JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)-2-

Let me continue talking about this space Institute JAXA. As my major is law, my explanation might be insufficient, but I think most people don't know much about the details of space exploration, so explaining some of the exhibits from a viewpoint of an amateur wouldn't be so bad, I guess. 

 

JAXA was launched in '03, but before that this agency was called NASDA. You would easily associate NASDA with space, as it is very similar to NASA, but having an entirely different name seemed to me better.

  

 This is called an satellite ETS-1 or "Kiku" "Kiku" means chrysanthemum, and it is the symbol of our royal family. This satellite was put into space in order to test the ability of our first rocket N-1. And it was the first satellite launched by JAXA.

  

 Let me show you another satellite called EGS, or "Ajisai". Its meaning is hydrangea. This was put into orbit in '86 from an island Tanegashima off Kyushu Island. It has 318 mirrors and they take advantage of the reflection of the sun to decide the locations of islands on the earth. 

  

 And this is the replica of the Japanese experimental module "Kibo". You can get inside to see what kinds of experiment could be done inside. 

  

 There are many racks and most of them are meant for biological experiments. For example, there is a rack in which "Aquatic Animal Experiment" can be done. 

  

Kibo was launched into space in June '06, and as I said before this module is now docked to ISS. Upon looking at this model, I wondered what it would be like to be in this tiny room for a long time.

 

  

 As you can see these are space drinks. I just thought they had a bit too little as I usually gulp down lots of coffee at a time. 

 

Japanese astronauts would need Japanese food also in space. From left to right: "Inari", "Soba", and "Udon". As you know, "Soba" and "Udon" are Japanese noodles, but "Inari" is a kind of sweet sushi that is wrapped by a sheet of fried tofu. 

You know, Japan lags behind some countries when it comes to space exploration, but after looking at those exhibits, I couldn't help but think that Japan has been trying tooth and nail to catch up with those countries. And I had an impression that JAXA has its own way of inventing things.

JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) -1-

As I said many times before, my city has a lots of Institutes. All of them specialize in very cutting-edge experiments and stuff, but I would name this JAXA as the most state-of-the-art Institute. You can enter the premises free of charge and take a look around. 

 

 I showed the H-II rocket that was standing upright in Tsukuba Expo Center in December, but this one was more intricately made. Our researchers spent about 10 years to complete this rocket, and the technology of this rocket is the foundation of the huge rockets that Japan has been developing.

  

 The rear-end of the H-II rocket. Just by looking at this picture, you might not notice how impressive this is, but as I usually don't have a chance to take a close look at any rocket, this one seemed so enormous to me. 

  

 I had to register at the reception to take a look around, and this souvenir shop was just next to it. These caps looked cool, but I thought only people who work for this Institute would be proud of having one. 

  

 Space shuttle model kits. If I had a kid I would buy him one. Japan doesn't have the ability to launch a space shuttle as you know, but we have rockets that put satellites into orbit. 

  

 Teddy Bear astronauts. 2656 yen is about 28 us dollars. Little girls would be pleased to have one.  I've heard that Teddy bear is from the USA, where they've launched space shuttles. So when we are successful in launching one they should sell a "Samurai" astronaut or something as a souvenir. 

  

 Spaceman pens. It would be fun to put one on your desk, but would you think they are easy to use? 

  

Official Mission Pinbadge. You can see three kinds of Kibo badges, and Kibo is the Japanese experiment module that is docked to ISS (International Space Station). 

 

  

This satellite is called Kaguya or SELENE (SELenological and ENgineering Explorer). In a Japanese folktale "Taketori Monogatari", a girl named Kaguya appears. She eventually returns to the moon, and this must be the reason why this lunar satellite has the same name.

From left to right: N-I, N-II, H-I, H-II, H-IIA and H-IIB rocket. The USA and Japan collaborated to develop the N-I rocket, which put into orbit the first Japanese fixed satellite named ETS-II. And since H-II, Japan started to develop its own rocket. 

