Frank Goes Hi-Tech (in a fashionable, not nerdy way)

I was told the other day that you are a nobody in Japan if you don't have email on your phone by one of the younger engineers. I was definitely a nobody. My old phone was out of date - no email address, no ability to send pictures to others, no movie feature, no ability to play MP3 tunes, no access to the internet, etc. I had of course seen everyone on the train using theirs to control satellites in space, check the stock market, etc. but I barely knew how to turn mine on and off.

So here is my new phone, with a picture of me on the screen. It of course has screens on both sides and cameras on both sides. That way, when I am video-conferencing I can switch back and forth with the other person between looking at me and looking at my surroundings (I am not kidding). If I am video conferencing, there is a tiny picture of me in the corner talking and moving around and a bigger one of the other person. Is that cool? If I strapped it to my wrist I could be Dick Tracy.

Text messaging is a really big deal here and it seems like everyone does it. It is cheaper than a phone call and a good way to pass the time. The phones have something called E-moji which are like sophisticated smiley faces to communicate emotions or concepts. Like the emoticons on instant messenger with more choices standard. "E-mo" is short for emotion and "ji" is a suffix for characters or alphabets in this instance so E-moji means Emotional Alphabet. People also use old fashioned ones like our sideways ones e.g. :-) for happy or :-( for sad. But they can be a lot more complicated, are upright, and can use the hirigana and katakana alphabets.

Here is a simple example:

(^-^)

Of course I can also assign different tunes to different people's ring, have their picture pop up when they call, send email message, record movies, access the internet, play games, use it as a calculator, a calendar, alarm clock, and as an electonic massager if I set it on vibrate. So I should be fairly up to date for another 6-8 weeks or so.

That's all for now. I start my trip tomorrow so I'll write email and post to the blog when I can. And if you need to reach me, my phone works anywhere in the world now. Catch you later...

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Yokohama Chinatown

A Gate into Chinatown

Palm Readers

Chinese New Years was this last week and there was a big celebration at Chinatown in Yokohama. There were fireworks and this weekend there was a Dragon Dance (I missed it - went and ate Indian food at an Indian friend's apartment instead). Anyway, Chinatown is very interesting - tons of restaurants. I also found some other good places to take visitors such as the doll museum, red brick warehouse shops, Yamashita park, etc.

The picture just above shows the palm readers. I think this must be a big activity at New Years just like getting a new fortune at the temple is. I have seen Japanese fortune tellers and palm readers before but not quite like this. These were lined up in a row and doing great business. Also, they were using magnifying glasses to see the palm better. Chinese palm readers must really be into detail.

I missed a couple of photo opportunities this weekend. I always carry my camera with me. But this last week I cleaned out my backpack to organize it. I was trying to find my camera and thought I'd left it out of the backpack. So I missed an opportunity to photograph the Tokyo marathon and also what looked to be a photography club in the park by the apartment.

There were about 100 people in four groups photographing these girls posing in the park. It wasn't a fashion shoot or anything like that. I've seen those here before and in London. I think it was a bunch of goofy guys in a club (gee - I wonder if they would let me join?). There weren't any women except the 4 girls being photographed. Anyway, I could have got behind the girls and photographed the guys looking silly but I missed it because I couldn't find my camera.

Turned out it was in my backpack hidden behind the umbrella. I thought for a while I had lost it. I have really enjoyed taking snapshots and would have had to have bought a new digital camera immediately if I hadn't found it. By the way, if you want to see some more snapshots just click on the picture of Yebisu at right. I will put some more over there from time to time.

This week's new food word is "nameko" - a kind of small button mushroom put into Miso soup. They didn't have my usual "shijimi" - small clams - so I tried the nameko and tofu. Tasty.

By the way, HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

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Important Discovery for Snack Lovers

Today I was talking to one of the secretaries about rice crackers - called sembei and / or okaki (I'm not sure of the difference - I get different answers depending on who I ask). I mentioned last month that my favorite is kuromame sembei - black bean crackers. Another favorite is the mixes like in this bag. Sometimes the mix will have peanuts, various small rice crackers, even tiny dried fish. So I described it and asked what it was.

"They are friends of alcohol" she said, meaning they are something that is normally eaten while drinking. "Tomodachi no arukoru" I said and she smiled. That's good, I've been calling them Japanese Beer Snacks. The real name is Kawakimono.

