Japanese Addresses: the opposite is also true
2009-11-28
This is a 2-minute talk I gave at the TED Conference in India:
It came from two previous posts: Japanese Addresses and Reversible Business Models.
2009-11-28
This is a 2-minute talk I gave at the TED Conference in India:
It came from two previous posts: Japanese Addresses and Reversible Business Models.
Naming the blocks struck me most. Because we tend to pay attention to and give value to the things we name, and to ignore what we consider spaces. So we could take what we consider "spaces" in our lives, such as waiting in line or in traffic, or anything "unofficial" and unproductive, and by naming them, so to speak, we could find more value in them--do something creative in that space... or fun and new...
"In the order that they were built.." classic
Nice concept for thinking outside the box. I would tell the Japanese person who is in America he needs to learn the way we do it here and I would expect the same there. Novel idea nowadays.
Quite interesting!
-- Derek
But how does this apply to our music making and marketing (except that we now know how to find a house in Japan!)?
Questioning assumptions in all aspects of life? Looking for the opposite point of view even in mundane things? Up to you...
It's like the (very important) spaces between the notes, in music!
That was extremely interesting and valuable as well! You have got me curious about more things like this. Makes a lot of sense when you let go of your own traditional way of thinking. Anything else that you know of that is opposite? Or where there is more information on this?
Solitoode
I get what you're saying but i think the opposite is true.
If reversible, then why not also invertible business models?
Not bad on your Japanese thanks, Derek.
Yeah, that`s just the tip of the iceberg as
far as understanding the differences between the Americans and Japanese. As you may recall, I spent 6 yrs. there, gigging, teaching English, etc... and still have a home there. This made me laugh, and I will enjoy sharing it with a couple choice friends/relatives.
I definitely agree that so much of what we believe to be correct and infallible is just a construct.
There is no better way to question those beliefs and develop as a person than to live in a different country.
In Japan, there are street names of course. It is just they are not as common as other countries. Also, intersections have names and are often used when giving directions.
Also, houses typically do not have numbers on them. Addresses just have the block name like you mentioned.
It is my belief that this lack of explicit separation contributes to neighbors working closely together in the local groups for garbage collection, cleaning, local festivals, etc.
It is actually a huge pain partaking in these regular administrative hassles. If only there were house numbers.
Enjoyed this Derek!
Thank you, Derek.
Your comments remind me of the lyrics of my song, "Her Point of View."
A woman convinced against her will
Is of the same opinion still.
Consider the wisdom of her point of view.
A lady persuaded from her plan
Returns to be where she began.
Consider the wisdom of her point of view.
If she says that black is white,
If she says that day is night,
Quite contrary though it seems,
It doesn’t mean she's not right.
Unusual logic you could say,
But there can be more than one way,
Original thoughts are far between and few.
Just open your mind. You might learn something new.
And so it goes . . .
Cool. While in India did you notice the bumper sticker(usualy painted on) saying "horn please". They want you to honk at them so they can move out of your way. If I honk at someone here, I'm most likely using a word other then "please".
Ranj.
I think the lesson here is to always consider the opposites. Whether composing, playing, marketing or whatever. Take what you do, think what the opposite might be, and give it a try.
Lol yeah. I also find when I am in India that when catching a taxi or rikshaw the taxi guy might not know the exact street or block but he can still get you there by asking for directions as he goes along.
No real need for maps and all...simply ask around as you get closer to your intended destination!
Very informative Derek! How neat doctors get paid in Asia for the days that one is healthy and not paid for the days they are sick. I wonder the stats on the frequency of sick people over there. Interesting and thanks for sharing!
Fascinating and very interesting to see where cultures place there focus. Why not focus on the blocks instead of the empty spaces around the blocks of land. I love that the doctors are paid for health rather than disease. We could use a lot more focus on the value of disease prevention instead of treating existing disease. I get my best ideas from flipping things around and challenging assumptions. Love this presentation clip!
If you can imagine what might be the opposite (or inverse) of a current business model, how likely is it you will arrive at something useful enough to help exit a business quandary or period of stagnation (that is, getting out of a situation of non-profitability)?
It's great to hear your voice, Derek.
It applies to music perhaps because as artists, we need to consider alternatives to everything. Otherwise, we just keep making the same thing over and over.
As for telling someone to "learn the way we do it here" - I for one, love to be exposed to other ways to do things, and would delight in hearing their perspective.
Wooooooo Hooooooooo . . . LOVE IT Derek! Infinite perspectives . . . living globally since birth, my mind has been programmed to look upon every country and be like a child; out of the box; seeing thru their eyes; adaptibility; creating the music in new ways; dancing thru life with new beats; new realities; adventures; keeps life entertaining . . .
Great stuff. In the US each block is named but unless you are doing a title search or selling a piece of property it really does not get used. Love the idea of doctors being paid when you are healthy and the map. Thanks for sharing and reminding us there are always variations on a theme. I will make a point to forward this.
Gail Marten comment #12 . . . LOVE those lyrics!!!
Dude, I lived in Japan for a year and India for months and no one could explain that shit to me there. Thanks!
in 2 mins you've explained what I've been unable to describe to my American friends my whole life.
