Political Earthquake Hits Japan

This is not my story but Newt gives a good summary of what has happened in Japan in the last week....

Witnessing History in Asia
by Newt Gingrich

In Japan ... a political earthquake. Frustrated Japanese voters tossed out the party that has ruled that country virtually uninterrupted for the past half century.

After 54 years in which the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) was in power for all but one 11-month period in the early 1990s, the combination of economic decay and corruption finally forced enough people to abandon the LDP to form the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) as a serious broad-based competitor.

In this election, the public was clearly eager to send a resounding signal of rejection to the entrenched LDP machine. But the final results were a bigger defeat for the LDP than anticipated.

When all the votes were counted, the DPJ and its allies had a two-thirds majority in both houses of the Japanese parliament. This will give them the opportunity to pass major changes.

There are two challenges facing the newly empowered Democratic Party of Japan, however.

The first challenge is the degree to which the DPJ is really an anti-LDP coalition. The head of the DPJ, for instance, is a grandson of the co-founder of the LDP. It’s not clear yet if the DPJ has a stable majority to implement its agenda.

The second challenge facing the new ruling party in Japan is one we also face here in the United States.

The great stabilizing force in Japanese government has been the permanent bureaucracy. Much like Sacramento, Albany, and Trenton, the key Japanese interest groups and the permanent Japanese bureaucracy combine to overwhelm the popular will as expressed through elected officials.

The LDP clearly failed to reform the bureaucracy. It will be fascinating to watch the DPJ undertake this project of institutional reform.

If they can, we may learn some lessons that can be applied to our local, state and federal government bureaucracies.

No one knows yet how this election will influence Japanese-American ties. The more likely a DPJ victory became, the more their leadership emphasized continuity and cooperation with the United States. Time will tell.

Tokyo's Narita airport installed a device to test the temperatures of passengers arriving from Mexico.

Dear Readers:

I am temporarily sidelined in the USA. At least I'm not quarantined somewhere. I have come down with a virus and decided not to return to Japan until I am symptom free. With the recent surge in swine-flu cases, I'd rather not take a chance...

Coughingly yours...

What Forest Gump Should Have Said: Life is Like a Cherry Blossom

Sakura, the cherry blossom, the elemental symbol of the ephemeral nature of existence... With the appearance of these flowers, the routine of all Japan comes to a halt. In every neighborhood and park one will find the Japanese sitting under these trees...eating and drinking throughout the day and late into the evening...There are lanterns strung in the branches ...and at night the blossoms glow as they reflect the light. Salary men, in their black suits and ties, and office ladies, in their skirts, enjoy picnics on blue plastic mats. The elderly, from nursing homes, are wheeled out to lunch under the cherry trees. Families and couples gather in large and small groups, to laugh and talk...As the days progress, the flowers begin to fall like snow. Children scoop up piles of the fallen petals and chase each other through the park, throwing handfuls into the air. When the wind catches the flowers, there is a snowstorm of Sakura...better than a New York City confetti parade. As I watch the petals blow high into the air, I think these pink blooms must travel round the world, to land who knows where.

Yes, life is like a cherry blossom. One day we're young and beautiful and strong. The next day we look in the mirror and say...where did that person go? Take heed and savor whatever the season of your life. Forest Gump would have appreciated the cherry blossom.

Sakura: Japanese Folk Song Celebrating the Cherry Blossom

Click on the youtube link for song and photos....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKTRnO7SV68

Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,
On Meadow-hills and mountains
As far as you can see.
Is it a mist, or clouds?
Fragrant in the morning sun.
Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,
Flowers in full bloom.
Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,
Across the Spring sky,
As far as you can see.
Is it a mist, or clouds?
Fragrant in the air.
Come now, come,
Let’s look, at last!

Calpis and Pocari Sweat: Not what they sound like, thank goodness

Automatic beverage machines are everywhere in Japan. In every machine, can be found two very popular drinks - Calpis and Pocari Sweat. Yes, I know what tastes those names conjure. Forget the names when you're drinking them and you'll be OK. Calpis does come from a cow so your first guess is sort of close. Calpis tastes like a watered down, sweetened milk product - or at least that's my best guess. Pocari Sweat is not sweat in a bottle. It seems to be an electrolyte drink for when you sweat.

