Still here then? You’ve got guts! Or wait, are those guts where I think they..? Oh no. They are. Everywhere.

I’m impressed. You’re still reading. Well then, I’d best start writing a little bit about the curiosity that is Daikichi Amano. Self-proclaimed “perverted master of fish and girls”, this Katsushika Hokusai of the present age is anything but shy, frankly claiming his film-work is “not art, but porn“. (I would link to the source video documentary but it is just too explicit).

Many seem to disagree, however. Mondo Bizzarro Gallery describe his work quite eloquently:

Amano’s photographs are drawn from his own private fantasies. Fantasies that are animistic, animalistic and atavistic in nature, but all-too-human in execution, evoking primal fears and desires. In Amano’s world, the human body is worshipped and admired for its awesome beauty but also deformed and fused with nature – with wood, blood, bones, scales and feathers – transforming it into an erotic grotesque. But these frightful dioramas are also cut through with the blackest humour.

Most of his photography is surrealistic, but his videos might better be described as just ‘shocking’. The works of his adult film company ‘genki-genki’ are notorious. There is a very good reason I have not linked to the site; I think it exists in a category of its own for its sheer primal and explicit nature. But I imagine the more daring amongst you are already copying and pasting the name into Google. Do let me know your reactions in the comments, won’t you?

So why such a brazen post today? I guess I like to challenge my readers to confront themselves from time to time, and I think that’s exactly what this type of work does. It forces you to go places you’d never dreamed and in doing so better understand yourself. At least, that’s what I hope it does. I’d like you to really ponder over your reactions today.

Why are our impulses towards adult video and such explicit material usually so negative and powerful? What are the roots of our shameful feelings? Couldn’t pornography just be explained as a form of art and self-expression? And is it really *philosophically* morally wrong to create or view such material?

I know, I’m opening a can of worms on myself (sorry for the bad contextual pun). But I’d love to hear your thoughts :). Peace.

The silence wasn’t to hold for long however, as a distant clatter of helicopter blades came from the horizon. Time to get back inside…

Gunkajima – Ruins of a Forbidden Island

I got a phone call from a Yonesaka-san at 9.30am. It had been a long night before, with me getting hooked into watching past Doctor Who episodes (I’ve been catching up!). Yawning and fighting off the lingering effects of a strange dream involving me falling between mountains and trees, I answered my phone.

A barrage of hot, accented Japanese hit my ear with no less force than a traditional wake-up call with a pail of water.

Wuh..? “Gr…grapes..?” I muttered dazily. “A farm..?”

His name didn’t ring any immediate bells, nor did I fully understand what he was asking me to do, but it seemed to involve grape-picking. And perhaps an afternoon lunch? I wasn’t sure, but he had my number and knew my name, so it was a safe bet I’d met him somewhere. I suggested to meet at 1pm and called my friend Dave to get him in on the business too.

“Come on Dave!” I pestered to my grumpy comrade not at all pleased to have been woken up early on a Sunday. “It’ll be an adventure! Not quite knowing what we’re doing or with whom…”

“Fine…fine. Call me again at 12 so I can get ready”.

I could hear his scowl down the phone line.

Roll on 1pm and Mr. Yonesaka rolls up in his car to pick me up. Yes, I thought so. I’d met him a couple of times at the city hall and briefly talked about grapes. I’m terrible at remembering names and faces. I usually have to meet someone on 5 separate occasions before I sign their name into my long term memory. Exceptions seem to almost exclusively involve cute members of the opposite sex. Go figure.

Arriving at Mr. Yonesaka’s house and personal grape farm, we were treated to a light lunch of cake before going out to cut some of the gorgeous 巨峰 (kyohou – purple Japanese grapes). The season is almost over, Mr. Yonesaka tells us while entertaining his 2 year old granddaughter Hina-chan (or Hee-chan for short!) He would let us take a couple of boxes of the expensive fruit home for ourselves!

It was hot work and the blasted mosquitoes got me again and again, but ultimately good fun doing a little photography and playing with Hee-chan as we gathered the grapes. It seems Mr. Yonesaka wants to recruit us to help out again next year! If the taste of the chilled kyohou we picked is anything to go by, I certainly won’t be missing out another chance to grab some! Mostly seedless, edible skins and simply divine. A far cry from the fuss and mess of eating normal Japanese grapes!

Also had a nice little experience of 人情 (ninjyou – compassion/kindness) from a little old lady in my apartment block the same day. I had so many grapes that I gave a couple of bunches to my landlord and the lady that was talking to him at the time. A couple of hours later, I have a ring at my door and the same little old lady is standing there looking a little nervous but clutching a big box of laundry detergent and energy drinks.

“You can use these, right?” she offered.

“Yes, yes. Thank you very much” I grinned in reply watching her totter off again.

Ahh, always nice to interact with the neighbours. Hope she enjoyed the grapes!

I’ll be writing up a post with some of the tips and tricks for language study that you all mentioned to me pretty soon, so stay tuned for that too!

