Behold! The Ugly Business Hall
Is it Ugly?
The funeral for a formers member's father was to be in the ”あぐり”business hall.
That is "aguri" in Romanized Japanese. "Aguri...." The first word that comes to mind is "ugly" -but... The hall is ugly? They do ugly business there?
Given that the people of the village of Tateishi, where the hall is located, are of average normalcy and intelligence, we came to the conclusion that it just could NOT be "ugly" (even if you think it is ugly, which is a different matter). So- what, then?
Well, "ri" in Japanese is a flap r, sort of like d- sort of. It has to stand in for both r and l (the source of much mutual confusion between speakers of Japanese and English). So, let's try "r"- lo and behold! "Agri-", as in "agriculture"! The Agribusiness hall. Naruhodo (as in "of course").
During a break in the proceedings, an aquaintance of mine from that village pointed out that local attempts at agribusiness (as in, fewer farmers working more land) were not panning out. Since the deregulation of rice prices a few years ago, things have gotten really tough. So much so that the JA (Japan Agriculture- the farmer's co-op) has diversified, and is into the funeral business (I wondered why the man running the program had the logo on his jacket). I asked my aquaintance what they intended to do after they had buried all the farmers. After all, the majority of the congregation looked like becoming candidates for a funeral before long. He didn't know what the plan is. Perhaps their isn't one.
It is interesting to me that creatures so poor at planning (us) can be so swift to dismiss the words of Jesus. He HAS got a plan. I guess it's like "aguri". Unless you have confidence in the person's intelligence, you aren't going to take the trouble to figure out what they are saying. Many people hear Jesus' words, find them puzzling, and shrug them off- to their great loss. Jesus' words are well worth pondering.
The funeral for a formers member's father was to be in the ”あぐり”business hall.
That is "aguri" in Romanized Japanese. "Aguri...." The first word that comes to mind is "ugly" -but... The hall is ugly? They do ugly business there?
Given that the people of the village of Tateishi, where the hall is located, are of average normalcy and intelligence, we came to the conclusion that it just could NOT be "ugly" (even if you think it is ugly, which is a different matter). So- what, then?
Well, "ri" in Japanese is a flap r, sort of like d- sort of. It has to stand in for both r and l (the source of much mutual confusion between speakers of Japanese and English). So, let's try "r"- lo and behold! "Agri-", as in "agriculture"! The Agribusiness hall. Naruhodo (as in "of course").
During a break in the proceedings, an aquaintance of mine from that village pointed out that local attempts at agribusiness (as in, fewer farmers working more land) were not panning out. Since the deregulation of rice prices a few years ago, things have gotten really tough. So much so that the JA (Japan Agriculture- the farmer's co-op) has diversified, and is into the funeral business (I wondered why the man running the program had the logo on his jacket). I asked my aquaintance what they intended to do after they had buried all the farmers. After all, the majority of the congregation looked like becoming candidates for a funeral before long. He didn't know what the plan is. Perhaps their isn't one.
It is interesting to me that creatures so poor at planning (us) can be so swift to dismiss the words of Jesus. He HAS got a plan. I guess it's like "aguri". Unless you have confidence in the person's intelligence, you aren't going to take the trouble to figure out what they are saying. Many people hear Jesus' words, find them puzzling, and shrug them off- to their great loss. Jesus' words are well worth pondering.
posted by John Elliot | 8:01 PM
2 Comments:
Is the agrihall new? I don't recall seeing it when I use to teach at Tateishi Elementary.
It's not that new.You turn towards Iwakisan at the main intersection, near the Enoeos station, and turn right onto a small road at the bottom of the valley. I teach at the kindergarten, which is much closer than the elementary school, and I didn't know it was there. It's really off the beaten path.
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