Travel Tuesdays: Japan country report

As usual for my country reviews, this is not the kind of trip report you'd find in WikiTravel or Lonely Planet. I've linked to each of those travel reviews above.

Rather I just want to provide my perceptions of Japan.

Japan is one of my favorite countries, both culturally as well as culinarily. I've thought that if I had to be exiled to another country for the rest of my life and I couldn't leave the borders of that country, I'd pick either Japan or Italy. Many would think that Japan is so foreign that a westerner could never truly fit in, and while that may be true, I've found a lot more in common with Japanese sentiments than American ones. I've even had the comment more than once that I apologize more than a Japanese person. I understand and respect the dedication of purpose as well as knowledge of responsibilities that an average Japanese citizen carries with them. Of course I don't agree with everything Japanese. They still hunt whales commercially under the guise of scientific research and have been really quiet about their revisionist history regarding the atrocities and rapes they conducted during World War II, particularly in China. Furthermore, a lot of Japanese youth seem oblivious to their own recent history or about other parts of the world. 

But these minor points aside, there is so much to love in Japan that I hesitated going for many years because I wanted to learn the language and have a long trip to better absorb the culture. I'm glad that I didn't wait, though I wish I had kept up my Japanese classes and like so many other languages, I hope to resume my studies at some point. 

Nevertheless, despite the confusing streets and fact that very few Japanese speak English, I've always enjoyed myself in Japan (though you really have to watch your expenses as certain expenses are remarkably cheap, like the amazing sushi in 7-11 convenience stores, while it is also extremely easy to find over-the-top expensive options... of course the quality you get for such expense will always be high in Japan). 

I definitely want to go back to Japan again and again and want to add it to the countries that I can live and preferably work within, and one dream I have is to conduct a coral reef survey in a triangle from the Ryukyu Islands up to Japan "proper" and then down from Tokyo through the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands to the Northern Marianas and Guam before heading west through Micronesia to Palau and connecting back up to Okinawa. Such are my dreams, and Japan is a great country in which to dream. And I'm sure that if Shakespeare had been aware of Japan he would have found ample similarities to many of his characters and one could easily see a Japanese version of Romeo and Juliet with hardly any stretch of dialog.

I've still a lot to explore in Japan as I've only been to Fukuoka, Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo... and I've yet to go to Mount Fuji, Okinawa, or into the heart of the Ainu and Shintoism in Hokkaido. Then again, I could list everywhere in Japan as in need of visiting!

 

私の国のレビューのためにいつものように、これはあなたがウィキトラベルやロンリープラネットに見つけるだろう出張報告書のようなものではありません。私は上記のそれらの旅レビューそれぞれにリンクされてきました。

むしろ、私はちょうど日本の私の認識を提供したい。

日本は文化的にだけでなく、 食品用として両方、私の好きな​​国の一つです。私は私の人生の残りのために国外へ追放されるように、私はその国の国境を残すことができなかったならば、私は日本やイタリアのどちらかを選ぶだろうと思っていました。多くは、日本が西洋人が本当にに収まることができませんでしたように、外国人であると思うだろうし、本当かもしれないことを、私はアメリカ人よりも日本人の感情と共通の多くのがわかりました。私は日本人以上に謝ることを複数回コメントをさえ持っていた。私は目的の献身と同様、平均的な日本人がそれらと運ぶことが責任の知識を理解し、尊重しています。もちろん、私はすべての日本人に同意しない。彼らはまだ科学的な研究を装って、商業的に鯨を狩ると残虐行為と、彼らは、特に中国では、第二次世界大戦中に行われレイプに関する彼らの修正主義の歴史については本当に静かにしている。さらに、日本の若者の多くは、自分の最近の歴史に気づかまたは世界の他の部分については思える。

しかし、脇にこれらのマイナーポイント、私は言葉を学び、より良い文化を吸収するために長い旅をしたかったので、長年のために行くことを躊躇し、日本で好きにあまりあります。私は私の日本のクラスを維持し、非常に多くの他の言語が好きでよかったのに、私は待っていなかったのが嬉しいんだけど、 、私はいくつかの点で私の研究を再開したいと思っています。