3rd Place Winners

Taking home a block of Tofu note paper or a kanjified loo roll are:

Sabine
KYO
Dave Gardner
M Fox

Congratulations to you all! I’ll be sending the prizes out randomly, so it’ll be a little bit a surprise what you get ;).

2nd Place Winners

Receiving tofu note paper *and* kanji toilet roll are:

J
Ntsebo Yukiko
Tony

J tells us to try learning by singing, Ntsebo talks about slowly building up your studying and Tony recommends making a hardcore t.v. schedule!

1st Place Winners

Oh yes. Kanji loo roll, tofu papers and a handy Japanese phrasebook go to:

Crowbeak
Tracey Lee
Rene
Vassasu

Rene kicks us off with a neat blog post talking about the importance of correct intonation and accent and how learning grammar can be made easier by absorbing the patterns naturally. Crowbeak instructs us on the importance of using real sources and information when learning the language and gives plenty of great examples. Tracey Lee tells us 4 ways to boost your studying by directing your language study to fit your own interests, staying organised, chopping and changing things up and practising real communication. Finally, Vassasu drills us a load of different options in an amusing Youtube video. (Anybody sending me Hard Gay pictures of themselves will be banned! :P)

Star Prize Winner

And finally, we get our star prize winner. It wasn’t easy, and I had a tough time making the decision over some of the other more creative entries, but Alexandra’s insightful comment won me over by making me think more deeply about language learning and its roots in childhood. Well done Miss Rowland! You’ll be receiving the full set of stuff: the Japanese phrasebook, Kanji toilet roll, tofu note paper, Potechi no Te and a personalised thank-you postcard from me :).

Alexandra Rowland

**********

So if your name is on the list, get in contact with me (if I haven’t got to you first!) I’ll need to verify your email or IP address in order to match you all up before getting the goodies on their way to you!.

Sorry to all those who didn’t win this time. There were a lot of thoughtful entries and people who were clearly making a great effort, but only 12 prizes to hand out :/. There will be competitions here on Gakuranman.com in the future though, so stay tuned and keep studying hard :). And naturally, a big, big thank-you to Flutterscape for donating all the awesome prizes. If you haven’t done so already, go an check them out for buying cool stuff from Japan in the cheapest and easiest way possible!

Until next time!

Aokan can refer to one of two things, beautifully separated by some busy kanji. Let’s take a brief look at the supposed origins.

It’s said to have been stemmed from aokan (青邯), meaning to ‘sleep under the open skies’, or just ‘sleeping outdoors’ those of us less poetically inclined. The first kanji – ‘ao’, meaning ‘blue’ – refers to the blue sky above us. The second kanji – ‘kan’, meaning ‘sleep’ has its origins a little deeper.

According to the Zokugo Dictionary:

青邯の「青」は野外を意味する『青天井』の略、「邯」は『邯鄲』の略である。邯鄲とは中国河北省南部の都市名だが「邯鄲の枕（邯鄲の夢）」という枕中期（中国の伝奇小説）にちなんで「居眠り」や「寝る」という意味でも使われる。

Loosely translated:

The ‘ao’ in aokan refers to the blue sky outdoors, whereas the ‘kan’ is from ‘kantan’ (邯鄲). Kantan is the name of a city in the southern region of China’s Kahokusho, but the word takes on its meaning of ‘sleep’ or ‘nap’ from the Chinese romance novel ‘Kantan no Makura’ (Kantan no Yume’) – ‘Dreams of Splendour’*.

*Not entirely sure on the English name for this novel – this was my best guess.

So that’s that. Old Chinese romance novels leaving their fingerprints all over modern Japanese slang. No wonder things are getting dirty around here.

Laying down the real aokan then, the first kanji – blue – remains the same but the second kanji is different. Kan (姦) is used to symbolise improper sexual relations. Most often used to mean adultery, but it can be found in similarly nasty words with different meanings. Take it to the dictionary if you’re wanting to peek there…

So basically, ‘illicit sex outdoors’. I guess there’s still a big taboo about getting down to business surrounded by Mother Nature then. Still, a word to remember, I reckon. What with all those wonderful outdoor locations in Japan, you never know when it might come in handy. And no, I shan’t be answering questions as to why I came to know this word. Suffice to say, you can learn a lot at nomikai ;p.

Some related terms of interest:

野宿 – nojuku – to sleep outdoors (without a roof over your head).
枕中期 – chinchuki – An old Chinese romance novel.

And an example sentence or two. No use knowing the word if you can’t use it!

青姦はとても動物的であり自然行為。Outdoor sex is a very animalistic and natural act.

今年3月にオランダの議会が、年間1000万人が訪れる観光地として有名なVondelparkという市民公園での青姦を合法化したそうだ。This March it is said that the Dutch parliament will legalise outdoor sex in Vondelpark, a public park and famous tourist spot known for receiving over 10,000,000 visitors a year.

(Source).

Image source.
Image source.

