White Band

You see many people wearing "White Band" these days. I think it's a good way to PR those younger generation thru fashion and celebrities posing wearing these, to make them aware that there are lots of people who can't even eat for days and die from starvation.

One day, I saw an elementary school student, probably at 3rd or 4th grade at a famous private school (I can tell from his uniform and hat which school he goes to), wearing one. That scene somehow made me puzzled. Does he really understand "poverty"? Did his parents give it to him to wear because everyone has it, or because it's the latest cool item he must wear to school to show to his friends?

"White Band" are made well to appeal, not just to public, but to well to do, too. But does it really contribute to donation to those starving people? Not in Japan somehow. The system of "White Band" is not structured to collect money for donation to help those people needs real attention. Don't you think it's ironic, that this item is wrapped in a very nice, ideal, and even full of humanity to be presented to the public, but the reality is, abusing the semi-donation system to make money. Those people who are dying from poverty are just chum. They're even more exploited without knowing by such crafty people.

If you really care about helping people, do not show it off, but take action. It might satisfy your own ego having such fashionable item like the famous stars have you see in commercials. Make donation through UNICEF and Red Cross. It's very simple, you don't even need to pose.

Hybrid Cars

At what price people will stop driving cars? We discuss this
frequently because the price of gas goes up literally every
day. It's not hard to imagine that this situation is hurting
many businesses. Take taxis for example. New York's Taxi
and Limousine Association recently approved the use of hybrid
cars for taxis -- something they'd been resisting previously.
Cab drivers can now chose from 6 different kinds of vehicles,
including the Toyota Prius and Ford Escape. The Association
members number 12,760 taxi drivers.

The discussion on how to maintain a vehicle-oriented culture
without the gasoline costs has been going on for a while. A
survey conducted by CAST (Coalition Advocating for Smart
Transportation) in the US shows that 7 out of 10 people are
in favor of shifting taxis to low exhaust emission systems
and fuels, such as the Prius and Honda Civic.

I bet the Detroit-based Big 3 will not be happy about this
change, as they are likely to lose a bigger share of the
market than they already have. But observers are saying that
they have to catch up if they intend to survive. It's been
said that the oil is not inexhaustible and we have all
known what was in store, although most likely many of us
thought it wouldn't happen in our lifetimes.

Moving to hybrid taxes will be a small but visible step to
cutting the use of oil products, hence it will also cut
exhaust emissions and thus slow down global warming. I hope
more people chose of their own free will, if not because of
their pocket books, to become more environmentally aware in
their choice of lifestyle.

Buddha Charm in Silk Road

Watching TV the other night, it was about an ruins of ancient city along Silk Road currently positions in north Gobi Desert of China. The track driver forwarding cars and farming equipments drives national road made on Silk Road had a charm of Buddha hanging from rearview mirror. It was a gift from his mother, who walked about 3-4 hours to get it at the temple. He said he'd got more business thanks to the charm, and didn't have such volume when he used to hang a picture of Mao Tse-tung, where is taken by the charm.

Thought ironic. Everybody wants to have better life for sure.

Humberger steak by masa

Received e-mail message from Masa: says she cooked hamburger steak and left us some at our home. First thing I asked her was where she cooked it. She said at her home. I felt a little better that she didn't cook at our place.

Got home, found an object in a blue plastic bag in the frig. I saw a brown thing in a ziplock tupper in the bag. The tupperware was irregularly formed as it probably melted a bit by the heat from the hamburger. She must have put it right in the tupperware after scooping from the pan...

Found a memo from her on the dining table. Ink from the green pen she used to write was traced on the surface of the table....

Despite its looks, hamburger steak tasted good.

Scraping off the ink from the table, I thought the environments, influences, and the other stuff which form a person works in various ways, although the materials are the same. And it's such a mistery that she's my sister, being what she is....

Saturday Ginza Strolling

We went to Ginza on Sat, and had fun old style shopping. We went to Matsuya department store, and they had Geta (Japanese Wooden Clog) summer store on the top floor. I've been looking for the one with Tatami covered and we were just looking around. Then, there you go, a veteran senior lady was there in Kimono, came to help us. Renfield was the first victim. Once he started searching for Hanao (sandal thong) to go with the sole, her comments became more and more severe, as she knows what's cool and what's not with Geta style. Everything he picked was rejected. It was so funny and piquant that she's got such a frank disposition. While he was looking on in blank amazement, a brown hanao that she chose was fixed to Geta sole by a couple of senior men, just to fit to his feet. While guys were working, she gave me one which has a little stain on the sole but perfectly fine to wear, for a discount of almost 45%. She said she couldn't sell it because of defective goods, but since she likes Renfield, she was giving me such discount. Thanks to Renfield, I could get what I've been looking for at almost 1/3 of what it costs usually in the market!

Then we went on to the Antique fest the department store had on the same floor. We looked around, stopped at a store which has some sword stuff, then the earth quake hit. It was a pretty big one. Despite the threat posed by nature, we continued shopping in the Kimono area, and there they were: more senior ladies waiting for Renfield. He's been looking for man's summer Kimono, but it's really hard to find good one which fits him. Poor Renfield, surrounded by senior women, arguaing over what fits him and what doesn't, how fluent he speaks Japanese, etc. Then one woman pulled out a black kimono with yellow stripe which fits him fine. It's made with rare fabric called Miyako Jofu, which is ramie fabric. It takes 3 months just to make thread enough for a kimono, then die thread, both warp and fill, according to the pattern, then weave. Even skilled professional can weave only about 20cm a day. Not many people make this fabric and it has prices of over a couple of million yen easily in the market these days. She said she didn't really bother selling it to him because no one would be able to find such fabric kimono anymore. Can we miss the chance of getting a fine fit summer kimono? Off course not. We left the store with many senior ladies waving at us.

Since we didn't have lunch, we stopped at Midori Zushi, waited patiently in line for about 30 min. and had good sushi at reasonable price.

That was our Saturday Ginza strolling.

Hay Fever

Despite the snow we had last Friday, spring is approaching for sure, and so is hay fever season.
The weather news media are reporting frequently that the amount of cedar pollen expected this year will be 30 times greater than last year. As a result, you will see quite a lot of people wearing masks and glasses when commuting.
For those who are suffering or almost suffering from hay fever, here's a tour you might be interested in: "Cedar Pollen Hey Fever Retreat Tour" -- which is a tour that Kamishihoro Town in Hokkaido is planning. You get to stay 4 nights and 5 days, and the tour comes complete with hot spring visit, medical check at hospital, walks in the woods, hot-air balloon ride, etc. They're still organizing guinea pigs to participate as a trial, but have already received a huge number of applications.
As one of the Regional Vitalization Manager Businesses set by Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, this tour is initiated by Kamishihoro Town for the purpose of promoting the Immune Resort, based on the idea of living in an environment which is free from allergens -- so as to balance your immune system and be healthier.
I don't need to join this tour right now, but I definitely want to go out and reset my balance in a nice hot spring somewhere....

Shopping For the Economy

As you might have noticed, Tokyo is decorated with Christmas baubles already and you feel the pressure from retailers to invite you in and buy presents for Christmas. I'm almost starting to feel oppressed by all the illuminations and Christmas songs -- it's so commercial. Still, I guess that after a decade of low consumer spending, this is the one season where retailers actually have a chance of making some decent money.
According to Ministry of Administration, the retail sales have dropped every month for the last 3 months, about 1.4% less than last year for October -- indicating that the "great Japanese recovery" is not so great. The total sales were about JPY10,472,000,000,000 -- which is quite a large number! Oh, that's about $100 billion for those of you still used to thinking in dollars.
Well, despite my misgivings, maybe I can contribute just a tiny bit to the economy -- and buy myself a gift for Christmas! That Apple iPod Mini looks kind of cool.

Certified

The Ojika City Tourist Association has created an entertainment program run by "Namahage Evangelists." Ojika City is in Akita Pref. and is home to a unique event called "Hamahage" -- a traveling show of actors reenacting plays of demons and folk tales. The show moves from house to house in the city, exposing kids to the rich cultural heritage of Ojika peninsula -- and sometimes scaring kids in the process!
To become a certified evangelist, you need to pass on exam -- the first of its kind in Japan. Hopeful actors sit the exam on Nov 27 each year. Questions include knowledge about the history of Namahage, facts about the performance, and origins of the masks. Prior to sitting the exam, applicants must join a tour of the Namahage museum and attend 3 and half hours of lectures.
In certification crazy Japan, a program like this is probably a good idea and a possible blueprint for other villages and cities around Japan which are suffering from migration to the cities.
If you're interested in graduating as a Namahage evangelist, the application fee is JPY3,000 and lecture JPY3,000. Reservations can be made by calling 0185-24-4700!

