Friday, December 26, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Two X'mas Eves
Exactly one year ago from today, I was in Yoyogi (Shibuya, Tokyo) to enjoy Chage & Aska's last concert in a series called "alive in live". At that time I had no idea this dog would become such a big part of my life.
The band's stage crew trucks.
Yoyogi National Gymnasium, an hour or so before the concert. This arena, which I heard is the largest in Japan, was completely filled by the time the concert started.
Walking toward Shibuya Station after the concert.
Two of my favorite songs.
The band's stage crew trucks.
Yoyogi National Gymnasium, an hour or so before the concert. This arena, which I heard is the largest in Japan, was completely filled by the time the concert started.
Walking toward Shibuya Station after the concert.
Two of my favorite songs.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Shiro Doggie Haiku
Beloved dog Shiro
You too are getting too cute
My autumn heartaches
In the middle of the night I felt Shiro breathing comfortably next to my body. It will soon be eight months since this little dog first ran through our home like a hurricane, making me wonder if he would ever calm down.
My husband and I thought we were never going to have another dog after our previous dog Saburo passed away during last Thanksgiving. Even the exciting trip to see the winter cranes in Hokkaido couldn’t erase the lingering sadness. It was Shiro that swept it away with his restless playfulness.
It will soon be another Thanksgiving, the first with this little boy.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Haiku Snow
"Haiku Snow" is the blogspot of Claribel Cone and Mike Heffner. As Viking Dog Press and Star Map Productions, they publish a variety of haiku, artworks, and other fascinating things.
As a tribute to the Tancho cranes, they published a broadside for me. Please have a look at this LINK.
As a tribute to the Tancho cranes, they published a broadside for me. Please have a look at this LINK.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
What does "Tsuru no Kaze" Mean?
Answer: The wind of cranes. "Kaze" can mean either a wind or cold. How do we know which is meant? First, Japanese people use the context. Then they look at the kanji character being used.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Haiku with Music
Thanks to my talented friend Hisao-san, who is also a fan of Tancho cranes, I have another beautiful video to show you on the left. He combined my haiku presented below with a few of my pictures and enhanced it with his pictures and choice of music.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Haiku
I hope you enjoy the following three haiku I wrote about the cranes, and then another haiku by someone. The general haiku form is 5-7-5 syllables. I have provided a brief translation next to each line of my haiku and more explanation under each haiku.
北海道 Hokkaido ([In] the Northernmost island of Japan)
丹頂の里は Tancho no sato wa (the home of the Tancho cranes)
何処やら Izuko yara (is where?)
For my Japan trip, I held the map of Hakkaido many times. It is a big square island slightly rotated. Kushiro, in the southeast, is the home of Tancho cranes.
初夢か Hatsuyume ka (Was that a New Year Day's dream)
丹頂を愛でる Tancho wo mederu (to admire the Tancho cranes)
里帰り Satogaeri (returning to my birthplace?)
"Hatsuyume" means first dream. It refers to the dream people have on New Year's Day or the 2nd of January. Japanese often discuss what they dreamed about and what it might mean. Certain dreams are considered auspicious. Returning to Japan and admiring the cranes on New Year's Day was a dream-like experience. That might have been my "hatsuyume."
寒かろう Samukarou (It must be cold.)
鶴に引かれる Tsuru ni hikareru (Pulled by the cranes)
後ろ髪 Ushirogami (is my back hair.)
This haiku expresses my concern for the cranes. A while ago, a friend reported that Japan has gotten much colder and that Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido, was minus 30 degrees C (not F). I worried about the cranes in Kushiro. "Ushirogami" (my back hair) comes from the expression "ushirogami wo hikareru" meaning "feel as if one's heart were left behind" or "find it hard to tear oneself away from someone or something." I've had this feeling since I returned to the U.S. It's as if my long hair has been pulled from behind by the cranes.
Now, here is the haiku someone shared.
Kushiro in white winter
The great cranes' cries
Like ice breaking
© Don Skiles
When I read this haiku, I hear the cranes' voices through the frozen air, echoing the creaky sound of slowly breaking ice. This haiku adds an auditory dimension to my haiku, which is mostly visual. It also makes me feel as if the cranes are responding to my haiku, as in their duet. My former English teacher, who wrote the poetic comment about my trip (posted below), happens to be a prolific haiku writer. Mr. Skiles guessed that I would receive haiku in response since that is in the tradition of haiku--a conversation. I certainly look forward to receiving more haiku from any and all of the readers of my blog.
Copyright © 2008
北海道 Hokkaido ([In] the Northernmost island of Japan)
丹頂の里は Tancho no sato wa (the home of the Tancho cranes)
何処やら Izuko yara (is where?)