それにもかかわらず、混乱通りを にもかかわらず、非常に少数の日本人が英語を話すという事実は、私はいつも（あなたが本当に7-11コンビニで素晴らしい寿司のように、一定の費用が著しく安価であるとして、あなたの費用を見ているのに、日本では自分自身を楽しんできたそれはオーバーザトップ高価なオプションを見つけることが...もちろん、このような費用のために得る品質は常に）日本では高くなることも非常に簡単ですしながら。

私は間違いなく何度も何度も日本​​に戻って、私が住んでいると、好ましく内で動作できることを国にそれを追加したいしたい、と私が持っている一つの夢は、日本に琉球から三角形のサンゴ礁調査を実施することであるパラオにミクロネシアを通じて西見出し、沖縄へのバックアップ接続する前に、北マリアナ諸島、グアムへの伊豆諸島と小笠原諸島を通じ東京からダウンし、 "適切な"と。そのような物は私の夢であり、日本は夢に大きな国です。そして、私はシェイクスピアは日本を意識していたならば、彼が彼の文字の多くに十分な類似点を発見したであろう、1つは簡単にダイアログのほとんど任意のストレッチでロミオとジュリエットの日本語版を見ることができると確信している。

私はまだ私は唯一の福岡、大阪、京都、東京に行ってきたように、日本で探索する多くのことをしました...と私は富士山、沖縄、または北海道のアイヌと神道の中心に山に行くしたことはありません。その後、再び、私が訪問するのを必要としているとして、日本のいたるところに一覧表示することができます！

Jean-Claude Van Damme calls Hong Kong home for last 3+ years

Just learned that Jean-Claude Van Damme has been living in Hong Kong for the last 3 years or so (of course he also spends some time in Brussels, but HK is now his "home")... I'd be curious if any of my Hong Kong-based friends ever saw him on the streets, even with the chances low. I never have in >10 visits to Hong Kong, albeit most visits were very short-term stops taking advantage of long or overnight layovers.

The Expendables 2 is upcoming soon. It will be nice to see if Van Damme can return to form considering he used to be so big and now has been stuck in a direct-to-video rut.
I still rank Bloodsport and Kickboxer among the top action films I've seen, even though parts of them are campy by today's standards.

The true size of Africa in relation to other countries

 

 

The original link for the above graphic is: http://static02.mediaite.com/geekosystem/uploads/2010/10/true-size-of-africa.jpg

 
I've discussed before how I think the geographic knowledge of American's in general is pretty poor... and the above graphic does a great job at showing just how large Africa is, which appears quite small on most maps, as evidenced below, due to Eurocentric map projections aimed at reducing distortion in northern latitudes (where most land mass is).

Anyway, I found the above illuminating, so I thought I'd reshare it after seeing it posted online. Based on the table in the graphic, Russia (as the largest country in the world) has about 11% of the Earth's landmass, meaning it is about the size of half of Africa (yet looks much larger in most map projections).

Amazing Race 18 spotted in Kunming and Lijiang, China

It looks like others have confirmed that Amazing Race 18 is now in China (or has just left). The gentleman "Steve" whom I ran into and seemed to be the host is not the Phil Keoghan from past seasons so perhaps there were 2 shows being filmed consecutively.

For the request of the person below and for others whom may be reading, here are some pictures and short videos (sorry for the poor production value) I think so I'm only posting some pictures) of what I believe to be various Amazing Race 18 contestants. See my original post (linked here) about the various teams I believe I saw (at least 4 distinct teams, plus watching crew).

Mind you, I didn't get up in people's faces and take lots of photos or videos but I hope what I have is interesting to some.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Travel Updates: Vietnam impressions & air ticket c...":
It's amazing race 18.. :) if you mind put on blog for picture some amazing race.. :)

Posted by Anonymous to Adventure Naturalist at November 29, 2010 4:34 AM

On Nov 29, 2010, at 18:34 +0800, Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Travel Updates: Vietnam impressions & air ticket c...":
It's amazing race 18.. :) if you mind put on blog for picture some amazing race.. :)

Posted by Anonymous to Adventure Naturalist at November 29, 2010 4:34 AM

A few more words on The Amazing Race, which I saw live while in Yunnan, China.

I saw the teams when I was in Kunming (Yunnan China) waiting to catch a train to Lijiang (the night sleeper train). 

