G..

It's been a long while, in fact it's been 8 months (blimey!) but everyone's favourite editorial is back! And we're rolling onto... G!

G is for..  

Government

The Prime Ministers of Japan have it tough. They scarcely make it to a year before plummeting public confidence and support ensures they are kicked out of office. Now the current Prime Minister,  Naoto Kan, despite announcing his resignation in June within his first year of office, has broken the trend by insisting he won't step down until the 'Nuclear Crisis is Over'. But that will be months!!!

 Kan: A headache for Japan?

Why is Naoto Kan so unpopular anyway?

Certainly Japan's debt, which is the only country in the world to have reached a debt at over 200% of its GDP (compare with the UK at just over 76%), is hardly his fault.

He has tried to improve relations with South Korea, though at the same time worsened relations with China (the fishing boat incident last September).

He relocated some of the controvertial US military troops to a Northen part of Okinawa.

He tried to weaken the out-of-control Yen vs the Dollar, though the effect proved only temporary.

On the other hand, he has made a couple of blunders, hinting at doubling sales tax, and my students insist he's useless or "junk" because he's not "assertive" and "bends to foreign pressure easily", though this behaviour is very typically Japanese.

So until a youthful, confident and assertive under-50 year old is appointed, who can come along and magic away the debt without touching taxes, I think I'll be stuck with hearing about my students whine about the Prime minister for the next several years.

G is for..  
Gaming
I'm a Gamer, and I've been playing video games since I received my Gameboy when I was 7. 
Games are huge in Japan, particularly the DS and PSP as they're portable. Smart Phones have also introduced a lot of serious gaming on cell phones too. At least half the people on trains nowadays have their faces glued to some portable device or another.

Trading Pokemon on the train with Yoko

But aside from the shocking marriage of a Japanese man to a character from the DS game Love Plus, the Japanese are pretty tame when it comes to obsessing over games...

Let's take a look at the rest of Asia!

• In March 2010, the death of a 3 month old baby in South  Korea was attributed to the parents' addiction to internet cafes where they were playing a game raising a virtual child. Link here
• In January 2011, so-called young Game Addicts could be sent to a Boot Camp in South Korea to overcome their addiction and get some fresh air. Link here
• Last month a 21 year old died in Incheon, South Korea from excessively playing for 3 years. Link here
• Last month a 20 year old young man in the UK (not Asia, I know) died from excessive XBox playing. Link here

Grandma, don't play on your Wii too much!!!!!

G is for 
Go-ko
The Go-ko （富士五湖） are also known as the Fuji Five Lakes, and as it happens, a couple of weeks back I took a trip there with my long-term internet friend, Stargate and University friend, Mel.

It's hard to rendezvous in a big city when the other person doesn't have a mobile phone, but we managed!!!

 

 

  Mt Fuji's eruptions formed this Lava Cave

 Lake Nishiko

 Thomas the Tank Engine bus OMG!!!

C is for..

C is for.. Climbing Mt Fuji

Here is a re-post of the entire video hopefully everyone can see.

The crew including Aeon Hikarigaoka, Oizumigakuen and other friends

Two guys having a fag at 3240m..

C is for... Convenience Stores (combini)

Need a comic book, a can of beer and a salty, flavourless ready meal at 4am? Well, if you're in Japan, you can be certain that there are at least 4 convenience stores within a 5 minute walking radius of your present location. Best of all, they're all open 24 hours!

Here's an introduction to Japanese combini's, along with my official rating:

#1  Lawsons (Ro-sonzu)

An American chain. I put Lawsons in first place for its variety of alcoholic beverages choice, fruit and vegetable prices (often the same as a supermarket) and its recent 'own brand' cheap assortment. It also has a variety of stores including 'Natural Lawson' where the sandwich packaging is recycled, 'Lawson Plus' and 'Lawson 100', a ￥100 store (at today's exchange, 74p).

The staff are always friendly and happy, and the store is always clean and bright! They always have cute character promotions, and I managed to get hold of a free Lawsons flannel which made me pretty attached to the chain! It's also the closest store to my apartment ^^

#2 Family Mart (Fami-ma)

A Japanese chain store. Also clean, bright, friendly staff and a good selection of comic books. The alcoholic drinks choice isn't as good though.

#3 7- Eleven (seben ereben)

An American chain, and the most successful chain in Japan.

Also, according to my knowlegable friend Jen, 7-Eleven was apparently the first combini to sell onigiri, a staple snack consisting of rice with some filling wrapped in seaweed.

It has an ATM (very useful) and had a Pokemon stamp collectign game this summer, which was nice ^^ But I'm not such a fan of the food or drink there, and a toilet I once used there was just weird. It was Japanese style (squat) and there was some kind of step *shudder*

#4 Daily Yamazaki (though I call it the Daily Yakuza!)

I generally try to avoid this chain unless I can't find another one. It's always empty and the staff look miserable..

#5 ampm

This store would be in at number 2 except.. it does not sell alcohol!! I don't know how this chain can possibly stay afloat in Japan. Disappointing. Shun!!

#Other- Buy the Way, Korea

This convenience store is near Ellen's house in Seoul. What an amazing name!!


C is for... Cosplay and Games Console Convention @ Tokyo Game Show 2010

On Sunday 19th, Richard (my co-worker) and I headed to Chiba (east of Tokyo) to attend the annual Tokyo Game Show, which in a nutshell is a convention for the video game industry to advertise their new software/consoles! Unfortunately, Nintendo didn't show up (which was a real shame as I wanted to see their 3D display Nintendo DS due for release next Spring). There was also a Cosplay (costume play) section, where attention-loving dress-uppers posed for the camera!

 

Richard and I queued for almost an hour and a half in the sun before getting in. It was pretty busy!!

First stop- the Xbox Kinect demonstration. Kinect is a controller-free game- where you move your body to play the game. In the first picture I've raised my right arm, which signals the "A button" aka "Ok". I played a snowboarding game and believe it or not, I beat the demonstrator!!! I then successfully filled out a questionnaire in Japanese ^^

 Free games testing :D

Male heaven: There were endless cute and sexy women promoting the games and handing out flyers!

Cosplay

 

Phew! Thanks for reading such a long entry! Sayonara for now!

p.s. Speaking of video games, I bought a Wii :D