Mari - diary

Japanese design items

The ex guitarist of Mr.Big Paul Gilbert is learning Japanese. Look at this his note. Cute!

Today, I have collected some items which are unnecessary, unlikely Japanese designs.
Samurai Chess
Katana Game controler
Sushi Sandal
Sushi Pajama
Wrist watch
Japanese lacquer guitar
Hannnya(female demon's guitar
Yakuza table
Sumo wrestler table
Ukiyoe suitcase
PC case
ipod case

Anyway, while I was looking for those items, I found this Koharu san!  This is a real doll for care of the elderly; I am not sure she would work as sexual doll. :-p  Hmm, powerful visual...Koharu san will give you super virtual simulation.
Notice : A Wig is optional.

anti-crow measure

How to collect the city's garbage depends on each area. Some areas use dumpsters,some areas use garbage cans. In many areas of Tokyo we leave the garbage in translucent garbage bags, but because of this we have to be annoyed with the issue involving kitchen refuse and crows. Actually Tokyo Metropolitan Government has a page for an anti crow measure.

Do you have the same problem? In Japan the common solution is using a net or a cage for garbege.  Some use CD disk and Tiger strip pattern. For crows they seem to be enemiese (birds of prey?). There are some special items likethis, this, and this. Some towns use their unique item. Shinagawa use yellow bags. In Yamaguchi pref. they use this "Wig-kun". Hmm it's a head on public display. I knew they are used in rice fields sometimes, but in the city? on the road?

Can you live here?

Horie was arrested and he denies all allegation. TV news show a jail room he is staying now. His home is in Roppongi hills (rent around \900,000- \5,500,000), he would miss his gorgeous home.

My favorite site show one treasonable photo of shocking room. Even such expensive Tokyo, you can rent a room by 29000yen. There is no bathroom, shower room, kitchen, but they have a bed. Wow Can you live here?

Hikikomori in other country = Sotokomori

I did not know the word "Sotokomori" until I read the news magazine "SPA" yesterday. But I do know it is getting to be an issue.

I wrote about Hikikomori in my blog before; they withdraw themselves at home. Soto means "outside" in Japanese, then Sotokomori is 20s-30s people staying a long time in foreign countries where the general prices are much lower than Japan. They do part-time jobs in Japan, then after they make a certain amount of money, go to foreign countries. For what?  Maybe to escape from reality.

Usually tourists enjoy the tourist places or communication with the local people. But Sotokomori people just stay at cheap hotels and spend time as they want. Some buy game machines and enjoy playing all day, some play guitar, some draw, some sleep, some hung around with other Japanese, they don't see around the country to save the cost.

Meccas of Japanese Sotokomori are Bangkok in Thailand and Mumbai in India. Kahosan Traveler's Lodge in Thailand is a well known place for Sotokomori. A one night stay costs 360-700yen, food is 90- 300yen, big beer is 90yen with edamame. The cost of living is about 30,000yen for a month there. Near the lodge, there is a big manga cafe and the Internet cafe, so nothing is inconvenient for living. If a young man has 300,000yen, he will survive two month in Japan...maybe it will be possible if he will be in survival mode. But in Bangkok, he can live 10 months without any worry, without pressure of family, friend s , job, etc. Here is a live camera of the lodge, you will see some Japanese enjoy beer in the daytime.

Until the 90s, college graduate - white-collar working for a big company was the typical ideal life model for many. (graph : blue is college graduate, dark red is white collar) But after the bubble, many students could not find jobs, and also they saw the destruction of permanent employment. Then they lost their incentive to get a job in a big, good company. In a good way, they got greater choice for the future and type of job. So some made their own company, some choose to becraftsmen. Although in the 80s, these were rare cases, it is not rare anymore and they succeed in their new field, and people think they are cool.

On the other hand, many couldn't find their way, and there wasn't a model anymore. Sotokomori might be people who failed to find their way to adjust in society. They had the excuse of a depressed economy, difficulty of finding work before. (Hikikomori includes students, lower age s who can't go abroad by themselves.) But not anymore. I guess Hikikomori and Sotokomori think they have to to do something, but it is not today for them.

1/29 update Mainichi SPA : Sotokomori article

Abracadabra! Is this new cult?

This is strange news. A  57-years-old man lives with 'harem' of 11 young women. He said since he was a child, he dreamed the same dream again and again. The dream was about a dowdy man who became popular very much by saying abracadabra. He said he did not forc them to live with him. But today he was arrested on charges of theft. He said to the women that he is an executive officer of the self-defense... this world is so dangerous and evil but he could save them.  if they left him, something bad will happen. Then he started his harem life in a house in West Tokyo where he bestowed his house upon 8 women. As long as I read some article and news,  it appears to be not a simple threat, but a kind of brain wash. He repeated to marry and divorce each woman for 12 times. In the shortest case, he got divorced 9 days after marriage. He is presently married to a 25-years-old woman, and they have a daughter.

