Have you ever done yoga before? It is said that more than 300 million people in the world do yoga these days. I started doing yoga 12 years ago and my first impression of yoga was “NOT EASY” mostly because I imagined that yoga was all about taking a yoga pose beautifully. However, my image of yoga was completely changed after I realized that yoga is more about breathing than striking a pose. More importantly, I feel that the longer I continue doing yoga, the healthier I become both physically and mentally.

So, what is yoga then? The Yoga Therapist Association [https://www.yogatherapist-association.com/column/1934/] explains that the main purpose of doing yoga is to arrange both your physical and mental condition by stretching your body and keeping specific postures. The word YOGA means a connection of your body and mind in Sanskrit. The origin of yoga goes back to about 5,000 years ago in India. Yoga was originally done as religious training but today the religious meaning has weakened, and yoga has become more for the promotion of health especially after it was introduced in Europe and North America. Did you know that ZAZEN in Buddhism originally takes a part of yoga style? As far as the connection between yoga and Buddhism is concerned, it is said that ZAZEN spread when Buddhism was introduced from India to China and Japan.

Anyway, what is good about doing yoga? The Yoga Therapist Association [https://www.yogatherapist-association.com/column/1934/] emphasizes three benefits which can be brought about through yoga;

1. Change of your Breathing

The strongest point of doing yoga can be about changing how you breathe. We naturally breathe in our everyday lives and this breathing usually tends to become shallow. However, you will be required to control your breathing deliberately along with your body movement while you do yoga. It is said that our brain especially needs a lot of oxygen and this intentional control of your breathing will make it possible to bring oxygen into your brain so that your mind will be clearer.

2. Recovery from Pain

Many people say that they started doing yoga due to their bad physical condition such as weakened muscular strength or inflexibility. Yoga originally includes poses which increase your flexibility. In other words, doing yoga is fixing your body’s distortion and straightening your posture. As a result, people can recover from the chronic body pain such as stiff shoulders and lower-back muscle pain.

3. Free from Stress

One of the reasons why yoga is accepted by so many people in the world is probably because people live in modern stressful society. Since yoga not only stretches your body but also includes self-meditation, it can help you reduce or get rid of psychological stress. Doing yoga will be able to give you the power of concentration as well as the ability to control your emotions.

Now, yoga is known globally. The United Nations [https://www.un.org/en/events/yogaday/index.shtml] established June 21 as International Day of Yoga in 2014 for introducing the advantage of doing yoga internationally. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi said in his speech at the 69th session of the General Assembly, “ Yoga is not just about exercise; it is about a way to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nation.”

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Blog Quiz

1. Which best describes yoga?

A.   It is physical exercise.

B.    It is mental exercise.

C.    It is both mental and physical exercise.

2. How should a person breath when doing yoga?

A.   Fast breathing

B.    Deep breathing

C.    Shallow breathing

3. What are the psychological benefits of doing yoga?

A.   It can lessen stress.

B.    It can improve ability to focus.

C.    It can aid self-control.

D.  All of the above.

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

1. C

2. B

3. D

Mt Omine is one of the most sacred places in Japan. It is located in the Yoshino-Kumano National Park which covers Mie, Nara and Wakayama Prefectures. The mountain is on the Yoshino-Kumano pilgrimage route. The highest peak is Mount Sanjou (1719m) which is the location of the Ominesan-ji temple, the headquarters of the Shugendo sect of Japanese buddhism. It is also the training ground of the mysterious Yamabushi monks.

The mountain has been a training ground for the Yamabushi for over 1300 years. These ascetic hermits reach spiritual enlightenment through acts of physical endurance, such as fasting, seclusion, meditating under cold waterfalls, and repeatedly walking the mountain paths. In the past the Yamabushi were considered to have supernatural powers, and could be found fighting alongside samurai in battle. The Yamabushi continue to train here today.

For hikers the mountain offers some stunning views and can easily be climbed in a day. There are four possible routes. However, for day hikers, starting at Omine Ohashi is the best option. Allow 6-7 hours for a moderate to easy hike on well maintained paths. This route will take you past the 3 tests of courage, one of which you are able to try.

