Review: Films Set In Japan – Various

Posted on July 21, 2006 by tokyofox

Had a few days off recently and for once didn’t go on a trip as saving for one next month. It was tipping it down with rain anyway so I watched a few DVD’s with Japanese connections as the rental store had a special offer.

Firstly, I watched ‘The Last Samurai‘ (2003) which I’d still never seen. It was actually better than I’d imagined it would be though far too long for someone with my limited attention span! Read a more detailed review of this film here.

Secondly, I watched ‘Pearl Harbor‘ which I only knew previously to be a war film best not to be mentioned to most Japanese! ‘Tora! Tora! Tora!‘ (1970) is the cooler WWII film to like and this one isn’t but I quite enjoyed it despite being an overlong Hollywood film (albeit one full of amazing battle scenes) overflowing with cliches.

Next up was the 1982 so-called sci-fi classic ‘Blade Runner‘ which was set in a Los Angeles perhaps based on a futuristic Tokyo. This was the directors cut so I don’t know whether it’s better or worse than the other version. I know many people consider this to be amazing, and whilst I did enjoy moments of it, I never really got into the story so much.

As I think I’ve mentioned before, my ideas about Japan previously came from films like ‘The Karate Kid‘ (1984) as well as ‘Lost in Translation‘ (2003), ‘007 You Only Live Twice‘ (1967), ‘Kill Bill‘ (2003), ‘Austin Powers in Goldmember‘ (2002) and even ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s‘ (1961) where Mickey Rooney portrayed a Japanese man in a time when you could get away with such a thing.

Whilst its not a film ‘The Simpsons‘ also gave me an insight into the land of the rising sun and my final viewing was their ‘Japan: 30 minutes over Tokyo‘ episode (Season 10 Episode 23 for all the geeks out there!) which saw the dysfunctional family go to Japan and run out of money resulting in them appearing on a crazy Japanese game show in order to win tickets back home. Seeing Homer continuously just walking through the thin paper walls was very amusing as was his rude behaviour in such a polite country and it was these images which were stuck in my mind before I came here.

Tokyo Fox Rating 7/10 (The Last Samurai)

Tokyo Fox Rating 7/10 (Pearl Harbor)

Tokyo Fox Rating 6/10 (Blade Runner)

Tokyo Fox Rating 9/10 (The Simpsons)

The Simpsons also advertised a tasty Japanese drink called ‘CC Lemon’ years ago and those adverts are here for anyone interested.

Posted in Films, Review: Films Set In Japan, TV Shows | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Dining Out: A Pizza Non-Japanese Food For Me

Posted on July 18, 2006 by tokyofox

Many of my students seem to live in a world where they think us ‘gaijin‘ only use knifes and forks and don’t eat Japanese food. This is so untrue and a little annoying for most of us but maybe they would have been happy to see where i went this afternoon for a ‘Viking‘ (buffet) lunch. I decided to take a break from my usual rice diet and go to ‘Shakey’s’ Pizza in Shibuya for an all-you-can-eat feast of pizza, spaghetti, fried potato’s and curry and all for the very reasonable price of 787 yen (less than £4!).

However, the main reason for me sampling this was because a couple of years ago my then neighbour (and now fellow blogger) Gideon said that he’d rather eat turd on toast than ‘Shakeys’ or something like that! I failed to believe that as even bad pizza is ok. I mean it doesn’t exactly take much to make a pizza does it?! Slap some cheese on a bit of bread and bake it and bobs yer uncle! Thats not always the case though as while tucking in to the tasty slices I had a flashback to a time in Sydney when I went for pizza with a load of people including some stupid girl who didn’t like cheese or tomato so her pizza was basically mushrooms on baked bread!

Anyway, ‘Shakeys’ was all fine as I thought it would be. Well fine for Japan which doesn’t probably say much as pizza here isn’t on a par with Europe or America. Certainly wasn’t as good as Hull where I went to University and where in my post-University house I lived within spitting distance of half a dozen good pizza takeaways.

Posted in Food & Drink, Japan Life | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Suits Aren’t Cool Enough For Japan!

Posted on July 16, 2006 by tokyofox

These last few days in Tokyo have been unbearably hot and humid with temperatures near to the mid-30’s and humidity levels at close to 100%. Judging by what some people wear you wouldn’t know it though as jeans and cardiagans are still worn by some Japanese as of course are the suits.

Japanese working customs are still very much formal and its part of the business culture that the salarymen wear their suits whatever the weather. These principles have been relaxed a little in the last 15 months or so due to Prime Minister Koizumi’s not-too-novel idea of introducing ‘Coolbiz’ which is where the jackets and ties are taken off to make life more bearable and mainly to help protect the environment. Japans arctic-like air conditioning in indoor public areas leads to ridiculously high fuel bills.

My company was a little late last year in agreeing to this approach which is hardly a brainwave of an idea but this year we don’t have to wear our ties between the start of June and the end of September.

It doesnt affect all though as the business men are still regularly seen dressed up in their formal attire though i have heard that some of them do take off their jackets once they get to work which seems a little stupid to me but thats one of many examples of how this countrys attitudes and culture are so different to that of the western world.

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Tokyo Fox’s World Cup 2006 Overview

Posted on July 11, 2006 by tokyofox

So after four weeks the final whistle has blown on the 2006 World Cup and now my life can hopefully return to as normal as possible meaning no more split sleeping shifts, sleep deprivation or catching 40 winks in between lessons.

On reflection, England were woeful and the worlds biggest under-achievers failed to deliver anything beyond the minimum. Although they put up a bit of a fight against Portugal in the face of adversity the displays of the overpaid prima-donnas that make up the England team has to be questioned. Definitely a case of reverse symmetry in that the whole was not greater than the sum of its parts. Try telling that to my students though who continually frustrated me with talk of England being strong and Becks being great which were so wide of the mark.

I enjoyed the last world cup so much more and that partially inspired me to come to Japan. Back then I had just returned from my ’round the world’ adventures and was able to dedicate my whole time to the action. I missed that in many ways this time as I had no English feed for the games and so I didnt get the full picture from just watching what was happening on screen. Would have been nice to see some World Cup-related features and news stories too such as scenes from Hamburg city where I worked a few years back as the saviour of a small IT company (*).

I like most things about Germany but don’t like the national team yet i have to admit that they were probably the most entertaining team in the tournament and seeing Klinsmann jumping around the sidelines was nice to see and remnant of Martin O’Neills celebrations at Leicester many years ago during our golden era. It was a surprise to see them play so well too given that they wasnt given a prayer before the tournament. The country did put on a good show off the field too and it was refreshing to see them embrace the idea of inviting all fans (i.e. non-ticket holders) to come and enjoy the atmosphere and culture.

As for the other teams, the Czechs got off to a flyer but couldn’t keep that momentum up and made a surprisingly early exit. The Argies looked odds on favourites to win the tournament and scored the best goal along the way but that was before they came up against the German penalty experts. Like England, Brazil and France failed to impress in the early stages whereas perennial slow starters Spain and Italy won their groups in perfect fashion. More negative tactics then seemed to take over with managers seemingly prepared to settle for the lottery of penalties and be abstained from blame if they then lost.

For once I didn’t quite see all the games but the best I did see was the Italians late show against the Germans in the semi’s and the final wasn’t so bad either culminating in ZZ blowing his top (a disgrace whatever the provocation but very funny too I thought and made sure his career ended with a bang) before the Italians finally won in a shoot-out and then followed one of the most shambolic presentations of a trophy ever. I think it was the 3rd choice keeper who actualy passed on the trophy to the fantastic Cannavaro who was arguably the player of a tournament with no real outstanding players, few underdog victories and not so much emerging new talent.

(*) Not necessarily true as sitting at a desk surfing the net all day every day doesn’t constitute being a saviour!

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I Was Not Wong to Go Hong Kong!

Posted on July 7, 2006 by tokyofox

Popped over to Hong Kong for a few days holiday last Tuesday night and got back on the first which is exactly nine years since the handover. Even though it used to belong to the UK, I was still expecting it to be more like Japan than the UK but how wrong I was!

DAY ONE: The heat hit me as soon as I exited the airport and many sweaty days were to follow. I went to Kowloon to check into Chungking Mansions which is one of those places people describe as having character but that really just means it’s a sh*thole. 15 floors of guest houses in a very decrepit and dilapidated building which is ironically next to one of Hong Kong’s best hotels.

