Friday 13th

On this day my friend Clare, who is studying at Kanazawa Univeristy, came to Kumamoto for the weekend and Obama began his Asian tour in Tokyo. It was great to see Clare again and show her Kumamoto. We had a bbq and visited Mt Aso, although we couldn't see it all because Aso san was emitting poisonous gases :( then it was off to an izakaya and karaoke. This has no relation to Obama, except for the same dates.

Obama came to Japan to renew alliances and discuss topics such as economic growth, the war in Afghanistan and the US airbase situated on the island of Okinawa etc. However, Japanese peace activists criticised Obama for not taking the time to visit the atomic bombing sites of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (I found this particularly interesting because of my upcoming trip). His response was that he would do this on another occassion.

Obama's schedule was; friday 13th, arrive in Japan. Saturday, Apec summit in Singapore. Sunday, talk with Russia's President Medvedev etc. Tuesday, Summit in Beijing. Wednesday, visit to South Korea. End of tour.

Depsite the busy schedule of events, I do believe that it should have been important for the President of the United States to visit these sites before he arrived in Tokyo. It is an important part of history that should be respected and not forgotten and it surely would help with the alliance of both countries? Having said that, it is also another generation and the atomic bombs was beyond his control. So should there have really been this stress to visit these sights before his tour? I would be interested to find out how Japanese people feel about this, and whether they think it is rude that he hasn't paid his respects first. Would this change their opinion of him?

Finally....I noticed that it was Friday 13th. A very unlucky day in the English calander, but apparantly not in Japan. So do English superstitions like this only count if you're in England, and not in Japan? This seems wierd because surely geography should have nothing to do with whether something is lucky or not? And if these don't exist in Japan, then do they exist anywhere else? Would it not be considered unlucky if you walked under ladders here, or put new shoes on the table etc. I spoke to my friend and apparantly in Japan they have a superstition where it is unlucky to cut your finger nails at night. I think it was something to do with the representation of death. Other ones inlude the passing of food from chop stick to chop stick, ressembling the bones of a cremated body at a funeral, sticking chopsticks directly into a bowl of rice because this is another thing that is done at funerals. The number 4 is supersitious because of the 'shi' that is also in 'death'. I am intrigued to know what I should consider to be supersitious as an English person living in Japan. Would it be Japanese supersitions, or still English supersitions as thats what I have been brought up to believe? What would a Japanese exchange student consider supersitious in England? Their own culture, or Englands'?