[CLOSED] Another newbie reporter "discovers" Japan

[Taro Toporific]

Radical departure
... could just hold my breath for ten minutes then I would make it to Tsukiji, one of the world's largest fish markets, and Tokyo's rawest experience......You can walk an entire day in Tokyo without seeing another western face ....

Obviously he was exposed too much of this....

KYODOJul.16 09:59 Synthetic musk found accumulating in marine life

[Mulboyne]

A very different sort of newbie...quite a respectful piece despite the unpromising opening.

The Standard: What has size got to do with it? Ask the Japanese
The average Japanese man is a short character wearing shoes off the same rack where on Christmas week you will jerk out a pair for your tiny-footed 10-year-old child. As I found out on landing in Tokyo on Monday, an ordinary Kenyan man of my size — neither too big nor too small — has to make special arrangement for a kimono or night gown with the reception of your hotel...more...

[AssKissinger]

http://www.japanfocus.org/article.asp?id=336

[Taro Toporific]

[Taro Toporific]

Since when do Japanese have a "sideboard"? Hey I want a Japanese mansion big enough for a sideboard.


Dead find new resting place in Japan: the sideboard
Reuters.co.uk Thu Jul 21, 2005 7:05 AM BST
TOKYO --- It's said the dead never really leave. In some Japanese homes, they literally don't.
Ornaments made from the ashes of the deceased mixed with crystals or artificial stone are appearing on a growing number of sideboards as an alternative to costly traditional rituals and the expense of maintaining tombs often hundreds of miles away.
....With an ornament at home, Nozawa said, people feel comforted. "They can talk to the deceased."
For 156,000 yen -- about a tenth of the cost of a grave -- the bereaved can choose to have a portion of their late loved one made into a two-inch-high pyramid in blue, green or a choice of pastel shades.
Or there are larger oval stones, in a more familiarly funereal granite grey or black, with hollow interiors into which ashes can be placed.
Pendants -- leaf-shaped, circular or oval and available in nine colours and cheaper at 131,000 yen -- will keep the deceased literally close to the heart. If money's no object, try a ring where the remains are mixed with a manmade diamond....more...

[Mulboyne]

Not exactly a newbie reporter but...

The Oregonian:Japan, imagined
Jeff Lind gets inspired by all sorts of unlikely projects. Take that rickety old tool shed behind the house, for example. Four years ago, his wife showed him a magazine photo of a small but charming garden shed and suggested they do something about the plywood heap that could barely keep their riding lawnmower dry...Over the next two years, the Hillsboro couple created a Japanese-inspired teahouse complete with twin cupolas, a hot tub and a teeming koi pond...Though the Linds themselves have never been to Japan, the couple has always been drawn to the beauty and simplicity of Japanese design. Yet this thrifty pair never felt bound by the need to use authentic materials or traditional building techniques...When Mary Kary couldn't find a fitting coffee table for the sitting room, Jeff created one out of scrap lumber and Hawaiian beach mats, using split bamboo poles as finish molding.
...Mary Kay, who manages her husband's optometry practice in Tanasbourne, created a subdued, naturalistic landscape while Jeff focused on the structure itself. "I like that Northwest Asian-inspired look," she says. "But I'm not so fussy that I'm out there with the tweezers picking grass out of the moss."..."We tend to be thrifty, or, as my son says, cheap," says Mary Kay. True to form, the Linds weren't about to hire anything out, or pay top-dollar for ceramic roofing tiles or actual shoji screens when Jeff could find a sturdy substitute at a fraction of the cost. He achieved the shoji effect with polycarbonate corrugated greenhouse panels. They are far more suited to our wet climate, he says, and still provide the look and feel of an Asian-inspired retreat.

[Taro Toporific]

:P

boingboing.net
Thursday, July 28, 2005Roadside Taiwan
Dan Bloom sends this photograph of a bus stop in Taiwan shaped like a giant watermelon.

[omae mona]

The Oregonian:Japan, imagined

...Mary Kay, who manages her husband's optometry practice in Tanasbourne, created a subdued, naturalistic landscape while Jeff focused on the structure itself. "I like that Northwest Asian-inspired look," she says.

Oh cool. So on top of the Hawaiian beach mats, they're throwing in some touches of Uzbekistan (or maybe Mongolia?). Man, this is turning into one fuckin' cool Japanese shed.

Is it just me, or does this sound like an article straight out of The Onion?

