How to land a job at the United Nations

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Japan Watch-Japanese Sumo Wrestling (2)

Sumo Ceremony

SUMO CEREMONY
As a sport which has boasted a history of some 1500 years, sumo has inherited from the past many traditional rituals and etiquette as follows.
The ring entering ceremony, or Dohyo iri (土俵入り) 

The ring entering ceremony takes place immediately before the Makuuchi (幕内) matches. Firstly, down from one aisle, in the rank order from bottom to top, comes out one team of  sumo wrestlers but Yokoduna (横綱) who are qualified for the Makuuchi matches, and wearing ceremonial aprons. These silk aprons are luxuriantly embroidered with exquisite patterns and hemmed with gold fringes. Therefore, they are quite expensive, costing somewhere from 40,000 to 50,000 JPY. The wrestlers, or rikishi, climb into the ring and go through a short ceremony which has been practiced since ancient times. Then they depart the ring followed by the other team of sumo wrestlers from a different aisle repeating the same procedure. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aduHO7dl3d8)

Japan Watch-Japanese Sumo Wrestling (1)

Japanese Sumo Wrestling

As a national symbol , Japanese sumo wrestling (相撲) is a competitive full-contact sport originating in Japan, the only country where it is practiced professionally nowadays. According to sumo rules, the wrestler who attempts to force his adversary out of a circular ring called dohyo (土俵) or to touch the ground with any body part but the soles of the feet will be the winner. Rather than a modern Japanese martial art, sumo has boasted a history of some 1500 years. Still, many ancient traditions have been preserved in Sumo, and even today the sport includes many traditional rituals, such as the use of salt purification, from the days when sumo was used in Shinto religion. Life as a rikishi, or sumo wrestler, is highly regulated with strict rules devised by the Japanese Sumo Association (http://www.sumo.or.jp/). Most sumo wrestlers are supposed to live in communal sumo training stables known in Japanese as heya (部屋) and every details of their daily lives, from meals to their dressing manner, are dictated by strict traditional rules.

ORIGIN & DEVELOPMENT
Japanese legend had it that the Japanese as a race was formed after the God, Take Mikazucih(タケミカヅチ), had defeated the leader of a rival tribe in a sumo bout. It is hard to tell whether the legend is true or not, but one thing is certain that Japanese sumo does have a religious origin. The first sumo matches, along with some sacred dancing and dramas, were part of a ritual practiced within the precincts of shrines dedicated to the gods with prayer for a bountiful harvest. 

Sumo Legend

Sumo's religious origin

In the Nara Period (奈良時代), sumo came into the ceremonies of imperial court. A wrestling festival was held annually including music and dancing in which wrestling winners would take part. Without strict rules, early sumo was just a rough-and-tumble game in an unlimited area, which allowed such actions as boxing and wrestling. Later, owing to the imperial influence, rules and techniques similar to those of today's sumo began to form.

In 1192, a military dictatorship was established by Minamoto no Yoritomo(源頼朝),the founder and the first Shogun(将軍) of Kamakura Shogunate, in Kamakura (鎌倉). Afterwards, a long-lasting war broke out. Therefore, sumo was employed as a means to train samurai, or Japanese warriors. Peace was finally restored when different warring factions were united under the Tokugawa shogunate (徳川幕府) in 1603. A period of prosperity ensued, and the mercantile class rose as an influential power. Varied sumo groups emerged, serving to entertain the rapidly expanding plebian class. Sumo came into its own as a national sport. The present Japan Sumo Association can be traced back to these sumo groups emerging  initially in Edo period.

                            

                                  Minamoto no Yoritomo

Tokugawa Ieyasu

Japan Watch-The Traditional Village in Boso, Chiba

The Traditional Village in Boso, Chiba, or Boso no mura(房総のむら) (http://www.chiba-muse.or.jp/MURA/)
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“Just in Time” Production System in Toyota

Toyota's JIT (Just in Time) production system, or Kanban(看板) system, has revolutionized the car industry since it was firstly adopted by Toyota in the 1950s. As defined in the Wikipedia, the JIT system is “an inventory strategy that strives to improve a business's return on investment by reducing in-process inventory and related carrying costs.” Simply speaking, JIT is designed to achieve high-volume production using minimal inventories of raw material. The concept behind it is that a company can save money on parts and components by not having to store them, because in the JIT system they are delivered to the assembly line just in time to be installed on the car. It is based on the philosophy that nothing will be produced until it is needed in order to reduce waste, which is caused by activities that add cost without adding value, such as the unnecessary moving of parts, the accumulation of materials in the warehouse.

