American Gangster, Water Horse on screens Friday

Denzel Washington gets to play a bad guy in the Ridley Scott directed American Gangster (trailer below) and, one for the kids, Water Horse: Legend Of The Deep both get a Friday night release.

www.gethiroshima.com/Cinema

GH Facebook group reaches 100

Thanks to the Facebookers who took the GetHiroshima group to over 100. I don't know if it was in response to the Classified as I posted, but the group now stands at 103. This means that even if we don't count Joy and I, we still over the "magic" ton. Of course, we are more than happy to have more people join, so feel free and join here.

If you have any ways you'd like the group to be used feel free to post them in the comments below or on the group page.

Oops!

Adam just mailed me to say I screwed up a bunch of the links in the Blogging From Hiroshima list. They are now fixed. Thousand apologies!

Setsubun is coming

It may be freezing, but spring is apparently on the way! Read more about setsubun in Hiroshima here.

Hiroshima blog list

Just updated the piece Adam Beck kindly put together on local local English language blogs. Click here to see the blog list and add the ones you like in your RSS reader.

There seems to have been a recent upsurge in Japan based English language blogs, and it would be nice to promote and support own own little niche within the niche.

It's commenting that really keeps bloggers motivated, so please take the time to comment on, as well as share, posts that catch your interest. You can start by letting us know if anyone would be interested in a similar list of local Japanese blogs (-:

Nick Ramsey, of the blog Long Countdown, has created the Digg-like JapanSoc service where Japan bloggers can share and rate posts. It's just one place bloggers and their readers can get the word out about their favorite blogs and posts.

Standing Cayman at Miyajima Aquarium

Japan Probe have posted a news clip featuring an "incredible" dwarf cayman named Daigoro that stands on two legs at Miyajima Aquarium.

Standing-up
Uploaded by jpnvideos

Japan to adopt new register system for foreigners

From the Mainichi News site

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and the Ministry of Justice have decided to abolish the Alien Registration Act's system of residence administration, and adopt a register system similar to the basic resident register system for Japanese, it has been learned.

Both ministries plan to establish a framework plan for the new system by the end of March, and submit related bills to regular Diet sessions next year.

Ministry officials said that registration certificates, which are issued by local bodies and which foreigners are required to carry at all times, will be abolished, and the Immigration Bureau will issue resident cards to mid- and long-term foreign residents containing their names, addresses and photographs. The cards will be handed to newly arriving foreigners at airports and to residents at local immigration offices. Local bodies that are shown the cards will record the relevant information in new registers.

Registration administration for non-Japanese is currently carried out separately for each foreigner rather than by household. Under the register system, the idea of classing foreigners by household in the same way as Japanese and reflecting this in notification of change of address, births, deaths, marriages and other details is being considered. Officials say this will prevent people from being left out of national health insurance, nursing insurance and child welfare benefit systems.

The most significant feature of the register system is that foreigners living in Japan would go from a state of simply being administered to being regarded as "residents," thereby making it easier for them receive administrative services.

Read the full article in English here and in the original Japanese here

There's plenty of debate going on at Japan Today as to what the new system may end up looking like as well as what the ulterior motives of the government may be.

Hiroshima City to reconsider crushing children's baseball dreams

One of the cool things about Shimin Kyujyo Baseball Stadium is that it has not only been the home of the Hiroshima Carp for the last half century, but also provided inspiration to countless numbers of kids who've played little league and softball on the same field as their red helmeted heroes. It's also little known that ordinary citizens can rent out the stadium for ridiculously low prices.

The city has made much of the fact that the new stadium, set to open in spring next year, will be state of the art with lots of beautiful grass - the only dirt sections of the field being the pitchers mound and around the bases. Kids play on a smaller field, however, and the bases would have to be moved onto the grass to accommodate them. To avoid the lovely green getting messed up by running, sliding little tikes, the city said "NO" to kids' games.

