The happiest picture in the World

AKIHIRO FURUTA

Thank you, Saelan's blog.

Fela in the Changeroom

Sometimes Japan has such good taste in music that it's disconcerting. Yesterday, I was trying on a dress and in the changeroom section of Beams, they were playing Fela Kuti. It was almost sacrilegious. I find that people in Japan either have the best taste ever and you're shocked by who they tell you they listen to, or they listen to Jpop exclusively. I rarely find a middle ground person.

In other news, My Loving Tokyo Wife is in this Danish tourism video. She's the girl who puts the book on the shelf at the 30 second mark.

Mixed-Gender Onsen in Japan

Here something that all girls in Japan need to know.
In a mixed-gender Onsen (yes, they exist), the men go naked but the women still keep their towels on. Of course, it's a Japanese hot spring and you don't have to wear a towel, but if you don't wear one, be prepared to be the only naked girl in a hot pool full of staring men.
Thanks, Reannon! I never would have known!
Read the whole terrible Onsen story here.

I like this story because it really could have been me. I'm so glad it wasn't me. (Sorry!)

"The Immigration office gives you a watered down version of one when you apply for a visa. It's this pamphlet of supposedly useful information that a newcomer to Japan might need to know. 'What to do in the event of an Earthquake', 'How to Separate your Trash', 'Who to Call if You're Feeling Suicidal'...that sort of thing. Not that any of that isn't important, but what I would have loved to have received would've been a detailed booklet on the 'do's and don't's' of Japanese culture. Stuff that those overpriced guidebooks at Maruzen don't cover. Like 'Where to Buy 100 Yen beers in Tokyo' or 'How to Buy a Cellphone When You Don't Have an Alien Registration Card' or 'How to Make a Tortilla Out of Japanese Supermarket Pancake Mix'. Important Stuff like that."

This quote is another thing that I totally agree with Reannon on. I guess that's why we have these blogs. We can all read each other's writing and learn from each other's mistakes.

Kazuo Umezu in the Park with Yuki

My friend Yuki (the first girl-friend I made in Tokyo...she worked at the vintage store in Kichijoji and had a boyfriend in The Oranges was walking around Tokyo one day and ran into Kazuo Umezu, one of the first people ever to draw Horror Manga in Japan. I don't read comic books, but I know him because he's always on TV and I watch TV with my roommates a few nights a week.

Kazuo Umezo is extremely popular and well-known in Japan. I've never read anything he has done, so don't ask me any questions about him. But I know that probably there are a few of you guys who are his fans. Yuki said he was a really nice guy and very strange. She likes him.

Lately, Kazuo Umezu has been famous for building a red and white striped house that looks like his shirt. He's a multi-millionaire, so he lives in a really upscale part of the city and his conservative neighbors have been getting angry on television. My roommates sometimes talk about it. One of my roommates says she kind of likes the house. I think I would have loved this house at one point, too.

Crush on the Aeon イーオン guy

Does anyone know who the model in those Aeon bus posters is? I think he must be a famous actor because the girl and the elderly man in those ads with him are famous. I don't know his name, though.

Tell me his name if you know it. I am trying to watch movies in Japanese to improve my Japanese and I fall asleep if there are no handsome people in the movie. (English subtitles in Japanese movies are rare and without them, I only understand about 30% of what people are saying... there has to be something to keep my attention if the storyline is beyond my grasp) I think this man in the posters could help me pay attention to a boring movie. Maybe. I forget if I've told you this, but in case you wonder, my favorite Japanese actor is Satoshi Tsumabuki (妻夫木聡) and my favorite Japanese actress is Aoi Yuu (蒼井 優). Sorry to nerd out on you guys, but I also think that Hiro Mizushima has a face like an angel. My roommate loves him.

Happy Chinese (Asian) New Year!

Japan celebrates the New Year on the Roman calendar, so Japan's New Year was January 1st. I have a lot of Chinese friends here, though, and they celebrate their New Year before and after January 26th. (They usually drag it out for a good week.)