To meet JIT objectives, there are two key points. Firstly, the process relies heavily on billboards, or Kanban, between different points in the process. Before the Kanban system was introduced, upstream parts suppliers decided how many parts to manufacture based on their own experience and predictions. This had often caused overproduction and thus unnecessary waste. The Kanban system has soundly solved the problem. As its name suggests, in Kanban system, orders were firstly written on billboards, or Kanban, which informed suppliers of the number of parts needed. Today Toyota as well as other major car makers uses electronic systems instead of the traditional billboard system. But the essential function remains the same. The second factor that weighs in JIT production system is that the smoothness of the whole production line should be ensured. Thus, JIT demands high levels of quality at each stage of the whole process. Unlike traditional production lines, in the JIT production system there is little or no need for warehouse storage of parts as they should arrive in time just when you need them. While saving time and money by avoiding repeated handling of parts, there are also downsides in the JIT production system. When an unexpected holdup in delivery or bad parts emerged on the production line, the entire production line has to be slowed, or even stopped. Thus, there can be a serious loss of production while awaiting parts or other materials. You can imagine the chaos if a delivery vehicle has broken down and fail to deliver materials in time. The production line could lay idle until the materials do arrive. Actually, during the early years after the JIT system was introduced, line stops did frequently occur almost on a daily basis. However, as time went on, the rate had fallen to only a few per week. In sum, only when the smoothness of the production line is guaranteed, can the JIT production system work well.

Japan Watch-Asuke Yasiki

The Yasiki (屋敷) in Asuke(足助), Japan, is a special place where there are distinctive workshops. In these workshops, the processes of making traditional craft products with local features, such as textiles, Japanese Paper, lacquer works, woodworks, bamboo weaving works, have been demonstrated to outside visitors. Meanwhile, visitors can also have the opportunity to interact with and learn from the local craftsmen concerning traditional handicrafts, and participate in any producing process as they would like to. It would be no exaggeration to say that Yasiki is a live “folk archive”, in which featured local cultural heritage has been demonstrated and promoted.

The Asuke Yasiki is a successful design case of applying Endogenous Regional Development Theories into practice. Actually, since its foundation, the Asuke Yasiki has not been financially supported by government, but by the local community. Job opportunities have been created for experienced craftsmen with varied craft skills here. And, external visitors can learn the traditional skills from local craftsmen, and experience the whole producing process in person. Through the interaction between external visitors and local people, the featured local cultural heritage has been exhibited and promoted, and certainly, profits have been gained. Meanwhile, the visitors have a more profound understanding of the local cultural heritage through their own personal experience. Both the visitors and the local craftsmen gain great pleasure-a sense of fulfillment-that cannot be valued by money during the communication process.  In sum, besides its endogenous, autonomous and self-reliant properties, the Yasiki case has enriched the Endogenous Regional Development Theories by involving external participation into the process of the promotion of regional cultural heritage.

The Law for the Promotion of Japanese Traditional Craft Industries

The Law for the Promotion of Japanese Traditional Craft Industries (伝統的工芸品振興法), enacted on May 25th, 1974, has been designed to preserve and promote Japanese traditional handicraft in the Age of Industrialization and Globalization. It functions as follows:

I It defines the authorities who have the right to validate a traditional craft. According to the law, a traditional craft is designated by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry.

II It specifies the standards of being a traditional craft. As required by the law, a traditional craft should be:

·used mainly in daily life;

·produced primarily by hand;

·manufactured using a traditional skill or technique;

·made from traditional materials

·manufactured in a certain area with a certain number of craftsmen.

Just as what the law was invented for, it has really gone a long way toward protecting and promoting the Japanese traditional craft since the day of its promulgation. In my point of view, the reason why the law has functioned so well is as follows. Firstly, the law clearly specifies the protection targets, which is of great significance. Actually, before the law was introduced, people had already realized the necessity of protecting traditional crafts, yet problem would occur when they began to take concrete actions because they might get confused with which one should be protected as a traditional craft. Secondly, it explicitly sets standards of being a traditional craft, which ensures its high quality, and thus be beneficial for its long-term development. Otherwise, some may pursue blindly high production and high speed, in spite of the product quality for the short-term profits, and the whole traditional craft industry would fall into vicious competitions. Last but not least, the official recognition from the national level above serves to build public confidence in handicraft quality and stir up a strong sense of pride within craftsmen and local communities. These three reasons above explain well the effectiveness of the law in promoting traditional crafts.

The Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries, founded in July, 1975, has constantly been playing a pivotal role in protecting and promoting traditional crafts at the grass-root level in Japan. It has three main functions as follows. Firstly, it serves as a “manager” to ensure the smooth working of the whole traditional craft industry system. For instance, it will honor a craftsman with the title “Master Craftsman”, issue a certificate of authenticity for each craft product that bears the symbol mark of a traditional craft, give public commendations as well as financial awards to those who have contributed much to the promotion of traditional crafts, and so forth. Similar scenarios can often be seen in a company, the “manager” who operates the whole company provides, now and then, material incentives to those distinguished “employees” in order to achieve higher productivity. Secondly, it functions as a “researcher”, who often conducts researches on the data of materials, techniques, and inspirations of traditional crafts, and provides useful guidance for future design and quality improvement. Lastly, the association acts as a “propagandist” who is always engaged in publicizing traditional crafts. For instance, it often assists in organizing exhibitions of traditional crafts, holding handicraft product festivals, distributing relevant pamphlet and books to school children, and keeping customers informed.

Soetsu Yanagi & Japan Folk Crafts Museum

The Japan Folk Crafts Museum (http://www.mingeikan.or.jp/ ) was established  in 1936 by Yanagi Soetsu (also known as Yanagi Muneyoshi, 柳宗悦,  March 21, 1889 - May 3, 1961), a Japanese philosopher and the initiator of the Folk Craft Movement in Japan in the late 1920s and 1930s. 

Yanagi's classic book The Unknown Craftsman has drawn world attention since its English version (translated by Bernard Leach) was first released in 1972. In this book, Yanagi expatiated clearly the philosophy of the Japanese Folk Craft Movement  and discovered beauty in everyday ordinary and utilitarian objects, including pottery, lacquer, textile and woodwork, by nameless and unknown craftsmen. According to Yanagi, these daily utilitarian objects made by common people are 'beyond beauty and ugliness'.

Calligraphy by Yanagi-beyond beauty and ugliness

The criteria of folk arts&crafts are as follows:

(i) made by common crafts people; (ii) produced by hand in quantity; (iii) inexpensive; (iv) used by general public; (v) functional in daily life; and (vi)characteristic of the region where it is produced.

In 1916, Yanagi visited Korea for the first time out of his strong interest in Korean crafts. The trip resulted in the foundation of the Korean Folk Crafts Museum in 1924. Meanwhile, the Japanese word Mingei, or folk crafts, was coined by Yanagi in 1926 together with potters Hanada Shoji (1894-1978) and Kawai Kanjiro (1890-1966). The Folk Crafts Movement was formally declared by Yanagi in 1926,  an age when Japanese traditional culture was overwhelmed by western culture, and many daily utilitarian objects used by common people in Edo and Meji period were gradually disappearing with Japan's rapid industrialization and urbanization. Faced with strong negative impacts of western culture on Japanese traditional culture at that time, Yanagi,  like many other great thinkers, began to rethink the Japan's development model, i.e. blindly worshiping and fully embracing western culture, and tried to rediscover the glamour and value of Japanese folk arts&crafts culture. 

In 1936, Yanagi Soetsu founded the Japan Folk Crafts Museum and acted as its first director. The Museum was designed and most of its 17,000 pieces selected by Yanagi himself. Due to his early fascination with Korean art which sparked his strong interest in oriental folk arts&crafts, Yanagi provided a room exclusively for Korean folk arts&crafts mainly in Korean Yi Dynasty (1392~1910 AD) in order to pay tribute to them. 

Chris and I at the museum gate

How to pronounce 'r' and 'l'

For 90 % of the world population, including even a considerable proportion of native English speakers, English is a foreign language. To speak English like a native speaker? So difficult, but really worth a try. Maybe, one can not finally achieve perfection, but he/she can at least try to approach to the ideal as closely as possible. Many foreign English speakers can speak very good English, but their speaking still sounds a little bit foreign to the native. Why? Because they just ignore some minor flaws in their pronunciation.

Along with others, 'r' and 'l' (the 'l' in the final position or followed by a consonant)as consonants are difficult to pronounce for many foreign English speakers. I thought  I pronounce these two consonants correctly, before recently Chris, one of my friends from UK, pointed out my minor mistakes in enunciating them. English Pronunciation Lessons with Jennifer ESL (http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=81BCA0A2CB139CB7) explains English pronunciation well.

I How to pronounce 'r':

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5LWUbbTlsk&feature=channel

(i) Round your lip just a little; (ii) Raise the tip of the tongue towards the hard bump behind your upper front teeth, but do not let your tongue touch the bump; (iii) The center of  the tongue is a little down; (iv) The back of the tongue is raised and pulled into a tight ball; and (v) The sides of your tongue are up, just enough to touch the upper side teeth.

II How to pronounce 'l' in different conditions: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd9_ygTggtE&feature=related

(i) 'l' is a voiced consonant; (ii) The tip of your tongue makes contact with the bump behind your upper teeth front teeth; (iii) Air flows along the sides of your tongue (because the sides are down)

Life is growth. If we stop growing, life is as good as dead. So is English learning. We should keep correcting our pronunciation till it is perfect.