Four Leaf Clover

Sun Mar 17 was St. Patrick's day. The parade was in Omote sando, where they blocked off half of Omote Sando Dori, and lots of Guinness was consumed!
The shamrock is one of the symbols for this day. I remember that I used to look for a 4-leaved clover in the school ground for hours and hours. It's said that the 4-leaf clover brings you luck. One even saved Napoleon when he found it on the battle field and as he bent down to pick it, a bullet passed where his head would have been -- or so they say, anyway...
Your chance of finding a 4-leaf clover is about 1/100,000, so there certainly is some luck involved in finding one. However, if you can't find one in the fields, you can at least see them in the city -- Alfa Romeo's logo is a "QUADRIFOGLIO" for its sports and racing cars.

Spring is Coming

It's getting a lot warmer these days, and you can feel the spring is there. Plums are in full bloom, scent of Daphne odor (Jinchoge), and even cherry blossoms are starting to boom.
Spring is full of scent. Especially Daphne odor is in everywhere. Though the flowers are so small, you can't imagine how these tiny flowers smells so sweet and strong. Or since it's very small, they have strong scent to appeal to livings. This flower came from China, and it was called "can smell from far away". Even it's prohibited to use for the traditional tea ceremony in Japan due to this strong scent; it distract people from concentrating on tea.
I saw a flog out on the ground the other day, probably woke up from hibernation already. I should go out, carried away by the fine spring weather.

Ogata-san

Was it just me who was relieved to hear that Ms. Ogata declined the offer of Foreign Minister? I mean, it would be great if she took the position, but I honestly didn't want her to waste her time and energy with the politicians she'd have to deal with, by taking this position. She's too good for that. She is one of the very few Japanese I know of who is able to perform on a global stage. In 1991, she was elected as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and was re-elected to this position until 1999. She visited practically every country which had fallen into the abyss because of war, politics, and/or starvation. At age 74, she is still active, as was apparent at the Afghanistan Reconstruction session.
Undaunted and unabashed, Ogata-san is also very dependable. Of course her family background has something to do with this. Her father was the ambassador to Finland, her grandfather was Japan's Foreign Minister, her husband was a Vice President of the Bank of Japan. She herself went to Georgetown, and completed a Doctorate in Politics at UC Berkley.
Ogata-san has been an inspiration to generations of young Japanese. She has fought strenuously for the things she believes are right. Certainly, I believe that it's very important to have a vision and attitude of truth: unlike many Japanese politicians argue over very stupid matters....
Yes, it would be great for Ogata-san to take the Foreign Minister position, restructure the ministry bureaucrats, and develop the better a better diplomatic core. But personally, I want Ogata-san to keep working for the 22 million refugees worldwide who need her help more...

Marriage

I found a rather interesting article recently that more and more junior/high schools in the USA have started a new curricula called "marriage." Its purpose is to prevent immature marriage and divorce. Some of the subjects covered include: "solutions to husband-wife quarrels", "Life management", etc. The courses simulate a wedding and help students create a budget plan for their honeymoon.
I wonder if such courses will really be useful to reduce divorce rates. There are a lot of things you can learn from books and classrooms, but marriage is one of those things you can't really understand until you actually encounter the event. Also, given the fact that the USA is a cultural melting pot, I wonder if such courses doing impinge on the rights of other regions and religions?
For example, in Mongolia, wives are sometimes shared among brothers. While one goes to the mountains to look after the herd, the other looks after the wife. Maybe this custom started because the birthrate of women was way lower than men. Or...
Herodotus wrote that, in ancient Egypt, women went to work, and men stayed home to weave. Daughters, not the sons, were responsible for taking care of aged parents. The main reason for this turnabout was that women inherited family property at that time. Interestingly, about 670 years ago in Japan, women also inherited the family house and assets.

Jobs

The official Afghanistan Reconstruction session was held in Tokyo last week, and I saw many black limousines led by police cars, running red lights in the Shibakoen area. From time to time, I've also seen politicians answer interviewers questions on TV, and comment that their target of rebuilding the nation is become like Japan. I'm happy that they like Japan, but I wonder if they've really thought about Japan. Certainly I would be interested to know what their impression of Japan is, anyway.
I've heard that one of the biggest causes of crime and general craziness in Afghanistan is that people don't have jobs. Therefore they join terrorist groups just to live. They grow drugs because that's the almost only thing their depleted and destroyed land is any good for now. The amount of donations made has been reported often, but since none of us really knows whether this money actually gets there, instead, how about sending over mid-aged skilled Japanese technology and industry experts -- the selfsame people who are getting fired in their thousands here in Japan.

