A Beginners Guide to Japan. An A to Z.

C is for Convenience Stores

Over 40,000 Convenience stores (こんびに) can be found across Japan selling everything from snacks, alcohol and soft drinks, bento to a range of  household goods. Also, depending on the time of year, seasonal foods, such as Oden are offered. 

The market is very competitive between the major brands, including Seven Eleven, Lawson, Family Mart and Daily Yamazaki. This means that each company is constantly coming up with innovative promotions and products to push the meaning of convenience. 

Most stores also offer a wide range of services, such as banking (ATMs), digital printing, ticket reservations, delivery services and bill payments. 

The Great Tohoku Quake; 2 years on

Two years ago today at 14:46, the images above were burned into the minds of people all over the world, especially the people of Japan where a magnitude 9 earthquake shook the country to it`s very core.

It was one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded and the strongest in Japanese history. It was 1,400 times stronger than the Kobe quake of 1995 and triggered devastating tsunami, with waves reaching 18 metres in height. 90% of the 18,000 lost or dead were victims of the tsunami. It also triggered the meltdown of three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power plant, causing radiation to be released into the environment and mass evacuations.

It is a period I and many others, will never forget. The collective experience of those who lived through those days is something that has become a vital part of this nation and of me.

This gallery from NASA shows the scale of the damage suffered as towns such as Rikuzentakata and Miyako were wiped away.

On Monday, newly elected Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe said "Japan will never experience a true spring if spring does not come to north-eastern Japan. I promise never to forget the weight of each day and promise to speed up the reconstruction of the region.".

Let us hope he is right.

How to ruin a beautiful sunny Sunday with my family.

(The view from the Tozai line approaching Myoden Station.

As you can kind of  see, the sky is the colour of tobacco-stained

teeth.)

As the temperature here in Ichikawa reached the lower twenties today (that`s in Celsius), my wife and I decided to take our 3 year old daughter out to the park. We grabbed an onigiri or two and headed out to Funabashi-Hoten.

We had been there less than an hour, when I noticed the sky turn a horrid shade of dirty yellow. Luckily for me at this time I was wearing both sunglasses and a mask (to try to prevent any allergies) and I quickly made my family do the same.

This was because I`d heard a few of my students this week talk about a huge cloud of polluted air approaching from Beijing. I had never had thought that this air could have reached Kanto, but I wasn`t going to take any chances, so we packed up and headed home.

As you can see from the photograph above the cloud of pollution is from China and is made up of yellow sand from the Gobi Desert, which has always been a problem for Japan and something called PM2.5, which is dangerously small particle matter that can cause respiratory problems.

This article from the Japan Today website has actually been changed since reports earlier in the day and now claims it was dust storm that whipped up on the Kanto Plain. However looking at the photograph above I find it hard to believe.

Just take a look at this article on the effects of PM 2.5......

The weird,wonderful world of Tokyo`s themed restaurants

Tokyo is home to many things. From the buzz and bustle of Shibuya and Shinjuku to the geek heaven of Akihabara and the serenity of Kokyo. However it is also home to some of the weirdest theme restaurants in the world.

Take Alcatraz ER, one of the oldest theme restaurants in Tokyo. Themed around a "prison hospital", patrons are led, handcuffed, to a "cell" where you can dine on such delights as "Dead Chicken" (a rather tasty chicken, although don`t let the clasped chicken feet put you off), "Penis Sausage" and "Intestine" (a long decorated sausage). Occasionally, the lights will go out and "inmates" will rampage the place, scaring the beejesus out of you.

Another, but very different experience is Ninja Asakusa which is more classier than Alcatraz and much more expensive. Diners are led through a complex maze to reach the dining area, a Ninja village, where the food is modern Japanese. They even have a signed plaque commemorating Steven Spielberg`s visit here.

Other places include Alice in Wonderland, Vampire Cafe, The Lock Up and Arabian Rock. This is not even mentioning the plethora of Maid Cafes, Butler Cafes, Cat Cafes and the newly opened Resident Evil themed Biohazard Cafe and Grill S.T.A.R.S or the Shinjuku Robot Cafe.

A Beginners guide to Japan. An A to Z

B is for Bushido

Literally translated, Bushido, is the Way of the Warrior and is the word associated with Samurai life and the Japanese concept of chivalry. It is typified by the seven virtues of Rectitude, Courage, Benevolence, Respect, Honesty, Honour, and Loyalty and developed as an unwritten and unspoken concept from the 9th century until the 20th century.

Born from the concepts of Neo-Confucianism and formalized into fuedal law by the Tokugawa Shogunate (1600-1868), Bushido expanded the earlier code of the Samurai, and under the Bushido ideal, if a Samurai failed to uphold his honour he could only regain it by performing "seppuku" or ritual suicide. 

"In the world of the warrior, seppuku was a deed of bravery that

was admirable in a samurai who knew he was defeated, disgraced or mortally wounded.

It meant he could end his days with his transgressions wiped away and with 

his reputation not merely intact, but actually enhanced."

Samurai:    The Way of the Warrior,  Stephen Turnbull

In 2008, Thomas Cleary translated a collection of 22 writings on Bushido from warriors, scholars, political advisers and educators. The book "Training the Samurai Mind: A Bushido Sourcebook "spans nearly 500 years and highlights the importance of Shintoism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism on Samurai ideals.

A Beginners Guide to Japan. An A to Z.

A is for Anpanman!

This little guy is everywhere in Japan and has been popular for over 30 years. He can be found on everything from  bento (lunch boxes), clothing, stationary and snack foods to toys and cooking products.

Anpanman was created by Takashi Yanase, firstly as a series of children`s picture books and then a popular animated series Soreike! Anpanman (それいけ！アンパンマん). On August the 28th, 2009, Anpanman reached 1000 episodes and has also appeared in countless movie incarnations.

Yanase was inspired to to create Anpanman after struggling to survive as a soldier in World War II. Faced with starvation, he dreamt about eating anpan which is what Anpanman`s head is made of.

Anpanman entered the Guiness Book of Records in 2009 as the holder for the highest number of characters in an animated franchise, with 1,768 in the first 980 episodes. Major characters, apart from Anpanman, includes his nemesis Baikinman (his name means Bacteria man), Jam Ojisan (Anpanman`s creator and a baker), Currypanman, Shokupanman and Dokinchan to name just a few.

My daughter, like most children in Japan, loves this franchise, mainly due, I think to the bright, cute characters and connotations of food. The moral of most episodes are the same as Anpanman, despite being a hero, needs help from his friends to overcome Baikinman`s nefarious schemes.

Personally, my favourite character is Tendon Man (Shrimp rice bowl man)!

The world`s oldest woman.

According to a story in the Japan Times today, Misao Okawa, a resident of Osaka is expected to be confirmed as the world`s oldest woman by the Guinness World Records.

Okawa was born on March 5th 1898 and had 3 children, two of whom are in their 90`s. She claimed the secret of her longevity was eating healthy.

On January 13th, Koto Okubo from Kawasaki City, near Tokyo, passed away after less than a month of being confirmed as the world`s oldest woman at the age of 115.