Taro Toporific wrote:THe NYTimes discovers RAMEN. W00t!

Here Comes Ramen, the Slurp Heard Round the World
--Japan's noodle passion lands in New York, in fresh, meaty glory. ---
NYTimes.com (DiningandWine) by Julia Moskin
2AM 10 Nov
... in the winter Japanese diners line up to indulge in the much-loved ramen ritual, wreathed in steam, salt and slurping.
It is fiercely beloved and bitterly missed by expats like Mr. Kamada, the musician, who owns Minca Ramen Factory in the East Village.
"I only started making ramen here because I needed some to eat," he said. "I can't live without it."

No-News USA Today Founder wrote:Since they lost World War II to us, the Japanese have bested us in many ways in the business world. High tech. Automobiles. Newspapers.
...Why are newspapers so much more popular in Japan than in the USA?
...Japan's dailies do better than ours because they put more news in their newspapers. They are more reader-friendly and fair. They are more polite in their editorial comments or criticisms....Yomiuri is center-right politically, and Asahi is center-left. But they don't use the heavy hammer many U.S. conservative or liberal newspapers do.
Memo to U.S. newspaper owners, publishers and editors: If you publish more news, are fair and polite to friend and foe alike, maybe you can charge more for your newspapers and still sell more of them.

Spawn of Satan wrote:USATODAY: Why are newspapers so popular in Japan?
...Japan's dailies do better ... They are more reader-friendly and fair. They are more polite in their editorial comments or criticisms....

National dailies have a combined circulation of 72.4 million copies.

Japan has the highest newspaper readership levels in the world. An average of 1.80 newspapers are sold per person each day.

Taro Toporific wrote:The first thing to learn: it's pronounced sa-keh, not sa-kee...

AKONE, Japan -- She is red-pink and dusky blue, appearing to float, clear as a crystal, then hidden as if behind a fan, symmetrical as haiku.

On the flat roof of the Hotel Kagetsuen, five Japanese men watch her at dawn.

I watch quietly, too, but inside I'm raising a fist screaming, "Yes!" and jumping up and down. I can't stop grinning. I've come 6,400 miles to see Japan's most famous mountain, Mt. Fuji, and just got lucky. A lot of times, tourists can't see Fuji-san at all, only clouds. Everyone up here is taking a million pictures: I can only imagine the painters of the past, hurrying to get down every brushstroke and curve and color before she's gone again.

So, I saw Mt. Fuji. Check. Then what?

What most Americans know about Japan could fit in a sake cup.

Underneath the profoundly modern exterior, Japan is still a country of obligation and rice, Kabuki, strong emotions and Shinto spirits. I say this in a good way, with relief. What you dream about Japan still exists. You can still see ladies in kimonos shopping in the markets. At Tokyo's elite Mitsukoshi department store, the staff bows as you walk by. Try a popular bento box for lunch and you realize that the average Japanese citizen is eating things like lotus root and squid for their noon meal while chatting on their cell phones. And the old mountains are still young enough to shake and roll.

Because in Japan, it is just not done. The shame, the feeling that ancestors are watching, your responsibility to your family and community all combine to squelch sticky finger impulses.

However, the Gion quarter of Kyoto was a letdown. It was Saturday night. Where were the geisha? In the dim light we clomped along the dark streets, realizing that everything worth seeing was probably going on behind closed doors. We heard music once. Saw shoes at a door. Saw a man with a briefcase pushing a buzzer and slipping into a brown doorway covered in rice paper.

A lot of times, tourists can't see Fuji-san at all, only clouds. Everyone up here is taking a million pictures: I can only imagine the painters of the past, hurrying to get down every brushstroke and curve and color before she's gone again.

maraboutslim wrote:

A lot of times, tourists can't see Fuji-san at all, only clouds. Everyone up here is taking a million pictures: I can only imagine the painters of the past, hurrying to get down every brushstroke and curve and color before she's gone again.

