Archaeology in Japan

     Today I was out on my morning jog when I went past the JA (Japan Agriculture) building.  Across the street are fields and within one of them were these holes.



Now my first thought was "holy cow, look at the gophers!", but then I noticed how regularly the topsoil was removed.  I have seen this before in Japan, only at the time the holes were filled with Archaeologists (I know what you are thinking, they were alive and mostly women to boot).  When I approached them then, I was informed that because Japan has such a long history, every construction project that is going to disturb the stratigraphy must have a dig performed in order to make sure that nothing important is destroyed.  Seems a bit much, but I can see the point and support the science.  So it seems that the first dig I found was active and real artifacts were being found, while I do not know if anything was discovered here.
     You gotta love a country that can keep their archaeologists busy.  In the States, they just wander around and get into your garbage, kind of like degreed raccoons. . .

Little Things

     Little things can make a big difference.  Japan is profoundly different in many ways from the US, but there are many aspects of Japanese society that are the same.  Gossip still reigns supreme among neighbors, litter still dots the landscape, and politicians lie.  But I find the slight differences to be humorous in the extreme.  Take my work shoes in the photo.  They are comfortable and stylish, if a little dirty here.
   












     I really enjoy wearing them and they certainly serve their purpose well.  The only issue is in the brand name of the shoes.  I know Shakespeare's opinion: "What's in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet;" , and I agree with Juliet, names should only be important when communicating with others.  But there is a hitch in this philosophy, when the names become downright funny.

     As you can see I have reason to laugh each time I put these on.  I even find myself occasionally chuckling as I walk along , remembering the shoes I wear. . .

Japanese Landscapes

     Several days ago I was jogging around the area where we live in my usual pattern.  My usual pattern involves striking out in a randomly chosen direction and finding a way to get lost.  I do this so that I can learn the roads and landscapes of Nagareyama.  I am finding that I can go farther and farther as I become more and more fit and my success rate at finding my way back is still 100%.  This day I was listening to my Ipod and as I turned a corner, saw some striking flowers up on an embankment that seemed to capture the Japanese approach to landscaping.

     As you can see the hill is quite steep, and there is a retaining wall completely down the left side of the road.  There are drainage pipes from behind the wall in order to mitigate the chance of a landslide, and the gutter is of a common type here in japan, though they are usually covered and not open like this one.  The walls around the houses are common around here as well, you can see them on the right.
     It seems to me that the owner of the parcel on top of the hill purposefully planted those flowers there so that people would enjoy them from the road below.  Very nice. . .

Japanese Phoneme Problem

     Phoneme - a sound used by a language that can be utilized to make words.  Different languages use various phonemes and leave others out.  Japanese does not have a phoneme for an "L" or an "R", but combines them together into a liquid sound that is kind of hard for American english speakers to make (I actually took several years to learn how to speak Ryoko's name properly and I still have to concentrate on it).  This is often the cause of jokes directed at Japanese individuals who attempt to speak English, which I find particularly annoying.  "Rice" becomes "Lice", and you can imagine what "Broccoli" and "Celery" come out as.
     I have found many instances of this mispronunciation while in Japan and thought you would like to see one of the more recent examples.

     While I find the humor around the spoken mistake to be annoying, a printed error is just downright funny.  The company that produced this product had ample time to investigate the proper spelling, and their lack of follow through is humorous.
     This product apparently is a bag made with Calcium Carbonate.  It should react with environmental acids and do two things, break down and neutralize the acid.  A very good idea with not so good advertising. . .

     One more thing, since so few people have commented on my posts, I erroneously assumed that few people were viewing it. But I have gotten feedback that more postings would be appreciated.  With that in mind I would ask that readers post a short comment so that I can have an idea of just how many there are of you.  Thanks.