About the Emperor's Birthday

It seems that another year has come and gone. And tomorrow is again the current Emperor's birthday. Every year on the 23rd of December, the Emperor and his family appear before throngs of people about once every 30 minutes and wave, say a greeting and then disappear again as the crowds are heralded out through the exit gate. Once they disappear, yet another throng of thousands are admitted through the entrance gate and the whole process begins anew. This happens from about 10 am until 3 or 4 pm in the afternoon. Every year. Until the man dies. Every year, the Emperor and his family know exactly how they will spend the Emperor's birthday. It's considered a duty of the Imperial family. And they all show up dressed in the frumpy designer digs that have been allocated for them on that day. They don't even attempt to look majestically Japanese. They all wear "yofuku" or western style clothes.

The real irony to this is that about 10 days later, everyone has to do it all over again as the Imperial Palace is once again open for tourists and well-wishers wishing to come and pay homage to the Emperor and his family.

I went last year on the 2nd of January to the Imperial Palace. We went because it was one of the few things you could do in Tokyo over the holidays and ... let's face it, it's not something you can do throughout the better part of the year. Now as both days draw near, I shudder to think of the crowds and the crowd control planning that are again taking place. If I ever felt the need to delve into the psyche of cattle to know what it feels like to be herded or prodded, rest assured, it is a need that should never arise again after last year's experience. The only thing missing from the experience was the branding. Can't say I regret not getting that experience though.

I will say this --- last year, I didn't know enough Japanese to understand what was being said when the Emperor delivered his message. But if I decided to go again this year, I would be able to understand enough ... to get me into trouble. I feel no urge to go. I feel no urge to be herded again. Right now, it's nice to be out and about during the day as most office workers are still in the office working... but come next week when the Oshougatsu arrives, the train stations, bus stations, and airports will all be packed. I think I will breathe a sigh of relief and welcome again, the downtown Tokyo that I haven't seen in over a year. In about 10 days, it's like a ghost town --- the streets are quiet and peaceful. Hardly a car passes you by on the road. You can get almost anywhere without touching another person on the train --- even during the normal rush hours.

The only time, it didn't feel like a ghost town was when we were at the Imperial Palace packed in like sardines and when we were at Sensoji Temple on New Year's day, again packed in like sardines. This holiday season, I'm going to do my best to avoid being part of a huge crowd. To that end, tomorrow's event at the Imperial Palace is a no-go. Skipping it like I skipped a bad class in my youth. Happy Birthday Emperor-sama... but you'll have to celebrate this one without me.

About "Non-smoking sections" in restaurants and cafes

I'm Canadian so this non-smoking issue is a big thing. More spexcifically, I'm from Ontario where it has been illegal to smoke in public places (restaurants, cafews, and even pubs) for more than 10 years now. I guess I've been spoiled. Here in Japan, if you're lucky enough to be at a place where they actually have a separate non-smoking section, then most times it's a "joke" of a separation. At this particular internet establishment, the smoking section is the entire floor below. I think that was bad planning on the management's part because smoke wafts up and through the floor boards and vents. I will actually go home smelling as if I've sucked back a few cigs in the outdoors. But comparatively speaking, this arrangement is actually better than most public places that I've frequented. At some establishments, the non-smoking section is right beside the smoking section and the only thing separating the two sections is a wall of air. Other places have a very thin dividing wall made with rice paper --- or if you're lucky, it will be made of thin bamboo. I've been at one restaurant where there was a piece of glass separating the non-smokwers from the smokers. And these guys were sitting at the same table in the misddle of the room!!! I guess that way, you could still dine with your smoke-inhaling junkie friends and be able to shout at them over the glass pane. When sitting the glass was taller than most people's heads. Needless to say, most of these places are only putting on airs in terms of trying to satisfy the non-smokwer clientele. Let's face it, when there's nothing but air between you and above you, because smoke rises and then comes back down again once it hits the ceiling, you will go home smelling like smoke. And most probably that smell will stick to your clothes like mildew on the bathtiles during the hot, humid Japan summers.

But it's not all horrid stories and establishments like those described above. Some places actually do have adquate separation for smoking and non-smoking patrons. I've visited quite a few of the downtown cafes where an entirely separate and glass-enxcased room full of smokers was visible. Actually, you could see the room, but usually the air within is so incredibly smoky that you couldn't actually see the patrons on the inside. In those situations, you might only be able to glimpse hints of patrons ... a dark suit, a pair of black shoes. So while, the complete separation was a big success, I actually think that maybe they overdid it on the lack of ventilation to the outside world. Basically, at those kinds of closed-off smoking room places, the only time the smoky air gets circulated is when the door opens and closes. Or if people have to get up to use the bathroom. Other than that, I feel really sorry for the smokers in those places. It's like inhaling 2 entire packets of smokes in the 45 minutes that you're having your break. I suppose one way to fix that problem is just to give up smoking altogether. I'm sure big tabacco is hating my blog right now and placing it on a DNP list.

