I sometimes don't know what to have for lunch when I come out for work everyday.
Sometimes I desperately want to eat rice (refer to the other day) even though I haven't got much time to spare for lunch. At times like that, domburi comes in really really handy.
It's the best choice for lunch... or rather, a must choice!
God, the guy is a genius! Who invented it? He (or she?)'s the Mr.Sandwich of Japan!
What? Dunno what a domburi is?
It's that, that one you put a tempura on top of white rice and pour sauce over it.That's the TENDON.
If you put on sukiyaki (well, don't get into the details), it'll be GYUDON.
If you put on Chinese food with a bit of thick starchy sauce, then it's CHUKADON.
Because of the beef and BSE import issue, we can't enjoy as much GYUDON as we did, or would like to, but Japanese people are surviving it, we have a wide range of DONs in our food culture :-)
Of course, sidedishes and rice are as good when eaten separately,
but just put the sidedish on top of the rice and eat them all together when you don't have enough time to slowly appreciate the food!
And don't forget to say, DOMBURI RULES!! and then you're a real Japan connoisseur ;-)
Oh, try a pizza on top of white rice. That'd be PIZZADON.
Title: Regarding the shift of school regulations in all schools in Japan
note: forward this e-mail to at least three people you know.
1. Inform the school beforehand when coming all naked.
2. Two tardies are three tardies.3. One violence in school equals two tardies.
4. Victory poses are basically prohibited.
5. Bald-heads should behave modestly.
6. "Tanaka" is basically not allowed.
7. No constructions of dams are allowed except for family reasons.
8. Do not get into battle mode unless necessary.
9. Average temperature should be 36.0C.
10. Girls in ganguro are to be kicked out, guys are grounded when the hair is too long.
This is all. Be sure to keep the rules.
This is a new kind of chain mail (spam?) going around among junior-high students lately.
I think this one is loaded with uniquely Japanese humor. So Japanese.
Who in the world can understand the humor of rule #7 unless you know every details of Japan?
#6 is pretty harsh too, TANAKA is like the 3rd most common family name in Japan, lol.
I don't know how strict school regulations are around in the world, but Japan is probably pretty famous for having unbelievably strict rules.
But even though many people fuss about it, a lot actually stick to the rules.
I'm one of those who never went beyond the lines. I was such a good boy.Although, I kept the rules cuz I felt something like aesthetics in keeping the rules. You know, I believed that I looked pretty cool having my books packed in neatly in my square bag when many others trash and break their bags. I seriously thought that that's the real outlaw.
The spirit (although it may be rather selfish) is still rooted inside me.
I don't want to be a mere WANNABE-OUTLAW!!
Isn't it the real individuality?
Don't Japanese fully understand that point?
...Well, I don't know how much I myself understand that.
Oh, You can ask me questions if you don't understand the rules.
YES! The awaited first medal to Japan! And it's GOLD! Woohoo!!
And you know what!? She's the first Asian to win a gold medal in figure skating in the Olympics.Isn't it great?
The women's figure skating has been a hot topic in Japan even before the Olympics started. One of Japan's star hope Mao Asada, the winner of 2005 World Figure Skating Junior Championships, couldn't come to Torino cuz she was too young and the Japan Figure Skating Association didn't fuss at all about it. The scramble of the Olympics qualification was a dead-heat till the very end.
But the news of gold medal was sooo big that the previous problems all seem to be nothing. A huge applaud to Shizuka Arakawa!!
I wrote some days ago about the braodcasting of the Olympics in Japan, kinda complained about it a bit, but some TV commentator later said that in the States you don't get to see performances of athletes from other countries. Although, because it was a defense against the harsh criticisms we hear quite a lot these days, so I don't know how reliable the information is... is it true? Do they only show American athletes in the States?
In Japan, all the news we get about Ichiro is how great he is, how wonderful he performed in today's game, what his scores are so far so on so forth, but not many news tell that the Mariners are actually doing pretty poorly and in the end you don't get to know which team is in the first place.
