Original photo by Ayami Nakatani
Logo by Mattie Balagat

ISSUE 1JULY 2020

A journal by the students of the
Discovery Program for Global
Learners at Okayama University

Table of Contents
Letter from the Editor
Forrest Maynock…………………..……………………………………………………………2
Adventure Awaits, Have No Fear
Forrest Maynock………………….…………………………………………………………2-3
Social Parasites & the Oscars
Nanda Illahi……………………………………………………………………………………3-4
The Real Magical Worlds of Ghibli and Pixar
Trung Manh Quoc Nguyen…………………………….……………………………….4-6
Nostalgia Fuel & Creative Decay
Forrest Maynock…………………………………………………………………………….6-8
A Look at Mumrik Coffee
Kotoko Matsumoto……………………………………………………………………….8-10
Cheap Quality Goodness
Forrest Maynock………………………………………………………………………...11-12
Homelessness is My Home
Nanda Illahi………………………………………………………………………………..13-15
Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone
LivingRaushan Kaliyeva……………………………………………………………………….15-17
1978-1991: A Firsthand Experience of Panic Attacks &Breast Cancer
Forrest Maynock………………………………………………………………………...18-20
Discovery Program for Global Learners Photo Contest 2019
Winners………………………………………………………………………………………21
Star-crossed Lovers
Pandita Suthamporn………………………………………………………………………..22
Man in a RoomForrest Maynock……………………………………………………………………...…22-23
A One-Day Trip to Osaka
Trung Manh Quoc Nguyen………………………………………………………….23-25
Hiroshima: A City to Remember
Trung Manh Quoc Nguyen………………………………………………………....26-27
Afterword & Editorial Board……………………………..…………………………………………………………………………28
ISSUE 11

Letter from the Editor
Forrest Maynock

3Adventure Awaits,
Have No Fear
Forrest Maynock

Greetings,
What you are now reading is the longawaited first issue of Polyphony. Polyphony
was envisioned as a medium for students of
Okayama University’s Global Discovery
Program to put their creative, academic, andeditorial work into print. Each issue of
Polyphony will include a varied combination of
the following:❖ Edited academic papers from GDP
courses written by the students❖ Creative pieces ranging from artwork to
fictional writing❖ Editorials written by staff and students
focusing on issues both in and outside ofJapan❖ Film, book, and/or food reviews❖ Travel pieces focusing on different areasof Japan (or other countries)
If you have any questions or comments thatyou would like to have printed in the next issue(in this section), please send your inquiries to
PolyphonyGDP@gmail.com.
Also, please check out the GDP/Polyphonyblog (https://discoverypolyphony.com/) where
alternative material from staff and students will
be posted on a regular basis.
Thank you for reading.

Culture shock is a fear that everyone seems
to have, but many also wish to experience it
firsthand through travel. I was one of thosepeople. When I first arrived in Japan, I was ababe lost in the woods of language barriers andcultural differences. I was wandering around
Haneda Airport for most of my 2-hour layover,second-guessing the directions that were given
to me. When I arrived at Okayama Airport, I
spent 5 minutes trying to translate the name of
my hotel to the cab driver. The first day of the
Discovery Program’s orientation was spent
doing mountains of paperwork that felt so
unnecessary at the time.
Despite all these experiences I managed tosurvive, and, looking back, it was more about
the language barrier than it was a culture shock,and other things that could be consideredcultural shocks were swiftly dealt with before
they became a ‘real’ shock.
How garbage is separated in Japan initially“overwhelmed” me, but within the first month
I was correcting my roommates on what went
where. Taking shoes off at the door was
something I had been trained to do by myGrandmother since a young age, so there wasvery little shock from that experience. Bowing
quickly became a matter of muscle memory.
Not tipping was something I was used to doingin America because I couldn’t ever afford toleave any tips. To be quite honest, I haven’t
really been ‘culture shocked’ by anything.
Maybe it will still happen, I've only been here
for over a year, but I have my doubts.
My two biggest actual culture shocks: The
price/amount of cheese and meat, and theefficiency of everything from trains to clerks.
These were my two legitimate shocks, and I hadprior knowledge of the otherworldly efficiency
before arriving.

Photo by Stefanie Petrovic

ISSUE 1

So, why was I personally not shocked by thecultural differences between America andJapan? Simple answer: I wanted to be shocked.
2

When I first landed in Japan, I was expecting to
get off the plane and feel something different.
Really, I just felt jetlagged. Too much looking
likely led to my brain being battle-ready for theinevitable differences and it worked overtime toconnect the differences with past experiencesandinternalized
culturalknowledge.
Everything that I knew was different or even the
opposite of America was quickly melted away
by quick use of logic. While this may have takensome of the initial fun and wonder out of myoverall experience, I believe that it helped me inthe long run in terms of settling in andbecoming comfortable living in a foreign nation.

Social Parasites & the Oscars

Please consider the following my dear
readers: If you look for something incessantly
you may very well find it, but does it still havethe impact you hoped it would when you firststarted searching? Learn to be pleasantly
surprised by things.

introduction of what living in poverty may look
like for a family in South Korea. The film begins
with a tour of the Kim family’s semi-basement
apartment while the eldest son, Kim Ki-woo(Choi Woo-shik) struggles to find a free internet
connection. The turning point for the Kims is
depicted in the giving of a scholar’s stone by
Min-hyuk (Park Seo-joon) that they believe willbring fortune or wealth to the family. Along withthe stones, Min-hyuk also offers a job for Kiwoo to replace him as an English tutor for a richfamily’s daughter. Afterwards, as Ki-woo earns
his place as a tutor for Park family’s eldest
daughter, he becomes the Kims’ key to enter thehouse and life of the Parks.

The cultural differences have shrunk to thepoint of almost being invisible. I may still see theoccasional page from some obscure manga thatmakes me question existence, or the occasional
food article that makes my eyebrow twitch
uncontrollably, but otherwise I have mademyself at home and conquered my fear of theunknown.

Nanda Illahi
When talking about the movie that shook
the world in 2019, various works will come tomind, but we definitely can’t forget to mention
Parasite (2019). This Bong Joon-ho
masterpiece has been creating history since day
one. Parasite (2019) is the first South Korean
film to win Palme d’Or and the Golden Globes.
Even more, it is the first foreign language film toearn outstanding performance by a cast at SAG
Awards and best picture at the Oscars.

Parasite (2019) starts with a strong

The movie is one of those works that isdifficult to explain without spilling the little
details that made it the ultimate chef-d’oeuvre.
In its core, Parasite (2019) is a metaphor of thesociety and the sentimental bond of family as
the smallest social unit. It is a jam-packed workof art.

Photo by Myia Price-Frohlich

ISSUE 1The Kims’ nerve-wracking journeycommences with Ki-woo’s success inconvincing Mrs. Park (Jo Yeo-jeong) that he’s
really an intelligent college student from aprestigious university she respects. Ki-woo,
then, recommends his sister Ki-jung (Park Sodam) to teach art for Park’s second child. Kiwoo pretends that Ki-jung, aka Jessica, ismerely an acquaintance and hides their true
relationship. The Kim family conspires to scam3

the Parks and lure them to hire all four family
members.

Parasite (2019) relates the story of how therich and the poor are systematically separated;
yet, in reality, they continue to live side-by-side.
As the rich and privileged, Park family, keeps onunderestimating and debasing their “servers,”
they forget how much assistance they havereceived from the Kim family. Mr. Park (LeeSun-kyun) will have difficulty in running his
errands without his driver, Kim Ki-taek (SongKang-ho). Similarly, since the poor andmiserable, Kim family, start to manipulate theParks and take advantage of the rich, they will
have a hard time living without the help of thePark family.
As the movie reaches its climax, it is evident
that the film is more than a simple critiqueabout society’s hierarchical system. The
suspenseful scenes, that shall not be spoiled
here, reveal the more complex relationshipbetween the two families. The Park’s house
bears the portrayal of the deep-rooted bloody
division between the haves and the have-nots
and what they’re willing to do to protect what
they have, at least what remains of it.
The mutualistic and symbiotic relationshipbetween the rich and the poor, the haves and thehave-nots, is the message that Bong Joon-ho
wants to deliver; one cannot live without theother. Parasite (2019) is a satirical commentaryon the broken and archaic system of social
stratification.

Photo by Stefanie Petrovic
ISSUE 1

Photo by Kenji Inagaki

The Real Magical Worlds ofGhibli and Pixar
Trung Manh Quoc Nguyen
Sometimes I found myself perplexed
between the movies of Pixar and Ghibli Studio.
Both are equally important parts of mychildhood and their impacts are still felt by meeven now. Although I must admit that I like
Pixar movies better (perhaps because I started
watching them way earlier), the films of Ghibli
Studio are no less highly regarded and, in myopinion, stand as magnificent works of artistic
achievement in their own right.
That is why there was a time I used to think
about both studios’ methods of success. Having
been interested in filmmaking since as far backas I could remember, the first movies I came tofor inspiration and references were usuallychildren animations. Their core plot ideas are
simple, do not engage in too heavy-headed
themes, and their characters are colorful,
diversely portrayed yet still relatable. It is mybelief that the way we watch children's
animations is a little different from other kindsof movies: We tend to be less judgmental aboutplots and characters, and just prefer to sit down
and be immersed in the new world portrayed on
the big screen. When viewed in such a sense, I
guess that what I am looking for is not
specifically the “methods” of children animatedfilms, but why those films are so enjoyable, andare able to engage us as viewers. It is of my own
opinion that the possible explanation can befound in examining the two words “reality” and“magic” – Ghibli movies are constructed around4

the basis of “magic in reality,” and on the other
hand, Pixar is “reality in magic.”