This leads to one of my pet peeves. None of my dictionaries consistently list all the same words if you go from Japanese to English and then English to Japanese. For example, I knew that a word for friends is tomodachi. I decided to look it up just now to make sure of the spelling. When I looked up friend on the English side it listed yuujin, mikata, etc. but no tomo (tomo is singular - tomodachi is plural). But when I looked up tomo on the Japanese side it says friend. I especially dislike it when my electronic dictionary does this since it seems like it would be easy to have consistent linked words.

Only an engineer, or maybe an English teacher, would spend time considering something like this. I guess it is harmless entertainment though.

Mystery to Sowa Ice Cream Shop Solved

This map should solve the mystery of why I had not previously spotted the Sowa Ice Cream Shop as first reported on February 3rd, 2005. This is the actual map given to me by Kiyoko-san and it clearly shows the location of the shop with a pointing hand. Even I was able to pinpoint the location immediately on the map by following the finger to the spot where the shop is located. I have added a large red arrow which indicates the path I normally follow along the street when going through this area.

At this point, I should mention that I don't take this path every day, but maybe have gone down the road 20 times or so in the past on the way to Kamiyacho. If you will observe, I would have to twist unnaturally to the right and look somewhat behind me down the small side street in order to observe the ice cream shop. Also, I should mention that I normally go this way in daylight when the admittedly garish sign is not near so obvious.

Let he among ye who hasn't worn glasses throw the first cone. Or said another way, those who live in glass igloos shouldn't snow cones.

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Japanese Holidays and Observances

We have a holiday coming up so I thought I'd post them just so people interested would know what they are:

• Jan 01 – New Year’s Day
• Jan 10 – Coming of Age Day
• Feb 11 – National Foundation Day
• Mar 21 – Spring Equinox
• Apr 29 – Nature Day
• May 03 – Constitution Memorial Day
• May 04 – Citizen’s Day
• May 05 – Children’s Day
• Jul 18 – Sea Day
• Sep 19 – Respect for the Aged Day
• Sep 23 – Autumn Equinox
• Oct 10 – Sports Day
• Nov 03 – Culture Day
• Nov 23 – Labor Thanksgiving Day
• Dec 23 – Emperor’s Birthday

Happy National Foundation Day!

Shibuya - Another View from the Station

This may be the dinosaur building.

Crossing the Street at Shibuya Station

This crossing is always crowded, and of course, lit up at night.

I am fine and hope you are also. This week I posted some pictures and sparked unexpected interest from my readers about fashion accessories, in particular bags from the train picture. Pull down the comments and you will see. Thanks to those who make a comment - I get a message when that happens and always go to look and see who posted it.

By the way, you might have noticed that sometimes I put a V=xxx at the bottom of a posting. This is the cumulative number of times the blog has been viewed since I started the counter about 2 months ago. So by looking at that I can tell that it is accessed over a 100 times a week right now. So, even though some of you access it more than once a week I am guessing there are a fair number of people I don't know visiting and sometimes they leave comments. Interesting...

Sa, mata ato de...

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Sowa Ice Cream Shop

This is the Sowa Ice Cream Shop which is just around the other side of Atagoyama from me. The little factory where they make the ice cream is just next door. Amazing, but I had never noticed it before and I've walked through that area many times. I was talking to one of the secretaries and she said she used to work near Kamiyacho and there was a famous ice cream shop there. So this evening I walked over there and this is it. Good ice cream too. So there is still more to do and taste even after a year. By the way, the word for ice cream is aisukurimu (Romaji spelling). It is pronounced "ice cream" with a hint of an Italian accent.

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I've Been Here Officially One Year

Today I've been here officially for one year. My visa was issued on February 3rd of last year and so I had to get it renewed. Today I had to go to the Ward Office to report that I had a new visa and get my alien registration card stamped. In addition, I had completely filled all my passport pages and it was about to expire, so last month I got a new passport.

So, my passport is blank except for a Japanese visa. I guess I'll have to go somewhere.

If you look back in the blog, I started the semi-regular weekly emails in February of last year also. Sometimes it feels like the time has gone really fast and sometimes it feels like I've been here forever. Mostly it has been good and I've been able to go home regularly and have visitors too.

