Summer is slowly but surely crawling into its annual existance. In the past few weeks the trees and hedges around Calstock have turned into a rich green and the sun brings warm evenings best spent sat outside with a cold beer. Such a situation allows for a lot of pondering. With all the crap that’s going on in this world, it’s pretty easy to become dispirited and I’m really at the point in my life where big questions are being asked… I better not get started or I won’t stop! However, when it comes to advice about how one should live one’s life, I can quote a fine extract from A Man without a Country, the loose memoirs of the late Kurt Vonnegut, the American novelist and humanist who also said, “We are put on this Earth to fart around. Don’t let anyone else tell you any different.”

…I had a good uncle, my late Uncle Alex. He was my father’s kid brother, a childless graduate of Harvard who was an honest life-insurance salesman in Indianapolis. He was well-read and wise. And his principle complaint about other human beings was that they so seldom noticed it when they were happy. So when we were drinking lemonade under an apple tree in the summer, say, and talking lazily about this and that, almost buzzing like honeybees, Uncle Alex would suddenly interrupt the agreeable blather to exclaim, “If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.”

So I do the same now, and so do my kids and grandkids. And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, “If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.”

I’m off to visit my brother in Turkey for an undecided length of time. Wishing you all a lovely summer. Peace.

Saya the robot teacher (photo: Koji Sasahara/AP)

I’m in the process of applying to the teaching profession at home, but it seems that maybe in a few years human teachers won’t be necessary. The world’s first robot teacher, Saya, has been developed by scientists at Tokyo University and was tested in a real classroom earlier this year. Capable of six facial expressions – happiness, surprise, fear, disgust, sadness and anger – Saya can also shout orders like “be quiet”. Oooooh, scary!!

"My name's Saya, but that's 'Saya Sensei' to you punk" (photo: Itsuo Inouye/AP)

Sex education, Akihabara 'maid cafe' style (photo: Sinopix/Rex Features)

Yeah, maybe my future job is safe…

Crater lake at Shinmoe-dake (新燃岳)

Shinmoedake (新燃岳), the currently “out-of-bounds” volcano in the Kirishima range, seems to be a little under the weather. Famed for its beautiful cobalt blue crater lake, the colour has changed to brown! This report in the Asahi Shinbun (in Japanese but you can see the pictures; まいちゃん、ありがとう！) details what happened (there is also a movie here), but no change in activity has been observed, nor has there been any increase in seismicity.

Shinmoedake, 7 May 2009 (photo: Asahi Shinbun)

Strange. Shinmoedake erupted last August and has been off-limits since due to continued gas emissions (unfortunately I have never been able to see the crater). Looking at this sudden event I’m compelled to draw comparisons with the main crater at Naka-dake, Aso volcano. In July 2003, there was a phreatic eruption which deposited tephra (ash) 6km away. Two days before the crater lake also changed colour: from green to dark grey.

Perhaps it’s worth checking again in a few days time!

The thing is, I couldn’t see the volcano.

We were travelling along in 4×4 jeeps and in the distance Mt. Pinatubo – the volcano and source of the largest eruption on Earth in living memory – was unidentifiable. “It could be that one” offered our guide, a disinterested, ipod-loving indie rock fan from Manila. Having hijacked a day-trip organised for a group of young Philippinos I was in no mood to complain and, well, there would be definitely no mistaking it when we reached the crater.

One fears one is spending too much time on the internet. (Back to volcanoes soon.)

I’ve just read an interesting piece by US-based (and one time-lecturer to George W) Yoshi Tsurumi in the Japan Times, who relates the current challenges of US President Obama on dealing with torture crimes under the Bush administration to “Japan’s denial of its wartime responsabilities and atrocities.” Failing to commit to a full independent investigation into such crimes, he argues, would be akin to the “self-serving amnesia” of conservative Japanese prime ministers and the political right. You can see the connection he is trying to make.

There is also a bit of arm waving about Prime Minister Aso’s offering to Yasukuni Shrine last month – despite nutters like the Tokyo governor Shintarô Ishihara, ideas that Imperial Japan is about to rise up and take over are completely exaggerated – but it does amaze me that Japanese politicians continue to jeoprodise international relations over this. This Asahi Shinbun editorial summarises the controversy of government visits to the shrine and its stance on the issue.

Anyway, he lost me on the first line saying, “The world’s attention is now on President Barack Obama to see if he can rebuild America’s democratic and moral leadership in a world…”

Rebuild what?!

A number of search engine enquiries for ‘Kuchinoerabujima’, a Japanese island with an active volcano, have directed people to this blog. I wondered why as checking the JMA website (the authority on volcanic warnings in Japan) gave no new information on new activity, although volcanic tremors and gas emissions have been closely monitored for a number of years now. However, a quick search of news stories now reveal that Craig Arnold, an acclaimed US poet, has gone missing after a trip to the island. He was travelling to write a book about the volcanoes of the world and was to spend five months in Japan. You can view his blog Volcano Pilgrim here, where he has already written some fine accounts of, amongst others, Miyakejima – a funny, lonely island to which I have also visited twice. No doubt far more interesting than anything you will find here.

A search is still underway and we just have to hope there is no bad news.

The volcanoes of Kagoshima prefecture (from Sakurajima Volcano Observatory, Kyoto Uni.)