Hiking Ominesan with its breathtaking views, pristine forest and intriguing history offers an almost mystical experience. However, the mountain is not without controversy. In 2004 the Ominesan was designated as a world heritage site by UNESCO. This was in spite of a ban on female walkers hiking on the mountain. This ban, which is said to be for historical and religious reasons, continues today.

Photo Credit: the author

Blog Quiz

1. Where is Ominesan?

2. How do the monks train?

3. Why is it a controversial place?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

1. in Yoshino-Kumano National Park

2. fasting, seclusion, meditating under cold waterfalls, and walking

3. female walkers are not allowed on the mountain

In Japan, curry rice is regularly found by surveys to be the most popular dish. Even more popular than ramen and miso soup! To foreign visitors it may be surprising because Japan is not traditionally world-famous for its spices. Actually, Japanese food is famous for avoiding strong flavours. So how did Japan fall in love with curry?

The story begins soon after the Meiji Restoration (明治維新) around 150 years ago when Japan began to rapidly modernise and change. Before that, Japan was a very isolated country. In a very short period of time Japan became a very modern country and made alliances with lots of other countries. In 1902 Japan and the United Kingdom became allies. A big part of this partnership included the British Royal Navy and the Japanese Navy (海上自衛隊) sharing weapons and military advice with each other.

Japan had a big problem with their Navy during this period. The young Japanese men in the Navy often had Beri-beri disease (脚気) and nobody knew why. However, Mr. Takaki Kanehiro, who was a naval doctor and went to university in England, discovered that the reason so many Japanese sailors got sick was because the young men only ate white rice and nothing else. These young men were not getting enough Vitamin B1 and were often dying very young.

The Japanese government needed to find a cheap way to give their men Vitamin B1, so they asked the British Royal Navy for advice. One of the foods served on British ships was curry, so they introduced curry to the Japanese Navy to see if this would help stop Beri-beri. The British Navy had been controlling India as a colony for over 100 years and had adopted the Indian national dish. The British Navy never suffered from Beri-beri, so they recommended curry to the Japanese Navy and it worked very successfully. Mr Kanehiro was given the Order of the Rising Sun (旭日章) for saving many Japanese lives.

After the British Navy shared the curry recipe with the Japanese Navy, the Japanese young men took the recipe back to Japan to eat at home. The Indian spices were imported from the UK in exchange for Japanese silk. But in 1931, there was a big scandal. Some Japanese shop owners were arrested by police for selling cheap Japanese curry powder but pretending it was expensive UK curry powder! Actually, it was good news for Japan because people couldn’t taste the difference between the UK version and the Japanese version. Then Japanese spice companies like S&B became very popular with their domestic curry and British spices stopped being imported.

The Japanese then added their own white rice to the curry and also adapted the recipe to suit the Japanese. For example, yuzu was sometimes used in Japanese curry instead of lemon to make Japanese curry a little sweeter. In more recent years, Japan has created its own unique styles of curry, including curry-pan, curry-udon, curry-nanban and the very popular instant curry blocks. The Japanese Navy still eat curry rice to this day – every Friday. Each Naval ship has its own unique recipe!

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Blog Quiz

1. What is an alliance?

A.   An enemy

B.    A partnership

2. Which fruit is sometimes added to Japanese curry instead of lemon?

A.   Yuzu

B.    Mikan

3. Which country did the British adopt the curry dish from?

A.   India

B.    Nepal

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

1. B

2. A

3. A

Some of you may have heard people say that English food isn’t very delicious. You may have heard that it has no taste and is rather bland. Well, one of the reasons for this is that British food is often eaten with sauces and other condiments to give it taste. Those of you unfamiliar with England may be unaware of the wide range of traditional sauces and condiments that can be found in a typical British household. It is not unusual for condiments to be put out at most mealtimes. There are so many that it is difficult to tell you about them here. So today I am going to introduce what I think are the top 5 essential British condiments.