I had a gyoza party with my friends and went to Kobe's Chinatown. Nothing too exciting because I have a cold this year, but Chinese New Year is my favorite holiday of all time. I wish I were with my friend in Guangdong right now. I want to go back to China so much.

Happy New Year!!

世界でいちばんダサいチョコレイト・ディスコ

This video for Perfume's Chocolate Disco is ten thousand times better than the original.
世界でいちばんダサいチョコレイト・ディスコ

NEEBS

I know I'm not supposed to call you that.
Anyway. Cats.


Dancing cats found on Japanprobe.

Obama Onsen: Blackface in 2009?

There is a city in Japan called Obama and that city has an Onsen (hot springs resort) called Obama Onsen. At the Obama Onsen opening ceremony, some stupid man decided to dress up as Obama by painting himself shoe-polish black in the most shoddy blackface I’ve ever seen. Japanprobe (a great site for news about Japan) has an excellent article about it including a complaint letter in Japanese that you can copy/paste and send to Obama Onsen by email and a Japanese-language definition of blackface that you can include in your email. Some people in Japan genuinely have never heard of it and know very little about the history of any country but their own. (Though that's not an excuse at all. You'd have to be a complete and absolute moron not know that the man below might offend people.)
悪意のないことはわかりますが、黒人の方を真似ようとして、顔を黒く塗ることは、当の米国ではご本人にも、黒人の方にも極めて失礼なことと受け取られ、アメリカでこのようなことが起きたら全国から激しい非難が起きて政治的大問題になりかねないようなことなのです。

大統領に対する敬愛の気持はわかりますが、どうか、このようことは差し控えるようにお願いします。また、類似のことが起きないように小浜町ぐるみで周知徹底されることを望みます。このことがアメリカで報道されれば、不要な誤解をうけ国際問題にも発展しかねません。

日米友好のためにもよろしくお願いします。

Blackface is used in Japan for comedy all the time. In comedy shows and advertisements along with in performance groups. In Shibuya last year, I actually saw a bunch of Japanese girls who painted themselves black and wore braided wigs to go out clubbing. Reading other people’s websites about it, I read a variety of responses to the phenomenon. Some people think it’s just cultural illiteracy or ignorance. A few others take it as an expression of Japan’s admiration of black people and culture, albeit an insensitive one. (an innocent mistake) Other people are deeply offended.

Here and Here are two opinion blogs about the popularity of blackface in Japan. There are many, many more if you search for "Gosperats" or just "blackface Japan".

And another thing...

On Japanese trains, there are all sorts of ads for tabloid magazines and Maxim-type magazines hanging from the ceiling. Yesterday I saw one that I thought was totally offensive. It was a picture of Barack Obama’s face and the words, “Yes, we can!” as an ad for a hip-hop themed softcore porn magazine. There were pictures of all these lingerie-clad Japanese girls wearing big gold chains and cornrows. If I see it again, I’ll take a picture for you. Using Obama’s face and campaign slogan for that cheese was disrespectful and in terrible taste.

I'm learning to enjoy cooking more and more.

Of all my friends, Ross is probably the best cook I know. He's my only Canadian friend who lives in Japan and he's an English teacher, too. We have known each other for around four years and I'm so sad because he'll be moving to Hong Kong (His background is Cantonese) next week and then going to Tokyo. This weekend, we hung out a lot and he taught me how to cook all sorts of good Chinese and Japanese food. This tofu has black beans and minced garlic on it. When you steam it, it melts into a delicious sauce and supersoft tofu that you can eat with rice. The picture above is before steaming. The picture underneath is after steaming. Honey garlic green beans to the left. This is Chinese food.

南瓜 / カボチャ Japanese pumpkins are the best tasting pumpkins you'll ever try. Pumpkins back home are too big and the insides are all slippery. (though the roasted pumpkin seeds from NA pumpkins are great) If you steam these pumpkin chunks in mirin, sugar, soy sauce and sake for about 20 minutes, it breaks down into this heavenly-textured thing that's a mix of sweet and savory tasting. You can buy this style of pumpkin in the deli section of most grocery stores if you live in Japan and you want to try it (Ask for Ka-bo-cha-Ni or just Kabocha). Otherwise you can just make it yourself. So good.

