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Postcards from Asia was created in 2005 by Randi Hacker, the Outreach Coordinator at the Center for East Asian Studies at University of Kansas and funded by a generous grant from the Freeman Foundation. The program was conceived as a way to extend the scope of our outreach and to enter show biz. For the first several years, the scripts were recorded by Dr. Bill Tsutsui, professor of history and director of the Center. After he left to become a dean in Texas, Randi Hacker inherited the talent spot while continuing to write the majority of the scripts.
Each of the 60-second spots is designed to give the listening audience (a potential 75,000 strong) a glimpse of some of the quirkier and more intriguing aspects of East Asian culture both contemporary and historic. Each spot is broadcast twice weekly (Wednesday evenings at 9:58 and Saturday afternoons at 1:04) on KANU, the KU NPR affiliate.
Though Postcards aims to entertain and amuse, each spot contains factual information that can be of use to East Asianists and historians. We are honored to be a part of KU ScholarWorks. The broadcasts themselves can heard or downloaded as podcasts by visiting http://www.ceas.ku.edu/resources/audio.shtml.
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Publication Transition Announcement(Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas, 2014-01-29) Hacker, RandiBroadcast Transcript: This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Asia from the KU Center for East Asian Studies. "Postcards from Asia" has been on the air for nine years now. Time flies, doesn't it? We've broadcast more than 300 glimpses of the quirkier aspects of life in China, Japan, Korea and Mongolia. Which is why we think it's time to broaden our horizons--and yours. To that end, the Center for East Asia Studies will be joined by the Center for Global and International Studies, the Center of Latin American Studies, the Kansas African Studies Center and the Center for Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies to bring you glimpses of some of the quirkier aspects of other world areas. Naturally, this means we can't be called Postcards from Asia any longer so welcome to Postcards from Abroad. Now more than ever you will wish you were here. From the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. #Hacker #CEASPublication May the Horse Be With You(Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas, 2014-01-08) Hacker, RandiBroadcast Transcript: This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Asia from the KU Center for East Asian Studies. In Japan and China and Korea and Mongolia, when someone asks you what year you were born they aren't asking for an answer like, for example, 1951, they're asking for an animal, more specifically, one of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. And they are, in order of appearance: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. The Year of the Horse begins on January 31st, 2014. Each animal returns on a 12 year cycle. So every time you turn a multiple of 12, it's your animal year. A little shaky on those multiples of twelve? Let's review: if you turn 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, 96, 108 next year, may the horse be with you. From the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here. #Hacker #China #CEASPublication Ondoor Nastai, Tall in Years(Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas, 2014-01-01) Hacker, RandiBroadcast Transcript: This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Asia from the KU Center for East Asian Studies. As a rule, age is well-respected in East Asia. Confucius laid out rules for hierarchical relationships between the ages and Korea has countless customs that show respect for the elderly but nowhere, perhaps, is age more revered than here in Mongolia. Few celebrations are considered complete if not attended by a senior. And it is of the utmost important to have the oldest person possible attend the naming ceremony of the newest born because the presence of someone so mature is thought to confer longevity on the infant. You know, Mongolian doesn't even use the word old or senior or elder. Instead, they say ondoor nastai, tall in years. Given the shrinkage to age ratio, it's comforting to know that the shorter we get, the taller we get. From the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here. #Mongolia #Hacker #CEASPublication Kimchi Museum(Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas, 2013-12-25) Hacker, RandiBroadcast Transcript: This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Asia from the KU Center for East Asian Studies. Kimchi is the national dish of Korea. It is eaten at all meals. It was sent to outer space in a Korean rocket. It is said to have incredible health benefits. It can be fiery hot or mild and if it doesn't turn out the same way twice, well, that's because making it is an art more than a science. So, it's no surprise that there's an entire museum here in Seoul devoted to it. At the Kimchi Field Museum, it's all kimchi all the time. Here, the kimchi devotee can read historic texts that mention kimchi, watch films about making kimchi, view the live kimchi lactobacillus through a microscope, taste kimchi, track kimchi's exportation routes and take photos of themselves with kimchi. Don't say cheese... say kimchi! From the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here. #Korea #Hacker #CEASPublication Jin Ping Mei(Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas, 2013-12-18) Hacker, RandiBroadcast Transcript: This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Asia from the KU Center for East Asian Studies. Jin Ping Mei is the title of a Chinese vernacular novel, meaning that it was written in common Chinese rather than in the Classical Chinese used for more esoteric works. Jin Ping Mei, or Plum in the Golden Vase in English, is famous for its portrayal of Ming Dynasty manners and infamous for its hard-core pornographic content. It's the story of Ximen Qing, a randy and corrupt merchant who drinks and gambles and and fornicates until he dies of a priapic event brought on by an aphrodisiac overdose: What a way to go, right? Good news: Thanks to David Tod Roy who spent 40 years translating the work, all five volumes are now available in vernacular English. And to paraphrase Paul Simon: They're still racy after all these years. From the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here. #China #Hacker #CEASPublication Satsumaimo, the Japanese Sweet Potato(Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas, 2013-12-11) Hacker, RandiBroadcast Transcript: This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Asia from the KU Center for East Asian Studies. Asia is a rice culture. And, here in Japan, you might say there is a satsumaimo sub-culture--that is, a culture of the Japanese sweet potato. Back in the mid-18th century, rice crops failed which was bad. Then a man named Aoko Konyo began cultivating satsumaimo plants. They quickly became wildly popular. From the 1920s to the 1980s, the Showa period, peddlers sold roasted sweet potatoes from pushcarts during the colder months. Students have enjoyed daiguku imo (university potato) deep fried, dipped in syrup and rolled in sesame seeds since the 19th century and imo hori, or potato digging, is still a popular kindergarten field trip. And you can even get imo gohan, potato rice. Now that's Asian fusion. From the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here. #Japan #Hacker #CEASPublication Big Fish on the Yangtze(Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas, 2013-12-04) Hacker, RandiBroadcast Transcript: This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Asia from the KU Center for East Asian Studies. Once upon a time, in China's New Austerity Age, that is, now, a 2,300 ton, 295-foot glow-in-the-dark puffer fish statue with an elevator was built on the lush banks of the Yangtze here in Yangzhong. The first official story was that it was erected to draw tourists to a gardening expo. When that didn't quite wash with the people, a new official story emerged: that it is a symbol of the wish to protect the ecological resources of the Yangtze which include the puffer fish, a deadly but popular delicacy. The cost of the fish? 70 million renminbi or 11 million dollars of which it is estimated that only $ 1.7 million was spent on actual fish construction meaning that the rest helped government officials live austerely ever after. From the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here. #China #Hacker #CEASPublication Korean Microcar(Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas, 2013-10-30) Hacker, RandiBroadcast Transcript: Tight urban parking spaces. Don't they just make you wish for a car that could fold itself in half and then park itself? And they must have made the tech-savvy South Koreans wish for that, too, because a professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has developed a car that does just that. The Armadillo-T is a micro electric car designed to fit into the tightest of tight spaces on city streets. It can travel 100 kilometers, about 62 miles, on a single charge at a speed of up to 37 miles per hour, though micro cars are not allowed on the roads since they don't meet crash requirements. But when it comes to parking, the car does it all for you with the help of a Windows-based computer system: with the click of a smartphone the rear of the car folds up and over the front halving the length of vehicle to a mere 65 inches. Easy as pie. The trick is to remember to get out of the car first. #SouthKorea #Hacker #CEASPublication Canned Air in China(Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas, 2013-10-23) Hacker, RandiBroadcast Transcript: Not that long ago, coal smoke made the air here in Beijing so caustic that your nasal passages were seared with each breath. Those were the good old days: Car ownership was limited to government officials and the rest of the population rode bikes. These days, the number of private cars has skyrocketed and it's not unusual to see a pollutant measurement of 500 on a scale in which 20 is considered acceptable. Chen Guangbiao, a recycling millionaire, recently stood on the streets handing out free cans of Fresh Air that he claims comes from pristine regions of China such Xinjiang. Sure this stunt is tongue in cheek but Chen hopes it will raise awareness and inspire action. Meanwhile, pop your top and breathe up! #China #Hacker #CEASPublication Party Like It's Juche 103(Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas, 2013-10-16) Hacker, RandiBroadcast Transcript: Though North Korea has allowed more tourists to visit over the years, traditionally it closed its borders to visitors from December through January. Not anymore. The secretest country in the world is now inviting us all to ring in the New Year in Pyongyang. Of