Photo by Myia Price-Frohlich
Rarely ever in a Pixar movie do we see dailylife settings. They are instead worlds where cars
can talk and act like humans, where toys have aconsciousness of their own, where feelings havepersonalities, and where the dead can playbanjos and have a music festival, etc.; in short,anything but what we are directly familiar with.
Theircreationsareout-of-this-world,
sometimes even bizarre, but when we lookclosely, they are in fact not so distant. Seemingly
inanimate objects in the Pixar world havehuman personalities, so they must also havehuman emotions and in turn are forced to face
human problems similar to what we are facing
daily. In the first Toy Story (1995), Woody’s
jealousy against Buzz Lightyear is not so
different from our feelings when our friends got
higher scores than us in a test, or when we areleft alone in a group of three while the other two
just keep chatting to one another. Similarly, in
Finding Nemo (2003), Merlin panicking when
Nemo was taken away is what all fathers in theworld would feel if put into the same
circumstances, regardless of whether they are
humans or clownfishes. Pixar movies open up
magical worlds like we have never seen before,
yet we see ourselves within such seemingly
strange and unrelatable characters, seeing“reality in magic”.
On the contrary, Ghibli movies not only
have very “human” settings, but they are also
very nostalgic - they remind us of a time far
away, of the peaceful and quiet world where talltrees and green hills still dominated thelandscapes instead of towering skyscrapers. I
found it interesting that almost all Ghibli
movies use children as main characters,
especially Miyazaki’s; perhaps because children

ISSUE 1have much more imagination than adults andtherefore are able to “craft” their own magicalworlds out of the mundane life. Indeed, themagic we see the most in Ghibli movies ischildren magic, or, to better put, “childhood
magic” – the kind that is absolutely pure andtrue to heart that the children either discover,stumble in or create themselves. The kind that
all of us have had experienced with one way or
another, but our memories of them lay buried
underneath the modern busy life. Most of theout-of-the-ordinary bits in Whisper of The
Heart (1995) are Shizuku’s own “creation”
through the process of writing and imagination;
Spirited Away (2001) depicts Chihiro’s
adventures in the magical world that she“stumbles into”; and Kiki’s Delivery Service(1989) is the story of how a young witch“discovering” her power on the journey to“discover” herself. Ghibli’s adventures are ofchildren, and the adults, if they play a part at all,are only active in the background. The contrast
between the children's world and that of theadults is shown most noticeably in My
Neighbor Totoro (1988), where Totoro is only
visible to and only interacts with the twochildren heroines. One can also argue that thedecision to turn Chihiro’s parents into pigs in
Spirited Away (2001) is not only to prevent
them from participating in Chihiro’s adventure,
but to also illustrate a “loss of innocence”. The
parents are preoccupied only with eating, totally
disregarding the strangeness of the situation
they are in, which is already realized by Chihirofrom the beginning. The films of Ghibli often
end with the children returning to theirordinary life once again, but is it still the same,
now that they have experienced theunordinary? Could their reality be the same asours, or much more magical? Hence myinterpretation of “magic in reality.”

Photo by Kenji Inagaki
5Yet, what is most fascinating in thiscomparison case is also the similarity between
the two animation studios: how reality andmagic are connected together interchangeably,
despite initially being perceived so differently.
The case is not “magic in reality” and “reality inmagic” anymore, but now is “magic is reality”
and vice versa: “reality is magic”. Ghibli movies
are most skillful in this aspect, as they seem tocreate magic out of thin air, where there isnothing unusual. There is a scene in Whisper of
The Heart where Shizuku sings her own versionof the John Denver’s song “Take Me Home,Country Roads” in a small basement, and soon
is joined by a whole “orchestra”; the scene is so
upbeat yet still feels so heartfelt and full of
emotions that I think Ghibli has created“magical” moments even when there is no
actual magic at all. In the same way, Pixar
setting their stories in strange worlds but
following a perceivable plot line and developing
relatable characters is also an effort to turnmagic into real life, and in the process makes
magic feel more familiar, as they have alreadyhad elements of real life in them.
In the end, I guess that is the wonder ofchildren's animations, even when viewed byadults. They serve as a means for us to escapereality and jump into their magical worlds, yetstill remind us that their magic is not something
strange and unrelatable, but a part of what weare already so used to. They remind us that, justlike magic is familiar, reality is also full of
possibilities to create ordinary magic.

Photo by Ayami Nakatani

Nostalgia Fuel & Creative
Decay
Forrest Maynock
American culture exists in a time of an
unprecedented abuse of nostalgia. From themovies we watch to the food we eat, nostalgia
dominates. I grew up in the late 90’s and early
2000’s. Nostalgia was present at that time, but
it was more of a longing that the older people
around me had, not a widespread social toolthat dominated media and general everyday
life.
Nowadays everyone young and old seems
to wish for a different time and place from the
distant past. This is not to say that nostalgia wasabsent in the recent past, but it now dominates
media at an extraordinary rate.
Instead of moving forward and breaking
new ground, people prefer to regress and lookback on the past while wearing rose-colored
goggles. I too fall into this trap often. I prefer thestyles and media of the 1980’s to many of thecurrent day alternatives.
Nostalgia is a powerful force, but it is not anevil or fully negative one either. If used properly
nostalgia can actually help propel something toanother level of quality. Simply slapping in arecognizable reference does not elevate a
product, and in some cases, it can hurt that
product.

Photo by Haruna Miyagawa
ISSUE 1

Nowhere is this nostalgic takeover morenotable than in Hollywood, where films frompast American cinema are being remade orreimagined at an alarming rate, and new and6

original content is sparse at best. Fanservice is
one way of describing this media phenomena.
I personally would not place the blame ofthis occurrence directly at the feet of Hollywood
studios, but instead chalk most it up to
consumer demand. People want to relive theirchildhoods (or at least an idealized version ofthem). They don’t want unfamiliar territory
where they have little to no control. Exploring
new territory is a risk that many film studios
may not wish to invest in since the market
seems to lean backwards to familiar nostalgia
fueled media.
An example of this can be seen in the recentStar Wars revival. A film like Star Wars: The
Force Awakens (2015) or Rogue One: A Star
Wars Story (2016) were received well by
audiences and made billions of dollars
combined; these two films are especiallyegregious in the fanservice and nostalgia bait
department. Star Wars: The Force Awakens(2015) for example is little more than a retreadof Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), but with newunderwritten characters and a messier plot.

Alternatively, a film like Star Wars: The Last
Jedi (2017) which took several creative risks
and tried to take the franchise in a new direction(for better or worse) was lambasted byaudiences. Since Star Wars: The Last Jedi,
Disney has been on a bit of an audienceappeasement tour with mixed to negative
results.

Watching the movie in particular accentuates
this, and I personally left me lost in a hailstormof images and references that made me feelwarm inside even though I only recognizedabout half of said references.
After leaving the theater I gradually began
thinking less and less about the film till the pointcame when I could not remember the name of it
without some coaxing. I actually still can’t
remember the names of the main characters.
Countless pop culture references and little
substance does not make for a good finishedproduct; if anything, it acts as a big distraction
to cover generic plots and shallow characters.
This is the power and downfall of nostalgia.
In return for happy images and references topast events and films, we lose many of thecreative elements that have helped film,
literature and other forms of media evolve over
the years. We sacrifice going off the beaten path
for walking in circles on a very populated anddecorated racetrack. A storied franchise like Star
Wars has regressed to sloppy retreading offamiliar ground instead of evolving to a newstage.
Remember, there are clearly examples of
nostalgia being used properly. One good recent
example would be the recreation of late 1960’s
Hollywood in Quinten Tarantino’s 9th film,
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). The
nostalgia here is not used to distract or please
the audience but is instead utilized to recreate aparticular period in time, and make the finishedproduct feel genuine.
Nostalgia is nothing new, many films andother pieces of media from the past are“remakes” of or heavily influenced by previous
media, but the reliance on familiar territory wasnowhere near as prevalent as it is today.
Nostalgia is now one of the primary fuels for
American media. Nostalgia and cheap
fanservice sell.

Photo by Stefanie Petrovic
Another even more prevalent example ofnostalgia fuel can be seen in the book (2011)and later film (2018), Ready Player One. Boththe film and book rely heavily on past
iconography from American “geek” culture.

ISSUE 1

Why nostalgia is so negative in today’s
media landscape is not due to the love of thefamiliar itself, but instead the suffocation oforiginal creative ideas. Repeating the sameideas constantly may have a negative effect one
the coming generations as their childhood
stories will likely be poorly done rehashes ofpast media that their parents enjoyed.

