The NPO Forum
A very quick update on the NPO forum which has just finished.
We`ve had a good three days with Japanese delegates joining us for this forum. As usual the workshops have been the best bit even though these have been the only bit without simultaneous translation, ie. we had to wait while things are translated. But English seems to be the dominant language as some Japanese speak quite good English. Workshops were very short though compared to lectures and plenaries which seem to be the local more formal way of doing things.
The Japanese participants have mostly been younger and less experienced than those of us from other delegations, I am actually to the younger end of our delegation and would probably be younger than all of the yanks and Swedes. So the forum has been more beneficial for them than us but we`ve had an interesting learning experience too.
Friday
After some introductory sessions and lectures we had a welcome dinner with some country items. I did a Steve Irwin impression which only the American`s understood, the Swedes didn't know him and the Japanese thought I was Crocodile Dundee, then we all sang Walzing Matilda.
Friday night was excursions in different directions. Our group went to Shibuya, supposed favourite youth hang out in Tokyo. Heaps of people and the size of Shibuya `city` was amazing. One street doesn't look all that different to a Melbourne city street, but there is just street after street after street of shops, clubs, pubs etc. Quite an amazing atmosphere really.
The most interesting stop was an Anime store. For those who may not know Anime (cartoons and comics) is extremely popular in Japan, it is completely normal for adults to read comic books - cool hey! So this was the biggest comic book store I've ever seen, bigger than most of book shops, and comic books come in some quite thick sizes. There are also a range of associated toy figures available. But if that sounds weird listen to this. Right in the middle of the store with no attempt to hide it whatsoever is an isle of pornographic Anime. Quite graphic stuff really, with all parts of the female body shown clearly on the front cover of various books. I of course made a completely scientific sociological study of this element of foreign culture.
Another stop was the 100Yen store ($2 shop) - four story's of it with everything you could want from a local supermarket.
Saturday
The day was mostly lectures and workshops as above but after dinner we had a cultural exchange evening with various elements of Japanese culture on display including:
- Ikedo (not sure of spelling) a Japanese self defense martial art.
- Sake (pronounced Sakae) - Japanese alcohol made from rice ) tasting - yum yum.
- Kimono wearing - for both girls and boys.
- Traditional Japanese toys - great fun,
- Origami, and
- Writing your name in Japanese script - James is actually quite difficult.
Sunday has been mostly workshops until mid-afternoon but it was 15 degrees and fine. I felt like sunbathing! We also got a great view of Fuji Yama (Mt Fuji) and are trying to plan a trip there on our last day.
The forum was all finished by 4pm though so we had some free time for sight seeing and a couple of the locals, Soari and a guy whose name I can't remember, showed us around some more of Shibuya. Firstly we walked through Yoyogi Park, the biggest public park in Tokyo. It's about the same size as the palaces so a couple of times the size of the Alexandra Gardens. There was a large tent city (or tent village really) of homeless people living in tents or just sets of tarps put together for shelter. Homelessness is a growing issue in Japan but is ignored by the media and denied by most Japanese. In the middle of the park we saw some circus performers and a group of people playing drums - some great rhythms and a few people boogy-ing away. All just people hanging out and having fun on Sunday afternoon, not a side of Japan we've seen a lot of. On the other side of the park we walked past a group of skateboarders including a very serious looking 7 year old? Then we found a group of Elvis impersonators dancing along to music playing on their portable CD player - a real hoot. In a small sort of courtyard between the park the railway station and the main street were a group of young people dressed up as dolls or Anime characters and I mean fully dressed up and in character - theater style! They were just finishing up and taking photos of and with each other so I'm not sure what the main event was, I don't think there's any sort of performance but Saori said it's an important thing for young people establishing their identity to explore other identities - fascinating!
We then headed on down to the shops and found the Oriental Bazaar a traditional Japanese shop apparently well known by tourists. It's Japanese style architecture certainly stood out from the surrounding western style shops and it's products were clearly in keeping with a more traditional Japanese style. We were told though that this is a traditional Japanese store for tourists and you could find more authentic Japanese Shops elsewhere. We had a great time looking around though (even me!) although the prices certainly catered to the more upmarket tourist. I did buy some traditional Japanese wooden Sake cups though (which I plan to use for shot glasses) 4 for about A$20 - not bad. It was certainly good to have some local knowledge in the store so that we didn't get ripped of by some of the more touristy items.
For dinner a few of us decided it was time we needed some Western food and went out for Pizza. Some went back for a quiet night at the hotel, I did some washing and then joined some of the Swedes for drinks at a local bar. The memorable thing about that was that the bar was located off the main road in some narrow windy back streets. This didn't seem to slow down the drivers though so on every corner (and there were many) there was a traffic cop with one of those lit up batons to direct any passing traffic. Not enough traffic for traffic lights, no room for roundabouts but instead of a giveway sign just a cop of every corner! So that's how they have full employment! They've also got what must be the best infrastructure in the world and 6% income tax but after ten years of recession and a badly aging population (30 years ahead of ours) standards of living are dropping and they complain of the government being poor. It's all relative obviously.
Anyway, that was the end of another full day, I'm sleeping like a log I tell you.
