Sunday, January 23, 2011

What I Face






This is a partial listing of what was posted on my Facebook page this morning.  For those of my friends not yet on Facebook, for whatever reasons, I'd like to share how much more than a social network it is for me (although it’s definitely great for contacting people and keeping in touch, as well).

Last week in Tucson we saw: "...a white Catholic male Republican judge murdered on his way to greet a Democratic Jewish woman member of Congress, who was his friend. Her life was saved initially by a 20-year-old Mexican-American gay college student, and eventually by a Korean American combat surgeon, and this all was eulogized by our African American President." Allen Ginsberg, Historian









I appreciated this quote posted on one friend's page:
Life is too short to wake up with regrets.  So love the people who treat you right.  Forget about the ones who don't.  Believe everything happens for a reason.  If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands.  If it changes your life, let it.  Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.






I also looked through messages from friends living in or visiting Italy (scouting for restaurants and places to sing for this year's Umbrian Serenades), France, Portugal, Yemen, South Africa, Japan (including British and Chinese friends who live here), as well as several from North America.  I'm especially enjoying reconnecting with Wheaton Community High School classmates before our 50th (!) reunion in 2012.

Of course, I enjoyed watching the Top 8 episode of So You Think You Can Dance, sharing comments with 3 other armchair judges, scattered around Japan, on our special Facebook list made just for the show's aficionados in Japan.

And, finally, this bit of fun:










Sunday, January 09, 2011

How to Own Guns in Japan [sic]

The following was written in 1995 by a Mr. Masaaki Ishida in response to a question about gun control on a Google groups site.  The name is not uncommon in Japan, so I know nothing about Mr. Ishida's background or his expertise in the area.  I'm certain, however, that gun control in Japan is much stronger than that in other countries I'm familiar with.  I post it here because of its being extremely relevant to what has occurred in the U.S. today (January 8, 2011).


How to Own Guns in Japan
========================== 

In Japan there are many people who believe that Japanese shooters at Olympics are policemen or soldiers of Self-Defense Force.   Some other people believe that Japanese citizen cannot own guns and people who enjoy shooting have to rent guns at shooting range, and some other people believes that legal gun owners must keep guns in lockers assigned for them at shooting ranges. So, I decided to write short introductory article about gun ownership in Japan.
 
In Japan, the kind of guns owned by civilian are as follows. 
   Air Rifle
   Hand Rifle
   Rifle
   Air Pistol (limited to 500 people for sports shooting only)
   Pistol (limited to 50 people for sport shooting only)
   Shot 
gun 
The purpose to own guns is limited to two, i.e., hunting or sports shooting.
It means we cannot own guns for defense purpose.

The procedure to own the gun is as follows.
Of course, people who use guns in their work (policemen, soldiers, etc.)
don't have to follow the following step for guns used in the job.
The terminology about 'air 
gun', 'air rifle' follow Japanese custom. 
   Participation in a lecture at nearby police station
  ------------------------------------------------------ 

   This is a requisite condition for anyone who tries to own gun.
   You go to the police station which is responsible for your address area, and
   apply for the lecture on 
gun regulation for beginners.   In case of Tokyo,
   entire districts are divided into four blocks, and the actual place to have
   the lecture is one police station in the block.
   The lecture for beginner is held once in a month, I think. 

   The lecture starts at 9:00 in Saturday morning, and written examination
   follows after lunch.   To 20 questions, you have to give at least 14
   correct answers.   When I had this lecture, two or three people did not
   pass among 32 or 33 attendance.   This performance was high because usually
   80 % of attendants pass the examination.   After passing the examination,
   a certificate is given and its copy must be submitted whenever you do some
   application afterwards.   The certificate is valid three years.   It means,
   after the valid date of the certification, you have to attend a lecture
   for 
gun owners to get the new certificate.   This time, no examination is
   done. 



   Air rifle, hand rifle, and shot gun
  ------------------------------------- 

   Once you get the certificate of the gun regulation lecture, there are two
   different paths depending on what you want to own.   Note that you cannot
   apply for usual rifles nor pistols at this stage.   To own them, you need
   further qualification. 

