Archeological Find in Japan! Islamic Pottery.

Thanks to my friend (http://japan-saito.blogspot.com) I was informed of archeological finds in Japan which show Islamic pottery dating to 768CE.

An English article can be found at:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090705a9.html

Japanese articles can be found at:
http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0703/OSK200907030157.html
http://jp.reuters.com/article/kyodoNationalNews/idJP2009070301000680
etc…

I will write more once I know more.

What I’ve been up to lately…

Why do I look like an oil tycoon who bought a Japanese company?

Yes, sometimes we even work weekends in Japan…

Eid Mubarak!

This is a day, or two, late depending on when and where you celebrated your Eid.

I have not updated this blog, but there are a lot of updates needed.

In any case, while Ramadan was not as spiritual as I would have hoped, I must say that it has by far been the month of this year.  In all honesty, with a month like Ramadan, it just makes you wonder why you wouldn’t want to fast. …well, besides your stomach’s complaints.

From Japan.

Ramadan Mubarak

Ramadan Mubarak for those of us here in Japan.  And, for those of you elsewhere, a late or early Ramadan Mubarak to you.

This will be an interesting one.  And, I hope, a very productive and developmental one.

Yôjô kagami [The Model to the Cultivation of Life]

This is my master’s thesis. Below you will find my abstract and beneath that an image of one of the woodblock prints, the male (inshoku, or diet) version. So, if it gets too boring, just scroll down to the picture!

By the period of the Bakumatsu, 1850s Japan, two woodblock prints had published and circulated within the world of ukiyo-e. While the prints appear pictorially beautiful and aesthetically call the attention of any reader to look closer, the prints lie shrouded in the mystery. The Inshoku yôjô kagami and, its counterpart, the Bôji yôjô kagami taught and instructed their readers in the cultivation life related to diet and sex. However, rather than functioning as simple visual splendor or as academic reference, these prints transcend the traditional demarcations of serious and satirical, private and public, and explicit and implicit. The Yôjô kagami prints are unique in their approach to the edification of the individual. In fact, on first sight, the prints appear to be more for visual pleasure and then satire than for use as informative woodblock prints. Unraveling the mystery that the prints have left behind for over a hundred years requires a visual, textual, and comparative study of the prints. Ultimately, the Yôjô kagami prints provide the reader with a rare multifaceted approach to cultivating life and their ability to do so lies in the unpacking of their mysteries and wonders.

here’s the image, click to view a larger version:

the Inshoku yôjô kagami or “The Model to the Cultivation of Life through Diet,” as I translate it, provides Kanpô knowledge, or Chinese medical knowledge, surrounding the image and internally has organs and their respective workers for display… [this image is copyright of Nichibunken, which possesses the original from which this print was digitized]

Here are some videos.

It is narrated by the blessed Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) that continuity in the minor is superior to singularity in the major. In other words, we are taught that performing a good deed, action, or whatever term you might choose to ascribe to the “positive,” the small continued act is more worthwhile to a person (in both this life and the next, of course) than that of a single great act, which is not continued–superior does not qualify the inferior as negative, insignificant, or worthless. So, I’m not completely saying what I do is wrong, just slighting myself enough to set an example for us all. My blog has been an experiment, so I apologize if there are readers who eagerly await a new post, something I highly doubt.

In any case, I am duly surprised that someone requested my video(s). Well, posting my videos is a big step, since it requires divulging a little more about “the man who is unknown,” but I have a feeling I’d remain as such even if i were to post one (or some) of them. A little pretexting is required, though. The first video is a response to a book (listed in its credits) and the second is an area of research I’ll probably be focusing on in more depth in the not-so-distant future. All copyrights are reserved, especially for the second video, where many things I used are not free license.

Here’s the first video:

Here’s the second video:

Well, I hope this doesn’t cause a ruckus among people. When one is a graduate student, different things are required of the student. Besides learning a few languages, one of the things that my immediate graduate school career has taught me is how to make movies. So, while they’re academic or thought-provoking in nature–or at least are supposed to be–they’re still movies.

[note]: The next post is on hold while I finish up translation from “the Zhuangzi.”

One day, two months, spiritual energy…?

Unfortunately my “one more day” was followed by more than two and half months of silence.  This is largely due to two major things that recently took place in my life.  This blog of mine has never been explicitly personal and I don’t plan to start making it as such.  However, I did decide where my geographic location will be for the next half year to year.  In addition, I had to finish writing my master’s thesis which was due last week–I did finish it, and hope to publish it, possibly.  The thesis needs much revision but it’s a first in-depth analysis on the subject.

I am still debating whether or not I should post my youtube link here.  I have made 2-3 videos for class which are interesting academic creations, but not quiet things to which most people are accustomed.  I will decide and see.

In any case, I don’t want to leave everyone without something to think about–do you believe in spiritual energy?  Most people, especially in the west, don’t quite have the words to describe what the idea of spiritual energy would comprise.  In many ways, the notion of spiritual energy is analogous to God in the west–for the non-religious and some atheists–that is, a concept left unconsidered.

In other words, spiritual energy probably sounds like a new age, neo-spiritual, eastern, or foreign concept to most people.  However, do we find physical energy strange?  We have our bodies and we have physical energy.  At the same time, do we find mental energy strange?  When we’re falling asleep, is it only our body, or does our mind also play a crucial role?  Mental fatigue, unrest, mental stress, etc. all deal with mental energy.  Then, what about spiritual energy?  I’ll save the explanation of this for next time and let you think about it (especially since discussing the superiority of or lack thereof of sticky rice over non-sticky rice in Chinese needs to take precedence over this discussion of spiritual energy, for now).

One more day…

While I initially thought that my stay at home would be short, it ended up being longer than originally anticipated.  Due to this, I haven’t had much time to post on here.  I should be posting again starting tomorrow.

If anyone has suggestions on post topics, from questions about countries, cultures, ideas, feelings, or issues to just something interesting you may have thought up, let me know.  It’s always fun to talk about things one doesn’t normally have to opportunity to discuss and/or read about.

A break for a day…

Today I will take a break, not because I have nothing about which I could write, but rather that I have some pressing matters to which I need to attend. Fung Wah Bus.

Before I get myself into writing a long-winded “I will not write” which may put one to sleep at a faster rate than my regular posts, I will end now. But, before I leave, here is something to think about:

Imagine yourself in a car and you catch a glimpse of another car going in the opposite direction. Have you ever wondered who that person is, where that person is going, and the atmosphere within that person’s mind? Even if it is a routine drive for you going to the supermarket, the one by whom you’ve passed might be going to his/her wedding.

Life is interesting, check out my Japanese blog for a little more about this discussion of “the other person.”

As per the request of a friend, starting starting from my next post I will try and write a contention related to each subsequent post.

A few contentions…

The history before us teaches lessons and stories,
yet why do we stand plagiarizing its tragedies?

If our bodies are apart of us and we sanctify them,
are not our hearts to be treated as precious gems?

Time and time again we see time pass moment after moment,
yet ignorant are remain of our present contentment…

Why do we only see failure in the sight of a detour in our travel,
can we not hear the new paths which have begun to appear and unravel?

Why do we remain complacent in the sight of our responsibilities,
yet with the affairs of others we remonstrate with ease ?