For my Japan trip, I held the map of Hakkaido many times. It is a big square island slightly rotated. Kushiro, in the southeast, is the home of Tancho cranes.
初夢か Hatsuyume ka (Was that a New Year Day's dream)
丹頂を愛でる Tancho wo mederu (to admire the Tancho cranes)
里帰り Satogaeri (returning to my birthplace?)
"Hatsuyume" means first dream. It refers to the dream people have on New Year's Day or the 2nd of January. Japanese often discuss what they dreamed about and what it might mean. Certain dreams are considered auspicious. Returning to Japan and admiring the cranes on New Year's Day was a dream-like experience. That might have been my "hatsuyume."
寒かろう Samukarou (It must be cold.)
鶴に引かれる Tsuru ni hikareru (Pulled by the cranes)
後ろ髪 Ushirogami (is my back hair.)
This haiku expresses my concern for the cranes. A while ago, a friend reported that Japan has gotten much colder and that Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido, was minus 30 degrees C (not F). I worried about the cranes in Kushiro. "Ushirogami" (my back hair) comes from the expression "ushirogami wo hikareru" meaning "feel as if one's heart were left behind" or "find it hard to tear oneself away from someone or something." I've had this feeling since I returned to the U.S. It's as if my long hair has been pulled from behind by the cranes.
Now, here is the haiku someone shared.
Kushiro in white winter
The great cranes' cries
Like ice breaking
© Don Skiles
When I read this haiku, I hear the cranes' voices through the frozen air, echoing the creaky sound of slowly breaking ice. This haiku adds an auditory dimension to my haiku, which is mostly visual. It also makes me feel as if the cranes are responding to my haiku, as in their duet. My former English teacher, who wrote the poetic comment about my trip (posted below), happens to be a prolific haiku writer. Mr. Skiles guessed that I would receive haiku in response since that is in the tradition of haiku--a conversation. I certainly look forward to receiving more haiku from any and all of the readers of my blog.
Copyright © 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
To the Far North
I would like to share this comment I received from my former English teacher, Mr. Don Skiles, who taught me the joy of travel literature:
"I am glad your journey was a safe one -- it's a long, long way you went. In some ways, what with your story of the great cranes, their voices, their magnificence, it was a journey not unlike Basho's To the Far North. Kushiro sounds like a difficult place to get to -- but isn't this often the case that the most difficult places to get to are the most rewarding, on arriving there?
They sound like such magical, powerful creatures. The story of them standing on one leg and ice freezing around that leg is a powerful image/metaphor. The poetry of Nature exceeds our powers, as in this image. So much is contained in that one powerful fact of their lives, much that we should pay attention to for our own living."
"I am glad your journey was a safe one -- it's a long, long way you went. In some ways, what with your story of the great cranes, their voices, their magnificence, it was a journey not unlike Basho's To the Far North. Kushiro sounds like a difficult place to get to -- but isn't this often the case that the most difficult places to get to are the most rewarding, on arriving there?
They sound like such magical, powerful creatures. The story of them standing on one leg and ice freezing around that leg is a powerful image/metaphor. The poetry of Nature exceeds our powers, as in this image. So much is contained in that one powerful fact of their lives, much that we should pay attention to for our own living."
Feeding Time Video
Please don't forget to click on the video on the left and hear the sounds of the cranes during the feeding time. You should be able to hear the chicks, too!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Experiencing Tancho Cranes
Let me share the excitement of seeing the Tancho cranes for the first time. I flew from Tokyo to Kushiro, Hokkaido, on December 31, 2007. As soon as I checked into my hotel, I carefully walked on the icy ground and took the bus to the first sanctuary called "Tsurumidai."
You will never guess what happened next. I was so excited that I went running up to the fence waving my arms and screaming with delight. A whole bunch of cranes immediately took flight into the twilight sky. This also started a chain reaction, and other groups of cranes took to flight to the great disappointment of everyone standing there watching in the freezing evening air. Oh, my god, I thought. Somebody should hit her (meaning me) in the head.
Also, during this twilight trip, I met some wonderful travelers--a bird watcher from England and a young couple from Hong Kong. We were about the only passengers in the bus back to the Kushiro Station. These travelers gave me valuable tips which increased my enjoyment of the cranes the next day.
I spent almost the entire New Year’s Day, 2008, enjoying the cranes at two more sanctuaries. This LINK shows you what I saw at the sanctuary called "Akan Tancho no Sato" (Akan Home of Tanchou). I met and became friends with another wonderful traveler, who did this beautiful job presenting the crane photos. Can you see a handful of birds with the brown head and neck? They are juveniles that remain close to their parents. Despite their full size, they were chirping “Piyo piyo piyo piyo…” almost like baby chickens.
