User talk:Urashimataro/Archive03

Kamakura buildings
Hi, urashimataro. I apologize to ask a non-wiki question, but as you seem to be quite knowledgeable about Kamakura, I was wondering if you might happen to know what this building is. It's right next to 御成小学校 (Onari Elementary School), a few blocks from the 鎌倉市役所 (Kamakura City Hall); you can find it on Google Maps at this link. Is it part of the school? Thanks! LordAmeth (talk) 14:04, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

Hi, LA. Sorry for being so late. I don't know that building but, living in Kamakura, I can find out. When that happens, I will post the results on your talk page. 00:36, 4 April 2009 (UTC)urashimataro (talk)


 * Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. Don't feel like there's a hurry or anything... I appreciate the favor. LordAmeth (talk) 03:00, 4 April 2009 (UTC)

Shofuku-ji
Thanks for the cleanup of the article. I need to proof read my work better.

Can you cite a good reference for referring to "Shikken" meaning "regent" instead of "First Minister". I have seen both but the one that has been the most reliable and the source used in the article (Papinot) translates it as First Minister.

Bryan MacKinnon (talk) 14:00, 3 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Hi, Bryan. It's been a long time. Here is the definition of Encyclopedia Britannica. I am surprised to see that Papinot uses First Minister, because I also trust Papinot, but now the word universally used is regent. See also the article shikken, Jim Breen's JEDICT and the Kōjien. The institution is called regency. I think there is no doubt Regent is correct. Take care.urashimataro


 * Thinking about it, not only is Papinot's book, old as it is, in general more reliable than any other English source I know, but in this case he is not completely wrong either. Still, the word used is now Regent.(talk) 22:52, 3 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Just noticed your prompt reply since your talk page does not show up in my watch list. When I first wrote the article, I used "regent" but could mainly find references to that term in guide books, internet sites, periodicals, etc (however, Sansom uses regent).  So I went with Papinot.  Incidentally, I noticed that the first Prime Minister of Great Britain was originally known as the "First Minister" so perhaps that was the basis.  Though it would take someone far batter than me at Japanese etymology to be authoritative, I would not surprised if they were really interchangeable. Either term is fine but since regent is more common these days, let's stick with that. Bryan MacKinnon (talk) 13:24, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Hi, Bryan. This is just a line to see if my page appears in your watch list, now. Let me know.

urashimataro (talk) 23:27, 9 April 2009 (UTC)


 * It does now. Bryan MacKinnon (talk) 01:36, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

Glossary of Japanese Buddhism
Looks really good! I think this is a really valuable addition to the project. Thanks! Thanks also for the information about Chōju-ji. I'll leave my 4x5s behind (I'm joking) and take a snapshot camera the next time I'm in Kamakura. Fg2 (talk) 11:33, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Hi, Fg2. Thanks to you, for your photos (with you, I know that if you say something is a honden, I can be confident it really is) and your very useful help. The article owes quite a bit to you too. I wouldn't call it finished, but I couldn't stand the sight of it any more. I will keep working at it. urashimataro (talk) 11:47, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Sanmon of Tofuku-ji
Hi Urashimataro, Just a quick note to let you know I uploaded a photo of the Sanmon at Tōfuku-ji. I hope it illustrates the topic well. Fg2 (talk) 12:03, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. Much better than the one I had in the article Sanmon. --- urashimataro (talk) 14:05, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

Japanese articles naming style
Hello, nice to meet you again. I was wondering if I could get your input on this naming issue here, no one seems to be responding so far. I'm pretty new and I don't know really know who are the major editors here, but if you know anyone, perhaps you could get them to leave a quick comment for consensus? Thank you (:. AMorozov (talk) 09:51, 10 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Hi, AMorozov, and sorry for those mistakes I made in the katsuogi and chigi articles. Having read your message on Izumo Taisha's page, I think that you should just go ahead and move the articles to new names in accordance with the Manual of Style. Whether the Manual of Style always makes sense is another issue (I do not agree with several of its rules, in particular those which introduce irreversible loss of information, like using shrine for jinja and jungū. I follow them anyway). If you want the opinion of those most interested in issues like this one, the place to do is Wikipedia_talk:Manual_of_Style_(Japan-related_articles), which I have on my watch list. Take care.