Is it like that?
I often hear that Westerners' typical image of a Japanese person is "buckteethed, wears glasses and always have a camera in his hand". You know, you don't really see such guys around.
Now where the hell did this image come from?
So I surfed on the web looking for the reason for such terrible preconception and this is what I found out:
In the beginning of Meiji Period (that's late 19C) there was this comic magazine called Japan Ponch issued in Tokyo, and in the August edition of this magazine an English artist Charles Wirgman drew a Japanese with buckteeth and glasses. It all spread out from this magazine, which was quite a popular souvenir for Westerners visiting Japan to take home.
Since then the image of Japanese being buckteethed and wearing glasses rooted quite firmly in Western society, and together with the cameras hanging from tourists' necks, such ridiculous image spread out to laugh at Japanese people.
OK, it might be true that Japanese tend to take pictures everywhere...
But then, I think this "typical image" needs to be updated to people taking out mobile phones with cameras on them, instead of analog cameras hanging from the neck, lol.
Oh, but I couldn't really figure out why Charles had to draw a Japanese figure with buckteeth and glasses.
Anyone out there know why???
Well, you know technology is evolving every second and information is spread faster and more accurately (accurately...? maybe not all the time) so I dear hope this typical image of Japanese people is changing... or at least will change soon.
What's your image of a typical Japanese?
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP....
?
Is something trying to wake me up?
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP....
Chill! What the hell is it!?
Oh, it's my alarm.
I got up and switched off the alarm on my mobile and went back to bed.
By the time I got up again, I realized I'm almost late for work.
I was like shit! and jumped out of my bed, took a shower and had breakfast (can't miss breakfast no matter how late I am) and rushed out of my house.
Then I sped my bike to the limit, got irritated by the long line to get into the bike parking and finally set off to the station.
And then I flashed my eyes to the electrical bulletin board to see if I caught the train... and found out the board is dead. Nothing appeared on the board, and from my past experiences I instantly understood what was going on.
Damn, the train's running late!
I was late for work, now for sure.
Although, I wasn't feeling that bad cuz I did have an excuse and something to prove my excuse to be just.
As I went up to the platform, I saw this herd of people like hyenas going for their meal. They're all trying to snatch the delay proof distributed by the station staffs.
The station staffs distributed the tiny pieces of paper as if boasting out loud, "this is your indulgence for tardy!" "Shut up your boss's fuss with this!" or "you're sin is forgiven!"
I often hear that delays or tardies are regarded differently in Japan and elsewhere.
There's a typical preconception that Japanese get irritated by 2-3 minutes of delay... which is quite true.
People are like, "time is money! hurry up!" everywhere in this small country. Perhaps Japanese have to rush yourself and feel like something's urging you to move forward?
I don't know but to some extent I feel it's true that Japanese are fussy and shortsighted, especially when I see the delay proofs written by five minutes starting from five.
Sometimes I wish Japan was a country with more and more generous and unstrained people.But at the same time of feeling so, I stuck out the delay proof to my boss's face with an expression of triumph on my face, and that's how my day begins.
The weather is so nice and warm today. I can smell spring out there!
Do you feel like there are seasonal smells (or fragrance, should I say?)? I think that summer has the strongest smell - I mean, not sweat but smell of fresh green and probably of many kinds of plants. Spring, on the other hand, I think has a bit more sweeter smell maybe because of the buds and flowers.
But once you become pollen allergy, breathing deeply with your nose holes wide open is like committing suicide. I don't have one by the way - at least not yet - but the scary thing about hay fever is that you never know when you'll really get one. So I'm still afraid of it, but I bet it's nothing funny at all for those who already have it.