Encore.
Wait a minute, are you suggesting that the American perspective is not the only one? That's just crazy talk!
I wanted to post this on my Facebook. I recommend that you make that available.
Here's the direct link to the same video on Facebook. Let me know if that link doesn't work for you. -- Derek
Excellent, Derek. This is one of my favourite posts yet.
Spending time in Thailand I have seen almost every assumption about day-to-day life turned upside down. It is extraordinarily liberating because what we see as laws of life turn out to be merely custom of habit.
These days I get enjoyment from watching tourists meet these challenges, remembering what it was like learning an entirely different culture (even something as simple as buying lunch in the mall). Meanwhile the Thais of course find everything that's going on completely normal and don't understand why foreigners are confused all the time.
I think the more we travel the more we learn about where we came from because we view it through a refracted lens, the individual components broken apart from the single white beam and each facet can be viewed in contrast.
Right now Bangkok is decked out in Xmas decorations. Seeing them completely out of context like this makes me realise just how bizarre Xmas decorations are! And what they have to do with the holiday is like a convoluted enigma of metaphor and legend. This allows Thai designers to play with the concepts even further and created some mind bending displays.
Very well-put! Thanks Stephen. -- Derek
First and foremost... bravo on the presentation ...
The conclusion I derive.... adapt .... be flexible... be open minded... there is not only one way to view the world! ...and HOW WONDERFUL IS THAT...TRULY!
~rhonda
@Stani Steinbock (comment #4): It helps us in life, and, therefore, helps our music. Sometimes we need to look at things inside out, or in ways that are foreign to us.
When I teach music to young children, I do some very “unorthodox” things to get them thinking about music in new ways. For example, I’ll tell them to lie down on the floor and to “breathe in” the music as I play a recording of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.
But one of the things I do with preschoolers, which Derek’s talk reminded me of, is freeze dancing. First, we’ll do it the “normal” way – music plays, you dance, music stops, you freeze in place. Then, I’ll reverse it – music plays, you freeze, in the silence, you dance. It gets the brain firing a whole different set of synapses.
One must learn to appreciate the silences as vital, life-giving forces.
Noah
ps ABSOLUTELY... post on YOUTUBE..
thanks!
Here is the link to the same video on YouTube. Thanks! -- Derek
Different ways of approaching, or viewing things may help your mind to work differently. Numbering houses by their age for example, may make you think of valuing, or respecting the elderly.
i would rather use the block naming method.
Orwellian doublethink? Chronosynclastic infundibulum?
Like for instance, if you get sick in China, you don't have to pay, but you may be treated with powdered rhinoceros horn, mountain gorilla organs, or parts from other endangered species. That's awful! No, it's wonderful!
I'm not very good at giving directions or following them. When I go to a new place I'm lost
about half the time. . . but there
is always some nice person to help
me. There is one GOOD thing about
being old ... People are sorry for
you and they will alway lend a helping hand... I can hear them
thinking "Poor Old Soul..She should
have stayed at home."
...#33 ... WOW... was Derek's post a commentary on healthcare and I missed.... lol .....
...at least until we all have a GPS receiver in our pocket, and addresses become just latitude and longitude.
2 thoughts:
In the west, we would be most familiar with this concept as heterodoxy and one of the best examples in the western tradition is the example of the gnostics. Read their version of the garden of Eden: The serpent is a Prometheus figure bringing knowledge to the human race.
Organizational systems persist when they are the most useful to the most people. So systems that might otherwise be outdated will persist in insular societies. The number one reason to be suspicious of orthodoxy as well as heterodoxy.
Just wrote a song about it...
_______________________________
Another Side of Right
©2009 Sandra Jean Foster and Biggg Shady
Some clichés we thought
Made lotsa sense
Have proven to make us
Nervous and tense
They might be catchy
They might be slick
But deep down inside
They can make us sick
Treated others the way you want to be treated
Some folk love pain
And they’ll hurt you over and
over again
Kill two birds with one stone
Catch two birds with one seed
They multiple to serve your needs
A good man is hard to find
Assumes that even righteous men
Are dastardly evil and filled with sin
If you continue
To think this way
You’ll never see
A brighter day
Set a positive intention
As you fall asleep
For the type of cliché
You want to keep
Make sure it’s peaceful
Like blues skies and green lights
Cause when you look at it
It’s just another side of right
Check what you say
To be precise
Make sure it feels good
It’s just another side of right
Whatever floats your boat
Not a good way to think
Cause some actions can make a boat sink
Pull yourself up by the bootstraps
Now that’s a mouthful
Especially if you don’t have bootstraps to
pull
Spare the rod, spoil the child
That’s why so many adults today
Are so beat down and have nothing to say
If you continue
To think this way
You’ll never see
A brighter day
Set a positive intention
As you fall asleep
For the type of cliché
You chose to keep
That was a great video blog..thanks Derek!
Wow, Derek
If you ever get bored, you should become a diplomate or work for Doctors without Borders ;)
Awesome. The world needs vision that takes all angles into account, instead of just the angle that is the most comfortable, or the one that is the easiest to reach.