7

The money from major studios for example
will more likely go to an established franchisewith a with audiences.
Independent and smaller budget films arestill being made, and TV has evolved from being
the boob-tube to being arguably the newfrontier of creative storytelling, but even these
mediums have become a little corrupted by thesweet taste of memberberries. For example, ashow like Stranger Things, great first season
aside, is little more than 1980’s nostalgia bait.
So enjoy the fourth and fifth seasons ofStranger Things, and Indiana Jones 5, and Bill &Ted Face the Music...actually I’m looking
forward to Bill & Ted, I love the dynamic
between those two characters...also the new
Dune movie, but only because the director isgreat. Oh, who am I kidding? I’ll probably watch
the next big Star Wars extravaganza to comewell as well; but if any of these movies stink ofoversaturated nostalgia I’ll be the first one topoint it out.
Clearly everyone can enjoy some good oldfashioned nostalgia in their media intakes, they
just shouldn’t let it replace a good story or
quality characters.

A Look at Mumrik Coffee
Words and pictures by
Kotoko Matsumoto
奉還町商店街に駅側の入り口から入ると、数歩歩いただけで左側からパッと鮮やかな青が目に飛び込んでくる。2019 年 12 月
21 日にオープンした北欧モチーフのカフェ、「mumrik coffee」だ。日本語でも英語でもない「mumrik」は、「ムムリク」、と発音する。
このカフェの客は店内に入ってすぐ、店
主の山口真理子さんの優しい声で出迎えられる。入り口から見て左側には山口さんが買い付けた食器のコレクション、右側は手作りの温かみ溢れる机が３つとモダンで座り心地の良い椅子が 6 つ、そして正面にはメニューを注文するカウンターがある。カウンターの周りにはパウンドケーキやマカロ
ン、クッキーなどのお菓子や、持ち帰ってカフェメニューを楽しめるコーヒー豆、茶葉などが並ぶ。一つ一つの商品に付いた説
明書きやメニュー表は山口さんの手書きだ。黒い台紙に白いペンで書かれた柔らか
い文字に客たちが癒されることは言うまでもない。流れる曲とやわらかい照明のひかり、何を頼んでも美味しいカフェメニュ
ー、入り口のガラス窓から見える奉還町商
店街を往来する人々。おしゃれな店内の雰
囲気は日々の疲れを癒すのにぴったりだ。
ところで筆者はこのカフェを「北欧」モ
チーフと言及したが、これは必ずしも正し
くない。最も正確に言うならば、「フィンランド」モチーフだろう。なぜならば、店内の商品はフィンランドのものばかりだからだ。店名のムムリクは、スヌスムムリ
ク、というムーミンのキャラクターから名前を取った。日本語に直訳すると「カギタバコのアイツ」という意味になるが、日本語名にすると、「スナフキン」という。日本でも特に人気のムーミンキャラクター
だ。山口さんもスナフキンが大好きで、自由奔放な性格に惹かれたという。

Photo by Myia Price-Frohlich
ISSUE 1

８歳の頃からムーミンが好きだと言う山
口さんは、今までの人生でフィンランドに
8魅了され続けてきた。トーベ・ヤンソンの作り出すムーミンの世界観に恋をした彼女
は、20 代前半でムーミン関連のものを買い漁っていたと言う。そんな彼女がもう一つの沼にはまったのがその時期だ。
京都にムーミンの商品を取り扱う店があると聞きつけて行ってみれば、そこは食器店だった。ムーミンの商品はないんです、と申し訳なさそうに言う食器店の方はとても優しく、ムーミングッズを取り扱う店が近辺にないかと一緒に探してくれた。その食器店こそ山口さんがフィンランド食器の世界にのめり込む原因となる店だった。その店のこだわりは、「フィンランドの食器しか置かない」ということ。こだわりとともに働くということに憧れを抱き始めたのはそのタイミングだったそうだ。

「自分の手に職をつけて自分の店を持てるようになりたい、とは小さい頃から思っていたんですよね」
そう語る山口さんがコーヒーに興味を持ったのは、同じく自分が店を構える奉還町
商店街にある「ONSAYA COFFEE」で職を得たときのことだったと言う。高校卒業後に就職した会社の雲行きが怪しくなってか
ら職を転々とした山口さん。何度か転職を繰り返した先のチェーンのコーヒー店でキッチンで働くことの楽しさを知った。その次に働いたのが mumrik coffee と同じ奉還町に位置する「ONSAYA COFFEE」だった。
コーヒーに豆の焙煎から携わることで、今まではインスタントで済ませていたコーヒ
ーの世界の奥深さに気付いたのだ。転職を繰り返す中で、会社という一つの集団に属することが合わない、と悟った山口さん。
ISSUE 1

次に職を得たのは、「暮らしと珈琲」というカフェだった。そこで山口さんが手に入れたノウハウがイベント出店である。そのノウハウを生かしつつイベント出店を始めた屋号が「mumrik coffee」だ。これまで、古着を扱うイベントや朝市などに出店してきた。

店舗を持つようになったきっかけは、山口さんの神がかり的な勘があってのことだった。毎年恒例となったフィンランド旅行
中、なんとなく「帰国したらそろそろ不動
産屋さんに行ってみようかな」と思ったと
いう山口さんは、奉還町商店街を管轄する
不動産に足を運んだ。カフェの場所は奉還
町商店街がいい、というのは決めていたそうだ。ONSAYA COFFEE で働くうちに奉還町商店街の空気感に魅了され、将来店舗を持つならここだとずっと思っていたという。しかし奉還町商店街は人気で、なかなか空き店舗ができることはない。
そんな状況でふらりと立ち寄った不動産だったが、なんと空き店舗が丁度あったのだ。どうしよう、と悩みつつも、奉還町商店街に店舗を持つ方にも背中を押され、そこの店舗を借りることにした。それまで知り合って来たたくさんの方々に内装や外装を手伝ってもらい、自分のお気に入りのムーミングッズを店内に飾り、自分の城とも言えるこだわりが詰まった店舗が完成した。

9暖色系の照明を使うこと、自分の好きなものしか置かないこと、フィンランドじゃないものは置かないこと……ムーミンは好きだがムーミンカフェにはならないように、そこは特に気を遣ったという。
山口さんオススメのメニューは、ウインナーコーヒーやムーミンの話に出てくる木
イチゴのジュースなどだ。もちろんどのメ
ニューもオススメであることには違いないので、これは半ば無理やり選んでいただいたものである。しかし、スパイスのきいた
北欧風の飲み物はやはり特別に感じるそうだ。

キッチンの中で動き回る姿はあまり見られたくなく、完成形だけを見て欲しい、と語る。
居心地の良いこのカフェには、今日もいろいろな世代のお客さんが訪れる。筆者も常連の一人で、週に一度はこのカフェに行かなければなんだかそわそわしてしまう。岡山駅近くのフィンランドカフェ。皆さんも一度訪れてみてはいかがだろうか。

自分の店を持つことで一番感じた難しさ
は、自分が提供しているものをお客さんた
ちがおいしいと思ってくれているか否かが自分では判断できないこと。しかし、見た
目も味も、完成形を見てお客さんたちが嬉しそうにしているのを見るのがやりがいであり、かつ、一番楽しいところだそうだ。

ISSUE 110

Cheap Quality Goodness

Yoshinoya

Words and pictures byForrest Maynock
The life of a college student is one of aconstant lack of sleep and proper meals.
Thankfully, Japan has a wide selection of cheap
and accessible beef bowl (chain) restaurants.
Perhaps the most convenient aspect of these
sorts of restaurants is that they are open 24
hours a day all week long; after pulling an allnighter on that term paper that is due the nextmorning a college student could take a shortbike ride and eat a delicious and inexpensive
meal at any time they desire.
First, what is a beef bowl? A beef bowl, or
gyudon, is a big bowl filled with rice, beef (orpork) and sometimes an extra ingredient suchas ginger or cheese. At beef bowl restaurants
there are also many side dish options such as
miso soup or salads that can be added to theorder. If beef and rice is not your cup of tea thenthere are also alternatives such as curry andrice, but beef bowls are the staple at theseestablishments.
There are also a variety of beef bowl
restaurants to choose from. The three biggest
beef bowl restaurant chains in Japan are
Yoshinoya, Sukiya, and Matsuya. Each has theirstrengths and weaknesses, but as is the casewith many things, some strengths are greaterthan others.
I will be conducting this review by taking
four criteria into account for each of thesechains: Taste and variety of food, quality ofservice, atmosphere, and price. I will only betaking the basic beef bowl selections into
account and will not be looking at items fromthe seasonal menu. I also ate at multiple
locations for each chain to get a generalconsensus.

