the random thoughts of my mind...

the way to a mans heart 7

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:37:44 +0900

this summer has been really hot here, so we tended to eat lots of typical summer japanese food which is light and healthy. we ate different types of cold noodles, lots of avocados (why don’t we pluralize that as avocadoes?) and also some amazing tofu dishes!

so why are you still reading this? go check out the picts!

drunk driving laws in japan

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:58:24 +0900

unlike most americans, i don't like to drive a car. this is one of the reasons why i love living in tokyo. they have an amazing public transportation system that will not only take me all around this city, but will also take me all around the country! i am very happy not driving a car!

one of the other reasons i like taking public transportation over driving, is alcohol. i was always careful not to drive under the influence in america, but it can be tough. if you go to a friends house or a restaurant and have a beer, you might be over the legal limit and might find yourself paying a fine, end up in jail, or loosing your license. of course you could also end up causing an accident and hurting yourself or even worse, others. i am very happy to go out and have some drinks, and then stumble my way back home via the trains.

well, not all people living in tokyo are like me. many people drive, and there is a problem here with drunk driving as well. just like in america there are tough laws on the books, but just recently i learned how tough they really are here. i guess they recently implemented some even stricter laws that seem tougher than any of the laws i've heard about in the states...

i read that a japanese drunk driver can face up to five years in prison on a first offense! also they can incur fines of up to around $8,000!

an impaired driver faces up to three years in prison and fines of up to about $4,000! what makes a driver impaired? a blood alcohol level of .03 - only about one beer.

the most interesting law though is one that i think should be implemented in the states:

a passenger riding with a drunk driver can be fined up to $5,000 and face up to three years in prison for not stopping the crime from occurring. also, anyone who lends their car to a drunk is criminally responsible.

the last part might be a bit too harsh. if you lend someone your car, i don't think you should be responsible for what they do with it. the first part though is a very interesting and unique way to help curb the drunk driving problem. if you make the people who ride with a drunk driver responsible as well, they might speak up and stop the act from happening in the first place.

i don't know what the statistics are and if drunk driving incidents have declined since the new laws, but i'm curious if these harsher penalties and new laws made a difference.

banana vending machine!

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 16:39:18 +0900

japan is known for it’s crazy and interesting vending machines. well, there is a new vending machine that recently appeared in shibuya selling... bananas!

dole set up this vending machine targeting people on their way to and from work and school. the machine was placed in an underground connection between two major train lines - the tokyu denentoshi line and the hanzomon line.

so will selling bananas in a vending machine be a success? it’s already proven to be one!

i read an article that said the machine sold out all of its stock on the first day, and has been selling out on subsequent days as well. i even made 3 trips to the vending machine, and only saw bananas in it once! either they don’t restock it often, or they are quite popular!

they sell one banana for ¥130 (about $1.50) and a bunch for ¥390 (about $4.50). they have covered garbage cans next to the machine to toss your banana peel if you want to eat it right there. i’m assuming though that most japanese bring it with them to eat at work or school since it’s generally not considered good manners to eat in public.

it might sound like a crazy idea, but i think it’s really smart. for busy urban people in a rush, it’s nice to have a healthy choice for a snack. i hope to see even more of these vending machines, with even more fruit options in the future!

nebuta matsuri

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 22:03:59 +0900

i just came back from an amazing trip to aomori. aomori is located in the northern part of honshu island, the same island as tokyo. i went there with chiz for the famous nebuta festival and also because it's chiz' dad's hometown. we visited her grandmother, aunts, uncle and her dad who was visiting along with us.

first let me start by singing the praises of high-speed rail. japan has one of the best train systems in the world and i love riding on it! it took us only 4 hours to get to aomori - i was told would be a 10-11 hr drive. while a plane would have been faster in the air, it's a royal pain in the ass to get to and from the airport! on a trip like this i don't think we would have saved any time either. the train is cheaper; you have much more room in your seat; there are no luggage screenings; you don't have to arrive hours earlier; and is just relaxing! also, instead of shitty food served in the air, chiz and i went to "ekiben" places in the train station to buy really good bento boxes for our trip. i really think that america needs to invest in a high-speed railway system!

chiz and i took a few days off from work for the famous nebuta festival! i've been to a few festivals in japan, but i have to say that this was my favorite! part of that had to do with the fact that i actually got to be in the festival!

so basically, there are different companies, schools, and other organizations (about 22 this year) that hire artists to create a "nebuta" for them. a nebuta is a three-dimentional interpretation of an old painting from the time of the samurais... that lights up! it's truly amazing to see these sculptures, and even more amazing to see them lit up at night! to make it even cooler, they parade them around the city at night for a few days. it's crazy, they are put on big wheeled dollies with all the electronics inside and are pushed by a team of people! they don't just walk around in a straight line either... they spin them, tip them up and down... it takes a lot of organization and creativity!

in addition to these amazing sculptures, each company has a musical element and dance element. they perform the same music and do the same dances as each group, but have their own interpretations. it's not about being original with the music and dancing, it's more about spirit, enthusiasm and creativity with outfits and design.

chiz' dad, kimbo-san, works for hitachi, and usually joins their group. chiz and i could not join them though, so, her uncle who works for the jr train system was able to get us a spot marching with them. they allow anyone to join their group and dance with them. chiz' uncle, takeshi-san, didn't join but kimbo-san, chiz and i all got dressed up and danced with jr! it was really lots of fun!!!