Smell

There is a "Scent of Spring" - a daffodil's aroma that I can smell now in the office. Yellow Plum ("roubai") is also the scent of early spring to me. They say that scent is directly connected to your memory, and it brings you flashbacks of past memories. The sense of smell is kind of unique out of the five senses. You can feel heat, for example, but it's hard to connect touch with the heat of a fire or to differentiate it with the heat of a sunny day. With smell, however, you can see flashbacks: grandmother's kimono - camphor, mother's perfume, old photo albums, flaming briquettes, the ocean, freshly mown lawns, etc.
In ancient Japan, there are 2 words used for smell. "Niohi" is more visual that contains the meanings that you can "smell" the color, elegance, and complexion if an aroma. "Kaoru" on the other hand is more physical, and describes the olfactory interaction for smells like perfume, incense, fragrance, odors, etc. Then the usage changed as the time past, and these days "Niohi" means general sense of smell, while "Kaoru" is used for good smells.
What's your "Kaori" for the season?

Taxes

Have you seen the TV commercial in which a woman says to the man who is about to smoke, "If you want to smoke, go to Japan!!". Then the scene cuts to a newscaster announcing "In Japan, smoker refugees are increasing....." with some footage of people on a rubber dinghy being welcomed by Japanese guys on the beach. I think it's very funny.
The plan of increasing taxes on tobacco and low malt beer was suspended this time at the Diet (Japan's parliament), but they went ahead and approved the consolidate taxation for corporates. Also they increased the medical costs that have to be paid out by patients. I can understand that the government has to increase their "income" by increasing the tax, but if it were a company this business model wouldn't work. You can't put prices on your services up year after year and not cut your own costs. Maybe the politicians think they're making sure the nation doesn't go bankrupt, but when they don't seem to want to cut their costs while companies here are really struggling, then you seem them for the rats that they really are...
As a recent survey conducted by EIU, Economist group, shows that Japan is the most expensive country in the world in which to do business. The corporate tax is the second highest. Japan scored 100, on the scale, compared to the US with a score of 66.3. I wonder if we will have less Gaishi, or "refugees", coming to Japan in the future...?

Taxi

How often do you take a taxi? One night, I was too tired and took a taxi back home, and was more than a little surprised. The taxi had a car navigator system but even so, the driver was about to fail making my turn-off, it I hadn't noticed and told him where it was. Obviously he was a new driver and didn't know the back roads as well as me.
Then the next surprise was that he also had a speed radar detector. Suddenly a machine voice announced, "Slow down, slow down, danger, danger! and after a couple more minutes we passed by a police car. I might have been impressed except that we were only doing 20 km/h...
The newspapers say that the Japanese unemployment rate for October reached 5.4%, which is the worst since 1953. I bet that there will be a lot more new taxi drivers in Tokyo over the coming months. While they may not know where they are going, I hope they at least will drive carefully, and make their customers comfortable.

Dog

I bet most of you have noticed a lot more dogs in the streets these days: especially miniature dachshunds and chihuahuas. I love dogs and if I had to choose I would go for a dog rather than a cat. But since my apartment prohibits pets, I can't have any, unfortunately.
But for those people who are really stuck on the idea of having a dog, how about a virtual experience? Sega made a simulation game of walking your dog! You walk the trend mill, holding the leash. You'll encounter obstacles and accidents throughout the course, but you have to reach your goal without irritating the dog, and you can't simply pat it to calm it down.
Sounds like fun, but I can't help feeling that there is something missing in these types of games...