;-Martin
Fun stuff, reminded me of a couple things:
in France the first floor of a building is one level up from the street.
And when stopping at a red light, you stop AT the red light. Which in the U.S. could get you in a lot of trouble...
Awesome!! imagine Obama selling that to the country, I think it would change our world profoundly...imagine paying a consortium of doctors to keep you well...it would leave out the insurance companies all together!! Make the hospitals the focal point of community based health care. The doctors would certainly stop being drug pushers for the pharmaceutical companies!! Hmmm sounds like a movement I could get behind!!!
I was a bit confused at the beginning, and I very well see how it can be confusing for someone whose lived in maybe the US, and if they'd make a move to live in another country oversea's how it would take a bit getting use to the changes of the streets and blocks.
I was a bit confused at the beginning, and I very well see how it can be confusing for someone whose lived in maybe the US, and if they'd make a move to live in another country oversea's how it would take a bit getting use to the changes of the streets and blocks.
Would not want to be a door to door delivery man or mailman in Japan.
I also had that thought about health care vs sickness care and wow!
It looks like "health care" USA
doesn't make much sense. The AMA medicos & big pharma have a vested interest in keeping people alive but sick.
In Santurce Puerto Rico areas are described as stop 18 & stop 22. These were trolley stops for a trolley which no longer operates.
Deep post, man
Love, B
Nice voice. Bring it around more often
LoxJ
Sounds like the law of magnetism -
Opposites attract! It's a great way to think and live life!
Thanks Derek, for the excellent explanation video.
Robert
This is a great post Derek. There was a video game from the 80s or 90s(can't remember the name) where as one goes from room to room hunting for the treasure, one picks up energy packs on the floor which gives one's life force a boost. Every time I encounter a foreign culture, I feel like I'm picking up these energy packets, learning a new way of looking at things, adding to my repertoire of how to deal with life's challenges and rewards.
Today I didn't have to travel.
We all build in the same world.We just a approach it in a different way.
COOL! I just learned something, today, and a day in which you learn something is a day well spent.
And your Japanese isn't bad, either! =D
Sheesh! Driving on the left side of the street...and now no street names too! Best to just hire a driver...ha.
I enjoyed that!
Chris
Derek,
Perfect.
Fabulous! Thanks.
Indeed the Ying and Yang of all things. Definitely includes the classic struggle between Good and Evil.
Very neat, thanks for sharing!
Yes. The Chinese doctor scenario is what we should have in America.
I didn't find it at all interesting, however the opposite may also be true
Derek your speech is good at TED (the way you do it).
best regards
AUDIO-Ratities
J.P. van den Wittenboer
WOW! The Japanese have some great ways of looking at things, as do you! I especially love the idea of paying a Doctor to keep you healthy.
I am forever standing on my head to get a new perspective and playing devil's advocate to ideas that come my way.
I use it sometimes in my songs like "Worth The Risk." "I'm not crying, doesn't mean I don't feel the pain. I don't speak, doesn't mean I've got nothing to say. So I don't reach out, doesn't mean that I don't feel. I don't believe no more but it don't mean it ain't real." and so on...
Please do, keep sharing your experiences and perceptions. It's great brain food. YUM!
You learn something new everyday. I still can't get over the Japanese block-naming system. That's so cool!
Domo Arigato Derek-san!
Interesting post.
Of course, as you mention towards the end, "ONE" IS the end of the measure. Check out Hal Galper's (a fellow Berklee alum by the way) book "Forward Motion" He was onto this since the 70s and has been teaching it for years. The minute you start practicing this way, everything makes so much more sense. Western music has worked this way for quite a while (as studying Bach or Charlie Parker will quickly reveal). It's only the notation system that hides it.
I agree with Kristina!
Thanks from Derek.
Paradoxical / dialectical thinking is right up my alley. The audio-visual presentation of this idea is very clear and concise. I agree--you-tube it!
Thanks, Derek. Always enjoy your bits of wisdom. This format, with you speaking and a "powerpoint" was very nice as well!
I would hate to be a Postman in Japan.
We in the U.S. depend on street addresses (though FedEx just tried to give me a box that belongs to my neighbor 5 houses away), and the Japanese on blocks -- but in Costa Rica, there are no addresses, no street names. Now that's an opposite way to think.
That was great, Derek.
This reminds me a bit of the clockwise vs. counterclockwise problem: Imagine a clock encased in glass. The hands move clockwise when viewed from the front of the clock but they move counterclockwise when viewed from the rear. In other words, to apply these terms you have to know where viewer is located.
Sivers is ultra fierce.
The block and the street in forward thinking.
Mykel
"streets with no names".......u2
"all truisms have exceptions, including this one."
This is what you call thinking "outside the blocks". Nice!
Wow, how interesting. I still wonder how long it would take me to find house #14 in block 5, hahahaha. As always, you got me thinking outside the box! Thanks Derek!
-JVB
Chimamanda Adichie gave a TED talk about the danger of a single story. Brilliant exploration of this exact idea.
