing downwind.
PAGODA
THE
DIARIES
Go
行きゃ
TA I H E I YO
S EE E E J A PA N BY S E A
| By TDHouchen |
I
f you’re looking for an excellent, interesting, scenic and
FUN way to see Japan, you should be very interested in
TAIHEIYO FERRY. ‘Taiheiyo’ means the Pacific Ocean in
Japanese, and that’s what you’ll be floating on aboard one
of the massive and luxurious ships Taiheiyo operates from
Nagoya Port.
The preferred way to get around Japan RAPIDLY AND
EFFICIENTLY is without doubt the Shinkansen. It is fast,
however if the blur of the Japanese countryside you see
outside your window isn’t exactly satisfying, ‘the Shink’ might
not be for you. Japan’s other railway options are also fast as
well as being ubiquitous, but transferring from one line to
another, one train to another, can wear you down before
you’ve seen much of anything. Busses are a drag: too many
weirdos, not enough space, too many stops and not fast
enough. Flying doesn’t allow you to see anything at all besides
your cabin and the countryside thousands of meters below,
but there is another option. TAIHEIYO FERRY makes use of the
Pacific Ocean in allowing you to travel Japan in a unique and
relaxing way. Not many people are aware Taiheiyo exists, but
you can see Japan by sea, take a hot bath while overlooking
the Pacific Ocean, be entertained by musicians or just relax in
your room, all while floating languidly aboard the ‘Kitakami’,
the ‘Kiso’, or the brand spanking new ‘Ishikari’ (starts
operating in March, 2011) in style. Best thing is, TAIHEIYO
FERRY COSTS LESS THAN THE SHINKANSEN.
TF has three ports of call: Nagoya, Sendai, and
Tomakomai, Hokkaido. The trip to Hokkaido takes around
forty hours, to Sendai it’s about fifteen hours, but time isn’t of
20 |RAN|
!
the essence here and that’s part of the beauty of Taiheiyo Ferry.
In a country notoriously governed by seconds and minutes,
TF gives you a chance to stretch out and cruise. Each ship has
restaurants, theatres where you can catch films and/or live
entertainment, shops, and more. The ships float remarkably
motionless over the Pacific, skimming the waves at a blistering
average top speed of 21 knots per hour, which is about 40
kilometers by hour. Again, not so fast- the accent is on the
enjoyment.
There’s also an afternoon lunch cruise around Nagoya
which takes about 3 hours and allows you to float unhurriedly
around Nagoya while everyone else is landlocked into their
grinding time schedules. This afternoon getaway is packed
with fun stuff to do, or again, just relax, get some fresh air, and
let the ship and it’s crew work for you. For entertainment you
can catch clowns, have your fortune read, play bingo and win
prizes, go to the game room, shop, eat, etc, all while floating
around Nagoya’s Ise Bay. It’s a wonderful and inexpensive way
to treat yourself.
A seriously unique experience, with Taiheiyo Ferry you can
relax on the deck, or in your spacious cabin bed and move
about the ship at your leisure. You can’t beat Taiheiyo for a
unique and fun way to see Japan. Get On Board!
For details, you can check out:
www.taiheiyo-ferry.co.jp
Starting this month, there will also be
an ENGLISH website.
 Read 文学
e o f t h e S a m u ra
The Co d
| By Adam Pasion |
T
here are safes in Las Vegas that are easier to crack into
than the world of professional manga in Japan. The
more than four hundred billion yen industry is by far
the largest in the world and yet the number of non-Japanese
creators can probably be counted on one hand, maybe even
one finger. That finger points to one busy Scotsman whose
work has been quickly taking the manga world by storm: meet
Sean Michael Wilson. Not content merely to make ripples,
Wilson has been been changing tides industry wide with
his compelling and carefully crafted stories. In the last year
alone he has released several titles around the world, all to
critical acclaim. Last month ‘The Story of Lee’ was published
by NBM Publishing, the second largest publisher of indie
comics in the world. Wilson also painstakingly edited and
compiled ‘AX Anthology,’ which he describes as “a collection
of indie/ mature manga, the kind of manga that has not been
seen much in English so far.” AX was released by Top Shelf
Productions in July and was recently selected as one of the
best books of 2010 by the prestigious ‘Publisher’s Weekly.’ “it
is the biggest and best collection yet made of alternative style
Japanese manga translated in English” claims Wilson. Critics
seem to agree.
On the steam of such brilliant publicity Sean’s next book
Hagakure was published by Kodansha International, the
largest publisher in Japan. Talk about a David and Goliath
story. While the Japanese manga machine may be quite
intimidating even to Japanese creators, Wilson’s approach was
simple: “I just went for it.” Perhaps having the courage is the
key to success and also the reason why so few non-Japanese
creators can find work in the industry. “It's a case of having
the balls to go to the publishers, and having some good ideas
to show them” says Wilson, “Actually it is not so difficult to
meet with editors at even the big Japanese publishers, just call
their offices (speaking in Japanese), and ask if you can get an
appointment. Then bring along your stuff to show them and be
22 |RAN|
i
prepared to explain it.”
The title Hagakure should be familiar to many readers-
the original book is a collection of proverbs and bushido
discourses written by former samurai Yamamoto Tsunetomo
and translated by William Scott Wilson, lauded as the foremost
expert on bushido philsophy, or as Sean Wilson jokingly refers
to him, “uncle bill.” Pop culture has also drawn heavily from
Hagakure, including Jim Jarmusch’s film Ghost Dog, in which
a mafia hitman uses the book of samurai wisdom as a model
for his life. Although the stories contained in Hagakure date
back almost 300 years, they still resonate in modern Japanese
culture today and fans around the world feel drawn to them.
“most people want to have a guide for living life,” explains
Wilson, “and Hagakure and other such samurai books...
are one strand of that. The other is its macho and dramatic
side, which attracts people, especially male students of the
martial arts.”
Hagakure has been translated and adapted many times
but throughout its various incarnations, never has it been so
relatable and yet consistent to the integrity of the original
work as Wilson’s manga version. Artist Chie Kutsuwada’s
meticulous attention to detail from the architecture of the
buildings to the clothing and hairstyles, creates a portrait of
Edo era Japan which allows readers to engage the text in a
whole new way. Even those familiar with the original will
find a fresh perspective as they are immersed in the ancient
Japanese society that the stories are rooted in.
Through interacting with these ancient texts, Wilson
himself has gained a certain new insight into Japanese culture
as well. “I often think I can see strands that still exist in the
Japanese way of life. And I need all the help I can get, because
my own culture of the Celtic parts of Britain are, I think, quite
the opposite of Japan...There is a myth that Britain and Japan
are similar, because they are both insular islands. I think that's
largely incorrect. Perhaps the upper class, white, English of
the empire period shared some similarities with the Japanese
way of behaving, but I think it never applied to the working
class, or the Celtic parts of Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland.” Nevertheless Wilson and Kutsuwada beautifully
recreate ancient Japan with remarkable accuracy. Perhaps that
is due in part to having one more heavyweight in their corner-
the original translator William Scott Wilson. In addition to
writing a very insightful afterword to the book, “he advises me
on various points of behaviour and appearance.” says Wilson.
“It was good to have his weight of reputation and insightful
comment involved. A key point is that he indicated that some
of the philosophy in Hagakure should not be taken at face
value. Like the idea of ‘the way of the samurai is found in
death’ being concerned with more than just physical death.”
For fans of manga, Japanese culture, Japanese history and
students of the martial arts, Hagakure will likely whet your
literary appetite and leave you clamoring for more. Luckily
this new year looks to be as productive as the last, with
another installment of mature manga for Top Shelf edited by
Wilson titled “Cigarette Girl” by the notable gekiga creator
Masahiko Matsumoto, as well as another book for Kodansha
called “Yakuza Moon” slated for a February release. Also on
the burner are two projects that are still in search of publishers
including an autobiographical book about Wilson’s childhood.
Wilson explains his sudden explosion by means of a popular
British saying, “you wait ages for a bus, and then three come
along at once!’ My book situation is a bit like that”