As they say here in Japan, "shoganai ne?" or "it can't be helped". Until someone keels over and dies from actual smoke inhalation or lung cancer from smoke inhalation, it may not become the problem that it was in North America. Right now, I try to only frequent places that have adequate separation, but it's not always possible or fungible given time constraints.

For all you non-smokers out there, here's my personal list of where to go for the best protection from smokers (meaning that you also won't smell of smoke when you get home):
* Tulley's Cafe at Shibuya in front of the Bunkamura building
* Tulley's at Ebisu's East Exit, and down the steps in front of the Starbucks
* Tulley's north and west of the Shinjuku Central West exit on the main street
* Gran's Internet Cafe, Shibuya
* Dean and Deluca, Shinagawa station

Using Public Internet

Lwet mwe first say that I my homwe xcomputewr is gwetting fixwesd. I am sitting at a publicx cxomputwer twerminal in Shibuya. I am paying for this servixcwe ands thwe lasdy at thew front sdwesk knwe that I wasn't a strong xcommunixcator when spewaking in Japanwesew. I am typing at the keyboarsd as if thew keyboards were in good shape. For ssomew reason, thwe lwettwers, E, C, D, sewwem to always spew out WE, XC, ds ... or multiple lwettwers when I typwe.

At first I spwent my timwe baxcktraxcking ands fixing all thwe sdoublwe lwettwer mistakwes. But that axctually took up a lot of timwe ands it was vwery frustrating. EWspewxcially morew so bewxcauswe thwe arrow and spagwe up and ssdown kweys arwe not whewrew thwey are supposwesd to bew. So aftwer a fwe minutwes, I sdwexcisdwesd to rewsetw ands just start typing. This finishwesd prosducxt is axctually sdonwe without any xcorrewxctions ands I usually havwe goosd typing skills. Right now, I am typing wexcwewesdingly slow bwexcuasew wevwery timwe I look up to xchwexck my work, I xcan't stop laughing at all thwe mistakwes.

I'm sitting at a plaxcwe xcallwesd "Gran's Intwernwet XCafwe". It's thew placxwe ofw xchoixcwe in thwe Lonwely Planwet sewriwes of books bwexcuasew of its ubiquity and xchewapnwess. This is my 23rsd visit (that's thirsd NOT twwwenty-thirsd, apparewntly thwe key stixckiness problem is not founsd only in thwe rewalm of thwe alphanewt but has also jumpewsd into thew rewalm of numbers. Onwe might wevwen xcall it a pansdwemixc) . If you arew xcontinuing to rewads this blog post, I salute you bexcausew it's sdwefinitewly not weasy with all the obvious spelling mistakes due to thew stixcky dsoublew kewys output.

I find Gran's interesting. Thwerew's free (non-alcxoholic) drinks to wenxcouragwe pewoplwe to stay all night. Thwerew's even free soft icxexcream. Thwerew's also a vwensding maxchinew that sewlls foods. I'm xcurrewntly in a xcubixclwe that has a "rexclining seat", but it dsoes no sucxh thing. Basicxally, it's a xchair without legs. I suppose it appweals to nativwe Japanese people who arew useds to sitting on the floor cross-leggesd all the time. It dsowesn't appweal to mwe. Last timwe I was hear, I got an upright cxhair, but axctually, that onwe roxckwesd baxck and sforth and sthwe hweigwht wasn't adsjustable so it was also slightly unxcomfortable. It disd xcomwe with a footstool though. Apparewntly, thwesew booths with a "rewxclining sewat" arew mweant for "two" so I supposew that mweans cxouplwes or friendds that arrivwe togwethwer ands want to play on thew intewrnewt together. I dsidsn't ask at the wfront rexcepetion sdesk when I arriveds. I'm here alone.

There are interesting rumours out there that people "live" at these types of "manga kissa" joints. No, it's probably not what you're thinking. Manga refers to xcomicx books. I'm not surew what Kissa rewfwers to, but basxcially thwemwe placxwes havew a million manga or moviwe on DSVSD ands you arew frewwe to watxch thewm hwere won thwesew xcomputwers all night. Pweoplwe spwensd hours or wevwen sdays hwerew playing onlinwe gamwes. I'm bwetting most of thwem arewn't onlinew blogging likwe I am. How is this possiblwe you ask? Well for startwers, thwerew's a loungwe hwerew wherew thewy havew a million magazines (all in Japanweswe of xcourswe --- so almost nothing that woulsd intwerwest most forewignwers). In thoswe loungwes, thewrew arew apparewntly reawl full lwength rewxclinging sofa sweats and spweoplwe sdo spwensd nights in thwerew. In thwe morning, thewrew arew showers ands xchangwe rooms, so thosew that havwe "inadsvwertinwently" or "purposewly" sdwexcisdwesd to spenwsd thwe night xcan gewt xclweanwesd up bweforew showing up for work the next sday. When I mentioned the free drinks ... this inxcluded your garsdwen variwety of twea - oxcha ands moxcha - as well as your highly xcaffweinatwesd xcoffewwes, lattwes, ands ewxprewssos. I supposewsd soft ixcew xcrewam woulsdn't go dsown well for brewakfast --- but hwey, who am I to sdwexcidswe what shoulsd bwe thwe breawkfast for xchampions?