As I began in my off-the-cuff travel blog, I met up with fellow haikyo explorer Florian from Abandoned Kansai early one morning. Our destination was to be the famous Maya Hotel (摩耶観光ホテル), known as a ‘holy place’ among haikyo fanatics. Seemingly good reason, too, because although the place was gutted and bashed, wet and overgrown, something else was lurking there. Something that felt almost spiritual.

It was a hard slog up Rokko mountain, despite the relative coolness of the early morning mist. Creepy crawlies of all shapes and sizes pounded against our faces as we sweated and heaved ourselves up the restricted hiking footpath Florian had scouted out. We’d opted for this route primarily to keep our heads low. It’s said that the ropeway staff keep an eye out for explorers visiting the hotel, so we wanted to enter through the back door, so to speak. That, and it was 5.30am. The ropeway wouldn’t be active for another few hours yet.

We began from the rooftops paved with a crumbling concrete veneer. Tellingly, the hotel was showing its grand old age. Built in 1932, the once proud chimney that stood tall among the clouds above Kobe city was now lying flat and dead. Mysteriously, an old tyre supposedly from a B-29 plane lay crashed through the bright red corrugated roof. The likelihood is however, that somewhere simply disposed of it here as the hotel was renovated after the war.

The old hotel used to be known as the ‘Battleship Hotel’ due to its reinforced concrete construction resembling all things military. It has been re-named and re-used for several different purposes, suffering numerous periods of disuse and damage through typhoons and air-raids during the war.

Its final use however, was lodgings for by student activity groups which finally ceased operation in 1994. Since then, the structure has been deemed unsafe to enter and restricted .

Florian and I quickly surveyed the empty roof and began making our way back downstairs. The place was alive and I’m definitely not referring to the insects. Water dripped from all manner of places, turning the floors into a slippery ooze of green and yellowed paper peeled slowly from the walls. Soft breezes rushed through room after empty room and nothing but the curious pitter-pattering sounds of water droplets could be heard.

Spat. Spat.

SpatSpat… spat. Spat.

The ballroom on the upper floor was a grand sight to behold. For some reason a bright red sofa lay positioned so carefully in the centre of the room. Far too new to have been there before, and I’ve never seen it in any other photos.

Perhaps it was used in a recent photoshoot? I pondered to myself.

As I mentioned at the start of this article, I didn’t quite appreciate the majesty of the Maya Hotel while viewing it. Sure, I was busy looking around, admiring the greens of the foliage and the oranges of the distinctive stained Art Deco-style glass windows, but I wasn’t attuned to the soul of the place. Only afterwards, having returned to comfort of my little apartment and sitting down to edit the pictures did I realise just what an atmosphere this location has. Blame my lack of connection on the heat, the bugs, my absent-mindedness. I’m not sure exactly, but it’s only now that the full impact of this place is hitting me.

Florian and I did manage to find the fabled and much-photographed room however, just as the countless picture foretold it to be. It was breathtaking. Perhaps, for just a brief moment, I did connect to that spiritual side of the Maya Hotel. It was like stepping into a forgotten storybook. Of witches homes with puffing chimney pots and forbidden forests of lore. The greens. The yellows. The lonely table staring out the twisted branches of trees scratch-scratching at the windows to get in. And yet, still. And peaceful. And with an ancient wisdom buried somewhere nearby.

As Kurihara from ‘Nippon no Haikyo’ puts it: If there were a god of haikyo, he would undoubtedly be staying at the Maya Hotel. (p195). I wholeheartedly agree.

As with most haikyo, there were a few interesting objects lying around, but the age of this place as well as the popularity means that most of the original decor has been damaged or stolen. An old telephone – something of a staple in haikyo, along with old chairs – and a discarded lighter rested in the dining room.

Florian and I had been wondering where all the guest rooms were supposed to have been. There was nothing but large, open rooms on the two upper floors, but we found a staircase that led down to a darker area which seemed to fit the bill. A broken pot and some eerie wallpaper, but not a great deal. I certainly wouldn’t want to hang around here on my own though. The corridor with light spilling from one of the doorways beckoned me in quite an unnatural way.

It turns out though that there was another floor with Japanese style rooms further down which Florian and I did not reach. The summer forest was thick with vegetation and sticky and itchy from numerous insect bites, we rounded things up for our hike down the mountain. I hear the night time view of Kobe from this hotel is something spectacular though. Perhaps a return visit is in order, under cover of darkness…

There’s a lot more information on the history hotel here on Wikipedia and here on nk8513‘s blog (including a great many leaflets and old pictures such as the one above!)

Lost worlds of Japan – Exploring the popularity of haikyo, the nostalgia for all things transient and a mention of my interview.

Roads to nowhere lead to past times – An authority on Japan’s old tunnels, Yoshiyuki Hiranuma, gives us a rundown.

Crumbling relics tell of life and death — and of rebirth, too – Kaoru Nakata gives a great overview of Japan’s ruins and how they provide not just an economic value to the country, but also a spiritual one.

I’m curious. What’s the deeper meaning behind ruins for you?