watashi to tokyo

Tsukimi, McDonald"s Autumn Special

In Japan, we have a custom to appreciate the moon, especially the full moon in September. We set dumpling and seasonal fruits out by the window and watch the moon. This custom is called TSUKIMI. TSUKI means the moon, and MI means watching. The prototype of tsukimi for the Japanese, who are a farming people, is to liken the moon to a divinity and to pay for abundant subsequent harvests of ripened rice. So we hardly do it in this traditional way now, but still we say "It is the season of Tsukimi".

We know from our patrimony that a rabbit lives in the Moon and cooks rice cakes there. You can see designs with the moon and rabbit together often, like this, this . And since the round yellow part looks like the moon, we call this way of making eggs "Tsukimi". This is Tukimi Udon. And Japanese McDonalds sells Tsukimi Burgar . This is a McDonalds season special only in Japan.

The three big, people loved in 1970s

I took a photo on the way to the gym, I used my mobile because I don't have a proper camera. I want this "IXY" by Canon.

By the way since yesterday, the Japanese pro baseball team has gone on a strike . This is the first time in 70 years pro baseball history of Japan. Mr Furuta is the president of the Japan Professional Baseball Players Association. I wrote about him before, yes he appears in Sapporo Black label beer. Well he has tough
days now. Since I am Edokko, I was a fan of Tokyo Giants, but recently I don't watch their games anymore. Especially after Matsui left the team. Nothing fun to see. In 1970s, we had the phrase "Kyojin, Taiho, Tamagoyaki", these were "the best 3 things" people loved and a symbol of strength in those days. Kyojin means Tokyo Giants (Giants = Kyojin-gun), and they won 9 seasons in a row. And Taiho is a legendary Yokozuna, He won 30 times, nobody can break this record. And Tamagoyaki is baked egg, after ww2, on the way to recovery, baked egg was mom's handmade meal, a little sweet, every child loved to eat it, maybe it might be a symbol of peace in society.

Why I don't like GIS2, Innocence

What a poor cat form UK.

By the way I am asked why I did not like Innocence. Hmm hard to explain in English. Aristotle classified three ways to pursuade, Ethos, Pathos, logos I could have strong Patos in Ghost in the Shell, and The Matrix. some passive sympathy ? come from inside me. I created them by myself. GIS or Matrix do not need to impressed me.... Strange way to say?

They are totally great entertainment, itty-bitty and complicated setting. But not a difficult story. We can enjoy the rendering, but it is not nessessary. I could not understand GIS2 and the Matrix 2&3 as they want to be.... They want to be more than cyberpunk. Entertainment? When I see GIS2, I felt as if it were the masturbation of Oshi Mamoru. I had to watch Oshi's likes and tastes, The long philosophical talking, Chinoiserie, Basset Hound(his dog)... Too much. Regarding to The Matrix 2 & 3 more or less I feel the same. They lost the audience. I was working for the mobile promotion of Innocence, and I saw that movie in media preview, there was Mamoru Oshii and other stuff. But to be honest with you I was almost sleeping. :-P.
I say GIS1 and Kokaku Kidotai are Production G.I's magnum opus. Oshii ruins everything in GIS2. Of course this is my impression.

Food show on TV

Today I wore a jacket over my T-shirt. During the daytime, the temperature rises to 30C yet, at night and in the morning, it is cool. Yes, autumn has come to Tokyo. I LOVE autumn, except I have to have my birthday.

Autumn is the eating season. We say "Shokuyoku no Aki," in Japanese. In North America, the TV program "iron cheff" was popular, right? After that, the most popular food show would be "Docchi No Ryori Show". (Which dish? show). Two hosts and his chef make teams select "a dish". Each team gets high quality material (like this､ like this) from all over Japan and cooks the dish in the kitchen studio. 7 guests watch them all and vote for which one they want to eat in the end. Only the winning team and guests who vote for the winning side can eat the dish. Last time it was beef steak vs seafood sushi bowl. The beefsteak bowl won.

