What is Lang-8?

What is Lang-8?
Lang-8 is the best place to improve foreign language writing skills, and moreover, is even free of charge.
Lang-8 is a social networking service, which is based in Japan. The main idea of Lang-8 is exchange of knowledge on the internet.
What is exchanged on the website? Corrections. We can exchange correction with one another in using the website.
Practicing for writing is very hard and takes a long time. Unlike listening and reading, writing can't be done alone because you won't be aware your mistakes. It is hard for language learners to make accurate sentence without correction by a native speaker.
In Lang-8, you can have your text corrected in return for your corrections.
Let's say, if you were a Japanese and you learned Russian, you posted Russian text and got correction from Russian people, and you corrected Japanese text by Russian people or other people from other countries.
The website was founded in Japan, so there seems to be a quite a lot of Japanese and English users  but still, many different language users are joining the website. I've corrected Japanese text written by Czech, Arabic, Latvian speaking people and so on.
It's surprising thing for me that people from so many countries are trying to learn Japanese. When I use this web site,  I really feel how the internet brought the world closer together, and this is one of its most helpful uses.

Thank you Ailisim.

Travel in Japan: Tottori, temple on precipice

Today, I'll show you a place to visit in Tottori, which is one of the least famous areas in Japan!

Tottori, the area which can be forgotten by Japanese people.　A survey clarified that only 40% of junior high school students know where Tottori is. Despite the popularity, the area has magnificent sceneries, ancient hot springs, delicious seafood and so on. 

Nageire Dou temple, this temple is built on the middle of a precipice. A temple in such a dangerous place is unusual even across Japan, and the exact way it was built is still enveloped in mystery.

What's even more interesting for you is the way to get to the temple. As you know the temple is in a steep mountain, which is the sacred area of the temple. Due to the danger in the mountain, wearing usual shoes is prohibited. You have to wear mountain boots, or Waraji.

Waraji!? 

What I want to show you is Waraji.

Waraji are Japanese traditional sandals that are made up of straw ropes. It was used in the past, if you've seen Japanese historical dramas, you must have seen these sandals on people's foot. Surprisingly, wearing Waraji is advised to climbed up the mountain. I ensure that you'll never have such an experience except here, Nageire Dou. You might be worried whether Waraji work or not on steep mountain trails, however, in my experience, it keeps you from slipping.

I recommend it to you who don't like to go to major attractions, you can be relieved; no foreign tourists there (First of all, perhaps no foreigners in Tottori... kidding. 80 people from Canada enjoyed Tottori in 2015 according to the data).

By the way, you can't enter during winter and when it's raining due to the risks of slips.

Where is the temple? Although the temple is on a cliff, it is easier to access than you'll expect.

When you stay at Tami: a hostel I love inTottori ($28), it will take 10 minutes to get to Kurayoshi Station, and 40 minutes by bus to the temple.

Thank you for the correction, Gjay

Travel in Japan: Kagoshima, great caldera in Mt. Kirishima

Travel in Japan: Kagawa, delicious udon, and an ancient temple

Travel in Japan: Beppu, Hot Spring


Japan Rail Pass (You can take almost any train in Japan)

Wanpan Man (One-Punch Man)

A surprising thing happened with Wanpan Man also known as One-Punch Man abroad.

Five or six years ago, when I was a student, I read a manga on a personal website. The manga was obviously written by an amateur. The drawings and typography were as terrible as a rough draft, but it has irresistible attraction. The name of the hero was Saitama, which was named after a city in Japan, or a Japanese internet meme at that time. It clearly seemed that the author had decided the name within 5 seconds. Not only Saitama, but most of other characters' names sounded extremely off-the-cuff. How adorable. The manga was based off of various existing mangas but the author reinterpreted them and extracted exciting things from them. I also like that the plot proceeds quickly, as you know, the hero is the man who can beat anyone by one-punch.