urashimataro (talk) 22:57, 10 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Alright, I'll probably be moving a lot of pages one of these days then. Thanks for your input.  AMorozov (talk) 02:47, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

Main Hall (Japanese Buddhism)
Hi Urashimataro. You are off to such a great start on the article Main Hall (Japanese Buddhism) that it may qualify to appear on Wikipedia's Main Page under the Did you know... section. The Main Page gets about 4,000,000 hits per day and appearing on the Main Page may help bring publicity and assistance to the article. However, there is a five day from article creation window for Did you know... nominations. Before five days pass from the date the article was created and if you haven't already done so, please consider nominating the article to appear on the Main Page by posting a nomination at Did you know suggestions. If you do nominate the article for DYK, please cross out the article name on the "Good" articles proposed by bot list. Also, don't forget to keep checking back at Did you know suggestions for comments regarding your nomination. Again, great job on the article. --  Syn  ergy 19:22, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the message. I can't think of a plausible hook, though.urashimataro (talk) 00:25, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

Template:Infobox Buddhist temple
Hello, I have made some modifications to the Buddhist temple infobox template. The mountain name wasn't showing up on Jōmyō-ji (Kamakura) because the script had to be "mountain =" and not "mountain name =". I mistakenly typed out the latter in the template documentation but I've fixed it now. As per your request, I have also added a "founderpriest =" line (Should display "Founding priest:") to distinguish from the original "founder =". Please feel free to experiment with the template, because I'm certainly not an expert with it (: AMorozov (talk) 07:18, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

Shitamachi and Yamanote
I strongly encourage you to come back. Hopefully Ryulong will leave off editing it now he's had his compulsive last word. He's recently been de-sysoped because of abusing his position; he's just being a dick. There's a host of stuff in google books on shitamachi and yamanote (I don't have paper books on these topics, alas). I think a single article is the best idea. It's a topic I hadn't heard much about before, and it looks very interesting. Are you still interested? Illegitimi non carborundum.VsevolodKrolikov (talk) 08:21, 13 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Hi, Vsevolod, and thanks A LOT for the support. As I am sure you will agree, the article wasn't all that bad, as a matter of fact I think there was a lot of good stuff in there. Still, it was my very first article, and I have many more tools and resources at my disposal now. I can do far better now. But destructive, vandals really, people like him double my blood pressure, and I don't need the aggravation. Let's see how things evolve. If he leaves, as I think he will, I may well rewrite the article. Let's keep in touch. urashimataro (talk) 14:17, 13 June 2009 (UTC)


 * I've set up a dummy page [here] which you are welcome to edit. I've dumped a few quotations at the bottom of the page which can help to fill out the categories that I think are appropriate. It's my user space, so we should be OK with certain unhelpfully aggressive [| exclusionist] editors. Do you think I should invite others to join in on the two talk pages? VsevolodKrolikov (talk) 04:25, 14 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Hi, VK. I added a map and wrote some stuff in the talk page. Thanks for the offer. About inviting other people, I will leave the decision to you. I have always worked alone, and this is the first time I collaborate with someone, in Wikipedia or in real life, so I feel kind of insecure. In any case, I am looking forward to this first experience. Judging from what has happened so far, we shouldn't have problems getting along.

One last thing: My user page contains my work in progress. If you see anything you are interested in, please dive in. urashimataro (talk) 23:33, 14 June 2009 (UTC)

Map colors for Yamanote/Shitamachi
Could you change the colors of to be a little clearer? Eg. light red for Shitamachi, light green for Yamanote and white for the other wards, for example. Also, you might want to note that Sumida is also often included into Shitamachi... Jpatokal (talk) 14:29, 15 June 2009 (UTC)

OK, will be done. Thanks. I am not very good at choosing colors, so I avoided on purpose choosing high-contrast stuff. I will do my best.