Yoshinoya seems to be the most popular of
the three major chains overseas, but for me
personally it was the weakest of the threechains.
The atmosphere was positive, but not overly
memorable. The colors inside are usually very
bright to the eyes, but there is also usually quite
a lot of space when compared to the otherchains. Yoshinoya’s biggest selling point was
the food itself. The overall taste was excellent
and the fact that each of the beef bowls havesesame seeds in them adds to the great taste.
The selection of dishes is also quite good, but
not as robust as Sukiya.
Each of the locations that I visited had thesame sort of issue with service; the servers
always came straight up and hovered around
until the order had been made. This made theservice feel rushed and robotic, and also hurt theoverall atmosphere of the establishments. Asidefrom the service, price was the biggest turn-off.
The prices overall were very reasonable andaffordable, but when compared to the overgyudon chains, Yoshinoya appeared much
more expensive.
Yoshinoya is great if you are looking for anespecially tasty bowl of gyudon.
Yoshinoya Score
Taste/Variety: 4.5/5
Service: 2.5/5
Atmosphere: 3/5
Price: 3/5

ISSUE 111

Matsuya

SukiyaMatsuya is by far the most convenient of thethree chains for international students andtourists and is also the cheapest of the threechains. Matsuya’s quality and selection of foodis definitely on the lower end of the spectrum,
but each beef bowl comes with a free miso soup,
and the sauces provided at the counter are far
and away the best of all three chains. The variety
is similar to Yoshinoya, but not as good as
Sukiya.

Sukiya is the most common of the threechains within Japan. Sukiya has the best varietyof the three chains. This is where Sukiya excels;the options are quite extensive, and if you are
more explorative you can find a lot of interesting
dishes.

In terms of service Masuya is highly
convenient for those of us with shallow wallets
and poorer grasps of the Japanese language.
Instead of sitting down and ordering from amenu, you order via touchscreen menu, with an
English language option, near the entrance
where you input your order and pay. The
atmosphere at most locations felt a little too
cramped at times but was also quite friendly andlaid back. The biggest selling point of Matsuya
is the price which beats out both Sukiya andYoshinoya.
Out of the three chains Matsuya seems to be
the most college friendly in terms of price andservice (for recent, non-Japanese speaking,arrivals).
Matsuya Score

Taste wise the overall product was slightly
better than Matsuya, but not quite as tasty as
Yoshinoya’s beef bowl. The available sauces at
Sukiya are also not on par with those available
at Matsuya. The service was above average ateach of the locations I visited. Each location also
has a “buzzer at each table that you can pushwhen you are ready to order or buy more.
The price is a bit cheaper than Yoshinoya,
but still more expensive when compared to
Matsuya. Where Sukiya stands out is in its
atmosphere; each of the locations that I visited
had very warm and welcoming colors, and thespace inside is ample for a comfortable meal.
Sukiya is the chain to visit if you are aperson that values variety and atmosphere, thenSukiya is the gyudon branch for you.
Sukiya Score
Taste/Variety: 4/5
Service: 4/5

Taste/Variety: 4/5

Atmosphere: 4.5/5

Service: 4/5

Price: 3.5/5

Atmosphere: 3.5/5
Price: 4.5/5

ISSUE 1

12

Homelessness is My Home
Nanda Illahi
Benedict Anderson implies throughout his
book “Imagined Communities” that the morethings that people of a nation or a community
shared together, the stronger their nation-nesswould be. He explains these things as sharedhistories, vernaculars and literature, civil life orexperiences, and education and administrative
pilgrimages. All of these things, then, contributeto the building of what he called as Imagined
Nation. Presumably, people who had
experienced these shared experiences ought tofeel belonging to one another as one
community, to assume themselves as a part ofan “…indefinitely stretchable nets of kinship andclientship.” (Anderson 2006[1983], p. 6).
However, he didn’t seem to touch upon the factthat someone can experience all the samejourneys and still feel like they don’t belong.
Someone can be a part of the narrative, thehistory of a nation, and never once feel likethey’re a part of the community.
How do we define nation and homeland?
What constitutes a nation? What represents ahome? Are they interchangeable? According toAnderson, nation has become a sovereigncommunity with a deep and strong sense ofsolidarity that has territorial boundaries orborders (2006[1983], p. 7). In contrast, home
as a concept is explained by Espiritu, in her
book about Filipino Americans, as fluid since it
doesn’t necessarily have to always be defined byactual borders (2003, p. 2). Therefore, nation,homeland, and home are not always
interchangeable. Some people may consider
their nation or country of origin as their home,
some others may not. For instance, as someone
who was born and raised in Indonesia and had
lived most of her life there, I cannot seem toacknowledge my nation as my home. There
were times when I did feel that my fellow
Indonesians, especially the ones I met abroad,were like my distant relatives. However, at thesame time, I couldn’t claim Indonesia as myhome because I don’t feel comfortable andaccepted whenever I’m there. Home issupposed to be a place where you feel accepted,
a place that fits you like a perfectly-sized pair ofgloves, and I don’t feel that way when I’mstanding on the land that I should be calling
ISSUE 1

home. As for one’s nation, it could either be

defined as a place where one came from, or aplace where one wants to be. The former, then,made Indonesia my nation, but it is not myhome.

Photo by Khaya Tsuyama
Both authors emphasize that the concepts ofnation and home are imagined meaning thatboth concepts emerged within specificcircumstances that allow for the emergence offraternity or togetherness, which affects
individuals’ sense of identity and belonging. For
Espiritu, it seems that because physical andimaginary borders that keep people in and outof places are everywhere, home is wherever you
make it out to be (2003, pp. 205, 211). Benedict
Anderson, however, explains the process in amore elaborative manner.
First, Anderson explains that nation is
imagined through the illusion of homogeneous,
empty time (2006[1983], p. 26). What hemeant by homogenous, empty time is theillusion or idea that members of a nation,
wherever they are, all live on the same timeline.
“He has no idea of what they are up to at any
one time, but has complete confidence in theirsteady, anonymous, simultaneous activity.”
states Anderson (p. 26). This illusion is enabledby the advancement of technology, in early 19th
century it was the mass production andconsumption of novels and then followed bynewspaper. Nowadays, the development of theworld wide web (internet), tv, smartphones,
and other media or platforms are the ones
enabling this notion of simultaneity. I, myself,
am able to feel connected with the people inIndonesia, despite currently living in Japan,
simply by scrolling through Twitter, Facebook13

or news websites. There’s at least an hourdifference between the time in Indonesia andJapan, yet I am able to read and watch
everything that’s happening in Indonesia aslong as I am connected to the internet. Even if
the news got delayed when I was reading it, I
felt as though I was still living there. I am notphysically in Indonesia, but my mind and soulseem to still be connected. Technology also
allows me to keep in contact with my family andfriends everywhere and every day, whichsomewhat helps retain links to my nation—thelinks being my family and friends.

Photo by Ayami Nakatani
Second, nation is also imagined throughnational language rooted from sharedvernaculars and print-language (Anderson
2006[1983], pp. 44-45). For example, thecreation and use of Bahasa Indonesia as thenational language of Indonesia helps unite
hundreds of tribes who were—and are perhaps
still—using hundreds of different vernaculars. If
Indonesian youth in October 28, 1928 didn’t
declare the Youth Pledge in trying to unite
Indonesian people as one nation, of one
homeland with one language, perhaps
Indonesia wouldn’t be the biggest archipelagonation in the world today. Instead, it would be abunch of neighboring island nations. This‘doctrine’ of our nation as our homeland waswhat got me thinking at the beginning of my lifethat I have to belong in Indonesia because
Indonesia is home. However, as I grew up, I
kept on feeling disoriented in my own homebecause I was always different. I was speaking
the same language, but no one understood what
I was saying or thinking. No one else aroundme, when I was growing up, wanted to rebel
against the politicians or their family even whenthose people were visibly wrong. Presumably,
this was the root of my homelessness. To thefellow members of the nation, I was speaking
ISSUE 1the language of rebellion and abnormality, I
wasn’tspeaking
BahasaIndonesia.
Unfortunately, after having moved to Japan, I
still speak a different language. I moved toJapan in the hopes of finally finding a home, yet,
I am faced with the same problem of language
barrier that prohibits me from doing so.
Third, Anderson also mentions sharededucational and administrative travels or
pilgrimages as a way to imagine nation(2006[1983], p. 195), which unfortunately I
cannot relate to the majority of Indonesians.
Most Indonesian people stay in the country andgo to college there, whereas I am currently
abroad, pursuing a liberal arts degree that is also
not common at all for Indonesian people.
Instead, I am ‘forced’ to relate to people who arealso abroad through Indonesian Student
Associations and international nation-based
gatherings or events. The moment I steppedfoot in Japan, I was immediately invited to join
the association. Fellow Indonesians just assume
that I must be wanting to be surrounded bypeople of the same nation because “We are
Indonesian. We have to stick together.”
Additionally, non-Indonesian who meet me
have always asked me where I came from andsomehow my nation became the only thing thatdefines me. Whether it is another Indonesian or
another foreigner, I am almost always seen asan ‘Indonesian’ in addition to being ‘Nanda.’
Wherever I go, I am always followed by mynation-ness even though my nation is neither
my home nor my identity.
The last way to imagine nation is throughshared experiences such as shared histories ornarratives (Anderson 2006[1983], pp. 140).
Anderson implies that as a part of a nation,
we’re often reminded of the narratives that weought to have forgotten (pp. 200-01). Thesenarratives usually consist of the chronologicalevents that seemed to be affecting the nationand the lives of its people significantly, such asa revolution or declaration of independence.
About 12 years of my life was spent on
mandatory primary and secondary education
where I learned a great deal about Indonesianhistory. We even have a subject on Citizenshipin which we learned about the constitution andpolicies, so that we could become good citizens.
Does it help build up my sense of nationality?
The answer is both yes and no. On the one
14

hand, learning about the history and theadministration of my country helps me beaware of the struggles and journey thatIndonesian people have gone through inbuilding Indonesia. It makes me appreciate thenation that I am supposed to love. On the other
hand, the fact that I don’t experience thesestruggles hands on also able to make me feel likea ‘watcher.’ If Indonesian people in 1945 hated
the Japanese because of imperialism, I, who livein 2019, can’t say or feel the same.
Thus, despite experiencing the same
struggles, learning the same narratives, andbeing legally a part of a nation, I still feel out ofplace within the Indonesian community. I do
agree with Anderson that all of theseexperiences have built some sense of nationness in me, but I refuse to entitle my entire selfwith it. As for home, I am still in the process ofmaking one, meaning for now I am still
homeless. Thus, perhaps, homelessness is my

home.

