Wednesday, October 18, 2006

   Traffic
This is going to be a kind of short post today. I am being a bad person and posting while stuck in traffic. 1 hr and 15 minutes & 10 miles so far. Only 15 miles to go.

I am running late for my web design class. I guess my lovely wife will need to fill me in during the first break - assuming I can get there for the first break.

I have been collecting My Coke Rewards caps for a little while now & finally decided to log in and see what prizes were available. Nothing I was interested in. Oh well. If anyone on my friends list is collecting points, please let me know & I can e-mail or pm the codes to you.It looks like traffic is moving again - not quickly, but moving. I hope everyone is doing well.

My next post should be Japan related again.

-bunraku
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Wednesday, August 23, 2006

   Friendship
One of my online friends posed the question - "How many friends do you have?"

That got me thinking - who do I consider a friend? What makes a friend? Do I have to have contact with them outside of work/school?

For me, I consider some of my co- workers friends if I would be willing to do something with them outside of work even if I haven't.

Most of my friends are not local, so communication tends to be by e-mail or phone and generally infrequent.

Conversations tend to be based on topics of similar interests with some personal thoughts thrown in. With my dad, we tend to bond talking about cars and motorcycles. I have friends that I talk to about electronics and others about theater.

What do you consider a friend?
How do you bond with your friends?
Do you have any long distance friends? How do you keep in touch & how often?

Well, that's about all for today. I hope everyone is doing well & I look forward to seeing your answers.

Until next time.

-bunraku
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Monday, July 17, 2006

   Convention learnings
I saw some fellow Otakuites talking about attending upcoming Conventions in their area & thought I would talk about some things I plan on doing differently at the next convention I attend. The last convention I attended was Sakurancon in Seattle. I expect the next Sakuracon will be my next convention as well.

Registration and badges: The earlier you register, the cheaper the tickets. Simple enough. The first thing that I found out about badges was that the lines on opening day at the start of the convention are long - hundreds of people long. So, if you get a chance to pick up your pass early, I definitely recommend that. It could save you an hour of standing in line. I believe Sakuracon has a booth set up at the hotel either the night before or 2 nights before where people could get their badges before the convention actually started. I am definitely going to try for that next time.

SHOPPING TIPS:
Are you looking for something that is a must have or just trying to save money? For me, I think I was more of the attitude of get a few great items before they are gone. This past time spent most of my money on Saturday - the second day of a 3 day convention. In retrospect, that was the stupidest approach possible. If you want the largest selection, you go on the morning of the first day. If you want the best prices possible and aren't as concerned with selection, you go on the afternoon of the last day. The vendors don't really want to pack up their goods, so will be more willing to negotiate on the price.

Know what you are buying.
I picked up some production drawings (douga) from DN Angel which I absolutely love. I got 2 sets of Daisuke drawings and a set of Riku drawings. When I purchased them, I also learned something about the process for CG animes. Genga are the most desirable drawings usually done by the lead animators. The douga are the cleaned up drawings that are actually scanned into the computer for the coloring and animating. So - there are no cels for DN Angel - only drawings. In addition to genga and douga, there are also roughs and set-up drawings. The set up drawings normally show how the entire scene will look in the frame. Roughs are just that - messy. If you plan on making any invesment purchases, make sure you understand what to look for and what the values should be.

Know what it is worth. If you are looking for something specific, make sure you know what to expect from prices before going in. Unless it is something that you just can't find anywhere, then be prepared to empty your wallet. I saw some OK Nausicaa cels, but they were in the $2000+ range. Waaaaayyyy outside of my budget - especially for a cel that wasn't "great". A also found a nice Kingdom Hearts T-Shirt from Japan - $40. Was that an outrageous price? I have no idea - it was just more than I wanted to spend.

