So proud of Team Japan today! They won in their match against Denmark earlier today, 3-1, and won their ticket to advance to the next round of the Final 16 in the World Cup!!!
These are the moments I wait (im)patiently every four years for…
Everyone knows that expectations for Japan were pretty low going into this year’s World Cup — mine were, too, and I was just going to sit back and enjoy the games. But it’s upsets like this that make the world of soccer exciting! This is Japan’s first time scoring three goals in a World Cup game, and this year is the first time they have won a match on foreign soil. (They did well in 2002, but it was on home soil.)Â So proud of the Samurai Blue!
It’s been an exciting couple weeks in World Cup, and I have high hopes that the best is yet to come. It’s great to see some of the underdogs making it into the Final 16, like the U.S. and Japan.
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Dan and I have wanted to see The Cove since we saw previews for it last year, and we finally watched it this past weekend. It was one the most riveting and heartwrenching documentaries I have ever seen.
I have of course been aware of Japan’s whaling for years now, as well as of how barbaric and dangerous it is to the ecological balance of the world. Still, it’s one thing to hear about it and read it on the news, and another thing to witness the actual slaughter.
I was ignorant, however, of the shocking proportions of dolphin hunting that goes on in the country, as well as of the fact that Japan is responsible for shipping out their dolphins to marine parks such as Sea World. What’s worse, they kill the thousands of other dolphins that don’t make the cut for their meat, which is mercury-laden and should not even have a place in the human diet.
The movie follows former dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry and fellow activists in their efforts to document and expose the dolphin hunting operations in Taiji in Wakayama prefecture of Japan. They elude the local guards and authorities to successfully plant video camera in the cove at which these dolphins are herded in, away from the public eye, to be butchered en masse. I was deeply saddened, angered, and ashamed by the horrific reality that was brought to light in this film, and towards the end I was fighting back both tears and nausea as the waters turned red from the bloodbath. I felt ill with guilt from having just come back from visiting Sea World last weekend, and from the sinking realization of what I had unknowingly supported. It’s tragic that due to cover-ups by the Japanese fishing industry, the majority of Japan’s citizens also remain uninformed and clueless of the human depravity in Taiji that results in the unnecessary and inhumane killing of 23,000 dolphins every year. Every year.
The Cove is a film that I feel that everyone must see. It is eye-opening and powerful… but most importantly, it is the truth. A truth that, though ugly, needs to be communicated to as many people as possible, so that the atrocious operations of Taiji can be permanently shut down. Please watch the movie, and find out what you can do to help.
I can’t believe it’s already April! It feels like just the other day we were ringing in the new year, and a quarter of the year has already passed us by. April has always held a lot of meaning and memories for me.
In school, it was always characteristically the busiest month of the year for me, in terms of putting on International Street Fair and the fact that most of our APIA events for AASU took place during April.
This April marks seven years since Dan and I have been together.
And it was on that fateful day of April 16th three years ago that thousands of lives at our university were forever altered by the actions of a single gunman.
Especially due to this last incident, I can’t really say that I can look back on all of my memories of April with fondness, but it has certainly always been a very emotionally loaded month for me. Since moving to California, April has always been the month I feel the strongest pangs of homesickness. My favorite flower is the cherry blossom, and there’s nothing more gorgeous in April than the 3,800 cherry blossom trees that come into full bloom for a couple weeks every year around the Tidal Basin of the Potomac.
This lovely scene in Washington, DC used to be only a 15-minute drive away from me when I lived in Northern Virginia, but I have not had the pleasure of seeing it in years, due to college and moving out to California, and I have really come to miss it.
The ephemeral nature of the cherry blossoms remind us of the transience of life — characterized by their amazing beauty when in bloom and their swifth death shortly afterwards, the blossoms have often been regarded as a symbol of mortality by the Japanese, and prominently appears in various forms of Japanese art, music and culture. Cherry blossoms, despite their fleeting lifetime every spring, still effloresce and flourish every year, and quickly but gracefully wilt away once they have reached their peak. It’s a reminder of the brevity and delicate aspect of our own human lives, and the importance of living each day to the fullest with no regrets, as if it were our last.
As cheesy as this may sound, I actually have a cherry blossom playlist on my iPod and I have it on repeat every spring when it’s cherry blossom season. There are countless songs about cherry blossoms in Japanese music, but these are my personal top five.