I saw two females with dyed red hair being interviewed by a cameraman and a boom mic hand. I didn't think much of it but overheard the cameraman asking them about whether the flight was a tight connection. 

Then when down by the train platform I saw 2 other camera crew running by the train. I then told my friend who said she saw 2 black guys being interviewed also. I then commented that it would be funny if it was The Amazing Race. 

When arriving in Lijiang early I saw 2 white guys in cowboy hats being filmed as they got into a shared taxi. I then realized it must be TAR or something similar. 

When in Lijiang old town after checking into a hotel I saw a couple more camera crew walking and talking. And one said "where are the lead teams?" to which the other replied "must be heading to the hill by now. I then asked my friend, who is from Likiang, where a high overlook was. We went there and that's when I saw "Steve." I filmed a little but he walked over to speak to me and I asked if he was with TAR but he replied "No I wish. Just a travel show with the Discovery Channel. Why, did you see the Amazing Race filming here?" I then said I loved Discovery and yeah I thought I saw the TAR crew and at least 3 teams (saw a 4th later). He then stopped interacting with his translator and some roadblock or final leg woman, whom he'd been acting out how to respond to teams if they put up a fuss. I figured I was in the way of production so I wished Steve well and left. 

Later I saw some Chinese in local traditional Naxi costumes by a large prayer device with Chinese zodiac symbols and a 4th team answering a puzzle and putting a slip of paper in a slot and ten getting an envelope and running away to their next leg. That's where I took most pictures of the many crew. 

Hope my pictures are satisfying to some because I know they aren't the best (I'm not a journalist and felt uncomfortable getting into everyones' faces but probably should have done more). 

Thanks for your comment and I look forward to contributing and following along though I'm on my own Amazing Race visiting friends in Asia before some work in the Philippines, so I might not be able to comment often. 

Guest Article by Alex Johnson

This week we have a guest article by a reader, Alex Johnson, on the role of environmental Science in US policy, using the case of asbestos and other issues. I hope everyone enjoys! And thanks Alex for the contribution.

Robert Oceans
WEB: http://adventure-naturalist.blogspot.com
EMAIL: adventure.naturalist@gmail.com
---------------------------------------------- GUEST ARTICLE -----------------------------------------------
Environmental Science
As the world’s population continues to grow, so does the demand on the planet’s natural resources. Increased consumption of these resources contributes to a decline in the environment, while ensuring energy depletion for future generations. 

For example, once fossil fuels are depleted that source of energy is gone for good.  Therefore, countries such as the United States are stepping up efforts to develop sources of green energy that are both efficient and affordable for the general public.

Prime Example

The use of asbestos highlights the importance of environmental science for future generations.  Although the use of asbestos actually dates back to Greek and Roman ancient history, more recent information regarding asbestos helps us understand the impact of this natural mineral substance.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the use of asbestos began to steadily increase in America. Because of its fire-retardant nature and insulating qualities, the material was used by construction workers, industrial workers, shipbuilders, and military personnel in the daily performance of their duties.  Although manufacturers and company officials were aware of the potentially hazardous qualities of asbestos, profits exceeded their concern for the environment and the workers that were constantly exposed to asbestos.

It wasn’t until years later that the workers began paying the price for mining and using asbestos.  The microscopic particles that polluted the air embedded in the mesothelium, the lining that surrounds many internal organs, of individuals who breathed in dust from this environment hazard. Decades later, those same particles are responsible for men and women developing mesothelioma, which is an aggressive cancer with a poor prognosis.

Because the cancer cells may lie dormant for decades, and the symptoms are very subtle, individuals are do not frequently show the mesothelioma symptoms, until the cancer has moved from the point of origin, making several treatment options unavailable.  Physicians are left with treatments necessary to reduce the symptoms and improve quality of life for the time remaining.

Another example of why environmental science is so vital to the future of America, and the world, is Dana Reeves.  Famous for her fight to find better treatments for spinal cord injuries, she died of lung cancer.  Dana did not smoke.  She was not a former mine worker. She was probably not exposed to asbestos.  Yet, she passed away from lung cancer at a relatively young age.

Environmental science is dedicated to improving the relationships organisms have with the environment (which includes people), in the hopes that it will improve the lives of this and future generations.

Alex Johnson