Haircut

As most of you might have seen on the way to visit clients or coming to work, there are many beauty parlors around this area. Obviously they're making enough money to stay here, which means thousands of people go to have their hair fashioned, constantly.
For those fashion conscious people, especially busy women, there's a very convenient beauty parlor that has just opened in Shibuya. It opens from noon to 8:00 A.M. the following morning. It's called FREEVE and is located in Dogenzaka.
So, if you suddenly decide to change your hairstyle around midnight, or didn't have time to stop somewhere else before closing time, you can try this place regardless of the hour!

Tokyo's neon lights never turn off and it's difficult to experience pitch darkness these days. Can you even remember what it is like being in perfect darkness?
"Dialog in the Dark 2004 Tokyo" - is an exhibition running until Sep 4 in Aoyama, Tokyo. It's a very unique workshop that lets you experience pitch darkness and recover your balance of the five senses.
Human beings depend on their visual sense to receive 80% of their external sensory information. If you lose your eyesight, what is it like? Surely you must have had a taste of the fear and anxiety when surrounded by complete darkness. After a period of time, though, you overcome (apparently) the anxiety and you instinctively try using your hands to touch and feel your environment. You will also smell things around you and feel the air flows. Basically your non-sight senses sharpen, and you start to feel something you would never be able to feel while sighted.
At this exhibition, your eyes are covered and you are lead by visually impaired people in a small group of 10 for an hour. You get to listen to water flows, enjoy a drink at a bar counter, etc. Since this remarkable exhibition started in Germany in 1989, it has been held in over 14 nations and over 100 cities, and has had more than 2 million attendees.
If you're interested in attending, you can purchase tickets from this website.

Keeping Cool

It's been hot here in Tokyo with average of 35C (approx 95F) degrees, and until this last week, it didn't fall below than 30C (approx 86F) degrees at night for days on end. Every day, the news announcements say that quite a number of people were taken to hospitals suffering from heat stroke. It really makes me wonder if this is just global warming or something else.
When you go outside, you might notice most building air conditioning facilities blow hot air straight out on to the street. In addition, the road re-radiates solar energy, automobiles emit auto exhaust, and in Tokyo at least, there is little green nor dirt to lessen the impact of such heat.
Well, here's something you can do to cool down the city. Sprinkle water! There's an event you can join without going out or costing you money: "Uchimizu Daisakusen (Water Sprinkling Operation)" is scheduled from Aug 18 - 25. The concept is simple - sprinkle water around your house, work place, town, etc., at noon during this period.
The first city-wide experiment was conducted last year, and researchers found that if 1m people were to sprinkle water at the same time, Tokyo's temperature would drop an estimated 2C degrees. Uchimizu isn't anything new, but rather a tradition that people left behind when they modernized. You might still see some elder people sprinkle waters mornings and early evenings in your old neighborhood.
Uchimizu is simple. Just use a bucket, or a bottle, or any kind
of water container, and sprinkle the water on the ground,
street, or even the walls of your house/apartment. Using tap
water is not recommended, since it is a waste of a natural
resource. However, using non-potable water, such as the cooling
water from your air conditioners, bath tub, rain water, etc.,
does just fine.

Natto

July 10 is the day of Natto (fermented soybeans), one of the most unliked foods by foreigners. The date is simply a translation of the word into the Japanese number/counting system. That is: July is seven -> "na"; 10th is ten -> "to". I'm sure most of you who are non-Japanese have at some time been challenged to eat this very sticky and slightly smelly food by a Japanese friend. Well, it may surprise you to know that many Japanese, including myself, don't like Natto, either. Although, Terrie tells me that his 3 daughters living in New Zealand, love it and eat as much as they can when they holiday here in Japan???!
Have you ever had a situation where a food you've always despised suddenly doesn't taste so bad? Maybe it's just a function of maturing taste buds, but I wish that the day would come, because Natto is really quite good for you.
Indeed, these days you don't have to eat Natto to get the health benefits. Did you know that there are Natto soaps, Natto essences, Natto lotions, Natto bath salts, etc. Also, you can try unique versions of Natto these days -- such as: black bean Natto, scent-free Natto, etc. Hmmm, scent-free...
what they really need is stickiness-free, then maybe I'd like it!