Angela Aki is a half Japanese, half Italian-American singer-songwriter and pianist who grew up in Japan but attended George Washington University — she even has ties to my hometown of Vienna, Virginia, where she recorded her first English album These Words at Jammin Java. She has said that the cherry blossoms she sings of in this song are those in DC, and how they reminded her of her home in Japan. Angela Aki has a really beautiful, powerful voice and this song is one of my favorites by her.
4. 「ã•ãらã€by ケツメイシ (Sakura by Ketsumeishi)
I love this song — it’s a sad song about lost love, but the lyrics are beautiful. I also like the upbeat tempo and the “rap” that comes in here and there. My good friend Richard from school used to sing this song every time we went karaoke, without fail — and was pretty good at it, too!
3. 「桜ã€by コブクム(Sakura by Kobukuro)
Kobukuro’s Sakura is a true classic! I love all of Kobukuro’s ballads. This song also has a tinge of sadness, but the ultimate message is that of hope and having the strength to move forward with your life beyond loss and sorrow. It’s about becoming as strong as the single flower that endures through raging storms and strong winds to see the moment when the rain lets up.
2. 「ã•ãら （独唱）ã€by 森山直太朗 (Sakura (Solo) by Naotaro Moriyama)
This hit song, released in 2003, was Moriyama’s big break and launched him into superstardom. It’s become one of the most popular songs of the last decade, a staple graduation anthem often sung at commencement ceremonies across Japan. The style he sings in seems more traditional than modern, and it really is a classic graduation song in that it sings about the blossoming of youth and the inevitability of parting ways with friends. There are various versions out there, but the one here is his solo, accompanied by piano. I love this other version as well, in which Moriyama is backed by a chorus.
1. 「桜å‚ã€by ç¦å±±é›…æ²» (Sakura zaka by Masaharu Fukuyama)
This is my personal favorite! I fell in love with it when first hearing it in 2000 when it was released, and still love it ten years later. It is one of the most romantic songs I’ve ever heard, although it’s very bittersweet in that it is (again) about a love that has been lost. The soft melody, Fukuyama’s serene vocals and the depth of the lyrics has made it a classic favorite for me. It was a huge hit in Japan as well, selling 750,000 copies in its first week and it remained at the top of the charts for three consecutive weeks; it has sold over 2,300,000 copies overall on the Oricon charts, making it one of Fukuyama’s most successful songs.
I have a friend who can sing the song particularly well and he sang it on guitar for us once, which caused tears to spring to my eyes. I literally melted….
Just got home this evening from a weekend in SoCal. I am pretty wiped, and will have to save photos and update on the trip for another day when I have more energy.
This past week was the 2010 World Figure Skating Championships in Torino, Italy. It seems almost cruel to make these figure skaters compete when they are still reeling from the Winter Olympics that ended less than a month ago, but I suppose such is the demanding schedule of an athlete. I didn’t get to watch the men’s and ladies’ programs due to the fact that I was busy on the evenings before my trip and was in Southern California during the ladies’ skates, but I kept up to date on the results via online news on my phone. 😉
It was a pleasant surprise that Daisuke Takahashi and Mao Asada were both able to take home golds for Japan.
Daisuke Takahashi became the first Japanese man to medal at the Winter Olympics this year, and he became the first to win the men’s world title this time. As I mentioned before, he has been my favorite male figure skater for a while, and it was really inspiring to see him do so well and finally be able to take home the gold after suffering a career-threatening knee injury. He only had surgery just last year and was able to overcome the injury and make such an incredible comeback! I am really happy for his win.
Mao Asada, who was forced to settle for silver at the Olympics also made a strong comeback this time and regained the title of World Champion (she had previously won the title two years ago, in 2008). Her long-time rival Kim Yu-na suffered an unfortunate fall and an uncharacteristic shaky performance, which opened up the room for Mao to grasp the title. Although Mao’s scores were below her season’s best, I am sure that the title gave her a feeling of accomplishment after training very hard this season. It’s no consolation for her dissatisfaction with her own performance at the Olympics, but she has said that she feels rewarded for her efforts in challenging and pushing herself. She noted that Daisuke Takahashi’s win from a couple days ago inspired her to win another gold for their country, and with the World Championships scheduled to be held in Japan next year, she feels that they were able to set a good starting point for the following season.