I hear that 1 out of 5 Japanese have pollen allergy. Among those 20%, most suffer from cedar pollen. The direct cause of the amount of cedar pollen and the number of poor sufferers is the planting and expansion of cedar trees by the ministry of forestry back in the 1960s. These trees were planted to meet the increasing demands of wood during the rapid economic development and in fact greatly contributed to the constructions of new houses in the age of increasing population.
But soon after, cheaper wood were imported from overseas and the demands for domestic wood went remarkably low for they were much more expensive than the imported ones. So the excessively planted cedar trees were kind of abandoned I guess, growing and increasing wild. Plus, they say that cedar trees give out pollen the most when they're about 40-50 years old, so now is like the worst years for pollen sufferers.
When I was a kid, I don't remember pollen allergy being such a huge news every year. But now, you see pollen forecasts just like a normal weather forcast. I suppose it means that "patients" are increasing that much, but also think is a result of Japanese people's allergy to something like dirt, dust and pollen.
Actually, I think that some of the "counter-pollen allergy products" have gone too far. There are so many things with the ad blurb like, "The strongest sterilization!" or "photocatalytic" or "sterilize with the power of silver!"
Hmmm, I do sympathize with it to some extent, but gee, still I think people can be more... easy-going.
Well, I can't be predicted that it won't come to me tomorrow. That's a waste of energy ye know...
But I definitely don't want to be the Red-nose-reindeer even in spring.
Food tastes really good after stomatitis is cured. I eat more than usual to fill up the hunger from when I couldn't eat as much.
I think I can call myself a "genuine" Japanese, and so I love steaming white rice, but there's this symptom that appears whenever I eat white rice and I have to say that I'm quite puzzled by this. It started 5 or 6 years ago, and it always happens when I eat white rice ALONE, IN MY ROOM. It's not that I'm sad or suffering something. Emotionally speaking I get the same feeling like when I'm deeply moved, but it's not that I'm overwhelmed.
Well, although I cry it's not really crying. It's only like my eyes getting a bit wet with tears so no biggie. But I do wonder what's happening to me. Anyone get the same symptom? Was I so poor in my previous life that I get so happy when I eat white rice?
The worst situation is when I have white rice while some moving program is on TV. You know, I'm already half crying with the TV show and rice... it just pushes out the tears from my eyes. If I go watch some moving film to a movie theater with rice as lunch... wow, imagine it. I'd be crying a river that I myself can become the object of entertainment.
So, does this mean that I'm moved by rice? It doesn't happen with any other food. Not with side dishes and not with bread. Hmm.
I think I'm getting hungry now. Maybe some white rice?
I easily get stomatitis since I was really little. Even a little scratch inside my mouth would immediately become a huge pain that lasts for days.
For these past couple of weeks I had the deadliest days having several at the same time. It's ok now cuz the pain has finally gone, but b/c it was so serious I even thought for a moment that I had mouth cancer.
Someone once told me that brushing teeth for 10 minutes is a good way to prevent stomatitis but I got tired of it after some days cuz it was sooo boring and troublesome. Changing toothbrushes and toothpastes didn't help at all. There's another one that sounds pretty common, which is to gargle after brushing your teeth, with a special kind of liquid that prevents cavities and stomatitis.
These two, in short, tells you to keep disinfecting bacteria and to keep your mouth clean.
But for someone like me, who gets stomatitis so easily with the smallest trigger like lack of sleep or a tiny bite, I don't really believe these methods work so effectively.
Yesterday I went to the drugstore looking for the latest medicine to cure stomatitis. Among the most common cream application, I found something like a little bandaid in which you stick it on top of the stomatitis. Wow, how attractive that was to me. I took it in my hand and flipped it over to read the back.... and was disappointed by the note saying:
"This patch DOES NOT melt. Do not swallow after use."
Yeah right. Go figure.
In my case, I so perfectly inherited the constitution from my dad (who of course is a life-long bearer of stomatitis)... or at least I believe so.
