Pole Dancing

This post is not exactly about Japanese culture but rather about a Japanese candidate of Pole Dancing.
Not to be confused with the pole dancing in strip clubs and cabarets, Pole dancing is a performing art that exhibits strength, grace, dexterity and endurance; these are what attracted me to blog about when I first saw a video on it.

Why don't you see for yourself?

If you look carefully you could see the strain each movement puts on the body.

This is Japanese candidate Mai Sato when she won the International Ultimate Pole Championship 2009, Women's Division

This is my first time watching an offical Pole Dance entry and I was extremely impressed!

I am definitely still impressed by the strength and flexibility needed for these. Not only are pole dancers stretching and twisting their body constantly, they have to hold their body up while performing such acts, Even a half minute is tiring for normal people to simply cling to the pole.

This video is her entry submission for 2010, the competition is in progress now and the results would be in soon...

Personally i think the later video is much better as well as elegant and that the first is too static. Maybe it is because she is much more relaxed, expressive in the entry video, than the official competition.


I'm side tracking here, but please entertain me;

No wonder I find some formal competitions slightly dull, its not that I think the performers are lacking in skill or technique, but it just seems quite stiff. Their facial expressions are either blank, a slight frown in concentration constantly and such.

I prefer seeing performers showing their emotions during their performances, such as the joy, relief, alarm when they perform difficult maneuverer, what are your thoughts??

Marrying virtual realities

I think this is quite an interesting topic as it involves relationships between human and virtual realities, digital characters and etc


Here is an article that invokes some thought.

Taken from
http://gamrfeed.vgchartz.com/story/7998/the-xbox-360-gets-a-marriage-simulator/

Recently, more incidents of otaku (people who are obsessed with anime, video games and the like) marrying a game character are coming to light.

A reason for the increasing rate, in my opinion, is because of the spread of Nitendo DS and dating sim games. 

Not to mention the fact that Nitendo DSes have microphones and speakers attached, allowing a more realistic experience with the game and development for the character.


One of the first stories of the like that even got featured on CNN is : Someone who married a character from the DS game, http://www.japanator.com/love-plus-marriage-on-cnn--12762.phtml

Taken from http://www.animevice.com/news/meet-your-new-girlfriend-your-ds/1535/

Many of them claim that they love the characters whole-heartedly, and would marry them. They would bring the game to various places, take pictures with them, eat with them and even go to the beach together. (How they conquer the fear of the game dropping into the water when they love them so much, i have no idea.)

Image taken from
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/magazine/26FOB-2DLove-t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all 

There are also cases where people are marrying their PILLOWS.






There are also stranger cases; people marrying themselves, dolphins, cat, eiffiel tower and more!






Some insists that they would marry a real life partner if they do find one but until then, their object of affection would remain the same.

If you found out that the person you're attracted to had these kinds of relationships, would you still accept him/her?
Also, now that you have seen these articles, what do you think of these relationships with non-human parties??

I like you / I love you in Japanese

Curious about how to say "I like you" or "I love you" in Japanese? Here they are:

"I like you" - Watashi wa anata ga suki desu.
This is pronounced:
Wah-tah-shee  wah  ah-nah-tah  gah  sss-key  deh-su   
The sss part is just an extension of the trailing part of the sound when you pronounce 'S'
(Usually 'desu' is pronounced softly like "deys" with little emphasis on the 'su' part)

Note: This is a little formal and not very often used. The "I" can be omitted because the persons of the subject are quite obvious that you are stating your own opinion and no ambiguity arises.

An example in English context is "This looks nice!" instead of "I think this looks nice!" both mean the same thing but the shortened form is much more widely used and less off-putting. 


People are lazy globally - its relatable isn't it?

Cherry_Blossom_Tattoo_by
TheTempestOfNature

Anata ga Suki desu! - "Like you!"
Pronounced: ah-nah-tah  gah sss-kee dehsu


Or just - Suki desu!
Pronounced: Sss-kee dehsu!
(It literally says 'like!', usually this is enough to get the meaning across that you like the person)

Now, "i like you" can be used to say that you like your friend(usually same gender) or, when you say it to a opposing gender it would be interpreted as a love confession instead.

By the way, the way to say "like you very much"
= Anata wa daisuki desu! (daisuki is pronounced 'dyee-Ssskey') see the above examples for pronunciation of the other words!

"Desu" is often used at the end of the end of each sentence for a not-too-informal way of speaking.

So please don't go around speaking with  "deSU" it is WEIRD and not to mention, rude! If you do, never mention my name nor where you learnt it from.

"I love you" - Watashi wa anata ga aishiteiru
Pronounced: Wah-tah-shee  wah  ah-nah-tah  gah  eye-she-teh-ru

"Love you" - anata ga aishiteiru! 
Pronounced: ah-nah-tah  gah  eye-she-teh-ru


"Love" - Aishiteiru
This is used in a confessing context only, the word for love in Japanese, its "Ai", "愛" or "Koi", "恋" not to be mistaken for the fish, Koi.
Again, this can be said independently to the person of affection.

Note that you DO NOT say this to a person you only have a crush on, this is usually said to someone you are already serious about or your lover. You don't say "i love you" to someone you met for a few weeks and ask him/her to go out with you right?

These are just the basic ways of saying "I like you" and "I love you". Of course there are many other ways to say them, I am just listing the simple ones to not confuse you.

Finally, in the context of Japan, confessing your love is quite an incident and usually not done casually nor openly like in western countries.This is because Japan is a conservative country. Feelings and emotions are rarely talked about in the open, politeness and formality are highly valued.

Yui from K-ON, taken during AFA10

PDA(Public Display of Affection)s also not widely accepted especially by the (hard core)traditional population, all these of course depend on the area of Japan you are in at that point of time.

Due to globalization though, the standards have slightly dropped especially in the city areas and among the teens in Japan. But as the saying goes, it doesn't hurt to be more polite than not. So, if in any case you are confessing your undying love to a Japanese in Japanese, say "Watashi wa anata no koto wa eien ni aishiteru, shinda nochi desu" -meaning "I love you eternally, even after i die."

On a side note, Japanese people prefer telling white lies to maintain a harmonious atmosphere than outright disagreements or boasting when they can be avoided. 

(A certain topic to raise in the future)

Credits: The following pictures used do not belong to me at all in any way:
The cherry blossom tattoo design was retrieved from TheTempestOfNature.