In response to accusations that this will rob kids of their dreams, the city has said it will take another look at the issue. It plans to make an announcement before March.

Bridge to Terabithia, Bee Movie, The Hills Have Eyes and big haired modern day samurai

Live action (and not dubbed) fantasy adventure film for the kids Bridge to Terabithia (trailer above) opens today as does Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie. Wes Craven's '70s horror flick The Hills Have Eyes gets reworked and, in Japanese, lots of big hair in Sakigake! Otoko juku [BE A MAN! SAMURAI SCHOOL!] (trailer below).

MUGEN Renewed

The staff of Nagarekawa club space MUGEN Gorudo have been working through the night to give the 2nd floor place a face lift, adding a touch of elegance with chandeliers. They are racing against time to finish, but plan to be open at 10pm tonight to show off their work.

On decks will be the full SleepyEye line up, SKM and guests. From the line up it looks like the music will be mostly drum and bass, but the SleepyEye boys are likely to mix it up a bit.

There's a ¥1000 cover which includes 2 drinks, so you can really lose.

Last call for falafel!

I heard a rumor the other day that rocked my pseudo vegetarian world. I went to check it out, and, to my dismay, found that Churi is indeed closing down next month.

I'm always somewhat in awe of the people who run or work in late night businesses; going to the same tiny place, night after night, year after year. Especially when they have small children at home. So, after 5 years of providing a tasty veggie friendly alternative to an alcohol soaking bowl of ramen, I certainly don't begrudge the Churi crew's desire for a normal life, but they will be sorely missed.

Churi's final day of business is February 26, so if you need a falafel fix, get down there before then.

Demon Barbers, absurd and romatic comedies, unbridled Orientalism, bridled pin-ups and zombies

Something for everyone at the cinema this week?

• Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
  
  
• Blades Of Glory
  
  
• Mr Bean's Holiday
  
  
• Waitress
  
  
• Silk
  
  
  
  
• The Notorious Bettie Page
  
  
  
  
• 28 Weeks Later
  

Vagina Monologues

If you are interested in helping out with a local production of Eve Ensla's Vagina Monolgues in March check out the blog or the Facebook group.

Vagina Monolgues Wikipedia Entry

Hiroshima Carp make their annual shrine visit to wish for success

Yesterday, the owner, manager and 54 other members of the Hiroshima Carp organization, made their annual visit to Gokoku Shrine to wish for success in the coming 2008 pro baseball season. This season will be last in the 50 year old Shimin Kyujyo Baseball Stadium, and they would surely love to move to the new ball park with its first championship in over 2 decades, or at least it's first pennant since 1991.

Continuing with the baseball theme, the all the 2008 season games are now up at www.gethiroshima.com/Events. The entries are short on details, but Carp fans can mark the days on their calendars, and we will add start times etc when we get them.

Edo style swimming display in the icy cold Motoyasu River

A few years ago while out on a winter stroll we stumbled upon a bunch of senior citizens swimming in the freezing water in front of the A-bomb Dome before a small crowd. Over the holiday, I was wondering just when this event is held and what it's all about.

Turns out it was yesterday (I guess it is held on Coming of Age Day). You can see a short video on the Chugoku Shimbun website here. Yesterday's event was the 60th year that the Shindenryu Hiroshima Yuuei Doushikai (神伝流広島游泳同志会) which keeps one of Japan's 12 traditional swimming styles which apparently date back 400 years to the Edo period.

According to the 1935 Swimming In Japan

The development of swimming in Japan dates from ancient times. When Izanagi - no-
Mikoto bathed in water... From the time of the Gods through the Ancient Times swimming was as natural to the Japanese as walking, because Japan is surrounded by sea, and in all quarters, there are many rivers, streams, lakes, and
swamps. Later swimming became a kind of military art, as a means for developing the body and soul and it was also used in time of battle, in river and sea. Even among the peoples, swimming was respected and studied.