So Young

Japanese television viewers were greeted with shocking news a few weeks ago when an 11-year old girl in the 6th grade killed a 12-year old classmate during the lunch break at their elementally school, using a paper cutter. The murder motive is still under investigation, but its looks like a simple case of taunting and revenge. The highlight of the case apart from the youth of the suspect is that the taunting was apparently conducted on the Internet. The suspected killer repeatedly asked the victim to stop making postings about her, but in vain.
Is this a enough reason to kill someone, especially at this age? Clearly for the suspect, it was. The Japanese media are now doing a lot of soul-searching, trying to decide whether the ability of being able to use the Internet has removed the elements of restraint and decorum from interpersonal relationships -- to the general determent of society...
All I know is that two lives were ruined in just the 6 grade.

Spirit of Travel

May 16 is Tourism Day, in honor of the famous Edo era's haiku poet, Basho. He started his trip, "Okuno Hosomichi" (A Haiku Journey: Narrow Road to a Far Province) in 1689 this day. His opening haiku of this trip is:
「月日は百代の過客にして、行きかふ年もまた旅人なり」
(The passing days and months are eternal travelers in time. The years that come and go are travelers too.)
He walked a total of 2,500km from Edo to Ogaki for 5 months, and made quite a number of famous haiku, most of which the Japanese know well.
As you've probably experienced, travel forces you into unusual situations and conditions and can literally be a trip to the extraordinary. Something primitive in you comes to the surface. Basho kept making haiku as they came to him, and following his instincts his talent was freed. Surprisingly, most of those sites that he visited and made haiku at still and have been preserved as they were. Needless to say, many people visit sites and follow his trail.
At one point, Basho quotes a monk, Kobo Daishi,
「古人の跡を求めず、古人の求めたる所を求めよ」
(Not seeking ancients' trace, seek where ancients' sought).
In this quote he discovered the truth that it is important to follow the spirit of the inherited wisdom of ancient times, not to just imitate it. As we promote tourism in Japan, I hope more people will come visit Japan to discover the spirit that this haiku saint found on his trek.

Business Morals

Bird flu is hitting Asia and damaging the major sector in the food industry, which had been on the verge of recovery after an earlier mad cow disease scare. One of the top players in the industry, Asada Nosan, which owns 6 chicken farms in Hyogo and Okayama, is at the center of a chicken flu scandal. Their chickens were suffering from the chicken flu and tens of thousands of birds had died from it. Asada Nosan didn't report the mysterious deaths for a few days, although chicken flu was already in the media everywhere. They insist they were planning to make a report, but the investigation came before they had a chance. Where the scandal comes in is that not only were they negligent in not reporting to the health authorities, but further they tried to sell most of their remaining live chickens and eggs as quickly as possible. It was found out, during the investigation, that some of the chicken and eggs made it to wholesalers and thus to the consumer markets.
Asada Nosan is guilty of a moral breach. Is this where Japanese business in general is headed? I assume they're afraid of causing a huge damage to their own business, but as a result, they ended up shutting down the firms and close the business. In addition, Kyoto Police is even thinking about pursuing the case in court. They're damaged not just business wise but socially. Hin sureba donsuru ("Poverty dulls the wit"). They sought easy money, without any hint of conscience. Consequently, the price they have to pay for this can be beyond their imagination.

Comedy Business

I hear the news says the job fair for the graduating students out number quite often due to the limited number of the job openings which is still the trend of most of the companies these days.
Yoshimoto Kogyo, the biggest entertainment company manages Japanese comedians located in Osaka will start charging those students for their company information session from next year. They usually have more than 1,000 attendees, but most of these are just banter. They hire less than 10. They're planning to cover the cost to open the session by charging the students.
At the same time, they'll have their own comedians to have their show during the session. That way, some of these attendees will like those comedians and become fan.
Well, this is the Osaka marchant's spirit, I thought. This plan is a good PR to them, they'll get money by the session, and also, it's purely a comedy show. Don't underestimate the power of Kansai....

Diet

Welcome back! After all the festivities, I guess it's now time for a diet!
These days' the trend in diets is definitely towards low-carbohydrate, high-protein menus, such as the Atkins or South Beach diets. These certainly work for some people -- like Bill Clinton, the former President of the United States.
As I recall, there has always been some trendy, effective diet that is taking the media by storm. They have been many and varied, including non-sugar, low-fat, decaf, etc. Now, even the fast food industry is looking into the lucrative diet market.
For example, KFC has announced that their fried chicken fits in perfectly with the low-carbohydrate and high-protein diet -- although as they admit on the side of each ad, "This is not a low-fat, low-sodium, low-cholesterol food." What???!
Probably a better example is Subway, which once featured in its ads proof that the menu is "diet fast food" by showing the case of Jared Fogle, a guy who ate a Subway turkey sandwich everyday and lost 245 pounds (about 110kg) in the process. Now Subway is going to start selling Atkins Diet-friendly wraps. They're made from special wheat and soy grains that are high in fiber and protein, but carry only one-third the carbohydrates.
I personally believe the diet is a matter of balancing food, exercise and life style, and those who want to lose wait should in fact avoid fast food altogether. Anyway, if you're on a diet, here are some examples of your breakfast at McDonalds':
1) a reduced-fat breakfast with less than 8 grams of fat -- such as an Egg McMuffin minus the cheese and butter.
2) For the low-carb dieter, a breakfast with less than 5 grams of carbohydrates would be a platter of double meat or eggs without the English muffin, biscuit or hash browns.
3) For those only counting calories, a breakfast of 300 calories or less would be an Egg McMuffin, a snack-size Fruit'n Yogurt Parfait or scrambled eggs with a plain English muffin.