This sounds like a cult? Yes, maybe. Regarding to Japanese cults, Aum would be well known. I remembered the morning, because my mom called in a lather but I didn't know what happened. We did not have the Internet at work yet. Haruki Murakami is one of the popular authors in the world, He published a nonfiction novel about Aum "Under ground". And recent cult, Panawave was wired. They wrapped everything by white clothes.

Talking about 57-old-years guy, we have a more similar case to this strange news. It was called "Ark of Jesus". Jesus Sengoku, set up a bible study group in Tokyo in 1960. He renamed the group Ark of Jesus in 1975. Six years later, he began life on the run with young female followers after their families accused him of holding the women against their will. Police found him at his hideout with 26 followers, but Sengoku was cleared of any wrongdoing after investigators discovered the female followers joined him on their own accord. Sengoku moved to Fukuoka and opened a hostess club with the women, which he christened "Daughters of Zion." The club also functioned as a base for his missionary work.

His story was made into a film and the Takeshi Kitano acted as a Jesus. I didn't see it, but his mysterious mood matched to the criminal. He acted as serial killer Kiyoshi Okubo too, he is very good at acting as dangerous lunatic.

Death Note will be film, but!

Wow! my favorite manga, Death Note will be made into a film. My friends and I really hoped holloywood would make it, but unfortunately it is Japanese film...orz.  Devilman and Casshern were enough. For 30s and 40s people, both animation were sort of treasures, then those two movie made us upset, it was apathetic rather than angry actually. ha ha ha

According to the news, Tasuya Fujiwa will act as Right. Hmm, okay passable. L (Ryuzaki) is Matuyama Kenichiro. Hmm I want Jun Matsumoto to acts as L!!  I don't know who will act Ryuku. I think tall man Tomoyasu Hotei will fit.

If Hollywood made this, who would you choose? Edward Fourlong had steal beauty as Right. HAD? Yes he made me disapointed in many way (who are you?) . Ryuku?  My friend said Samuel L Jackson would be nice. Then he drew and sent me his quick art :-p Okay he will be the best. I see how it is!!. Then his choice for Rem made me laughed. It's him. But it's not bad actually. If you've not read it, check it out!

What Japan Thinks

I wrote about "Hesokuri;: wife's secret money," and this site, "What Japan Thinks" picked up the post. You can read the whole article about wife's hidden money in this post.

His blog is a really great way to know about Japanese general opinions and the result of polls. This is an interesting post, Dancing bear syndrome : non-native Japanese speakers." Many of them were just citizens, some came to Japan as Mormon missionaries, and some visited there with their own business. But now they are very well known to Japanese on TV shows. I think Thane Camus, whose grandfather Albert is a Nobel-prize winner for literature, is the best Japanese speaker. Thane and Bobby Orogon both became well known to people on a comedy show called "Sanma no Karaokuri TV." Bobby HAD to join K-1 (martial arts fight) because of the TV show's challenge project two years ago. Everybody thought it was a kind of joke, but he won to Akebono. At the end of last year he won against Akebono (yep. many hoped he would stop the fight for the honor of Sumo...orz...Yowazugi). Daniel Kah can speak in perfect dialect; I heard he can speak Yamagata, Osaka, and Nagoya dialect. (Great, I can't speak any Japanese dialect!)

And this is an interesting post too: "Japanese women dream of the USA." Generally speaking, Japanese have a sense of affinity with the USA. Korea is No.2 now. But the result would have been different just 4 years ago. The Korea Boom made the distance between Japan and Korea close. By the way, my American friend said "I'm sure if they'd asked them straight 'Would you rather marry a foreigner or a Japanese?' at least 95% would have said 'Japanese only' without hesitation" and the results would have been different. He liked Japan very much, so after he left once, he missed Japan and finally returned here 3 years ago. Now finally he is getting tired of Japan. He says Japanese are getting rude more than before. He and I and a few other foreign friends talked about the Japanese lack of international common sense and the segregation of foreign people sometimes. Unfortunately, on some points I have to agree. Even though American people have said things like that, I wonder how others are feeling. Arudoe Debito is well known as a guy with questionable methods for fighting for human rights and the rights of foreigners in Japan.

What is a cold patch?!

A common university entrance examinations "center test" were held in last weekend at 721 locations in Japan. The center test work as "entrance exam" for many national university, and for a few national college and private college, the score can be the pass-fail criteria. Since this year, they take listening English test. I couldn't find the listening test, but every year we can try the test next day of exam. Here is this year English test. (first page is accent position. choose a correct pair.) Would you try it?