I was given a very cheap sweatbox on the 15th floor with a view of another wall in a dirty alley. It did the most basic of jobs anyway at the very cheapest of rates. Didn’t bother me too much anyway as I like to slum it a little when I go away as its more interesting in some ways and will inevitably give me a more interesting anecdote than staying in a hotel. Within an hour of checking in I was already in a street bar watching the Brazil game among a huge crowd of Ghanaians while sampling the local beer and some food which was of a size I’m not used to getting in Japan.

DAY TWO: The next morning, I took the star ferry to Hong Kong island but as soon as I arrived the heavens opened up in a very big way and then it got even worse and thundery showers appeared for a few hours resulting in me having to buy an umbrella.

I rode on the world’s only double decker trams, ventured into a street restaurant, visited the Botanical zoological gardens and Hong Kong park.

I later took a cable car up to The Peak which despite the clouds and showers provided an amazing view of the harbour and the high rises. Unfortunately, I forgot to recharge my camera battery before flying out there so I had to splash out more than I would have liked on a new battery.

 

DAY THREE: I took a bus down to Stanley in the south of Hong Kong island. This is famous for its market but I was going there to catch some sun on the beach there and as ever ended up getting sunburned in true British fashion.

I later had dim sum (steamed dumpling snacks in a bamboo basket) in a restaurant on the waterfront which certainly hit my wallet hard but i thought I should sample this traditional Chinese snack. As is often the case the view was spoiled by ongoing construction work which obviously is never seen in the brochures and guidebooks.

DAY FOUR: After a heavy night on the beers with a German guy and a couple of Brits I was woken up at 11.40am by a woman knocking at my door…………and then I let her out!! Seriously though, the staff member wanted to know if I was staying another night which shocked me as I never thought I would miss the 11.30 check-out time. Once I’d got sorted, I made my way to Lanteau Island by ferry where I took a rickety bus ride to visit the Big Budha and monastery which did no good for my hangover.

Following that I sampled the ‘real’ Chinese food in terms of the McDonalds Chicken Fantastic which was a rice cake burger thing and very nice it was too.

I saw a spectacular light show on the harbour front at night and then went to my regular bar to watch the World Cup quarter finals until 5:00 am when I had to take an early bus to the airport. It was a very long and tiring day, but it saved me on a night’s accommodation.

      
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Changing TV Channels Is Now A Remote Possibility!!

Posted on July 4, 2006 by tokyofox

After many days of fannying around with cables and other stuff I finally have satelite television in the form of SkyPerfect TV. I’m already quite bored of it though as theres not much of interest on the likes of CNN, BBC World, Fox, Discovery, MTV Japan and the many sports channels. In my first year in Japan I had satelite TV and it was a most welcome luxury but since then my computer has become more valuable as I can see and hear most things on that thanks to the world of downloading. Back in 2004  I got into programmes like ‘Friends‘ and ‘X-Files‘ which I had never watched in their mid-nineties heyday. I enjoyed the episodes but don’t think I actually properly understood one……………and ‘X-Files‘ was pretty difficult to follow too!!

The world cup games are all shown in full but none live so thats of absolutely no use to me as I hate watching games when they’re not live. The commentary is also available only in Japanese so it seems I will be getting very little use out of the many channels till the start of the Premiership season. The plus point is that I can now watch TV without having to get up to change channels manually.

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Bumping Into People……….Quite Literally

Posted on July 3, 2006 by tokyofox

With a population of 27 million living in the Tokyo metropolis it is fairly impossible not to rub shoulders with fellow inhabitants. Obviously this doesn’t sound too bad if that person in question is a cutie but its more than likely to be a sweaty salaryman (Japanese businessman) stinking of post-work alcohol.

If you imagine what its like when you have left a concert or sports event then you will appreciate what it is like for me every single day living in this city. People say that you can never walk in a straight line in this capital and this is very true but it is enhanced by what seems like severe lack sense of direction from some Japanese people. Shinjuku station is the worlds busiest station with millions using it everyday and the constant movements in all directions gave my mum a headache when she visited as its a far far cry from my hometown.

Where I come from people tend to move out of the way when someone is approaching in a way which could cause a collision. In fact we usually move so far out of the way that some people reply with the “I’m not that fat!” line. That doesn’t happen here as people tend to stand still and hold their position. On top of that there appears to be no sense of giving way. One can be speeding down the pavement and someone will be walking very slowly and see them coming but still think nothing of coming out from a shop straight into their path. The country’s extreme obsession with mobile phones probably heightens this and makes peoples sense of what is going on around them worse.