A Funny food show is "Debuya" which I introduced in "pika pika food" before. Debu means big/fat, Ya means place/shop, in Japanese. Two big guys, Papay Suzuki and Hidehiko Ishizuka, eat a lot every week, actually that is all. However, their funny comments, how to eat, and the happy face of someone eating helps people relax on Friday nights.
Metropolice has an article about Japanese food shows. Please check it out, too.

Ghost in the Shell, Kokaku Kidotai

Andy and Larry Wachowski said they were very much inspired by the cyberpunk animation movie Ghost in the Shell. Actually, we can see its influence in The Matrix. Here is an interesting comparison site between Ghost in the Shell and The Matrix.

Ghost in the Shell originated as the manga "Kokaku Kidotai" by Shirow Masamune and a TV animation of "Kokaku.." is airing on CS or CATV in Japan. Here is the the official site of "Kokaku". I heard foreign people have a preconception that "animation is kids' entertainment". Are Japanese different? No. I can tell many people feel the same, but gradually it is changing. Actually high quality, cool animation like Kokaku is interesting enough for adults and maybe impossible for kids to understand. On September 26, a DVD of Kokaku Kidotai second GIG will be released. Here is the trailer(ram). And this is the first season(ram). This is the soundtrack movie click(ram). You will be able to see that this is completely different from kid's animation. Do you like it? If so this is the long trailer (ram). (5minutes).

I heard Ghost in the shell2 "Innocence" will be relased in the U.S soon. Well well if you like the first, you should NOT see it. Mamoru Oshii ruins everything this time. That is my impression.

The Most Common Name for Dogs in Japan

I wrote about the what the most common Last name is in Japan. So this time, what the most common Last name is in Japan. I checked first what it is in foreign countries and I could find North America here.. They say it is Sam, Sammie or Samantha. The second most popular is Max, Maxie, Maxwell or Maxine. Hmm, they are name of people too, right? A special name only far dogs is rare?

In Japan, "Pochi" for dog, "Tama" for cat, they were/are thought of as a typical name for a pet.
Actually we have a PET TV program called "POCHI TAMA"(JP) this online dog good shop(JP) the name "POCHI". However I don't think people name their dog or cat Pochi or Tama actually, it maybe a little old fashioned. Here(JP) is an article of common dog names in Japan. Okay let's introduce best 10.

No.1 Momo: You may be reminded of "Momo" by Michael Ende, but this means "PEACH" in Japanese. This can be a girl's name but Momoko would be popular as a person's name.
No.2 KORO: I had two dogs named KORO, I always have KORO's (the second) photo in my passcase. This name is specific to dogs.
No.3 Lucky: Sounds so happy. It is specific to dogs.
No.4 Nana: Hmm. This is a girl's name, not specific to dogs.
No.5 Hana: This is a girl's name, too. It means Flowers・
No.6 Taro: This is a boy's name. We have a famous true story. In 1958, a Japanese Antarctic research team was forced to leave 15 dogs in Antarctica, without any support. One year later, the team returns to find 2 of them, Taro and Jiro, are alive and welcoming them. We have the movie, "Nankyoku Monogatari" and Hollywood will make a version, I heard.
No.7 John: Hmm. John is very popular name for dogs in Japan.
No.8 Cocky: Sounds so cute. It is specific to dogs.
No.9 Bell: Specific to dogs in Japan.
No.10 Chibi: This is not only for dogs. It's for any pet in Japan. This means "small or pettit"

Maybe most famous dog in Japan would be Hachiko in Shibuya,, and the most famous cat would be in a book called a href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/I%20Am%20a%20Cat"target="_blank">"I am a Cat" by Soseki Natume, but he has no name. The novel starts like this "I am a Cat, I have no name yet".

