leisurely weekend! A famous novelist, Kanako Nishi who penned "Kiroi Zo" which was later made into a movie recalled a friend who rode a train in Osaka and watched an old man idling away time, seemingly enjoying his task of absolutely doing nothing!!! It is a blessing that I live in Osaka, where we never feel guilty about being idle. Kenmin-sei is a Japanese term to describe personalities of people from certain areas! People from Aichi are said to have a lot of pride and like doing things the big way, so they produced three great military leaders, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokunaga Ieyasu. Those from Yamaguchi love discussion and politics and 8 Japanese Prime Ministers hail from that area. Kyotoites dress themselves into bankruptcy, Tokyoites play themselves into bankruptcy and guess what, Osakans EAT themselves into bankruptcy!
Saan nagkakatulad at nagkakaiba ang Pilipinas at ang Japan sa ilang mga pagdiriwang sa buwan ng Mayo? Ayon sa aklat na ‘Sanaysay at mga Tula’ ni Dr. Lilia F. Antonio, “Positibo ang damdamin at karanasang nilalasap ng mga Hapones sa mga araw ng buwan ng Mayo. SATUKIBARE ang tawag nila sa maaliwalas na kalangitan, hindi napakainit o napakalamig at madalang ang patak ng ulan. “ Bagama’t may pasok na sa mga paaralan sa Japan, bakasyon naman ng mga estudyante sa Pilipinas. Mahaba ang Golden Week sa taong ito na magsisimula sa May 1 (May Day sa Japan at Araw ng Manggagawa sa Pilipinas), at May 3 (Constitution Day), May 4 (Vacation Day) at May 5 (Children’s Day).