I liked the amateur manga so I was really surprised to hear that Yusuke Murata, a comic artist, who is well known for Eyeshield, proposed a collaboration with the author. Basically, talented artists can't help adding their own touches and it sometimes lead to lose the original, then an argument between author and comic artist will happen. However, these worries that  fans of the original series had were needless. Murata completely understood what the manga was, and what the attraction of the manga was as he depicted the fight between Mumen Rider and Shinkai Ou. He took advantage of even the roughness of the original. (But I still prefer original one. Especially Tatsumaki and Saitama) 

Three years later, the manga became an animation. The animation has gained international popularity. I didn't watch it, though. Sometimes I see Saitama on foreign websites that are not related to Japanese animation. Is that the same Saitama I read on the individual website five years ago? It seems he is. 

A surprising things for me. 

Thank you Caramellarie!

The first hockey game I saw

I watched my first hockey game.

It was the Toronto Marlies vs. the Utica Comets. THe Marlies are an American Hockey League team, not the highest league, NHL, but the level is still high. The venue was the Ricoh Coliseum —I mistakenly went the Air Canada Centre five minutes before the game began, so I saw the game from the middle. There were a lot of audience members wearing uniforms, snack shops, and hockey item shops. I felt like "that's the very hockey venue!".

I was not sure about hockey and the Toronto Marlies, so I mistook the Comets for the Marlies because, despite the fact that the symbol for the Marlies was mainly blue, their uniforms were white, and the opponents' were blue. It was a little confusing. Firstly, I was clapping for the Comets scoring. After that, I noticed because the white guys scored and the audience got excited and shouted. So embarrassed.

It was a close game, the Marlies were behind, one to three in the second period but they caught up to them, four to four! But eventually, the Marlies fell. Anyway it was fun, and it can't be seen in Japan.

Thank you Matthew.wedgeroberts, James.

Travel in Japan: Kagoshima, great caldera in Mt. Kirishima

Actually, Japan is larger than you thought. The picture above is obviously Japanese scenery, I took it when I climbed up Mt. Karakuni, which is part of Kirishima mountain range. The mountains are located across the Kagoshima and Miyazaki area, but it will be easier to access from Kagoshima.

Kagoshima is the southernmost area in Japan, it's quite far from Honshu island.
It takes four hours from Osaka by Shinkansen. It costs about $200 but you don't need to worry if you have a JR pass. You can get to Kagoshima easily but going Kirishima mountain range requires taking a bus or renting a car.

You can see an overwhelming crater, or caldera, when you climb up the mountains. You won't notice it is the sign of an eruption due to the unusual size. Indeed, the mountain range has been continuing its volcanic activity, thus some of the mountains are prohibited to enter. If you look back when you are climbing up, you'll notice you are in the line of volcanoes. You wouldn't forget the scenery there.
And one more thing, the local dishes in Kagoshima are the greatest. You should try them even if you aren't interested in the volcanoes.

Travel in Japan: Kagoshima, great caldera in Mt. Kirishima

Travel in Japan: Kagawa, delicious udon, and an ancient temple

Travel in Japan: Beppu, Hot Spring

Japan Rail Pass (You can take almost any train in Japan)
Thank you Beelzebubbles, Kenji, and Madox!

Study of android. Existence of a mind

I saw an interesting play, which featured human actor and an android.
An Android is similar to a robot, but it's made more imitating a human.
The play was the  result of collaboration between a robotics researcher and a theater director.

The play questions asks the audience;
"Do we really distinguish whether or not other people have a mind?"

If you speak to the carefully programmed android and she responded perfectly, you would feel as if she truly has a mind and feelings. The idea makes me notice the following.
A  Mind is invisible, no one can take it out and shows others. How do we know others have feelings? We just know it through other people's response. For instance, when something unpleasant happens, they might get upset. We never see the mind itself, we just see the response. This implies that if an android is able to make absolutely perfect responses, we have to call the response a "mind". Who can tell the the difference between a true mind and its response (besides a telepathist?)?