Asakusa

My husband and I went to Asakusa the other day, to check out Kimono for men. It was very interesting for me because usually I'm looking at women's kimono, not men's. And even when I do, what most department stores carry is formal, for weddings and other celebratory use, so there isn't much variety.
We checked several stores in the back streets of Asakusa. Of course, thinking about it, clearly people used to wear kimono on a daily basis so it is natural to imagine that there are lots of styles, materials, colors, etc. Nevertheless, to actually go see the selections available is quite eye-opening and educational. If you're at all interested in Japanese traditional clothes, you'll definitely get a kick out of going to Asakusa.
What we saw were kimonos made out of almost every conceivable fabric, including: silk, wool, synthetics. There were used ones and new ones, and interestingly, some which although men's kimono were imprinted with women's fabric patterns -- for cross-dressers! -- as well as yellow fabric for comedians and Kabuki actors.
It was a quite fun to talk to the owners, too. They tell you to pick what ever you want to wear, without excessive formality, and yet can expertly guide you about matching colors, patterns, and other design rules -- without making you feel like you're being pressured.
So, we spent about JPY50k at the store, and went home with our minds made up to go back there again. Why don't you try shopping for something traditional in Asakusa? It's really fun!

Teddy Bears

Saturday is Teddy Bears' day. There's a famous story that the stuffed bears were originally named after Theodore Roosevelt, and this Saturday is his birthday. The original teddy bear (not necessary known as a Teddy Bear back then) was made by Steiff, a German stuffed animal company, back in 1880. An original old Steiff bear is now worth more than a few million yen.
I use to make some stuffed animals, and it's very hard to make one with a good smiling face. Positioning the eyes is especially difficult! It might be one of the reasons why I can't help buying cute stuffed animals whenever I see them -- because I know it's almost impossible to make the exact same face. My mania for stuffed animals sometimes makes me the target of fun by my male friends. But then, I have to ask them, "What's up with all your toys: robots, pikachu, PCs, audio equipment, and such...?" That usually shuts them up!

Mousephone

Mobile phones have advanced amazingly in the last few years, but the other day a unique new accessory caught my eye -- a mouse pad phone! This strange looking device is a fully functional push phone made out of a flat rubber molding. It has a microphone and ear phone built in, so that you can use it hands-free. It's got 2 modular jacks so that you can connect a regular phone and modem. You can even pick a color scheme of blue, green, red, and yellow.
I've seen unique mouse pads, such as one with a calculator, one made of china, etc. But seeing one with a built-in phone really takes the cake....

Photography

Polaroid in the USA applied for Chapter 11 protection last week. They've announced their restructuring plan, but given the market trends of digital cameras, it's hard to say whether they can really make any improvement. Digital means that there is no more anticipation while you shake the photo to speed up its development -- instead you get instant gratification.Easy and fast were the key phrases used by Polaroid. No longer is either adjective true when used in comparison to digital cameras. Recently I've been hearing that even some professional photographers have given up using manual cameras. And that teachers at some photography schools are telling students not to bother with the courses about exposure or lighting, because they can correct the photos digitally later. On a personal level, a man who runs a photo store in NY told me he has to shut down soon, because he can't keep up with digital camera techniques and technology. He's an old guy and started his career in a development lab about 50 years ago.
If digital cameras dominate the photography world, then can everyone be a photographer? I think the reality is that they can all be picture takers, but it takes emotion and creativity as much as it does technology to take photos that have meaning...

Smell of Autumn

Autumn Equinox has passed, the air is becoming cooler and a little drier everyday. I tend to walk a little longer than usual these days to feel the air and the fragrance of Kinmokusei (Oleaceae/Osmanthus) which has started to bloom. The sweet scent of the flowers makes me feel that life is not that bad. I can walk, see, hear, eat and smell. Maybe this is a kind of aromatherapy after the brutal heat of Tokyo summers.
It's often said that lavender is good for relaxing, but there are some other smells that I love, such as the smell of coffee in the morning, roasting tea leaves, tubs made of Japanese cypress, new green tatami mats, and martini -- even though I don't drink.
Close your eyes, and enjoy your favorite aroma -- Fall in Japan is the right time to do it.

WTC

I'm sure everyone's shocked at the sight of the World Trade Center towers crumbling and collapsing in real time. It wasn't a movie, SF nor CG. Who could've thought they would fly an airplane into those buildings? I was there just 2 weeks ago, wondering why the security check at the airports was much looser than it used to be. As I have Japanese passport, and also obviously am Japanese-looking, usually my security check is easier than for passengers from other countries, but I somehow felt it was much looser than it should be.
The search for the missing is still going on, and I believe some of may have friends or family in that area. I do have some relatives and friends living in Manhattan, and fortunately we found them all safe after sending them e-mail. The phone system was overloaded most of Tuesday, and the only communication tool that worked was e-mail. If I didn't have this, I would've really panicked....
Technology is great but somehow it scares me how it can give you so much detailed information. You can check a 3D diagram at CNN.com of how the plane crashed into the towers. As I watch this surreal scene and in so much detail, it makes me feel numb.
We have no idea what's going to follow at this stage, and I hope things will get better very soon.

