First, let me say that one of the hosts, Bill Lawson, was totally great and the other host, I think his name is Matt Hazel, needs a hair cut. Really, what was he thinking? The 3rd annual Fukuyama “Let’s Film” Festival was held on May 31, 2008. As one of the organizers of this event I can say without any bias that this one was definitely one of the top three ever!

John Dower’s Embracing Defeat may seem like a daunting read at first glance. It won a Pulitzer Prize and a US National Book Award. It’s about the occupation of Japan. It’s close to 700 pages long. So it’s not exactly light-reading in both senses of the word. But those expecting a dry, academic re-telling (as I was), are in for a surprise. The strength of this fascinating book is that Dower focuses on individual stories of the occupation. Meticulously researched (150 of those pages are notes and an index), he has culled through an amazing amount of research material to give both Japanese and American perspectives on the occupation of Japan by Allied Forces that lasted from 1945 to 1952.

When one first sees pictures of 9000 men dressed only in fundoshi (loincloths) running around and engaged in a giant brawl the first thing that comes to mind is “what the hell are they doing?!” The Japanese participants believe that if they end up with the shingi (sacred stick) at the end, it will bring a year of good luck (aided by a large cash sum), and if not, they will still receive blessings from the two deities Senjukannon and Goousho Daigongen, just like their fathers, and their fathers’ fathers. We knew none of this though. However, either being tired of living or, simply, as one teacher put it, being henna (strange) gaijin, we decided to join in for the craic.

Some fifteen years ago, when watching “Jurassic Park,” (anyone else suddenly feel old after that statement?) a standard was set to which all other children’s terrified faces could be compared. As the T-Rex approached the overturned car of children Lex and Tim, no look could more appropriately convey “this is the end of it all” than young Lex’s. That is, of course, until I went to the Betcha Matsuri in Onomichi on November 3.

Buono!Musica!2007: a weekend spent at a musical oasis. There was no J-pop. We didn’t hear the Beatles once, perhaps because of the absence of department stores and konbinis… Buono!Musica!2007 was simply a beautiful day and night of music, delicious food and camping. Held in a campground in Sera-Nishi, a small town an hour drive north of Onomichi, it proved to be a secluded spot with plenty of green-space, overlooking a peaceful lake. There was room for lazing around with a beer, or even tossing a frisbee, if you felt up to that strenuous task! In the evening, a big bonfire was lit for people to relax around. There were also barbeque facilities near the stage, so we loaded up on supermarket goodies before we arrived. It really was an excellent little valley for seeing some great live music.

“For those about to rock we salute you!” There are no better words to describe my feelings about the Fuji Rock Festival. Let’s be honest here; going to this festival is a true testament to your love of rock. The three-day ticket costs 40,000 yen, the Shinkansen costs another 40,000 yen, and then all the food, drink and swag you buy at the concert is going to cost you as well. Of course, you clever people will have figured out that there are cheaper ways to get around Japan, but I couldn’t go with the clever option. I had a workshop the day before and made the last train out of Fukuyama. I was off and ready to rock out with my wallet out!

This past Golden Week a team of nine people, including five ALTs from Hiroshima, travelled to Bangladesh with Habitat for Humanity’s (HfH) Global Village Project. The Global Village Project provides volunteers with the opportunity to travel to areas where HfH is active, meet some of their constituents, and help build homes. We travelled to Bangladesh for 11 days and had an amazing time, both with the work we did and, in particular, with the people we met and got to know in that short time.

For a brief moment in college, I considered being an economics major because it seemed practical. However, when I saw the fat textbooks filled with numbers and jargon that would have put me to sleep after five minutes, I immediately changed my mind and took some classes on Latin America instead. I vowed I would never look at another econ book again but then I came across Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.

October is, in my opinion, the best month here in Japan. The weather is perfect, there are four whole days off work (!!), and of course, there are two days every October when people from all over the country come to the town of Saijo to drink copious amounts of alcohol. In fact, when attending the famous Saijo Sake Festival, you are expected – encouraged, even – to drink lots and lots of sake (I even saw kiddies who would have been at least ten years under the age limit tastetesting some of Saijo’s finest with their parents!) and everyone looks the other way if you end up acting like a complete fool.