Branston Pickle

Branston pickle is a pickled chutney first made in the village of Branston in Staffordshire in 1922. It is made from a variety of diced vegetables, including swede, carrots, onions and cauliflower, pickled in a sauce made from vinegar, tomato, apple and spices. It is sweet and spicy containing large chunks of vegetables in a thick brown sticky sauce. It is often served as part of a ploughman’s lunch, a popular food served in British pubs. It is also often eaten with cheddar cheese in sandwiches. The Branston brand was sold to the Japanese company Mizkan in 2012.

Mint Sauce

Mint Sauce is a condiment made from finely chopped peppermint leaves. The chopped leaves are mixed with vinegar and sugar. In British cooking it is usually only served with roast lamb.

Golden Syrup

This is a thick amber coloured syrup made from sugar. Its appearance and consistency is similar to honey. It tastes very sweet and is used in a lot of British baking; for example, cakes and flapjacks. The first can of Golden Syrup was sold in 1885. Interestingly, it is recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as having the world’s oldest brand and packing. The label is very unusual and shows the rotting carcass of a lion surrounded by flies. This comes from an old biblical story. The motto is ‘out of the strong comes sweetness.’

Worcester Sauce

The history of Worcester Sauce is an interesting story. Apparently the idea originated from Sir Charles, the Chief Justice of India, who sent the secret recipe he had found in India to Lady Sandys in Worcester. It consisted of an unusual mixture of anchovies, brine, molasses, vinegar and spices. Lady Sandys asked a local chemical company, Lea and Perrin, to make it. Unfortunately the resulting sauce was found to be inedible, so it was never used. Some years later one of the workers in the factory found an old barrel of the original mixture in the basement. The chemists decided to try it and found that the taste had mellowed with age. In 1837 the company started producing bottles of Worcester Sauce and it is still popular today.

Bovril

This is a dark paste made from beef extract. It was originally a war food designed to provide nutrition to the British soldiers fighting in the Franco Prussian War (1870). It was first sold to the public in 1888. Nowadays it is eaten spread on toast or mixed with water as a hot drink. It is a little similar in looks and consistency to Marmite and Vegemite which are made from yeast extract.

So there you have it. Five delicious British sauces to add a little spice to your meals!

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In the previous post, we highlighted the plights of sexual, gender, racial, and ethnic minorities in Japan. There may be a veil of illusion over Japan’s society to both its own citizens and people abroad that masks what these minorities are facing. Agency is, of course, a powerful act and while the marginalized have limited agency, they should be empowered to tell their own stories from their point of view and define these terms according to their most authentic emotions. Creating discourse within the society is an important tool for social change. Japan’s historical construction of identity as a nation, what this implies in regards to Japanese mainstream and minority identities alike, and what kind of position it has put Japanese society in the context of international relations, entailed fruitful discussions and discourses concerning Japan’s introspection, essentialism of cultures, be it of Japan’s or otherwise, civil societies, diasporic identities, and defining the center and periphery. Regardless of spatial and temporal boundaries, resisting constraints, seeking identities, claiming agency, and initiating movements involved decentering the center to make way for the periphery. The many actors within Japan’s periphery and its center demonstrated that differences will always exist between and amongst individuals. Even more significantly, differences remain even amongst those that, in theory, are supposed to belong to the same peripheral group. In other words, a periphery and a center will always exist in some form or another since without one the other cannot exist. This can be challenging at times, and in many societies, it is precisely these differences that generate segregation, discrimination, and hardship. Yet it is clear that without differences, little space would be left for individuals to learn and grow.

Identity cannot be explained by a single word or two. Identity and all of its concepts is an attempt to explain how humans yearn to make sense of this world and ways in which our existence is truly interconnected. In our current world, are many of us not diasporic people in one sense or another regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, and social class, intimidated to a certain extent by the uncertainties of our own being and belonging? The dilemma of questioning one’s uniqueness is not only the case for the Japanese but also the world’s population as a whole. The mixtures of cultures, upbringing and even the traces of locations where the individual has been to, can truly separate them even from their own supposed place of “belonging” in other groups. However, it also signifies the possibility of that individual to connect with a wider range and variety of people from different constructions of identity as well. After all, the line between segregation and inclusion of individuals is extremely thin. The fluidity of the human body, mind, and soul is truly breathtaking to the extent that it enables its possessor to be segregated from yet also integrated into multiple forms of culture, society, and even class, whether it might be based on an empirical reality or even an imagined community.

