Thursday, 21 October 2010

D is for..


Hello! I'm back after a little hiatus of posting-ness. News: Things have been busy and I've been making my Hallowe'en costume; We're getting a new foreign teacher next week, as Xor is leaving for Seattle soon.  In the last 3 weeks, I've climbed Mt Takao with my Japanese school, been studying Japanese, gone to a Hallowe'en-themed Disneyland twice (see below) and just worked very hard!

Me and my Japanese school and my teacher, Yoshida sensei
 D is for..Dogs
As cats were to the Ancient Egyptians, dogs are truly royalty in Japan.  Babies are expensive,  so dogs are the perfect option for Japanese couples. And not forgetting the Tokyo apartments, pint-sized breeds such as dachsunds, poodles and chihuahuas are very popular pets. While I do appreciate Welsh Corgis for putting my country on the map, seeing middle-aged women carrying around chihuahuas in purses like a certain Paris Hilton is nothing short of disturbing.
Dogs also come in prams, cross-species costumes and  traditional clothing.





 D is for.. Disney!
As a society surrounded by characters literally everywhere (to the point of being downright patronising.. I refer to Census-kun (right), the mascot of filling out the census this year), it surprises me that there is room for foreign characters- yet there is an abundance of Miffy, Moomins, the Smurfs and of course Disney.

There is a simple rule to changing a name to fit the Japanese model, take a character's name, and add "-chan" if it's a girl.
Take Minnie-chan, Marie-chan, Ariel-chan.. I could go on.

The upside to this never-ending "kawaii-ness" if not one, but two Disney theme parks in Tokyo!

Disneyland Tokyo is a replica of Disneyland Paris and Disney World California, except the rides are rather tame, yet it still keeps the lovely magic atmosphere!! Fortunately there is  Disney Sea, where alcohol is sold, and the rides are definitely scarier!





Tuesday, 21 September 2010

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

Sunday, 5 September 2010

1 Year Japanniversary!!

Today, September 5th, is exactly 1 year since I touched down on Japanese soil! Unbelievable! Thank you to my friends and family for your support and for keeping in touch! I think about you all every day, but I've had a great year, and I hope to continue with my adventures and learning. For those who don't know, my contract with AEON expires in March, but I may yet stay in Japan past March.
Noteable achievements of the last year:

I started off the night before with Karaoke in a kid's playroom themed room singing Japanese songs :)
I was awoken the next by the sounds of whistling, drums and shouting! A festival was passing my apartment!
I threw on some clothes and followed the parade carrying a wakoshi (a portable Shinto shrine) to a nearby Japanese garden.














For the rest of my Japanniversary, I had Mexican food, went shopping and ended it as I had started it with karaoke :)