Yukata

This weekend (by the time you read it, last weekend) is the Azabu Juban Festival -- a pretty big festival in central Tokyo. I'm going to wear my Yukata (Summer kimono) and just walk around, absorbing the atmosphere of the festival. This is the almost the only chance these days that I get to wear my Yukata. So it's getting harder and harder to recall how to wear it.
When I used to live with my family, my grandma use to dress me. She still wear her Yukata all summer, and it's nothing but a normal piece of apparel to her. But I tend to forget how tight the belt should be, or the length of Yukata, how to fold it, etc., -- all those trivial details.
What I can't forget, though, is the joy of wearing it to go to festivals or fireworks displays. Of course, I know that the wearer will suffer, especially females, from the heat, tightness, and
difficulty in walking with the crowds. But, somehow, it still excites me to wear one.

Parasite Economy

For the last 2 weeks, it's been bargain season at Japanese department stores. I, of course, went to Ginza and did some shopping. I assume most men in the company get bored going out with their partners for shopping. I saw lots of dads and boyfriends lounging around on couches, chairs, stairs and anywhere else they could sit down at stores. They were typically half asleep or gazing dazedly at nothing in particular. On the other hand, I saw hundreds of women actively hunting for new clothes, shoes, bags, accessories, etc. It was like watching a swarm of ants working a picnic lunch...
There is no doubt in my mind that women are the key for Japan to increase its consumption rates, if only because for many of them, they have almost 100% disposable incomes. We've been hearing in the media for some time now about "parasite singles" who live with their parents, while the boyfriend pays for the dates. What a great, if not rather boring life it must be to be a parasite....
As for me, I felt guilty even buying 2 pairs of shoes, but at least I felt a little better once I realized that I was doing my bit to help the economy....

Summer Heat

Boy it's hot! In the evening, even with the air conditioner on, the evening heat has been keeping me awake. I know that it's not really good for you to keep using the aircon all night, but I don't think I could function at work the next day if I didn't. So of course, I'm expecting to get a summer cold because of the temperature fluctuations.
I can't really remember what it was like before we had air conditioners, but I do remember loving to have my mother gently fans me at night as I went to sleep. Was it the light touch of the fan's breeze or the fact that my mother cared enough to do it?
Believe it or not, the real summer isn't due for another month or so! What will you do to survive the next 8 weeks of heat in Tokyo?

Brand Name Goods

Did you notice a huge orange box in Ginza for about an year? That was the construction facade for the biggest Hermes shop in Japan, which finally opened on June 28. More than 1,000 people were waiting in line before the opening at 11:00am, including one 25-year-old woman who waited since 22:00 the night before!
The sale of such brand name goods slowed back in '97 due to the instability of the Asian economy, but it's been climbing back upwards record levels since '99. While it's amazing that people are willing to pay so much for such expensive goods, it's also amazing how much money these big brand names have been plunking down for Tokyo prime properties. For example, Cartier spent about JPY7bn to purchase their building in Ginza. Prada Japan paid about JPY6bn for land for a building they are constructing in Omote sando, and Hermes Japon paid JPY9bn for the new store in Ginza.
The top selling brand is Louis Vuitton and their sales result was JPY720bn for 1999, followed by Hermes at JPY23.65bn.
You have to wonder why Japanese young women get so excited by such expensive brand name goods...

Restaurant-athon!

One of the discussions at the Diet has been about how to improve regional revenue sources. So, how about this unique event to boost the regional economies?
Nakayama Restaurants Association in Nakayama-cho, Yamagata prefecture is organizing a "Town Drink Triathlon" for June 29. Participants have to finish 23 dishes and drinks designated at each restaurant in town, such as Udon, Soba, Beer, etc. You can start anything you want. Additionally, you have to sing Karaoke at one of the 5 Karaoke bars in town!
The event is limited to 100 participants, and only costs JPY3,000. If you want to join this digestive organ triathlon, call 023-662-2207 by June 26 to enter...!