I was fortunate to be exposed (heavily, and positively) to the Mexican culture while growing up in southern California. We spent oodles of time south of the border, getting to know people without others' prejudices getting in the way.
It's amazing how much you can learn about yourself by learning about other people. The more different someone is from me, the more I can learn from them.
Of course, the opposite is also true ;)
Derek: I enjoyed your latest blog and thought I'd send you two links related to the subject.
The first is to a short film I scored called "No Connection", directed by Jesse Levy, about an American man and a Japanese man conversing using only text from a Japanese-to-English phrasebook.
The Second is to a video I created to accompany my self-titled cdbaby release. The song is called "The Other Side of the World". It personalizes the subject of separation in n abstract fashion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvJlXxI6cww
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIOPnilm254
http://cdbaby.com/cd/plsmith
Derek, you offer a yin-yang perspective that needs to be embraced by a forever dying music biz, specifically the need to reconsider long cherished beliefs that they deem to be axiomatic.
My favorite has always been this "Dead over 30" catch phrase that you still hear reverberating through the corridors of Music Monopolies & Oligopolies, Inc. That shibboleth is nothing more than a reflection of a dying decadent Western civilization that, ironically, is facing extinction largely because of the veneration of "youth culture," which is one of those more perverse oxymorons popularized by Big Media that has been in vogue far too long.
By contrast, you have Asia, where there is far more respect for the elders in society. The Asians genuinely believe that it takes many years to acquire wisdom and, unlike Western societies, they cherish the ideas of their seniors.
Unlike Americans, the Chinese and Japanese place their seniors at the head of the table, literally and metaphorically, rather than treating them as though they are invisible, unworthy of exposure to the cultural mainstream.
It is considered politically incorrect to note that a "youth culture" is limited by lack of experience, and that is why the majority of songs on the radio today feature young puppies with largely trivial concerns, whether blubbering about the guy who stood them up at prom or offering lamentable excuses for a generation's appalling lack of social activism....are you listening, John Mayer??? That is why the airwaves are filled with so much youthful mind junk, whether in the form of "Super Sweet 16's," in homage to young girls whose lives are dedicated to unwrinkled flesh, conspicuous consumption, and vacant ideas....or "Jackass" sequels/clones, extolling the lives of self-mutilating Neanderthals and airheads.
It is far past time for this moribund music industry to take a Devil's Advocate perspective on its methods and strategies, and reevaluate each and every alleged imperative via the examination of its antithesis.
But do not expect that to happen very quickly. We live in an extraordinarily corrupt world of compromised ideals, politically correct fascism, and the preservation of elitist privilege by any means, even through flagrant governmental/corporate collusion that makes a mockery of justice or fairness.
Derek, thanks for injecting adversarial perspectives into the music biz and providing a cyber-forum for an uncensored dialectic that is long overdue.
Hi! The "naming" system of blocks also exisited in Europe long before they all adopted the "French" system of naming streets and numbering the houses in order. The segment on beats - " 2 3 4 1" is logical in the way that it mimicks human speech. I teach that often to my students in order to get them to NOT give so much power to bar lines.
Great segment Derek!
Yes. Like a personal opinion, many things can be done any way one wishes.
But also extant are fundamental truths which are how this universe was built. These are things that produce a predictable result when one does the preceding actions correctly. And everything has its own technology for producing a specific result.
--
That Chinese system of medicine is smart. We don't have that here. We have drug companies that want to get as many people addicted to psychotropic bandaids as possible. Hopefully that will end soon.
I was just thinking the other day about how two words that we use as absolute, "Love" and "Truth" really have as many meanings as there are people who use them.
people and culture are amazing
Another interesting thing about Japanese addresses -- they are ordered from 'big' to 'small': prefecture, city, district/ward, block, house. Same thing with dates -- year, month, day. There's a great metaphor in there too, not unlike the forest and the leaves.
Yeah! See Kevin Rees' comment on the previous article. -- Derek
Indeed. On the other side of the world, and in the nature of language, too. The opposite of many things we say is true.
The map of the world is done that way to put New Zealand on the top and in the centre of the world. We like it that way up here.
-- Derek
That's where I saw it first. I like it too.
This is the best one yet Derek.This applies to politics,religion, types of governments in different countries,and including what some people call common sense which is also a point of view.
Opening the mind is probably the most important thing we can do in our lives.
Dear Derek, Great little video. I wondered about the "ice room"? Quite beautiful!
-- Derek
That's the Ice Hotel in Sweden.
Nice JaP Derek!
your final " Arigato" salute makes you sound like a local.
L
Petra
The opposite is almost always true! I named my band based on this.
Closing Iris
- the iris of the eye closes in response to the light
- the iris that grows in the earth opens to the sun
Blasphemy and revelation.
Very interesting it seems that the way they do thing may be the better way, more logical and easier to remember
So does this mean that short, succinct, twitter phrases (your previous post) may also be irritating, empty, and even misleading?
Love it. I think there's an Oblique Strategy in there somewhere about seeing the negative space or turning something inside out or upside down!
wow you're on ted? great work
WOW!
