It's back to the question without a clear-cut (singular) answer:
How would you describe Tokyo?
A tangled web of complexity ...
Organized confusion perhaps ...
You'll see it all. You've just gotta keep looking ...
The new replaces the old at an alarming rate, but tradition still is celebrated ...
Those are a few ideas that popped into my mind. More will be jotted down.
***
It's a delightful experience to discover new words as one learns a new language.
Such is the feeling I have as I hear them spoken for the first time, or pop open my trusty English-Japanese phrase book and dictionary and see a word that grabs my attention. Simply put, some words seem more interesting than their counterparts in other languages, or we find a certain richness in how they sound, or the way they look when the letters are strung together.
To wit:
Kizuku (verb, root word) - to realize
Nakusu - to lose
Naku - to cry
(For a sports fanatic like yours truly, nakusu and naku stick out, as their root words appear to be quite similar. I suppose that makes sense, eh? You lose, you may want to cry.)
Notenashi - hospitality (Noh-te-nah-she). Has a nice ring to it, eh?
***
The 15-day Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament is going on in Tokyo now. Day 8 was completed Sunday.
Sumo writing uses a terrific palate of verbs to detail the action.
Recent stories have included these phrases:
"He deployed a powerful arm thrust to send (his foe) spinning off the dirt surface."
"...He was swatted down."
"...He got hold of the ozeki's belt, spun him around and shoved him out (of the ring)."
Overpowered is a common word in these daily recaps, too.
***
They say it's a small world, but sometimes the opposite seems true, that everything is thousands of miles away.
Days like Saturday make both scenarios appear to be true.
Seven train stops from my residence, I met Mr. Takashi Hamasaki, a middle-aged gentleman who worked in Indiana with a guy named Pat Williams. Pat's son, Ryan, a running back, played football for Northern Arizona University, the school I reported on extensively from 2001-06. Pat attended, I believe, every football game from 2002-05, in Arizona, on the road, wherever.
Pat and Takashi were employed in Lafayette, where they made Isuzu Rodeos
When I informed Pat I was moving to Japan, he said good luck and keep in touch. A few weeks ago, he let me know about his friend in nearby Yokohama.
Hamasaki-san and I went to the Yokohama BayStars-Yomiuri Giants baseball game at Yokohama Stadium near Kannai Station.
We talked about American football (his favorite pro team is the San Francisco 49ers), high school football (he saw Ryan play in high school) and college football (NAU, after all, I saw Ryan play college ball and my new friend hadn't; as well as Big 10 football. Like many, he wants to see a game at the Big House, aka Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.)
Oh, yeah, we also commented on the baseball game that was happening before our eyes, about the boisterous Giants fans (who outnumbered the BayStars backers by probably a 5-to-1 ratio, including the trumpet player who was only a few feet away which caused me to shout a lot and get a sore throat), and our families.
I learned about his sons Hiroshi, a computer graphics designer, and Daisuke, an engineer. As I learned Hiroshi is 28, I was immediately reminded that my younger brother Pete is now 29. Yep, Sept. 16 is his b-day. Happy b-day, bro! I didn't forget. I think you're on the beach in California as I write this. Enjoy...
Hamasaki's three American assignments (three-year stints) took him to L.A.-area California (He saw a young guy named Tiger Woods at a driving range near Pomona when the future legend was a junior high schooler and he proudly recalls that day, saying even now he can still picture Tiger's smooth, graceful, yet powerful swing), Michigan and Indiana.
Nowadays Hamasaki, who grew up in Nagasaki, works as a quality control manager near Yokohama for a company that produces diesel engines.
We had a delicious dinner at a Japanese restaurant after the game, swapping stories and enjoying tall mugs of cold beer in the evening.
Hamasaki-san likes to say his friend Pat Williams lives on the middle of 36 holes. Indeed, he's now retired and lives in a condo in a country club.