Always buy what you love. Spending on "kinda cool" or "not bad" can get expensive real quick & you may not have $$ for something you come across later that you love. I used to collect comic books & would go to a convention and get caught up with everything and just buy buy buy. Some of it would get read once and sit on a shelf or go directly into a box. Now, I realize I need to step back a little and only purchase what I really love (easier on storage & minimizes buyer's regret later). I only made a few purchases at Sakuracon - the DN Angel drawings and a Vampire Princess Miyu cel with background (TV series, not OVA). For the DN Angel drawings, I like that the drawing sets really helped show how the animation process works as well as having a few very nice drawings that can stand alone. For example, one picture of Riku with no mouth is followed by 4 very small drawings of her mouth showing how they animate the talking. The Vampire Princess Miyu cel had 2 characters I liked with the original background. I felt it was a nice image for a reasonable price.

OTHER TIPS:
Get the schedule before hand. If the convention has a schedule of events online, try to read that ahead of time. Check for events that require tickets. Some of the concerts and cosplay competitions may require tickets (free) that you will need to go to another desk to pick up after you get your badge. Make a list of a few of the "must do" events you don't want to miss. For me, I wanted to see an american voice actress from ADV speak. I got there early, sat in the front & was able to ask a number of questions.

Be courteous! You are not at home watching a video. With the panels or speakers, the guests will be able to see if you are reading the schedule instead of paying attention to the speaker. Get there on time. There were a number of people that came in half way through the presentations & each new person that came in wanted to ask the same question that was answered at the beginning of the Q & A. Annoying for the guest as well as the other audience members. Also - remember to turn your cell phone off.
I thought the people that came dressed up were great and generally very friendly. The convention asked that you approach the person for permission before taking any pictures & also get permission from the people if you plan on posting the pictures on the web. I never had anyone refuse me when I asked to take their picture (but I did have to wait until they got into their favorite pose).

If you are attending the convention with a group setting up a default meeting place is good (cell phones are better, but you have to work with what you have).

Next year, even though I only live about 10-15 miles away, I may get a hotel room at the site. The convention is 24 hours a day, so it might be fun to go to some of the late night anime showings or parties and not have to worry about driving home when tired (or be able to take a break during the middle of the day - I'm old & get tired easily).

I think that is about it for my learnings from going to a convention as a normal dressed person.

Does anyone have any other tips? Does anyone have tips for people that plan on going in costume? Actually, what I am really interested in is "What not to do" - Convention horror stories. Does anyone have any of those?

Until next time.

-bunraku

btw - Disneyland opened 51 years ago today.
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Thursday, June 29, 2006

   Non-Japan topic - Political rant
There has been discussion over the past few years about god's presense in government. One recent discussion is related to this country's pledge of allegiance. This is something mostly said by kids in elementary school that states one's dedication to the country. The pledge currently includes the phrase "one nation under god". The discussion has surrounded this phrase. This phrase was not a part of the original pledge, but was added in the 1950's in an effort to differentiate americans from the "godless communists". Yes, it was the red scare.

To me, removing this phrase is not restricting anyone from expressing their religious beliefs. To me, it is allowing people to express their dedication to the country without having it tied to religion.

I love this country because of the foundations and ideals of government put forth in the Constitution. I personally feel that everyone - religious or not - should be able to express their dedication to the country without it being tied to religion.

The laws of this country are influenced by religion because the people that make the laws & vote in the lawmakers are influenced by religion. Therefore, certain moral standards set forth by religions will inevitably be set into law. I feel that is how religion should influence law and government. I think that should be the extent of religion's presence in government. No 10 commandments posted & no reference to god in government documents. I don't even agree with the bible's presence when swearing in witnesses in court. Shouldn't a person get a fair trial and be able to testify even if they aren't christian?

Some of the people arguing to keep the phrase included in the pledge make it sound like people can only love this country if they believe in god. If these people want a country that is only made up of people that believe in god, then they should go found a country without freedom.

My father's family has been in this country since the 1600's. This is my home & I love it.