I live in Japan, and there's an additional complication. Within the same block, you would often find like 8 houses having exactly the same address. Yes, same district#, same block# and same house#. Not sure what the story is, whether they run out of numbers to allocate... but when you call for Domino's devlivery, you tell them: the district#, the block#, the house#, AND the color of the car parked in front
-- Derek
Wow! How could they run out of numbers? That's amazing. I had heard that yes things are often done with maps and directions like “across from the big red sign”.
!tnaillirB
Yeah, logic is relative, but so often consistent with a certain point of view it seems.
For example, I was visiting my parents a while back and their neighbor came over who often did. I was putting groceries away as a small but friendly gesture as we all had just gone to the store. The neighbor came over to where I was and asked why I was putting a bag of potatoes in the refrigerator compared to the cupboard like most people. I clarified that potatoes will last far longer in the refrigerator, and they don’t grow buds as when in the cupboard. I discovered this by accident when, years ago at my own place, I put a whole bag of groceries in the ‘fridge’ because I was in a hurry doing something else. They kind of got pushed to the back because of the other groceries. Months later I noticed the bag and the potatoes, that somehow found their way into the grocery bag, were as fresh as the day I bought them. No buds. Point being that from my own point of view, keeping them in the ‘fridge’ made more sense and if other people want to benefit from that knowledge that’s great. My own logic system is entirely based on--- doing what works. Although everyone is different, for me personally, this system of logic has helped my marriage and also tends to give me greater clarity when making choices. Food for thought. Pardon the pun.
:.)
So where do I find the Japanese radio station mailing list I was hoping you posted
lol dang it!
Cool video too though.
This video reminds me of a somewhat similar concept. Recent discoveries indicate that the two sides of the brain BOTH process the same information. One side processes the information from detail to big picture. And, the other side processes the SAME information from big picture to detail. 2x2=4 or 4 = 2 groups of 2. BOTH concepts are needed for true learning.
Thanks for a thought provoking video!
what if I lived "on the streets" or as far away from towns or cities as possible? then I would have No address. if I wanted some kind of "mailbox income" I'd have to get the nearest PO Box, address,
wouldn't I?
YAY! You have a fab way of cheering me up. There ought to be a way of paying people who simply make us feel good..... i guess that's partly what people are paying for with music..
and yes so often BOTH is true... when ever i find myself wasting time on either/ors I remind myself of that! Thanks. m
Quite interesting Derek I actually enjoyed and learned from this explanation.
Derek. I MUST acquire at least an image of that map. Is that do-able?
There are lots of them, here. -- Derek
Derek,
Katajikani (Thank you) for your overview of the Eastern part of the planet...... when I first got here (Japan) all I could think of was "Man this place is fit for a cross eyed doctor to fix" !!!
Everything in the minds of Japanese appeared to be "Sagoi Fukuzatsu" (Very Complicated) for an example the fact that here a Green light , is considered a Blue light, I'm like huh ???
Japanese have been trained when it comes to Stop Lights or "SHINGO", the "GO" signal is Blue not Green !! They will argue you down...... yet the Light is obviously Green !!!
I guess everywhere has it's measure of brainwashing or mind training....... For example the concept of a simple (TANJUN) in japanese, YES or NO forget about it !! It always turns into an explanation of why it's a yes or no first leaving you with a 2 minute conversation and still no YES or NO !!!
So should you get here once you get to NARITA go in the bathroom put your head on backwards & then stand on it for about 30 minutes,
with your eyes crossed ...... This way you may adjust more quickly to what you may soon encounter in Japan !!! Nochihido (Later) !!!
Dr.X
This situation has ocurred in music timing I have written & had difficulty explaining particularly to drummers who have very set ideas about timing & beat counts...e.g. some of them are not wrong, they are just not in the book!!
An example of this is if you have 4/4 Rock timing linked by a 3 beat original phrase, you are playing 7's or you are playing 4/4 then you are playing three beats in there own timing, then playing 4/4 rock timing again.
An interesting exercise, slightly off the subject, for musicians, is this, try getting 4 or more musicians to play one note 16 beats to an 8 beat bar but with note one HARD, do it verbaly & its easy but try getting a Band to make it sound....it should also be easy ha-ha !!
A beautiful meditation piece ! Are stores and other businesses in the blocks or on the streets ?
Hi Derek,
Really interesting example. Indeed, sometimes we don't understand to each other.
I had an upside down map on my wall for a couple of months about 5 years ago. Eventually my roommate at the time, a string theory PhD student, got annoyed with it and turned it around again.
thanks for all your posts Derek.
numbering houses based upon which year they were built is retarded.
Your video/speech is a classic example why everyone should spend at least one year, preferably two, living overseas in a foreign country. You don't understand your own country until you have something to contrast it against. Notice the majority of Right-wingers have never been outside the U.S.
The one about the Chinese doctor is excellent. If American doctors did that this healthcare bullshit would be over and the pharmaceutical industry (legal poison) would disappear.
Thanks for the wonderfully thought provoking perspective, Derek
Hey Derek,
NOCHIHODO ( Later) Sorry about misspelling before !!
Godbless, very well put, good job !!! Alot of sense made..
