watashi to tokyo

blood type in Japan

I laughed silently to watch this page at my job today. Look at the background. :-)

>In Japan, we have bad economy news every day and I can sense people in saving mode. This is Air Yakiniku (Japanese BBQ site), you can cook meat on the Internet and eat with only sauce for meat.

I know about this T-shirt "Now accepting applications for Japanese girlfriends." and I had seen some foreign guy wearing it in Tokyo. But I didn't notice the customer review is so hot.

This article of AP was hot in the world, I read. I really hope you read those books once (if they are translated), it's very interesting. You can learn a little in this wiki page too. Type A has an earnest charactor but also it can be a bad part as over-earnest. In Japan Blood type A is the most common one. :-)

Our brain misunderstand it

I am not big game fan but I enjoyed this movie. "Top 10 Game creators". No.1 is Shigeru Miyamoto who is the creator of Super Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong. It might be hard to outstrip Miyamoto for a while, because Super Mario was such special and a sort of epoch making stuff as a game and as a phenomenon. I like this somebody's wrting to New York Times writer.

I really like this!! "Hack your brain! How to hallucinate with ping-pong balls and a radio." Yes our brain misunderstand very often. I wrote this post before "Did you try too?" . In the post, I wrote how to lift a person with four people's forefingers. I found the somebody tried it in the party. Here is a video.

It's long, check after 1:00.

Top 50 most non religious nations

This is very interesting research: "Top 50 Most Non-Religious Nations". Sweden is on top, No.2 is Vietnam, No.3 is Denmark, and No.4 is Norway. Apparently, Northern European countries are non-religious nations. Then, Japan is No.5. I don't know how they did this ranking, what kind of research, or what kinds of questions they used. I may agree that the Japanese are not very religious. Many Japanese don't have any religious customs like going to church on Sunday or praying at a certain time of the day. I guess Japan is ranked so high because all textbooks teach "evolution". Here is another ranking: "Did human beings develop from animals?" In this ranking, Japan is No.5 and Northern European countries are above us again. France is No. 4, but it looks like they follow the Geocentric model, not Heliocentrism. Here is a video from Youtube: quiz millionaire.

But I would like to say that the Japanese are very open to many religions and we don't have any strict images, rules, or limits of religion. Christ is "kamisama" (god), Buddha is a some kind of "kamisama" (not really, but we don't care and we don't have such clear distinctions, even in Buddhism), a set of seven different "Kamisama", Sun is "kamisama", forest is "kamisama", snake is "kamisama", etc.

busy day

Ha ha ha ha ha sooooo dark ; "human crayon". This might be a good gift for my friend's baby.

Great blog! I will check this blog more today ; "Photoshop Disasters" . They don't check before publishing? Look! okay?, scary

Very interesting article from wired. "Japanese more sensitive than westerners to the big picture". This is very good timing for me, because I had a small episode last week. This may sound strange, but when I write email to foreign people, I have to think about the "subject." What I feel, what I think, what I mean. Without really thinking about it, I tend to just talk generally. This article might be related too: "In Asia, the Eyes Have It". By the way, I am Asian, but I could not make this!! Try this aweareness test DOTHETEST"".

Sumo has trouble now

Now I realized he wears OTAKU T-Shits. I found a real Otaku in the U.S. Great! He is really nothing but Otaku. An Otaku is not an anime or manga fan at all, but rather a person who dives into the secrets of stuff.

Good design awards 2007 show nominated designs on their web site. Here are the thumbnail pages. As an architecture fan, I enjoyed these pages. Nice architecture has healing power to me. DesignTide in Tokyo 2007 updated their schedule too. Last year, I didn't check it, so maybe I will go this year.

