Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Just for Fun

Miyako, the Asian elephant of the now-famous poop?

For those who have, on occasion, lovingly suggested that I lighten up, today I’m writing just for fun. Even I have realized that recently I’ve shared random thoughts on a number of quite serious topics, so maybe I can balance it a bit today, even as I pick up my last topic related to entrance examinations and carry it further (in fun, of course).

Monday and Tuesday, February 2 and 3, Tamagawa Seigakuin will conduct entrance examinations for approximately 750 current sixth grade girls who will begin their junior high school careers in April. (80 percent of those registered for Monday are also registered for the second day.) About 50 percent of them will pass the exam. Of these, Tama Sei expects to welcome 168 new first year junior high girls. (Many students take exams at several schools and, if they succeed in more than one, will enter their first choice.)

This weekend will be a time of great pressure in many homes as Monday and Tuesday approach. Actually, the stress has been building for some time. Some of these girls have been studying intensely for months in preparation (we hope)—if not by their own choice, then by the will of their parents. One father of a sixth grader who will take Monday’s exam told me late last fall that he and his wife had lowered the boom: no more special events and outings on weekends from then until exam time. “Weekends have become your study time,” they announced to their daughter who apparently hadn’t been taking her studying very seriously. They also were threatening to take her cell phone away, if necessary, in order to keep her on track. This would be, according to the daughter, the worst possible thing they could do--a fate nearly worse than death.

So where’s the fun in this blog? In case you’re wondering, I offer another solution to the entrance examination dilemma in Japan—a “mucky charm.” I read about these special amulets for passing school entrance or employment examinations in the Daily Yoimuri newspaper. Handmade from the dung of an Asian elephant named Miyako, the charms are an opportunity to attract luck (un in Japanese) and are a pun on the word unchi, which means feces. I was happy to hear that the staff of Utsunomiya Zoo, in Tochigi Prefecture, first sterilizes the poop before dealing with it. Then they boil it to produce fibers that can make paper. This paper is then stamped with some words of good luck and slipped into clear plastic pouches for free distribution during the examination season, December to March.

So there you have it: elephant poop charms, the latest is new products in Japan. Which reminds me of another new product I read about in the paper this month—brassieres for men. While the vast majority of Japanese men are not built like sumo wrestlers who possibly could benefit from a bra, the developer says that wearing these will help men get in touch with their feminine side to enable them to respond to the world more kindly and gently. Even though this blog is just for fun, I promise you I’m not kidding! What will they think of next?