I lived in Yokohama (near Shin-Yokohama) and I swear I could see Mt. Fuji from my apartment at least 50% of the days of the year, probably more. I wonder where she got the idea of this disappearing, cloud covered mountain?[/i]

maraboutslim wrote:

A lot of times, tourists can't see Fuji-san at all, only clouds. Everyone up here is taking a million pictures: I can only imagine the painters of the past, hurrying to get down every brushstroke and curve and color before she's gone again.

I lived in Yokohama (near Shin-Yokohama) and I swear I could see Mt. Fuji from my apartment at least 50% of the days of the year, probably more. I wonder where she got the idea of this disappearing, cloud covered mountain?[/i]

maraboutslim wrote:I lived in Yokohama (near Shin-Yokohama) and I swear I could see Mt. Fuji from my apartment at least 50% of the days of the year, probably more. I wonder where she got the idea of this disappearing, cloud covered mountain?[/i]

Taro Toporific wrote:Then again, what kind of gaijin climbs Fuji anyway?

Taro Toporific wrote:Then again, what kind of gaijin climbs Fuji anyway?

I woke with a start about 5am, my elbow knocking against a plastic wall as I turned over. Why, I wondered, was I sleeping in an MRI machine? I wasn't. I was in Capsule 2052, a lower, at Capsule Hotel Fontaine Akasaka in the western part of Tokyo. I had checked in the night before, eager - or at least determined - to have this uniquely Japanese experience.

I was sweltering. My capsule had TV (Japanese only) and radio but no fan. Sitting up, careful not to bump my head, I scrunched down to the foot, raised the little blind and peered down a long row of double-decker capsules. I had to smile.

The night before, I'd been swathed in luxury - Egyptian cotton sheets, king-size bed with feather duvet - at the impeccable Park Hyatt Tokyo hotel in the West Shinjuku district. There, staff had greeted me with bows and smiles, just as they had an equally jet-lagged Bill Murray in last year's hit film Lost In Translation.

Captain Japan wrote:This writer is a noob but what she wrote is pretty reasonable.

Beverly Beyette wrote:One day we took the last remaining above-ground trolley in Tokyo, the Arakawa line...making 29 stops and affording a peek into the backyards of non-gentrified Tokyo.. .

Taro Toporific wrote:

Captain Japan wrote:This writer is a noob but what she wrote is pretty reasonable.

The "Hilltop Hotel" suggestion she made was very good. However, I gacked when I read her peek into "non-gentrified Tokyo".

Beverly Beyette wrote:One day we took the last remaining above-ground trolley in Tokyo, the Arakawa line...making 29 stops and affording a peek into the backyards of non-gentrified Tokyo.. .

Sheeee-it, everywhere in Tokyo is non-gentrified, except oddities like Omotesando. What country did she visit?

Captain Japan wrote:
Well, considering some of the stories posted on this thread have been 100% gack I think she did a pretty fair job.

In England, the whole country grinds to a halt at 4PM where small, delicately-cut sandwiches are eaten first: fish paste and cucumber are traditional fillings. Then the tea follows, usually from India or Sri Lanka, served with optional milk and sugar; but it could be scented China or herbal tea served with or with lemon

Mulboyne quoting Ms Lucrecia Aldao wrote:Being a naval country also, the Japanese nap too, but I am convinced the Spaniards invented the variations.[/b]

No sex please, just groaning
The Sunday Times - Scotland / December 19, 2004
Forget karaoke — the latest craze involves adding sound effects to a porn film, writes Claire Sawers
In a basement bar deep in the bowels ... the lights are low and I am preparing for my debut as a porn star......
Before my parents excise me from their will, let me explain: I am taking part in pornaoke, the latest lifestyle fad from Japan. As the name suggests, it combines the elements of karaoke with a porn movie.

Group Protests Apple Over Recycling
AP Online via COMTEX -- SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 11, 2005 Jan 11
...Environmentalists said they're targeting Apple because the hardware and software company makes it difficult to replace batteries in its digital music players, and it charges many consumers $30 to recycle their unused or broken computers and laptops....Apple doesn't charge consumers to recycle outdated electronics in Japan, Europe, Taiwan and South Korea, but environmentalists say the company is a significant contributor to the growing problem of "e-waste" in the United States....