"What's that got to do with my bloody music?"
- Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson

[Taro Toporific]

Culture shock still souvenir of Japan
San Francisco Chronicle, by John Flinn
Sunday, July 31, 2005
....I'm not in a morgue; I'm somewhere much stranger -- a uniquely Japanese institution called a capsule hotel.
<blah, blah, blah>
....Japanese men and women are loudly slurping noodles
<blah, blah, blah>
....All the signs are in kanji, the Japanese pictographs, and I can't find a soul who speaks English.
<blah, blah, blah>
.....This is my little "Lost in Translation" moment
<blah, blah, blah>
....Japan is hard to beat. Its culture is at once ancient and futuristic
<blah, blah, blah>
....a weird, jabberwocky form of English. "Don't mess with juicy," read one shirt. "Hurry up the cakes," read another.
<blah, blah, blah>
....I could never get the hang of the slipper ritual. The Japanese don't wear shoes indoors<blah, blah, blah> once a day I'd forget the slippers altogether and stride into a restaurant or hotel lobby in my mud-spattered hiking shoes
<blah, blah, blah>
....the toilet is less than 2 feet from the doorway<blah, blah, blah> I was wearing my toilet slippers.
<blah, blah, blah>

[Buraku]

Sex is far from taboo
Shepparton News

They have a lot of sex in Japan.

What about that USA-Today - no sex please we're japanese !!

[Mulboyne]

NZ Herald: What to buy in Japan

The book

It's hard to go past the bestselling Memoirs of a Geisha for its fascinating insight into a twilight world, especially if you're heading to Kyoto where geisha teahouse tours are part of the package.

The film

You've probably already seen Lost in Translation, but check out the DVD version for extras on the difficulties of filming the story of two Americans lost together in Tokyo.

What to buy in Japan...?

NZ Herald: The futuristic world of Japan
My first contact with Japan's cutting-edge technology came when I went to the loo. Relax. I'll spare the sordid details. I want to tell you about the electronic toilet...Jim Eagles travelled as guest of Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
...more...

[ichigo partygirl]

NZ Herald: What to buy in Japan

The book

It's hard to go past the bestselling Memoirs of a Geisha for its fascinating insight into a twilight world, especially if you're heading to Kyoto where geisha teahouse tours are part of the package.

The film

You've probably already seen Lost in Translation, but check out the DVD version for extras on the difficulties of filming the story of two Americans lost together in Tokyo.

What to buy in Japan...?

NZ Herald: The futuristic world of Japan
My first contact with Japan's cutting-edge technology came when I went to the loo. Relax. I'll spare the sordid details. I want to tell you about the electronic toilet...Jim Eagles travelled as guest of Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

...more...

ohh shame on my country...................sigh

[Taro Toporific]

NZ Herald: What to buy in Japan

The taste

Sushi lunches, noodle dinners and rice cracker snacks are everyday food choices now, and New Zealand is well-served by a range of Japanese eateries ....But to make eating oriental easy at home, why not forget cup-o-soup in favour of instant miso? And try the smooth, mild flavours of Japanese curry paste.

ohh shame on my country...................sigh

Buy The CURRY, of course!
VERMONT CURRY(tm) is the authentic Japanese meal.

[Greji]

ohh shame on my country...................sigh

Why? No loos or no geisha?

[Taro Toporific]

When saving is no longer a virtue
INSIDE JoongAng Daily, August 8
....Japan had reckoned that spending was the way out of its prolonged recession. But when its people earned money, they hurried it to the bank. The authorities seriously considered dropping cash from helicopters, and making Monday a holiday dedicated to shopping. The interest rate was reduced to zero, but that didn't work either. People saved whatever they could. Japan's "lost decade" was quickly turning into two....

[Taro Toporific]

The Japanese term "Christmas cake" has been passe for decades. The average for women in Japan is 30 (if at all).

The future is übersexual
The Telegraph.co.uk / 12/08/2005
It was inevitable, but the sensitive, self-absorbed metrosexual has had his day. What women desire now, is M-ness... Metrosexual is out; übersexual is in.

..Her team of trendspotters claim they did a lot in the mid-Nineties to popularise the term "singleton", the thirtysomething Bridget Jones hooked on chardonnay and longing for a husband.
In this book, it's as if the singleton has stumbled into a corner, died of alcohol poisoning and become extinct. The only reference to the singleton in the book is to her Japanese incarnation: in Japan, unmarried women over 25 are nicknamed "Christmas cake" because no one wants to eat Christmas cake after December 25.
Well, the Christmas cakes and the singletons are still there. And they're still keen to find a husband; ie man, metrosexual or übersexual or whatever, is not yet redundant.

[maraboutslim]

In all fairness, sounds like they were talking about the '90s. (should have said women "were" called christmas cake to be clearer). I guess now it's "makeinu" at 30. When I was in Japan last, Captian Japan and I were talking about this and how it went from 25 to 30 and we assume 35 will be next. Who wants to vote on what the new term will be?

[gomichild]

[Buraku]

Too right. Unrelated, but scary for sure is that I have also seen people who had broken bones set improperly. It's become the "who really gives a damn?" society from about the middle down in terms of age. Strange. Very strange. It must be hell for the elderly who actually worked damn hard to make better lives not only for themselves, but for their families and neighbors and so on.

http://www.fuckedgaijin.com/forum/album_pic.php?pic_id=3932

that's insane

[Taro Toporific]

Au 19, 2005, The Globe and Mail:[book review] A hitchhiker's guide to Japan
....In one of his most striking and poetic passages, Ferguson describes a drunken karaoke session in which a Japanese "salaryman" emerges from a group of his peers and sings a passionate, if ironic, version of the old Frank Sinatra hit, My Way.
What a spectacle! A tousled salaryman, living a life of bows and stifling conformity, a man married to the company, a man who -- in the thousands every year -- works himself to death for the sake of the corporation, a man who has to eat dirt and smile every day, a man who fuels the economic engine yet remains unsung, unacknowledged, and often openly mocked. A man like that, standing up and singing in heartfelt English: that the record should show, he took the blows and did it his way! The passages all but drips with the unnamed despair of much of life in Japan. ....