From this sanctuary, I called a taxi to go over the mountain to the “Tsurui/Itoh Tancho Sanctuary.” There I saw more cranes and greeted the rangers that I was in contact with before flying from the U.S. Then I went back to “Tancho no Sato” to enjoy more time with the cranes until the one and only bus came by on its way back to the JR Kushiro station. If you miss this bus, I guess they will find you frozen in the morning.
On January 2nd, before flying to Haneda, I took a JR train to Shibecha to see the Kushiro marsh. The marsh, being frozen over, looked like a white field with patches of bare ground and yellow grass. About 40 minutes into the train ride, I heard a passenger shout, "Tsuru!" About a dozen cranes were standing nearby in a white field. This station before Shibecha is called “Kayanuma” and is known to be the only station in Japan where the cranes visit.
This LINK lets you see the cranes dancing and hear them singing. A male goes "Kooo" and the female goes "Ko Ko" in response. Can you hear the duet? When they sing flying in the cold air, it has an unforgettable quality.
As I was enjoying the cranes at "Tancho no Sato," a caretaker told me this: Some of those cranes may not be with us next year. They can crash into electric wires and meet other types of accidents. Although the cranes are fierce fighters, they can be attacked by predators, too. For this reason, they always sleep standing on one leg immersed in a shallow river no matter how cold the weather gets. Later my friend told me about the ice forming on cranes' legs that he read about in a front-page article of the January 10th Asahi Newspaper. I am moved by the cranes' beauty, the nature of their existence, and their haunting voice.
As I was getting ready to leave “Tancho no Sato,” the cranes were also leaving for the evening. Suddenly a group of three cranes took off in the opposite direction from the rest, made a big U-turn, and flew right over my head before joining others. I was quiet this time.
Here are the special shots. Please click to enlarge.
You will never guess what happened next. I was so excited that I went running up to the fence waving my arms and screaming with delight. A whole bunch of cranes immediately took flight into the twilight sky. This also started a chain reaction, and other groups of cranes took to flight to the great disappointment of everyone standing there watching in the freezing evening air. Oh, my god, I thought. Somebody should hit her (meaning me) in the head.
Also, during this twilight trip, I met some wonderful travelers--a bird watcher from England and a young couple from Hong Kong. We were about the only passengers in the bus back to the Kushiro Station. These travelers gave me valuable tips which increased my enjoyment of the cranes the next day.
I spent almost the entire New Year’s Day, 2008, enjoying the cranes at two more sanctuaries. This LINK shows you what I saw at the sanctuary called "Akan Tancho no Sato" (Akan Home of Tanchou). I met and became friends with another wonderful traveler, who did this beautiful job presenting the crane photos. Can you see a handful of birds with the brown head and neck? They are juveniles that remain close to their parents. Despite their full size, they were chirping “Piyo piyo piyo piyo…” almost like baby chickens.
From this sanctuary, I called a taxi to go over the mountain to the “Tsurui/Itoh Tancho Sanctuary.” There I saw more cranes and greeted the rangers that I was in contact with before flying from the U.S. Then I went back to “Tancho no Sato” to enjoy more time with the cranes until the one and only bus came by on its way back to the JR Kushiro station. If you miss this bus, I guess they will find you frozen in the morning.
On January 2nd, before flying to Haneda, I took a JR train to Shibecha to see the Kushiro marsh. The marsh, being frozen over, looked like a white field with patches of bare ground and yellow grass. About 40 minutes into the train ride, I heard a passenger shout, "Tsuru!" About a dozen cranes were standing nearby in a white field. This station before Shibecha is called “Kayanuma” and is known to be the only station in Japan where the cranes visit.
This LINK lets you see the cranes dancing and hear them singing. A male goes "Kooo" and the female goes "Ko Ko" in response. Can you hear the duet? When they sing flying in the cold air, it has an unforgettable quality.
As I was enjoying the cranes at "Tancho no Sato," a caretaker told me this: Some of those cranes may not be with us next year. They can crash into electric wires and meet other types of accidents. Although the cranes are fierce fighters, they can be attacked by predators, too. For this reason, they always sleep standing on one leg immersed in a shallow river no matter how cold the weather gets. Later my friend told me about the ice forming on cranes' legs that he read about in a front-page article of the January 10th Asahi Newspaper. I am moved by the cranes' beauty, the nature of their existence, and their haunting voice.
As I was getting ready to leave “Tancho no Sato,” the cranes were also leaving for the evening. Suddenly a group of three cranes took off in the opposite direction from the rest, made a big U-turn, and flew right over my head before joining others. I was quiet this time.
Here are the special shots. Please click to enlarge.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)