Also, the Chicago Tribune reports at the end of their article that Mao is looking for a new coach to replace Tatiana Tarasova, who she has been with for the past two seasons. I think I echo the same sentiment as a lot of other Mao Asada fans when I say that I am happy to hear this. Not that Tarasova was a bad coach — I do believe that Mao needed to improve on her expression during her programs, but since she has been with Tarasova, her programs have been very dark, heavy, even plodding at times, and the style does not seem to fit Mao at all. I hope that whoever coach Mao switches to will bring her back to the lighter skating style that she is better suited and known for, while still improving her emotional expression on the ice. Tarasova is a legendary coach, but it would also be better for Mao to no longer have a long-distance coach, since Tarasova was mostly in Russia while Mao trained in Japan.
But for now, I hope that both these skaters, as well as Kim Yu-na and Mirai Nagasu and all the other skaters who came fresh off the Olympics to compete at Worlds, can go on home and get some well-deserved rest after this busy season. I’ll miss seeing these stars on the ice, especially since this was one of the most exciting seasons for figure skating that I’ve ever witnessed, but it’s time they took some time off to shift their focus and just enjoy life off the ice for a while.
Ever since I can remember, ladies’ figure skating has been my favorite event to watch in the Winter Olympics. I remember being glued to the television when Kristi Yamaguchi and Midori Ito won medals at the 1992 Albertville Olympics in France, and just being so enamored with those women and the magic they worked on the ice. Kristi Yamaguchi became my childhood idol, and I still get excited whenever I see her come on television. (I secretly hope that I will someday run into her, since she lives in the Bay Area.) Since then, I’ve watched the likes of Tara Lipinski, Michelle Kwan, Sasha Cohen and Shizuka Arakawa skate towards their medal dreams at the Winter Games.
This past Tuesday and Thursday were the short program and free skate for the ladies’ figure skating this Olympics, and they were the most exhilarating programs that I’ve seen in years! The ladies who competed this year were among some of the best figure skaters I have ever seen, and each one sparkled in their own way on the ice.
Kim Yu-na delivered a beautiful, groundbreaking performance to answer the world’s expectations of her to come out on top, setting world records in scores for both the short program and free skate, and winning South Korea’s first ever figure skating medal. Japan’s Mao Asada made history as well, surpassing her idol Midori Ito to become the first woman to ever successfully land two triple axels in routine, three total triple axels in a competition. And Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette brought the world to tears as she skated with such beauty and strength, only days after losing her mother to a heart attack. I’m a huge fan of all three of these ladies, and just watching them perform was such an emotional rollercoaster for me and each of them brought tears to my eyes.
Kim Yu-na, of course, was the heavy favorite for the gold, and was shouldering such immense pressure not only from her own country but from the world. As the current reigning World Champion, everyone kept saying that the gold medal was hers to lose. I can’t even imagine how difficult it must be to face pressure of such humongous proportions at only 19 years old. But in this competition, she didn’t falter even once in her programs, and she skated flawlessly to the gold. Her skating is so breezy and light, with such fast jumps that she almost makes it look easy. Akiko Wada even commented on a Japanese television show, “When you watch Kim Yu-na skate, you can watch her at ease because she is just that smooth… you don’t expect her to make any mistakes.” Her performances were truly legendary this time, and her scores reflected it. Although I have always been a fan of Yu-na’s skating skills, one thing that always bothered me a little was that she is so hard to read — she always seemed so calm and collected, which is a mark of a professional, but the emotions of these athletes are what usually really draws me in. Upon completing her long program, though, with the realization that she’d pretty much nailed the gold, Yu-na showed a much more human side than I’d ever seen before, shedding tears that turned into sobs as she skated across the rink. It was the first time I’d seen her show so much emotion, and it really moved me and immediately lodged a huge lump in my throat. How much relief and joy she must have felt in that moment, to finally have that pressure lifted from her shoulders and be rewarded for the years of effort and training to make history for her country.