course, Of course, in North Korea you won't be celebrating the start of 2014. North Korea follows the Juche calendar. Juche is translated as "self-reliance" and is the political ideology developed by the Dear Leader, Kim Il Sung, in the 1950s which holds that Koreans are the masters of their own destiny , must rely on North Korean resources and must maintain a strong military posture. The Juche calendar begins in the year of the Dear Leader's birth: 1912. That is Juche 1. There is no Juche 0 thus to calculate what Juche year it is, simply subtract 1911 from the current year. So what do you say? Come on. Let's party like it's Juche 103! Which it will be. #NorthKorea #Hacker #CEASPublication Saving Space in China(Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas, 2013-09-09) Hacker, RandiBroadcast Transcript: The Chinese are geniuses at utilizing every inch of space. In a country that is historically overcrowded, this skill is important for survival. Chinese vegetable gardens are miracles of permaculture layout: small plants nestle under taller ones and even the very corners, hard up against telephone poles in some cases, are lush with low growing edibles. So it totally comes as no surprise, to learn that a wealthy doctor has built a fancy villa--complete with a garden--on the roof of his 26-story apartment block here in Beijing. Some claim that this is just another example of the scofflaw behavior of the very rich. Officials have given the doctor has 15 days to tear down the illegal structure down. But, don't worry: he won't be homeless. He owns a penthouse on the same roof. #China #Hacker #CEASPublication Super Hero, Japanese Style(Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas, 2013-10-02) Hacker, RandiBroadcast Transcript: Super Sentai is a long-running Japanese TV series about regular humans who destroy bad guys using nothing but their color-coded uniforms, excellent martial arts skills and, you know, totally advanced weapons and gigantic robotic vehicles shaped like animals. The Super Sentai were the inspiration for America's very successful Power Rangers and, in a stunning full-circle kind of thing, a new hero, who dresses like a Power Ranger, has appeared here in Tokyo. Tadahiro Kanemasu, a clerk at an organic grocery store, dons his green, dollar store Power Ranger mask and costume and, during his down time, helps the elderly and mothers with strollers safely up and down the treacherous stairs of a subway station in Western Tokyo. The Japanese in general tend to be uncomfortable with accepting help. Obligation issues. But the mask takes care of that. Who was that masked man? Exactly. #Japan #Hacker #CEASPublication Chinese Zoo Lion Fraud(Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas, 2013-09-26) Hacker, RandiBroadcast Transcript: Across dynasties here in China, imperial stone lions have guarded the entrances to imperial buildings. On the right, a male lion, his right paw resting possessively on a globe, symbolizing dominion over the world. On the left, a female lion, her left paw resting possessively on a cub symbolizing the cycle of life. The two genders appear together to balance yin and yang. Called shi2 shi1 or stone lion in Chinese, they bear a striking resemblance to dogs which might explain, in some kooky, backhanded way, the logic behind the People's Park Zoo's decision to claim that a Tibetan mastiff was an African lion. Sure, Tibetan mastiffs are large and have shaggy, mane-like fur around their heads but still there was a dead giveaway that tipped the public off. In China, dogs say "wangwang." In the US, they say "woofwoof." Whatever. Neither is the sound a lion makes in any language ..." #China #Hacker #CEASPublication Government Moon Cake Fraud(Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas, 2013-09-19) Hacker, RandiBroadcast Transcript: China's Mid-Autumn Festival falls on September 19th this year. This holiday is celebrated by reciting poetry to the full moon and eating moon cakes. Moon cakes feature an elaborately stamped pastry shell that can be filled with a variety of things: red bean paste or five different kinds of ground nuts, or lotus seed paste or salted duck egg yolk. Their roundness symbolizes the moon. Everyone, from peasant to government official gives them as gifts and, apparently, up until this year, government officials have used public funds to buy their moon cakes. This year, President Xi Jinping has made cracking down on excess the centerpiece of his administration and buying moon cakes with public funds, well, it just won't stand. Cutting back on unnecessary expenditures is always difficult but compared to, Sarah Palin's $150,000 wardrobe and John Edwards' $400 haircuts (remember those?), this is a (moon) cakewalk. #China #Hacker #CEASPublication Saving Mt. Fuji(Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas, 2013-09-12) Hacker, RandiBroadcast Transcript: Mt. Fuji, or Fujisan is it is known here in Japan, has just been added to Unesco's World Heritage list as a cultural asset, honoring it for providing thousands of years of inspiration to artists, poets and religious pilgrims. This is good. This is also bad because it is expected to vastly increase the number of visitors to the country's tallest and most sacred mountain. And with an increase in people comes an increase in eco-degradation. Already, the nation's most recognizable landmark is visited by millions every year and that has taken its toll: traffic is horrendous and though tons of