People have a lot of time on their hands when they retire, and there are lots of activities they like to do. Find out which ones.
Yohei, Sayoka, Syaka
refPod3Per2GA
Script
Podcast3 Script (Japanese Life After Retirement)
N: narrator S: Susan A: Adviser
N: Susan has worked in Japan for ten years. This April, she retires and she decides to live her life here in Japan. She will have a lot of spare time, but she has no plans for her old age. She wants to do Japanese traditional leisure, so she goes to a community center and gets advice from a welfare adviser.
S: Hello, I want to know about Japanese popular leisure after retirement.
A: Sure. I think many elderly Japanese people enjoy “Shodo”, “Kado” and “Sado.
S: Uh… “Shodo”? “Kado”? ”Sado”? What are they?
A: Oh, sorry. Shodo, the way of calligraphy, is the East Asian calligraphy using kanji, or Chinese characters. When you write kanji in Shodo, you use Fude, a paintbrush, and Bokuju, a black ink, India ink. You dip the brush into Suzuri, a small stone with a depression filled with ink, then you write on Washi, a Japanese paper, which is often made of trees. In Shodo, there are ranks of skill. So you can find how you brush up your skill! Sorry for the pun.
S: I love kanji! It’s so cool!! But, please, tell me the others.
A: Kado, the way of flowers, which is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. You put flowers in a small container. Contrary to the idea of Western floral arrangement as a collection of partly-colored or multicolored arrangement of blooms, Kado often emphasizes other areas of the plant, such as its stems and leaves, and the shape, line, and form. In Kado, all the elements used in construction must be organic.
S: hmm…it seems difficult for me. Is it different from Bonsai? I remember one of my friends enjoyed Bonsai.
A: Oh! Actually Kado resembles Bonsai. But Bonsai is the art of miniaturization of trees and you need to grow, cut, and shape trees in small containers. Then, Sado, the way of tea, is the Japanese tea ceremony. Sado is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of Maccha, powdered green tea. The event is called Chakai in which you can also eat Japanese sweets, Wagashi, but Sado is not only to drink Maccha and eat Wagashi. In Sado, the spirit to be hospitable to others is the most important.
S: When I lived in America, I often held a party in my house, but Chakai seems to be attractive too! The way of calligraphy, flowers and tea… I think they are very interesting! You explained things so plainly for me! Thank you!
N: A year later… she enjoys all three. Her skill in Shodo is great and she won an award in a contest. Her house is full of flower arrangements every day. Her husband also enjoys Bonsai. And she holds a tea ceremony once a month and many friends visit her. Now she recommends that her friends too enjoy Japanese traditional leisures.