References
Anderson,B.
(2006[1983]).
Imaginedcommunities: Reflections on the origin andspread of nationalism. London: Verso.
Espiritu, Y. L. (2003). Home Bound: Filipino
Americanlives
acrosscultures,communities, and countries. Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press.

Physical Impossibility of
Death in the Mind of
Someone Living
Raushan Kaliyeva
Human mortality is a primal idea forphilosophers. Many philosophers claimed that
if there will be no death, there will be no
philosophy at all. In my paper, I want to ponder
over the change in the concept of death overtime.
Various philosophical doctrines have theirown attitude towards death. Rationalists saythat death has two outcomes: nonentity orafterlife. Epicureans and Stoics claimed thatdeath is an inescapable part of human life: wewere born from non-existing and there we will
return. If we are not scared of birth, why should
we be scared of death? Francis Bacon in his “Of
Death” essays says: “It is as natural to die as tobe born; and to a little infant, perhaps, the one
is as painful as the other.”
No one will argue the fact that we all will
end up with non-existence. However, none of us
can identify what death is and what will be after
death. “Everybody dies, but not everybody
agrees about what death is” (Thomas Nagel,1987).
Biopolitics has its own way to deal withdeath. In biopolitics, the government tries tomaximize its efficiency by controlling their
population. Population=resource, therefore, thebigger and the more effective the population the
better. In biopolitics, the government aims toincrease the lifespan of its population andpopulation aims to maximize the pleasure of
their life. Based on this principle, killing people
is irrational, but at the same time, biopolitics
uses human mortality as a power.
Agamben contributed interesting thoughts
on how death works in biopolitics:

Photo by Khaya Tsuyama
ISSUE 1More interesting for our inquiry is the factthat the sovereignty of the living man over
his own life has its immediate counterpart
in the determination of a threshold beyond
which life ceases to have any juridical value
15

and can, therefore, be killed without thecommission of a homicide.
(Giorgio Agamben, 2003-p115)
According to this quote, juridical value ofhuman life is more powerful than individuals’
value of his own life. We can find lots ofevidence to prove this statement from our life.
Extremely violent perpetrators, whose juridical
value converges to zero, might value their lives
a lot, but the sovereign will sanction their lives
by executing them. Using the same logic, inmany countries pregnancy screening, which
can identify abnormality in early fetus
development, is mandatory and usually, if there
will be any risk of any kind of pathology, family
will be strongly persuaded to make an abortion.
Again, biopolitics sees people as a resource, andwants to have the most productive people, but
not disabled or less-productive people.
Euthanasia
ismorecomplicated.
Terminally ill people are not productive, butsince society still has some ethics, patient needs
to nullify his life value by claiming his own will
to die. Then, the sovereign will measurejuridical value of this person and make adecision. Final decision remains encased insovereign’s hands.
When patients with psychiatric disorders(those disorders, which do not affect patients’
consciousness) request euthanasia, it becomeseven harder. Since juridical value of these
individuals
isnotquestionable,
thegovernments are not welcoming this kind of
euthanasia. We have a situation opposite toperpetrator execution: an individual selfconsciously nullifies his life value, but still has
juridical value. Therefore, sovereign sanctions
that person’s death.

Photo by Kristoforus Tanuwijaya

ISSUE 1Adam Maier-Clayton, a citizen of Canada,
was diagnosed with rare mental illness, which
made him feel constant pain and agony. He wasfighting for his right to get medically assisted
death. His request was rejected, and hecommitted suicide in a motel after two years offighting for his right to die. Around the sametime, in the Netherlands, Aurelia Brouwers,
who demanded the same medical procedure,
after eight years of juridical processes, got
permission to die. Aurelia Brouwers was
suicidal and had 20 attempts to commit suicide.
She passed away peacefully in her homesurrounded by her family. For Adam, this was
inaccessible because the Canadian government
decided that juridical value of his life is more
important than his personal value of his life.
Adam Maier-Clayton has his video-blog on
YouTube. On his videos, he mentioned several
times that he is not suicidal, and he does notwant to die, but at the same time, he does notwant to live. He also said: “I have to commit
suicide”. We have two paradoxes here. First,
Adam says that he does not want to die, but at
the same time, he does not want to live. It is
obvious that it is physically impossible to satisfy
those two desires at the same time. The second
paradox is his attitude toward suicide. Suicide isa rebellious act of escaping this formality ofjuridical value. It is a personal decision to end
your life, so nobody can force somebody tocommit suicide (if it happens, it will be probably
considered as a murder). Nevertheless, the firstparadox is more interesting for our interest inlife and death. By saying “I do not want to die,but I do not want to live,” Adam sanctioned bothlife and death. He transformed himself into thethird position: a juxtaposition of death and life;
a position where he is neither dead nor alive.
This transformation shows us that theancient concept of death as a final act of human
life, which unifies everyone, is no morejustifiable. Death in its simplicity becomes very
complex. That of course affects (or is evencaused by) biopolitics. Foucault mentions thatin the nineteenth-century death disappeared
from political routine:

16One might say that the ancient right to takelife or let live was replaced by a power tofoster life or disallow it to the point ofdeath. This is perhaps what explains thatdisqualification of death which marks therecent wane of the rituals that
accompanied it.
(Michel Foucault, 1978-p138)
However, a power of death did notdisappear completely and sovereign has foundforgotten power relatively fast: “...something
very similar to re-discovery of death has started
to take place in the Western world since the
mid-twentieth century” (Özpolat G, 2017-28).
While making that re-discovery, sovereign
realized that now disallowing life does notnecessarily lead to death. By disallowing life,
government nullifies juridical value of human,
but not killing a human. It transforms human tothat third position, where death and life
intersects.

References
Agamben, Giorgio and Gayraud Joël. 2003.
Homo Sacer. Paris: Éditions du Seuil.
Bacon, Francis. 1909. Of Death. London: L.C.C.
Central School of Arts and Crafts.
Foucault, Michel. 1978. Part five, The History of
Sexuality, Vol. I.
Nagel, Thomas. 2009. What Does It All Mean?:a Very Short Introduction to Philosophy.
New York: Oxford University Press.
Özpolat, Gürhan. 2017. “Between Foucault andAgamben: An Overview of the Problem of
Euthanasia in the Context of Biopolitics.”
Beytulhikme An International Journal of
Philosophy7(2):15–31.

Understanding what death is seems to be
beyond human’s intellectual limits. However,death evolves together with humanity. The
more complicated we become; the more
complicated our life and death becomes.
Humans are no longer just biological organisms
with two main functions: to be born and to die.
We are institutionalized individuals whose life
value can be measured using various scales.
Adam Maier-Clayton and his experience madea paradigm shift in the concept of death.