If the human's mind is called mind, the androids' response must be called that as well, because they are perceptually the same.
When we can't tell apart an android's and a human's response, we can also no longer say the difference between the one who has a mind and the one who doesn't have a mind, because we just suppose that a mind exists.

Furthermore, this notion poses another question;
"Do I have a mind?"

Even if nobody proves the existence of a mind, I know I have a mind.
However, what exactly composes the thing we call "the mind"?
Is the mind an accumulation of memory?
Do I just follow the memory in my head?

The play was so thought-provoking.

I appreciate the correction by Blah.

Travel in Japan: Kagawa, delicious udon, and an ancient temple

I'd like to tell you about tourist spot in Japan that are off the beaten path.
This time, I'll introduce Kagawa.
Kagawa is located in the Shikoku area, in the Southeast part in Japan.
It takes two and half hours from Osaka. (One hour by using Shinkansen with a transferring at Okayama, another one and half hour by JR express and local JR trains.)

Shikoku is one of the four big islands in Japan, separated from Honshu (Mainland) by the Seto inland sea. Shikoku and Honshu are connected by a huge bridge, so you can go over the bridge and enjoy the island scenery when you visit Shikoku. Kagawa is located in Shikoku's inland sea side, so it's relatively easy to access compared to the other regions of Shikoku.
Kagawa is famous for Udon, Japanese noodle. Nowadays Ramen is getting popular abroad, but Udon is little different from Ramen; its attraction is in its their texture. The texture is called "Koshi", and it's very elastic and smooth. It's like..like..no idea, sorry. It just made my mouth water. I guess some people have already had Udon before, but I have good news: Kagawa's udon is way better than ordinary udon.
Kagawa's udon evolved independently, and no other udon can compare Kagawa's. Furthermore, even the tastiest Udon is much cheaper in Kagawa than that in other areas; about one to five dollars. There is no disagreement that Kagawa is the Udon kingdom in Japan.

If you are interested in Kagawa, I recommend the Kotohira region. There is an ancient temple on one of  the mountains. The temple is at the top of the some long, long stone steps - more than 1300 steps in total. There is an array of souvenir shops that have unique stonework, woodwork and whatnot, and there are local snack shops on both sides of the stone steps. After eating some of the unique food there, you can enjoy exercising on the old steps, so you can see beautiful scenery from the mountain. I also love Kagawa's sake, fish, cafes, and museums, maybe I'll talk about that some other time.

I appreciate Blah's correction.

Travel in Japan: Kagoshima, great caldera in Mt. Kirishima

Travel in Japan: Kagawa, delicious udon, and an ancient temple

Travel in Japan: Beppu, Hot Spring

Japan Rail Pass (You can take almost any train in Japan)

Travel in Japan: Beppu, Hot Spring

I'd like to tell you about off the beaten path tourist spots in Japan.

This time, I'll introduce Beppu.

Beppu is located in Kyusyu area, the Southern part in Japan.

It takes 4 hours from Osaka, 2 hours by Shinkansen and transfer at Kokura, then 1 hour by JR express.

The town is famous for hot spring, said to be one of the greatest hot spring area in Japan. You may see raising steam from here and there as you arrive Beppu. The steam is from hot spring heat, and there are more than 2000 hot springs in the town. It's well known not only for the quantity but also variety, and there are different benefits of hot springs.

Hot spring is also the place to visit, which you can see unusual view such as red hot spring, blue hot spring, etc. The hot springs are called Jigoku (hell in English) because of its scenery which has strange color of hot water (not artificial), rocks, rising steam.

As I said, there are hot springs everywhere, so the steam is used for cooking as well. Some hotels have a steam cooking spot with steam jetting out without a pause. The cooking spot is usually outside, so you can enjoy steam-BBQ! You can steam whatever you want! Actually, steam cooked vegetable, sea shell, and local raised chicken, anything is at least two times delicious than usual when you cook them by the steam. If you put Yuzu-kosho, sour and hot local special spice which mixed citron and blue pepper, on steam cooked food, I have no words to explain how delicious it is.