In twerms of ratwes, it's about ￥500 for 1 hour ands sdoublwe that for 23 (threwwe) hours. I think thwe ovwernight ratwe if you arrivwe afttewr 11 am is only about ￥2200 and sthat inxclusde cxoffwewe ands a shower with towels. Hwexck that's wevewn xchewapwer than thoswe famwesd xcapsulwe hotels that you hwear about. Thwe xcatxch is that you havwe to bwe out of hwerew by 8 am in thwe morning. I think that suits most pweoplwe just finwe as work usually starts at 9:230 am ands if thwey arew swerious about cxatxching a bitew to weat, thwey will probably pass on thwe frewwe soft ixcwe xcrewam ands hweads out somewwherew bweforew work starts to fill up, so 8 am to gwet out works. ￥2200 timews 320 (thirty) or so sdays in a month, ands you'rew looking at paying thwe ewquivalwen of ￥66000 or (what usewsd to bwe thew wquixck ands weasy xcalxculation of) $660. I hwear out in thwe stixcks it's wevewn xchweapwer than this, so if you wweiwgh it against thwe xcost of thwe xcommutwe, it might bwe thwe bwettwer option if you want to bwe onwe of thosew pweoplwe with NFA tagged by thweir namwe.

I'vew bwewen hwerew about an hour now. I REWALLY xcan't swewe how thweswe floor "rewxclining" sweat things xcan appweal to anyonew. My lwegs arew starting to xcramp up ands fall aslwewep. If I sdon't gwet up and walk arounsd for a bit, I'm sure I will havew to bwe xcarriwesd out of hwerew.

For my newxt post, I will cxorrewcxt thew spwelling mistakwes madswe by thwe stixcky kweys. Although for this post, I notixcwesd that somewtimwes, thew stixcky kewys werewn't stixcky ansd portions of this post arew axctually writtwen in thwe xcorrewxct spwelling.

Writing the JLPT 3

This past weekend was the first weekend in December. Every year, that's a huge weekend for wannabe Nihongo speakers because that first weekend in December is always reserved for for test takers of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test.

It was a cold-ish day ... I started from my apartment with the temperature at 5 degrees C and the apparent high of the day was still only 8 degrees C. While slightly warmer than the average daily temperature in the land of my upbringing, Canada, it still felt chilly compared to the heat and humidity of the summer months. However, the day was sunny, which I took to be a good sign.

Apparently, there are many JLPT test sites scattered throughout Japan. Silly me... I had thought I could meet up with my other friends who were also taking the test on the same day and at the same time. All of them end up writing the exam in another location. I was lucky enough to get a test site that was in my home ward. Albeit, the site was in the polar opposite corner of where I was in the ward, but total travel time in transite was only about 7 or 9 minutes. With all the walking and waiting included, it was probably a good 25 minutes to get to the site and into my room and my appointed chair.

I have to say... it seemed a bit easier than I expected. Not that I'm super-good at Nihongo(or English for that matter), but I think my expectations were slightly skewed by taking the practise (mock) test 2 weeks earlier. I signed up to take the mock test about 2.5 months ago, but apparently we weren't to be notified until the week before the exam. So I signed up ... and promptly forgot about it. In the week before the mock test, I opened up my mailbox to find a letter instructing me of the time and place, and other miscellaneous things, for the mock test. So I followed all the instructions and showed up on the day.

I guess the thing with the mock test is that they were using all of use test-takers as guinea pigs for changing the levels in the JLPT levelling. Currently there are 4 levels, 1 through 4, with level 4 being the easiest level. There are only about 100 kanji required to know for level 4 and the easiest and most basic forms of speech and grammar points. Level 3 requires about 250-300 kanji (depending on what guidebooks you read) and the start of more complex parts of speech and higher politeness levels. Level 2 is where the huge jump comes in. To pass you are required to know 1000-1200 kanji and very complex written and spoken grammar points. When taking the test, apparently, the kanji recognition section gives you 4 entirely plausible choices for the optional reading of the given kanji. Whereas in Level 3, there might be 2 close answers, but in most cases, there is only 1 truly correct answer and no other choice even coming close.

You may be able to see where I am leading up to with all this background. Basically, the mock test was given such that the questions and answers were at a level somewhere between the current levels 3 and 2. So, I panicked after the mock test, and probably overstudied for the actual Level 3.

I don't think I passed with flying colours. I don't think that's a possibility for me since I seem to have a lot of trouble distinguising between all the sounds and phrases when they are spoken at native speed. However, I wrote the exam comfortably. I had no idea what the answers to some of the questions were, and I accidentally flipped two pages at a time during the listening section, which flustered me and I'm sure caused me a few points.