Photo by Myia Price-Frohlich
ISSUE 1

17

1978-1991: A FirsthandExperience of Panic Attacks& Breast Cancer
Forrest Maynock
Part One: Panic Attacks
The year was 1978. Olivia said that her
husband had just died of lung cancer the year
before. Her whole world was turned upside
down, and this was only the beginning of herlong journey of pain and suffering. This death
was so pivotal that it seemed to reshape theentire family from top to bottom. Olivia
described this as the starting point of her own
medicalissues,andthroughout
ourconversation she would return to this momentas pivotal.
Olivia: “It shook the whole family. We were
devastated. My oldest son took it the worst;
he just lost it...became very troublesome
after that.”
Author: “So your husband’s death was thestarting point?”
O: “...Yes, I think it was. After that is when
everything started.”
Olivia had worked for AT&T since 1961,
starting as a phone operator before moving toengineering assistant, then finally toengineering planner. Her life should have beenat its peak in 1978, with four children and astable job, but her husband’s death shook thefoundations of her being. First, her oldest childstarted to rebel and got himself into legal trouble
on several occasions. Then, her two middle
children became “more apathetic and lesshelpful” with the youngest child and chores
around the house.
Finally, she started to have trouble sleeping.
First, only a few hours of tossing and turning atnight, but within a month it had escalated to afear of sleep itself. She had an “inescapable fearof something happening” that sent her into apanic every day at dusk. Some nights she could
sleep at 3AM, but most nights she could not
sleep until 5AM when the sun started to rise.
Olivia thought often about death and dying as aform of escape. She described these thoughts as“not suicidal, but more like an invasion of my

ISSUE 1mind.” Olivia bottled up these feelings and tried
to keep them as private as possible in order tomaintain a “sense of control over [her] life.”
Months passed and, with little sleep, a chaotic
household, and declined performance, Olivia
started to experience panic attacks.
O: “I had to cross this bridge every day to get towork, and many days I had to stop my caron the middle of that bridge and just start
shaking and screaming like bloody
murder.”
A: “Sounds terrifying…”
O: “Yes, and I would sit in the back of churchclose to the door so that I could quickly leave
if I had an attack, and then I had to be
dragged out of work. I broke down in the
middle of an important client’s call andsimply couldn’t carry on the call.”
A: “Dragged?”
O: “Yes, dragged, I couldn’t move, and I was
screaming hysterically.”
A week after being dragged out of her officein the middle of work, Olivia was given a “forced
retirement.” It was only after this event that
Olivia sought medical attention. She went to her
personal doctor, Dr. Baldwin, and was given
vitamin shots and advice that has helped hercope: “He told me to cry, he said ‘you need tocry...you're holding it in, don’t do that.’” This
advice allowed Olivia to be more open with her
previously bottled up emotions and helped toreduce the number and intensity of the panic
attacks. Olivia was also given breathing
exercises and guided imagery exercises to help
deal with her emotions and fear of sleeping.
Guided imagery is a form of mind-bodyintervention that allows the patient to create apast or imaginary experience in their mind.
Olivia went on to state that she was neverdiagnosed, but she felt that her symptoms werea form of depression.
A: “So you learned to cope?”
O: “[Relieved sigh] Yes, but I don’t think it everreally left, I just learned to sleep and to let
my emotions flow freely...I think that it was
all connected, at least in part, you see itnever really left, I just learned how to deal
with it.”

18

and
how
mystatedfamilythat
lifethis
was series
going ofprobably
Oliviaalso
eventshadto
a lot
with thetooutcome.”
led her
go to douniversity
study to become anurse,
thatthatthat allhelpedkeep herbusywereandSheandfeelsof thesepiecesdistracted
from
herdepression.
Duringconnected and essentially culminated in thishertime
herOlivia
familywas
lifenot
continued
to deteriorate,
cancer.
fully satisfied
by how but
her
Oliviamanagedmaintainhercase washandledtoand
decidedcontrol
to seekover
further
immediatehousehold.
The
panic
attackthat
help from thedoctor who
hadhelpedher withcaused
the
loss
of
her
job
was
her
last
major
her panic attacks. Dr. Baldwin gave Olivia a
attackin heavy
her life,
but shealso B12
feels IVthat
the
series ofVitaminC anddrips,
attacks
wereconnected
to
what
came
next.
heavy doses of potassium and magnesium, andgave heradditional
visualizationand guided
Part
Two: Breast
Cancerimagery techniques to work with. She was also
1989.a Olivia
felt a sleeping
lump in her
right
toldAugust
to start
biphasic
patternbreast. Having
an aexperienced(sleepingmore becomethan onceday). Olivianurse,wasshe positive
knew when
what discussing
this likely
andvery
thesemeant
techniques.
immediately
her hospitalfor a checkup.
Sheclaims wentthat tothese
techniques
had theAfterthe“psychological”
initial visit thereeffects,
was nofollow-up,
two
greatestandtruly helped
monthspassedbeforethere
wasaproperher cope with the gravity of her situation. With
response.
This delayed
response
Oliviatheguidedimagery
and troubled
visualizationand played Olivia
a large wouldrole in use
her religious
growingtechniques
disillusionment
with modern
medicine.
Whensymbology
as anchorsand images
to focuson.
the Baldwin
results finallycame, they
indicatedstage
Dr.
also suggested
attending
supportthree breast
Cancer was
familiarWhen
issue
groups,but cancer.
Olivia rejectedthisaadvice.
for Olivia;
herhadGrandfather
had died
asked
why shenot immediately
goneoftoliverDr.
cancer,andseveralofherfriends
andextended
Baldwin, she responded that she had initiallyfamilymembers
had but
encounteredvariousforms
contacted
his office,he was outof townforofcancer.
She
had
never
expected
havingita few months, and was heavily booked for many
herself, but
faced Ifwith
it shea highmonthsafterwhen
his return.
given
the hadoption,shelevel of have
optimism.
would
first visited Dr. Baldwin before
havingsurgeryand
O: “It was
as bigaschemotherapy.
a walnut...they said it was
curable,butoneI onlylet them
surgery
with
A: “Was
there
thing
that dokept
you going
the guaranteethat else?
my Abreast
remainedmorethan anything
focal point?”
intact.”
O: “Well, my religion obviously, and I guess you
A: “Didthey
could
saycomply?”a sort of vanity [laughs]...I would
look
in
the
mirrorand see myself and think
O: “Yes, they left
it intact.”
that I didn’t want to be that way
A: forever...and“What otherof course,
procedures
did yougoreligiously,
I don’tthrough?”think
I could have succeeded without God’s
help…”
O: “Chemotherapy,
medication...the medication
almostkilled
A: “Andwhatroleme.”did your kids play in all this?”A:
Whathappened?”
O: “Really!
“They werea bunchof brats! They only mademesuffermore
than
I had to!to[Olivia
laughs
O: “I was given pain medication
take because
uproariously].”of the chemo, and after the second timetakingI almostyear,
didn’tOlivia
wake decided
up. My kidsInthe it,following
that
had
to
call
the
nurse
who
was
handlingmymany changes needed to be made in her life.
case
to
come
over
and
make
sure
I
didn’tFollowing the conclusion of her cancer
die...I stopped
takingtothe
after
treatments,
Olivia began
takemedication
action. In order
that,
I
had
to
just
deal
with
the
pain,
but
at
to maintain her health Olivia has sacrificed
least
not thatdead.”
eatingtheI’mfoods
she used to love so much.
This does not mean that Olivia never eats her
ISSUE 1The operationand the follow
favoritefoods, butwas
shea success,only occasionallyeats
ups indicatedOliviafoods
that sheremission.
used to lovebutdescribed
now seestheasexperienceas“anadventure
I
would
like
to
unhealthy. She calls these times that she breaks
neverrevisit.”
Oliviadescribed
thefeelingofaway from her current diet cheat days. These
helplessness
and suggested
constant stateof nausea
cheatdays wereby herdoctor, thatDr.
she experienced
day that
to having
day during
her
Baldwin,
who suggested
a cheat day
chemotherapy
Oliviadid findonceor twicesessions.
a monthwould
givecomfort
Oliviain a book shein the waitinghersomething
to foundlook forward
to and room
wouldofkeep
treatment
center.
TheOlivia
book, madeThe Healing
Power
her
mentally
stable.
the choiceofof
Humor theby Allengaveloved
Oliviaa newsacrificing
foods Klein,that sheafter
her
techniqueshe could
to dealtheshepainhasofcancer diagnosis
in use1989.
Everwithsincethechemotherapy.
Each
day,
for
at
least
an
been living on a diet of organic and raw foods
hour,provide
Olivia would
somethingto “deepOlivia
belly
that
Oliviafindwithhealth benefits.
laugh at.”techniqueis one benefits
that Olivia
has
seems
wellThisversedin the specificof eachcontinued
follow andfor years
and swears
by asinaofher foodtochoices
was quickto explain
useful every
techniqueformentioned.
dealing with pain anddetailitem shestaying healthy. Sometime
after theA:
“So what does
your current
look like?”chemotherapy
treatments
haddietstarted,Oliviaremembers
runningwell
intofivea dayshigh aschoolO:“Oh boy...umm,
week Ifriend
have
whose
wife
also
had
been
treatedforbreasta shot of wheatgrass to oxidize my system,
cancer.
woman’smore
and Thisan appleginger caseberrywasjuicemuchto help
mysevereand resulted
bloodstream,and inI’llboth
eat breasts
a raw being
andremoved.
Olivia felt
thankfulthat hercase day.
hadorganically
grown
salad
every
not Hmm...also
devolved toraw
thatgoatlevel
andbutfound
a lotgetofmilk,
if I can’t
comfortknowing
thatgetothers
could
goat milkthen I’ll
raw cow
milk,handle
and I
cancersuch candor.
alsowithsometimes
have kefir, yogurt andkombucha.
Soups
as well...split
pea,
tomato
O: “Despite the devastationthat his
wife
had
and
beanhearesounded
the ones reallyI eat themostgoneblackthroughpositive
these
days.
On thing.
some Maybe
days I’ll
eat hiding
lightly
about thewhole
he wascookedmeats...also
nuts,
cheese,andthesomething, but he seemed hopeful andfruits
from
my
yard.
Absolutely
nopositive about the situation...I guess that
hormones
in
the
meats
or
cheeses!
Oh,
andencounter gave me a bit more hope aboutkalanamak salt as seasoning! It has a lot of
my situation.”
sulfur in it which is good!”
When discussing the potential causes forA:
all doyou have
yourprevious
garden?”panicthe“WhatcancerOliviacited inthe
attacks,“a conflictof emotions,”
and poordiet
O: “Apples,
blackberries,
blueberries,
chives,as prime
condition. In
themint candidates
for mint for
tea, herlemongrass,pears,
years
after her panic
attacks, Olivia
thatraspberries,
strawberries,
plums,statedcherries,
her grapes,
diet haddeteriorated I can’t
and bustthat thoseher
and walnuts...but
maintenanceher Ipsyche
hadto
likelyopen veryofwell.
also usedhaveweakened
peaches,her but
bodytheto thecancer.
her workdeerkilledOlivia
that also
treefeltoff...they’re
and trying
familycreated else
“environmental
to getlife
at everything
as well.”
stressors” that contributed to her cancer. She
A: “So what is your main reason for eating all ofalso connected the “conflict of emotions” mostly
these things? Do they have a particular
to her work and family environment.
nutritional value for you?”
O: “Years of working in an intensive care ward
O: “Yes of course. Eating this way helps keep mywill do that to you. I enjoyed the work; I
body chemistry balanced, and of course
loved assisting in surgeries, it was like athese foods help fight the cancer, I think.
form of eustress for me, but I was also
Have you ever heard of the Johanna Budwig
surrounded by death and constant sickness.
Treatment? Look it up! She calls forThat mixed with how I was treating myself,
fermented foods, flaxseed oil and yogurt. I
19