Oh my gosh, that was the coolest blog post ever! :D Thank you. You saved me a lot of headache when I go to JP next year!
Btw... anata no nihongo wa yokatta desu ne!
I like it very much, for that I am sending as website on of my Transcription for organ and played, see the linke.
I love how well you made this. Even people like me understand it 100% . Excellent clarity.
I have lived and been a pro musician in Japan for 11 years. I know well about what you were talking about.
Interesting fact: a study was done (by who and were I have no idea), where they realized that North Americans think of themselves as one person amongst a whole group of individuals. "I live in this suburb in this part and I am me"!
Japanese always think of themselves as a community based on their livelihood. An individual bases his ideals on his surroundings. His town is successful, or his neighborhood is struggling ... etc.
In N. American society it's every man for himself. Which isn't to say that is bad.... but definately different.
Thanks for sharing Derek
Keep up the good work.
I remember meeting you and your team in Japan over a year ago.I'm now back in the Americas
Saw this at TED U, loved it. In the Basque Country, where I live, we have a similar system : I live in a neighborhood and each house has a name... so the address is the name of the house and the name of the neighborhood.
Ok Derek. I must say I enjoyed this information. I'm managing and running my entertainment company now and I've grown to incorporate, Soul, Alternative, Rock & Pop music into my repertoire but Hip Hop is my foundation and in the spirit of that (as it relates to this) I'd have to say "you dropped jewels on me" which means you kicked or shared knowledge...lol. I gave you a little of my back ground to make sure my comment was taken as respect. This was very cool, I love learning.
Hey, Derek,
Really enjoyed this blog. What you said about how different cultures find "one" in music and how important/unimportant that might be just hit home with me. I'm part of an empowerment/wellness drumming group that makes certain assumptions in our protocol. One of them is that a group of people drumming on their own individual beats for a few minutes--with no direction--will eventually find "one" and start playing together.
With every Western group we've led so far this has been true. However, just the other day, one of us led an all-Asian group from several different countries. They still hadn't "entrained" after several minutes making us wonder if finding "one" was not as important where they come from. Interesting stuff!
Yup.
Meanwhile ... I lived in Tokyo for a couple of months and if people invite you to their house they always have to give you a map. Always. Whether you are Japanese or whatever. For the directional dyslexic (that would be me) fuggedaboutit! The Post Office ... now THAT is something to write home about. At least in comparison to the US.
Derek...
Nicely done, very enjoyable, excellent!
Thanks!
Rick
Purtroppo non capisco la lingua del video,credo che tratti di organizzazione ma credo che ognuno debba fare il proprio lavoro,se io scrivo canzoni ho solo bisogno di chi le promuove e questo è solo questione di soldi ovvero dollari o euro.
so if everything is true because of the life experience someone brings to the event...does that mean there are no absolute truths?
Love this! I have always thought that any idea, or paradigm is about perspective. Thanks Derek, for the inspiration!
Hi Derek,
Thank you for sharing theses amazing facts, very informative
some other interesting:
-"eastern name order" vs. "western name order"
Date order:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calendar_date#Date_format
Derek,
So what! ?
Great talk! Here is some info on the upside down map per the website http://www.odt.org/southupmaps.htm
The map was created by Stuart McArthur of Melbourne, Australia. He drew his first South-Up map when he was 12 years old (1970). His geography teacher told him to re-do his assignment with the "correct" way up if he wanted to pass. Three years later he was an exchange student in Japan. He was taunted by his exchange student-friends from the USA for coming from "the bottom of the world." It was then, at age 15, he resolved to one day publish a map with Australia at the top. Six years later, while at Melbourne University, he produced the world's first "modern" south up map and launched it on Australia day in 1979. It has sold over 350,000 copies.
Well, Ken Takagi no.94 just answered my question about businesses and stores etc. Several houses with the same number in the block must oblige the postmen and delivery services to know the people in the community or at least distinguishing signs like the color of the house,fence...no fence...big dog..small dog...etc.
I once lived in an apartment in Toronto .One day I discovered a bag with two chickens from a butcher shop..outside my door...my address but another name...turned out that our street was continued way up over the other side of a big Avenue and the numbers began at 1 all over again.The bill on the bag had no phone number so I called a radio station in the hope that the other number 94 would get their chickens.The radio announcer laughed as he said,"someone got two chickens that don't belong to her...don't know if she means live or cooked...."
Well, the butcher delivery came back for them because the other 94
had called and asked where were her chickens ! And that's only two same street numbers !
I like the block concept. It certainly encourages community living and there in Japan it must eliminate heavy traffic going by homes. In some cities I know,ie;Montreal and Toronto,there are still old neighborhoods where
people know each other;the small grocery stores still a place to hang out and chat,some park or alley way still a place for hot dog parties or outdoor music shows...Let's hope these old areas are kept alive. Tribal spirit can live in a city.
Derek,
Very cool. Where you're at any given moment can change your whole perspective.
Thank you,
Meg
I am from the US, but me and my family lived in Chile, S America last year traveling and inspiring songwriters to go for it. I learned that in the Chilean culture, being efficient is simply not a factor in the way they think. It's not something that they think about and then realize it's not as important as other competing factors, it just doesn't come up. That was an odd thing to imagine for me, but it has added a wonderful perspective for the way I see things now. Thanks for sharing Derek.