-bunraku
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Thursday, May 11, 2006

   Architecture in Japan
Well… it’s time to post again… first off – a little housekeeping. I think somebody tried to PM me today. Unfortunately, I got a PM from one of the Dark Children from March instead. I am going to post my e-mail address for a few days. Feel free to use it instead of e-mail until they get the PM system working with a little more reliability.

Today’s topic – Architecture in Tokyo.
I was very surprised at the wide variety of architecture I saw in Tokyo. I am going to focus on more modern architecture and not the traditional Japanese architecture.
First off, I would like to show some more traditional “foreign architecture” found in Tokyo. The first building will probably be one of the first buildings you are in if you go to Tokyo – Tokyo Station on the Marunouchi side. It makes me think of an English train station (anyone living in or near England, feel free to give your thoughts). One of the things I like about Tokyo Station is that there is an art museum in the station. As well as a number of places to eat nearby – but no garbage cans in the station. They have had problems with terrorists, too.

And if you were curious – Narita (Tokyo) Airport is about 70 miles from Tokyo Station (or was that kilometers? – either way - a long way from the city)

The next building appears to be eastern style, but makes me think me more of India than Japan or China. I wish I knew what the building was, but I only remember that I passed it while walking from the subway station towards the fish market. Which fish market? THE fish market. I just don’t feel like looking up the spelling right now.


The next building is not far from the larger of the Akasaka subway stations. I was told that this building is used for visiting dignitaries Yes, it looks all wide open in the picture, but that is because I stuck my camera through the bars in the very large gate they had. Any architecture buffs out there that can name the style of this building? The closest I could come was “Looks kinda European”.


Enough of the old stuff – now it is on to more modern architecture. The first building I would like to show is the Tokyo Forum. It is not a far walk from one of the “other” exits out of Tokyo Station. I think I had to walk through the underground mall to get to this area. It is on the same side of the station as the Pokemon Center. Umm… maybe I shouldn’t have admitted that I knew where that was. It was for my nieces and nephews. Really. This building made me think I was on the inside of a whale or an upside down ship. The first pic shows the building from the outside. The next image was the best I had of the interior of the roof. The final image of this convention center shows walkways that they have crossing the airspace on the inside of the building. It was very strange and very intriguing. I think I used a whole roll of film on this one building. Yes – I was in Tokyo 6 years ago – it was before I had a digital camera.



Now, we move on to Odaiba. Yes, this is the area where you need to take the monorail to get to (or drive over the rainbow bridge). We get really interesting over here. I think this is a much newer neighborhood where the architects got to have some fun and show off. The first building is FujiTV. You may have seen this before – not too many buildings have a sphere as part of the building.


Next is a building I really liked. I’m not sure why, but probably because it looks like a giant playground. You may be able to guess from looking at it, but it is a Maritime Museum.


And I will leave you with a picture of a walking bridge that connects to the monorail station & a ferris wheel. I just had to post a picture of the ferris wheel. To get an idea of scale – it is 100 meters in diameter & 115 meters high. For the Americans out there – that is a football field across. Sadly, I did not go on it. I don’t remember the cost, but it was more than I wanted to pay ($18 maybe?)


Here is a link with more info on Odaiba: Tokyo Travel: Odaiba

I am going to be traveling for work, so I do not expect to be able to update for a couple of weeks. I will be in Northern California next week and not far from New York City the following week. Thanks to technology, I will be able to read your posts and comment from my phone, so that will be fun. I am also converting some downloaded anime so that I can watch that on my phone as well. It would be a little easier if it wasn’t all subtitiled… I guess I’ll just have to spend the time to learn Japanese.