CNN picked this sumo news. Yes, Asashoryu news is very hot in Japan like this summer. The Sumo champion Asashoryu skipped a sumo exhibition tournament because of his injury, but he enjoyed soccer in his mother country Mongolia, then it was aired on the news. He got a penalty, but Japanese people got angry and punished him and his boss's management (I think his face was an icon of funny news of CNN web. No?) Now the champion has mental trouble and insists on going back to Mongolia again. However it's hard for the Sumo association and maybe public opinion to accept his assertion. Please check the ASAHI too. Do you think Japanese people overreact? Japanese people think Sumo is not just sports, it a part of our traditional culture. Women can step in the Sumo ring, this may sound gender discrimination, but actually I don't need for them to change the rules at all. People expect Yokozuna (sumo champion) to act as a good example of sumo wrestlers, but this is not the first time that Asashoryu made people disappointed. And for local people, the exhibition tournament is the only chance to see Sumo Live. I think playing soccer could be called an indiscretion. But we should give him a chance, and hopefully he will retire because of this confusion. He is a hero for the Mongolian and for Japanese too.

By the way, talking about strength, he is a really strong sumo wrestler. I found these two videos arranged like the game ONIMUSO. Look at this, this. This is This is the original match of those two movie. Yes, Asashoryu lost at that time.

Do you save your money?

Capgemini and Merrill Lynch released their  11th annual world wealth report. They say 1.48 million people have a million dollars in this country. It means one out of every hundred Japanese has a million dollars. Of course that hundred includes babies and kids... Hmm, it means some of my co-worker should have a million dollars... I don't think so. This is a single women's topic site. Their monthly magazine "psiko" sent a readers・questionnaire to 1000 working single women in their 30s. According to the result, 30.2% of the 30s women have less than 500,000 yen saved. 56.7% said "no savings" or "I save when I have money," "I don't save every month." Well, to be honest with you, the results sounds a little bit unreal for me. I think working women in their 30s will have more. On that point, this site shows a 36 years old woman's monthly income and expense. Her income is 331,045 yen. Rent is 78,000 yen (in the Kansai area). Food 40000 yen, Energy 4518 yen, Tel 5537 yen, Internet 5143 yen, cable TV 3675 yen, clothes 25640 yen, cosmetics 15000 yen, hair 17850 yen, Gym 9975 yen, Insurance 2180 yen, and the biggest one is social expenses 52000yen. But she is doing well because she saves 54464 yen per month. For me, her account looks very real.

By the way, psiko magazine asked "How much do you pay during dates with your boyfriend?" 41.2% replied "I don't have any BF." I wrote this post, " teh Single, 30's and older, No kids" woman can be called "a loser" a few year ago. Now we have another trend "Himono Onna"(web translate). Himono is Japanese dried fish. Himono Onna means "Dried fish woman." A himono onna is a woman spending a "dry" life without romance and other luxury events. The words originated from the manga "Hotaru No Hikari". And the official site has your Himono Onna check. Here is some of their check list.

-You are not sure of your correct BRA size.
-Your mail reply is slow and short. (YES!)
-You say it's a pain, messy, what a pain often.
-You taje off shirts and sweater or jeans and underwear together.
-You eat standing in the kitchen sometimes.
You think you are a Himono Onna? "Hotaru no Hikari is being made into a TV drama, so this boom might be bigger.

It's rainy Friday

I will go to the Medicom Toy Exhibition 07 reception party tonight. They give a special item for guest. Last time it was a Kubrick of Darth Vader limited version. I will tell you what I get today later.

The title of Biohazard 3 is "Residenta Evil". You can see the trailer on Japanese site.

Next Tuesday 26th June was the day that the U.S. returned the occupied Iwo Jima to Japan in 1968. You may read the news "Japan changes name of Iwo Jima" and I know it is a hot topic in the U.S too. Since I called it Iwo Jima always, I couldn't understand why they had to change the name. They said the original inhabitants called it "Iwo To" and when it was returned in 1968, the name was returned to "Iwo To" in the official Japan map, but when Geographical Survey Institute reversed the map, it was written "Iwo Jima" again. Original inhabitants sent a claimed to thr Geographical Survey Institute after that, then GIS accepted it. By the way, even the original inhabitants still can't go to Iwo Jima now. There are countless duds and remains of the war dead, American and Japanese. Without recovery, that island kept our history there.