try and follow that...I also feel that this dietmakes it easier for me to detox my body.”

worse it would have killed me...that’s theirgoal, cut, burn and poison!”

Olivia prepares a lot from the fruits andherbs that grow in her yard, but she buys mostof her food from the two local health food storesin her area: Country Aire and Sunny Farms.
Olivia was very quick to state that the foods that
she had prepared for her must be made fromraw and organic ingredients and could not becooked as they kill much of the health benefits
in the heating process. When asked about her
garden Olivia stated that she doesn't really tend
it, and simply goes out and picks whatever isavailable for her salads and, “throws it all
together.”This decision was applauded by Dr.
Baldwin but was looked down on by Olivia’s
immediate family. Her second oldest son wasespecially distraught and felt like Olivia wasgiving up on life. Olivia, on the other hand, feltthat the medical system had let her down andthat medicines associated with the system only
impacted her in a negative manner. She felt
comfortable with the alternative treatments that
she was receiving from Dr. Baldwin, and uponfurther research would follow her own selftreatments. One self-imposed treatment that
Olivia began to follow was the Gerson
Diet/Therapy, which is a popular diet that is
specifically designed to fight cancer. The
diet/therapy includes mostly fruits, vegetables,and mineral heavy supplements. The therapy
also requires detoxification enemas to help clear
toxins from the body. Olivia admitted thatstrictly following the Gerson Diet was not fully
possible for her because of her love of meat, but,as a general rule, she has been following a loose
version of this diet and detoxification since1989. Now in 2019, Olivia is 78 years old andsettled in her ways.

Part Three: 1991
June 1991. Olivia made her final trip to thetreatment center for her last checkup. The tests
indicated a return of cancer, this time in the left
breast. Olivia considered her options. She
decided to forego treatment and instead focus
on her family relationships and personal needs.
As a start she took her youngest daughter on atrip around Europe as a high school graduation
present. Later, she reconnected with her oldest
son who had been in and out of prison for many
years. Finally, she decided to move from
California to Washington. This move in states
was largely influenced by the negative change inair quality in California, and a desire for achange in scenery. Olivia had been in southern
California for most of her life and felt thatstaying there would only continue to drag herlife down further.
O: “I didn’t want to have to go through all thatagain, I then and there decided to go on withmy life. I was moving to a new state, and I
just had no interest in dealing with thesurgeries and the pain again. I was fed up
and did not want to deal with the cut, burn,and poison associated with [modern
medicine]...I haven’t been in a doctor’s
office since; unless you count the dentist.”
A: “So no other follow ups? Do you still think
you have cancer?”
O: “[Dismissively] Oh who knows, probably!
But I’m eating healthy now, and that’s
what’s important. Surgery would have justsent me back into a depressive state, or

ISSUE 1

A: “Do you still speak with Dr. Baldwin?”
O: “I did a few years ago...gee I hope he’sfine...you know he gave the best advice ofall, he said ‘the mind does not ask, it does!’That really changed how I looked at myself.
It was from then on that I began to focus on
taking my fate into my own hands...youknow, when I was working as a nurse I saw
a man who had gone crazy because he didn't
have enough salt in his body...that was so
strange for me. The doctor just came in andgave him a heavy saline drip and he started
to calm down. I firmly believe that a mixtureof allopathic and natural medicine is thebest for the world...the world is moving
away from alkalinity and more towards
acidity, but acidity is death...that’s how it iswith food. The typical American diet isgenerally unhealthy and bad, but not all thetime...balance is always necessary.”

20

Discovery Program for
Global Learners PhotoContest 2019 Winners

2nd Place: Stefanie Petrovic

1st Place: Michinobu Mino
In 2019, the Disocovery Program for Global
Learners hosted a photo contest open to
students and faculty members alike.
Although the photo contest was quite sometime ago, we at Polyphony would like to use thisspace to honor the top-placing photos and giverecognition to those who participated.
Many of the photos used throughout thispublication are from the photo contest as well.
Our students and faculty possess a wide rangeof talents and interests not limited to the purely
literary or academic. True to its name,
Polyphony also takes the time to showcase
works in various formats, either on our blog orin this journal.
In the future, we hope to host another photo
contest, so please stay tuned for more details.
We are always open to submissions of any
kind; if you have writings, academic work,
photography, artwork, or creations of any kindthat you wish to share, please feel free to submit
your work at any time. We are always happy to
showcase anything from within the program.

3rd Place: Stefanie Petrovic

All submissions should be sent to
PolyphonyGDP@gmail.com. We are so
excited to see what you have to offer.

4th Place: Kristoforus Tanuwijaya
ISSUE 1

21

Star-crossed Lovers
Words and photos by
Pandita Suthamporn
Have our souls ever crossed paths before,
Or was it our paralleled lives bound to intersect,
My soul was silently rewinding the cassette in
retrospect,
Assembling, retrieving, dissecting all that could
be in a singular time-capsulated block,
Working in latent with the beat of the clock,
Manifesting itself is a seamless interplay of two
karmic connections,
Reunited, waiting with time to return fromslumber,
As the plot unfolds itself once more,Marks the genesis of a long-forgotten story
untold.

Photo by Ayami Nakatani

Man in a RoomForrest Maynock

Scene: A man alone in his room sitting on his
bed in silence. Occasional twitching. He is staring
at a picture of a dead tree on the wall in his room.
Monologue.
God once told a little story about a bird heused to hang with back in the day, they used tohang in the outback of outer space.

[begins to slowly stand up and turn to face theaudience in a pirouette sort of motion, voice isquestioning]
The mind is a strange beast; it crawls out
and eats your expectations right out of thehands that feed it.

[begins to pace back and forth, thoughtful
voice]The big questions in life are a little too hardto answer but so are trigonometry questions.

[stops and hangs his head slightly while facing
the audience, voice is melancholy]
What's the point? Stupid radish. I think mymind is broken mom...you don't seem to care;
I'll just drop off the cliff with my cat and dancein the dark without my head. At least you knowwhat you know.

[begins to walk back and forth across the stage
very quickly; almost in a power walk, voice israised now]
Cut. Print. Press...press releases for the edgeof midnight are lost right now, but I can light theway Frank.

ISSUE 122

[stops mid stage, angry voice]Bob get the hell out man, you stick likerotting onion juice in the sun, and why do youeven think the people see your splendor shining
in tight quarters of long narrow corridors? Huh?

[erratic movement, maniacal voice]No answer: from you I least expected asimple tug at the arm or leg or face. You
challenge the true authority here. You brigand.
Unhand me fool. I will smite your soul in
7...8...9...0...4 days. Can you see me, you mighty
jerk? Hmm, no, only a trail of intestines that you
dragged through the door on the way in. I slap
you my kind twit! What kind of douchery is
this? The kind that kills us all in the blink of an
atom's apple. Babbling brook be my trailblazer
of guidance and last chance of redemption.

A One-Day Trip to Osaka
Words and photos byTrung Manh Quoc Nguyen
Osaka
is
the
secondlargestmetropolitan area in Japan after Tokyo and isalso one of the most visited cities not only inJapan, but also worldwide. However, it ispossible to experience all the best Osaka has tooffer in just one day. Let’s find out!
Morning
If you are starting from Okayama Station,
the preferred (and arguably the cheapest) routeto Osaka is to take the Ryobi night bus, which
will take you to Osaka at around late morning.

[movement back to stability, voice is calm]
You know who wants it, Yogsloth. He wants
your soul and life essence. Trying to equate
one's life to the perils of warping is vastly
impossible. The impossibilities are only visible
to those who read between the lines of fate. The
death of the grim reaper is inconceivable but
entirely possible.