Also the town is close to the sea, so fish, including sushi is excellent. In my experience, beef, pork, and chicken are outstanding, furthermore not expensive.

Why not. No reason not to go.

Travel in Japan: Kagoshima, great caldera in Mt. Kirishima

Travel in Japan: Kagawa, delicious udon, and an ancient temple

Travel in Japan: Beppu, Hot Spring

Japan Rail Pass (You can take almost any train in Japan)

Thanks, Elly!

Cursed People in Princess Mononoke, もののけ姫

(This post is for those who have seen Princess Mononoke)

Other post→Why Eboshi and Moro Fought on the Ruined Mountain

There is a curse in the movie, Princess Mononoke. The curse that Ashitaka got leads him to the forest inhabited by the gods. Some of the blacksmiths working in the Eboshi's studio also have a curse. They wind bandages around their whole body to hide the mark of their curse, like Ashitaka does with his long sleeve arm guard. The blacksmiths say they got the curse because of their karma, like Ashitaka. In the movie, it is never mentioned what exactly the blacksmiths' curse is, however, there are actually two different types of curses. Ashitaka was cursed by a god. The blacksmiths' curse is one caused by bacteria, it's also known as Hansen's Disease or leprosy. No one mentions the name of disease in the film, but the blacksmiths' appearance implies it to the audience. Characters in the movie think the disease is just a curse. They don't know how to treat it, or what the cause is, they just isolate the sufferers out of fear. Historically, people with Hansen's Disease were discriminated against. Only Lady Eboshi is not frightened them. One blacksmith says "She is the only one who saw us as human beings". Fighting against every old notions by making improvements and gaining knowledge is Eboshi's way. That's why she never fear any curses and god of the forest. Eboshi's character represents human being as an innovator. 

Thank you for the detailed correction, Meagan b.

Princess Mononoke, Why Eboshi and Moro Fought on the Ruined Mountain

(This post is for those who have seen Princess Mononoke)

Other post→Cursed People in Princess Mononoke, もののけ姫

After Ashitaka and a monk meet, the scene changes to the next one, where Eboshi’s troops encounter with Moro and her sons, god of wolf, on the bare mountain.

Then, I have a question:

Have you thought of why Eboshi and Moro fought on the bare mountain? or, why the mountain is so ruined, and the river muddy brown?

There is a clear reason:

It’s not just because Miyazaki, the director, wanted to animate a cool gun fight  in the hard rain. The reason is related to what Eboshi has been doing: manufacturing iron.

Eboshi’s village is being strongly supported by their ability of producing iron. Thanks to the iron, they are able to keep independent from other samurai’s influence.

However, to produce iron in medieval time requires a myriad of mountain sand because the process of producing iron is to extract iron from the whole sand by using the difference of melting point between iron and sand. As you saw in the movie before, they have to heat tons of sand around-the-clock through this process. Where are the tons of sand from? Here is the reason. They dig in the mountains to get sand. This is not only fiction, but also a historical thing. Indeed, there are some mountains whose shape was changed due to iron manufacture. Furthermore, how do they keep the fire to make iron? They need a lot of wood as well. Both are obtained from destroying mountains. The mountain loses tree and earth, so it can no longer keep water into it. As a result, when it rains on the mountain, rivers become a muddy stream.

Thus iron and forest can’t flourish together. 

That’s why Eboshi, the human who produces iron, and Moro, a god who inhabits the forest, have to fight on the ruined mountain. That is the thing that Miyazaki implied in the shot scene.

As long as human beings want to be human beings, they had to kill god of forest to make forest in human hands at one point. In the last scene, it seems that the forest recovered its greenery, but it obviously is not the original ancient forest where god of wolf and wild boar inhabited. Those gods lost their power and came mere forest animals. The forest came to be controlled by human, and no longer refusing human entry. The last scene indicates the end of ancient times and the dawn of the human’s age. And Miyazaki must have mixed feelings about that.

Thank you for the correcting this long post, Kenji,  Rebien and Coolguy.