Until next time
-bunraku

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Monday, May 1, 2006

   Yoyogi Park – Sundays
Yoyogi Park is a schizophrenic park. In the middle of the park is Tokyo’s largest shrine, Meiji-jingu. A symbol of Japan’s long history and traditions. That is not what today’s post is going to talk about. On Sundays, just outside of the park is where the Harajuku kids hang out. Harajuku is the name of the neighborhood and the JR train station nearby. If you are not familiar with the Harajuku kids – it’s like an anime convention without the convention. Original creation cosplay would be another way to describe it. The outfits vary from commonplace goth to full makeup, masks and some really amazing custom costume creations. They are definitely there to be seen. Here is a distant shot of the hangout area:

This gives you an idea of how many people are hanging out & hopefully how many different hair colors there are there. The most common outfits when I was there, were the bridal gowns and the bloody doctor/nurse costume. In the following picture, you can see one of the doctors on the left and seated is one of the brides as well as a jester I liked. The kids seemed to be very cooperative and posed for pictures when other tourists asked. For me, I’m not sure why, but I still prefer the candid shots over the posed shots.


Here is a link to a site with a lot of pics of Harajuku kids. I strongly suggest you check it out, you'll have a much better idea of how elaborate some of the outfits are:
Funky Kids at Yoyogi Park

On some Sundays, (not sure which ones) they also have music in the area. Well, they have bands playing, whether you call it music or not, I guess is a matter of opinion. I have no clue how they decide who gets to play, but they have bands about 50’-100’ apart on the sidewalk as well as a main stage. If you like a band, you pretty much have to be directly in front of them or you will be listening to more than one band at a time – not recommended.
Here is Psychoactive Butterfly (the comment I wrote on the back of the photo was “Different country, same metal $#!^.”):

And their neighbor:


The sidewalk bands usually didn’t have many people hanging out in front of them. The people that were there for the music tended to be closer to the main stage.

As you can tell, this is definitely a larger event than just playing at a local club. I did not know that there was going to be any music when I decided to go there, I just happened across it. I listened to 4 or 5 bands while I was there. There were no bands there that day that completely wowed me, but it was a lot of fun.

And I will leave you with a picture of a store in the Harajuku district that I cannot imagine seeing in the United States.


Until next time.
-bunraku

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Monday, April 10, 2006

   A failed attempt at bonding in Japan
This is going to be a slightly different post that normal. Basically because there will no pictures. As those faithful followers know, I was working in Tokyo for 5 months in the year 2000. Almost ancient history but not quite.
While I was there, I got very little social support from my co-workers. The employee assigned to me set me up with my hotel room & later apartment, showed me how to get to work & that was about it. I went out to dinner with japanese coworkers a total of... maybe 5 times in the 5 months. When I left the office I was truly on my own. I have felt separate and alone while in the US, but that does not really compare. I couldn't even casually strike up a conversation with someone at a store or subway. At work, I spent most of the time getting materials ready for the once a week training session I would have with the local employees. Even then, I got very little feedback or conversation from the trainees. The only time I really got to talk to anyone was the once a day call to my wife. The other 23 hours I spent watching TV I didn't understand, mall hopping, finding new places to eat cheaply or hitting the arcades.

There was a brief exception - I hooked up with some people originally from Australia and England that had been living in Japan for 9-15 years. Wow, people I could talk to in english. What a concept. I agreed to meet them at an english pub called... "the Rising Sun" I believe. The owner of the establishment has been there over 25 years & makes his own sausage (that was the only good sausage I found in Tokyo). Well, we started with a sausage dinner & 3 or four pints of ale. I had brought about $120 with me - I figured that would be plenty for dinner and a few drinks (even @ $10 per beer). I am not a heavy drinker, so this seemed like plenty. Well, after a couple of hours at that establishment, we went to Roppongi - the foreigner district - to a german place. I distinctly remember refusing beer whenever it was offered to me, yet I still ended up with 4 beers there. Then at 1:00am, that establishment closed and we moved to a bar that was as far as I could tell a converted subway car. It was tight in there. Well... more beers & I ran out of money. $120 gone. Well, they were kind enough to buy me... uhh... one or more rounds. At 3 or 4am (with over 12 pints in my system at this time, memory tends to be not quite so reliable) I asked my new found "friends" which way to my apartment from there. They indicated that the subways don't start running until 6am, so I should just stay with them until then. They also handed me a flyer for some event that they were going to @ 7pm that night. I insisted & they gave me instructions on how to walk home.
It took longer than it should have. Don't ask me how long. I'm not sure. And no, I do not know how many buidlings I had to lean on (but I only watered one plant & was very thankful that there were no police around at the time). I finally made it to my apartment just as the sun was coming up. I was not feeling well... to say the least. I think around noon I managed to get up to drink some water. Other than that, it was 7pm before I could even think of eating or standing up for something that I did not consider life-threatening or at least very messy. Needless to say, I was not able to meet up with them for whatever event they invited me to that evening. I made no further attempts to contact them during my stay.

