Tokyo Daytripper: Plum Blossom Viewing In Kairakuen

Posted on March 6, 2006 by tokyofox

Of Japan’s three most celebrated landscape gardens, Kairakuen in Mito are the closest ones and they are located about two hours north of Tokyo. The other two are Kenroku-en in Kanazawa prefecture and Korakuen in Okayama prefecture. These ones in Ibaraki are famed for their ume (plum blossom) and yesterday I went there with a mate to see something which is a part of Japanese culture.

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Overall, it was a beautiful day but the gardens weren’t fully in bloom and we only saw a few plum blossom trees. Anyway, this very un-rock & roll story pales into insignificance as the highlight was seeing lots of cute Japanese girlies clad in more traditional dress.

Plum blossom is basically a different shade of pink to the more famous cherry blossoms which are on another level altogether due to the many parties that go with them. Every year in early to mid-April thousands and thousands of people eat and get merry under the cherry blossom trees.

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No Distance To Far!

Posted on February 28, 2006 by tokyofox

Throughout my life I’ve never had to regularly travel to school or work for more than about 30 minutes from A to B. I felt that that used to be a lot at times and I still do but thats nothing compared to the Japanese. Commuting to work for over an hour is fairly standard here it seems. They tend to use each journey as personal time for reading, studying or more commonly just sleeping. One of my Japanese friends travels two hours to work everyday so that takes up four hours in a day on top of the average 10-12 hour working day so very little time for anything else from his day.

However, that pales into insignificance compared to what I read a few months ago about one man who travels for three hours one-way everyday. Why anyone would want to do this, I don’t know but given the cost of rail travel in Japan it is more practical than the more expensive British Rail prices.

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Ready, Steady, Cook!

Posted on February 27, 2006 by tokyofox

Since the launch of this site I have had tonnes of feedback (well, about 5 half-arsed comments!) and it seems opinion is divided. On the one hand there are those who think my site is a little dull and on the other are those who think it’s very boring!!

Some Dick (Richard Thompson to be precise) even dared to suggest that I would get bored of this blogging lark and that I would be writing stuff like “……….bought an egg sandwich today, it was nice!!”  Wrong on two accounts mate. Firstly, I would never buy an egg sandwich! Secondly, Tokyo is a city that is so so different to any place I have ever been and there is so much stuff to reveal. I have been here for nearly two years now so I just need to think back to what was different back then but I now have got (more-or-less) accustomed to. The only problem of course may be whether I can be bothered to log my thoughts here.

Anyway, yesterday I had a unique experience. When most Westerner people think of Japan they think of samarai, sumo, sake and of course sushi which is what I made yesterday. Other than scrambled egg on toast and a pot noodle (called cup noodle here) I have never used a kitchen in such a way. During my first year in Japan I didn’t even go to a sushi restaurant but this time I got hooked and I now really like ‘kaiten-zushi’ (conveyor-belt sushi bars). Basically all I had to do was take a thin sheet of dried ‘nori’ (a type of seaweed) and spread some vinegared rice over it before putting some raw seafood in the middle and then roll it using a special rolling utensil as shown in the pictures.

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May The Forks Be With You!

Posted on February 26, 2006 by tokyofox

Overall I have been living in Japan for nearly 2 years now. Before I came out to Japan I had only ever used chopsticks once and that was at my job interview where I was given a free bento box (Japanese style lunchbox usually containing rice, fish, vegetables and meat). I was fairly hopeless at using them at first but within a short amount of time I mastered it and by the time I had to use them for the first time here it wasn’t really a problem.

It is therefore still a little incredible to be constantly asked by Japanese people (when we go out for food and drinks) whether I can use chopsticks. It seems that many Japanese (and in particular those who have never been abroad) assume that us ‘gaijin‘ (foreigners) stick exclusively to western food and eat it with a knife and fork.

Given the number of Japanese people to be found in Italian, Korean, Chinese, Indian, French and Spanish restaurants in Tokyo I really don’t understand they’re coming from in terms of why they think we would eat only traditional western food rather than food which is popular the world over. Anyway, thats enough of this rant as I’m off to get some fish and chips at the local British bar!!!

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The Gullable Japanese Music Market……..Or Not!!

Posted on February 25, 2006 by tokyofox

I am a big music fan and so buying cd’s here is of great interest and fascination to me as so many international bands seem to add one or two bonus tracks on to their albums. Is there any reason why Japan gets singled out for such extras or ‘lazy’ Japan-only releases of b-sides or live versions? Or is it just the record companies trying to take advantage of what they maybe consider to be a gullable Japanese market who will buy anything and everything connected with that band? Maybe by releasing these ‘limited edition’ cd’s in an economy like Japan then allows for a higher demand for importing these Japan-only releases into Europe or America.

I have to say that i’ve been taken in by it all and buy many of these cd’s as they’re not available in Europe. It has to be said that the extra tracks are usually pretty average at best.

I think the reason is that the import version of the album is available cheap here but the japanese version requires lyric translations, artist biography (as non-Japanese artists may not be well known here) and some more exclusive features. Japanese label also demands 2-4 weeks of time for promotion such as TV or magazine articles which inevitably pushes up the price. Of the 4 big music economies – USA, UK, Australia and Japan – only the latter gets these extras at a much higher rate than the other three put together. Sure, there are a few UK or USA only releases but Japan has absolutely loads in comparison which are just crying out for someone like myself to flog on e-bay!