The rainy season has started already. Today we have rain though we have less rain this year. It will be a big problem in August. This season,  the AJISAI (Hydrangea) are in bloom everywhere. Have you ever seen this flower? Its color is white at first, then changes to blue or pink and gets to be purple in the end. The flower's color depends on the pH of the soil. One tree even has pink and blue flowers sometimes. There are some temples called AJISAI temples because of their beautiful gardens. In the Kanto area, Meigetsuin in Kamakura is the most famous one. You can walk to the entrance going through a wall of AJISAI. Meigetsu has a chic round window and it is nice to see the changing of seasons on scenery from the window: spring, autumn and winter.

You prefer Non nice-looking guy?

They say the trend of Japanese women's prerequisites for a partner has changed from "Sanko" which means three high levels (high income, high educational background, and high height) into "Santei" which means three low level (low posture, low risk and low dependency). Such prerequisites might be changed by times and social background, but I may say always women like "nice looking." However, such basic desires are starting to change recently. Here is the Japanese article (web translated). They said, "The time of IKEMEN-worshiping is over." IKEMEN means nice looking guy; IKE means nice, MEN means face (it could also mean man in one). ViVi, which is the very popular girls fashion magazine, conducted a questionnaire on "What type is your next boyfriend?" To my surprise, over half of the answers were "I prefer B-otoko to IKEMEN." B-otoko means B class and also Busaiku otoko (ugly guy)...wow.

One lady said, "I am not such a feminine type and it is difficult to show my weakness or affection to my BF. I have to have a cold attitude to a guy who even likes me, it's a kind of my shyness." She said usually guys had to leave because of her attitude, but only B-otoko, B-guys tried to communicate with her without giving up. (She says her type is this comedian.....oh, impossible for me.)

Other answers are... -When nice-looking guys are nice to me, I wonder, "Will he know how to treat woman like this?" For me, a nice-looking guy is out of my romance. They just make me nervous. -Nice-looking guys tend to sulk easily because of their pride. But B-guys are tough. So that friendship can be warmed easily. -Nice-looking guys know they are cool, so when they dress, they seem narcissists to me. But when I see B-guys dressed, it makes me smile, it's pleasant for me.

One beautiful lady was dating a B-guy, and her evaluation was "UP" because people thought she didn't pick the guy based on appearance. I wrote before, actresses tend to choose comedians. The same is true of this matter. B-guys are not popular because they are B, B-guys try to complement this missing part by attitude, so that they would be comfortable to be for women. I understand this well.

However, I am still suspicious of the trend "the anti-IKEMEN guys." This morning, Johnny Depp came to Japan, and over 2000 women went to Narita to see him. (His fashion was...ok?) Depp, Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, in Japan Satoshi Tumabuki, Hiroshi Tamaki ( of Nodame) etc. -- they are of course popular here. Women enjoy those beautiful guys as dreams and prefer B-guys in real life. What do you think?

By the way, in old Japan, a round face and thin eyes like like this face were the standard for beautiful women. Our standard for beauty may change in the future. Come to think of it, there is no accounting for taste. I don't know my handsome is your handsome. Anyway, my friend said the gap between nice-looking and non-nice is so much bigger than others. I want to ask foreign women about this. :-)

Do you use SNS?

Starting tomorrow, we have a long holiday, "Golden Week." I have a 9-day holiday, la la la la la! I have a plan for camping in the Izu area, and I want to see this exhibition, "Taisho Chic." The Taisho and Taisho arts are charming, I really like it.

I am a member of the biggest Japanese SNS site, mixi. But I hardly use it because I don't like SNS. I could not feel comfortable because of its halfway closed character. When I want to talk to my friend, I will send mail in person. If I want to share something fun, I will do it on my blog. I have no interest in sharing and talking about me, myself, my daily life, or my concerns with "mixi friends" who I knew or who I don't know. So it's very difficult for me to write on SNS because I don't know who I am talking to or what I can write about.