Also of note: All of the bars allowed smoking & the leather jacket I wore that night had to be hung outside to air out for the next week before I could wear it again.

So - I did want companionship, but my body and brain decided that I didn't want it that bad.

During my last month in Tokyo, another english speaking employee was brought in from another office. He was originally from Canada & had relocated to Australia. He was set up with a room in the same apartment complex, so I could help him adjust to Tokyo. He didn't adjust well. He was not very adventurous - in any way. I was to the point of not wanting to go out to eat with him because every restaurant we would go to, he would ask for bar-b-que. Yup, japanese, sushi or chinese restaurant, he was asking for Bar-B-Q. I actually did accompany him to a McDonalds once (I didn't order anything there, that was my vow to myself - no McD's while in Tokyo) It did however give me someone to talk to. If we were working together in the US, I probably would give him professional courtesy, but would not make an effort to spend any time with him outside of the office. From what I heard, once I left, he only lasted 1 or 2 weeks by himself in Tokyo and returned to Australia about 3 months early.

Now, I am happily back in the USA with my lovely wife who I can talk to in english anytime I want. I can try talking to her in japanese, but she would understand it about the same as the people I spoke japanese to in Tokyo - not at all.

Until next time.
-bunraku
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Tuesday, April 4, 2006

   Tokyo Subways
I finally found my subway cards, so I can write my post now. First off, there are really only 2 ways to get around Tokyo – taxicab and subway. The subways are cheaper and you don’t have to talk to anybody. The drawback is that there are a lot of subway lines in Tokyo. I think there are 16 lines in Tokyo, 4 private lines, JR trains and a monorail. The picture below is the map for the main subway system (taken from a subway card that is now 5 years old – so it may be more complicated now)

/*** Paying ***/You can pay one of 2 ways – either you can go to a machine, look at the map and find out what the cost is for your trip and get a ticket with the exact amount – or… my way – buy a card that will cover numerous trips and not worry about it until you are getting low (when you can buy another card). The cards I bought were normally of the 1000 yen variety with the average subway trip costing less than 200 yen. You will need a separate card for each subway line that you take. They will not work on the competitor’s system. Below is a picture of a JR price map and ticket machines.

The back of the subway card is updated with station info and remaining balance (with the last zero left off for some unknown reason). Here is an example of the back of a 3000 yen card.

That’s the basics of it. The station signs in Tokyo almost always have the station names in English letters in addition to the kanji/kana writing. The maps with the prices usually do not. They do make the subway maps in English which can be very helpful if you don’t read Japanese.
They sell the cards in a number of designs for people with different tastes. It can be a cheap gift for somebody back home. Here are a few of my cards:


They also provide a nice plastic cover to protect your card. If anyone can read Japanese, feel free to translate it. I’m sure I translated it while I was there, but that was 5 years ago & I really have no idea what it says now.

