Oh, that Post!

Reckoned there was a storm a-comin' my way - turned out I reckoned wrong.

The China Post 英文中國郵報, "Taiwan's Leading English-Language Newspaper Since 1952". "Trapped in 1952" more like it, seeing as the Post still likes to view itself as the ideological English-language mouthpiece of an authoritarian one-party state, despite the fact that Taiwan has been a multi-party democracy with a free press (in theory, at least) since the middle of the 1990's. Throw in the poorly-translated China News Agency articles, using terms and expressions that were popular in the 1890's, not to mention sexist observations that haven't titillated most societies since Ike was in the White House, and you have "Taiwan's Most Entertaining English-Language Newspaper", at least.

Stuck in a time-warp though it may be, the editors of the China Post are aware of the fact that much of the world tends to overlook the Republic of China 中華民國. So when foreigners do pay attention, or at least stop by for a visit, the Post's writers get all excited (unless the visitor is a "troublemaker" like Rebiya Kadeer or the Dalai Lama). Take, for example, this opening paragraph from today's Prime Time supplement (italics are mine):

"This weekend's Beastie Music Festival is an ambitious endeavor. No fewer than 100 indie bands will perform on four musical stages, with a handful of acts coming from as far away as Japan and Korea."

Perhaps it's because I grew up in a huge landmass, but Japan and Korea don't seem all that far away to me. I can't imagine a music festival going on in my hometown of Sacramento, for example, and read the Sacramento Bee gushing how bands were coming from as far away as Seattle or Denver.

Ah, Japan. The (I assume) youthful Western entertainment writers employed by the China Post might get enthused about things that come from Taiwan's former colonial overseer, but the dinosaurs in charge of the paper still see the Empire of Japan 大日本帝国 and its Imperial Army 大日本帝国陸軍 when it comes to historical matters. Today's front page had a (very) short article on the indictment of a Taiwanese aboriginal publicity-hound...sorry, I mean legislator who has been indicted by Japanese authorities over an incident at the infamous Yasukuni Shrine 靖国神社...two years ago. But what was even more revealing was this example of historical revisionism found in what should have been a simple blurb for a hotel promotion (italics mine again):

"From now until the end of September, the (Leader Taroko Village) will be light [sic] out every night at [sic] after 8 p.m. to welcome guest [sic] and to celebrate the releasing of "Seediq Bale" by the director of Cape No. 7, Wei Te-shen [sic]. The movie centers on the history of Taroko heroes who fought the Japanese invasion during the 1930s."

The above paragraph refers to the Wushe Incident 霧社事件. For those of you who don't know your history, Japan and China fought a war from 1894-5, which resulted in China's defeat. In the Treaty of Shimonoseki 下関条約, the Qing Empire 清朝 ceded Taiwan to Japan, and Japanese forces landed on the northwest coast of the island in May of 1895. Resistance was fierce, but the Japanese soon assumed control of their new dependency (though the last rebellion wasn't put down until 1915). The point is that there was no "invasion" - Taiwan was handed over to Japan under the terms of a diplomatic agreement between Beijing and Tōkyō. Furthermore, even if the initial landings of the Japanese military could be called an "invasion", by the time of the Wushe Incident in 1930, things had been quiet for over 15 years (which is why the uprising was such a shock to the Japanese authorities). And, finally, there is the reference to the aboriginal fighters being "heroes", an obvious attempt to include non-Han Chinese 漢族 peoples in the struggle against Japanese imperialism that took place in China between 1931 and 1945. It's doubtful that Mona Rudao and his compatriots were fighting for Taiwan's "retrocession" into the loving arms of the Chinese motherland, but that doesn't stop the Post from turning a hotel promotion into a Greater China piece of propaganda.

Yes, you gotta love Taiwan's Leading English-Language Newspaper Since 1952.

Whither Tokyo Journal?

Back in the Nineties when I was living in Tōkyō 東京 (good god, what is it really that long ago?), one of my primary sources for information was the magazine Tokyo Journal. Published every month, it combined entertainment listings with interesting articles on Tōkyō in specific, and Japan in general. Unlike Compass Magazine, the rag that “serves” the foreign community here in T'aichung 台中, the writers weren’t afraid to tackle controversial topics, or make critical comments on the state of current affairs in Japan. This was in stark contrast to Compass, where seldom is heard a discouraging word about Taiwan’s third-largest city. Tokyo Journal would feature well-written articles by the likes of the late, great Alan Booth (The Roads to Sata, Looking for the Lost), and the restaurant reviews by Rick Kennedy were well-worth checking out when deciding on where to go to eat. In Compass, on the other hand, dining establishments seemingly are allowed to submit their own (naturally) glowing reviews, which are then printed verbatim, meaning you’ll have to look elsewhere for an unbiased overview of the city’s dining scene (and good luck with that!).