legal trash are hauled away annually, tons of illegal trash litter the forests. Will Fujisan's designation as a cultural asset draw so many more visitors that the very attributes that made it a cultural asset will be lost? Environmentalists, politicians and local officials are working to prevent this mountain from becoming a molehill. #Japan #Hacker #CEASPublication Getting the Finger Yakuza Style(Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas, 2013-08-28) Hacker, RandiBroadcast Transcript: Criminals always worry about being fingered for a crime. Here in Japan, they also have to worry about being de-fingered. If they are members of the Yakuza crime family, that is. The Yakuza, aka the Japanese mafia, traces its roots back to the Edo period in the 17th Century and is known for tight control and strict rules of conduct. Rule breakers risk a punishment called yubitsume or finger severing. Traditionally, yubitsume begins with the first joint of the little finger on the left hand because, in bygone times, this weakened the sword hand. After the pinky, the ring finger. Missing fingers are a dead giveaway of Yakuza membership and some Yakuza members wish to hide this at, say, family gatherings or if they are hoping for a legit job. Hence a thriving custom-fitted finger replacement industry. At about $3,000 per digit, it's a lot to pay for getting the finger. #Japan #Hacker #CEASPublication Panda Poop Tea(Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas, 2013-08-21) Hacker, RandiBroadcast Transcript: Starbucks ushered in the era of the ridiculously expensive cup of coffee but even they would be surprised by a $200 cup of tea, don't you think? Still, an entrepreneur in the New Market Economy China is growing an organic green tea that he plans to sell for just this price. The tea is fertilized using panda poop. There's really no other way to say it. An Yanshi, the brains behind this endeavor uses tons of panda guano to fertilize his tea plants. He claims that panda dung is a superfertilizer partly because it makes the tea more healthful. See, pandas feed exclusively on wild bamboo and they only really absorb maybe 30% of the nutrients, such as they are, in bamboo meaning that a full 70% is excreted and is taken up directly by the tea plant and, in turn, by you, the drinker. Prices should drop, An says. We hope so. Tea has to be steeped; it doesn't also have to be steep. #China #Hacker #CEASPublication Korean Army Hat(Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas, 2013-08-14) Hacker, RandiBroadcast Transcript: Here in South Korea, it doesn't matter how famous you are, if you're in the army--and Korean men are required to do about 2 years of military service--you wear your hat. This point was driven home recently when paparazzi captured the singer/actor/soldier Rain escorting Kim Tae-hee, his main squeeze and Korea's most beautiful woman, hatless. Thousands of people, mostly men, complained on-line about this breach of protocol and about the number of days he has taken off which, so far, is almost twice what the ordinary citizen would get. Rain, whose 2004 album "It's Raining" sold a million copies and who has appeared in a couple of Hollywood movies, is not the only Korean superstar who has taken his military service a bit lightly. Psy ended up doing his military service twice because he apparently neglected his duties. The Gangnam Style rocker was clearly a little too at ease. #SouthKorea #Hacker #CEASPublication It Ain't Shuffleboard(Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas, 2013-08-07) Hacker, RandiBroadcast Transcript: There's a new activity that's taking the rapidly growing senior community by storm here in Japan and it ain't shuffleboard. It's blow darting. You heard me. Blowing darts. This ancient rain forest tradition has attracted thousands of practitioners among the graying Japanese set. In fact, in a mere five years, membership in the national blow dart club has tripled and the average age of the blow darter is about 70. When you think about it, blow darting, or fukiya, might just be the perfect sport for the elderly: you can do it standing, from a wheelchair, even without using your arms, if you need to. Sure, practitioners use blunt plastic darts when they're practicing but... we would still advise their children to treat their parents with care and to cover their necks at all times. #Japan #Hacker #CEASPublication Shark Fin Soup(Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas, 2013-07-31) Hacker, RandiBroadcast Transcript: Here in China, shark fin soup is a delicacy that was first served, it is said, by an emperor of the Song Dynasty over a thousand years ago. It was long seen as a sign of prosperity and respect and was one of the Big 4 foods of the traditional wedding banquet. A wedding without shark fin soup was a sure way for a family to lose face. Being associated with the reviled elite, the dish naturally fell out of favor during the Maoist years but it experienced a return of popularity with the rise of the new middle class. Lately, however, it is falling out of favor again but for environmental reasons rather than proletarian ones. The harvesting of the fins is horrific: they are sliced off and the rest of the shark is dumped back into the water. To add insult to injury, the fin itself has no nutritional value or flavor: its is purely symbolic. Bucking 1000 years of tradition, nowadays killing sharks is more about losing face than saving it. #China #Hacker #CEAS