These fresh fishes have their own reasons.

When you first get here, English shirts and signs are the funniest things you've ever seen in your life. After a while, you get used to regularly seeing the English language abused and Engrish stops being all that funny. This sign in my grocery store still makes me smile every time I see it, though. 

"These fresh fishes &seafood have their own reasons. For, it's our duty to bring you good and fresh fishes from sea of japan and all over the world."

What's the most interesting English you've seen here?

Staying in a Kyoto Youth Hostel is _________.

If this picture reminds you of yourself, you will love staying at a youth hostel in Kyoto. It will be a lovely place full of like-minded people. People who want to wake up at 5:30 AM to catch all the shrines and temples at the brightest and best. People who come to Japan to fulfill lifelong dreams they've had about Japan. People who are really obsessed with ideas of Old Japan like Samurai, Ninja and Geisha. People who are really obsessed with manga and animated cartoons. People who love cartoon characters like Hello Kitty and Gundam and they have little badges and figurines and stickers and t-shirts and all sorts of random things all over their backpacks. More people who love throwing in random Japanese words (kawaii, baka, usso, sugoi, Otaku and desu/masu words are always favorites) into their English conversation and writing in romanji. (Kore wa Nihongo Janaiyo.) If you're one of these people, you'll love staying in a hostel in Kyoto.

From Vice Magazine

"One of the greatest inventions nerds ever came up with was a blinding ray that makes Asian girls see whatever you want."




I didn't write this caption or take this picture.
I found it on Vice Magazine's website, Viceland.com.
It's not from Japan (Actually, it looks like Vancouver, Canada)
Everyone seems to have an opinion on this kind of thing here.

Comments?

The White Dog Family Softbank ads (ダンテ・カーヴァー)

The funniest TV commercials are the Softbank "White Family Plan" ads. In the ads, the father is a white dog, the mother is a Japanese woman, the daughter is a famous Japanese pop star and the brother is an African-American man. The ads are funny because the father is really strict but he's a dog, so he's adorable. The family doesn't make any sense to look at, but they act like a regular, typical Japanese family and that's why it's funny. This ad series is infinitely better than those annoying Cameron Diaz ads from last year.
This was the first Softbank ad I saw. It had no subtitles, so I'll tell you what happens since it's all in French and Japanese. In this ad, the family meets a French tourist in the park. He compliments the sister's phone and the sister doesn't understand what he says, so she hits her brother and asks him to translate the English. He tells her he doesn't understand either: it wasn't English. The father (the dog) speaks to the tourist in French and his daughter brags, "My dad speaks English!" and when the mother tells her it wasn't English, he's really impressed that her dad speaks French, too.

Softbank ads have been getting better and better. Last month in Shinjuku, I was walking past that huge TV near the station and heard France Gall playing. She's one of my favorite singers, but I was shocked to hear her because she's a 1960's French pop singer that not many people know. It was a Softbank ad with Brad Pitt in it. It was a happy surprise for me. I'm with AU though. Their CMs aren't bad either. AU's most recent ads look stylish like Wes Anderson movies.

ダンテ・カーヴァー The African-American actor is called Dante Carver and he's from NYC. He is a good example of "big in Japan" because absolutely everyone knows him over here, but he's not famous when he goes home. People call him 予想 the Yoso Guy (Yosogai means "unexpected" in Japanese because of the funny choice of casting him as the young Japanese son of a Japanese mother and a cute, white dog.) or Oniisan (that's his name on the commercial. It means "elder brother") I'll bet that actor couldn't walk down any street in Japan without being recognized. He's so popular. There are even Japanese websites where people can post their Dante Carver fan art. He was recently used in an NTV debate about the 2008 American election. That caused a lot of controversy because people wondered why they didn't get a more qualified person to speak as the American. Beyond being an African-American residing in Japan, he isn't versed in politics. He's a lovable and popular icon in Japan and speaks beautiful Japanese, but he's still a model-slash-actor. He didn't even speak in Japanese on that program. Was he really the most qualified American they could find to talk about the American election? That would be like inviting Ebi-Chan or Kimura Takuya as the Japanese representative to discuss the Japanese economic crisis for Fox News. Good for Dante Carver, though. He speaks great Japanese, has become absurdly popular and is probably very happy and wealthy because of these ads. He recently got a job on a popular Japanese kid's show. It's actually really hard to find any information about him in English. Ha. If you search for him in katakana, you come up with hundreds of links but in English, he doesn't even have a Wikipedia entry.