As for Kuchinoerabujima (口永良部島) itself, it is located in Kagoshima prefecture about 100km off the coast of mainland Kyushu and only 15km west of its famous neighbour, Yakushima (the BBC location map in the link above is terrible). The volcano is actually the (long-overdue) next target for my series on Japanese volcanoes, so with this worrying news I hope I can provide some information on it soon. Unfortunately, it’s the only volcano in Kagoshima that I haven’t visited, but it forms a very active part of the Ryukyu island chain and was the subject of a number of studies on seismic swarms (volcanic earthquakes) that were presented at a few meetings I attended in Japan. I believe the authorities remain quite worried about this volcano and the alert status is often raised to level 3, where people are not to approach the volcano (currently it stands at level 2, along with Sakurajima, Asama and others by the way). I’m not sure of any explosive activity since the eruption from Shin-take (新岳), the current active crater, destroyed nearby villages in 1933. (Update, May 1: actually there have been a few eruptions since, including a number of explosions along a fissure on Shin-take in 1980.)

Take care on those volcanoes people. There should be a lot of information and warnings available to you, but you never know. This news makes me think because it was only this time last year that my sensei (professor) and I wandered up to the crater rim of Suwanosejima, Kuchinoerabu’s far more explosive friend to the south…

An English summary of Kuchinoerabujima volcano is provided by the Global Volcanism Program.

Hello Kitty. Face mask.

Due to the outbreak of swine flu there has been a sudden increase in demand for surgical face masks in the UK. However, as I heard yesterday on the radio, such face masks have been described as pretty much pointless for the general public, installing a “false sense of security.”

Ha! What do you think of that Japan?!

A favourite past-time of foreigners in Japan is to ridicule their kind hosts for their use of face masks in everyday life, let alone potential outbreaks of deadly viruses. In any city, at any time, you’re likely to see at least one person with a white mask and after seeing you – a foreigner, a gaijin - the person sitting next to you might even put one on just to be sure. My favourite type is the molded, hard style which makes the Tokyo commuter look like Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

Shredder (centre)

A typical Tokyo commuter

So it seems that the British and Japanese health authorities are at odds over the usefulness of face masks in combatting the spread of this current virus outbreak. To be fair, ignoring the current hysteria in the media, the UK and Japan are probably two of the safest places you could be right now and I suppose the Japanese are just acting on the side of caution. They already have a strong ‘face mask industry’ in place and ‘wearing surgical face masks’ is a strong Japanese tradition that must be continued. It’s like whaling. Indeed, face masks were first introduced by the samurai many centuries ago:

This model could simply not compete with the 'Hello Kitty' franchise

I’ll leave it up to you whether you want to wear a face mask or not. Even I myself, after a really really crappy cold, resorted to one towards the end of my stay. In fact I was given a packet of them and I’ll recommend to anyone that wearing a mask on long-distance flights (or any flight) stops that horrible “dry mouth” feeling when you get off on the other end. If you’re in Mexico City you must wear one of course, but at least you can be creative (click image for more):

A Mexican face mask (photo: AP)

And if you’re still worried, well…

So I thought I’d just check to see what’s going on in the news in Japan… I’m immensely pleased.

Do you have those celebrity faces that for no particular reason just annoy you? Whenever you turn the TV on, open a newspaper, wherever you go, there they are again with their stupid annoying faces. I had such a dark figure in my life, who haunted me throughout my two years in Japan and his name was Tsuyoshi Kusanagi. Until now I never actually knew that was his name and always referred to him as the “one with the stupid pointy face out of SMAP”. It was impossible to ignore him as his status as a member of SMAP, probably Japan’s most famous boy band (or idol group as these “bands” are idiotically known as), meant constant coverage from TV shows and long-running advertisement campaigns including Pocari Sweat. God he annoyed me! (And for no particular reason.)

"Fast supply, keep long": Pocari Sweat, choice of drink for man with stupid pointy face (yellow T-shirt)

Below is a poster from one of his films (yes he “acts” as well). It’s called Nihon Chinbotsu (the “Sinking of Japan”), where, as the title suggests, Japan is sinking into the sea due to a sudden increase in the subduction of tectonic plates. Yes, that’s right. Kusanagi’s stupid pointy face can be seen on the right: he play’s an oceanographer in the film and like always, I just wanted to slap him. Saying that, please watch the trailer to see Kumamoto castle getting blown away as Aso volcano erupts!

So why am I pleased? Well, the first headline I saw was:

Naked SMAP idol arrested in park; broadcasters suspend ads (Asahi news)

Police on Thursday arrested the “quiet” member of the SMAP idol group after he was found naked, drunk and screaming incoherently in a park near Tokyo’s Roppongi district…. Police discovered Kusanagi sitting stark naked in Hinokicho Koen park in Tokyo’s Minato Ward after receiving a call from a resident around 3 a.m. Thursday. He flailed his arms and kicked his legs before police covered him with a vinyl sheet and escorted him to a police car. Police said Kusanagi barked at an officer, “What’s wrong with being naked?”

Amazing! Apologies for bringing the tone down to this moronic, celebrity-obsessed, tacky piece of news, but what an incredible quote! I think he’s actually become my hero…

Indeed, what is wrong with being naked? Follow more response at Japan Probe and elsewhere (you can actually get a T-shirt), but spare a thought for Kusanagi who must be feeling a bit crap. I’m sure he’s a nice enough guy and I will end in his honour, a fine fact from his Wikipedia page:

“Kusanagi loves jeans, and he was chosen as the “Best Jeanist” for five years until 2003, at which time he was inducted into the Best Jeanist Hall of Fame.”

P.S. Please take my above comments with a pinch of salt! Like I said, I’m sure he’s a nice guy but he did seem to be everywhere I went! Love & Peace.

僕が住んでいる Cornwall の Calstock です。