ISSN 1349-5860 June 2008 No. 16 Contents Tsunagaaru Introduced in Australia and New Zealand Japanese Culture Now The Joy of Photography From late March to mid-April, TJF gave presen- cations for Tsunagaaru memberships poured in tations about Tsunagaaru to secondary school from Australia and New Zealand following the students and teachers across Australia and presentations. New Zealand. In Sydney, as part of a seminar * Some of her task ideas introduced at the seminar may be held by the New South Wales Department of found at the Japan Foundation, Sydney webpage below. Education and Training, we gave a presenta- http://sensei.jpf-sydney.org/autumn08/sensei_01.htm tion together with Killara High School teacher Pamela Carpenter. Ms. Carpenter introduced Meeting People some of her projects,* such as a research proj- My Three Years ect in which her students create a menu for an Face-to-Face with imaginary Australian restaurant in Japan with Photography the help of Japanese peers via Tsunagaaru. We met many teachers who wanted their students to enjoy communicating in Japanese and broadening their perspectives through ex- change with students from various places. They all seemed favorably impressed with Tsuna- What is “Tsunagaaru”? Access This Page! gaaru as a forum for such opportunities. Appli- Tsunagaaru is a website for communication among Tsunagaaru: secondary students around the world. Transcend- A Site for Students Presentation itinerary in Australia and New Zealand ing national boundaries and language barriers to Worldwide March 27 Presentation for students, Churchlands Senior promote mutual person-to-person understanding High School, Churchlands, Western Australia among students, it provides actual communication March 29 Presentation for Japanese teachers, as part of experiences where students can use the language Professional Learning Seminar sponsored by Japanese Language Teacher’s Association of skills they are learning. WA, Mandurah, Western Australia For more details, see “Access This Page!” March 31 Presentation for students, St Mary’s Anglican Publisher/Editor in Chief: Girls’ School, Karrinyup, Western Australia Tsunagaaru Security Policy Nakano Kayoko April 5 Presentation for Japanese teachers, as part of In order to protect the privacy of members and keep Editing and Translation: Japanese Teacher’s Conference 2008, sponsored the website environment safe for its own purposes, Center for Intercultural by New South Wales Department of Education TJF will check the student status of those who reg- Communication and Training, Sydney, New South Wales April 8 Presentation for Japanese teachers (supported ister for the site and obtain the assent of their par- DTP: by the Independent Schools Queensland), Bris- ents or guardians. Texts posted for the site will be Iino Noriko (The Japan Forum) bane, Queensland checked to assure the content does not contain per- April 10 Presentation for Japanese teachers (supported by the Canterbury Association of Japanese Lan- sonal information or inappropriate expressions. guage Teachers and Sarah Perkins, Learning Shinjuku Dai-ichi Seimei Bldg. 26F Languages Adviser/Secondary AtoL, University How to Participate 2-7-1 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, of Canterbury Education Plus/Mātauranga Nui l Student Registration Tokyo 163-0726, JAPAN Ake), Christchurch Please register at the Tsunagaaru site. April 12 Presentation for Japanese teachers (supported Phone: 81-3-5322-5211 l Access for teachers Fax: 81-3-5322-5215 by the Auckland Association of Japanese Lan- TJF will provide open access for one week to teach- E-mail: [email protected] guage Teachers), Auckland http://www.tjf.or.jp April 15 Presentation for Japanese teachers (supported ers who contact us desiring to introduce the site to by the Wellington Association of Japanese Lan- their students. TJF also provides accounts for long- guage Teachers and the International Languages Takarabako is published and term use if teachers wish to use the site extensively, Aotearoa New Zealand), Wellington distributed by The Japan Forum. April 19 Presentation as part of program of Japanese Lan- such as for a class project. For access for teachers This publication follows the guage Teachers’ Association of Victoria State- and other queries, please contact us at: practice of placing the Japanese wide Conference 2008, Moorabbin, Victoria surname first. [email protected] Japanese Culture Now http://www.tjf.or.jp/takarabako/ Photography has become a much more famil- The Joy of iar art with the spread of digital cameras and cell phones with built-in cameras. An increas- ing number of people now think of photography Photography as a handy means of expression and a routine part of their daily lives. The Digitization of Photography Not so long ago, the standard procedure in photography was film, the price of a digital camera is not so expensive. New to first buy film, take photos, have