Well that doesn't really matter as long as my body doesn't change... but it is a huge problem for me cuz when I get them, meals and snacks become nothing but torture.
There's this Japanese folk remedy for stomatitis, which you toast kombu seaweed, grind it and paste it on your stomatitis.
WHY SEAWEED? MINERAL?
Folk remedies... they're always kind of weird, right? Don't know if it works... don't think I want to try it.
If you know some remedy that really really works, PLEASE tell me!
There's this something that hits my mind every time I go to karaoke.
I'm sure you know what karaoke is, but just to give you a brief explanation for those who don't, it's something like this:
It's a way to kick out your stress by singing along with the melody you choose which literally blare out extremely loudly. Oh, of course it's a kind of entertainment. What I want to write about here is only the Japanese case, so if you have your stories to tell in your karaoke experiences, give me a holler.
OK, you pick your favorite song from among the latest populat songs... but the video on the screen is sooo old and just tacky. Not only that, it usually doesn't match the image of the song at all. The common patterns include love romance, nature scenery, and dancing that could have been popular.....20 years back. Ugh.
Even though there may be thousands of variations in details, the patterns are surprisingly little in pattern and can't be more hideous. If there are so many variations, why don't they give it a little more change and a twist and a color and some fashion?
It's not that bad these days cuz if you're lucky you can get music videos of the singers shown in the back, but unfortunately it doesn't go like that every time.
Too bad, isn't it? There are so many unfortunate songs which are so good and moving but has been degraded in providing the right mood just b/c the video sucks.
Although, I don't really look at the screen cuz I'm usually busy chasing after the lyrics.
Hey, is that why those images don't change forever?
More and more foreign songs are being took in into Japanese karaoke machines recently, so try out the hot songs with uncool images when you get the chance to come to Japan.
It's been almost a week since the Torino Winter Olympic Games have started. Results for Japan... unfortunately pretty dreadful... C'mon, where're our medals!?
Since the last World Cup Soccer, the authority of the media has been steadily growing in terms of worldwode sports games where national teams fight. The tv rights were dealed in big numbers even for the tune-up matches for the World Cup, and the matches are shown during the "Golden Hour" (7pm).
The enthusiasm of the mass media for the Torino Games is quite something, as expected. Special programs were broadcasted, gold medal expectations were shown on every channel available, the up-bringings and private lives of the athletes were featured with some dramatism... so on, so forth.
Tons of expectors fuel the national excitement with irresponsible (well, not always) medal forecast, but the results? Just as I have written in the very beginning :-(
Everyday what you see on TV after the miserable results is explanations (or put it differently, excuses) for the defeat and victory forecast for the upcoming games.
OK, this is boring me to death. I can't believe it's keeping up the Olympic fever. I feel like I want to see something that's purely cheering and nothing more :-I
Recently the Japanese TV industry is rottening with kitschy fake setups. It's all b/c of the stupid competition of viewing rate.
On the other hand there are voices (of program producers) arising here and there complaining that they can't freely make programs b/c human rights have been given more and more attention and care, and self regulation has gotten much much stricter.
The best part of the Olympic Games is the brightness of the athletes and their performances. Isn't it just that as long as the TV shows move the audience, they fulfill their role?
I don't mean to ask for absolutely no shows for defeat reasons. I'm just saying that b/c there are so many channels, there should be a variety in the programs they're making.
Is it just my age that the fascinating TV I saw when I was younger is now kind of colorless now...?
Besides the Jblog we have on our web site Japan Mode, I started my own blog on this Blogger, which I think is a part of google service. But this Blogger is quite a rascal: I have to refer to other resources for trackback and RSS and all those optional stuff.
The usual Japanese blogging service is provided by major ISPs and you can usually get 1GB capacity for free and is very very rich in customizing tools, so I searched for english based bloggers with similar conditions but found out that they’re pretty much all fee-based! Damn, I have to say I’m quite disappointed :-I
Is it too much to ask for no trouble in adding trackback and RSS feed? Or what about plenty of capacity and easy photo upload?