The blog thing is interesting for me - it has turned into a little bit more of a diary than what it used to be which was a place to post email I sent home. I have never kept a diary (except for those running mileage diaries I used to keep) because I never felt it was worth recording what I was doing. But this is interesting because it is more about things happening around me.

On the Train Today

On the train today I saw a stylish young woman with a Louis Vuitton bag seated next to a homeless man with unkempt beard and long hair who was mumbling to himself. She was reading her magazine and he sounded incoherent. I sneaked a picture. There is another world outside of the bubble.

Tanchou Zuru - Sacred Japanese Crane

Cranes

The Tancho fish got me to thinking about the Tanchou crane and I investigated it a little. This picture is from a calendar I have and came from an old scroll (thank you for the calendar Akemi-san). The crane is considered sacred and seen as a symbol of fidelity, good luck, love and long life in the Orient. It is the second rarest crane in the world behind the Whooping crane.

Origami cranes are often folded in Japan to express sympathy or hope - especially when done in large numbers of a 1000 or more. After September 11th, a number of school children in Japan folded cranes in sympathy. The the following link for information on how to fold one: origami crane

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The 36th All Combined Nishiki Goi Show

Today I went to a koi show here in Tokyo. My pictures don't do the fish justice - but catch the picture of the champion for an idea of what they really look like. This is a great way to view the very best fish up close but not necessarily the best way to enjoy them. The blue plastic pools in a convention hall with fluorescent lighting just isn't that aesthetic! Much nicer to see them in a pond in a park setting.

There were all types and sizes from a few inches up to over a yard. There were hundreds of fish there. This is just a few of the types. There are also black and white ones, yellow ones, metallic ones, all types. Hey - since you are here, why not vote on the best fish. Just make a comment under your favorite one. I liked the Taisho Sanke and it was one of the first fish I saw when I walked in.

Want to know more about koi? Try this link: Koi Encyclopedia

So, this has been a very good weekend for fish - first Tsukiji and then the koi show. Hope you enjoyed yours...

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Grand Champion

I can't take credit for the photograph (it looks like they didn't have to deal with that overhead fluorescent lighting). It's a good one that really shows the colors.

Showa Sanhoku

Predominately black koi with three colors. San means three. This one seems to have some "doitsu" scalation - the shiny scales up near the dorsal fin. The names can be kind of complicated.

Maruten Kohaku

Red and white fish. Maruten means there is a distinct red spot on the head. Note the deeper color in the first fish compared to the one behind it.

Sanke

Sanke - three colors (red, white, and black)

Tancho Kohaku

The name Tancho is derived from the national bird of Japan - a crane with a red spot on it's head. The fish are all white with the red spot. They are prized because of the similarity to the Japanese flag, and of course the national bird. This one was a very large fish.

Two Shiro Utsuri (Black and white), a Yamabuki Ogon (yellow), and a Sanke.

Tsukiji - Roy Searches for the Freshest Tako

Tsukiji is the big fish market in Tokyo. All kinds of edible things from the sea. Definitely worth a visit if you can get there. There are incredible numbers of species and cuts of fish. The big auction starts early - about 3:00 in the morning. And the activity is amazing. Here, Roy sorts threw the Octopus (Tako) for his dinner.

By the way, check out the new clock in the sidebar on my blog. Pull down the menu with your mouse and you can find the time in a number of interesting places where I hang out. Thanks to Erica http://www.swantrek.com/ for finding it and all the help in getting it to work the way I wanted.

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You have to eat

This has been a very slow weekend. Saturday the email was down at work so there wasn't too much catching up to do. I was only there about 4 hours. Today I took the whole day off and did nothing except my laundry. And tomorrow is "Chiyoda Founding Day" so I have the day off. Normally I would go in anyway but I have decided to not go in.

I can't really remember the last time I took two plus days off when I didn't have a visitor. It seems almost sinfully decadent. Accordingly, there isn't much to write about so I'll turn back to that old standby - food.

One of the things I get asked about fairly often, especially from Japanese people, is what do I eat when in Japan. And people want to know if I cook. Here is what I typically do:

Breakfast: Eat cereal, fruit, salad, and coffee in the restaurant upstairs in the building. It is free with the rent.

Lunch: Eat at a restaurant in Tsurumi on most weekdays. Sometimes I go to the 7-11 and get a sandwich and bring it back to work. If it is Sunday I will stop wherever I am when I get hungry and eat at a restaurant.

