Pikatto

Two tires fly. Two wail.

A bamboo grove, all chopped down

From it, warring songs. (Continued)

This is a haiku taken from Matsuo Basho’s travelogue, A narrow Road to a far Province or Oku no Hosomichi in Japanese. Basho is one of Japan’s most famous poets and it was he who helped to make the haiku what it is today. I highly recommend this book. It is excellent reading, whether you want something light or something you can chew on.

In this hush profound,

Into the very rocks it seeps -

The cicada sound.

Here’s a haiku by the master poet, Matsuo Basho. I thought this one was fitting, since a Japanese friend told me that she had a cherry blossom viewing last weekend.

All hundred thousand

homes in Kyoto empty -

cherry blossom time.

Funerals in Japan are far different affairs than funerals in the West. They are much more formal and follow a somewhat rigid ceremony with many rules and details. The Japanese funeral is actually three separate events, the tsuya or wake, the kokubetsushiki or funeral service, and the kasou or cremation of the deceased. Last spring I experienced the kokubetsushiki and the kasou portions of a Japanese funeral. I was able to learn many things from listening and observing carefully, and asking many questions. Here is an account of the funeral service and the cremation of the deceased as I experienced it. While many of the customs regarding the funeral ceremony are similar many customs vary widely. It is important to bear in mind that Buddhism in Japan is composed of many different sects. The sect of Buddhism practiced by the deceased and her family has great bearing on the final arrangements. Other factors that may affect the funeral customs are the region in which the funeral takes place, the age at which the deceased passed away, social status and the family’s economic status. The funeral I attended was located in Kyushu. I would describe the family’s economic and social standing as middle class. The family religion was Jodo Shu or Pure Land sect of Buddhism. With these details in mind, here is an account of a Japanese funeral as seen through foreign eyes. (Continued)

I just started reading Underground by Haruki Murakami. Murakami is well known for his novels and short stories of fiction, and I have read several of his novels and short stories that I really enjoyed. This is his first work of nonfiction that I’ve read.

Underground is far different than any of his previous books. It is about the 1995 Tokyo gas attack.

On Monday, March 20, 1995 five members of the religous cult Aum Shinrikyo conducted a terrorist attack on the Tokyo subway system using sarin nerve gas.

Underground deals with the attack by examining it through the Japanese pysche. Not only does it shed light on the attacks itself, but it also gives an interesting perspective of the Japanese pysche and the Japanese way of going through life.

So far it has been an excellent read and I would highly recommend it.

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson is without a doubt one of my favourite books. The only bad thing about reading it is that there are so many hilarious passages that I am dying to tell somebody about, so that we can both laugh until our sides hurt. Case in point,’ “This whole continent is like fucking Disneyland without the safety precautions,” Randy observes.’ Not only is this passage absolutely hilarious, it is dead on in so many ways. If you haven’t read it, read it. You won’t regret it.