In Japan I think that there’s a common understanding that most Internet services are FREE. Or at least if you want to attract users you have to make it FREE. No one would even look at any service that takes even JPY100 (that’s less than US$1).
There’s this Internet TV provider called “GYAO” which unfortunately is still only available within Japan, and even though they show programs and movies, all services are free and they don’t even have plans of making it fee-based. All you have to do is to register.
Is this something unique to Japanese? Is this only Japanese common understanding?
Those of you out there who own blogs, I would appreciate some comments on this topic.Or introduce to me some really good, handy and useful blog providers (which of course, are free).Gee I need some help on this.
When I walk around the town at this time of year, I find a bunch of new kinds of chocolate candies coming out. I once heard that new ones come out because it’s cold outside and chocolates don’t melt. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t really matter.
I’m actually not a big chocolate lover, but I do eat cookie/ peanut-mixed chocolate or chocolate covered biscuits every once in a while.
Chocolate was okay… I mean, at least I don’t dislike it for its taste. It’s just that I always nosebled the next day I ate chocolate when I was still in grade school. I was just kind of afraid of it.
I don’t nosebleed anymore, but what was that?
Anyway, so ok, it’s Valentine’s Day today.
In Japan it’s such a queer day… and a BIG day especially for girls.
I think it’s more common in the West perhaps, for guys to give flowers or gifts to their girlfriends, right? Here it’s the exact opposite, and the flowers change to chocolate.
It’s not such a big deal for a girl to give chocolate to her boyfriend if she has one.
But the day becomes a day either of big love romance drama, or a day of heartbreak tragedy for a girl approaching the guy she secretly has feelings for. She’s gonna have to give him chocolate and wait for his reply.
Okay, so I’m a guy if I hadn’t told you yet.
When I was in school, I used to face this day with great anxiety and nervousness. You know, it still is a big day for guys, too. In a way, you’re gonna know how popular you are among girls.
I used to be like, “Will I get one from that girl???” and also stuck my hands inside my desk to see if I got any chocolate.
I know there are hundreds and thousands of youngsters out there feeling and doing the same thing :-)
Ooh, remember those days of sweet and bitter memory.
! Is that why chocolate is used? Sweet and bitter!?
Am I going to get one today? Yes or no, either way I’ll have a bit of chocolate and maybe look back at those green naïve days.
Girl’s and guys, HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!
I told you that I'm one of the writers for the portal web site Japan Mode. Well, recently a Dutch site had added a link to our site :-) So I jumped there and saw what this Dutch site was like... and found out that it featured "ganguro", a style of Japanese gals.
I have to say I was surprised by the fact that "ganguro" had travelled all the way to far far Netherlands. Wow, power of Internet, huh?
I hardly hear about it these days, but until some time ago it was common among Japanese people to think that "people who have never come to Japan still think that Japan is about samurai and geisha girls".
Maybe some Dutch travellers would come to Japan expecting to see a bunch of "ganguro" gals?
But I have to tell you this: there aren't that many "ganguro"s around in Japan anymore.
You can still see some if you go to Shibuya - the gals' district - but even then they've almost gone extinct.
So what's the latest trend now? It's a style called EROKAWA. It means to wear clothes which has a lot of skin exposure - so ERO for erotic - and yet to dress girly cute - so KAWA for KAWAII (=cute, pretty). It all started from the popular J-POP singer Kumi Koda, but I think she got the idea from American "sexy singers" and adapted to a Japanese style.
It's same for "ganguro" too, but I think this EROKAWA came from the conflict between ladies' hearts' desire to be pampered by guys and expression of self-identity.
OK, so much for now. Maybe I'll talk about some fashion related topics again.