上田幸一撮影
Japan had three skaters in the competition this time, but the obvious favorite of the nation was young Mao Asada, also 19 years old. She’s been the sweetheart of Japan’s figure skating for years now. Doe-eyed and possessing an adorable smile and cheery personality that can light up an entire room, she is balanced, humble, and scandal-free — everything Japan could want of a star athlete. In 2006, she  was just short of the cut-off age for the Torino Olympics, but was already considered one of the greatest skaters in the world, having landed her first triple axel at age twelve and winning everything on the Junior level. She went on to become the 2008 World Champion, and although she has been a little shaky this past season, she had just won the 2010 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in January. There have been only five women in figure skating history who have been able to successfully complete a triple axel in international competition, three of them Japanese, and Mao is one of them. I admit that I have a soft spot for Mao, since I have been watching her skating since she was a teen, and I have anticipated her doing well at the Olympics since four years ago. She too was under a lot of pressure from being Japan’s favorite in figure skating, although probably not as much as what Yu-na was facing. I personally thought she skated most elegantly in the short program and she was able to nail her triple axel, but Yu-na got more speed and height in her jumps comparatively. I noticed that Mao’s routines have gotten a lot darker and more heavy-drama since she began training under her Russian coach Tatiana Tarasova — gone are the days when she used to skate to lighter melodies like Chopin and Claire de Lune (I kind of miss those days!). For her free skate, she skated to Bells of Moscow, and the routine was so intense, it felt like she was going to set the ice on fire. She had to go on right after Yu-na delivered her golden performance, and although she says in interviews that she hadn’t heard the scores due to the loud cheering, it still must have been unnerving to perform in the wake of all the cheers being showered upon her biggest rival. So I was that much more impressed when she was able to solidly land her triple axels early in her program — the courage and power with which she executed them made tears spring to my eyes (especially since I’d already had that lump in my throat thanks to Yu-na’s tears). But in the middle of the program, she faltered and missed the takeoff on a jump and what was supposed to a triple ended up being only a single — the mistake was costly, and put her significantly behind Yu-na in her score, putting her in second place to win the silver medal.
上田幸一撮影
Joannie Rochette of Canada performed extraordinarily well considering the circumstances of her mother’s unexpected death due to a heart attack only a couple days before the short program. Her mother had been her best friend and biggest support, and despite the deep sorrow she must have felt at such a huge loss, Joannie still went onto perform because she knew that that was what her mother would have wanted her to do. The fortitude and bravery with which Joannie went forth with her performance was incredible and brought the whole stadium to their feet to applaud her. Both nights, her skating was amazingly clean for one who must have been suffering so much internally, and both nights, her performances were the ones that really brought on the waterworks for me. (There probably wasn’t a a dry eye in Pacific Coliseum, either.) Â She is truly a trooper, and brought so much inspiration to everyone watched her.
I was also pleasantly surprised by how strong Mirai Nagasu of the U.S. team performed. On Thursday, she was the last to perform after so many groundbreaking performances, and she still did it with such grace and gusto. She didn’t win a medal this year, but there’s no doubt that she has talent. I didn’t know too much about Mirai before this Olympics, but she definitely left an impression and I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I’m looking forward to seeing her return to the Olympic stage in 2014. She may just be the next Kristi Yamaguchi. (I love seeing Japanese Americans represent!)
The medal ceremony was loaded with emotion as well. Yu-na tearfully accepted the first gold in the sport for her country with a shy smile — what a great moment for South Korea, and for Yu-na, to top her own world records and to achieve that validation. Joannie also had tears in her eyes as she made  her way to the podium in her home country, and I’m sure her mother was smiling down on her with so much pride. It was difficult to watch Mao at the ceremony, because you could tell she was really holding back her tears. I was hoping that she’d have her usual 100 watt smile on her face as she accepted her silver, but she looked stoic, trying hard to smile while choking back tears of disappointment. Like all figure skaters, she’s always dreamed of winning the gold, and that is what she had really wanted to do as she came to Vancouver this year. But more than that, she was frustrated that she had been unable to skate a program free of mistakes. Yu-na’s performance was just unbeatable, and it’s pretty questionable that Mao would have been able to top her score even if she had not made those two mistakes on Thursday. The emotions really surfaced and the tears just spilled over as she was interviewed by the Japanese media immediately following the ceremony:
Mao is very hard on herself here, repeatedly commenting on her feelings of regret. She says that the long program felt long and at the same time was over before she knew it. She says that she was very unsatisfied with her performance and that she is very disappointed in herself with the mistakes she made. When asked about her triple axels, she just answers that she is glad that she was able to complete them successfully, but that they were the only good thing about her program. This clip was shown live in Japan, and I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I cried with Mao at her heartbreak and disappointment. Mao is a perfectionist and she had been dreaming of an Olympic gold since seeing Lipinski win back in 1998’s Nagano Olympics. How frustrating it must have felt to not be able to skate a clean program that she could be satisfied with after four years of training for the Olympics. I just wished I could tell her that she still skated great, and although it wasn’t enough to earn her the gold, that silver is still a huge honor that she should be proud of.
