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I've written before about how the Japanese like
to take tests, and there are national qualification exams for
just about everything, from English to kanji to using an abacus
to preparing sashimi, and even a test for people who like to
memorize train schedules. Getting these qualifications is one
way to get ahead in Japan, and having a lot of them under your
belt can help you get a better job. Now several companies in
Akihabara have gotten together to create the first Otaku
Standardized Test, which allows fans of anime and manga to test
their knowledge and see if they make the grade as uber-fans. The
test is hard -- with questions like, of the following anime
shows of the 1960s and 1970s, which was not directed by Tetsuo
Imazawa? -- and is of course only in Japanese. The official page
of the Otaken can be found at http://www.otaken.jp . The word
otaku originally is a polite term for "you" or
"your family" but has come to stand for anyone with a
strong interest in anime, manga, model trains, or any other
aspect of Japan's popular sub-culture. There are several
theories about how this everyday Japanese word attained this
unique alternate meaning. According to one, the fact that
"otaku" was spoken frequently by characters in the
original Macross series caused fans to start using it, creating
the beginnings of the otaku movement. Alternately, many of the
employees of General Products, the model company that would go
on to become the mighty Gainax, hail from Tottori Prefecture
(the only part of Japan to sport its own mini-desert), and in
the local dialect, "otaku" is the most commonly used
second-person pronoun.
Japan's oh-so-hot summer continues, with
temperatures hovering around 35 degrees (95 Farenheit, although
I had to look that up, since I've lived in Japan so long). It's
so hot that the plastic in my Star Wars figures starts to get
soft, which makes them fall over easily. As bad as it is out
here in Gunma (about 100 km northwest of Tokyo), it's much worse
in Japan's capital, thanks to the "heat island"
effect. With all those people running their air conditioners,
and all that black asphalt and reflective glass, Tokyo is often
3-4 degrees Celsius hotter than other parts of the country. It's
hotter at night, too, since the heat is stored in the concrete
and can't be radiated away because of all the other buildings.
The average temperature in the capital has gone up a full 3
degrees Celsius over the past century, a pace far higher than
global warming, mainly due to the heat island effect. Which is
just one more reason why I'm glad I don't live in Tokyo.
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