Kyoto's Kunkakuji (The Golden Pavilion) is Beautiful.

I went to the Kinkakuji temple in Kyoto. Kinkakuji is the Kyoto temple that English people call The Golden Pavilion. On a superficial level, Kinkakuji is the most striking and gorgeous temple in Japan. It’s a shining, golden temple set on a beautiful pond. It’s the most perfect thing and when I saw it for the first time, I actually held my breath. It’s just so pretty. It also has the most interesting story.I said, “on a superficial level” because Kyoto’s Golden Pavilion isn’t really the oldest or most authentic of temples in Kyoto. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and though it dates back to the late 1300s, it was destroyed and rebuilt in the 1950s and then restored again in 1987. The roof was restored in 2003. So the actual building isn’t as old as some of the other temples and shrines in Japan. But the stories about Kinkakuji are really interesting.The reason why the Golden Pavilion was destroyed in the 1950s was because a monk burned it down. The monk was young and disturbed. He was obsessed with the idea of seeing the temple on fire for aesthetic reasons. He wanted to destroy something beautiful. After he set Kinkakuji on fire, he tried to kill himself on the hill behind the temple.He succeeded in burning the temple down, but he lived through his attempted suicide. His mother didn’t. When the monk was found and arrested, his mother was asked to go to the police station for questioning and grew horribly ashamed of her son. On the way home from the police station, she killed herself by throwing herself out the window of her train into a ravine. The crazy young monk eventually died in prison. Yukio Mishima (I love his writing) wrote his book, “The Temple of the Golden Pavilion” based on the story.If you go to Kyoto, people will always ask you, “Which one do you like better? The Golden Pavilion or the Silver Pavilion?” They are nothing alike. I think that the silver one has a more beautiful garden, but I love the golden temple. It’s not entirely fair, though, because I saw the Silver Pavilion while it was being renovated. If you’re going to Kyoto as a tourist, and you want to see Kinkakuji, here’s a word of warning. There’s another famous temple (The Silver Pavilion) called Ginkakuji and if you don’t read Japanese, Ginkakuji and Kinkakuji are pretty easy to confuse. The golden one in these photos starts with a K. “Kin” means gold / money in Japanese.

F-Cup Cookies!!

I just noticed these amazing cookies in the drug store last week. I guess all their fat goes only two places. F-Cup Cookies are Japanese breast-enhancing cookies that come in two flavors. I don't know if they work, because I don't know anyone who would try them. I'm buying a pack for Suzie to put on her dresser.

Culture Switch Day: Pachinko and Hamburgers

When I told my friend Atsushi about all the American military people I saw on New Year's Eve in Okinawa, he got excited. "If there are a lot of American men, Okinawa probably has really good hamburger places! I want to eat an American-sized hamburger." We started laughing and we decided that if he has to do something really stereotypically Western (eat a huge burger and curly fries) then I had to do something really stereotypically Japanese. Pachinko! I'd kind of always wanted to go in one of those places anyway.He looked so happy eating Fast Food!
I didn't know where to look for a hamburger restaurant since I can't drive and I don't eat hamburgers. So when he met up with us, we drove around looking for a hamburger place. Atsushi found an A&W, which is really rare in Japan and markets itself as an authentically American restaurant. I didn't have the heart to tell him that the quality is about the same as a McDonald's and the burgers are Japanese-sized in all fast-food chains in Japan. But he was so excited because A&W has Coke Floats, which is about as USA as it gets. The funny thing is that I don't eat fast food, coke or burgers and he doesn't play Pachinko or smoke cigarettes. Smoking cigarettes seemed to be a prerequisite in that loud, colorful, sad, smoky den of a place. I came away with smoky-smelling hair, ringing ears, no more knowledge of how to play Pachinko than I had when I entered the place, and 5oo yen less. He didn't like the taste of the Coke float, but he liked that it made a huge mess and spilled all over the edge of the cup. That's what most kids like about that drink. Ha.