James
We`ve had a good three days with Japanese delegates joining us for this forum. As usual the workshops have been the best bit even though these have been the only bit without simultaneous translation, ie. we had to wait while things are translated. But English seems to be the dominant language as some Japanese speak quite good English. Workshops were very short though compared to lectures and plenaries which seem to be the local more formal way of doing things.
The Japanese participants have mostly been younger and less experienced than those of us from other delegations, I am actually to the younger end of our delegation and would probably be younger than all of the yanks and Swedes. So the forum has been more beneficial for them than us but we`ve had an interesting learning experience too.
Friday
After some introductory sessions and lectures we had a welcome dinner with some country items. I did a Steve Irwin impression which only the American`s understood, the Swedes didn't know him and the Japanese thought I was Crocodile Dundee, then we all sang Walzing Matilda.
Friday night was excursions in different directions. Our group went to Shibuya, supposed favourite youth hang out in Tokyo. Heaps of people and the size of Shibuya `city` was amazing. One street doesn't look all that different to a Melbourne city street, but there is just street after street after street of shops, clubs, pubs etc. Quite an amazing atmosphere really.
The most interesting stop was an Anime store. For those who may not know Anime (cartoons and comics) is extremely popular in Japan, it is completely normal for adults to read comic books - cool hey! So this was the biggest comic book store I've ever seen, bigger than most of book shops, and comic books come in some quite thick sizes. There are also a range of associated toy figures available. But if that sounds weird listen to this. Right in the middle of the store with no attempt to hide it whatsoever is an isle of pornographic Anime. Quite graphic stuff really, with all parts of the female body shown clearly on the front cover of various books. I of course made a completely scientific sociological study of this element of foreign culture.
Another stop was the 100Yen store ($2 shop) - four story's of it with everything you could want from a local supermarket.
Saturday
The day was mostly lectures and workshops as above but after dinner we had a cultural exchange evening with various elements of Japanese culture on display including:
- Ikedo (not sure of spelling) a Japanese self defense martial art.
- Sake (pronounced Sakae) - Japanese alcohol made from rice ) tasting - yum yum.
- Kimono wearing - for both girls and boys.
- Traditional Japanese toys - great fun,
- Origami, and
- Writing your name in Japanese script - James is actually quite difficult.
Sunday has been mostly workshops until mid-afternoon but it was 15 degrees and fine. I felt like sunbathing! We also got a great view of Fuji Yama (Mt Fuji) and are trying to plan a trip there on our last day.
The forum was all finished by 4pm though so we had some free time for sight seeing and a couple of the locals, Soari and a guy whose name I can't remember, showed us around some more of Shibuya. Firstly we walked through Yoyogi Park, the biggest public park in Tokyo. It's about the same size as the palaces so a couple of times the size of the Alexandra Gardens. There was a large tent city (or tent village really) of homeless people living in tents or just sets of tarps put together for shelter. Homelessness is a growing issue in Japan but is ignored by the media and denied by most Japanese. In the middle of the park we saw some circus performers and a group of people playing drums - some great rhythms and a few people boogy-ing away. All just people hanging out and having fun on Sunday afternoon, not a side of Japan we've seen a lot of. On the other side of the park we walked past a group of skateboarders including a very serious looking 7 year old? Then we found a group of Elvis impersonators dancing along to music playing on their portable CD player - a real hoot. In a small sort of courtyard between the park the railway station and the main street were a group of young people dressed up as dolls or Anime characters and I mean fully dressed up and in character - theater style! They were just finishing up and taking photos of and with each other so I'm not sure what the main event was, I don't think there's any sort of performance but Saori said it's an important thing for young people establishing their identity to explore other identities - fascinating!
We then headed on down to the shops and found the Oriental Bazaar a traditional Japanese shop apparently well known by tourists. It's Japanese style architecture certainly stood out from the surrounding western style shops and it's products were clearly in keeping with a more traditional Japanese style. We were told though that this is a traditional Japanese store for tourists and you could find more authentic Japanese Shops elsewhere. We had a great time looking around though (even me!) although the prices certainly catered to the more upmarket tourist. I did buy some traditional Japanese wooden Sake cups though (which I plan to use for shot glasses) 4 for about A$20 - not bad. It was certainly good to have some local knowledge in the store so that we didn't get ripped of by some of the more touristy items.
For dinner a few of us decided it was time we needed some Western food and went out for Pizza. Some went back for a quiet night at the hotel, I did some washing and then joined some of the Swedes for drinks at a local bar. The memorable thing about that was that the bar was located off the main road in some narrow windy back streets. This didn't seem to slow down the drivers though so on every corner (and there were many) there was a traffic cop with one of those lit up batons to direct any passing traffic. Not enough traffic for traffic lights, no room for roundabouts but instead of a giveway sign just a cop of every corner! So that's how they have full employment! They've also got what must be the best infrastructure in the world and 6% income tax but after ten years of recession and a badly aging population (30 years ahead of ours) standards of living are dropping and they complain of the government being poor. It's all relative obviously.
Anyway, that was the end of another full day, I'm sleeping like a log I tell you.
James
posted by James Tonson | 5:52 pm
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