Having said all that, I am definitely glad I did not sit to write for JLPT 2 as I'm sure that all my vacationing in the last month and a half would have been a lot more stressful if I had known that I was going to come back to write for JLPT 2.

The test itself was long. The first of the 3 timed tests starts at 9:45 am and the final test ends about 2:30 pm. There is a 30 minute break after the first test and a 1 hour break after the 2nd test for lunch. At the start of each of the 3 timed sections, there is an automated, recorded message. They even have the people up front doing a demonstration with yellow cards and red cards. I almost laughed out loud when I saw that. It's a language test for crying out !!! It's not a soccer match ... but it seems that in the past thicker skulls have prevailed and hence these rules.

Next year, there will also be a sitting in June or July for Levels 1 and 2, but I'm not sure about levels 3 or 4. It seems that there's a lot more grammar to be learnt for Level 2, but I'm game... I may not be ready, but game I am!!!

An explosion of Fall Colour

View from the bus: I tried to get a paraglider, but the bus was moving so fast, I only managed to snap scenery!

View from the bus: I saw a lot of valleys with colour and large, fluffy white clouds overhead.

At the public park, there was a tree going through all the colour stages of autumn: green, yellow, orange, and red

Since coming to Japan, I've noticed that the Japanese have an inherent appreciation for nature. So far, I've taken photos of snowfalls (really... not massive snowfalls... but just snow falling in Tokyo), taken photos of the cherry blossoms blooming in the spring (it's a really, REALLY BIG thing here), taken days off for the spring and autumn equinox, and now I've gone on a Kouyo tour as well. Kouyo is the pronunciation for the kanji that means "changing leaves".

The tree in the foreground only has brown leaves and they are hanging on for dear life! The trees in the background are still going through their explosion of colour!

This the 375m long Ryujin Tsurubashi. This name means something like dragon luck suspension bridge. This bridge is so strong it can hold the weight of 30,000 people! As you can see, at this point in the day, it started to get overcast and a bit chilly!

Fukuroda Waterfalls. This name literally means "bag of ricefields". I can't see the rice fields in the falls.

It was another Hato Bus tour departing from Hamamatsuchou station. The first stop on the itinerary included getting to a national park and walking around, taking photos, and enjoying some small waterfalls. We then had a bento lunch served on the bus, but we waited until we got to the next destination, Ryujin Tsurubashi to eat a picnic lunch. The last stop was the Fukuroda Falls in Ibaraki Ken, supposedly famous for being one of Japan's prettiest 3 waterfalls.

I've included some photos. For this post, I've decided to put captions on them because I have a sore arm and I don't feel like writing long descriptions of all my impressions for the day.

On the suspension bridge, there were a number or grates where you could look straight down. Under this grate, there was a beam and apparently, like at the shrines and temples, people threw coins through the grate. Much farther below the grate, you can see the changing leaf colours.

At the very end of the day, we were lucky to see a Heron down in the river flowing out from the waterfalls. He stuck his head in the water a number of times and I managed to get a snap of him in flight!

Picasso Exhibit at Tokyo National Art Centre

Just to be clear, there are currently 2 Picasso exhibits showing in Tokyo. One in the Roppongi Midtown Suntory Museum of Art, entitled, "Picasso: Portrait of Soul". The second one, entitled, "Picasso: From the collection of the Musee National Picasso, Paris". Both run from October 4th to December 14th. We saw the second one at the National Art Centre (NAC).

The one at the NAC costs 1500 yen per person (adult). I believe that the the one at the Suntory Museum costs 1300 yen per adult. Just to for fun, the curators of the two Museums (I'm not sure if it's jointly managed), decided to have the two shows run parallel. Both galleries are in the Roppongi area and are about a 7-9 minute walk from the Hibiya line Roppongi station.

When we decided we were going to go see the Picasso exhibit on the national holiday honouring sports and fitness in Japan (no kidding, they have something akin to a phys. ed day here!), we hadn't realized that there were two separate and distinct exhibits on the great artists. We arrived at Roppongi station via the Hibiya metro line and started following signs to the Picasso exhibit. I was somewhat confused because I had read in the magazines that the exhibit (that we thought were going to see) was at the NAC. We had never been to the NAC before, but I had passed by signs pointing the way to the NAC several times. Upon seeing signs to get to "the Picasso exhibit at the Tokyo Midtown", I was slightly confused, but thought that there must have been some underground tunnel route that I was unaware of. Not an unreasonable assumption because Tokyo has far too many underground routes for me to track... However, these signs were actually pointing to the first of the exhibits that we ended up not having sufficient time to see that day.