By the way, in this post I wrote "a cold cataplasm" and some asked me what is that? I checked "湿布"(shippu) on online dictionary and they say it is cold cataplasm, hot compress, cold compress. But some people wrote it is very hard to find them in other countries. Then I realized they are so Japanese stuff?? Cold cataplasm, cold/hot compress is like a gel patch containing a substance to reduce pain or swelling.

I found so many site about heating pad in the U.S, you will imagine it. The difference is Japanese patches are disposable, and not only herb, some medicinal component are included. When we have shoulder stiffness or alleviate the tension in your shoulders, we use cold patch. Cold patch is work fine to set up inflammation or acute pain. And when we have chronic pain or stomach pain, we use warm patch.

Salonpas is a major brand of those patch, you may check patch in their ad videos, here (.mpg video) and here (.mpg video). Since we can buy it easily at drug store, in winter season, it is very convenient for sudden fever. Baby (cheek like an apple :-) I can see she has fever!) and adult, we all use it.

Not for pain, we use it for healing and relax. Especially women (of course me too!) use them for leg fatigue (.mov video). After taking bath, cold and good smell patch is very comfortable for bloated legs. Even a office, we may use for small one for neck. If you like it, I heard they started it to export it to the US. Please check drug store.

Anyway when you have a light ankle sprain, you may try instant handmade patch by yourself. Knead flour and vinegar together, it should be ear lobe like consistency. Spread it our into 1/3 inch on the part. Then covered it with saran wrap or wet rag and hold it more with cotton gauze or something. In this way, curiously the paste will be dried in only inflammation part. You can try as much as you like it, usually in next day the light sprain will be better.

So this patch was originally this. Now you see :-)

Funny animal topics

Two animal topics from Japan.

One is this, Hamster, Snake best friends at Tokyo Zoo. That Hamster's name is Gohan chan....he he he. Bad joke.

The other one is a pigeon print found on a window. At the Natural History Museum and Institute in Chiba, they found this pigeon shape on a window. Maybe the pigeon crashed into the window. I read that pigeons have powder on their wings for waterproofing. Since the museum staff did not find any dead birds around there, "he" would have survived. But as far as looking at the photo, I can see a halo like ring. I wonder if he is okay now, maybe he flew to heaven. 

Anyway, in Buddhism when someone dies, we dress them in "death clothes". This is a set of death clothes. I heard recently that people try to choose more natural dress, or clothes he liked when he was alive. You can see a small triangle shaped hat that works for the head like an umbrella. So when you watch or see Japanese movie or manga, you might see this. This is a typical old Ghost image for us. If you're interested for this year's Halloween, here is a traditional Japanese ghost costume.

Big snow day

Japan halted all imports of U.S. beef because of mad cow fears Friday, because a recent shipment from New York contained cattle parts that are a disease risk. Then today Yoshinoya announced they will remove beefbowl from the menu again. Many Yoshinoya fans are disappointed to know this.

By the way today we have a lot of snow. On such day, except for a visit to the dentist and the gym, I tend to be a lazy internet addict. Today I like to read this post from my favourite site, Nifty Z. It was a naked eye meeting. Guys who has weak eyes had a drink meeting with naked eye, funny part is the foods they ordered were different from they intended. Even thought a food they picked by chopstick, they could see. Without reading Japanese, photos are funny. (ah why we could see well via pin hole? it is interesting) I love such silly cheap attempts :-). At that point I like this their passed-over food post too. Ah I can sense sour smell of this, maybe it has fermented milk. That is TAKANA, usually very fresh green Japanese pickles. I can't find any better than 1993 vintage at my home, how about you?

Do you have good eyes?  I had very weak eyes too, so I understand. But I got a Lasik operation three years ago, so I don't need glasses or contact lens. I wish I could have had the operation earlier, because I had many troubles and accidents in my life because of my eyes. I said hello to power poles at night often. When I was absorbed in playing GALAGA at an arcad, since I couldn't close my eyes, my contacts fell down by drying suddenly. When I went to a my summer trip, I was blown comfortably by nice breeze in mountain side, and suddenly my contacts blew away. I wrote the lasik operation report in my old site, some people gave me mails they could make their mind to have operation to see my reports. (yes, I don't have tension for those something new for me!) Since the next day, my eyes was getting better and better for a few weeks. I thought -Sooner or later, when I cry glued to the desk, I would see the bacteria in my tears.- I paid 400,000yen for that operation, now it cost around 300,000yen in Japan.

Now I will have Yukimi zake! (snow viewing Sake). Hot Umeshu will be nice. Wonderful snow night!