that film developed at a automatic image stabilization, focus, and face-recognition camera shop or a convenience-store-provided service, and re- features make it possible for anyone to take photographs ceive the developed photographs along with a set of negatives. quite skillfully. Today, it is becoming more common to take photos on a digi- Digital cameras have changed the way pictures are taken tal camera, save the images on a computer, and print out only and ways they are enjoyed thereafter. In the past, one had to the selected shots using a home printer. The camera shops purchase film, have it developed without knowing how the that were once a fixture of every town are starting to disappear, photographs would come out, all with great loss of time and and photographs themselves are seen less as a medium cap- money. With a digital camera, the quality of the picture can tured on film than as data files to be stored on a computer. be checked on the spot and retaken if necessary. Photographs According to the Cabinet Office’s Research Regard- can also be selected for printing, allowing people to take ing the Spread of Leading Durable Consumer Goods (as many photographs without spending much time or money. of end of March 2007), 58.9 percent of Japan’s 47.8 mil- Digital photography also encourages picture-taking not just lion households own a digital camera. Seventy-one percent on special occasions but of anything of interest in daily life, of households own a computer, which is as a method of documenting life almost like a diary. a necessity when using a Photographs taken on digital cameras can be easily pro- digital camera. cessed using a computer, so they can be used to make origi- Prices for digital nal postcards or create one-of-a-kind photo albums. Now the cameras in Japan range average person has control over the entire photography pro- from 30,000 to 50,000 cess, including printing. Digital cameras have accomplished yen. Considering that it something tremendous by allowing people who weren’t fa- costs about 1,500–2,000 yen to miliar with photography to really enjoy taking pictures. purchase and develop one roll of Taking Photos by Cell Phone In Japan, cell phones are used by and other special occasions, but as a people of all ages, from children to way of saving information they want the elderly. More than 90 percent to make note of, or showing some- of high school students have cell thing from their daily lives, such as phones. Most models these days by posting on a blog. have a camera feature, making As more people take pictures on “taking photos” one of the prime cell phones, photography magazines uses of cell phones among high have begun to publish regular arti- school students, along with call- cles on how to take quality pictures ing, sending e-mail, checking the with a cell phone, hold contests for time and setting alarms, browsing photographs taken by cell phone, the web, and listening to music. and publish collections of such pho- People taking photos with cell phone cameras in front Footage of accidents and news events, which would usu- tos. Photographs can be sent as an of the Kaminarimon ally have been shot by experts with cameras or video cameras e-mail attachment by cell phone, so (“Thunder Gate”) at on the scene, are now also taken by ordinary people with cell sharing photos among friends has Sensoji temple in Tokyo phones and sometimes shown on news programs. Also, peo- become much easier. ple are beginning to take pictures not just of their vacations © Hongo Jin Japanese Culture Now-1 Purikura, short for Purinto kurabu (Print Club),* is a photo booth where people can take their own photos, and a ma- © Hongo Jin chine then prints them out in few minutes automatically as stickers at a cost of 300 yen per set. After shooting, users can After the photo is taken, you can draw on the decorate the frames or draw and write on the frames. This image using a special pen way, users can create imaginative and original stickers they connected to the purikura can enjoy in various ways. by a cord. Purikura has been popular among junior high school and senior high school girls ever since its 1995 debut in video ar- cades. Notebooks used to collect purikura pictures are called purikura techo (puricho for short), literally meaning “purikura Touch the screen of the Pose in front of the professional lighting notebooks,” and may have not just purikura pictures, but be purikura and choose set up in front of the screen. the background and dressed up with other kinds of stickers, drawings using col- Purikura booths in video arcades. frame for your stickers. ored pens or markers, and marginal comments. The fascination of purikura is not just taking pictures with friends and turning them into little artworks. Purikura Screen after adding extras to sharing is a means of expressing friendship, and can also be the photo with the special used to record special times and moments.