You are indeed fortunate to have such good friends. In Japan, we are lucky to find a lot of information (manuals, illustrated cooking instructions on packages, plaques in parks and museums...). Unfortunately, as most of it is in Japanese and hard to understand if we have no knowledge of things around it, it is difficult to take in. I was thinking about the sumo wrestling ring (dohyou) on the Shinto shrine's grounds. I am sure I would have thought of it as just a strange heap of earth, covered up with a tarpaulin. Most Japanese children will have seen, or indeed even had, in their own school yard, such a sumo wrestling arena. So I would really appreciate having Japanese friends to act as my guide for all those mysterious and puzzling things.
You are indeed fortunate to have such good friends.
ReplyDeleteIn Japan, we are lucky to find a lot of information (manuals, illustrated cooking instructions on packages, plaques in parks and museums...). Unfortunately, as most of it is in Japanese and hard to understand if we have no knowledge of things around it, it is difficult to take in.
I was thinking about the sumo wrestling ring (dohyou) on the Shinto shrine's grounds. I am sure I would have thought of it as just a strange heap of earth, covered up with a tarpaulin. Most Japanese children will have seen, or indeed even had, in their own school yard, such a sumo wrestling arena.
So I would really appreciate having Japanese friends to act as my guide for all those mysterious and puzzling things.