[thoughtful pause, asked whimsically]Your mind is my mind, but whose mind do
we belong to?

Photo by Stefanie Petrovic

JR Osaka Station
After a tiring bus trip, what is better than tojust take a “chill break” and hang around someof Osaka’s most crowded and famous shopping
malls, located right next to Osaka station? Somefamous names are Osaka Station City (which isbasically the heart of Osaka station itself),
LUCUA Osaka, HEP-FIVE Osaka and Grand
Front Osaka.

HEP-FIVE Ferris Wheel

3
ISSUE 123

HEP-FIVE is highly recommended, asaside from a fulfilling shopping experience, you
can also get on the grand HEP-FIVE Ferris
Wheel. At the height of 106m at its highest
point, you can get a panorama view of thewhole city, all the way to Mount Ikoma.
For lunch, drop by the Kuromon IchibaMarket, the famous seafood market which
traced itself back to as early as the Meiji era. The
market is marked for its wealth of street foodand fish. Many restaurants can be found amongits 150 shops, stands and venues, perfect foranyone who prefers a little bit of the sea in the
middle of Osaka.

Kuromon Ichiba Market

Osaka Castle
After a tour of the castle, anotherrecommended cultural spot is Shitennoji
Temple, one of Japan's oldest Buddhist temples
and the first ever to be built by the state. Kept in
perfect condition ever since the year 593, when
it was first established by Prince Shotoku, thetemple is the perfect place for anyone whowants to feel the presence of Buddhism in a
primary-Shinto country. Just a short walk away
is Gokuraku-jodo Garden, also a popular cherry
blossom place, but even if you missed the cherry
blossom season, the green and peaceful sceneryof the garden should prove enough to charm
any arrived tourists.

Afternoon
Osaka is sometimes considered by both
locals and tourists alike to be the perfect blendof modern and historical; that is, many
historical attractions lie peacefully among thetall skyscrapers and glass buildings. The most
famous and, of course, a must-visit destination,
is none other than the famed Osaka Castle, used
to be the seat of well-known feudal lord
Toyotomi Hideyoshi before being taken over by
Tokugawa Ieyasu. The beautiful and uniquearchitecture of the castle is sure to leave its
tourists mesmerized, and the castle’s ground isa famous cherry blossom viewing place whenspring hits. The castle itself is also a museum,
exhibiting various items of cultural andhistorical importance of the Toyotomi andsubsequence Tokugawa dynasty.

ISSUE 1

Shitennoji Temple
Evening
After the tiring daytrip to all the Osaka
landmarks, it is time to grab some dinner, andin nowhere else you could try signature Osaka
dishes than Dotonbori, a food-court street
located a couple meters away from Namba
Station.

24

another name of “the city that glitters”.
Afterwards, when dusk has settled and the city
is plunged deep into the night, barhopping isanother especially common activity around thearea of Namba and America-mura that will
surely leave an unforgettable experience.

DotonboriThe heart of Dotonbori is one of the most
crowded places in the city, packed withrestaurants and food courts lining up to form awhole street, each with their own specialties
that sure to charm both visitors and native alike.
Some of the recommended delicacies are
Takoyaki, Okonomiyaki and Kushikatsu, which
is basically deep-fried meat and vegetables on a
stick. Osaka was given the nickname of “Tenka
no Daitokoro” (The country’s kitchen), wayback in the Edo period, and it is only after
visiting Dotonbori that you will actually knowwhat it meant.

Glico sign
Afterword
Osaka in general has an easygoing vibe anda fantastic food culture that is a must-see if you
want to start experiencing what Japan actuallyis like. A one-day trip in downtown Osaka will
not only help you get to know one of the mostbeloved cities in the Land of the Rising Sun, butalso give you a chance to experience Japaneseculture unlike anywhere else. No matter where
you are or where you come from, Osaka isalways waiting!

Takoyaki
Having said as much, upon arrival in
Dotonbori many will find out that it was not
only famous for its food-court street, but also forthe numerous illuminated signboards thatstretched all through the length of Dotonbori
River, giving the area a very distinct Neon vibe.
Tune in for the famous Glico man sign andmany others as you take a walk along theriverbank, understanding why Osaka has

ISSUE 1

Dotonbori25

Hiroshima: A City to
RememberWords and photos byTrung Manh Quoc Nguyen
Hiroshima is a city with a history, and it is
not a pleasant one. For the past half a decade,the city has gone through hardships unlike
other cities in Japan. Going to Hiroshima, one
could not help but be submerged into thehistory that is part of every building, piece ofscenery, and person in the city. Visiting
Hiroshima is to learn not only about thetraumatic memories that never quite fade, butalso the townspeople’s efforts to rebuild, restore,
and return to the normal life they once had.
Hiroshima Peace Park
Being one of the only two cities in the world
ever to experience the horror of atomic bomb, a
trip to Hiroshima would never be complete
without a visit to the Hiroshima Peace
Memorial Park, or Peace Park, located right inthe city center can be accessed very easily from
Hiroshima Station. Its most popular attraction
is Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum,
dedicated to documenting the atomic bombingof Hiroshima in World War II. The rectangularshaped museum houses an extensive collectionof photos, materials, and media related to thebombing of Hiroshima and with the aim ofconveying the horror and destruction of theatomic bomb, including belongings left by thevictim, accounts of first-hand eye-witnesses
and survivors. It is usual for visitors to leave themuseum shaken and in tears - the level of details
and the willingness to display every piece of
information related to the disaster will makeyou feel like it is you who have just escaped fromthe terror, and therefore gaining a better
understanding on what the people of Hiroshima
had to go through 75 years ago.

Other attractions in the Peace Park include
the A-bomb Dome and the Children's Peace
Monument, both located in the Peace Park andwithin walking distance from the museum.
When the atomic bomb exploded above
Hiroshima, the former Prefectural Industrial
Promotion Hall, with its signature dome, was
one of the only buildings left standing, and wasconverted into the A-bomb Dome as a symbolof the Japanese will and spirit in the face ofdisasters.
On the other hand, the Children’s Peace
Monument is built to commemorate thethousands of child victims in the bombing,
especially Sadako Sasaki, a girl suffering fromradiation poisoning who believed that if she
could fold one thousand paper-cranes, her wish
of a world without nuclear weapons will be
granted. On top of the monument is a statue ofa young girl holding a paper crane, and every
year thousands of strings of paper-cranes aresent here in memory of her and the childvictims.

Children’s Peace Monument
Downtown Hiroshima
While not really a destination, Hiroshima
downtown is especially busy at night, filled withshops, restaurants, and shopping centres,
which main feature is Hondori Street, apedestrian arcade. While not so different fromother cities’ downtown areas, Hondori Street isworth visiting to see how bustling Hiroshimacity’s centre can be, and of course, to enjoy
Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki, one of theregion’s
mostfamousspecialties.
Okonomimura (Okonomiyaki Village) is a small
area located on the eastern end of Hondori
Street that is wholly devoted to the signaturedish.

A-bomb DomeISSUE 126

With okonomiyaki restaurants lining up thewhole street, it is recommended to simply takea break from your journey and have a bite in oneof the busiest areas in Hiroshima.
Miyajima
The island of Miyajima is not exactly close
to Hiroshima and therefore should be thoughtof as a side trip. Located an hour from
Hiroshima and must be accessed by ferry,
Miyajima is most famous for Itsukushima
Shrine’s giant torii gate, which at high tides issurrounded by water and seems to standmightily in the middle of the sea. The island's
main attraction is no doubt the Itsukushima
Shrine, a huge shrine constructed right above
the water level to give the illusion that it is“floating” during high tide. The shrine complex
is one of the largest in Japan, and worth a visit
just for the experience of being lost in an
immersive wooden structure full of pillars,

gates, and Shinto imageries. Miyajima can also
be enjoyed on foot through the island’s many
walking paths, giving visitors access to various
big and small temples, beautiful momiji (redleaves) scenery during autumn, and of course,
the chance to encounter wild, but friendly, deer.

Itsukushima Shrine

Miyajima
ISSUE 127

Afterword

Editorial Board

The word “polyphony” comes from theGreek roots “poly-,” meaning “many,” and“phone,” meaning “sound.” Very literally, theword refers to a jumble of many different
sounds, but in music, the term refers to the
combination of individual sounds and melodies
coming together and harmonizing with one
another. Just in the way that different
instruments sing in harmony, the diverse
students in the Discovery Program for Global
Learners have forged strong bonds with eachother, allowing our unique experiences to meld
and transform into something brand new.

Editor in Chief

I hope we were able to show you what weare capable of as a student body, and the wide
range of talents that we possess.
Thank you for reading to the end of ourpublication. We all hope that you were able togain something from it, and learn about not justour department, but each of us as individuals,
through hearing our connected voices.

Forrest Maynock
Blog Editor
Nanda Illahi
Layout Editor
Myia Price-Frohlich
General Editors
Justine Villena
Trung Manh Quoc Nguyen
Logo Design
Mattie Balagat

Photo by Kristoforus Tanuwijaya
ISSUE 128