Very interesting story.
Pretty cool, Derek. And entertaining!
welcome to my world...
when in Rome...
by the way, if you ever have the pleasure to perform in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, you can not get a taxi at prayer time on Fridays, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.
As always, Derek, you are the master of INTERESTING!! I always seem to accomplish the most when I've worked at it for some time, then just release it all....... just the opposite of what seems to be necessary. Thanks for all of your sharings -
I live in Japan. The system would work if it weren't for a couple of things:
1. No one bothers to write the block name anywhere.
2.The streets in most cities run in every direction not a grid.
Even the natives get lost. I'll take the street name paradigm any time.
Oh yes I agree. Perspective is everything..We can all look at the same object and come up with many different opinions based on upbringing, life experiences, trauma's, personal belief systems. So it comes down to what do I really see? Is it all assumption, based on personal bias or is there one true answer.
Rachel
...and of course a good example of this is Brian Eno, who uses the idea of space in music very successfully.
I really enjoy these forums though I don't always have a response.
...'thinking outside the square'...
there is another forum which I love to browse and NEVER have anything sensible to add to the content but nonetheless get an education.
thunderbolts.org are proponents of an Electrical Universe in which the static reality we get taught at school is replaced with a much wilder Universe.
I think this has a tenuous link with 'Japanese addresses' but very possibly I've missed the point
Hi Derek after years of thinking about it I just came to settle on and accept the paradox of life 'the one truth is that there are two truths !' ohm ! unfortunately it's completely sacrilegious !
Wow Derek, I feel like my mind is an egg, and you just broke the shell! I literally feel like everything just changed. After reading this post I can't stay inside the box created by Western thought, and now I have to venture outside. How liberating is that? Thank you, my friend.
By the way, you have a very pleasant voice to listen to! that's a big plus for a public speaker.
I love you... You're the best!
reminds me of an ani difranco lyric!
"If you hear me talking
listen to what I'm not saying
If you hear me playing guitar
Listen to what I'm not playing
Don't ask me to put words
to all the silences I wrote
Don't ask me to put words
to all the spaces between notes"
Great clip, thank you for sharing!
One!
Hi Derek,
I really enjoyed this video posting. Difficult to succinctly explain, but I see how music/performing can flow with the same dynamics - after the initial creation/production is complete.
What you get out of music is conversely proportionate to what you put into it. Instead of primarily worrying about how to market/promote music, put all that energy into making better music... Simply trying to get rich and famous through music can cloud the ultimate purity and purpose for creating music in the first place.
Could you please tell me what video editing software you used to create the video clip?
Thanks a lot
Good observation. Different strokes for different folks, I reckon. Here in the south we call a creek a crick. In the northeast states they call a creek a crick. We call a pecan a pecan but the north calls it a pee-can. Duh
Knowledge Is Precious
and more valuable than gold or silver,
For with Knowledge, gold and silver
can always be attained.
My balafon teacher from Cameroon answered my question about meter of a piece: "We only count to one in Africa. Every note is one."
I found that a very interesting and liberating way of looking at music.
I didn't know that and I spent two weeks in Japan. I had a driver on DOD tour playing music for the military. No one bothered to explain that to us even though we wandered around on our own.
People tend to be egocentric. I think people in the U.S. might tend to be even more so.
Well, that's interesting...
Derek! TED in India! Waay cool! We love this post: love to look at things, people, places, from all different perspectives. Keeps the brain more elastic... keep 'em comin'! xo, J & J
Thanks for this Derek. Please keep bringing this stuff that the rest of us won't get to see or hear. Thanks for the TED Conference link. Come and see us again at The Troubadour in London.
Did you know that some countries in Latin America don't even have addresses?
This is the idea behind liquid music, music with no attack or rigid meter. It is like marbled pudding that flows, breaths and takes on original shapes like the snowflake.
great post! thank you for sharing that Derek.
Very interesting, I appreciate all the information you impart .I wait for mre
Aleee
I was soooo confused by Japanese addresses my first evening in Tokyo =P wandering the streets of Nishikawaguchi looking for my youth hostel...
Another fine perspective from you, Derek
it is important not to take anything for granted.
But I sure believe in receiving more inspirational stuff from you...!
What is true for me may not be true for you. To say any truth has an opposite, is to say it depends on the perspective of the individual.
Have an awesome day Derek.
Interesting notation about the African beat. Now I know why I love that style of music so much; the first shall be last and the last shall be first.
I loved your use of the PPT audio/visual as without it I would have not read a post with the same enthusiasm as I had while watching it. Just a little feedback for you.
Simply enjoying my connection to you now rather than fighting it.
Wow that was very interesting...and the reverse business model idea too.
Wicked!
Erick
i like this one because i do not trust my feelings anymore... as i plan feeling one way and then when my feelings change my plans are wasted energy... so as it is my bday and i am feeling sad perhaps the truth is i am not just happy yet... and if i plan 4 opposites then i am truly planning... half rc
Derek That's a Beautiful Concept.
and applies to one the forms of music I create & Play "Fusion"
Thanks Derek,
Without opposites there would be no motion. Great!!!
