And a Happy New Year to you too

With promises come disappointment, and as Obama reminds everyone that he will save the economy, he also adds that there may be some "false starts." I too will use that excuse in explaining why I have not written a blog entry for my few readers over the past few weeks even though I promised at least one entry per week.

Since I last posted, the world entered 2009, over 1000 people died in Gaza, hundreds of thousands lost jobs in the U.S. alone, and I finally fixed my bike's front break. I'm sorry if I've offended anyone with my attempt at dry humor, but aren't we all guilty of being self-centered and caring more about our daily challenges than the world's problems. In my study of politics, I've found that global affairs can never beat the economy in opinion polls and in the hearts of the people. With that brief editorial on why I'm wasting my life studying something that will never be number one in your heart, I wish the best to all of you around the world and hope 2009 will bear you a first-born son (old English for good fortune).

How did Kintama spend his New Year's Eve is actually the true topic of this entry although I haven't touched it yet in this long commentary on nothing. In order to not break my second promise of keeping my entries short, I will be brief.

As expected, Japanese people have their own way of bringing in the new year. In the case of most of the Japanese people I know, they didn't go to some bar or open public space to countdown, but rather watched the musical competition on NHK, the Japanese equivalent of the British BBC, with their families. They then got dressed up and visited shrines to pray for good luck in 2009. They continue to file into the shrines for a few days after the new year actually begins. I was surprised by the number of people going to Kiyomizu Temple since it is a temple and not a shrine. I'm not sure if this is because they were here in Kyoto and wanted to see it or they actually believed they were going to a shrine when it is called temple.Another tradition is to eat soba on New Year's Eve. This toshikoshi soba (crossing over into the new year soba) is a Japanese favorite.

However, I did not partake in any of this. I spent the day doing work in my one room apartment and slowly crept out and returned to civilization a couple of hours before midnight. In typical western fashion, I attended a gathering at Kyoto station for the countdown. The Japanese people that were there were mostly there for the free live concert by a Japanese band I still don't know the name of (and don't really care to). Following countdown, the band played one more song and everybody dispersed. So much for partying into the new year. I also tried to go to a shrine, but the number of people visiting was actually greater than the suffocating amount that were here in Kyoto during the peak of "red leave viewing" season.

Below is a short video of that NHK program I tuned into from my cellphone. I recorded it to show you what the program was like, but also to show you how advanced my cheapest-I-could-get cellphone is far ahead of the tech in the States. Watching TV is free which is a good thing for someone living a Spartan lifestyle with no internet or TV in my one room "mansion." Happy New Year and enjoy!