If those two beverages do not appeal to you, there's the ubiquitous drink of the world, Coca Cola. I have even found some machines that carry Dr. Pepper, that favorite soft drink of Texans. The Dr. Pepper can has some very wild manga on it though. One looks like a giant monster eyeball. The other is a very curvaceous animae space woman. Nothing at all like the dull Dr. Pepper cans back home.

These machines are giving Starbucks a run for the money. You can find all sorts of cold and hot, coffee and tea in these machines. The hot drinks have a red bar under the label and the cold drinks have a blue bar. There are just about as many choices as a coffee shop for all you espresso lovers. One of the most popular is called Georgia Coffee. Do coffee beans grow in Georgia? Has global warming changed Georgia into the tropics while I've been in Japan? My best guess is that it's made by Coca Cola in Georgia? Another brand is Boss Coffee. The spokesman of Boss coffee is the American film star, Tommy Lee Jones. He is the Coffee Boss. I think it must be his drivers license picture that is all over these machines. Either that or he has not had his morning cup of Boss coffee yet. I love Tommy Lee Jones. He looks so real.

North Korean Launches Rocket Over Japan

TOKYO/SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea launched a long-range rocket over Japan on Sunday, drawing swift international condemnation and triggering an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

The reclusive state's official media said a satellite had been successfully launched and was sent into regular orbit.

U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement that North Korea, which tested a nuclear device in 2006, had violated U.N. resolutions and increased its own isolation with what analysts believe was effectively a test of a ballistic missile designed to carry a warhead potentially as far as Alaska.

Sitting around waiting to see if the North Koreans "accidently" launch their missle over Japan

I'll keep you updated....

Looking for Japanese Guys? Try the Electronics District... Or, have you always dreamed of wearing a maid's costume and waiting on nerds in a cafe?.

If you have trouble controling your husband's TV remote control clicking, stay away from Akihabara. Every conceivable electronic device known to man can be found within a few square blocks. And, when the shopper gets tired of electronics, he can play video games at Sega world. It's loud and obnoxious here, with the sound from the games spilling out into the street. The Akihabara electronics district, or Akiba for short, is a guy's idea of heaven, especially if he's an Otaku. According to Wikipedia, Otaku is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga, and video games.

After one is finished with electronics shopping and tried all the video games, the next stop would be to buy manga, which are Japanese comics. These are more like little paperback books. I recently became obsessed with Japanese manga myself, but only because I went to see the movie "Dragonballs" which is based on the best selling manga of all time. The hero, Goku, is a cross between Karate Kid and Superman. It had the usual high school bully fight scene. Of course, Goku can't defend himself because his Japanese grandfather will not allow him to use his special fighting skills for just any old thing. I especially enjoyed the movie's glimpse into Japanese pop culture and fashion. If you go to see it, note Goku's hair that sticks straight up, in the popular young, Japanese guy hair-do.

But back to the manga store. There are manga for everyone but it seemed to me that these stores carried mainly "guy" manga. Unfortunately, while I was wandering around, lost in the six floors of Comic Toranoama, my lack of ability to read Japanese Kanji got me into trouble once again. I suddenly looked up and realized that I was the only woman, dressed in pink of course, in a labyrinth of comics... and surrounded by guys in black...black being the favorite fashion color in Tokyo. Opps, somehow, I wandered into the "X" rated comic book section. My main concern was how to squeeze through the narrow isles, between and around all these guys, without laughing hysterically at my predicament. The Japanese are soooo polite that they will pretend they don't see a person doing something silly, but of course they see EVERYTHING. Whew!!!! Made it out of there....

Next stop, the Maid Cafes. The Maid Cafes are conveniently located in the electronics district. Who is more in need of a Maid than a guy who's worn out from playing video games and trying out cool technology? The very cute Maids are decked out in very cute and authentic maid costumes. Some of the Maid Cafes even have video games and will play video games with their customers. What did I say? Sounds like guy heaven to me.

There was one other interesting cafe that I came across. It was a Cat Cafe. For 800Yen (about $9.00 US)a person can hold a cat for half an hour. This is probably where the guys leave their girlfriends and wives while they shop for electronics and manga. There were even photos of the cats that you could choose to hold.

