Quick little monkeys (Nagoya Part 1)

Last weekend Satoko and I visited Nagoya. She had several friends to catch up with including Mariko, who lives in NZ with her husband Grant and two lovely girls Kiriko (3) and Kauri (6). As seen above, they're quite a handful!

For 2 months each year Mariko brings the kids to Japan. They stay at Mariko's mother's house, and because the kids go to school while in Japan, they are truly bilingual - keeping up-to-date with both the language and the culture.

Anyway, they soon tired me out, but I felt a strange loneliness when they weren't around. Could it be that kids are addictive? I look forward to seeing them again, and can't wait to be a daddy myself now. (Gasp!)

Satoko and I really enjoyed staying with Mariko's family, so I hope we can return the favour somehow, someday. Mariko arigatou!

Three little girls from school: extracurricular

It's not me, ok? Japan is obsessed with schoolgirls. I suppose even Japanese schoolgirls might be obsessed with schoolgirls. Anyway, Satoko and I sauntered through Yoyogi park last weekend, and to get there you have to run the gauntlet of J-goths, gosu-rori (goth Lolitas), b-boys (breakdancers), rock bands, boy bands, and as shown above, girl bands.

Most tourists get photos of the goths. These kids probably commute every weekend from their towns in the country. During the week they look like your average Jimmy or Suzy (Junichi or Suki), and then just to be different (like everyone else) they head to the big smoke wearing the most outlandish and elaborate costumes they can fashion. Last weekend I noticed a kind of head/nose-bandage/mask-thing was the latest mode.

These girls caught my eye, not because of their quite average performance (and average looks - although the one on the left is cute in a more adult way) but because of the attention they were receiving. Mostly none, that is, except for a few photography otaku (geeks) that had all the gears. Expensive cameras on tripods with huge zoom lenses (compensating for other inadequacies) were trained on these girls less than 3 metres away.

As we left later the show was over, and the otaku were squatting red-faced with excitement as they collected the girls' autographs. Everyone's got to have a hobby, I guess.

Footnote: I suppose I should fess up and thank Sean for sending five large (but not inadequacy-compensating) computer texts to feed my Apple 2 emulation hobby. I too am another happy otaku ...

The joy of spring (Spring Part 1)

Pink and white blossoms softly raining down are a bit reminiscent of weddings, so the timing seemed perfect this weekend when Satoko and I made another visit to the temple where we are planning to be married in September. Before that we had a chance to check out a chic Japanese restaurant we are considering for the reception, and caught up with Satoko's friend Lisa on her home turf: Akasaka. Desirable turf it is too, with enviable architecture both old and new. Sakura (cherry blossoms) were in full bloom; tourists here today saw Japan at its best.

For those of us who live here, it's like nature's own end-of-winter ceremony - admitting defeat after months of relentless, bitter cold. Yatta!

Nice vice city (Spring Part 2)

Even the city I work in, Ikebukuro - not known for it's beauty - is suddenly snap-worthy, and possibly even picturesque! It's nice to see my namesake "West Gate Park" with a dash of natural daytime colour, rather than just the obligatory nighttime neon.

Spring's first act (Spring Part 3)

My local park now. One day it's thermals and a jacket, the next it's sandals and a singlet! The trees burst into bloom, and people head to parks everywhere to enjoy hanami (flower-watching), often with the traditional accompaniment of nihonshu (Japanese sake/rice-wine).

Winter's last gasp (Epilogue)

Just for comparison - here's my local park one month ago.

Menu for the first spring outing (Part I)

Recently the weather has been quite unpredictable. For instance it's been raining more than 3 times a month, and that signals the beginning of spring. Graf organised a gathering for hanami (flower-watching) in a park near his appartment (near Ebisu). So with a forecast for fine weather, Satoko cooked up a storm in the morning - yakisoba (fried noodles), onigiri (sushi rice rolls) and nikujaga (sweet and salty meat and vegetable stew).

We headed to Naka-Meguro (a futile attempt at name translation would be central-black-eye) and met up with him and his friends. Unfortunately the flowers were rather uncooperative - just a handful of early bloomers - and are expected to fully blossom next weekend, so with the temperature dropping we decided to move the festivites to Graf's pad.

FrieNZ (Part II)

In addition to Graf's many fine friends, the Auckland Massive was represented by myself, ex-transplants Satoko and Yusuke, and his flatmate Zane. Yusuke's GF Manami and Satoko's friend Lisa were also witness to the festivites and shenanigans. Plenty of eating and drinking ensued, with much conversation of both frivolous and hilarious nature. Only one casualty was observed, and a temporary one at that: Chinatsu - with more red wine in her than blood - was taken to a cell and coaxed into having a nap.

We were in part celebrating Graf's approaching birthday, so it was nice to catch up with his crowd on his home turf. Mine is always the worst level of Japanese ability there, so it's a great environment for me to be in. A kick in the pants to remind me that one day I want not to be worst Japanese speaker in the room. (I could just wait until Zeal visits next I suppose ...)

When Australians Attack (Part III)

Scott, a new addition to the menagerie, sure turns heads - Lisa's in this case. For some reason she was permitted to look in one direction only, and for some reason we all found this quite amusing. Scott's another GABA (English school) refugee, former linguistics scholar, funky house DJ, and goodness knows what else. He also sports a few good Japanese comedy impersonations - a sure way to win over a crowd here. I'm sure Lisa's still laughing.