Hagakure: The Code of the Samurai

Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Kodansha International (January 3, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN: 978-4770031204

|RAN| 23
24 |RAN|
design: ELIOS NISHIWAKI
 NAGOYA
C L U B G U ID E
~~~~~ HIP HOP ~~~~~ Club Quattro
www.club-quattro.com
CREAM BAR No phone number available.
info@bar-cream.com Located in the Parco Building in Sakae.
052-261-1766
Located In Sakae. Diamond Hall
Open until 6am. www.diamond-hall.com
052-265-2665
The Underground Located between Hirokoji Dori and Sakae.
www.underground.co.jp/index.html
The Underground is actually a three-club conglomeration Heartland
located on three floors in Toshincho. www.theheartlandstudio.co.jp
Lush/052-242-1388 No number available.
Cypher/052-264-9603 Located underneath The former Hard Rock Café
SoulGround/052-241-7366
Huck Finn
STEPS www.huckfinn.co.jp
www.steps-nagoya.net/info/1.html 052-733-8347
052-242-7544 Located on Imaike’s backstreets.
Located in Sakae.
Open until 6am, 7 nights a week. The Bottom Line
www.bottomline.co.jp
ID Café 052-741-1620
www.idcafe.info Legendary big hall in Imaike.
052-251-0382
Located in Sakae.

~ HOUSE/DANCE/ELECTRO ~
ABIME 2030
www.abime.info
052-951-4155 Mago
Large modern space near Sunshine Sakae. info@club-mago.co.jp
052-243-1818
Club Shelter Located in Shinsakae.
www.club-shelter.com
052-242-8030 About
Off in the cut behind the Chunichi Building. www.club-about.com
3rd floor, same building as Arena. 052-243-5077
Located in Toshincho.
Ozon/Spiral
www.ozon.jp.com Emporium
Located in Sakae near Wakamiya Park. www.theemporium.jp
Upstairs, Spiral 052-262-7027
Downstairs, OZON Located in Sakae.

PLUS PARK Club JB’s

www.plus-park.com www.club-jbs.jp
052-261-1173 052-241-2234
Located in Sakae. Located in the Toshincho club cluster
Open late.
Domina
info@cafe-domina.com
052 264 3134
~~~~~~ Rock ~~~~~~ Right around the corner from JB’s.

Electric Ladyland Plastic Factory

ell@ell.co.jp ww.plasticfactory.jp
052-201-5004 090-2346-1682
Located in Osu. Located on the backstreets of Imaike.