Post by shuhuqua on Apr 22, 2013 5:55:31 GMT -5
I got the official invite to the Sasuke 29 trials and I have good news for everyone, and a bit of bad news for myself. I've been busy with the online Japanese dictionary, because while I can speak Japanese, my reading skills are terrible, and it would appear that there will be a proper fall into dirty water trial that will be televised! This is partially "reading between the lines" so don't yell at me if things turn out to be different. There is explicit mention of people being videoed and that there are plans to air the videos which tells me "the trials will be televised." Of course this is the world of TV and that plan may be changed. As for the proper fall into dirty water part, the e-mail says to bring spare clothing and a towel. In addition there appears to be a health check sheet that you need to submit listing injuries etc on a drawing. These things did not appear in the 28 trials which was just a 30 second appeal and a completely irrelevant push up thing, which leads me to believe this will be a proper trial.
The bad news for me is that for some reason there was an explicit line telling me (I'm guessing this isn't in everyone's e-mail and just specific people's) You are not invited to the actual trial, but to an interview... It doesn't state any specifics about the interview, but it says "There is a chance that you will go to the trials so bring a towel etc." I'm sure the interview will push my Japanese skills because in formal situations Keigo (formal Japanese) is used and I'm not good with that. Hopefully the interviewing staff doesn't get frustrated with me if I don't understand a question or two.
Even though my overall confidence of getting to the actual Sasuke is low because youtube has indicated a HUGE increase in crazy people building replica sets and quitting their jobs (okay maybe not quitting their jobs but it's happened) to train on them, I really hope I can attend the proper trials. Failing to get on the show because I didn't interview well will vex me and make me start hating the show (the last trial left a sour taste in my mouth and a distaste for the production staff as it is) due to wasting a lot of time emotion for nothing. Failing badly in competition on the other hand will drive me to train harder and give me extra respect for those who beat me. Plus it would be a great experience and I'm basically here for the experience.
There was an attached document that said if you complete all four courses in the Sasuke you will receive 2,000,000 yen or about 20,000 USD. I think this is lower than it used to be and is quite a pathetic bit of prize money considering only 3 people ever cleared and it takes a damn lot of hard work, blood, and sweat to get there and you can easily earn more by playing Wheel of Fortune for much less effort. Either way I think they shouldn't even give prize money because it cheapens the spirit of the tournament. I'm pretty sure most if not all competitors are like me and that the honor of competing and seeing how you stack up against world class athletes is what drives us to go and not the money. Well I'm sure there are plenty of people who just want to be on TV too but since I like walking around Tokyo without anyone recognizing me the TV bit is just an annoyance to put up with.
Anyways I'll keep everyone posted. Also, I'm going to get someone to translate or at least read/explain the e-mail and attached documents to me in Japanese and make sure I understood everything. I'll post misunderstandings if there were any.
The bad news for me is that for some reason there was an explicit line telling me (I'm guessing this isn't in everyone's e-mail and just specific people's) You are not invited to the actual trial, but to an interview... It doesn't state any specifics about the interview, but it says "There is a chance that you will go to the trials so bring a towel etc." I'm sure the interview will push my Japanese skills because in formal situations Keigo (formal Japanese) is used and I'm not good with that. Hopefully the interviewing staff doesn't get frustrated with me if I don't understand a question or two.
Even though my overall confidence of getting to the actual Sasuke is low because youtube has indicated a HUGE increase in crazy people building replica sets and quitting their jobs (okay maybe not quitting their jobs but it's happened) to train on them, I really hope I can attend the proper trials. Failing to get on the show because I didn't interview well will vex me and make me start hating the show (the last trial left a sour taste in my mouth and a distaste for the production staff as it is) due to wasting a lot of time emotion for nothing. Failing badly in competition on the other hand will drive me to train harder and give me extra respect for those who beat me. Plus it would be a great experience and I'm basically here for the experience.
There was an attached document that said if you complete all four courses in the Sasuke you will receive 2,000,000 yen or about 20,000 USD. I think this is lower than it used to be and is quite a pathetic bit of prize money considering only 3 people ever cleared and it takes a damn lot of hard work, blood, and sweat to get there and you can easily earn more by playing Wheel of Fortune for much less effort. Either way I think they shouldn't even give prize money because it cheapens the spirit of the tournament. I'm pretty sure most if not all competitors are like me and that the honor of competing and seeing how you stack up against world class athletes is what drives us to go and not the money. Well I'm sure there are plenty of people who just want to be on TV too but since I like walking around Tokyo without anyone recognizing me the TV bit is just an annoyance to put up with.
Anyways I'll keep everyone posted. Also, I'm going to get someone to translate or at least read/explain the e-mail and attached documents to me in Japanese and make sure I understood everything. I'll post misunderstandings if there were any.