Shootin' star

Last weekend Satoko went to South Korea with a friend. Shopping seems to have been the main reason for the trip, though I doubt there's much there that can't be bought here in Tokyo somewhere. Stuff's mostly made in Korea or China anyway. She did, however, have some photographs taken - one of which is posted above.

The name of the shop was Star Shots, and I suppose I must congratulate the Photoshopographer. Satoko is much happier with this photo than the last one I posted. It serves to remind us that gritty, unfiltered samples of the real world often jar our sensibilities. Like listening to a playback of your own voice. In particular, it reminds me of a photo prepared for FHM. Rollover (with the mouse) to see just how much deception there is these days in image media.

Anyway, I'll be trying to up my posting average from the current once a month!

Silver linings

After living in Japan for a while it's a bit too easy to focus on the negatives here. To me it seems that's because many of them impact on day to day living. It's like forgetting to enjoy your health until you get sick. So in a bid to accentuate the positive, I'll resort to talking about something that almost every foreigner who leaves Japan will tell you they miss: the food.

The small company I work for has a list of regular lunch haunts, and we work through them every week or so in quasi-random fashion. Occasionally we try something new, but straying from the list is often an invitation for disappointment. Not disappointment western-style though, where a bad meal can really put a crimp in your day. Bad food here is like above-average food elsewhere. Mostly Japanese food is of excellent quality, which is one reason why Japanese usually stick to Japanese food when travelling.

For most people, sushi immediately comes to mind when talking about Japanese food. And it is common. Satoko is pictured above at a kaiten-zushi (conveyor belt sushi) restaurant near my apartment, unloading the sushi for our table (number 41). This place is pretty big, hence the intercoms used to order dishes. In a smaller, more traditional kaiten-zushi, the chefs would be in the middle of the loop, taking orders, making and handing the sushi directly to customers.

Sushi is served cold, though the rice may be still warm if the chef has just prepared it. Washed down with a bowl of crab or shellfish soup, it makes a surprisingly hearty winter lunch. Because there are many types, and you choose the sequence of dishes, sushi maintains a lasting variety that has me hooked.

Three little girls from school ...

I spotted these fembots the other weekend while out shopping for a wedding dress with Satoko. They certainly look about as far removed from an actual Japanese schoolgirl as is physically possible, save perhaps for their brown irises. Presumably this is a sales pitch directed at the parents, and thus reflects what they wish their children to look like. Hands up those who want western featured cartoon characters for kids! Self-image training probably begins earlier than this in Japan anyway.

The first dose of reality we can inject into the picture is to make those eyes Japanese. After all, almond eyes really are almond shaped, and lovelier the closer you get. I'm talking about eyes here; not schoolgirls, ok? ;-) The next dose of reality depends on the nature of the schoolgirl, but generally follows two styles: (a) the hair is long and black, as nature intended, with perhaps a hair-tie or two. In time, these girls might grow up to be onei-kei "older sister types" - sensible young women, like Satoko. In case (b) the hair is dyed anywhere from brown to blond, and the skin is dyed and tanned. After leaving school they might retain this ko-gyaru "school-girl" look, or progress to the extreme yamamba "mountain hag" stage, where lack of pre-teen youth is concealed with a combination of tanning, make-up, and Playboy brand pyjamas. The BBC has a brief but interesting pictorial round-up of some of these Tokyo fashion tribes.

Since it's winter, and I've just popped outside to reaffirm that sleet hitting the eyeballs is indeed unpleasant, I might as well add a seasonal note. The colder it gets, the shorter the skirts. This applies to both schoolgirls and other young women, because nama-ashi ("bare/young legs") differentiate the young from the not so young. I suppose it might be hard to tell the mice from the shrews otherwise, since most Asians are so blessed with youthful complexions. Still, it's a wonder they don't die from exposure in this cold. Some wear leg-warmer like looz-soksu ("loose socks") to protect themselves, but that's another story ...

Bittersweet

Happy new year, everyone - wherever you are. This year brought me and Satoko (pictured center) both joy and sadness. The tsunami disaster in Asia seemed to sour xmas a little, but we were busy preparing to visit her parents in Ibaraki prefecture, an hour or so north of Tokyo. All went well: her father got me to date the letter I'd written to him and his wife (correcting my oversight of "make [Satoko] happy in the future" to "... forever") and then he shook my hand. Easier than buying a horse.

On our return to Tokyo, things got a little more grim. Chris (pictured right) had been on a boat with his girlfriend leaving Kho Phi Phi about 9:30am local time. Luckily the boat made it over the 4 meter wave they encountered, and after laughing nervously they continued making their way back to Tokyo, where they discovered the enormity of what they had so narrowly avoided.

Sadly, Shione-chan (pictured left) was due to catch the 9:30 boat from Kho Phi Phi, and was checking out of her beachfront hotel when the first wave hit. Her Indian boyfriend survived the ensuing chaos, and spent 2 days looking for her before being evacuated because of his injuries. I know this is just one of 150,000 sad stories, but this really brought it home for me. These things often seem to happen to those who least deserve it, and I'll always remember this lovely girl, and her cute Irish accent when she spoke English.

So enjoy your new year of life, and don't forget to donate to your charity of choice.