As the result of the encouragement given to the study of swimming by the various feudal clans during the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1867), swimming as a military art developed. The development of the various schools of military arts swimming was due to the conditions and situations of the rivers, seas, and lakes of the country. In accordance with the topographical differences in various parts of the country, there developed these schools of different types of swimming.

The book explains that the Shinden school is for swimming long distances with the prevailing current, minimizing effort expended by staying afloat using variations on the scissor kick.

Yesterday, 45 swimmers between the ages of 8 and 69 years old braved the 6ºC water and some members of the group demonstrated 20 traditional swimming styles - not sure where the parasols fit in, but I hope I can go and give them some encouragement while clutching a hot can of coffee, next year.

Links

• Video
  
• You can read more about the Hiroshima group (in Japanese) and get contact details if you want to check out their practice sessions at Green Arena here
  
• Swimming In Japan (links to PDF files)
  
• More information on suijutsu here

Photo © Chugoku Shimbun

The Third Party: a novel set in Hiroshima

Japan Times online has a piece on a novel by Glenn Patterson set in Hiroshima. In The Third Party two men from Belfast meet in a hotel lobby, but according to the synopsis on Amazon UK

...this is no ordinary city. This is Hiroshima. The businessman has a murky past. And who is the mysterious Ike, a fellow traveler from Belfast, who just happens to be in Japan to give a reading from his new book at the university on the edge of town? Played out in a city where frantic consumerism exists alongside the dark eternal shadow of the bomb, "The Third Party" is a knowing and powerful exploration of death, guilt and the legacies of war.

Amazon.co.uk link

Sanfrecce Hiroshima football chants

YouTube user LOVEBA has uploaded a bunch of videos introducing football songs favored by Sanfrecce supporters.

The words are mostly written in katakana so they might be a good study resource for footie loving Japan newbies in their quest to get to grips with menus and magazine covers.

Here are lines from the one below

Orera no Hiroshima shouri o mezashi hashire
Orera mo Hiroshima tomo ni tatakao
Laa la la la laa tachiagari uta o utai
Laa la la la laa shouri o yobikomou

or my favorite

O o oooo
Ooooo ooooo o o
O o o o o
O o o o o
O o Hiroshima!

Over 300 hit be food poisoning from bento lunches

According to Chugoku Shimbun over 300 people have gone down with food poisoning after eating bento boxed lunches delivered to their workplaces by Kiraku Bento ((有)喜楽弁当) in Minami-ku. The company delivers bento to 350 laces around the city to about 2000 workers a day. The paper adds at the end, no one has been affected seriously enough to be hospitalized.

How were your hols?

Originally uploaded by kimshi

That's assuming you had a holiday. It seems like the New Year holiday is getting shorter and shorter every year. I remember that only a few years ago just about everything completely shut down for at least 3 days. Now, New Year seems to be becoming one more business opportunity with many big stores only closed for a day.

Anyway, enough bah humbug. GH had a very chilled (in many meanings of that word) break and are feeling nice and refreshed. My highlights were finally seeming the Chinkasai Festival on Miyajima and a great hike up Matsukasa-yama in Hesaka which we plan to share soon.

How about you? Any New Year's stories?

Chinkasai Fire Festival

I finally made it to the Chinkasai Fire Festival on Miyajima on New Year's Eve, and it was well worth braving the snow to do so. Very well organized chaos is the best way I can think of describing it - but click the video below to take a look for yourself.

Sanfrecce go down in Emperor's Cup final 2-0

Sanfrecce were unable to take consolation in an Emperor's Cup victory against Kashima Antlers in Tokyo today. It would have been quite something to have taken Kashima who clincjed the league and cup double. Sanfreece will no doubt now be focusing on the task of getting back in the top J1 division next year.

Hatsuhinode: in case you missed it

Courtesy of henaji2551

Happy New Year !!

All the best from GH for 2008.