Akihabara carries another very important product of the Japanese subculture...Animae Cosplay costumes...animae stands for animation as in Japanese animated films, video games, or manga ....cosplay is short for costume play... The stores here specialize in reproducing entire costumes so that people can dress up and pretend they are their favorite characters. You'll see a lot of these cosplay folks hanging around the parks near Harajuku Station. Obviously, these are serious Otaku.

The final purchase one needs to make at Akihabara is a plastic figurine of one's favoite animae, manga, robotic, or video characters. Some of these are huge and quite expensive. I'm trying to figure out where people keep gigantic robots or monsters in their small apartments... I even found one place that sell what look like naked Barbie dolls without their heads. That way a collector can choose the head and the hair that fit the particular character they want to display. Also, just like Barbie dolls, there are entire wardrobes for these dolls, all based upon what they wear in their movie or manga.

I certainly felt plain Jane in my black pants and pink top. I really should have bought one of those blue wigs...If you're a mom like me, you'd skip the Maid costume though. I'm trying to hide out from those Maid duties these days.

The Octagonal Fish Dinner: The fish was octagonal, not the plate

Yes, fact is stranger than fiction. There is actually a fish that has 8 sides to it.

Last week, Greg and I decided to eat at our favorite Japanese "French" restaurant, Lapin D'or, which means The Gold Rabbit. For some reason, the rabbit is a popular symbol in Japan. Rabbit or no rabbit, the food is excellent! Anyway, the restaurant is down a funny little pedestrian street and always an interesting walk to get there. The restaurant is run by the chef, Koshimizu, and his waiter, Ito. They are definitely a comedic duo, with Koshimizu having all the straight lines. Their taste in music leans toward jazz ... makes a person want to sit there and drink wine for hours...guess that's the point.

Every meal is different. Koshimizu has a little black chalk board with the menu for that evening, all in Japanese of course, so we never quite know what we're going to eat. Our favorite salad is the "Greg" salad...that's how often we eat there.

Koshimizu usually surprises us with something interesting. This evening, it was the eight sided fish. It was long and thin and covered with very hard and sharp spines. The head was still on and the eyes were bulging out at us saying..."how could you!" We were stumped as to how to eat the thing. Koshimizu came to the rescue. If you turn the fish over, there is a line down the belly of the fish where the spines end. You simply slice down the line and pull the spines apart. Inside is a very delicate and tasty white fish. It takes about four fish to get a serving though. It's a pretty skinny fish.

For dessert, Koshimizu's wife had baked a homemade chocolate cake. I thought homemade cake was extinct....

Some days, I think all people do in Japan is eat. I have found that a lovely dinner or afternoon tea is an important part of the Japanese culture and now it is part of my culture. I think it is because most people are living in such small spaces. Restaurants, cafes, coffee shops - all offer a way out of the isolation of the tiny apartments.

Japanese Foods of the Week: Eggs, Waffles, Banana Flips, and Strawberry Shortcake

When I came to Japan, I expected rice and sushi. I never expected eggs everywhere. Every Japanese restaurant has some version of the plain, old egg. You will find a soft boiled egg on a salad, a raw egg in a bowl to pour over your hot rice or noodles, or an over-easy fried egg plopped down on top of almost anything. At first I was a little afraid to eat them. Sometimes they are not refrigerated and the yolks are a bright orange. What I have discovered is that they are absolutely delicious. I'm assuming these are what farm-fresh eggs really taste like. In the grocery stores there are also various eggs besides chicken eggs to choose from - there are tiny spotted eggs, bright red eggs, pre-cooked eggs, and so forth. The pre-cooked eggs were a surprise for me. I thought I had a regular egg. I tried to crack one open and an entire soft-boiled egg fell out.

Waffles were another surprise. You can go into any grocery store or 7/11 and find waffles where we have the Twinkies and bakery goods. There are various flavors - chocolate waffles, waffles with a sticky honey glaze and so forth. Move over Twinkies!