File of Yamanote and shitamachi
Discuss this at Talk:Yamanote and Shitamachi.--Bukubku (talk) 14:47, 15 June 2009 (UTC)

Hi. I will fix the map as soon as possible. Thanks for pointing out the error. urashimataro (talk) 23:53, 15 June 2009 (UTC)

Wish
Hi! Could you add 十二神将 and 千手観音 to the Glossary of Japanese Buddhism? Ultimately I think both deserve proper articles but for the time being it would be good to have an entry in the glossary. Thanks. bamse (talk) 00:13, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

Sure, will do after work today. BTW, Bamse, I have been following what you do (good job), and it is related to what I do (temples and Buddhism). If you have any pointers, doubts, corrections or anything else to say to me, they are welcome. I have a question (probably dumb): what is the difference between a National Treasure and an Important Cultural Asset? urashimataro (talk) 00:18, 16 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Thanks. While working on the sculpture list I noticed that there are often Sanskrit, Chinese and other names for deities/statues. I also created a few redirects from Japanese names to wikipedia articles (e.g. Yuima to Vimalakirti). I hope I did not mess up in the process. Maybe you could have a quick look over the list and especially the first column to see if I used the most common names (Twelve heavenly generals for 十二神将 and so on...). I don't know much about Buddhism or sculptures but am eager to learn.
 * As for National Treasure vs. Important Cultural Asset/Property; from what I understand from National Treasures of Japan, all state-designated cultural properties (whatever that means) are Important Cultural Properties. The National Treasures are selected from the Important Cultural Properties. I'd like to know what criteria they use for the selection. Based on the lists I created I would guess that the National Treasures are often the oldest objects of their kind. Probably also the importance of the objects for historians, etc played a role. Maybe one day I will work on the National Treasures of Japan article and can give a better answer. bamse (talk) 01:08, 16 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the reply. If you don't know much about Buddhism or sculptures but are eager to learn, that makes two of us :-). Let's keep in touch.

urashimataro (talk) 01:19, 16 June 2009 (UTC)
 * That's a good plan. I will. Do you happen to know who 卒末呂王 (Somaro-ō?) is and how he is related to Prince Shōtoku? His statue appears in a group at Shōryō-in (聖霊院), Hōryū-ji. bamse (talk) 13:20, 16 June 2009 (UTC)


 * No, and I wasn't able to find anything about him anywhere. Today I have to go to the public library for other business and I will read the Nihonshi Daijiten. Maybe there's something there. Will let you know. Shouldn't it be Somarō-ō? urashimataro (talk) 23:51, 16 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Just found this, where it says: ４５歳の太子を中心に右に異母弟の卒末呂王（そまろおう）...が祀られています.  Do I understand correctly that Somaro-ō was Prince Shōtoku's step brother?bamse (talk) 00:07, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

BTW, I completed the sculpture list. I hope the columns sort as they should. Please let me know if they don't. Probably there are still some things which need to be fixed and the intro is quite ugly at the moment. Maybe I'll move the list from my user page tomorrow. Cheers! bamse (talk) 00:07, 17 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Hi. Today I went to the public library here in Kamakura, where I live, to look for a map of Shitamachi and looked up Somaro-ō for you. I couldn't believe it: with the help of the librarian I couldn't find a single line on the subject. It's great therefore you found some kind of definition. The meaning is indeed what you say (but the prince's name does not appear. I will check if the columns sort as they should, but I don't understand what you mean. Can you explain, so I can check?
 * Thanks for the effort. Somaro-ō does not seem to be popular with literature. As for the linked kokuhoworld-site, the sentence before the one I copied reads: 聖霊院の厨子内には聖徳太子と４人の侍者の坐像がおさめられています.  so I figured it is the same Taishi (=Shōtoku) in the next sentence.
 * The columns should sort (the rows re-arrenged) if you click on the small arrows at the top of the columns. For instance if you click on the arrow next to "size" you should get the smallest statue at the top and the largest at the bottom and everything in-between ordered as well. If you click once more on the same arrow, everything should be reversed (large statues at top, small statues at bottom). I tried to explain in the usage section how sorting of the other columns is arranged. Please ask if anything is unclear. Maybe it is not necessary to check sorting of every column. Just let me know if you notice any irregularities. I will work a bit on the intro and then declare the list for done. bamse (talk) 10:58, 17 June 2009 (UTC)
 * I moved it. bamse (talk) 14:37, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

Sorry
I confused Chiyoda with Chuo. sorry. But you did good job.--Bukubku (talk) 10:16, 17 June 2009 (UTC)