Then recently, topics I saw on the Internet about SNS are getting worse. This article from IT media made me scared (web translated). The article said there is an increase in users who have the idea "It is rude that you don't leave any comments when you read your friend's diary." Such activity is called "YOMINIGE" (read and run away)....orz. I really can't understand why they can have such an idea. What is wrong about reading only? I feel people should rather appreciate their friends visiting their page and reading their diary. Of course, not only me, many people say, "it's ridiculous." However it is true that people (especially teenagers) try hard to leave comments and apologize later when they can't... Crazy. Have you ever heard such craziness? I feel this might be related to Japanese insularity, some inner conscience. Sometime I feel Japanese are like lukewarm water with our formal hospitality and nobody should stir it.

Today I read this news (web translated). An administrator of Gainax (the studio of "Neon Genesis Evangelion" ) resigned to take responsibility for the confusion caused by his writing on mixi. And this is another incident (web translated). A city political candidate visited people's diaries on mixi and left his name on their history pages during the election campaign. People thought it was a tactic to lead people to his mixi page. So a guy opened a community called "a candidate's footsteps" and they talked about it. In the commnunity, 20% of people said "it was okay unless it is against the law," but 51% said "it was uncomfortable even if he didn't break the law." 10% said "I hate it!" and nobody said "I would support him." Last week, a guy from the community went to the police and talked about the "possibility of a violation of the Public Offices Election Law." By the way, that candidate won the election but did not make any comment about that issue.
Now the selection campaign on the Internet is against the law, but the govenment will start to discuss. I would prefer an Internet campaign (of course I never can accept "mail") to loud noise from a public speech or campaign car.

Anyway, If you see this mark on food package in Japan, it means the food/drink is "Tokuho" (Tokutei Hokenyo Shokuhin). "Tokuho" means "Food for Specified Health Use," those foods/drinks are assigned by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. For example, "Cholescare" will work for your high cholesterol, "Pure Select Saralear Mayonnaise" by Ajinomoto has the same function. Suntory Black oolong tea will prevent fat deposits. Econa cooking oil has the same function, it's good to use when you cook fried food. Kao released Healthya drink series; the tea has high levels of tea catechin and will reduce your body fat. My friend tried it, and he said he felt his energy went up as if he took strong caffeine. These "Tokuho" items are a little bit more expensive than regular food/drinks but they are easy to take as substitutes for regular mayo, oil, and tea. After I finish the oil in the kitchen, I will use some "tokuho" oil.

Do you want to be promoted?

REALLY??? I didn't know this: Ushiku Amida Budda is the tallest statue in the world. Look at this “9 Highest Statues of the World".

This is the art set "My grandmothers" of Miwa Yanagi. They leave a big impression.

I like these collections. I sense contentedness and frustration both at the same time. Would you understand what I feel? I will excerpt from "Hear the Wind Sing" again today. "There's no such thing as a perfect same just like there's no such thing as a perfect despair." :-)

Japan Youth Research Institute released the report "high school students's willingness." And the report shows Japanese students have a much lower desire to get ahead compared to American, Chinese, Korean students. (here is the report, it's a Japanese pda.)

"Do you want to become important?" 34.4% of Chinese, 22.95 of Korean, 22.3% of American students answered "Yes." But only 8.0% of Japanese students answered "Yes." For the question, "What do you feel about being important?" American & Chinese: "It's the chance to prove myself and ability." Korean: "I will be respected." Japanese: "Assume a heavy responsibility." American, Chinese, Korean students answered, "I want to challenge something big in the future," but Japanese students said, "I want to live peacefully." There are more questions, but Japanese students answered in such a way on the whole report. Maybe, Japanese company and business society don't hold any dreams for young people. I feel that not only students, but Japanese in general have an impression that important people can't get a fair return for their responsibility in many companies. And it'll be a motivation issue more than a money issue, I think. We have a less conscious "respect to important person / president."

My friend was just promoted to "Kacho"(section leader) this April, but guess what, he isn't happy at all. Because after Kacho class, he won't get any overwork wages, but he will get more management work for his section. Actually his wage will go down but he will be busier. Who wants to be promoted with such conditions? Who can have dreams if you see such facts? We say “the sorrow of the mid-level executive” -- it means too much stress and no fair treatment. You know their class has a high rate of suicide in Japan. By the way, I have never thought I want to be important in the company and I don't want to be promoted too. However it will be bad if everybody thinks like me :-) Sorry, I am selfish.