Luckily for us, I decided that I knew best and decided to ignore the signs pointing us to the Tokyo Midtown's Picasso exhibit. We found the NAC with almost no incident. Almost because I nearly got run over by a taxi as the road turning left from the main street actually has no pedestrian sidewalk for the first bit. So if you're really unlucky, a taxi will round a corner far to fast to see you at first, and will only swerve at the last possible minute to heighten the impending drama.

Once there, the outside of the building is impressive. It's not a rectangular shaped building and it has a large garden out front which is uncharacteristic of most Japanese buildings. Access to the regular exhibits is actually free, so you might actually end up inside following the "free" signs, only to have to come outside again to buy tickets for the special exhibit. We saw it happen to a couple of people in front of us.

Once inside the building, their is an atrium-like atmosphere given off from the floor to ceiling windows. A number of snack places exist on the left (see photo above) and the galleries start on the first floor and continue upstairs. You have to pay attention carefully to the signs lest you walk into the wrong exhibit (i.e. one that isn't free and one that you haven't paid for). Or you can do what we did and blindly followed the crowd. Since it was a national holiday, there was actually a lot of people there to see the Picasso exhibit that day.

From the maps that they give you at the front (after they check your bags and pass a metal wand over all your clothes), it looked as if the exhibit was took up about 6 rooms, one of those was a large corner room. The ceilings were high, giving the effect of space. However, for most of the art (painting and sculptures), it seemed as if there was too many in too tight a space. Call me a Picasso art snob, but when I was in Spain at the Picasso museum there, there was an entire museum and several floors and a basement devoted to Picasso's works and his life. I think the souvenir shop was bigger than the exhibit in Tokyo. Anyways, while it was nice for the pieces from Paris to come to Tokyo for my viewing pleasure, it seemed to be a lot of Picasso for a couple hours, especially when the exhibit hall is so cramped.

We had originally planned to see the 2nd exhibit as well, but after the trials of the first exhibit, we decided to call it a day. We were excited to see one of the Bay at Cannes paintings up on the wall. We stopped there for a while and looked at the original. We have a print up on our wall at home. It's from the same series, but I don't believe it's the exact original as the original was hanging up in the Picasso museum in Spain. But it was nice to know that we owned a copy of art worthy of show.


After the NAC, we made a half-hearted attempt to get to the Midtown's exhibit. But when we smelled all the food from all the restaurants serving lunch, we decided to do lunch instead. Above is the scene after my vodka and grenadine showed up. As you can see, we succumbed to the omiyage store which was strategically positioned at the exit of the exhibit.

It was worth the 1500 yen but I would like to go again during the week when it there are less crowds and I can enjoy each painting/sculpture more. I imagine the exhibit is just as popular during the weekends.

Izakaya near Shinagawa station.

One of my friends was leaving Japan (again) and we organized several good-bye dinners for him for various reasons. This first one we had at an Izakaya near Shinagawa station. I've forgotten the name and I can only remember that it was in the basement of one of the tall buildings on the east side exit of Shinagawa station. It was right beside a set of circular stairs and just outside there was a small garden and fountain that was shared with the building opposite. I know that the facing building had a Starbucks. And I seem to recall that we went to a Hokkaido chain restaurant on the 5th floor in the winter.

Aside from these horrible directions, the restaurant itself was memorable. There was a fireworks display on the ceiling (in lights and lasers with accompanying sound effects) and it had these backlit latterns up on one wall. The whole pit area was open concept so it seemed so spacious when you had one of the outside booths. They also had those small private, Japanese style, tattami rooms, but we had requested an outside booth to be able to enjoy the fake fireworks.

The place was busy for a weeknight. I remember watching one group of four being turned away at 7:30 pm and thinking how glad I was for my Japanese friends who had called in advance and booked our seats for the group. The place continued to be busy for the next hour or so when people actually started leaving.

We closed the place after trying a diversity of Japanese and Korean style plates and downing a good variety of Japanese alcohol. If I can find the email describing the place, the name and how to get there, I will include it when I fix up this post. But for now, you can enjoy the view of the purplish backlit latterns.

A nice spacious, restaurant with comfort food in Ebisu

We go to this restaurant all the time. It got Tex-Mex food ... but with a Japanese twist. I notice that the restaurants here like to do that --- put their own twist on old favourites. Although, this restaurant does indeed change the original recipes to suit the local tastes, this particular restaurant is a gem amongst Japanesified western restaurants. It's spacious for one thing. And it's solidly built; the inside support beams will attest to the solid foundation of this building. The food is true remind-you-of-home comfort food. The outside doesn't look like much but it's going for the Old West abondoned look. The restaurant is called Zest and apparently, it has about half a dozen locations around Tokyo. The newest addition can be found in Hiroo, but that location only has burgers and none of the other Tex-Mex food items on the Ebisu menu. I haven't been to the other locations to test out their food or question their waitstaff, but I do frequent this one regularly.