 * :-). urashimataro (talk) 10:46, 17 June 2009 (UTC)


 * You did good work, if you want to improve the file. See Talk:Yamanote and Shitamachi--Bukubku (talk) 11:39, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

Hi. I am busy with work today. Talk to you tomorrow. urashimataro (talk) 23:17, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

Shin-Yakushi-ji
Congratulations to the DYK! Just wanted to let you know that I started User:Bamse/Shin-Yakushi-ji. It's not in Kamakura though ;-) bamse (talk) 22:56, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the message. Unfortunately I can't do anything today. Is it OK if I do the ckecking tomorrow? I will read the article too. About the DYK, it's practically impossible not to receive it if you have an attractive hook. I was never refused. When I stopped proposing articles, I was actually asked to (see Main Hall (Japanese Buddhism)). I think they like having article about exotic Japan and Buddhism among the baseball and the other stuff. Why don't you try? It's kind of fun. urashimataro (talk) 23:18, 17 June 2009 (UTC)


 * No problem, the article is just one line at the moment. Don't bother to read it yet. Maybe in a month or so I will make it public at Shin-Yakushi-ji. Is the double-hypenation correct or should it be "Shin Yakushi-ji" or "Shinyakushi-ji"? bamse (talk) 08:10, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

Elegant
Your recent change at Nanboku-chō period was elegant. I was especially drawn to the phrasing of the edit summary:
 * "... Replaced questionable sentence with another that more represents Sansom's ideas."

When I glanced at these words in my watchlist, I felt compelled to see for myself what you had done; and I discovered for myself that your re-phrasing is nicely modulated. The actual change in the article text is correct, indisputable, etc. However, something about that edit summary really captured my imagination ...? --Tenmei (talk) 19:44, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Hi, Tenmei. I am relieved you agree with the change. I have Sansom's book, and I couldn't find anything that remotely justified that statement. I take this opportunity to discuss the article. The original author is no longer active (I checked: he hasn't edited anything in seven months) and the article is terrible. Overlong and vague. See the Kannō disturbance section. Long as it is, it's unclear about what's happened. Do you think it would be OK to shorten it?

BTW, I never properly thanked you for helping me with Spokechieves, but at the time I was so shocked by his behavior I just didn't want to think about him. I will thank you now. Thanks a lot, your help was very appreciated, then as now. Urashima Tarō (talk) 23:30, 24 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Please feel no need to seek my views about prospective edits -- just use your own good judgment. As you know, if I or anyone else disagrees or has a question about anything, you'll learn about it soon enough.  The next time you are troubled by even the slightest hesitancy, I suggest you scan the text at the bottom of any "edit this page" template.  From time to time, I'm encouraged when I re-read this terse reminder:
 * "If you don't want your writing to be edited mercilessly ..., do not submit it."
 * Whoever wrote the sentences you've now edited is unlikely to harbor any sense of ownership; but if so, this topic is covered in more detail at WP:Ownership ....


 * As for Spokeachieves, I'm still a little confused about how that tempest-in-a-teapot evolved. I don't quite know how or why the developing conflict seemed to dissipate.  The topic was valid -- and indeed, if memory serves, I found at least one municipal website which supported Spokeachieves' argument (to the extent that I understood it) ... but the effort invested in working towards collaboration was destined to come to naught.  More broadly, it's so curious that a sentence about a shrine could become the object of controversy in this way; but there you have it.  Another of Wikipedia's irreducible and unresolved mysteries ....  You and I probably learned more -- and benefited more than Spokeachieves because we invested in trying to make sense of it all; but in the end, who knows?  --Tenmei (talk) 02:03, 25 June 2009 (UTC)


 * I more than once discovered he was right about something. I also found him to be wrong. But the problem was/is the impossibility to discuss matters with him. He kept targeting me and Kamakura for a long time, and most of his edits were aimed at me. Most of the times the changes were absolutely unjustified. See the history of the Glossary of Shinto for examples. He would replace a photo with an identical one shot somewhere else. If I didn't mention Kamakura in the caption, he wouldn't notice and move ahead. he is best forgotten.

Urashima Tarō (talk) 03:45, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Test
Did you get this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bryanmackinnon (talk • contribs) 12:39, 29 June 2009 (UTC)