[Mulboyne]

Businesswire: Preparing Japan's First Psychologists

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 22, 2005--As US students head back to school, 30 in Japan are donning caps and gowns for graduation. The first commencement from Alliant International University's Clinical Psychology Masters Program will turn out a pioneering band of Japanese-trained psychologists on Saturday, September 10 at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo. "Japan, like other countries, feels stress related to an aging population and adults trying to care for both children and elderly parents. The Japanese also feel extraordinary pressure to achieve in school and business," explained Program Director Nancy Piotrowski, Ph.D. "Traditionally, they have struggled alone; the idea of seeking professional help with these pressures and normal transitions associated with birth, families and death is a new one. But that is changing. The services of modern-day clinical psychologists -- specially trained to function in Japan -- can lessen suffering for families and communities."..."Masters-level psychology training that is clinical in nature is relatively new in Japan," said Piotrowski.

Japanese Psychological Association

The Japanese Psychological Association is a corporate juridical person established in 1927 as Japan's first organization for researchers in psychology - a discipline which was first introduced to the country about 100 years ago

[Taro Toporific]

Not exactly a bad report, but it's strange quote...

8/29/2005 3:39:00 PM, wrestlingobserver.com

Molly Holly interview

...Nora Greenwald, formerly Molly Holly of the WWE, explains how she doesn't follow wrestling in Japan anymore because she hates violence. "This sounds horrible," she began, "but I don't enjoy watching women's wrestling. I think that it's brutal...it's like too violent for me. Really what I love about pro wrestling is the comedy..the Scotty 2 Hotty's and the Funaki's. I like athletics and I like comedy, but as far as the chairs and the blood, I don't know, I'm not into it". Nora claims that it's tough when she has to destroy someone after a match by pulling their hair, ramming their head into the match, or using the stairs. "Watching it back, I'm like 'that's so sickening', I hate to see myself doing something like that". When asked why she does it then, a simple "money" response was all that was needed.....

[Mulboyne]

Boxing is less violent:

[Taro Toporific]

Money Clips, Jewelry And Phones On Tap In Card Industry
Business Online - London, UK
....In Japan, for example, phones already are widely used for contactless payments. ...

[Buraku]

Too right. Unrelated, but scary for sure is that I have also seen people who had broken bones set improperly. It's become the "who really gives a damn?" society from about the middle down in terms of age. Strange. Very strange. It must be hell for the elderly who actually worked damn hard to make better lives not only for themselves, but for their families and neighbors and so on.

http://www.fuckedgaijin.com/forum/album_pic.php?pic_id=3932

that's insane

It could be the first known case of human trafficking in Japan involving a non-Japanese girl, police officials said.

That is quite possibly the most amazingly ridiculous statement I've ever
heard.

there's no way that was the 1st case

[Taro Toporific]

[Taro Toporific]

Turning Japanese ---- how to act like a local
The Adelaide Advertiser: "Translating Tokyo" [24sep05] By PHIL HOGAN
...READING the road signs in Japan is hard enough, but to fit in you also need to get to grips with the sometimes bizarre etiquette....
DRINKING When on a night out, top up your friends' glasses but leave them to fill yours. (This can work out a financial boon if you're a faster drinker than them.)
BODILY FUNCTIONS Blowing your nose in public is extremely rude. Urinating in public is not.
SHOES Not removing them to enter a Japanese home is unforgivable. Ideally you should also change them when going to the toilet....
THE BILL The Japanese carry on like grannies in a teashop, all clamouring to pay the bill. It's rude not to offer at least once, although the host will usually end up paying...

[Charles]

Turning Japanese ---- how to act like a local
The Adelaide Advertiser: "Translating Tokyo" [24sep05] By PHIL HOGAN

I thought he retired after the last Crocodile Dundee movie.

[emperor]

I love reading Engadget but this has been round for ages:
Claw You A Lobster Machine

[Taro Toporific]

Landscape and architecture in the officeFriday, September 30, 2005
Series: Architectural Review and Design Ideas for the Cayman Islands and the Carribbean By: Carib. Architect Pedro F. Theye (T.J.T. Architecture Ltd. Cayman)
.....The combination of landscape and architectural design is also redesigned in the teachings of Fen Shui. A Japanese design method, Fen Shui mixes universal design logic with spiritual beliefs in the layout of buildings and landscapes. In Japan many building designs are first given to a Fen Shui specialist to select everything from the location of the main entrance to type of water features in the office core. ....