Most of the scientific research is beyond my understanding, but somehow I'm interested in space. And as I live in a rural area, I can see lots of stars in the sky in the night =)

Haruhi movie (the content excluded)

  I think lots of anime fans have been waiting for the release of the Haruhi movie, and today, February 6th, I went to see it. I think it would be better if i don't reveal the content of the movie, as I don't want to spoil anything for you. So let me show you how a movie theater nearby was pitching the movie and so on. 

  

 When I came to the movie theater in January to pre-order a ticket, it was showing this board. Even in Japan, other American movies like Avatar are more popular, so I doubted many people were paying attention to this.

 

  

 I got this flier at the theater. You can see the same picture on the official Haruhi movie website.

  

 The back of the flier. The Japanese sentence in the center reads, "Ready? Of course, I am, because I'm a first member of the SOS brigade."

  

  I got this temporary ticket that I can exchange with a real ticket from February 2nd on. Nagato looks very good. It cost about 16 us dollars. If I had come here in December, I could have gotten a Haruhi bookmark as a giveaway, but I didn't know that >.<

  

 I was snowing on the night of the day when I could get a ticket and reserve a seat. So I was sweating I couldn't get here 'cause I didn't have snow tires. 

  

 ...and the one in the left is a ticket. When I came here, almost all the good seats had been snatched away, but G-17 is a seat close to the center of the theater, so it's still good.

  

 They were selling many Haruhi goods. This is a poster in which the brigade members are enjoying the cherry blossoms. Can't wait for the April to come.

   Most of you should know that this time the most featured character is Nagato. Without Haruhi, this anime wouldn't be this popular, but I think Nagato has played important roles in almost every episode, which explains her popularity.

  

 Many people would buy these Haruhi goods, especially because they are available only during this period.

  

 This is a poster that was displayed today, and I saw this for the first time. 

   When I came to see the movie today, I had expected to see otaku people only, but I mainly saw ordinary people who I would see at a shopping mall. There were people in their teens, twenties, and thirties. 

  

 It was going to be showed 5 times today at this theater. 

 

This Haruhi was standing in front of the door of the theater. Some people were taking pics of the Haruhi and their friends standing side by side. 

 

This memo pad was given to people who came to see the movie today. Basically everybody can get it, but the number of the giveaway was limited.

 

And I bought these bookmarks. They are made of plastic, so they won't wear out easily. I wondered why the three girls are wearing the Gekisou outfits, but I guess it's because the Gekisou figurines are more popular than the others.  

Hope everybody else in the world will see this movie too and hear what they would think of it =) 

Setsubun (The traditional end of winter)

Today is called "Setsubun", and it means the day which divides two seasons, or namely winter and spring. In the Edo period(1603-1868), February 4th was the day when spring started. Today, we can see people throwing roasted soy beans in the premises of shrines, and we are supposed to have the same number of beans as our age. So if you're 20, you should eat 20 beans. And if you have one additional bean, it is said your body will get stronger and you won't catch cold. And at "Setsubun", we throw beans at a hypothetical devil, and we do this so that we can repel bad vibes and hope for well-being in the year.

 

 This shrine was asking people to join this bean-throwing event. Especially this year people whose age is going to be, men: 25, 42, 61, women: 19, 33, 37 are likely to have a bad year according to our old tradition. So they should really repel the bad vibes.

  

 When I arrived at this shrine, people were starting to prepare for the event.

  

This Shinto priest started to throw beans all of a sudden, and my camera came close to being hit by the beans. He didn't seem to care about where the beans were headed.

In addition to the bean-throwing, the Shinto priest shot two arrows in order to repel evil. The head of the arrow seemed to have something good inside, so people were scrambling to get it. 

 

 Besides the beans, those shrine maidens were throwing packaged beans and so on. You know, you can have those packaged beans even after they fall on the ground.

 

These are some of the things they were throwing. The red word on the package of the beans say, "Fortune beans". The red round object is a rice cake.