The talk of Twinkies brings us to our next vintage food...the Banana Flip. I don't know whether we got the Banana Flip from the Japanese or whether they got it from the American GI's after WWII. All I can say is this. Their Banana Flip wins, hands down. The Banana Flip in the USA used to sit right next to the above mentioned Twinkies in our grocery stores. The Japanese Banana Flip sits in the refrigerated case with all sorts of rich pastries. Their Banana Flip is made of a round slice of sponge cake which is rolled around an actual banana - sort of like a banana in a tortilla made of cake. The cake and the banana are held together with real whipped cream. No cool whip here. Time to bring back the original Banana Flip...

And last, but not least, this has to be the favorite dessert in all of Japan...the strawberry shortcake. These beautiful little cakes are everywhere...and once again, they all have the rich taste of a dessert that has been made with love from the finest ingredients...no hydrogenated fats here and the strawberries in Japan are famous for their flavor.

When I get tired of eating unknown food, I just order dessert...Yum, yum, yum.

The Free Store...Or what to do with your "trash n' stuff"

When a person lives in a high rise apartment, no matter how small it is, one still piles up "trash n' stuff." In fact when living in such a small space, the "trash n'stuff" seems to grow like an invasion of horrible, reeking giant mushrooms that spring up overnight...but no, those are not mushrooms...upon closer inspection it appears that they are white plastic bags full of trash for recycling.

Each apartment has "the trash room." This is where you bring your "trash n' stuff." There are elaborate posters detailing the proper method for recycling the garbage. Of course for us foreigners, it's always a big guess as to what those posters mean. Apparently, there is a common complaint in Japanese apartments regarding foreigners who don't sort the trash properly. No matter how hard we try, we can never get the right stuff in the right bucket.

We have lived in two apartments now and I can see that apartment managers have their own quirks when it comes to sorting trash. In my current apartment, Suzuki-san wants the tabs on drink cans pulled off and put into a little jar. In the last apartment, Shimizu-san wanted something else...but I could never read the sign, so I don't know what that something else was...Fortunately, they have both been very nice folks and are quite forgiving about our inability to sort out the complexities of sorting out the trash.

There is one great thing about Japanese recycling procedures...and that is THE FREE STORE !!! At least that's what we foreigners have named it. Japanese people always seem to be moving. Whenever they switch apartments, the furniture often does not fit the configuration of the new rooms.... soooooo...entire contents of an apartment might show up in the recycle area. Too bad I don't surf. There was a great surf board in the free store for months.

The other thing about Japanese apartments is that you may never hear or see your neighbors. It is hard to believe that I am living in a city of MILLIONS. These people are very, very quiet. Either that or their construction is really soundproof. Sometimes I feel like I am in one of those Twilight Zone episodes where the entire population of Tokyo has been evacuated...except that they forgot to tell me about it...so I'm the only person left in this huge high rise. I haven't even see one ant or bug or spider. I guess 12 floors up is just too high for a bug to climb.

There was one instance when we were tempted to knock on someone's door. We noticed an unsavory odor coming from an apartment near the elevator. In our minds we ticked off the possibilities....maybe they left town and forgot to take out the trash - well, when they return, they'll have to take it out because the smell will knock them over....or maybe they left town and their little doggy died - well if so, it's already dead and when they return, they'll have to deal with it....or maybe the neighbor died...I know that sounds awful, but if we are going through the entire checklist of possibilities, we have to include that one - well, if they're dead, we can't help them - so, our rationale was, if the smell gets worse after two days, we'd better call someone....of course we don't know who that someone is supposed to be. We haven't figured that out yet. We just know that for an emergency, we press the button in our apartment that looks like a campfire... or dial 119.

OK, All You Rude People Out There, Pay Attention: Or The Most Important Socio-Economic & Political Movement of the Century

Today I was walking on the sidewalk that goes through the park. A group of 9 and 10 year old boys, in their jogging suits and baseball caps, were running toward me. It looked as though they were warming up for a baseball game. There was no room for them to pass on the narrow sidewalk, so I stepped aside. The boys proceeded to ALL tip their baseball caps to me and say "arrigato," which means, thank you. When was the last time anyone "tipped" their hat to me....Uh...never. Let me remind my readers that there was NO adult there to tell them to be polite...

When I moved to Tokyo, I did not expect a "peaceful" lifestyle. I expected horns honking, music booming, people using expletives in other languages. Instead, I have a very "peaceful" existence. When I come home to my little abode, the lobby and elebator (that's Japanese for elevator)are filled with wonderfully soothing music. There is generally no eye contact on the sidewalks; but, if I have occasion to ask someone a question, folks go out of their way to help. I have had people miss their train while trying to get me to my train. I have often been bumped by these very crazy looking Japanese guys...weird clothes combinations and hair sticking up everywhere, as only the great Japanese guy hair can. It is always surprising when these fellows look at me, bow and say, sorry.

A lot of very smart people have all sorts of theories about how to reform society and politics? My answer is MANNERS. Do you want to save crumbling marriages and families? The answer is MANNERS. Do you want to improve classrooms and wipe out gang behavior? MANNERS....Do you want the Democrats and Republicans in the Congress and Senate to get something accomplished? MANNERS !!!!!

There are things the Japanese could learn from us but this is one thing we need to learn from them. Manners are the oil that makes human interaction productive and pleasant. So, to put that in plain English, you @$#!X*<#! get some manners!

COMMENTS:

Anonymous said...
Manners huh? Tell that to the poor Horn Frog in the Horn Frog juice bottle!!

-Texas Horn Frog hugger

March 16, 2009 9:26 PM


laur0902 said...
I REALLY,REALLY like your posting with regard to manners...
It seems so simple - too good to be true, and yet....
Thanks!!

March 30, 2009 2:11 PM

Train Station Song Bank - As seen on howtogetevenwithirritatingpeople.com

The perfect Japanese souvenir to buy for the 9 year old child of your worst enemy is the train bank that plays all the songs from the Japanese Yamanote railway line....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_jk8jsHkYc


It plays them over and over and over and over....

White Day: The Valentine's Day Pay-back

On March 14, Japan celebrates White Day. White Day is the "pay-back" day for any guys who received chocolate or other gifts on Valentine's ....This is because, in Japan, Valentines is only observed by women.

There are two types of gifts given out by women on Valentine's Day:

1. Giri Choco, which is an obligatory gift for bosses and co-workers, or male friends. Women may have to buy 20 or 30 of these small boxes of candy. Fortunately, they are quite affordable. You can get a wonderful chocolate gift for only a few dollars.

2. Honmei Choco, which is the chocolate of love. This is often hand-made or more elaborate and given to the boyfriend or husband.

These chocolates put the American Valentine's candy makers to shame. Both the candy and the packaging are absolutely beautiful! They are works of art and taste fabulous. And the variety is endless.

I almost forgot to tell my dear readers "WHY" this is called White Day. I was told that initially white marshmallow candy was given as a gift. Sounds like as good a reason as any.

White Day is also celebrated in Korea where Black Day has been invented for those single folks that don't have someone to celebrate White Day with ... Black Day sounds pretty mornful but it was actually given that name because these singles go out in groups and eat together. They have white noodles with black bean sauce, thus Black Day.

In Japan, gifts are a very important part of the culture. When someone gives you a gift, it "obliges" the receiver to reciprocate. And the return gift has to be "sanbai gaeshi" which means "thrice the return." What that means is that those poor guys that got some chocolates have to come up with a better gift on White Day than they received on Valentine's....and it should be about three times more expensive. I'm thinking of giving Greg a $15,000 box of bon bons. I've got my eye on a new car...

Sounds of Tokyo...The Doo Dah Station

As mentioned previously, each train/subway station has it's own "song." That makes it easy to know where you are, even when you can't read the signs. I've just discovered the song at Tachiaigawa Station....It's the old Southern classic, Camp Town Race Track.

Camp Town Race Track five miles long....Doo Dah...Doo Dah
Camp Town Race Track five miles long...All the Doo Dah day...

Gonna run all night, gonna run all day
I bet my money on the bob tail nag, somebody bet on the bay

This is so weird...I never ever expected to be in Japan and have the "Doo Dah" song stuck in my head all day..... Help, Help !!!!

New Apartment Technology or Cookin' with Magnets....Could this replace Dr. Phil?

I spent the first week in my apartment in the usual way...Unable to work the Japanese buttons that control everything...

...I was unable to figure out how to turn the heat on so I had to pile on the blankets and wear a bunch of clothes to bed.

...Then I had to figure out the doo-dads on my new toilet...Wow, this one has a nice warm "wind" to dry off your backside...