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Hail The El Pres!dente

Posted on February 24, 2006 by tokyofox

Just got back from HMV in Shibuya where I saw Scottish band El Presidente play a live and free five/six song set culminating in their first hit ‘Without You‘ which has been played to death on local station Inter FM recently. While recently looking at the UK top 40 chart on-line I saw that this band scraped into the hit parade at number 40 with some other song which I don’t know.

I think they have been around since last summer but are only just getting started over here. It was quite a good set and included a cover of Prince’ ‘Raspberry Beret‘. Anyway, to get to the point (yes, there is actually one!!) after the set there was a sort of meet and greet with the band for people holding a ticket of some sort though I don’t know how they acquired it!. Given that the Japanese always bow to say thanks or whatever I thought it a little strange that they shake hands with the band. Reminds me of some Royal folk meeting two sporting teams prior to a major sporting occasion.

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Beep Beep! Pardon Me!

Posted on February 23, 2006 by tokyofox

I feel a little embarassed to write this but obviously not enough to deter me from actually doing so!! A few years ago I was in Perth in Australia with a mate and we were laughing and joking around when a vehicle of some sort tooted its horn and we simultaneously said “Pardon me” like one does when they fart. Not really funny but being the juveniles that we were we found it hilariously funny. But did we leave it at that?

Of course we didn’t and instead decided to milk such a pathetically childish joke for all it was worth. After that, everytime we heard a car horn we would rush to say pardon me and when we got to Sydney our Japanese friend even joined in on the game. Years passed by and this p*ss-poor excuse for game faded into oblivion apart from the occasional re-union with my friend who’s identity I will predict.

Lets just call him Richard Richard for the sake of it, mainly because thats his real name! Anyway, towards the end of last year I remembered such tomfoolery and rather than coming up with anything original and amusing I just decided to re-hash this cr*ppy phrase. Amazingly some Japanese people found it funny but the sad thing now is that I can’t stop saying it even when I’m walking down the streets alone.

“Nurse, the screens……..”

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Maid In Heaven!

Posted on February 22, 2006 by tokyofox

One of the most recent trends in Tokyo (particularly in Akihabara electric town) has been the increase in Maid Cafes. Given that this place is most commonly associated with geeks it is probably no surprise that these cafes are supposedly  filled with the kind of guy who has probably never talked to a real girl instead preferring to spend his time on-line chatting to and fantasising about virtual girls dressed up as their favourite manga characters or sexy maids.

That is where these maid cafes come in and cater for these people and lots more besides. In the name of research Tokyo Fox went to a couple of these places with one of our mates. Nothing particularly special about them. Basically just a starbucks or doutor with a cute (Japanese people are obsessed with cute which maybe explains why people of all ages love Disney-related stuff) girl dressed as a maid serving you your drinks. Gives you something to look at and talk about I guess but these places were far from seedy like I thought they might be. In fact, we (by we I of course mean my friend!) were probably the only ones in there paying any remote attention to the maids.

Overall just somewhere to go and pay a bit more for a coffee served by someone who will play ‘janken‘ (rock, scissors, paper – used to make all important or non-important decisions here) with you and if you win then you get to choose a special maid card which are not too dis-similar from the football or baseball cards/stickers that people collect when they are young.

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Welcome To Geek World!!

Posted on February 21, 2006 by tokyofox

Well you never thought it would happen and neither did I but its time for the 2nd entry on this blog thingy which we call Tokyo Fox. Last Sunday I went to Akihabara which is the place for all items electrical (and also for Maid cafes but thats another story!!) and spent a sh#tload on a new laptop computer which I have become very attached to.

I used to have to sit at an old computer in the doorway of my house for the last 9 mths but now I have to sit on my futon which means my legs ache after so long sitting crossed legs. Anyway the main reason for getting the laptop was to be able to move into the 21st century and download stuff (all legally of course!) and in particular music.

I spent the first few days importing all my cd’s onto iTunes and am now on the scrounge for any music so if any of those who use msn messeneger have any mp3 files to send me then let me know what. Obviously I won’t hold my breath waiting for the offers to roll in!

Another benefit of the computer laptop is to listen to UK radio on-line and without having to use headphones like I did when I was in the communal part of my house ( I share with 3 other people for those not in the know).

Posted in Japan Life, Music | Tagged | 1 Comment

Tokyo Fox – The Dawn Of A New Era

Posted on February 20, 2006 by tokyofox

Welcome to the first and maybe even the last of my blog articles here on the newly launched Tokyo Fox website. Will have to see how long the novelty of this lasts but give it a few weeks and it’ll no doubt be nothing more than a fading memory!!

For interesting facts, stats, insightful info on life as a ‘gaijin‘ in Japan, wit, humour, jokes, strong opinions you have come to the wrong place but if you are an internet geek or just killing time in a dull mundane job then why not check back here every few days to read the latest goings on in my life abroad.

I recently left Tokyo behind during my Winter Christmas break to spend two and a bit weeks in Fukuoka…

 

…Hiroshima…

 

…Osaka…

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…Nara…

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…Himeji…

…Kobe…

 

…and Kyoto.

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No sooner had I returned from the Kansai region and I was off to Seoul over in South Korea (below) where I managed to spend all of about four minutes in North Korea!

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It really was one of the most surreal border crossings ever which involved just walking around a conference table on the border guarded by a soldier from the north at one end and one from the south at the other. Other highlights included a traditional dance performance, a beautiful temple, some local food and a trip to the World Cup Stadium.

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Click here to read ‘Welcome To Geek World!!’

Posted in Asia Travel, Japan Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments