わたしのにほんともだちへ

メリークリスマス！







Tristan :)

Deconstructing Femininity in Contemporary Japan: A Commercial

Anyone have any feelings about this commercial? I know one can only read so much into any one commercial. While I found this commercial humorous, it was a little "awkward" to watch.

See what you think、見てください！




Here are some questions:
1. Women are attractive because they have high voices?
2. Do all beautiful women have high voices? (that's a different question than the first)
3. "Attractiveness" and "Desirability" are NOT the same thing: it is possible for a woman to be attractive but not desirable?
4. The idea of a woman having a low voice is not only undesirable, but actually scary.
5. More than any essentializing views of femininity, what does the commercial say about Masculinity?

We study Japanese together...

But shall we contemplate the universe together?

世の中は 
何にたとへん 
山彦の 
こたふる聲の 
空しきがごと


Yo no naka wa
nani ni tatoen
yamabiko no
kotauru koe no
munashiki ga goto


The life in this world -
what is it like?
An Empty Mountain's
fleeting echo
into the empty sky it goes. 
(My translation)

スラムダンク: Some Thoughts and A Song to Get Through Finals

I am generally not a fan of any athletic or physical activity with the exceptions of tennis, badminton, squash, elegant dances, and walking very quickly between places. I generally consider most large professional sporting events to be part and parcel of the "bread and circus" manufactured culture of power elites designed to keep citizens enmeshed in a status quo of conservatism and pop-culture. Also, I must admit I do not understand much about Japanese anime. That all being said, I have discovered this Japanese theme song from a cartoon from the early 90's called Slam Dunk スラムダンク. http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/SLAM_DUNK It's really fantastic in the way that, it gets heart pumping in a hopeful, optimistic way. The random interjections of English are also a delight. (Yume no high tension!) The feminine voice positioned against the hyper-masculine images of basketball-wielding players is a interesting, if curious, juxtaposition.

On this Sunday night of paper writing and homework, I encourage my comrades to indulge in this humorous, touching, catchy message of hope:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF7CV1HB9Xk

二十ねんごのわたし

私は日本のせいかつに慣れましたから、二十ねんご日本にいます。さくら大学のれきしのせんせいです。しずかなまちにかおくがあります。わたしはきれいなおんなのひととけっこんしました。まいにちにほんごのぶんがくをよみます。いぬがにひきいます。いぬと大学へあるいて行きます。わたしの仕事はまいにちとてもいそかしいですが、いつもかぞくのじかんがあります。だいがくのプールでときどきおよぎます。

日本へ中国れきしのべんきようにきました、でもわたしは日本人が好きですから、まだ日本にいますです。日本のぶんかと日本のりようりどちらもすきです。

はるにわたしはいけばなをします、そのごつまにはなをあげます。私はいつもいいしゅじんです！