/*** Other Subway Lines ***/ In addition to the main subway system there is the JR train system which has the Yamanote (sp?) Line. It is a train line that only serves Tokyo. It has a station in Akihabara, I remember that much.
Odaiba – If you want to go to Odaiba, you have to take the monorail (or a taxi). Odaiba is pretty cool for mall rats. It has some very interesting architecture in the area – most notable Fuji TV headquarters and The Big Show. It also has the world’s largest ferris wheel (that costs 900 yen to ride) and a Toyota center with a ton of cars – racing, prototypes, cars sold overseas – really quite interesting if you are into that kind of thing and of course – a mall. I am thinking that for me to go to Odaiba from Akasaka, it ended up costing about $7 round trip between the subways and monorail.
/*** Shinjuku Station ***/ A special note about Shinjuku station. It is the busiest train station in the world & it is huge. You do not just need to know that is the station you need, you will also need to make a plan for where to get out of the station. Below is a map (with a bad flash in the center) showing a map of Shinjuku station and the connecting passageways. The station and passageways are in pink. As far as I can tell it covers an area of about 6 city blocks by 10 city blocks. If you leave by the wrong exit, you may not be anywhere near the area you want.

/*** The Trains ***/ The trains are larger, hold more people and can get much more crowded than what I experienced riding BART in San Francisco. Below are a couple of pictures of one of the subway lines with longer platforms – the Chiyoda line. The exterior shot is not of the entire train, there another 2 cars behind me when I took that picture. The interior shot is during a non-busy time. Notice the fan on the ceiling. It doesn’t help that much, but when it is crowded, every little bit helps. The older lines tend to have shorter trains & end up being more densely packed than the newer lines.


/*** The Crowds***/ Yeah. My point of reference is the BART system in the San Francisco area. I have been on BART during rush hour & it is crowded. People shoulder to shoulder, unable to move – or so I thought. Tokyo subways go to a whole new level. I was only on one train that got to maximum capacity. It reached the San Francisco crowded point & then another 30-50 people came in through the door closest to me. There was an employee with white gloves that helps people get their arms and legs in before the doors close. It was beyond not being able to move – it was being crushed against the people next to you. If there was room for me to lift my legs, I would not have dropped at all. At the next stop, some people obviously wanted to get off. I didn’t but then I didn’t really have a choice. It was like being poured out of a bottle. Once you clear the doors, you head towards the side, so that once the flow stops you can try to get back on the train.
/***Subway Etiquette***/ There is not too much to know. First off – don’t expect the trains to be late. They will be on time. Be ready to get on and get off when you need to. I think the average train leaves 8 seconds after the scheduled time, so they will not be waiting for you. While I was there, the latest any train I got on was 2 minutes late. That was the only train noticeably late in 5 months riding a minimum of 2 trains per day. Boarding: People boarding the train wait to the sides of the doors to allow the people exiting to depart. The same holds true for elevators. Saying “Excuse me” – doesn’t happen. It’s crowded in Tokyo, everybody knows it is crowded, if you need to squeeze by somebody, you just do it & move on. Other people: Treat them like they are invisible. Just mind your own business. They are generally not there for social activities, just to get to where they need to go. It is kind of odd because people will act like there is nobody around them. Business men will read nudie magazines while on the subways with crowds of people around & nobody will pay any attention.

Oh yeah… one more thing – stairs. The stations often have escalators, but they may not have them at the exit you want to use. Some of the newer subways are 6 stories down, so you may get a workout trying to get out.