"TV chanmpion" and depachika Queen

Today, a Journalist of the U.S newspaper and I met a depachika expert. We went around depachika in Tokyo. I got mail from the American writer that said she wanted to make an article about depachika. I offered to be a guide for her in Tokyo, but since I don't know of any good places to see, I sent mail to ask for some advice from depachika expert Rio(JP). She is the depachika champion from a famous TV program, "TV chanmpion"(JP), which is a Japanese variety show about people's abilities. People show their expertise in cooking, designing, arranging, knowledge of something, and many, many, many others in a contest form. For example, this is "Wooden Toy Craftsman Championship", this is "fastest eaters", "pastry cook"(JP), room reform, anime geek, gardening, subway geek, etc., etc. Rio is the depachika champion. She knows which shop is in which department store in Tokyo. She can tell the price of each sweet, she can tell the exact name of a shop by the smell of their cake. Yes, a sort of depachika geek. It was really fun. I can not stop writing because this brought a chance for such a fun meeting to me.

Robot tech and Space tech

Regarding robot technology, Japan will make big progress, I think. Sony Sony QRIO, Honda ASIMO you should see those robots. Actually, college and high school students brush up on their robot tech in robot contests like this. (I don't miss watching when these contests air on TV). Maybe Japan will be able to develop this tech more and more, I hope so.

On the other hand, Japan is behind in space technology. Did you know that? This year Japan has had 20 typhoons already, too. Yes, Japan gets hit with typhoons, so Digital information from satellites is important. But the former meteorological satellite, GMS-5 (aka Himawari), had been in operation long after its lifespan because of the failure in launching the succeeding satellite, but finally during last spring, Japan started to rent a satellite from the U.S. I heard this U.S. satellite is old enough, so that it might stop anytime. "Rental satellite"!! And we might lose satellite information.

My eyes were so weak

Ahh I cut my hair today, but now it's tooooooo short! Hmm I should eat giant kelp. Kelp is good for hair. I don't know if it will work for speed of growth, but I have to do something. :-(

By the way, this U.S company developed the contact lens for parmanent use. They said this is better than Lasik. Hmm, really? I had a Lasik operation two years ago at this place. It was about 300,000yen or so in Japan. After I got it and wrote about how it was in my old JP home page, three friends and two visiters had it at the same place. I got some referral fees from there. Lucky me.
My eyes were so weak, I couldn't see my toes when I stood. I said good night to the AD panel on a street at night. I said "look! what a beautiful moon tonight!" but it was just a handkerchief in the porch next door. After the operation, I got a hundredfold power of vision. But now they are getting worse again. "To return to being near-sighted in future, to become long-sighted in future. Which of the two will happen, hmm?"

Nukadoko keep? New restaurant in Aoyama

　I am not sure how it is in foreign countries. In Japan, when you do not drink the entire bottle of Sake or Whisky you ordered, you may keep the rest of it there. This is the "Bottle keep" service. It is a popular service in Bars or Izakaya( Japanese style bar). Today I have found the new "keep service". It is "Nukadoko keep".

Tsukemono is one kind of Japanese pickles, it is very popular. This food is rich in Vitamin C and lactobacillus probiotic, maybe one of the reasons for our longevity. Nukaduke needs Nukadoko. Nukadoko is a sort of pickling bed made from "nuka"(rice bran), salt, and water. So every mom, in every home has their own Nukadoko, (I have to say, now a days young women do not make this. I don't have nukadoko either, because of its smell and it is troublesome to keep. You have to stir it everyday). Its taste is different in every Nuka bed, a little salty, or light taste, or deep pickling, or sour etc. It depends on the amount of salt and what vegetable was made in the bed.

Then this new restaurant Kyoto murasakinoueda beikokuten gave us "My nukadoko service". I can keep my jar with my own Nukadoko. Interesitng, they might be making a news hook, but this would be a good chance to re-evaluate traditional food. I like this trend.