I know that during the weeks, for lunch, they have English speaking waitstaff and the manager speaks English very well, but by his accent, I would guess him to be of Hispanic language origin. Most of the other staff are Japanese, but are super friendly. They are always willing to accommodate your special needs. If you order the beef steak jambalaya, they actually will cut up the egg (they like to put fried, sunny-side eggs on everything here) and mix it up in your rice jambalaya dish for you. Once we sat beside a rather large party for brunch on the weekend and we saw their spicy chicken wings being mixed up right there in front of them at their table. Since they ordered what seemed to be a rather large amount of wings, this table required 2 waitstaff to mix up the wings for them. They sang a song while they were mixing.

On most weekends that we've been by, the first floor has been rented for private parties, but the 3rd floor is open. On those days, the hostess will greet you at the front entrance, but direct you to the elevator within the garage so that you can get to the 3rd floor.

All floors are spacious. I never feel like I'm cramped between tables. And for all the tall people out there, the ceilings are also high. The lifts are small-ish as is the standard here in Japan.

I don't work for the place and the restaurant didn't pay me to write about them. I just love going because, except for the Japanese staff, and the location, it's mostly a western feel and reasonable lunch fare prices.

One of my favourite Bar-b-q niku places in Tokyo

I guess it's been a while since I last blogged here. It's been a busy month. Those intensive Nihongo classes really take up a lot of time in the most unexpected ways.

Speaking of Nihongo classes, I just took my classmates to one of my favourite yakiniku type places in Tokyo, Negishi. I've only ever been the Shibuya branch, but there's apparently one in Shinjuku and one other large neighbourhood as well. We went to the one in Shibuya as it's just a stone's throw from the school.

Upon first glance at the relatively simple menu, they thought the prices were rather high for what you were getting. But after one bite, they were converts. They, like me, think the food there is fantastic. The meat there is done well and the sauces are spiced up nicely. We each ordered a set different menu course and sampled from each other's plates. Although, the tororo soup, the pork soup stock, rice mixed with oats, and the pickled veggies seemed to be staples for almost every dish, so there was really no need to share those ones.

Here's a close up of our various dishes:

Access to the one in Shibuya:
1. get to Shibuya eki on any line and get to the Hachiko exit
2. walk up the street that's got the 109 on the right and the Tsutaya with the Starbuck on the left; make sure you are on the same side as the Tsutaya record store.
3. When you get to the cross street with the 2 Marui Department stores (logo is 0101 in large red and white) cross in a straight line towards the one that has a MacDonald's at the bottom. The other Marui should be visible to your right.
4. Once you pass that intersection, turn left and the Marui with the MacDonald's should now be on your right.
5. Walk about 2 small blocks and look to your right and down into a stairway going to a basement restaurant. That's Negishi. It is just passed an Excelsior Cafe shop. Across the street diagonally, you will see the Parco Department store. If you hit a Denny's on your right, you've gone too far.

Good luck. It's well worth the effort. My set menu with 2 kinds of bar-b-q meat and sauces and other side dishes was about 1400 yen. My friend had the stew and 2 side dishes and that was 1200 yen. You can get a set meal for 800 with a single type of meat (pork or beef) and one flavour.

Mori Tower Panoramic Views and the Sky Aquarium II

I just found out that the Mori Towers observation floor in Roppongi is hosting the travelling display of Sky Aquarium II --- meaning more aquariums of exotic fish in the sky. Normally, it costs only 1400 yen to get up to the 56th floor (or so?), but with the addition of the aquariums, it's now a mere 2000 yen. I'm beginning to think the Yokohama Landmark tower trip was worth the 1000 yen we paid. The Mori towers exhibit is on until Sept 28, 2008, but you should verify first if you're going to go.

Fuji-san 5th Station

So we went to Fuji-san's 5th station on the weekend. We didn't go to climb to the peak, just to do some sightseeing at the 5th station, where most climbers start their ascent towards Japan's highest mountain. I must say that it was largely disappointing. It took almost 3.5 hours by bus to get there due to all the traffic accidents that we encountered enroute. Once we got there, we had less than 2 hours before our return highway express bus back to Shinjuku station. The whole time we were there except for the last 12 minutes, the skies were so foggy, you could barely see 50 m ahead or behind you. The views were not great.

To make matters worse, the food was more disappointing than the views. The restaurant / lodge/ rest stop pictured above had pretty plain tasting gyuudon --- and I like those beef bowls with rice. One of my friends couldn't finish eating the bowl and decided to buy some BBQ beef from one of the street vendor stalls outside. To her disappointment, the beef from outside was worse than the beef in the gyuudon. And we didn't think it could be possible!

Because we lacked time, we decided not to do any of the short hikes to possible other sites for photo opportunities. We were recommended a site which was 40 minutes away, but after we had finished lunch, there wasn't sufficient time to go on that and make it back in time for our return bus home. So we walked the perimeter of 5th station.