Until next time.
-bunraku


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Wednesday, March 22, 2006

   Eating in Japan
Where to start… ok, I’ll start with my arrival in Tokyo. My hotel was just around the corner from Tokyo eki. While I was in the hotel, I didn’t have any way to cook for myself so I was forced to eat out for every meal. Eating in the hotel was probably not going to work on my budget. They had two different steak meals. The first was made with American beef and was around $85 and the one with Japanese beef was about $120 for a 200g steak (I think that translates to 7 oz, not large by American standards). I think my daily budget was $50 per day to cover everything but housing so a $120 meal was probably not going to happen. Luckily, right across from the train station there was an am/pm market. Yes, the same one you see at the gas stations in America. They had Doritos, diet coke, some pre-made sandwiches and manga. That seemed like a safe bet for day 1. Over the course of the next week, I did get more adventurous. My favorite dish in that area was curry udon served at a small shop at the edge of the train station. My least favorite – probably the TV dinner I got out of a vending machine in Tokyo eki. I had to try it though – hot yakisoba out of a vending machine. It came out in a little cardboard TV dinner tray looking thing with chopsticks included. Not terribly tasty, but better than a candy bar if you need a quick meal. One note, before you try one of these: they don’t have garbage cans in the Tokyo subway stations & littering is frowned upon. You should plan on carrying the container for a while.

//Moving day//. After the first week, I was moved into a mansion (more like a condo). There, the company that I was working for had someone go shopping with me & buy what I needed to survive -a microwave and burner primarily. If you look at the pictures below, you will see the area I had to “cook” and my fridge. The burner was a single burner that ran on a can of propane. It worked.


//Shopping//: Here’s a rude awakening. Stuff is expensive in Tokyo. Japan is an island composed primarily of mountains. It is not exactly a great area for agriculture or ranching. Fish, yes, beef, no. Almost everything is imported with strict regulations. Below is a melon (cantaloupe for Americans). That is 2980 yen. The exchange rate at the time was about 103 yen to the dollar, so $30 for a melon. You want an apple? $4. The oranges seemed to be a good deal, you could get 3 for $6. Daikon (Japanese radish), about $1 a pound. Beef at the corner market came out to about $45 a pound. I was definitely going to have to eat Japanese style if I were going to eat more than one meal a day.


//Surviving – aka Fast Food//: YOSHINOYA!!!!! Woo hoo!!! Yes, I found a place to eat affordably. Gyudon 360 yen (beef & onions over rice). It is kind of the McDonalds of Japan. They have a very limited menu – gyudon, salmon, pickled vegetables, raw egg to put over your gyudon and beer or green tea to drink. That’s pretty much the whole menu, but $4 bucks for a filling meal – I couldn’t beat it. I have seen a Yoshinoya in SF and NYC. as well, but was disappointed because they expanded their menu considerably for the American market. Below is a picture of a Yoshinoya next to a McDonalds (and I did not eat at a McDonalds even once while I was in Tokyo – Subway, yes, but not McDs). Eating American fast food was still more expensive than here. I think I paid about $8 for a Subway sandwich that would have cost about $3-$4 in the states. Ramen shops are also safe bets for filling meals at reasonable prices & are much better than anything I have found stateside.


//Plastic food//: Most restaurants have displays of the food they serve with the price in the window. I found even though I could not pronounce Japanese well enough for ANYONE to understand me, I could copy the kanji from the card in the window & show it to the waiter. That seemed to work pretty well.

//Nice restaurants//: I was taken out a couple of times when a visiting executive came over from the US. The nicest meal was a sushi dinner. This was a “chef’s choice” style of meal. Each sushi item was served in a specific order with special sauces for certain items. One of the items I remember most clearly was the shrimp (because it was raw). I had never eaten raw shrimp before, so that was interesting. Another item was very small fish in a dish. They were a little smaller than earthworms & were served whole – eyes and all. The other item was… maybe cuttlefish – I didn’t ask, but then again I don’t think I will order it again. My farewell dinner was also at a nice place. The main dish - squid eggs in a honey sauce. Need I say more?

//Food I didn’t eat//: Horse. Not because I wouldn’t, I just didn’t eat anywhere that served it. I found one place, but it was $25 for a horse meat appetizer. I wasn’t that curious.

//Recommended Reading//: “What’s What in Japanese Restaurants” by Robb Satterwhite. It covers basics of pronunciation, phrases for ordering as well as etiquette. The food is described first in Japanese (kanji or kana), then the pronunciation of the Japanese name followed by an English description. The book is organized by restaurant specialties. There are sections for sushi, okonomiyaki, soba and udon, etc. This book is geared for eating in restaurants in Japan, not towards American restaurants serving Japanese food.