here is a video from the first night of dancing

on the second night we got dressed up again, but actually joined hitachi's group for a while. see, as long as you are dressed up for the festival, you are allowed to walk in the street and dance. everyone else stays on the sideline and watches the parade. kimbo-san's idea was that as long as we are dressed up, we can go where we want and get really close to the nebutas and take good photos! he was right! they also didn't really mind where we danced on the last night because the the judging was over. each group is judged in three categories, the nebuta (60%), the dancing (20%) and the music (20%). jr didn't do so great this year, but hitachi came in 2nd place!

and that seems like enough right? well there's more! on saturday night, after the parades are all done and the judging is over there is a fireworks display by the water. in addition to the fireworks, they also have the winning group of nebutas on barges floating down by the bay! it’s really beautiful! kimbo-san went out early in the day and taped off a spot for us. it’s crazy, but if you go and tape an area and put your name on it, people won’t take it! i still can’t wrap my head around that one! in america people would just take it and say “what? you weren’t here... i’m here now... make me move!”

i really loved everything about the nebuta festival. i loved being in the parade and dancing. i loved the celebration of creativity and design of the nebutas too. i also loved giving bells to the people watching the parade. all the people in the parade have these little bells that they toss to people watching... it’s good luck. i enjoyed giving them to the kids i saw... it was just a really great time! the only thing that bothered me about it was that after the festival... they just burn the nebutas. i guess some of the winners have a bit of a longer life - they are sent around as advertisements for the festival. all that hard work, creativity and imagination just gets burned up in the end... i thought that was sad...

aomori is usually a very cold place. it’s quite north, and in the winter has heavy amounts of snow. the time we were there though it was extremely hot! the temperature reached 36 degrees celsius! none of the houses we were in had air conditioning... so we sweated a lot and took 3 showers a day!

the food was also really great! aomori is known for their apples (not in season now though) and for their seafood! honestly, we ate sashimi at least 2 times a day! i enjoyed it every time! we even ate at a place that was so special, we went back for a second time. chiz read about this fish market that sells bowls of rice for about $1. then you can take the rice around to the different participating stalls and buy fresh fish for your bowl. depending on what you want, it cost about $1-$2 for toppings! in the end it was quite cheap for a really fresh and tasty meal!

chiz’ dad also treated us to a very special meal. it was at a restaurant that served a very traditional set course and had a performance by a woman who kimbo-san when to school with, Nishikawa Yoko aka Takahashi Chikuen II. she was the first pupil of the tsugaru-jamisen under the famous master, Takahashi Chikuzan (he even has a myspace page!), and has become a master of it herself. she put on an amazing performance! the tsugaru-jamisen is a traditional japanese musical instrument and i guess different types are played in different ways around japan. in aomori, they play it much harder and faster... i wanted to take a video, but she asked that we didn’t. i was expecting those simple twangs that you might hear playing in the background of a japanese restaurant, but instead it actually reminded me of a banjo or even a guitar at times. she was rocking out!!! it was a very cool experience and if anyone goes to aomori, i would suggest checking it out!

we stayed at chiz’ uncle’s house. takeshi-san was an amazing host and even took days off from work to take us around and hang out with us. i really appreciate him opening up his home and taking such good care of us. i also enjoyed meeting the rest of chiz’ extended family. her grandmother was adorable! she is small in size but has a big heart is is really sweet. so were her two aunts, reiko-san and noriko-san who always made me feel comfortable and welcomed. also, reiko-san’s husband, megumi-san, who is a taxi driver, took us all around the city! they were really wonderful and i’m glad that i got the chance to meet them all!

it was a great trip! i not only enjoyed meeting chiz’ extended family, but i also loved participating in the nebuta festival. i would love to visit everyone in aomori again soon!

check out the picts from our trip as well.

hanabi

Mon, 2 Aug 2010 11:25:24 +0900

hanabi is the japanese word for fireworks. the kanji is actually “flower + fire” which is a pretty good description of fireworks!

in the summer, there are a ton of huge fireworks events held all over tokyo and through japan. it’s really fun to see people dressed in yukatas (a summer kimono) wandering all over the city. i’ve been to a couple of different events during my time in tokyo. while they are fun, they are also REALLY crowded! hundreds of thousands of people all converge in a fairly small area to see the show - what a mess! the worst are the ones that are in the heart of the city, all the buildings block the view of the show. my favorite one though is held in tachikawa. there is a huge park that i’ve blogged about before (showa kinen park) where they have the event. the area is immense, so even though there are tons of people, it’s not so bad.

this year, since i work on sat, chiz went to the park early with her friend nao. they enjoyed the day and saved a spot for us in the big open field. my friends marc, wil and wayne also joined. chiz was really sweet and made sure there was food waiting for us when we arrived! it was a great spot too, i’ve never been so close to the action before.

the fireworks show was beautiful. besides the amazing huge fireworks, they had many other interesting ones like smiley faces, cartoon characters, flowers... it was really fun to watch. unlike in america, there is no music played along with the show to create a rhythm. i wish there was though because i think it would have made the show better. it was still beautiful though and we had a fun time. all thanks to chiz’ planning and her finding such a great spot to watch it!

i got some good picts from the show using the fireworks setting on my camera.