   
A. Air rifle or hand rifle. 
      People who are not familiar with gun confuses air rifle from
      'air soft 
gun' (or simply 'air gun') which uses plastic bullet and
      whose barrel does not have rifling.
      In fact, recently it was reported on TV that some members of AUM camped
      near by Mt. Fuji and did some military training using 'air rifle' of
      AK 47.   This report was not correct.   What they used must be air soft
      
gun shaped like AK 47 or model gun of AK 47. 
      Hand rifle is unique to Japan.   It is actually air pistol, but long
      sleeve covers the barrel, and long stock is attached to the grip.
      In 
Japan, ownership of pistol (air or not) is restricted because of
      their small size which enables covered transportation.   Therefore,
      hand rifle was introduced for people who plan to own air hand 
gun
      eventually. 

      If you want to own air rifle or hand rifle, you can go to a gun shop
      with certificate to show to clerks, determine which 
gun to buy, ask
      clerks to write a paper which describe the detail of the 
gun, and name of
      the shop.   When you buy a 
gun not from a shop but from a current owner,
      the same paper is needed. 

      You must be at least 18 years old, or, you need to be over 14
      years old and have recommendatory letter from an organization which
      governs all official sports organizations. 

   
B. Shot gun
      Prior to go to gun shop, you have to take practical shooting course,
      followed by examination.    To apply for it, you have to submit a lot
      of papers to the police, and it takes a few months until you get the
      approval because you and your family who live together are examined. 

      After the approval, you have the course at a shooting range and pass
      it (it is quite easy).   Then, you go to a 
gun shop, determine the gun
      to buy, and ask clerks to write the paper. 

      You need to be at least 20 years old.
 
   After applying for any gun, usually it takes about one month until you get
   permission.   When you get notification from the police about permission,
   you go to the police station to receive license booklet, take it to the
   
gun shop and receive the gun.   Then within two weeks, you have to go to
   the police station again with the 
gun to have it inspected and stumped on
   the license. 

   
SB - Small Bore rifle (0.22 caliber, rim-fire) 
  ------------------------------------------------ 

   Since using of 0.22 caliber rifle (both rim-fire and center-fire) for
   hunting is prohibited in 
Japan (probably small animals suitable as targets
   of 0.22 caliber live not far from where people live), the only permitted
   purpose to own it is for rifle shooting sports.   The step to own Small Bore
   (rim-fire) rifle is as follows. 

  
 A. Become a member of a branch of National Rifle Association of
      
Japan, then become a member of N.R.A.J. itself.
      I my case, I became a member of Setagaya (one district in Tokyo) area
      at first, which means automatic membership of Tokyo branch of N.R.A.J,
      then had to wait one year until I was allowed become a member of N.R.A.J
      it self.   But this term differs with branches.
      If you want to just enjoy air rifle, and have no interest in participating
      in national wide shooting meet, to stay just as Tokyo branch's member
      saves membership fee. 

   
B. Participate in a few hour's lecture by N.R.A.J., and get certification. 
   
C. Participate in at least two shooting meet per year before you apply for SB. 
   
D. Get certification of skill of shooting.
      In case of shooting in Standing position, the score of criteria is
      300 for S60, and 200 for S40.   It is quite easy. 

   
E. By satisfying above A,B,C,D, then you can apply for SB to N.R.A.J.
      What you get if you pass the examination is recommendatory letter that
      you are suitable for shooter of N.R.A.J., and have potential to become
      a shooter for higher level competitions like Olympic. 

   
F. Submit above letter as well as many other papers to the police station.
      Like the case of shot 
gun, it takes a new months until the police
      issues a permission to take shooting course in practice. 

   
G. Take a practical shooting course at a shooting range, and get a
      certification. 

   
H. Apply for a gun to buy. 
   
LB - Large Bore rifles (center-fire)
  -------------------------------------- 

   There are two purposes you can use LB, one is sports shooting under
   control of N.R.A.J., and the other is hunting. 