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Discovering a sense of self and belonging, allowing social forces to take hold, is through the humanistic emotion of what every person has felt at one time or another – love. Love is a very complex thing and it can happen to anyone at any point in time. Love, for example, for an elderly woman, is coming back home and seeing her grandchildren happy, and love for a young man is riding his motorbike. People feel something beautiful when they talk about something or someone they love, and love is the thing that binds social beings and forces together.

On the other hand; however, we form communities and seek a sense of belonging due to the underlying driving force of fear. People are afraid of being social outcasts and feel helpless in a growing disconnected society. Furthermore, we construct identity in response to challenges. Natural disaster, for example, served as a driving force to unite people together through the construction of “victim” identity. There can also be cultural challenges, such as foreign economic and cultural domination. It seems that people can also use and manipulate identities for securing social well-being. In the process of modernization and the making of nations and ethnicities, it is clear that the construction of shared identity helps to unify people. However, this is only one side of the picture. It is dangerous to think that all people have an equal level of agency in constructing their preferred identity. In many cases, people fall victim of other people’s construction of their “superior identity.” In the modernization process, the making of “us” is inevitably accompanied by the construction of “other.” While sometimes the “other” is the powerful West, there are cases in which the domestic “other” – the minority groups in a nation state – becomes the victim of discrimination and suppression. To put it differently, when the majority group builds the ideology of superiority, the minority group automatically becomes the victim whose identity is categorized as inferior.

However, identity is a fluid concept. If we take a thorough observation of identity formation in different generations, we can see different reasons for constructing an identity. In the case of Zainichi Koreans or Nikkeijin, some in the later generations have chosen to retain their “roots” and identity and prefer not to assimilate into the “homogeneous” Japanese society. It can be argued that their cultural roots offer them shelter and a signifier in which they can find a sense of belonging as they pursue a society that recognizes and respects the difference.

Minorities in Japan such as the Nikkeijin, Zainichi Koreans, Muslims, and also Japanese minorities such as day laborers, women, and LGBT people and their activism reveal Japan’s transition into a multicultural society that aims to create an environment more open to change and accepting of differences. It is clear that learning about the existence of this growing diversity through education will help start that shift to making Japan a comfortable living environment for everyone. Even if minorities feel integrated in society, it will not work unless the Japanese people also feel comfortable with minorities and foreigners in their midst. People fear what is perceived as “different.” But if the consciousness that we are all people and we should not be segregated or discriminated against is nurtured through education, it will create a society where marginalized individuals will no longer feel unwelcome due to “difference.” Does the term/category “Japanese” even hold any meaning anymore? Multicultural theorist Bhikhu Parekh writes that a multicultural society cannot be connected by ethnicity, race, religion, etc. because the society is simply too diverse. Instead, it must be connected by a common political agenda. This entails having shared political goals and forming a political community. What are some concrete political goals? One could be changing the existing system to create a more tolerant and accepting society by accommodating ethnicities and cultures of the “others.” It can also mean that true acceptance of diversity entails an understanding that people relate to others who stem from similar life experiences and those who are different can more easily discover that sense of empathy with other people who are different.

To be continued next week.

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My first year students of the College of International Relations’ Global Studies Program Spring 2019, who stem from twelve different countries, worked hard for one year obtaining important academic skills that will launch them forward into their academic paths. Below I compiled a summary of their thoughts on personhood, identity, culture and society.

Global Studies Academic Skills Spring 2019

What does it mean to contemplate upon one’s identity within society? Various philosophers and thinkers, including Emile Durkheim, C. Wright Mills, Erving Goffman, Karl Marx, Benedict Anderson, Jürgen Habermas, and others have presented a glimpse of selves within society such as individual and collective identity, the structure of society, agency, culture as a map of meaning, sociological imagination as the intersection of history and biography, identification and interpellation, race and discrimination, and multiculturalism, to name a few. Encountering some of these theories, it is overwhelming and simultaneously astonishing how our nature is manipulated by society. We are creatures who are driven to spend the vast majority of our lifetime “killing” our identity amongst the constraints of the society to secure our positions. Basically, many theories tell us that the identity of a person is not constructed by the individuals themselves, but by society. And it seems that each individual has little or no agency to resist the constraints of society due to the fear of isolation. But is this true? Is an individual’s identity simply managed and manipulated by society? Do individuals act only within the constraints of society, and do people have little or no agency to construct their own identities or create their own destinies?