The poor girl had to do live broadcast interviews to Japan until 4am despite her exhaustion and fatigue, but Mao’s emotions seem to stabilize as the night goes on and she seems to be more collected and in higher spirits as Tokyo’s anchorwoman Ando interviews her. Ando really spoke for all of Japan when she told Mao that she and everyone back in Japan was immensely proud of her winning the silver for her country and that her performance brought them to tears.
Mao’s older sister Mai is also a figure skater and although she has not enjoyed nearly as much success as Mao and has since gone professional, she had been the inspiration for Mao to switch from ballet to skating at age 5. Mai surprised Mao as she came on during an interview, and Mao can’t help but shed tears as she’s reunited with her sister for the first time in Vancouver.
Mai expresses how proud she is of her baby sister, and reads a letter from their mother which again moves Mao to tears. Her mother writes that reflecting back on the years when Mao first started skating when Mao would frequently cry when she didn’t do well in competitions as a little girl, she feels that it is really an amazing miracle that Mao was able to place second on a huge world stage such as the Olympics. She expresses that she is full of gratitude for everyone who has supported Mao along this journey, and congratulates her daughter for doing so well. Mao had said that the first person she wanted to show her medal to and express her joy to was her mother, so she must have been so happy to hear from her back in Japan.
In a press conference on Friday, the day after the competition, Mao looked much happier after a night’s rest, as she spoke to the media with Miki Ando and Akiko Suzuki who also represented Japan this time. Mao stated that during the medal ceremony, she was still having difficulty sorting out her emotions and her disappointment and regret weighed heavily on her, but that now she is very honored and happy to have won the silver. She said that she couldn’t wait to return to Japan to show her medal to everyone, and to have people touch it. Asked about Kim Yu-na, she said that she thinks she is a great skater that she really respects, who inspires and motivates her.
Japan’s Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama even issued a statement, saying “Given that Kim Yu-na’s performance was extraordinarily strong and outstanding, I would like to congratulate Asada Mao on her silver medal. The whole country is celebrating your achievement, and I would like to sincerely congratulate you.” At the same time, regarding the overall ladies’ figure skating this year, he commented, “I would like to offer congratulations on South Korea’s inspiring, historical achievement. It is really wonderful that both South Korea and Japan were able to bring so much excitement to the Olympic event this year. It is important to be able to compete like this on the world stage.” I had noticed that NBC and other media outlets had repeatedly mentioned the historical animosity between Korea and Japan, saying that “any defeat of Japan would be memorable for the Koreans,” and I am sure it probably is for many, given the history between the two countries. But I think sportsmanship and mutual respect are always the best way to move forward in healthy competition, and I am happy to see the humility and class with which Hatoyama delivered his congratulatory remarks to Yu-na and South Korea. Despite what some may think, although Mao is obviously the country favorite, Yu-na has a huge fan base in Japan as well, and many Japanese (like myself) are genuinely happy for her victory. Japanese citizens seem to be more overjoyed by Mao’s silver than disappointed that she didn’t win the gold, so if letting her country down was one of her fears, Mao has absolutely nothing to worry about — Japan is more than ready to welcome her back home with wide open arms. 🙂
It has been a truly historical couple days to watch in ladies’ figure skating history, and I was so inspired and moved by every moment of that jaw-dropping last hour. It has been exciting to witness so many moments that will make Olympic history. I can’t wait for these stars to take on the ice again in their exhibition gala tonight, and I am excited to see how they will continue to move forward in their skating careers. As the Winter Games draws to a close this weekend, I can truly say that the Vancouver 2010 Olympics has been beyond memorable!