Okinawan Animals I Saw

Kittens.
Rabbits.
Big dogs.
Little dogs.

沖縄 Okinawan Food is Delicious.

Okinawan food is really delicious. Here are some pictures of all the food I ate on the island. Some of it is fish, as you can see, and those pictures are my friend’s food. I don’t eat fish, but some of you do, and these fish were so beautiful and beautifully presented that I thought you’d appreciate seeing my friend’s food as well as my food. Umibudou 海ぶどうis a kind of seaweed with a light, slightly salty flavor. Umibudou is sometimes called Sea Grapes or Green Caviar in English. It’s served with a dipping sauce on the side which is sometimes dashi and sometimes miso dressing or a vinegar sauce. It’s really healthy and so addictive.Jimamidoufu 島ミ豆腐 (地豆豆腐) is a soft tofu that has a creamy texture like mochi or really good pudding. It was so good. I made myself eat too much on the last day because you can only get it in Okinawa and I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t start craving it right away. I could happily eat Jimamidoufu every day.Tofuyou豆腐ようis the best thing ever. It’s red, fermented tofu that tastes a little bit like Roquefort cheese but much, much less fattening. I could eat Tofuyou every day. You’re supposed to eat it a little at a time, using a small utensil that looks like a thick toothpick. You’re supposed to eat it while drinking Awamori because that’s what it is fermented in.This picture above is of the tastiest breakfast I have ever eaten in my life.
Sata Andagi さたあんだぎ is basically a doughnut ball. That’s it. I tried one, but it’s too bad there is nowhere in Okinawa where you can get a fresh, hot one. They would be delicious if they were warm and fresh. If you find a place, leave a comment so that people can find out about it. I couldn’t find fresh ones while I was there. The best doughnut in the world remains the Tanzanian “mandazi” which is soft, warm, fresh and flavored with cardamom. Sorry to Okinawa's Sata Andagi and sorry to Canada's Tim Horton’s. You don’t even come close. Mandazi beats you at everything. Goya Chanpuru ごやチャンプルー is an Okinawa style stir-fry made with goya, a green vegetable that looks like a huge, bumpy pickle as long as your arm. It is sometimes called Bitter Melon in English. It’s really bitter, but I like it. Goya Champuru has tofu, sprouts, goya, pork and squid in it, but you can ask them to take out the squid and pork if you don’t want it. Goya Champuru is served with rice. I bought a little plastic keychain of a sliced goya. It’s cute and not as tacky is sounds when I re-read that last sentence.This is our home-made Goya Chanpuru. The best way to make the goya less bitter is to cut the slices thin and cook them until they lose some of their crispiness. We made it with onions in it. You’re not supposed to put onions in it, but I like onions. Here are some interesting fish heads. This one has real, animal-looking teeth.
There was also veggie pizza. It had a whole salad on it. It was strange but good. There was tons of basil in it.


The picture above is my friend's sashimi. The picture below is my nori konnyakku sashimi with miso dressing. It's made from seaweed and potato and it's originally from Kyoto though I tried it in Okinawa for the first time. I got it at Family Mart. Ha. I like foods with strong tastes, and my diet is vegetarian so sometimes it’s difficult to live in Japan. Japanese food has subtle flavors and it probably the most meat-heavy food culture in the world. (If you believe that fish is meat, and I do.) Okinawan Japanese food is totally different and it’s so much more to my liking. So I ate too much.Now I’m back in Japan eating my favorite things here. Pumpkin, chestnuts, genmai, spinach, kinkan, natto rice and konyakku for every meal. And yesterday, cookies!! My mother mailed me a box of Xmas Cookies!! I ate the ginger snaps and my roommates devoured the shortbread. Thank you for the cookies! What a great surprise. I love you.