jgraves

Several years ago, I visited a shrine built into the wall of a river ravine with some Japanese and western friends. Two of the westerners in our group thought it would be fun to go cliff jumping there. I'm sure they had fun, but our Japanese friends (not to mention the other Japanese at the shrine) although they smiled, were quite angered and embarrased by the whole thing, and told me so after the two had left. My Japanese friends were 2 young, cool, open-minded, not particularly religious Japanese guys--imagine what the older, more conservative, religious Japanese there thought. I'm t

C'mon, where's your sense of adventure, dumbstick? I'll give you hint: smbd. I just can't believe it is shelved in the drama section of my video store. Even if you don't understand Japanese, if you can muddle through the first 20 mins of "plot" (or fast forward through it), then language becomes irrelevant. Its, shall we say, an "art flick." I'm sure it doesn't compare to Snakes on a Plane, but then again, what could?

Results are sent out mid-August. I don't know how it used to be, but now, only those scoring level 1 and 1+ are given the interview part 6 mo's later. December, maybe. Would've preferred to take the JLPT, but it was all a question of timing.

I enjoyed the read, and have thought about skiing Fuji myself, but what has stopped me is the fact that many Japanese consider Fuji to be a holy place, home to kami. Some even consider the mountain itself a kami. Quite a large percentage of "hikers" are not hikers at all, but pilgrims on pilgrimage. I'm all for a good ski adventure, but not a few Japanese would be unforgivingly displeased at the very thought of boarding/skiing Fuji. I like rock climbing too, but I wouldn't boulder on the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Even if nobody saw me or tried to stop me at either, my respect for t

They sure say "samurai blue" a lot. And Japanese economic newspapers almost always have "samurai saiken" in paraentheses after the regular term for it ("en tate gaisai") Perhaps they should go with the bobby12 blue? Much less purple-y.

Movie. Not for the morally upright, weak of stomach, or pure of heart, though. They even made a sequel.

Just saw "hana to hebi" on video the other night. "Wow" is the only word that comes to mind. Anyone else seen it? Thoughts?

Just took the JETRO business Japanese test yesterday. Thought it was as much a test of gaman (2.5 hours with no food, drink, or bathroom breaks) and concentration than it was of Japanese, though.

Do you (honestly) carve your turns? If not, comfort is your only consideration. Buy the most comfortable cheap boot you can find and spend the money you saved on some lessons and more days out on the slope until you can. If yes, and you go more than ten days a season, definitely invest the extra 20,000 yen in custom-fitted heat-molded inners for vastly improved comfort and performance. With molded inners, the make/model of boot shells themselves comes down to skiing style (as daver said), which is primarily a question of what stiffness and lean you need and want. The rest is ju

I remember hearing it at the last world cup as well. Think the "samurai" thing is just slang for "Japanese" isn't it? There are "samurai bonds" which are normal bonds, just yen-denominated, etc etc.

Be sure to camp in the middle of rice paddies. You may wake up to home-made onigiri from the local baa-chans as I did on my trek.

I went back for more bicyclist bashing again today. First try: 1255.8! I take great satisfaction knowing I beat you ALL at this game. Such skill!! YESSSSSSSSsssssssss. Just try to knock me off my pedestal, I dare you all! Bring it! I'm retiring my bat while I'm ahead.

871.5 I love the fact that it measures to the centimeter. Great find BOC.

O.K. Point taken. But I still believe companies, like people, should be considered innocent until proven guilty.

Since I own some NorthFace gear (and like it), I got curious and did some checking. Doesn't appear (at least to me, anyway) that North Face is the devil it once was. Looks like Northface had some issues with several garment-workers unions in California in the 1980's, and hasn't gotten off their $hit list since. In 1999, SanFrancisco DOL levied a fine against a subcontractor used by NF. That subcontractor made some of its workers do some work at home, apparently unpaid, and that company--not NF--was forced to pay reparations to the workers. Too many problems in America, so NF

I've spent years building up that extra layer of insulating crust. And you want me to wash it away?

Yeah, I've found Patagonia slighty more expensive, but their expedition-weight polypro underwear has turned out to be worth their weight in gold. Going on eight seasons (most of which were 40+ days) of skiing in em (not to mention other hiking and camping expeditions) and they still keep me toasty even on the coldest days. Tohoku and Bum give em two thumbs up

If memory serves, there is both a three-resort pass and a seven-resort pass. There was some wierd condition on them, like you had to purchase them through a hotel at which you stay or something.

. . . and one of grungy-gonads' Pavlovian responses.

Metal edges on your skiis or board. Some people grind to less than right angles for better bite on ice. Absolutely no need on anything but the bluest of icy runs or salted race courses.

Echineko, I was waiting for another of your classic echi comments when I saw you posted on a thread about moguls.

Great point Toque! Still trying to get that crappy Ayumi Hamasaki song out of my head now months after Torino. But, I want Japan to win. Soccer-crazed brother-in-law's going to Germany and I want him to be able to root for his home team after all the time and effort he's put into this trip. (plus, I wanted an excuse to use the phrase "root for the home team" for all you Aussies out there)

cb, last incident was in January. Serviceman beat a Japanese women to a pulp and stole the cash in her wallet from her, leaving her to die from internal bleeding. The serviceman is being tried BY THE JAPANESE for murder (a first--because of past incidents, the American military no longer enjoy extra-territoriality). These programs started appearing recently in response to (and to try to rally support against) America's proposed re-structuring of its Japan-based military. I've forgotten all the details, but the US asked japan (and japan agreed) to pay something like 30 tillion yen

Does anyone on this list have access to actual numbers for revenues of the ski resorts themselves before/after the olympics?