   
A. For rifle shooting as sports, the requisite to apply for it are
      as follows. 

      a. It is over one year since you have owned a SB. 
      b. You have already participated in 2 shooting meet per year with SB. 
      You apply for recommendatory letter to N.R.A.J., and follow the similar
      steps (without practice course in a shooting range) as SB.
      It looks only bolt action rifles can be allowed. 

   
B. For hunting purpose, you must have continuous 10 years' history to
      have own shot 
gun or SB.   You simply apply for a gun to the police
      station. 

   
Air pistol
  ------------ 

   The requisite condition to apply for air pistol is almost the same
   as SB except that certification of more skill in shooting is
   required (in case of AR S60, score of over 510). 

   Since the number of owners of air pistol is limited up to 500,
   you usually wait one year or more (it means you wait someone
   fails to update the license) until you get recommendatory letter. 

   After getting recommendatory letter from N.R.A.J, follow the same
   procedure as other kinds of guns to apply for the license. 

   
Pistol
  -------- 

   To apply for pistol, you need quite excellent skill of air pistol
   (in case of AP60, score of over 555) to apply for pistol. 

   This time, the number of people is limited to 50, but because of
   so hard criteria, I heard two years ago that only 30 people owned it. 

   
Permission for ammunition
  --------------------------- 

   Anybody can buy bullets for air rifle, hand rifle, and air pistol without
   restraint.   For ammunition which contains powder, you have to get
   another paper from the police.
   On the permission paper, based on which kind of guns you have, the kind
   of ammunition 
gun shops can sell to the owner of guns are listed as well
   as total maximum amount.   This paper is valid for one year, and, if my
   memory is correct, the maximum number of ammunition the police allow to
   a paper is 4,000.


   Because of the law, the maximum number of ammunition you can keep
   at home is limited to 800, and you must keep them in a specially designed
   locker which is different from 
gun locker. 
   
Updating the license 
  ---------------------- 

   The license of gun is a booklet like passport.  [emphasis mine]
   Your name, photograph, address, birth date, license booklet No. and its
   issue date, etc. are in the first page.
   Then pages for up to 12 guns follow (so, if you own more than 12 guns,
   you have several license booklets).
   In the last page, there is a holder to insert the permission paper to buy
   ammunition. 

   The license for each gun is valid three years (more correctly, until
   the third birthday after you get the license).
   It means, if you have three guns which you owned in three continuous years,
   you have to update the license of different 
gun every year.   If you have
   three guns owned in the same year or owned in interval of multiple of three
   years, you can update them in the same year.   Here, 'year' means not
   calendar year, but a interval between two birthdays of the owner, i.e.,
   if you buy two guns, one a day before the birthday and the other one day
   after the birth day, their licenses are updated in the different years.

 
   To keep the license, following things must be cleared. 
   
A. Requisite to update license. 
      There's no condition to update the license of air rifle, hand rifle,
      and shot 
gun.   But if you have not used them in the past three years,
      license can not be updated. 

      To update the license of SB and LB, you have to show stump you got
      at rifle shooting meets.   Though one of conditions that N.R.A.J.
      issues recommendatory letter for SB and LB is that owner should
      participates at least two formal shooting meets per year for EACH 
gun,
      in realty, it is not checked by the police strictly. 

      To update license of air-pistol or pistol, it is strictly examined
      whether you participated in enough number of shooting meets, and score
      at them were enough to qualify the ownership. 

   
B. Annual gun inspection. 
      Usually in spring, there's a day of annual gun inspection (the date
      differs with police stations).   You bring not only all guns but also
      a paper to report the number of times you used 
gun (for practice,
      shooting meet, hunting) as well as the number of bullets you consumed. 

   
C. Certification of a lecture which is valid at the time of update. 
      To update of the license, valid certificate of gun regulation lecture is
      necessary.   It means you have to attend the lecture every three years. 