Waiting for a train is organised chaos as the Japanese line-up very very orderly in anticipation of its arrival but when it does arrive all hell can sometimes break loose and people can push and shove to get on, and sometimes before they’ve even let passengers get off. Most of the time though its ok for me and from what I have heard its way more efficient than in China.

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World Cup 2006 – A Pain In The Lars!

Posted on June 21, 2006 by tokyofox

The World Cup is being shown across six different channels in Japan which can prove a little troublesome when trying to tune into each match. Games have been kicking off at 10 pm, 1 am and 4 am here but for some reason not many of the 4 am group games have been shown on these terrestrial channels including Argentina v Holland and also the England v Sweden game which could only be seen on satelite.

I got up at 3:30 am yesterday morning (I say got up but I never actually got to sleep at all) and got myself down to the nearest British bar to suffer Henrik Larsson’s late equaliser help the Swedes keep up their unbelievable record of not losing to us in 38 years!

The bar wasn’t so busy. Only one other gaijin and maybe 20-30 Japanese England supporters. This was actually my first England game in a bar and I sat among a group of Japanese guys and within seconds one of them was wanting a photo of himself with me; a real live English fan.

I had a couple of beers which actually went down far better than I had ever hoped for at that time of day and also got chatting to a Japanese guy in a West Ham shirt which was quite refreshing given the nature of most Japanese ‘glory-boys’ who usually don only Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea shirts.

For some reason he had given himself the English name of ‘Johnny’ from when he lived in the east end of London and it was quite nice to share my views on the beautiful game (no, not ‘Countdown‘!!) with someone. Not sure if he even understood me most of the time but he did the typical Japanese thing of nodding and saying yes which in Japan doesn’t mean “Yes I agree with you” necessarily but just that “Yes I am listening to you”.

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World Cup 2006 – The Swiss Roll Over Africans Togo Top Of Group G

Posted on June 20, 2006 by tokyofox

Having failed to get in on our previous two visits (refused entry to the Japan games because tickets needed to be purchased in advance) myself and Asif went to Nakata.net Cafe in Aoyama on Monday night. As I said in a previous post, this bar is a shrine to the Japanese midfielder. Thats one way of looking at it. The more cynical among us would maybe suggest that his name is used to promote the bar to the gullible!!

We arrived just in time to see Switzerland and Togo play on a huge screen in a “soccer lounge” with a line of laptops on one side, raised rows of seats on the other, a load of unused tables on the large floorspace and a sort of terraced area facing the screen with comfy seats which is where we sat. They have tried to create a kind-of-stadium feel which is possibly enhanced by the games not having commentary and just the stadium sound.

With an entrance fee of 3000 yen we got five vouchers for drinks or food. A tad more than I usually pay but for a one-off it’ll do. While the bar was a bit flash and poncey the food was very much sub-standard. Would be good to be in this bar when its full and with atmosphere but the Swiss game was only attended by a few die-hards.

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World Cup 2006 – Japan 0 Croatia 0

Posted on June 19, 2006 by tokyofox

Having surrendered their lead in the first match against the Aussies it was time to put the right wrong for the Japanese last night. I went to a much more lively bar in Shibuya this time to see a game which did no favours for the Japanese or the Croatians but it does offer a tiny glimmer of hope for the final match unklike many other groups where the qualifiers have already been decided before the last games even kick off.

Its all too common to see Japanese football fans wearing England or Brazil shirts but the opposite rarely happens. With this in mind I wore my ‘Nakamura 10’ Japan home shirt and got many pleasant as well as strange reactions.

The atmosphere was good and it was nice that we actually found a ground level bar in Tokyo which is very rare given the nature of the high rise builldings that dominate the capitals skyline.

 

The one major difference between Japanese and English supporters is the excitement which is created in terms of goalmouth action. Us English fans tend to only get excited when there is actually a reasonable goalscoring opportunity but for the Japanese to get wildly (over)excited the ball only needs to be in and around the last 25 metres or so. If the ball is in in this area then the excitement reaches fever pitch regardless of whether the ball is anywhere nearing hit the back of the net.

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