INTRODUCING THE MORGANS (VI), JOSE MORGAN

Hi, I'm Jose Morgan. I was born in Kyoto, Japan and I am an acrobat. 

A few months ago, I discovered that the famous Welsh pirate Henry Morgan was an ancestor of mine and that I had brothers and sisters to meet. Thanks to The Grandma, an Andorran grandmother, who made every effort to locate us, today I know them all and to celebrate this meeting we decided to spend two months together travelling and reviewing our level of English because we have all decided to retire to Kingston, Jamaica, to enjoy the Morgan fortune, and English is its official language.

-What's your full name?

-My name is Jose Morgan Tanaka.

-How do you spell your second surname?

-T-A-N-A-K-A

-Are you a student? What are you studying?

-No, I'm not a student. I completed my professional training in acrobatics and performing arts several years ago.

-Are you working? What is your job?

-Yes, I am. I'm a circus acrobat. I perform in circus shows and live events, where I do acrobatic routines, aerial performances, and balancing acts.

-Do you like your job? Why?

-Yes, I love my job because it combines athletic skills, creativity, and entertainment. Every performance is exciting, and I enjoy making people smile.

-Where are you from?

-I'm from Kyoto, Japan.

-How long have you lived there?

-I lived in Kyoto for most of my life before travelling internationally with different circus companies. I still visit my hometown whenever I have the opportunity.

-Why are you studying English?

-I'm studying English because I often work with performers from different countries. English helps me communicate with my colleagues and audiences around the world.

-How long have you been studying English?

-I've been studying English for two months with The Morgans. I didn't study it at school.

-Tell me about your city.

-Kyoto is one of the most famous cities in Japan. It is known for its temples, traditional gardens, and cultural heritage. Many visitors come to experience its history and beautiful scenery.

-What music do you like?

-I enjoy many kinds of music, including classical music, Japanese traditional music, and modern pop. Music is very important when preparing for performances.

-Can you play any instrument?

-Yes, I can play the shamisen a little. It is a traditional Japanese string instrument. I enjoy practising it in my free time.

-Tell me about your favourite place.

-My favourite place is Fushimi Inari Taisha. I love walking through the thousands of red torii gates and enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.

-What do you like doing in your free time?

-In my free time, I enjoy training, visiting historical sites, reading, and taking photographs. I also like spending time with friends and family when I'm not travelling.

-Do you practise any sport? Which?

-Yes, I do. Acrobatics requires a lot of physical training. I also practise gymnastics, stretching, and running to stay fit and improve my performance.

-How did you become interested in acrobatics?

-I became interested in acrobatics when I was a child. I watched circus performances on television and was amazed by the athletes' skills and discipline.

-What is the most difficult part of your job?

-The most difficult part is maintaining excellent physical condition. Acrobatics requires strength, flexibility, balance, and constant practice.

-Have you ever performed in another country?

-Yes, I have. I've performed in several countries across Europe and Asia. Travelling for work has allowed me to experience different cultures and meet many interesting people.

-What do you enjoy most about performing?

-I enjoy the connection with the audience. It's rewarding to see people surprised, excited, and happy during a performance.

-Would you like to teach acrobatics in the future?

-Yes, I would. I would like to share my experience with younger performers and help them develop their skills safely and confidently.

-What qualities should a good acrobat have?

-A good acrobat should be disciplined, patient, physically fit, and willing to work hard. Confidence and teamwork are also very important in circus performances.

-How is a normal day with The Morgans?

-We haven't got similar days. Every day is different and this is something very important because it offers to you the possibility of living fantastic experiences every day and you can enjoy them with all your heart because you know that next day you're going to put the score to zero and we're going to start again. It's a non-stopping life.

-Which is your best memory with The Morgans?

-It's difficult to choose only one. I remember when we travelled back in time to the Kingdom of Camelot. It was a fantastic experience to meet King Arthur and the members of his court.

-Which is your favourite song?

-I love 'The Sheltering Sky' by Ryūichi Sakamoto. The piano is an instrument that gives me calm, concentration and introspection, which is what I need most in my work, but also in my life, but I want to choose 'Life in Mars?' by David Bowie sung by Jessica Lange in American Horror Story: Freak Show.

 But the film is a saddening bore
For she's lived it ten times or more
She could spit in the eyes of fools
As they ask her to focus on.

David Bowie 

AKIRA KUROSAWA & THE CODETALKERS IN KIYOMIZU

Navajo Codetalkers in Japan during the WWII

Today, The Jones have visited Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto. The family has returned to this wonderful city by the bullet train again. 

During the travel, they have revised some English grammar like Past Simple vs. Present Perfect and The Possessives (Adjectives & Pronouns).

They have also read another amazing chapter of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray.

The Grandma has talked about the ancient Basque language origins that have in common Catalan towns like Alòs, Àneu, Cansuberri, Esterri, Gavàs, Isavarre, Sort or Tavascan. It's an interesting story that demonstrates the importance of the Basque language and its ancestral origins. Basque language is a beautiful language which is spoken nowadays not only in Euskalherria also in the USA and dozens of countries where there is a Basque diaspora.

More information: Past Simple vs. Present Perfect

Basque language has a common story with Navajo one because both of them were used to send information to Japan during the WWII. American government considered these two ancient languages difficult enough to not being decoded y the Japanese troops.

 

Finally, the family has talked about options and wishes choosing between Ernie and Bert, two old Grandma's friends.

More info: Possessives Adjectives & Posessive Pronouns

 

We need only look to our Navajo Code Talkers during World War II 

to see the value that Native languages bring not only to their culture, but to the security of all Americans.  

Rick Renzi

Kiyomizu-dera, officially Otowa-san Kiyomizu-dera, is an independent Buddhist temple in eastern Kyoto. The temple is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Jones at Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto

The place is not to be confused with Kiyomizu-dera in Yasugi, Shimane, which is part of the 33-temple route of the Chūgoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage through western Japan, or the Kiyozumi-dera temple associated with the Buddhist priest Nichiren.

Kiyomizu-dera was founded in the early Heian period. The temple was founded in 778 by Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, and its present buildings were constructed in 1633, ordered by the Tokugawa Iemitsu. 

There is not a single nail used in the entire structure. It takes its name from the waterfall within the complex, which runs off the nearby hills. Kiyomizu means clear water, or pure water.

It was originally affiliated with the old and influential Hossō sect dating from Nara times. However, in 1965 it severed that affiliation, and its present custodians call themselves members of the Kitahossō sect.

More information: Kiyomizu-Dera Temple

The main hall has a large veranda, supported by tall pillars, that juts out over the hillside and offers impressive views of the city. Large verandas and main halls were constructed at many popular sites during the Edo period to accommodate large numbers of pilgrims.

The Jones at Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto

The popular expression to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu is the Japanese equivalent of the English expression to take the plunge. This refers to an Edo-period tradition that held that if one were to survive a 13-meter jump from the stage, one's wish would be granted. 

During the Edo period, 234 jumps were recorded, and of those, 85.4% survived. The practice is now prohibited.

Beneath the main hall is the Otowa waterfall, where three channels of water fall into a pond. Visitors can catch and drink the water, which is believed to have wish-granting powers.

The temple complex includes several other shrines, among them the Jishu Shrine, dedicated to Ōkuninushi, a god of love and good matches. Jishu Shrine possesses a pair of love stones placed 18 meters apart, which lonely visitors can try to walk between with their eyes closed. Success in reaching the other stone with their eyes closed implies that the pilgrim will find love, or true love. One can be assisted in the crossing, but this is taken to mean that a go-between will be needed. The person's romantic interest can assist them as well.

More information: Japan Guide

The complex also offers various talismans, incense, and omikuji -paper fortunes-. The site is particularly popular during festivals, especially at New Year's and during obon in the summer, when additional booths fill the grounds selling traditional holiday foodstuffs and souvenirs to throngs of visitors.

This evening, The Jones have returned to Tokyo. They have watched an Akira Kurosawa film during the travel by train.

 I'm not a New Age person, but I do believe in meditation, 

and for that reason I've always liked the Buddhist religion. 

When I've been to Japan, I've been to Buddhist temples 

and meditated, and I found that rewarding. 

Clint Eastwood

 

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, who directed 30 films in a career spanning 57 years. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema.

Akira Kurosawa

Kurosawa entered the Japanese film industry in 1936, following a brief stint as a painter. After years of working on numerous films as an assistant director and scriptwriter, he made his debut as a director during World War II with the popular action film Sanshiro Sugata, aka Judo Saga. 

After the war, the critically acclaimed Drunken Angel (1948), in which Kurosawa cast then-unknown actor Toshiro Mifune in a starring role, cemented the director's reputation as one of the most important young filmmakers in Japan. The two men would go on to collaborate on another 15 films.

More information: Akira Kurosawa

Rashomon, which premiered in Tokyo, became the surprise winner of the Golden Lion at the 1952 Venice Film Festival. The commercial and critical success of that film opened up Western film markets for the first time to the products of the Japanese film industry, which in turn led to international recognition for other Japanese filmmakers.  

More information: Biography

Kurosawa directed approximately one film per year throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, including a number of highly regarded, and often adapted films, such as Ikiru (1952), Seven Samurai (1954) and Yojimbo (1961). After the 1960s he became much less prolific; even so, his later work, including his final two epics, Kagemusha (1980) and Ran (1985), continued to win awards, though more often abroad than in Japan.

In 1990, he accepted the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement. Posthumously, he was named Asian of the Century in the Arts, Literature, and Culture category by AsianWeek magazine and CNN, cited there as being among the five people who most prominently contributed to the improvement of Asia in the 20th century. His career has been honored by many retrospectives, critical studies and biographies in both print and video, and by releases in many consumer media formats. 

More information: Medium

 In a mad world, only the mad are sane. 

Akira Kurosawa

THE KYOTO MANGA MUSEUM & THE KINKAKU-JI TEMPLE

The Jones at The Kyoto Manga Museum

Last morning, The Jones stayed in Kyoto to visit The Kyoto International Manga Museum in Nakagyō-ku. It was a fantastic visit where the family could enjoy their favourite manga comics, learnt how to draw them, knew their origins and met some of the creators and illustrators.

After visiting the museum, still in Kyoto, the family visited Kinkaku-ji Temple, a wonderful ancient building which is a symbol of the Japanese architecture, religion and lifestyle.

Today, The Jones are visiting Mount Fuji. It's an amazing trip, especially for The Grandma, who is a great fan of volcanoes.

Read Pokemon Adventures

The Kyoto International Manga Museum is located in Nakagyō-ku, Kyoto. The building housing the museum is the former Tatsuike Elementary School. The museum opened on November 25, 2006. Its collection of 300,000 items includes such rarities as Meiji period magazines and postwar rental books.

Víctor Jones with some manga friends

The museum is a public-private partnership of Kyoto Seika University and the city of Kyoto. The city provided the building and land. The university operates the facility under the oversight of a joint committee.

The museum is divided into a number of public zones. One is the gallery zone; another is the research zone; the third is the collection zone. There are permanent and special exhibits, a Tatsuike history room, a museum shop, and a kissaten. The 200 m of stacks hold 50,000 volumes in the manga wall, which can be taken down and read freely.

More information: The Kyoto International Manga Museum

There are various places for reading the manga in the collection, the halls have various seats, and there are some reading rooms, together with some outdoor benches. On the first floor, there is a room with children's manga for young children and their parents. In front of the museum, there is also a large lawn with artificial turf; on nice days young couples often lie on the lawn, reading manga from the collection.

The museum holds many items of historical, as well as contemporary, interest. Highlights of the museum's collection include Japan Punch. Published by Charles Wirgman in Yokohama, it ran from the year Bunkyū 2 (1862) to Meiji 20 (1887). Japan's first manga magazine was Eshinbun Nipponchi from 1874. The nation's first children's manga magazine was Shonen Pakku, established in 1907.

More information: Nippon

Thinking you’re no-good and worthless is the worst thing you can do. 
You’ll stumble many times in the future, but when you do, 
each time you’ll have more strength to bounce back.
 

Nobi Nobita

Kinkaku-ji, literally Temple of the Golden Pavilion, officially named Rokuon-ji, literally Deer Garden Temple, is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto. It is one of the most popular buildings in Japan, attracting a large number of visitors annually. It is designated as a National Special Historic Site and a National Special Landscape, and it is one of 17 locations making up the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto which are World Heritage Sites.

More information: Kyoto Travel

The Jones at Kinkaku-ji, Kyoto

The site of Kinkaku-ji was originally a villa called Kitayama-dai, belonging to a powerful statesman, Saionji Kintsune. Kinkaku-ji's history dates to 1397, when the villa was purchased from the Saionji family by shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and transformed into the Kinkaku-ji complex. When Yoshimitsu died, the building was converted into a Zen temple by his son, according to his wishes.

During the Onin war (1467–1477), all of the buildings in the complex aside from the pavilion were burned down.

On July 2, 1950, at 2:30 am, the pavilion was burned down by a 22-year-old novice monk, Hayashi Yoken, who then attempted suicide on the Daimon-ji hill behind the building. He survived, and was subsequently taken into custody. 

The monk was sentenced to seven years in prison, but was released because of mental illnesses, persecution complex and schizophrenia, on September 29, 1955; he died of tuberculosis in March 1956. During the fire, the original statue of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was lost to the flames, now restored. A fictionalized version of these events is at the center of Yukio Mishima's 1956 book The Temple of the Golden Pavilion.

More information: Japan National Tourism Organization

The present pavilion structure dates from 1955, when it was rebuilt. The pavilion is three stories high, 12.5 meters in height. The reconstruction is said to be a copy close to the original, although some doubt such an extensive gold-leaf coating was used on the original structure. 

Grandma's old memories at Kinkaku-ji in the 50's

In 1984, the coating of Japanese lacquer was found a little decayed, and a new coating as well as gilding with gold-leaf, much thicker than the original coatings, was completed in 1987. Additionally, the interior of the building, including the paintings and Yoshimitsu's statue, were also restored. 

Finally, the roof was restored in 2003. The name Kinkaku is derived from the gold leaf that the pavilion is covered in. 

Gold was an important addition to the pavilion because of its underlying meaning. The gold employed was to mitigate and purify any pollution or negative thoughts and feelings towards death. Other than the symbolic meaning behind the gold leaf, the Muromachi period heavily relied on visual excesses. 

With the focus on the Golden Pavilion, how the structure is mainly covered in that material, creates an impression that stands out because of the sunlight reflecting and the effect the reflection creates on the pond.

More information: Japan Guide

 Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, 

men cannot live without a spiritual life. 

Buddha

SONY & NINTENDO: THE WORLD OF GAMES AND LEISURE

The Grandma is arriving to the Bank of Tokyo

Yesterday, The Jones visited Sony Entertainment and Nintendo, the world leaders in games and entertainment. The Grandma took profit of the day and went to visit the Bank of Tokyo to control and manage her Japanese business. Today, The Jones are visiting Himeji Castle. They're enjoying one of the most spectacular Japanese contructions with lots of years of history and stories.

More information: SONY

Sony Interactive Entertainment is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products and Services Group of Sony Corporation in Japan.

Marta Jones at Sony Headquarters, Tokyo

The company was founded in Tokyo, Japan, and established on November 16, 1993, as Sony Computer Entertainment, to handle Sony's venture into video game development with its PlayStation brand. 

Since the successful launch of the original PlayStation console in 1994, the company has since been developing the PlayStation lineup of home video game consoles and accessories. Expanding upon North America and other countries, the company soon became Sony's main resource for research and development in video games and interactive entertainment.

More information: PlayStation

In 1994, Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), began to produce the original PlayStation console in North America. In April 2016, SCE and Sony Network Entertainment was restructured and reorganized into Sony Interactive Entertainment, carrying over the operations and primary objectives from both companies.

The Jones are playing Minecraft with their PSPs

SIE handles the research and development, production, and sales of both hardware and software for the PlayStation video game systems. Alongside, it is also a developer and publisher of video game titles and is composed of several subsidiaries of Sony's largest markets: North America, Europe and Asia.

SIE currently has three main headquarters around the world: the global and Americas region headquarters in San Mateo, California; Kōnan, Minato, Tokyo, Japan; which control operations in Asia and was also formerly the headquarters for Sony Computer Entertainment; and London, United Kingdom which controls operations in Europe and Oceania. SIE also has smaller offices and distribution centers in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, San Diego, California US; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Melbourne, Australia; and Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea and Liverpool, UK.

More information: The Guardian

PlayStation is a gaming brand that consists of four home video game consoles, as well as a media center, an online service, a line of controllers, two handhelds and a phone, as well as multiple magazines. It is created and owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment since December 3, 1994, with the launch of the original PlayStation in Japan.

We will try to create conditions where persons could come together 

in a spirit of teamwork, and exercise to their heart's desire 

their technological capacity.
 

Akio Morita

Nintendo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese multinational consumer electronics and video game company headquartered in Kyoto. Nintendo is one of the world's largest video game companies by market capitalization, creating some of the best-known and top-selling video game franchises, such as Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Pokémon.

The Grandma's grandma at Nintendo, Kyoto, 1889

Founded on 23 September 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it originally produced handmade hanafuda playing cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as cab services and love hotels. 

Abandoning previous ventures in favor of toys in the 1960s, Nintendo then developed into a video game company in the 1970s, ultimately becoming one of the most influential in the industry and Japan's third most-valuable company with a market value of over $85 billion. From 1992 until 2016, Nintendo was also the majority shareholder for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball.

More information: Nintendo

In 1956, Hiroshi Yamauchi, grandson of Fusajiro Yamauchi, visited the U.S. to talk with the United States Playing Card Company, the dominant playing card manufacturer there. He found that the biggest playing card company in the world was using only a small office. Yamauchi's realization that the playing card business had limited potential was a turning point. He then acquired the license to use Disney characters on playing cards to drive sales.

Merche Jones, Mario, Luigi and Donkey at Nintendo

In 1963, Yamauchi renamed Nintendo Playing Card Co. Ltd. to Nintendo Co., Ltd. The company then began to experiment in other areas of business using newly injected capital during the period of time between 1963 and 1968. Nintendo set up a taxi company called Daiya. This business was initially successful. 

However, Nintendo was forced to sell it because problems with the labour unions were making it too expensive to run the service. It also set up a love hotel chain, a TV network, a food company -selling instant rice- and several other ventures. All of these ventures eventually failed, and after the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, playing card sales dropped, and Nintendo's stock price plummeted to its lowest recorded level of ¥60.

More information: The Official Home for Mario Bros

Nintendo's first venture into the video gaming industry was securing rights to distribute the Magnavox Odyssey video game console in Japan in 1974. Nintendo began to produce its own hardware in 1977, with the Color TV-Game home video game consoles. Four versions of these consoles were produced, each including variations of a single game, for example, Color TV Game 6 featured six versions of Light Tennis.

Víctor, Claudia & Silvia Jones are playing with Mario

In 1979, Gunpei Yokoi conceived the idea of a handheld video game, while observing a fellow bullet train commuter who passed the time by interacting idly with a portable LCD calculator, which gave birth to Game & Watch. 

These systems do not contain interchangeable cartridges and thus the hardware was tied to the game. 

The first Game & Watch game, Ball, was distributed worldwide. The modern cross D-pad design was developed in 1982, by Yokoi for a Donkey Kong version. Proven to be popular, the design was patented by Nintendo. It later earned a Technology & Engineering Emmy Award.

More information: Nintendo Life

In 2011, Nintendo released the Nintendo 3DS, based upon a glasses-free stereoscopic 3D display. In February 2012, Nintendo acquired Mobiclip, a France-based research and development company specialized in highly optimized software technologies such as video compression. The company's name was later changed to Nintendo European Research & Development.

On 17 March 2015, Nintendo announced a partnership with Japanese mobile developer DeNA to produce games for smart devices. The first of these, Miitomo, was released in March 2016.

More information: Donkey Kong Country

Nintendo means 'leave luck to the stars'.

Fusajiro Yamauchi