Dinner: Eat at a restaurant about half the time and fix something at the apartment half the time.

I have written about restaurants, so here is what I do when I "cook".

• sandwich from the 7-11
• instant noodles (my favorite is "GooTa")
• salad (you can buy them pre-made at the 7-11)
• Japanese pickles (oshinko)
• yogurt (my favorite is Aloe Vera)
• rice crackers (my favorite is kuro mame sembei - black bean crackers)
• tempura (buy it at the store and heat it up)
• boiled eggs (tamago)
• soy bean fritos
  
• bananas (the best fruit ever)

Enjoy whatever you are eating today!

Japanese Kagamiwari Celebration

Tonight we celebrated the start of our project with a Kagamiwari - the breaking of the barrel or cask of sake. There were speeches and then the barrel was broken and then everyone drank sake. Afterwards, lots of food. There were about 150 people in attendance. I am the snappy dressed guy in the dark suit with the blue ceremonial jacket holding a wooden mallet in case you are looking for me.

I got to give the "Kanpai" afterwards. This site has the story of the ceremony: kagamiwari

Painting the eye on Daruma-san

A traditional thing to do at the start of the New Year, or sometimes of a project, is to set a goal and then paint in one eye on a Daruma doll. If the goal is obtained you paint in the other eye. Here Ikeda-san paints in the eye of Daruma with the goal of a successful project for us following the kagamiwari.

Daruma was an Indian monk who established Zen Buddhism. According to legend, he meditated so long he lost the use of his arms and legs. Once during meditation he lost concentration and fell asleep. He was so angry he cut off his eyelids and when they fell to the ground they are said to have sprouted China's first green tea plants. Only later did Zen arrive in Japan. Here is a site if you would like to read more about him: Daruma

Seijin-no-hi (Coming of Age Day)

Coming of age day is the second Monday of January (used to be the 15th of January). It is held for those who turn 20 and celebrates their transition to adulthood - which means you can drink, smoke, and vote. Traditionally it means dressing up and going to hear a speech from the local officials. The traditional dress for women is a kimono. There are a number of good web sites on the internet about the kimono, but here is one you might find interesting: http://www.japanesekimono.com/

I saw a number of young women wearing kimono today but thought this one looked especially nice. She was with her mother at the Meiji Shrine and a lot of people were stopping her and asking for a picture (the whole point of going to Meiji Shrine and wearing your kimono).

This woman is wearing a much more elaborate kimono.

You shouldn't have to wait until you are 20 to dress up though....

Can't I take a bath in peace?

I think I've written about this before, although maybe not on the blog, about women in the restrooms here. It happens from time to time that the woman who cleans the restrooms will come in as you are standing there and it really isn't a big deal. I've seen it at the airport, train stations, and work. Of course the first time it happened I thought I'd walked into the Ladies Room.

And then there was the woman attendent at the onsen at the golf course where you take off your clothes to take a bath. So I had gotten pretty used to that. After all, I believe you should be prepared to live as a Roman when in Rome.

But today they came to clean my room and rang the doorbell, but I was in the shower. I am usually not here and they have a key. I yelled but they apparently didn't hear me and just came on in. When they heard the shower they closed the door to the bathroom and went to work.

So, I finished my shower and shaved. Then I wrapped a towel around me and walked into the bedroom. A man and a woman were there changing the bed. My jeans were draped on the back of the chair. I walked into the closet to change. The man said "Suimasen", picked up my blue jeans, handed them to me, and closed the closet door behind me.

Now, that's good house cleaning service. Unfortunately, this seems limited to the women in the cleaning staff. And no, there are not any men in the ladies room. And the ladies I've seen so far look like they just left the church bazaar and are not one of those stylish Tokyo women you see on the train or on the street. It is just one of those things that make life a little different here.

Besides, I am lucky enough to have someone who cleans my room.

Old and New Tokyo

Hey! Wasn't that building in "Lost in Translation"? Yes it was. Everyone I know from the United States tells me so but none of my Japanese friends have mentioned it. This is New Japan. Just behind it and to the right is Tokyo Tower which was built in 1958 and is 13 meters taller than the Eiffel Tower it was modelled on. It is a symbol of the rebirth of Japan after World War II.

And this is a bit of Old Tokyo on the street behind my apartment. There is construction for a new building going on beside it and eventually these will come down I'm sure.