I must say that 5th station was rather disappointing ... it seemed rather kitschy, with more souvenir shops and stuff than tourists willing to buy them. When we arrived, we all shivered. It was about 16 to 18 deg C, which is actually nice for us Canadians, but having been subject to the hot and humid Japan summer, it seemed almost too chilly for shorts. I showed up in shorts and a tank top. There were people there with sweaters and windbreakers, scarves and hats. Everyone had long pants. We got a few stares. I guess when you exhale and you can see your breath, it's not a good sign. I guess it was a good thing that we weren't climbing to the peak that day, because it only gets colder as you get higher.

We stopped off at the shrine and the temple and their lookout points at the 5th station. Mostly we did it out of wanting to do something with our time and to get our money's worth out of the trip. I think having gone to Kamakura and Yamadera temple in Yamagata Ken, that these two places of worship just weren't going to compare. Also, seeing as how we didn't know to what deity or for what purpose we were praying, the visits seemed that much more hallow. The structures were interesting to see, but the lack of other tourists there just made them seem that much more desperate. Above was the sparsely populated wishing wall for paper tied wishes. I think that no more than 20 wishes were tied to it that day.

All the horses at 5th station seemed to be unoccupied that day. No one wanted to ride one or take a photo with one. It just didn't seem like a nice horse-riding day. Poor horses.

Below are some photos of the fog. The last photo is the start of the fog actually lifting. Can't say that the views improved much with the little fog that lifted, but I'm sure had we stayed another 3 or 4 hours, we would have had some good night views of Fuji.

ACCESS: Keio highway express bus from Shinjuku station, JR west exit to Fuji 5th station. Call in advance to reserve your ticket. Booking by phone only, payment to be made on day you pick up the ticket.

Yokohama and the bright lights of the ferris wheel

It seems that the Cosmo Clock 21 ferris wheel in Yokohama's Minato Mirai district is the 7th largest in the world, standing at 117m tall. It is the tallest in Japan, beating out Odaiba's ferris wheel by 2.5m. At the time of construction, in 1989, it was the world's tallest ferris wheel. Now large international cities are tripping over themselves to build the next biggest ferris wheel. I believe that there are now plans for ferris wheels towering over 200m high. There was supposed to be one in Beijing in time for the 2008 Olympic games, but it didn't happen. These photos were taken from the top of Landmark Tower, on the 69th floor observation deck. This building is Japan's tallest building. The elevator ride up to the top takes about 40 seconds and can reach a speed of 750m/s. As the elevator accelerates to the top speed you can see the speed barometer going from green to yellow to hot red. The building is about 972 feet tall and is the tallest structure in the area by far, so you can see for miles around once you reach the top. We paid for our entrance to the top by an automated vending machine. It cost 1000 yen per person to get up there. I think the aquariums up there are half the attraction. We went at night, but I think the views would have been cool durin daylight.

Time and Space in Japan

I can't believe that it's September already. It seems that summer has whizzed right by me. I felt drained during the afternoons on most days and it always seemed that I couldn't get enough water. It still feels that way. I'm behind on my posting and my photos but it seems that while here, I should be doing rather and writing.

The weather here seems a little odd to me. I mean I recall winter ... with snow and that seemed to last only 6 weeks and suddenly it seemed to cold for winter clothes. Then came the buildup and excitement to hanabi season. And that was particulary short this year. I remember that it ended abruptly with strong winds and rains; the next day I walked about Meguro River towards Naka Meguro and the sakura lined riverside seemed sakura-less, bare and empty. However, the rest of the city seemed to come alive in anticipation of all the spring flowers. And then there was the rainy season in May / June. I remember every day being wet and dull. Even that came to an abrupt end about 1.5 weeks ahead of time in July when all of a sudden it seemed to reach 35 degrees C every day. Humidity was high at over 55% and usually hovering at 70+%. Last week, every day rained and temperatures plummetted to only 25 to 28 degrees during the day. (I can't believe I just wrote that last statement --- temperatures plummeted to 28 degrees???). This week's it hovering around 30-ish and there is some rain. But people are already begining to lament the start of the "cold nights". It's 25 degrees out. I walked home from conversation practice last night and my partner thought it might be too cold. Too cold at 25 degrees. I thought it was nice. Actually, back in Canada, 25 degrees C is still too warm for me. Ideal temperatures are about 20-22 degrees for me. But I will wear shorts down to 15 degress C. I wonder if my body has acclimatized to the weather here. Will I be able to bear it this fall?

It seems that time and space are distorted here. Seasons change at an alarmingly sudden pace and space seems, well, much smaller really. I have found some places to go to where there is wider space than other typical Japanese restaurants, but still, there is the space issue. It could almost be another dimension here. The world and the expectations here are just so different.

On Monday, one of my friends went back to their mother country - Canada. It seems that if you make friends with foreigners, you are always saying good-bye. I've said good-bye to others before this, but this one was harder. This one was another Canadian going back home. His was a finite amount of time to spend here in Japan and everyone knew it was coming. And yet when it came, it was still a bit of a surprise. In the upcoming 8 weeks, I think I will have to say good-bye another 3 times. The next one will be hard for me too. I am considering the boycotting of befriending foreigners so that I won't have to go through this exercise every few weeks. But I know I can't do that.

