D.A. Maxwell (awickedmemory) wrote, @ 2008-10-20 11:55:00

Japan: 10/14-19/2008
Hirakata, Osaka: October 14, Tuesday
     Went to class. Class ended. Went to club. Got into an extended discussion on the ideal suicide.
     It all started when the girl whose name I don't know asked how to say she was free from x-o'clock to y-o'clock on Thursday (in Japanese, of course-- how to say it in Japanese). She was trying to text her conversation partner and set up a time to meet.
     That resulted in a lot of confusion, and I ended up just writing it down and handing it to her to copy into her cell phone. Then, while reading it aloud to make sure things were right, she kept messing up on speaking, so, frustrated, she declared that her time of availability on Thursday was now Seppuku Jikan (suicide hour... more or less-- seppuku was the ritualistic suicide of honour done by samurai).
     Now, it's dangerous to bring up any topic that's extreme in any way around Kyle, one of our other club members. This one message spawned a lengthy debate because she wanted to arrange a mass suicide, but Kyle would insist that it wasn't fashionable, and she had to do a lover's suicide. She'd point out that she's nto seeing anyone, so Kyle suggested she find somebody, perhaps on eBay, to perform the lover's suicide with her.
     (Lover's suicide is another recurring topic in the club, because Kyle can't or won't remember the title of the bunraku play "Love Suicides at Amijima," and I'm eternally correcting him.)
     So then the topic went on to what was and wasn't a 'fashionable' sort of suicide, and how she can't possibly commit seppuku because she's a modern-day American girl, not an old, traditional, samurai-class man with wounded honour.
     Anyway. So that lasted for almost two hours.
     Club ended. Went home. Ate dinner, did homework, went to sleep.

Hirakata, Osaka: October 15, Wednesday
     Classes were whatever. After classes, however, we had a movie showing.
     I ended up inadvertently joining a film-viewing circle. The reason it's a specific group, however, and not just random movie showings every week, is that the movies are all gender or identity related. This was the same circle in which we watched GO, the movie about the Zainichi. Other potential movies involve topics such as homosexuality and transsexualism.
     This time, we watched a live-action film by ANNO Hideaki (the reason I specify "live-action" being that Anno is most well-known for anime such as Evangelion). It was about enjo kousai, or subsidized dating. In its extreme forms, enjo kousai can result in prostitutino, but very often it's just lonely older businessmen paying young (most notoriously around high school aged) girls to just have dinner with them or go to karaoke for the companionship.
     It was very odd, true to Anno-style. I still prefer Kon Satoshi. Anno has more of a sexualized bent, while Kon toys more with the idea of what is considered reality. They're both abstract directors, but Anno in more of a... fractured?... way that can feel pretty raw (for better or for worse, depending on how he's presenting the specific scenes), while Kon's style is more... psychedelic? More into dreams, and challenging preconceived notions, and making you think. I guess that's the difference-- Kon makes you think more and pushes your mental limits, and Anno makes you feel more and pushes your emotions.
     Anyway. Good movie. Odd movie, but good movie.

Hirakata, Osaka: October 16, Thursday
     Nothing much. Went to class. Class ended. Went to club. Club ended early. Went home. Ate dinner, did homework, went to sleep.

Hirakata, Osaka: October 17, Friday
     Had the usual coffee break with Huey, Ashley, Amy, Robbie and Becca. ^_^
     Yui, Huey and I went to Kappa Sushi, just the three of us. It was great fun! To be honest, it was more fun than the last time we went with Huey, Valerja, Diana, Amy and Robbie. It's not that it wasn't fun then, but just that it was a bigger group, so less... cozy? Less familiar? I don't know. I prefer small, close-knit groups any day.
     Afterwards, we went home. ^_^; Exciting, right? But it was nice. Then more relaxing-- I went into the ofuro (bath?) for the first time in a long while, and just chilled.

Hirakata, Osaka: October 18, Saturday
     A completely chill day. O_O; How strange! Huey came over for the first time, and had lunch with us (curry, with an unexpected side of cake). I subjected her to a sample of my eclectic music, and enjoyed her falling-over-in-surprise reactions, and frequent reiterations that I listen to strange stuff.
     She left at 6, and at about 7, we had dinner. ^_^; Then more relaxing.

Hirakata, Osaka: October 19, Sunday
     Hiroko and I were supposed to go to Nipponbashi today, but she ended up catching a really bad cold. =\ So instead, I got a chance to go to the Rainbow Parade.
     After the last two days of deliberately doing nothing, Sunday was hectic. It wasn't, really-- I didn't even leave the house until 1:20 PM-- but-- well, let me back up.
     Yesterday was the third annual Rainbow Parade in Osaka. I went with the intention of watching a bit, taking some photos, and going home. Instead, when I arrived, I met up with Robbie and Ashley and some of their other friends, and Hester-sensei, and unexpectedly ended up marching in the parade. O_o
     There were some drag queens, sure, and various people had on rainbow accessories, but compared to what I would expect to see at an American pride parade, it was pretty toned down. Not the parade itself-- we had a float with some guys dancing (I think-- we were further back from the float), and there were quite a few people all marching, making noise, a mass amount of balloons, techno music playing, waving banners and signs and such. But as for individuals, aside from those dressed up, it was pretty mellow. Robbie had on a rainbow belt and... something else, I forgot. I had rainbow socks and a rainbow bead necklace. There were some guys in gothloli gear, a few in the big, garish feathers and sequinned gowns, a Pikachu, a Keroro Gunso, and a team of Power Rangers. O_o;;;
     But it was cool.
     At our final destination, there was a small colourguard show and a few speeches. Then, there was a countdown, and everybody who had a balloon released it into the sky. It was quite pretty, although I couldn't help but wonder about the effect of over a thousand helium-filled rubber balloons being released on the environment.
     Aside from that, though, it was cool. Very, very cool. I've never been to a parade of any sort before, much less a pride parade, so I was quite pleased.