Audrey's comment about Costa Rican addresses reminded me of my cousin's address back in the 90's:
200 metros al sur de Urbanización San Antonio
Garaje tapado con acrílico amarillo
(Town, Province)
Costa Rica, Centro América
which roughly translates to:
200 meters south of San Antonio neighborhood
Garage covered with yellow acrylic
(Town, Province)
Costa Rica, Central America
Brilliant! I especially liked the part about doctors in China )
...Btw, in Russia postal addressing system is directly opposite from American: first goes the country, than the postal code, the city, region, street, house number, apartment number, and, finally, the name. Well, just thought that someone might find it interesting
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...,hh
Thank You.
I live and work in Israel. Here everything is the same only much more annoying and complicated
That's downright un-American! ;)
Hi, that was a wonderful point of view. I do however wish to comment on what you said, "Whatever you think, the opposite is also true". Now I really like that filosofy and maybe you meant it in a pure social-mental manner. But I think you have to be careful about such dualistic ideas. Some ideals are just to extremist, both evil and good ones. It's just a double sided dagger. Maybe even paradoxical.
I hope I made myself clear, my english may not be the best but I just wanted to share this with you.
And please make more videos like this, it brings up alot of facts that the Western world doesn't understand.
I agree: "The opposite can also be true." Backwards can be fascinating as well. For example, "Tony" spelled backwards is "ynot".
So ynot keep writing these engaging and insightful articles? Hope you do. :D
Isn't it amazing how we (people) design ideas and then create things based on ideas and then think that this is how everybody should do things. Examining our need to be right, as you did so eloquently, allows us to disencumber from our "rightness." Isn't this where creativity lives.
Thanks Derek.
I've always felt "The impossible takes less time"
This is the driving force of all I do.
Just remembered there are no numbers on the doors of a lot of towns in Ireland, send post and it always arrive.
Tom
This was insightful, thanks Derek.
It can take a long time to break out of the unchallenged, assumption-based ways we think. It's also easy to lapse back into those habits, so consistently taking in food for thought like this post is valuable.
Hmmmm definitely some cool concepts I wasn't aware of...perhaps I should live in Japan so I won't have as many "mental blocks
...
Very Best Regards,
George
Actually, Mannheim in Germany also has named the blocks instead of streets in the downtown area.
When I went to Kyoto a couple years ago the streets had signs naming them. Maps written in Japanese had street names.
Is this unique to Kyoto and every other place in Japan names their blocks?
yes i think that a dollar is a dollar in every country.Edmund Andrade.King Ouxaman just like a king who's never honour in is own country untill he dies.
have you noticed that even though the map is upside down it still preserves another obvious bias? i'm talking about the fact that the northern hemisphere takes up about 2/3rds of the space! it makes greenland look huge and antarctica non-existent. the irony is that these 'southern hemisphere on top' maps are often produced as souvenirs for tourists to australia in order to show australia at the top. to me it only shows that most people (even 'southies') have a shrunken perspective of the southern hemisphere.
Hey, nice video (saw it on bestofyoutube).
In Turkey it's similar system, I was once in the position of sending out letters worldwide, there are "many" places that have that odd system, which must be annoying when cities start lasting for longer periods (which side of the block was build first).
I currently live in Berlin, which also have their own funny system, some parts of the city even numbers on one side of the street...like in most of europe, but other areas are 1,2,3..etc... on left side and one right side it's counting down e.g. 50, 49, 48..etc.
The "rules" for street numbering is actually quiet old, sometimes forgotten, don't remember where I read it, but in Denmark, where I'm from, you count from the water and inwards.... yeah.
anyways nice point you made, gotta remember that for the future (I love to indulge into discussions)
I am from the U.S. teaching in Costa Rica where every address is relative to another landmark (no numbers). This is an excellent explanation of assumptions and culture. Any way I could get this in Spanish? Or get permission to dub it over in español?
In Nonfinancial Economics, Eugene McCarthy and William McGaughey wrote:
[To contemporary economists] "money is reality, while leisure is an empty spot in time devoid of wealth-producing activities."
We need to have an opposite economics where those "empty blocks" of leisure have names and the streets of money don't.
An awesome video. I did not know that about Japanese addresses.
great post as usual!
Wow, I saw this video of yours before on Wimp. I really enjoyed it then and I'm extremely surprised to find it here and it's yours! Before hen I'd first seen it my original thought was "This guy is right." but there was nothing more than 'this guy' to it, and in all accounts, it could have just been a narrator hired to speak that story.
It's strange how much a difference it makes when the person presenting information to you is more an individual to you, and less a random someone. Suddenly the information seems that much more important and that much more personal!
In my grandfather's hometown in Wales, there are no numbers on the shops of the main street. They are known by what they sell or the service they conduct. Of course, they do have numbers and addresses for mailing purposes, but no numbers on the buildings. Some of their staff don't know the actual 'address'.
All depends on where you are and how they do it.