Social movements within Japanese society tell another story – they reveal moments where people have resisted their socially constructed identities. For instance, the Nikkei-Brazilians in Japan broke out from the assumptions that they were racially homogenous to the Japanese by forming their own community and emphasizing their Brazilian-ness through language, custom, and culture; the marriage migrants in Yamagata prefecture had challenged their conventional stereotypes as passive victims who need help to become active agents who can make a contribution to spread multiculturalism in the community; and the “tōjisha” movement by Japan’s LGBT community introduced people who claimed human rights and legislation for lesbians, gays, transgender, and bisexuals. At first glimpse the constraints from society seem to minimize individual agency to construct one's own unique identity. However, regardless of the constraints, people display agency by opposing what society dictates, elucidating each person’s unique life story that empowers an individual to resist and break free from the constraints of society to make it a better place.

The understanding of identity in different social contexts is important for every individual in the world to make sense of who they are and where they belong. Through examining the origin of identity formation, it also becomes clear how discrimination and marginalization can be formed and how individuals, communities and societies can encounter these issues in a contemporary world where a growing number of marginalized citizens and non-citizens try to position themselves. Why do human beings form communities and seek a sense of belonging? Perhaps the underlying driving force is fear – human beings are afraid of being social outcasts and feel helpless in a competitive and ever-changing society. Seeking identity then may be in response to social transitions and challenges. But also identity and belonging are sought because of a desire to find a place within society.

To be continued next week.

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Some people call them ‘Hawaiian shirts’ but the correct name is Aloha Shirt.

They are considered formal wear in Hawaii and many people wear them to work every day. There are many kinds of styles and materials used to make them. Actually, the first Aloha shirts were made of silk. Now, they are made of cotton, polyester, rayon, and silk. One signature feature of many of the ‘Aloha Shirts’ is that the main printed side of the material is not facing outside like most shirts but facing the inside to give a more subtle, relaxed look.

The designs on the Aloha shirts reflect the scenes and the aspects of Hawaii that make it a tropical paradise. Patterns in the fabrics range from various themes and motifs, and the colors range the gamut of all the colors on a palette. Popular styles include the famous landmarks in Hawaii, such as Diamond Head, Waikiki, or beautiful mountain ranges to ocean vistas. Others display natural beauty famous in Hawaii, such as pineapples, palm trees, surfers on waves, fish, flowers, and other flora or fauna. Also, prints from ‘tapa’ cloth, or the traditional Hawaiian clothes, are popular along with prints of the royal family of Hawaii, the Kamehameha monarchy.

In the US, there is a business trend called ‘Casual Friday’. Have you heard of it before? It is where, the company allows its workers to wear more ‘casual’ clothes like jeans or relaxed collared shirts to work on Fridays. Actually, ‘Casual Friday’ or ‘Aloha Friday’ in Hawaii, was started in Hawaii. Aloha shirt makers lobbied politicians and business leaders to allow aloha shirts to be worn to work on Fridays, which better matched the tropical weather of Hawaii compared to suits and ties.

I like Aloha Shirts because I like the relaxed designs and I feel I can bring a piece of Hawaii to the students I meet. Did you know that in Hawaiian, Aloha has many meanings? It can mean, “Hello” or “Good-bye” or “Welcome” or “Love/I love you.” If you break the word down, the literal meaning is ‘Alo’ means ‘facing or the presence of’ and ‘ha’ means ‘breath’. So, having the Aloha Spirit means having a care for oneself and sharing that warmth from your insides with others, without expecting anything in return. Please talk to me about Aloha shirts more the next time you see me and I will be happy to share more about what it means to have the Aloha Spirit.