*ganguro: literally means "black face" or "extremely black". if you want to see images of them, visit Japan Mode and follow the link ;-)
In Japan we often use the word "mikka-bouzu" (pronounced [micka-boze]). It's used to jeer people who can't continue anything and gets bored very quickly. For example, you can use it for someone who decided to keep a diary on January first and can't have it going the next day... is this me? up to your imagination, lol
I bet you have your own way of expressing such situation or such people.
You sharp ones out there may notice that this is the third day of my blog. If I don't keep it going tomorrow, I'll end up being a micka-boze!!
So I'm tellin' ye beforehand, there'll be no update tomorrow! Why, of course! Tomorrow's a holiday!! Woohoo :-DAnd there'll be nothing the day after either. 'course it's Sunday.But I'm gonna do my best to have it going on weekdays, so do check back everyday!
Speaking of Japanese words, this "do one's best" is another weird dude. We say "gambatte!" for it. Perhaps some of you may know?
According to the dictionary, it means:(1) to overcome difficulties with great effort to achieve a goale.g., "Gambatte I'll start my own company." or "Gambare! Don't lose!"(2) to persist your opinion till the end; to be stubborne.g., "He's gambatte sticking to his say."(3) to dominate some place; to not movee.g., "The guards are gambatteru at the entrance."
wow, didn't know it was this wide in meanings.Originally, (2) to persist, was the real meaing and it wasn't really a positive one, but since the announcer for live broadcast of the Berlin Olympic Games cheered swimmer Maehata "Gambare Maehata!" meaning "stick to yourself!", the term started to mean more of (1) rather than (2).
The Torino Winter Olympic Games start today!
GAMBARE NIPPON!!
I've been into "sekihan" these days.You know what it is?
In Japan, "sekihan" is a kind of rice dish eaten on happy occasions and festivities because it's red ("sekihan" means red rice) and red is the color for happiness.
It's made with white rice and adzuki beans (this is what dyes the rice red), but now it has become more availabe and common than before, for it is sold in convenience stores in "onigiri" forms (rice balls).
These combini (that's how we call convenience stores) "sekihan" is quite good. It has the right stickiness and crunchy chewiness.It's more nutritious than normal white rice and is filling, so I eat it often these days usually with salad.
I think "onigiri" is really a clever invention. It's a well-made portable food, easy to eat, lasts fairly long (well, I don't mean to say days, but still) and delicious. I think it can go worldwide. Who knows?
Maybe if the weather is nice and warm this weekend, I'll go out for a litte excursion somewhere with a "sekihan onigiri". "Onigiri" eaten at a place with beautiful view has another different taste... well I guess it's the same for any other food...
First-time visitors to this blog, welcome!!I am one of the writers of JapanMode, a portal website introducing Japan to the world.
I'm going to start something like my personal diary here, so come see what my life is like, and maybe leave some comments :-)
So it's been chilly for the past two days, but today it's quite warm and sunny. I feel like going out a bit. But the thing is that, because I didn't check the weather forecast I came out with a down jacket. Can't regret more... I guess I need to check it out every morning...
Speaking of weather forecast, I suppose the style which weather marks and barometrical pressure lines appear on maps is the most common.I heard somewhere that this style was brought into Japan by a staff from NHK (the Japanese national broadcasting center) who was impressed by the American weather forecast when he went to the States.
That was about half century ago from now, and even though the people's lifestyles have changed dramatically in many places many ways, this weather forecast style hasn't changed that much. Quite impressive, but don't you think it's about time for a weather forecast revolution? I'm sure many of you would agree with me, that "it may rain here and here at ...o'clock" doesn't matter as much as, "it's going/ not going to rain on you today."
Some time ago, some TV program suggested a new style of weather forecast with a unique design. This show looked at mobile phones, which is something most if not all Japanese people own these days, and suggested a "personal forecast".
Now, where did this personal forecast go, I don't know. But I dear hope there comes a new and reliable type of weather forecast so that I won't have to make the same mistake again.