In all fairness, Compass is a free publication, and relies on its advertisers to stay that way, so it can’t afford to bite the proverbial hands that feed it. With Tokyo Journal, on the other hand, one paid for all that evenhandedness. Still, it does get a little nauseating to read the level of pandering the editors of Compass (Douglas Habecker and Courtney Donovan Smith) stoop to each month when it comes to their reporting on the administration of current Taichung mayor Jason Hu 胡志強. There must be some extremely brown noses on the staff of Compass by now. But I digress.

In addition of interesting articles, TJ had an extensive listing of monthly events going on in the greater Tokyo area. There were movie reviews, as well as listings for upcoming concerts, exhibitions, festivals and so on. Along with the usual announcements for rock concerts and kabuki 歌舞伎 performances, Tokyo Journal would also inform its readers of more avant-garde goings on like underground theater and butoh 舞踏 dance, to give just a couple of examples. Although the magazine could easily be found in all the major bookstores that stocked English-language titles, I preferred to subscribed to TJ so that I would have all that information at my fingertips at the beginning of each month. There were no other publications at that time (other than Pia, which required Japanese-reading skills) which so thoroughly covered the numerous things to see and do in Tōkyō (Metropolis was called Tokyo Classified back then, and Tokyo Weekender was mainly aimed at the ex-pat corporate crowd – of interest only if you wanted to know which embassy parties Bill Hersey had recently attended).

So what’s brought on all this nostalgia? Recently, someone posted a question on Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree Forum asking about theater performances in Tokyo. My first response was to reply and suggest checking out Tokyo Journal. So you can imagine my surprise when, before doing so, I went to TJ’s homepage and learned that it was now a quarterly publication. Even worse, it appears that its most recent edition was put out last December. Clearly, something has gone wrong in the years since I moved away. Empires rise and fall, and so do publications, it seems. I wish I could at least read some of the classic articles from past editions, but even that doesn’t seem possible on the web site. It’s sad to see old favorites fading away like old soldiers.

And to think I’m stuck with Compass. Good thing I have a lot of salt on hand – I need it when reading all of its “articles” or “reviews” each month!

Taken in my neighborhood, this pictures shows banners that advertise some kind of medical treatment using electric therapy. My wife thinks this is just a 21st-century version of snake oil, which might explain the Japanese name Morita モリタ, thus making it appear to be from Japan, and therefore more believable.

Date spots

It's hard to believe (but then again, not, considering where I am), but the Ch'ingshui Service Area 清水服務區, located on National Highway No. 3 福爾摩沙高速公路 (aka 國道三號) is considered a local sightseeing spot. This is supposedly due to the "scenic night view" to be seen from the rest area, but in actuality there are much better viewpoints in  Qingshui and around. That doesn't stop the hordes from coming, though obviously the main reason is to eat and shop. This evening, however, the service area was relatively quiet. As my wife suggested, seeing as today is Chinese Valentine's Day 情人節, perhaps most couples are at motels instead. Hubba hubba...

A small aquarium that included some jellyfish drew a lot of interest. Amber took a few pictures which can be seen on her blog.

The Korean Wave hasn't apparently washed up in Qingshui yet, but signs of Cool Japan were everywhere.

Father and daughter in our Okinawa 沖縄 outfits.

The heartwarming story of Taiwan Coffee.

I had a yume

As a part-time blogger who has lived in Taiwan 台灣 for much longer than I care to admit, I would love to blog on the many things that make this island so unique. Unfortunately, I can only think of two that make Taiwan stand out from its neighbors in this part of the world: its geopolitical situation vis-à-vis China; and the betel-nut beauties 檳榔西施. Even more unfortunately, Michael Turton and Tobie Openshaw cornered those respective markets a long time ago, so I’m left with beyond-the-fringe niche photos such as these:

Yume ユメ means "dream" 夢, which also would have made a good name for the jewelry store.

The juxtaposition of the graceful cherry blossom with the fermenting soybean.

I admit it – I’m a fascist. You may (or may not have) noticed that when it comes to writing place names and the such on this blog, I painstakingly insert macrons over long vowels in Japanese words (Tōkyō 東京, sumō 相撲 etc.), while for Taiwanese names, I take the reactionary road by insisting on using Wade-Giles Romanization 韋氏拼音, complete with apostrophes and tone marks. It’s my blog, after all, and I’ll do what I want to (despite, or even because of, the occasional nasty comment I get about it).