Service

It's already December, and some of you are probably busy organizing Christmas and year-end parties. As a world-famous metropolis, Tokyo has variety of restaurants with a wide range of pricing and styles. It looks like "healing" is still the trend, and new stylish and modern restaurants with dim lighting are taking over from hard-core restaurants. Although, there are many around, it's getting harder to find a reasonable restaurant with the right mix. Many restaurants have cool decor but forget what good service is, or, the food is great but the drinks are made from canned juices or premixed cocktails, etc. Of course there are some restaurants where the shortcomings are not worth bothering about...
For example, one evening my husband and I went to a nice restaurant which has been in Tokyo quite a while. The price range was about mid-high, interior was nice and there were lots of flowers. But, the service was terrible.
Obviously they had a bunch of part-time waiters with very little experience. It made me wonder if the price I was paying made it worth eating here and I wanted to tell them what their problems were. Perhaps they could hire me as a service improvement consultant, paid by barter instead of cash. This seems to be another trend in business at the moment, and I'd be happy to provide some consulting services in this area...!

Recently some banks accept the signatures instead of seals (Hanko), but you will still encounter situations where you still you need to use a Hanko.
Originally the Hanko was an invention of the Sumerians, in Mesopotamia, back in BC4,000. In those days, seals were made from clay with distinctive patterns and were used to close off a cylinder containing a document. If the seal was broken, that meant someone had opened the package, and at the same time, the pattern on this seal was good luck charm.
In Japan, they introduced institutional Hankos in the 8th Century, but these died out as the government faded from power. Thereafter, people started using their own handwritten logos, which acted as signatures, called Kao (Flower Seal).
This system lasted hundreds of years, while there was stability and peace in the realm, but once the period of the Warring Sates started in the 16th century, Hanko came back into fashion -- because it was quicker.
Is the role of a Hanko as a good luck charm dead? Well, it's in the ink we use with Hanko. Vermilion ink (Shuniku) is made from vermilion diluted with castor oil. In ancient Japan, coffins were painted vermilion, because it was an excellent bug repellent and preserver, AND in addition it appeared that vermilion had magical properties. Namely, its color turns back to red even after being burned black in a fire. Thus, vermilion became the symbol for revitalization.
Then, how about Kao? We still use these unique signatures for formal documents. For example, the Prime Minister signs after his name on the document approving the choice of cabinet. You can see some examples of early Prime Ministers' Kao.

Nintendo

Nintendo stopped producing the Nintendo Famicon last September. The closure marked the end of two decades of game console history. In total the company sold 110m units globally. The reason Nintendo stopped production was that they've been having major problems buying the necessary parts, due to drastic changes going on in the electronics market.
Nintendo was definitely a historical icon. Before the first Famicon appeared, the size of Japanese game market was JPY180bn, but after Nintendo's release, the size swelled to JPY700bn. Globally, the game market in 2001 hit JPY1.45trn. That's quite a lot of cash!
I remember spending hours and hours with games such as Super Mario, Xevious, Metroid, Dragon Quest, etc. Infact, my parents were always complaining about the amount of time I spent on games. Today, these games look a bit boring, but they had a great concept which made up for the lack of computer graphics. Actually, some might say that games today are too realistic.
Recent research done here in Japan suggests that up to 60% of kids and young adults who are socially withdrawn are heavily dependent on computer games, and that the games may be damaging their ability to socialize with others.
I don't want to say that games in themselves are bad, because certainly there are much more addictive "things" in this world that the troubled mind can turn to. And personally, I feel that game consoles and their characters might have actually helped some kids. Certainly everyone knows Mario and I wonder how often he was used as an ice breaker for those without much else to say?