In some ways, time is slower here. Other ways, it is fast. Mostly, I love it here. Despite the close, tight spaces, and compact housing and restaurants, and the weird weather patterns, I have grown to love it here. When the time comes to leave and I return to my big, wide country, I 'm not sure I will know what to do with all that newfound space again. And how do I slow down again to 3 month long seasons?

Omotesando Harajuku Outdoor Omatsuri

Last weekend, Omotesando Harajuku held its outdoor festival beside Meiji temple and within Yoyogi park. Here are some photos from the walk up to the festivities, in front of the stage and in the park. We left after half a dozen performances but before it started to rain. Again, there were a lot of colourful yukata in view. It was a fun day with tonnes of colourful costumes. Most of these were blind shots with my arms extended way over my head, meaning that I had no idea what was in the viewfinder when I snapped the shot. I cropped most of the photos for more interesting views, but it was packed and very difficult to get a shot.

A very colourful dance troupe.

I believe these guys were from Hiroshima. Some very young dance members in the troupe!

I saw these guys walking to the stage on Omotesando street.

I don't remember much about this dance troupe as I spent most of the time trying to get a decent photo of them without all the heads getting in the way. I do remember thinking that their pants looked funny.

This was a very interesting dance troupe. I kept wondering if one of them would lose their hats.

Taken from the overpass bridge, where tonnes of signs explicitly tell you in Japanese that you can't take photos of the Omatsuri from the bridge. And in case you couldn't read Japanese, there was also a guy paid to stand on the bridge all afternoon to shoo troublesome tourists and photo opportunists like me away.

I snapped about 100 shots hoping to get one with the giant flag in action, no heads in the way and fun expressions on the dancers faces. This was the best I could get. Oh well. Next time, I'll do what the pros did and bring my own step ladder.

Every since my own misguided attempts at self-dressing in summer yukata and self-tying the obi bow, I've been obsessed with the double ribbon tie of the obi. Although, I think the next time I wear a Yukata, I will attempt the simple one bow style again and just aim for less wrinkles.

These girls were a very modern dance troupe. They danced to Japanese reggae. Never saw anything like it or heard lyrics quite like it before.

Look at 'em all shaking them things all in unison!

I never did get to see these guys dance. This was the dance troupe assembling in Yoyogi park and getting ready for their big dance number. I wonder how restrictive their movements would have been in all those yukata.

Ebisu Eki Natsu Omatsuri

Ebisu station's summer festival happened on the first weekend of August. I've been so busy with learning Japanese that I haven't been diligent about keeping up this blog. However, I found out about the festival quite by chance. We were sitting in a cafe restaurant in YGP, having dinner before trying to watch Blueberry Nights at the Twilight Cinema festival, when the lady beside us, suddenly and uncharacteristically of the Japanese people, decided to strike up a conversation with us.

"Excuse me, but where are the two of you from?" was her first question. English wasn't quite that good, but half the sentence was in Japanese so I'm taking artistic freedom to translate it all. I responded with, "Canada."

"Both of you are from Canada?" I guess it's that whole Asian look that I have that throws people off. "Yes, both of us." I switch to Japanese. She's surprised. She starts asking all sorts of questions in rapid-fire Japanese. "Sumimasen, motto yukkuri hanashite kudasai. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu." I quickly let her know that I can't speak that quickly and could she kindly oblige. She does.

That's when she tells us about the Ebisu street festival right outside the West exit of the station. "It's happening tonight after 6 pm and tomorrow night as well." We tell her we might show up. She says we should go to experience it. It's so lively and fun - nigiyaka de tanoshii desu. Plus, she's dancing during the festival. So there it was. The plug for herself and her dance troupe.

We say thanks for the info and we would definitely try to get there after our movie was finished. Then we left as I had finished my mango smoothie. Delicious btw. We walked back to watch the movie, but YGP was so packed that it was uncomfortable in most places and the best view we could get was a standing spot only. I didn't want to stand there for more than 2.5 hours to watch the movie.

At this point it was 6 pm. We decide to head towards the station and check out the matsuri. There were tonnes of people. There were tonnes of food stands. I had never seen so much yakisoba all in one place before. I should have taken a photo. As it was, I only had my keitai with me that night and I managed to get only this one almost clear, blind shot of the dancing and the central dance stage. Apparently, this is the same setup that most machi festivals adopt in the summer. My husband went to the one at Oosaki station just last week, and he confirmed the same stage, music and dancing occured. However, the sponsor was San Rio - of Hello Kitty, or Kittychan fame - and they were giving out small San Rio imprinted souvenir dolls and fans. My husband refused to get one for me as he would have to be seen coming back home on the train with the incriminating goods. I think if he really loved me and was resourceful, he would have rented a 5 year for the train ride home. I don't want much eh? :-D