   
Others 
  -------- 

   
A. There are many kinds of papers which you submit to the police at
      various opportunities.   The following is a list of them (not all of
      them are needed every time). 

      o Application for ownership
      o Application for license update
      o Application to buy ammunition
      o Paper to return expired paper to buy ammunition
      o Signed paper that 
gun shop or ex-owner agrees to sell a gun to you,
        which contains detailed description of the 
gun
      o List of your family who live with you
      o Abstract of your family register
      o Past 10 years' record of your address, job, crime, and guns
        you ever own
      o Doctor's certification that you are not a user of drugs, and
        satisfies some other physical conditions.
      o Certification of 
gun lecture (for beginners, or for owners)
      o Certification of practice course at a shooting range  
[emphasis mine]

   
B. If you have some crime history, using knife or guns, you cannot
      apply for 
gun ownership for some amount of years.
      Also, if you live with dangerous people, like member of Yakuza,
      it may happen application is rejected. 

   
C. In Japan, most policemen are transferred every several years to avoid
      their adhesion with residents.   In case of a policeman who is
      in charge of handling 
gun ownership, he is transferred every two years. 
   
D. Because only one policeman works for gun ownership in each police
      station, I experienced several times that he was absent for criminal
      investigation.   What I do when I have some business about 
gun ownership
      is to call him in the morning to check his convenient time, then
      go to the police station.   So, it is often necessary to take
      annual leave of a day or half just to submit papers.
      I hope some reformation about this inconvenience. 

  
 E. The most popular accident caused by legal gun owner is to shoot the
      colleague mistakenly at hunting.
      In total, 10 to 20 accidents on legally owned guns happen every year.
      N.R.A.J is proud of its record of no accident at shooting meets. 

   
F. The number of owners of shot gun and air rifle are, if my memory is
      correct, around 35,000 respectively, whereas owners of rifles are 1/10
      of them. 

   
G. Guns must be kept in your house in a specially designed locker.
      One exception is pistol (not air pistol) which must be kept in a locker
      of the nearby police station. 

      You must keep key of the locker in a secret place (your family should not
      know it), and even if policemen comes to your home for inspection,
      only owner should show guns.
      He can reject to show guns if policemen come without prior notification.
      It is to avoid an incident that guns are stolen by 'false police'. 

   
H. To do hunting, you need another license for it.
      Issuing of hunting license is under control of Governor of each
      prefecture.
      The first course for beginners is followed by written examination
      follows like that for 
gun ownership.   License is valid for 3 years. 
   
I. When you apply for a gun, you specify its purpose (target shooting, or
      hunting).   You cannot use a 
gun for hunting if its purpose in the
      
gun's license is "target shooting". 


CA's note:  If anyone can provide further information on this topic, please let me know.  All I can say is that I have never seen a gun, except as a sidearm for police on such occasions as the G8 Summit, in the 20+ years that I have lived in Japan.  I do not personally know of anyone who has ever been shot or killed by a gun, which is not the case for people living in the U.S. including close friends and relatives.

Saturday, January 08, 2011

SYTYCD, Season 6, Top 14

An outstanding show! For those of you who missed it, catch a rerun if you possibly can. Now they can honestly say that Season 6 is one of the best, if not the best ever!

1) First Lindy Hop that I remember seeing on the show. Ellenore and Ryan blew me away! Not only their energy, with some difficult moves and steps that kept going and going, but the spirit of fun they brought to it! I was surprised to learn that Ryan had had back trouble, although they seemed to have a bit of a problem coming out of one of the lifts (although none of the judges mentioned it).  And I learned a new term: “Coffee grinders with the front flairs.”

2) What an fascinating jazz routine! I never knew that bodies could have so many angles. It seemed just made for Legacy and Kathryn (although obviously some of the choreography was made for Legacy, including the crab walks). Sonya was jumping with delight when Nigel said it was one of the best routines of the season.

3) Why do they put the dancers in black clothes against a dark background? It was so difficult to see them. Nevertheless, a splendid photograph could have been taken at any of the poses that Karen and Victor were holding in this very sexy tango. I wouldn't have noticed the number of pivots if Mary hadn't mentioned it.

4) Another pair of split pants! Mollee and Nathan both had so much fun with this Hip-Hop that it made it fun for the audience. I didn't notice all the flaws that the judges did, and Nigel in particular felt that it wasn't as professional as it could. Everyone's wondering what will happen when this couple is split up because they seem to have gotten so comfortable with each other.

