From Abeno Seimei and Onmyodo

The Yomiuri newspaper has a short article on an interesting religious ceremony conducted at the ancient Kamigamo Shinto shrine in Kyoto. I’ve translated it below and due to the obscurity of the material included some additional notes.

From Abeno Seimei and Onmyodo

At the Kurabeuma horse race which has been conducted at the Kamigamo Shrine in Kyoto for 910 years, the Norijiri(riders) conduct certain rituals before the race. The ceremonies of self-harai(ritual Shinto purification) by onymyokuji(yin-yang divination by lots) and harai by onmyo-daiyuudai (some kind of obscure onmyodo ceremony) are known as the norikiji houhei [houhei are the hemp rope and folded paper decorations seen at Shinto shrines). In the houhei ceremony the norijiri waves the houhei and offers a prayer to the kami (gods) by taking a special step. Reseachers on religious ceremony have concluded that these rituals include rites that can be traced back to onmyodo harai..

For those who can read Japanese, more information on the Kurabeuma is avaliable here.

Norijiri
Kurabeuma
Onmyodo: Literally ‘the way of yin and yang.’ An ancient form of Japanese magical practice, combining imported Taoist philosophy and practices (such as ying and yang and the 5 elements) with native Japanese Shinto beliefs and rituals. Practicioners of onmyodo were known as Onmyoji.

Abeno Seimei: The most famous of all Onmyoji. There is a popular novel and manga series by the author Baku Yumemakura, which has not been translated into English. There is however a film version and sequel, which you can get as a package here. The budget may not approach Lord of the Rings, but they are recommended for anyone who wants to see what Heian era Japan actually looked like.

Kami-gamo Shrine: One of the oldest shrines in Kyoto, it actually existed long before the city was built. Named after the Kamo clan that ruled the area before the Imperial family moved the capital, Kami-gamo (upper Kamo) and Shimo-gamo (lower Kamo) shrines are a pair. The Kamo river which flows past downtown Kyoto also takes its name from this source. In Heian times, the Abe and Kamo family’s were the two preeminent onmyoji families.

Crazy Teddy Bears

SHELBURNE, Vt., Jan. 20 –

The Vermont Teddy Bear Company believed it had a winner of a Valentine gift: its “Crazy for You” teddy bear, a cuddly bundle of fur – with paws restrained by a straitjacket and the outfit accompanied by commitment papers.

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Crazy For You

While the straightjacket bear may be tacky, it could be worse- they could be selling this Bae Yong Jun (Yong-Sama) bear.

Joonbear

Hanshin Tigers Taxis to debut in front of Koshien

“The stripes on the uniform are actually vertical”
The New Honorary Player
The Hanshin Train Group Co.’s Hanshin Taxi (Located in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Pref.) is set to debut taxis embossed with Japanese Pro Baseball’s Hanshin Tigers logo and uniform design on the body of the car.

Using 7 of its 280 vehicles, it plans to run them for a period of 1 year. The Hanshin Group has run buses decked out with Hanshin logos before, but this is a first for their taxis.

They will kick off the taxis’ first day of operation with a ceremony in front of Koshien stadium, where the Tigers play.

My Comment: I hope I get to see those taxis in real life 😀

Sega’s ugly robot dog

I have faith that open, free-market competition will naturally produce the highest-quality robot dog possible, but this second major entry into the market suffers from an unfortunately miscalculated appearance:

Ew.

If I wanted to be disgusted by my virtual pets I’d get a Jar Jar Binks plushie.

Fantasy Craig’s List

Looking at the job listing in the New York Craig’s list, I happened to spot this ad and this one next to each other and just for a second I thought that it was a single item advertising for something like this:

We are looking for a responsible, caring, flexible and intelligent person who drives, speaks English well, loves children and animals and is interested in helping to manage an elite, established and elegant Fetish Exploration/Roleplay studio in Upscale Dungeon in Midtown Manhattan. The position will require roughly 75% cleaning and laundry (some cooking and shopping), and 25% child and dog care. We have three school-age daughters who will need Power-Exchange and BDSM several days a week, and some driving to activities and play dates.
We will provide training for the right person. No experience reqired other than some basic knowledge of S/M and a willingness to learn.

とんでもないヨン様グッズがヤフオクで多発 Yong-sama merchandise

21世紀スタンピードさんが、さまざまなヨン様グッズハンドクリームかつらペンなどなど)がヤフオクで掘り出したのを転載します。

Check out 21st Century Stampede and click the Yahoo! Auctions links to see crazy Yong-sama merchandise (hand moisturizer, wigs, pens, etc).

Here’s what the “Korean X-File” has to say about him: “Yon Sama : Big difference in looks between his pictures and reality? Thinks to hard and makes decisions slowly? Young females find him disgustingly greasy looking???”

Bae Yong Jun for example is known to have assulted 30 of his managers and coordinators. That’s a lot of people to slap around – and kinda goes against his image.

和訳:韓国の芸能報道がヨン様についてこう書いてるらしい-ナマで見ると顔が写真とぜんぜん違う。物事を難しく考えすぎて行動が遅い性格。若い女性に「顔が脂っこくていや」と嫌われている。

ぺ・ヨンジュン氏は自分のマネージャーやコーディネーターを30人ほど殴ったことあるという。

〚オススメ〛日経動画ニュース

美人キャスター
たまたま日経新聞のホームページを開いてみると、なんと動画ニュースMSIE専用らしい)が流れてた!と昨日驚いた。しかも、無料で日本のテレビで見れるような普通のニュース番組です(少し短めだけど)。

さらに驚いたのは、他の動画ニュースと違ってスムーズに流れること。gooニュースなど、マイクロソフトメディアプレイヤーやRealを使ったニュースサイトでは途中でとまったり、遅くなったりするが、ここは違う!

ヘッドライン・東京マーケット・解説・特集の4つのセクションに分けて、映像の横に字幕も出るので、日本語の勉強のためにもオススメ。

Chairman Mao’s Grandson

Danwei has some photos of the descendants of Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek.

I hope that uniform Mao Xinyu is stretching out isn’t a historical artifact from his family closet.
Mao's Grandson
He spoke to a Reuters reporter about his book about his grandfather.

Xinyu, for his part, did a rare run of interviews and book signings to promote his new anecdotal history, Grandpa Mao Zedong.

The paperback has sold several tens of thousands of copies, the Ph.D. replied modestly when asked. Later he suggested, “I’ll give you the rights. You can translate it!”

Alas, the reporter does not seem to have taken him up on that offer.