However, when it comes to public forums, I will use the accepted spellings, though admittedly doing so is more difficult on Taiwan-related forums due to the Romanization mess here. What annoys me, therefore, are those who insist on being “correct” when dispensing advice to questions on travel-related forums such as Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree, where I’m a regular reader and frequent contributor. Why, for example, write "Tokyo" as “Toukyou”? Technically that’s correct, but virtually everyone recognizes the name of Japan’s capital without the long vowels. On the Taiwan side of Thorn Tree, you get posters who refer to places called “Taizhong” and “Gaoxiong” when answering queries from people looking for advice about things to see and do here. Again, those renderings are correct according to the rules of Pinyin 拼音, but the hapless OP (Original Poster) would probably have a very difficult time finding those places on his/her map of Taiwan.

And, for that matter, why do some so-called “helpful” posters insist on peppering their replies with examples of Japanese or Chinese words, without any corresponding English translations? One frequent contributor to Japan-related queries likes to throw in words and phrases like “keisatsu” or “shinpai shinai de”. Wouldn’t saying “police” 警察 or “don’t worry” 心配しないで be of more use to the person seeking assistance? People post to these forums because they are seeking advice and suggestions from those who have been there before them. They are not looking to be impressed with your language skills. Save your anal-retentive Romanization Nazi spellings for your own personal blogs, and use commonly-rendered terms and names when answering general queries on public forums.

That’s what this reactionary right-wing lunatic does.

The Signs They Are-a Changin'

At least they appear to be in Taichung's 台中 Yizhong Street 一中街 student mecca. Young people in this area are surfing the Korean Wave, which began with TV dramas and music (K-pop), and Korean-themed clothing boutiques can be spotted all around the area. Here are a few I came across this evening:

Those South Koreans may be economic rivals and "poor sports", but they're way cooler than you are, right kids?

"Cool Japan" is still holding its own, though, in Yizhong Street:

"A new list" 新しいリスト. For drinks, presumably.

This sign is rather interesting in that it uses the word shōten-gai 商店街. Why didn't they write "mall" or "shopping street", which is what in means in English?

The Japanese in the bottom-left corner refers to "Spring onion-flavored pie rolls" ねぎ風味巻きパイ.

I feel another rant coming on...

This afternoon I went for what should have been a relaxing walk on the relatively easy Nos. 7 and 8 trails in the Dakeng 大坑 area. However, as I was starting to wrap things up and head back downhill to my parked scooter, I noticed that the bottom of my right hiking boot was starting to peel off...again. This had happened earlier this year, back in April, and at that time my wife took the boot in to be repaired. It seems the repair work lasted all of...four months. So now I'm wondering who to blame. The choices are:

a.) the sporting goods store in Taichung 台中 which sold me the boots in the first place in the spring of last year;

b.) the elderly gentleman who repaired the boot;

c.) the middle-aged woman selling produce in the parking lot for the hiking trails (and whose food stands took up almost all the space on a public staircase) who had a good, long laugh at the hapless foreign barbarian and his equally hapless footwear;

d.) my wife, who came to the decision that a senior citizen working from a stand in a traditional market was more eminently qualified to fix my broken boot than the trained technicians at a professional repair service, or:

e.) all of the above.

As for f.) my fault, that isn't an option, as these are supposed to be hiking boots, dammit, and I was using them in the way the good lord (or the gods) intended.

Now, if here were Japan, or perhaps even Taipei 台北, I could just bring the boot in to the nearest branch of a company like Mr. Minit and have the job done right the first time. Unfortunately, if I mention this to my beloved, I will probably be accused of "complaining about Taiwan (again)". So, instead, I've got to figure out a way of subtly convincing Pamela that seeing as this is the year 2011 and not 1961, we don't have to use the same services that her mother would utilize in these sorts of situations.

Wish me luck.

An example of the fine craftsmanship and attention to detail for which Taiwan is noted

Happy belated anniversary

It was our 9th wedding anniversary last week, and this afternoon the Kaminoge family belatedly celebrated with lunch at a steak buffet restaurant on the 8th floor of the Pacific Department Store in beautiful downtown Fengyuan 豐原. The view from our table of that uniquely unique stunning urban scenery for which Taiwan 台灣 is "famous":

Making yourself at home: a teenage girl decides that the best place to text her friends would be from the floor of the very same restaurant. As one my friends wrote about this scene on Facebook, "Odd. Very odd":

This Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 福岡ソフトバンクホークス cap looks a lot better on daughter than it does on father: