Monday 14 May 2007

FINAL-ly, its my FANTASY...

I couldnt believe my eyes when I was right in the middle of Makuhari Messe, where SquareEnix, the very popular Japanese video gaming compay, held its exhibition, showing Final Fantasy and many more other video games...

I couldnt believe that last year I was reading about gaming exhibitions and now I am watching with my own eyes...

I couldnt believe that last year when I was playing Final Fantasy, it was already written in fate that ill be LIVING my fantasy...

2 hours trip by train was the beginning of my journey, until I reached my destination. In my way I saw Disney Land and Careffour Tokyo. When I went inside I was surprised of the huge crowed all anxiously going around the exhibition. To my surprise, all of them were adults! I was probably the youngest among them!!! If such an exhibition was held in Jordan, probably only kids will show up, since most adults consider this "childish"!!!

Ill leave you with the pictures...











38 comments:

Sami said...

woooooooooooooooow

wonderful really

Happy that you enjoyed it

Anonymous said...

yokattane!
were there any "kosupure" boys and girls?

Sanadsan, kinouwa arigatou.
happy to see you.

Amani AbuQdais أماني أبوقديس said...

ファイファンですね! かっこいい~!XD

Anonymous said...

wow
are you in heaven?

Anonymous said...

Is video games and animes welcomed in Arab world..?
I know there are some of them, but I heard Poke-mon was prohibited in Saudi Arabia. So, I think they are not welcomed by everybody in the Arab world.
I hear idol worshipping is strictly prohibited in Islam.
Is being "otaku" not against Islam?
Because otaku normally worship figure/anime characters, etc..
sorry for a stupid question!
just interested to know..

subzero said...

yes, videogames are welcomed in the Arabic world and they are not Haram if they meet certain conditions.

And yes also anime is welcomed if it also meets certain conditions..

Amani AbuQdais أماني أبوقديس said...

i'd like 2 comment on this too, well video games and anime are totally popular in the arab world, especially in the gulf area.
The prohibition of pokemon was the most stupid thing that ever happened,i believe. This prohibition was explained by false idiotic reasons like saying that each pokemon name have a meaning that insults Islam and stuff bla bla bla..i believe this was done 2 decrease the madness pokemon caused to kids at that time.Because it was like a mania! lol
For other anime, all are available in online downloads wheather haram or not. But for TV, ofcourse there are rules to determine wheather it can be broadcast or not, since TV Anime in arab world is usually targeted for children.
Anime Otaku are alot, but its merely an addiction rather than worshipping. I like 2 watch anime from time to time.
Just liked 2 make things clear (^_^)

Anonymous said...

"I hear idol worshipping is strictly prohibited in Islam.
Is being "otaku" not against Islam?
Because otaku normally worship figure/anime characters, etc.."

Islam encourages moderation and discourages obsession in everything. Even the good, healthy things.

I am guessing that by 'worship', you mean 'obsessed over' and thus being preoccupied with it or holding it in the highest regard. In this sense, from my understanding, in Islam it is considered a kind of worship because a person might place higher importance on such things than observing his basic duties as a muslim. For example, there is what's called 'hedonism' which is going after pleasures, and there's mammonism which means money worship. If money, pleasure, work or anything (including anime/video games) becomes the center of one's attention and places it above everything else, then this can be considered a 'light' form of polytheism.

For example, if the prayer time comes and a muslim was working or watching anime, if he continues to watch or work and he misses the prayer because the next prayer's time came, then, in effect he placed more importance on what he was doing than fulfilling his duty as a muslim. which is as -in japanese- 'dame'

Hope this clarifies.

subzero said...

Thanx for ur commenting samer and kanjichan that makes things clear.

kani chan, atarashii anime wa arabia no terebi ni nai.
anime wa takai desu kara, arabia no terebi wa harawanai n desu.

demo,
ima takusan arabia no kuni de anime wo miru to omoimasu.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for Kanji-chan, Samer, and subzero..
I think obsession/passion/mania makes new culture, and progress the society..for better or worse.
In order to make new things u need to tackle with it and concentrate on it for long hours per day without interruption.
If obsession or passion were prohibited, those anime/games,
and new technologies you enjoy in Japan wouldn't have been produced...

now I know the reason why Middle East stays almost the same since 7th century..
Except for oil booming, there is no notable development or progress of culture or technologies by their own hands.

Amani AbuQdais أماني أبوقديس said...

(@_@) chigaimasu yo! anonymous san ha chuutou ya isuramu no koto wo yoku shiranai. dakara,sono anonymous san ga motteru no kangae wa chigaimasu.
>"In order to make new things u need to tackle with it and concentrate on it for long hours per day without interruption."

sore wa tashika ni tadashii desu.demo sore wa isuramu to hantai ja arimasen.datte prayer wa nagaku nai desu.
moshi anonymous san wa isuramu wo yoku wakkatara,sonna koto wo hakkiri wakarun desu.

Anonymous said...

I know your feelings, kanji-chan.
But see the reality. Arab countries do not have notable culture and are not contributing to the world at all..both culturally or financially.. while Japan does.
Why is that? If Islam was a perfect religion why isn't it helping its peole and its development...even after 1000 years from its birth!

Anonymous said...

お言葉ですが、
ムスリムとアラブ文化は世界に貢献しなかったと言うコメントなんですが、その根拠は何ですか。日本語説明していただけませんか。

Anonymous said...

Hello every body, I want to answer briefly what anonymous claimed about Islam..
Hi anonymous ,
You seem to have huge ignorance about Islam . Islam is not a magic stick that will give any Muslim power and victory . I belief that Islam has huge positive impact on people who 1- who has the faith 2- follows its orders , this mean if I didn’t follow the Islamic orders I will not get its benefits . I will give you an example, If the doctor gave an ill man a medicine to be taken twice a day , then the man took it one time in the week, what do you think the results ?!! lets say the man die ,,I will not be surprised if you said that the doctor is responsible for that and/or the medicine is bad.
If I want to judge on that situation, I have to look to the whole story , ok Arabs are living now as if they live in 7th century , but at the 7th century they lived as ,with respect to the surrounding world , as if they live in the 21th century If not more !!
you may say “ hah! What are you writing!! they had not even known the basic technology “ ,Ok culture is not only Electronics , space ships , weapons … the most important thing is the spirit of the culture which is obvious at certain time in the Islamic History , an example?, ok Islam and Muslims at certain time had overcome one of the worst problems at all times , Its to have no poor people , how many poor people in the US , UK , France , or Japan?
This happened when the Khalefa was Omar Ben Abd-al-azeez.
Please Anonymous read more before writing about Islam , don’t belief all what you hear.

Anonymous said...

If you say there is no poor people in Islam what are those street children in Sweifieh...
I think the wealth gap in Jordan is so huge.
Look at the poor people living in slam town in Downtown, while there are huge mansions in Abdoun area.
The wealth gap in Jordan is as big as any other unislamic developing countries such as Philippines,
and I don't think they are living up to their religion seriously.

If you are proud of your own religion and think Muslim people can help themselves, do it.
The reality is they cannot help their own poor people, and asking for free money from foreign countries. Japan is donating a lot of money in Jordan.
If the royal family(they are very rich) gives money to poor people in Jordan, they should have solved the problems already among themselves!
What an unequality and contradictory society Jordan(and other islam countries) is....

I think muslim people are also responsible for re-educating bad muslim people such as terrorists.
They are everywhere, including Thailand and Indonesia. I think muslim themselves are responsible for those bad fellows.

ukyou said...

Anonymous

I don't know how to say this,
but I think you are mixing obsession, passion and mania with determination, hard work and a sense of purpose which by the way is in the basis of our culture, and every other culture I know of. These are in my opinion the ingredients for advancement in all fields of life, mania and blind passion will only lead to, in my humble opinion to either a 50/50 chance of success or failure. Japan became what it is not because of manic obsessed people, but because of hard working determined people working for a common goal! The Japanese mentality also helped a lot in rebuilding Post war-Japan.

"Now I know the reason why Middle East stays almost the same since 7th century..
Except for oil booming, there is no notable development or progress of culture or technologies by their own hands."

I don't know who you are or where you come from but that is a degrading remark! The fact that background and basis for all major pure sciences, be it mathematics, physics, medicine in the modern world has been maintained by Muslims scholars, be they Arab, and or Non Arab is being OVELRY neglected in your point of view. Had this effort not have been, we would all be stuck in the Middle Ages somewhere. The European Renaissance in science picked up after the work of the Muslim cultural golden age.

I agree that there is a huge gap in scientific research and development across the board in the current Middle East and that Arab countries are not being able to contribute as we all hope to. To assume that this is due to the religious beliefs of the region’s people from what you read in this one post on a blog is a very unscientific and very prejudice way of thought.

Another very important part is your definition of culture. Culture is not just science and the arts, or what is seen to the naked eye. It is much deeper than that. Just because there is no Arab famous artists, dancers, painters, musicians or whatever you perceive as the embodiment of culture doesn’t mean that there is no “progress of culture”.
Arabs have contributed enormously to this world and I know that they will contribute to even greater lengths in the future.

What really makes me sad is that you are trying to drag everybody visiting this blog into a spiral of hate and anger based on your remarks which I believe are really carefully crafted to hit a nerve with all of us as Japanese language enthusiasts. I know it is vogue to bash Islam and Arab these days, given how negatively they are portrayed everywhere. But I know that I speak for everyone when I say that we here are firm believers in the respect of cultures and traditions of others and we are all looking forward to learning everything good from not only Japan but any other people of the world and at the same time teach others about who we really are and what we stand for.

ukyou said...

"If you say there is no poor people in Islam what are those street children in Sweifieh...
I think the wealth gap in Jordan is so huge."

Yes the distribution of wealth in Jordan is very problematic but to blame this on religion is hardly correct. How about the US, it also has a VERY BIG distribution of wealth problem, Do you blame that too on religion! In Islam and Christianity and all major faiths, the care for the poor is paramount and has been in the core of Islam manifested in the concept of the right of the poor to receive the wealth of the rich. Christianity also emphasizes charity between fellow men. Judaism, Buddhism and every other major faith and religion.

"Look at the poor people living in slam town in Downtown, while there are huge mansions in Abdoun area.The wealth gap in Jordan is as big as any other unislamic developing countries such as Philippines, and I don't think they are living up to their religion seriously."

You are contradicting your self! You are saying that because they are not faithful to their faith, the problem of wealth exists, yet you bash Islam as a religion?

"If you are proud of your own religion and think Muslim people can help themselves, do it."

You bet your life I am proud and this is what the healthy young generation be it Muslim of Christians in the Arab world is thinking of! Come back in ten years and see and eat your words!

"The reality is they cannot help their own poor people, and asking for free money from foreign countries. Japan is donating a lot of money in Jordan." 

Yes it is donating a lot of money. Do you know why? The official policy of Japan’s aid to Jordan is that it acknowledges the moderate views of Jordan to the stability of the region as a whole. The money donated is spent on development. By the way If you can find us some natural resources in Jordan, we will stop receiving aid tomorrow!!

"I think muslim people are also responsible for re-educating bad Muslim people such as terrorists.They are everywhere, including Thailand and Indonesia. I think muslim themselves are responsible for those bad fellows."
So you acknowledge that there are “Good” Muslim people and “bad” Muslim people?
That is true of EVERY community on earth.
Believe me, it is people who know only hate and prejudice against Muslims and Arabs be they Muslims or Christians who are educating terror to others, and giving every wannabe terrorist every reason to become one. If you keep saying to someone u are a terrorist u will eventually make him one. I do agree that we Muslims have to do more to stop the spread of extreme views in Islam but that is already being done.

I don’t have the right to say who is Muslim or not, but I believe as a Muslim that this is NOT Islam’s way of doing things! Terror is the product of poor education, poverty and overall sense of injustice in the world. You till find such kind of stupidity in EVERY culture and religion! And by the way, what do you think now of mania and obsession, I remember that you clearly advocated these traits in your first comment?

Final comment, I know I can go on for pages and pages and explain my views on your comments, but will they help? Most probably no. since you clearly have formulated a clear opinion on this matter! I only ask you as others already have, to learn more about the Arab world, about Islam and Muslims、go hang out with some Muslim friends, talk to them and get to know who they really are. You will find good people and bad people. You will be surprised to know that how many good people there are and how few bad people there are!

Anonymous said...

uh, It is always very saddening and disturbing to see such ignorance and arrogance.

I'll just bite my tongue and keep silent. If 'anonymous' is after the truth, then he/she will eventually find it. I will not bet on that nor waste my energy.

ukyou said...

samer san,
this is clearly a bait to turn this into a flame thread.

Enjoy the rest of the posts!

By the way how is my favorite dajre senpai! still not using stomach #3

Anonymous said...

>"If you say there is no poor people in Islam what are those street children in Sweifieh"
Hi anonymous,
I did not say that !!!!!! , I think you have misunderstanding problem!! reread what I wrote and then give me your comment. and please note the verb "happened" .
yes we now depend on Japanese aid.
yes I am proud of my religion.
If Muslims consider what Islam told them to do ,yes they will help themselves.
yes we are 3rd world.
but this doesn’t mean that we have not any thing good, you can ask new Muslims we they became Muslim.
I hope you think in balanced way of what I wrote , read more about Islam and Arabs, read the basic faith of Islam and compare with others .
Islam call you to belief of one God "Allah" and All Messengers from Adam to Jesus till Mohammad, And to give every thing its real value no myths no unusual power to certain animal ,even if it is monkey or cow , nor stones .
Islam respects science and many Islamic order are supported by new scientific studies like the preventing of Alcohol. (even if we have many people drink it but Islam prevent it)
I realize your situation Its hard to belief me because the Ignorance of my country and other Arabic and Islamic countries.
For this re-read the example written in my previous comment .
If you want to read more about Islam go to this pages:
http://www.islam-guide.com/
http://www.islam-qa.com/index.php?ln=ara these pages are in many languages.
Thank you anonymous for you questions.
To avoid misunderstanding :I am as Muslim admire many points in the Japanese culture.

Anonymous said...

Hello,
http://www.islam-guide.com/
yes this page is witten in 10 languages.

ukyou said...

To set this straight, this whole thread is NOT Japanese culture versus Arab or muslim one.

This is "anonymous'" views against ours.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous さんえ
イスラム教は世界に貢献していることを言いたいと思えば、私に貢献のある例を示してもいいか。ことができなければ、それはそれらが全然貢献していないことを意味する。 とにかく、私はそれがここに論議するポイントでないことを考える。残念、私は怒らせることを意味しなかったし、決して子供のようにとても.... 腹を立てることを考えなかった

Anonymous said...

If you want to be understood, listen to other peoples idea.
if you only insist with ambiguous reasons, nobody will listen to you.

Anonymous said...

とにかく、私はもうここに掲示しない。私は私が憤慨させたことを残念である。ヨルダンのあなたの人生を楽しみなさい。Japanese の人々によって言うことがわかられない。

Unknown said...

nar nar ya 7os, FF 5urafeh, o jd 7elo ennak shofet nas kbar hnak mosh kolo s3'ar fa3afee6, m3 enno fa3afee6hom magla3onat!

inshalla elFF eljayeh tkoon b7alawet 7 o 8 o 9 ma 7abbait lejdad addhom .

mwaffa2 sanado-san :) keep'em coming ;)

ukyou said...

「残念、私は怒らせることを意味しなかったし、決して子供のようにとても.... 腹を立てることを考えなかった」

ある文化とそれと中心とするという宗教をとても大事にしている人のブログにこのようなコメントを書いて、またその人の世界文化への貢献否定することは怒らせることにならないということになりますか。私はとてもそう思いません。自分が起こした行為の結果を十分考えて書き込んだのでしょうか。

もしこの話ここで議論するポイントではないと考えていらっしゃるのであれば、「議論」のようなレスを書き込んだのはなぜなんでしょうか。

Anonymous さんは自分のイスラムやアラブに対するご意見を持って、それを尊重しますが、ここでこのような悪意が含まれる意見を述べる目的はなんだったのでしょうか?

イスラムやアラブ世界への貢献の例をあげましょう。

イスラム学者は西洋文明、ペルシア文明その他の古代文明の科学や知識をまとめて、整理して、それにまた当たらし知識を加え、この知識が西洋文明のレネサンスの基礎となり、私たちが生きている世界の基礎になったともいいえるでしょう。イスラム学習の貢献が無かったら、この知識は永遠に無くなったに違いありません。
これを研究を通して論ずるアラブ人とそうでない近代学習者は少なくありません。

正直に言わせていただきますが、Anonymous さんは固定されたご意見を持って、それを変えようともしないような気がします。それは意見より偏見になるおそれではないしょうか?私はここで言いたいのは、ここにいる人は日本人とアラブ人が交流して、お互いのことを深く理解できるようになることを目指して頑張っています。Anonymous さんにそれに是非貢献して、お力になっていただきたいと思います。

Anonymous said...

Hi anonymous,
I have read what you wrote but, excuse me , u don’t have clear idea!!
you are only attacking Muslim’s culture without sufficient background!!
you must be logical, think before writing don’t let your vague knowledge about Islam affect your thinking and writing .
And you are welcome if you have any question.
Sorry Sanad for this conversation but I think you will welcome these comments.

ukyou said...

「にかく、私はもうここに掲示しない。私は私が憤慨させたことを残念である。」 

それはとても残念だと思います。正直な意見交換によってはお互いを理解できると思いますので、疑問があったら是非ともどんどん書き込んで下さい。
お答えできるかどうか分かりませんが、ここにいる皆さんは頑張ってくれると思います。

Anonymous said...

Can you please write in simpler Japanese?? too difficult..sorry

ukyou said...

Sorry for that I got carried away!
That is good incentive to double your efforts to learn japanese ;D

Anonymous said...

the "mmm.." is me.
but I will have to practice my Japanese too!! Yours seems too good...
Anyway, sorry for my stupid comments. I was having those kinds of questions/ideas for a long time and wanted to hear candid opinions of yours. To be honest I thought Arab people are lazy because of their religion, but now I know I was totally wrong..sorry I didn't mean to offend you.
I will try to learn more about Islam and will try to be friends with you.

ukyou said...

sir you are more than welcome here!
in fact everybody here is eager to give you 100% or even more to give you a clear picture of who we are.

It is easy to form an opinion about someone but it is very hard to change it. I have been in that road myself.

if we were able to give u even a glimpse of who we really are then i think this whole thread is a sucess. Thank for sharing your thoughts and ideas.

by the way where did u study japanese?

Anonymous said...

I'm taking Japanese course at my university because I want to study in Japan as an exchange student next year if possible.
But it's too difficult...especially "keigo".
Do you think Japanese language is really gonna be useful even after you leave Japan??
Now I'm wondering maybe it could end up just as my "hobby"....
and not useful for my future job..

Anonymous said...

Hi anonymous ,
As ukyou wrote " It is easy to form an opinion about someone but it is very hard to change it..".
Hi ukyou ,
I really admire your logical thinking.

Before writing my last sentence , I want to tell you that Islam used to face hating for more than 1400 year , but after balanced look to Islam all will respect it, it is not opposes the human nature but it controls it in somehow , ok we have some prevention and some restriction in some fields but all these rules are made for better life , from weekly shower , animals right to daily pray and pilgrimage to Makkah.
Finally , you are welcome again “mmm”, and I think who ask better than keeping ignorance. So your questions are not stupid.If you need have any question plz dont be hesitant ,write it.
Bye.
:)

Amani AbuQdais أماني أبوقديس said...

(@_@) waah! 33 comments since today morning! Seems things are fine at last. I'm glad everyone was trying his best to explain things to anonymous san.
Unfortunately this shows us how bad the idea about islam/arabs is outside.
We can't say this came from nothing, because there are REALLY bad muslims who understood islam the wrong way/ or covering theirselves under the name of islam to achieve their personal BAD goals. Terrorists are examples of this. These are people who got their brains washed up!hontou ni mukatsuku wa ne!! ano terrorist-tachi!
What makes things worse is that only the bad sides are known by people around the world.

But i can say things would become better in the near future, as long as we are all enthusiastic about delivering the right image out to the world. Guess ill post about this when im back to my beloved blog!(^_^)

Kちゃんから、世界へ、
いつも真実を探して!
Sanado san shu a5barak? i bet u r shocked to see all these comments!:D

ukyou said...

Your applying for an exchange program in Japan? That's great I hope you get the chance!

Yeah, keigo is a bit difficult but I think one only need some practice to master it. As an exchange student, you will most probably not need to use keigo a lot but if you do your japanese will sound elegant especially when u talk to your sensei!

I think having japanese language on anyone's CV will be helpful in the future. Even if you don't have to use it at work i think it will become handy someday ^_^ But I am a bit biased since i am a Japanese language teacher myself :P

"plug shamless promotion of Japanese langauge study here!"

頑張ってください!
if you need any help you have a cool bunch of friends here and a I am open for any questions!

subzero said...

Anonymous san, first of all let me thank you for ur contributions.

Second, u TOTALLY have the wrong idea about islam. Guest san has said it all with the medicine example.

Let me just tell you that during the TRUE APPLICATION of Islam, there were ONLY 5 steals? Imagine in hundreds of years people only steal 5 times?!

Imagine that becoz of islam arabs were seperate groups, and then became the rulers of earth?!

Cannt you just figure out the equation? if you apply Islam ull get better. Its not the opposite.

Now we have poor people becoz we dont apply Zaka. We dont apply our hdud properly. This is totally the reason.

ukyou san, thanx for ur contributions also. I think the japanese language has the future becoz what I see is that it is spreading widely in the world in an exponential acceleration.

Kanji-Chan,
Ya I am a bit shocked about all the replies, But its really a hot discussion going on in there..