5) I was concerned about Russell and Noelle doing a Samba because it's so not their genre, but they did a respectable job. The biggest problem is that it didn't get “uggy” (Adam's word, which he claims is in the dictionary), that is, down and dirty (which Mary described more delicately as compression).  Not enough SOUTH America.  Nigel said it best about Noelle in that her hips were moving but she's so sweet that it was a little too homogenized. I think these two are going to be better off with new partners.

6) After Sonya's other choreography, this one was a bit disappointing for me. It's called lyrical jazz, but I felt it made Jakob and Ashleigh look a bit awkward. It must have been just me because the judges didn't say anything of the kind, especially since Nigel said this was his favorite routine. What we agreed on is that this was a great partnership.

7) Ellenore and Ryan in a jazz routine - couldn't wait to see it. I actually liked their first routine better than this one, but they added their personality on top of some great choreography (again). Even so, although Adam said they nailed it, I think they could have gotten some tips from Evan. (Wonder if Evan's brother will ever be called on to choreograph a jazz routine.) I wouldn't have noticed how Ellenore went from the extension into first position if Adam hadn't mentioned it!

8) Uh oh! Legacy in Viennese waltz? He was a little too angular for me, but Kathryn was totally fluid. Legacy also needed to improve some of his footwork, as the judges noted, but the lifts were lovely. I sense that he could handle ballroom with more practice, but will he have a chance to get it?

9) Laurie Ann is the choreographer I'd least like to work with; she's tough and there's something so angry about her. There was some kind of ooomph missing, but Karen did much better than Victor.

10) Tyce DiOrio, Mollee, and Nathan - Couldn't get much better than this. First Cancan ever on SYTYCD? They certainly both had the stamina to pull it off (Adam: “Energizer Bunny”). I got chills watching it. This is going to be one of the most memorable for me. And one would never have guessed Mollee had a bad ankle if the judges hadn't mentioned it.

11) Tyce used the dancers so well in this routine. (Adam put it better by saying he used the “paint.”) It really helped that Russell and Noelle looked as though they've been together forever! What really impressed me about this number, as opposed to some of the other slower ones, is that the pauses and moments of silence were just as effective as the flow.

12) Here it comes! A cha-cha by Ashleigh and Jakob. I know this is going to be spectacular. [moments later] I KNEW it was going to be spectacular, and I think these two are ready for an international competition! It was so cute was when Jean-Marc mugged to camera, “My chair!”

I have a strong sense of who's not going home, but it's going to be a toughie. The weakest dance was Karen and Victor's Hip-Hop, so that may be their downfall.



Note: This was posted to the SYTYCD Fans in Japan page on Facebook.  This particular episode of the show (which is called American Dance Idol in Japan) was broadcast January 8, 2011.

Saturday, January 01, 2011

First Nightmare of the Year

Is the first dream of the year the one dreamt after going to bed Dec. 31st or Jan. 1st?  Either way, this one wasn't a pleasant one, and I hope it doesn't foretell anything.


I was having one of my adult classes and the students were a bit restless because we were leaving on a trip all together for Okinawa right afterwards. Because of that, we were supposed to finish the class a little early, but I wanted to cover 2 more points that were in my lesson plan.


As soon as the class was over, the students rushed off to the airport, which was right across the street from where we had our class.  I said I would follow soon.  There was still plenty of time.


However, after I picked up my bags, which were surprisingly light, and went over to meet them, I couldn't find the place where the plane took off.  I was going all over the place, which was like a large shopping mall, from one end to the other.  At one point I lost the smaller shopping bag that I had been carrying, but didn't have time to retrace my steps.  I ran up one escalator that I was sure led to the gate, but it went to a restaurant instead.  I was starting to get frantic.


Finally I decided to call one of the women in the class on my cell phone.  Just as I was going through my address book, Mrs. Yamamoto (who's actually not in the class, although she was in my dream) phoned me.  She sounded distressed.  She said that because of me, everyone had missed the flight and we wouldn't be able to go to Okinawa.  I was chagrined, especially since it was my fault.  


The Enjoy English class, the ones I was supposed to go to Okinawa with.
I won't let them down again!