I never did completely kick the am/pm habit while I was there. Inari and daifuku were my favorite snacks @ the am/pm.

I am thinking my next post will be about the subways. I hope a few of you made it through the whole food post and found it interesting.

Until next time -bunraku

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Thursday, March 16, 2006

   Japanese Bathrooms
Here it is - the long awaited posting on bathrooms! Japanese bathrooms to be more specific. I would like to start with the most serious of the toilets I will talk about. The eastern style toilet. I did not see much of this type of toilet in Tokyo. The one time I did see it was in a.. ummm… urgent situation. Not really the time I want to be figuring out angles of approach. If you notice, it is basically a porcelain hole in the ground. There is nothing to brace yourself against, so there will be some balance involved. You will also want to be very aware of where your clothing is during this process. I expect dresses may be an advantage in this situation. If you have ever been camping in the woods, you will get the general idea of what is involved, except that there is actually a target which you are expected to hit here.


Now for a more lighthearted look at the variety of plumbing I encountered.

First off, the Ceylon Urinal. The Japanese are big on hygiene, so you will find very few urinals that require physical contact to flush. You will also find very few public restrooms with paper towels. They all had the motorized air dryers – also motion activated. This urinal reminded me of the Ceylons from the old Battlestar Galactica with the single red eye that went back and forth. I have seen much smaller motion detectors, so I am assuming they were going for style here. Also – it was snowing outside & someone had left the window open, so I decided not to use the urinal at this location.


Next up is the James T Kirk memorial toilet. I had a friend that was a Star Trek fan that would always take pictures of the bathroom in his hotel whenever he went on vacation. So, when I went to Japan I took several pictures of interesting bathrooms in his honor. The control panel on this particular toilet definitely made me think Star Trek. Remember that bathroom with the open window? Yeah – same bathroom. However, this toilet had a heated seat. It sounds nice, but in a snowy bathroom it was quite a shock. Also – I don’t have a close up of the control pad, but there are a number of somewhat cryptic buttons on there & I did not bring my dictionary into the bathroom with me (what was I thinking?). So, I got to find out that one of buttons helped in cleaning with a stream of water… not as warm as the seat, I might add. I continued experimenting until I found the one to actually flush & ended the experience there.


The next item on the list is the handicapped urinal. I believe this was in one of the nicer hotels (not one I was staying at). I was staying in a more modestly priced hotel until they set me up with a furnished apartment (for $600 per week). Notice the lovely wood on the rails surrounding the urinal. They are obviously trying to make a good impression. If I had trouble standing I don’t think I would be trying to use the urinal.


Last up, is not the most impressive, just the one I couldn't really figure out. If I remember correctly, instead of a sink in this bathroom, they had a faucet on the tank of the toilet. The water only ran while it was refilling the tank when you flushed. A wonderful conservation of resources, although a little awkward in practical use.


Other notes – small bathrooms, no pix. In the hotel room I stayed in for my first week in Tokyo, I got to stay in a Western style room. Twin size bed, desk, tv & a lovely view of a metal wall. The shower there was built for people that are not very tall. I am 5’ 8” tall & with 1 hand, I could touch the top of my head and the ceiling at the same time while in the shower. I work with several people over 6’ tall, I don’t think that would have worked for them.
They moved me from the hotel near Tokyo eki (train station) to Tokyo weekly mansions in Akasaka. By the way – mansions in Japan are really condos. The bathroom there was… smaller than the hotel. When I was sitting doing my business, I could lean forward and rest my head against the wall. There was only one faucet to turn for both the sink and the shower. There was a small valve that would direct the water to the destination that you wanted. I will write more about my apartment in a later post.

Until next time.

-bunraku

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