"Are You Stupid Gaijin?"

[Taro Toporific]

In a current issue of JapanZine: Are You Stupid Gaijin? Quiz

[Socratesabroad]

Maybe I'm out of the 'in' group, but [and not to spoil things] the song lyrics and Tarantino references went right by me. And because I've been living abroad since the early 90s, I've never seen the Simpsons episode set in Japan.

Go figure...

[Dhee]

"Are You Stupid Gaijin"

Mmmmpfpff! Once I get to know you guys better, I'll tell you my story of being stupid gaijin. Like: thinking I could travel through Japan, let's say take five, six weeks off, wander to some picturesque Zen monastery, chop wood, carry water, shovel snow or shit and read Rinzai by candlelight. Oh, and maybe I could look at some buuuuutiful samurai swords and costumes, and and and....
Hah! Called Japanese Tourist office in New York, explained my noble intentions. Silence. Explained again. "One moment please..." ding-dong music while I'm on hold. Another voice - female, giggling. She couldn't understand me, I couldn't understand her. "Don't you have a brochure?" By now I was (almost) willing to book a fucking tour and forget about monks and monasteries and peace. Finally found some other office that referred me to a temple in Kyoto. Hm, not the mountaintop I had imagined - but maybe. Until I heard that it was run like one of Gates' enterprises: they grab your money and kick you out as soon as they can. Well... I can hear you all howling with laughter. But such was my innocence. Sniff. I swear.
Perphaps I've ended up here, you all being my Zen masters, eh? hehehehe.
[/url]

[Mulboyne]

Hm, not the mountaintop I had imagined

Have you ever made it to Mt. Koya?

[Taro Toporific]

Hm, not the mountaintop I had imagined

Have you ever made it to Mt. Koya?

For reference http://www.nta.co.jp/english/info/koya.htm

I would favor Kita Kamakura such as Kenchoji as more approachable and authentic in it's feel.

http://www.insite-tokyo.com/column/tom/index08.html

[Dhee]

Hm, not the mountaintop I had imagined

Have you ever made it to Mt. Koya?

For reference http://www.nta.co.jp/english/info/koya.htm

I would favor Kita Kamakura such as Kenchoji as more approachable and authentic in it's feel.

Ahhhhhhh!!!! Sheesh, here I go again...
singing: "Dreeee-eee-eeeam dream dream dream..."
and..."saving nickles, saving dimes, work until the sun don't shine..."
well, I guess that dates me

[Taro Toporific]

Ahhhhhhh!!!! Sheesh, here I go again...
singing: "Dreeee-eee-eeeam dream dream dream..."
and...

Have you shaved your head yet?

Japan's Temples Offer a Monk's Existence
Georgia Straight, Canada - Aug 19
... At 6:30 the next morning we knelt beneath rows of glittering lanterns in the main hall while the abbot, dressed gorgeously in a purple robe and gold stole with red pom-poms, performed an alchemical operation that caused a tongue of flame to shoot to the ceiling, which he then battled briskly with a short sword, using wild slashing motions. A low throbbing chant was broken by occasional metallic chimes as if somewhere in the depths of the temple someone was tinkering with a car and occasionally dropping the tools.

Afterward, one of the pilgrims asked permission to play a flute he had made 40 years ago from a 100-year-old piece of bamboo, and that he had already played in many other temples. He puffed out a special Zen tune, using lots of overblowing to produce simultaneous squeals and an eerie underbuzz, the notes bent both by the partial lifting of the fingers from the holes and by a palsied shaking of the head.

Later the abbot came to find me at breakfast and mentioned in English that he must perform the ceremony we'd just seen one million times.

Was this a mistranslation, or evidence of complete confidence in reincarnation? The ceremony that morning was only number 4,124.

[Dhee]

...Have you shaved your head yet?

ummm, I tried. Will this do to get me in, you think?