...The cooktop was the real mystery though...It is one of those flat surfaces that, one assumes, has an electrical coil built in. I was able to get a light to turn on, but when I would put my hand over the cooking area, it would never heat up. I became convinced that, because this is a new apartment building, the electrics needed to be connected. Finally, I talked our apartment locator, Tavis, into dropping by - so that he could translate for me and tell our apartment manager to send a repairman. When Tavis showed up, he examined it. Apparently, my cooktop is "magnetic."

This is the ultimate in yin/yang technology. What it means is that it ONLY heats up when the proper pan is put on top of the cooking area ...and actually, it is ONLY the pan that heats up. (Too bad they can't figure out a way to adapt this technology to the human relationship. Can you imagine husbands and wives only heating up when they comes into contact with each other? Of course that might mean no more Dr. Phil and a lot more boring daytime television.)

But, back to the "magnetic" cooktop. The pan itself heats VERY quickly. This is the fastest boiling water that I've ever seen. I have done a few fire starter experiments. While my pot is boiling, I put a paper towel at the base of the pan near the cooking coil. It would have burst into flames with gas or electric, but it is barely warm with this cooktop - and I never did get it to catch on fire. Personally, this is a great relief. I live on the 12th floor and I'm happy to know that it will be difficult to start a kitchen fire.

There are a few other features of Japanese apartments that are worth noting. The newer apartments have very strict earthquake building codes. This building is not even a year old. So far I have been unable to feel any earthquakes here.

Also, if there is a fire, a person can go out onto their balcony. There is a rather flimsy screen between the balcony of each apartment. They are built flimsy for a reason. To escape a fire, one can knock down the neighboring screen and escape to other parts of the building. Also underneath the balcony flooring there are often trapdoors that allow a person to escape to lower floors.

And then, we just made a new discovery. Our inside doorlocks glow in the dark. I guess that is so a person can find his way around if there is no electricity.

PS - Regarding the magnetic cooktop - I have just heard from a friend who has one in Austin, TX.....I'll bet his does not have indeciperable Japanese operation instructions though...

Apartment Ceremonies Lead to TCU Horned Frog Ransom Project

We have just moved to another apartment. To do that, we had to have a "closing ceremony" with the old apartment managers... to decide how much of a cleaning fee we have to pay. The Japanese are meticulous about cleanliness. I decided that there was NO WAY they were going to find a spec of dirt in our apartment...and they didn't. The shock on their faces was worth every scrub. They even ask me what brand of cleaning solution I used on the floor. I imagine I was the first Westerner in the history of US/Japanese political relations to avoid paying a cleaning fee. I loved all those bows I got for my clean apartment. I really wish my family would bow when I clean the house. In fact, I want two bows if I cook dinner.

When a lease is signed for a new apartment, there is also a "signing ceremony." We were served a cup of tea at the beginning and a cup of tea at the end. Then we took our Australian property locater out for lunch. We ended up at a nearby Chinese restaurant...which is right across from the "love" hotel (more about "love" hotels later).

The special that this restaurant serves is the "sword" cut noodle....available on Sundays only....you can tell a "sword" cut noodle from a regular noodle because the "sword" cut noodle is all ragged on the edges - kind of like it's been hacked to death by a Samurai who had a hangover from Saturday night. The noodles were delicious...but then....I looked at the gallon bottle on display near my table...It was filled with a beautiful, golden liquid... along with what looked like a flattened Texas road-kill, horny-toad floating in it. OK, I thought, maybe it's part of someone's kinky global warming project... The giveaway was the spigot. For a price, you can imbibe in horned-frog liquor. Well, if you're from Texas, you know that the Horned Frog, or Horny Toad as it's known to the locals, is the mascot of Texas Christian University. This is a huge deal!!! I am therefore putting together a "ransom fund" to free the little guy. Please send your cash to my paypal account. When I get enough money together, I'll change my name and head for the Bahamas ... opps, I mean I'll fly him back to Texas and release him to the biology department at TCU.

Back by Popular Demand...The TexZen meets Tokyo

Sorry to all my faithful readers...I have been in a meditative Zen state for the last few months...wondering about the sound of one hand clapping...actually, I have been in the process of moving to a new apartment.....