Back in Tokyo 2007 -

Fireflies in Itabashi (Northeast Tokyo)

2008-06-24T23:12:00.003+09:00

On Saturday, on the kind advice of colleagues, I headed over to Itabashi, on the northeast part of Tokyo, past Ikebukuro and Sugamo, to see fireflies shown to the public only two weekends a year in June and July.

The two firefly breeds are genji-botaru and heike-botaru, and the genji are known for the large light that they produce.

When I had lived down south in Kyushu I had seen fireflies near rivers, watch the specks of light flit about over the chuckling brooks. But these fireflies were much different, almost like miniature beacons in the shed in which they were raised.

People (including me) lined up about an hour before the gates were open (7:30, to coincide with the late sunset) to get tickets with times stamped on them to allow them entrance later. This in the middle of rainy season, in a downpour.

Although I must've spent five minutes at most watching the fireflies I like the fact that I had to make a special journey, get out of the city center, to see the spectacle.

It was a fifty minute ridefrom near Yurakucho station (near Ginza) into an area loaded with nothing but danchi (Japanese low-cost housing), and then a ten minute walk to the center.

The Japan Times has an excellent write-up here:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fq20080613a1.html

Enhanced Security before Summit

2008-06-24T22:50:00.003+09:00

Japan will be hosting a G8 summit in Hokkaido in early July in Hokkaido and they've upgraded the security in major train and metro stations in Tokyo. That means restricted access to lockers and no more garbage cans in the stations (temporarily).

In Tokyo station there are policeman standing on 1 foot stands to get a better view of the incoming crowd, hopefully to sniff out troublemakers before they make it into the station, where they could paralyze the transportation system by creating chaos or what not ...

Near the Supermarket -- Unmanned Metro Ticket Machines?

2008-06-18T23:21:00.003+09:00

On the weekends I head over to a large supermarket near Monzen NakaCho station, a few stops from where I live (truth be told, there's a change over at one of the stations, but still in absolute terms it's relatively close). The selection is good, and the prices are reasonable (for Japan -- always a caveat).

ON my way there I passed by a ticket machine for the Oedo line, and I saw a photo opportunity which would please those in the know. The ticket machines look completely automated and it's easy to think that nobody's keeping tabs on them. But every once in a while people have trouble with the machines and -- presto! someone appears from the door between the ticket machines. As in the photo.

Next time you pass by a ticket machine, see if you can spot the secret door from where these staff pop out from. JR has these too ...

Shimokitazawa (West Tokyo)

2008-06-10T07:46:00.005+09:00

Last Saturday (7 June) I went to Shimo-kitazawa, an area about 10 minutes by train on the Keio line from Shinjuku. I had wanted to go there for some time, after reading about how its unique character (small shops and boutiques) had been preserved, and decided to go there on the spur of the moment after noticing that it was easy to get to from the Chiyoda Metro line.

I had had lunch near Akasaka station and decided to head for Shimo Kitazawa, two stops beyond the terminus of the Chiyoda line, Yoyogi Uehara.

That said, there was no difficult transfer involved. Like some of the metro lines that continue on as regional trains or link to such trains at their terminus, I got off at the last stop and walked straight across the platform to catch the train continuing on to Shimo-Kitazawa.

The station itself is incredibly small. Considering the number of tourists who pass through the station on the weekend, it's quite amazing that they've left the station at its current size. Unless that is part of the effort to maintain the small-town character of the place.

It isn't really so much as stepping into a new town with a different character as it is stepping into a place like Harajuku, with its small boutiques (many of them selling used clothing; I bought a Japan national team T-shirt there, used, for 300 yen) targeting young consumers. I found myself thinking that I was walking through Harajuku judging from the people walking about (mostly in their 20s and 30s) and the types of stores lining the streets.

There is one interesting area right near the station, a market zone like what you might find in Ameyoko or under the tracks somewhere in Tokyo or Osaka. There, side-by-side, vendors sell dried beans or other legumes, others sell o-den, some sell fresh fruit and some stalls are just watering holes for locals (but look so interesting--next time will have to try). This I suppose it what the Shimo-Kitazawa must have been about when people first discovered it. Now, as I can find similar things in Harajuku, I wonder if it is worth going the extra few stops.

There is one odd thing en route to Shimo-kitazawa. Near the Yoyogi Uehara station, there is a giant mosque just like what I saw in Turkey, with its steepled pointed towards heavens. Odd to have found it here, but I guess that attests to the potential size of the Muslim community here in Tokyo ...

Akihabara Incident

2008-06-10T07:46:00.004+09:00

By now, some of you surfing the net will know that on Sunday a 25-year old rented a small truck and rammed it into a busy Akihabara intersection before attacking several people there with survival knives.

I was just one station north of that area, in Okachimachi (Ameyoko) but I had thought of dropping in Akihabara that day but got a late start (leaving the house after 1 PM, long after the incident had played out) and went straight up to Ameyoko.

I know the kind of crowds that gather on weekends in Akihabara and it surprises me little that the suspect chose that day. I feel terrible for the visitors among the dead who probably had no idea that this was coming.

Perhaps there will be a greater police presence and there may some kind of crackdowns, but this could happen again at any other station and without warning, so one needs to always be prepared ....

"Cool Biz": Helping save energy by cutting the A/C (!?)

2008-06-07T10:44:00.003+09:00

Two weeks in the new job and I'm working long hours, translating almost 9 hours a day (as a "probationary" member I'm expected to hang out at the office until 6pm), with one peak day reaching 4700 words ... I've taken a considerably more leisurely pace the past few days, pushing out somewhere between 2500-3000, and enjoying it more.

Anyhow .... in our office, as in many offices across Japan, as of June 1st the thermostat on the A/C got raised a couple notches .... to 29C, which I would guess is somewhere around 84F. Imagine working in those conditions! On the first day of the changeover, apparently some people came close to passing out, and productivity dropped severely.

In long sleeves, you quickly work up a sweat just sitting there, and I imagine that that I'll be soon be looking for short sleeve dress shirts to get me through the summer months.

The initiative is called Cool Biz, and in exchange for turning up the heat (pardon the pun), workers get to sluff off their suit jackets and neckties for the rest of the summer. Which is nice, for those of you who have been through a (humid) Japanese summer.

I'm just glad because that means one less thing to worry about (the suit and necktie) in the morning as I rush out the door.

But some people have talked about getting desk fans, and I can see their point. Already the paper uchiwa fans are getting a lot of use (the guy next to me fans himself when his brain starts overheating from intense translation ... I go out in the hallway to take a breather, where there's less people and less heat).

For those of you who would like to get your hands on some next "Cool Biz" banners and logos, they're here (I know, you guys just can't wait ...)

Was last post really three months ago?

2008-05-20T22:21:00.002+09:00

A lot of things can happen in three months, as I've found out.

I've applied for and changed jobs, and move apartments from the west side of Tokyo to the east side, near Tsukiji (in order to be closer to my workplace).

During that time, I've had to go to interviews, go apartment hunting, close down my life at my previous employer, and then physically move all the stuff in my apartment from one end of town to the other (tried to save on moving costs -- would've cost a small fortune, maybe $500 -- and ended up shuttling back and forth on the Marunouchi/Hibiya lines, 190 yen ($1.90) a ride, except on weekends and national holidays, when special 14 for 10 discount coupons effectively bring down the price almost 40%!

I hope that as I get more used to life at my new workplace and my new home I'll be able to sit down in the evenings and write more. There are all kinds of new adventures on this side, now that I live and work closer to Tokyo station and Ginza!

Will be back with more!

NABE / The first time, but not the last: so easy to make!

2008-02-14T23:38:00.002+09:00

Ashamed to admit it, but in all my years of living in Japan, never once had I tried to make nabe (hotpot) stews. Of course I'd had the pleasure of eating it many times at friends' houses, but until a few days ago nabe was always the sort of thing that was made for small groups huddled around a dining table or kotatsu dining table. Never the sort of thing one would go through the trouble of making.

But actually, it was easier than I thought.

I think many people make the broth themselves, either from konbu seaweed or using miso as a base, but for those of us who have no idea of how to make a decent broth, there are instant soup bases that can serve as the base for the nabe hotpot.

The flavor I chose was "tan-tan goma" or spicy broth with sesame. It's based on a Chinese soup recipe from some part of China, quite spicy. While some people buy a lot of different kinds of vegetables to put in, I held off on variety given that vegetables at this time of year are unsually expensive. I bought sliced pork (shoulder, very tasty), mushrooms, tofu, green onions and bakchoy cabbage.

The package in the photo actually serves up to 4, but I chose to use only 1/2 for each sitting. Even then the concentrated broth held up fine against the vegetables and tofu, whose water content leeches out during the cooking process. After stewing the whole mix for about 5 minutes I turned off the burner and dug in. How delicious!

From others' suggestions, I reserved some of the broth for the next day's breakfast. I reheated rice in the microwave and the leftover soup in a saucepan, then threw the reheated rice into the soup. Not quite exactly "zosui" style porridge, but close enough and a great way to beat the cold wave that's rolled over Japan. (It was probably subzero in Tokyo last night!)

Okra and beef bowl

2008-02-14T23:24:00.002+09:00

Fan that I've become of places that serve beef/pork bowls (gyu-don, gyu-meshi), on my way home from a concert over the three-day weekend, I stopped by a chain called Sukiya that serves ... beef bowls curry, sauce, or even .... okra!

It was really quite good and nice to have vegetables with the beef bowl, which after all is really nothing but slices of meat with starch ....

23 JAN / RUFUS WAINWRIGHT CONCERT

2008-02-11T23:13:00.000+09:00

On 23 Jan, I went to see Rufus Wainwright in concert. Although he is known as a singer-songwriter in his own right, he has the peculiar distinction of having done a whole series of Judy Garland standards in Carnegie Hall, commemorating the concert that she did there more than 30 years ago.

His singing style is quite similar to Billy Joel or Elton John, but it's also clear he has a love of the Broadway standards and musicals from the '50s; the emphasis on singing, and clever lyrics, informs his work.

I almost didn't get to go to this concert: I had known that he would be touring as early as August, but I put off buying tickets until January, and when I went to the ticket machine to buy it -- alas! it had all sold out. (Touts I suspect buying up the last hundred tickets or so ...!)

I had almost given up hope, checking the ticket agencies each day fervently for available tickets, but none were coming. Finally two nights before the concert, I scored a ticket on an auction site, and after paying for it online I was given an confirmation number for the ticket, which had been prepaid by the auctioneer. I was able to go to the local Family Mart and issue the ticket, have it in hand for the concert. By all other means (post, delivery service) the ticket could've been lost or never sent; by being able to issue (print it out) myself I was sure to have a real (not forged!) ticket on hand before the concert.

And what a concert! As a broadcast on NPR said, he sings his heart out and the concert must've lasted at least two hours. There's a 10 minute intermission in the middle, but for a performance it's extraordinarily long and he does most of the singing. I suspect Dad might like his Judy Garland performances and I'll have to look it up on Amazon.

Here is the link to the page in Amazon for those who are curious:
http://www.amazon.com/Rufus-Does-Judy-Carnegie-Hall/dp/B000XMZJX8/

Mind you, he looks young but he has a fantastic voice ....

JAN LUNCH / Aimee Vibert / Michelin 2-star

2008-02-11T23:12:00.000+09:00

Two-stars in a private establishment overlooking a garden: very likely this place is used for weddings or receptions. Elegant but also quite delicious.

Long Break Between Posts! Sorry! BUSY January

2008-02-11T23:07:00.000+09:00

Almost a good two months since the last post. The whole month of January was an especially busy one for me and that's why I felt unable to post anything during the whole period. Mostly I was busy with work, as our company braced itself for earnings seasons and I helped to edit a whole slew of reports, checking the Japanese with the English as I was editing it. After three or for long reports, it's hard not to feel overwhelmed, and then, right in the midst of the reports, companies began to release their 3Q earnings, and suddenly there were two deadlines, the daily reports that had to get out (responses to results) and then the longer reports which needed more poring over. But the peak seems to have passed and I think the next few weeks will be better.

Today, 11 Feb, was another national holiday (Japan has increased the number of 3-day holidays in the last few years and so us salaried workers are benefitting from this change. I took the time to sleep in late, then go to a concert which is the subject of another post.

Tomorrow is work again but there's nothing like a short 4-day week!

Krispy Kreme in Shinjuku

2007-12-24T00:54:00.000+09:00

There's a branch of Krispy Kreme near the Takashimaya Times Square shopping center in south Shinjuku. Even though it was 12 degrees celsius and raining, people braved the cold and were lining up for what must be an hour to get into buy the treasured doughnuts. Looking at the quantity they buy, people buy three boxes at a time of maybe 10 doughnuts a box, probably dividing it up among friends and family -- "look I lined up and got these rare doughnuts!" I don't know if we'd be willing to wait in line that long for doughnuts in the US ..?

Fabulous bonenkai in a hotel ballroom!

2007-12-19T00:01:00.000+09:00

For me, the bonenkai season has always meant one too many parties in the local restaurants, gathering together people from the volleyball team, the town office, the school I worked for, and so on. But even though I dreaded the financial hit this season would bring to the pocketbook (multiply 5000 yen x 4 parties and you have an idea of what a bummer December can be!) I always liked the camaraderie of these smaller parties, often with only about 10-15 people there, many times fewer than that ...

However, I went to my company's bonenkai and was astounded to find that -- wow, they had commandered a whole ballroom and filled it with people and food. Day to day I see maybe no more than 50 employees, all in my department; but there, assembled, were maybe upwards of 400 or 500 employees, maybe even more. Of course none whose names I knew. This being the financial industry, there were a lot of foreigners there, working in departments far different from my own ....

But wonderful food: off to one side of the ballroom was a buffet service and, for a limited time, sushi and tempura on command. (Freshly fried tempura is SO good; the sushi chef was too surly for my liking. "Sorry, guy, take the three pieces you got and be happy. I don't take requests." How to be content with shrimp, ika (squid), and low-grade maguro, the three cheapest ingredients there?)

In the middle of the buffet area was about nine different Chinese dishes, all of which looked good, but which I took none of. Me, I'm a sashimi fan, and I made for the far end of the buffet, where they had white fish sashimi in a salad marine, and fantastic raw scallops (tender and also marinated). I skipped on the desserts but made sure to get my share of veggies, taking salads, and other vegetables decorating the edges of the plates. Some people insisted on the roast beef, but since I was with my semi-vegetarian co-worker, I abstained -- but then again, after so many years in Japan I find that I don't miss steaks and roast beef that much.

At the open bar they had a selection of really good rice sake, satsuma imo sweet potato shochu (vodka), and the highlight of the evening, a 17-year Nikka whiskey. My other boss and I took seconds of that Nikka; so odd it was to see it there that I looked for it over the weekend, without any luck. Perhaps it's only sold in department stores? Who knows?

We were lucky to have door prizes, too, although I didn't win the prize that they offered last year: round trip tickets to the UK. I got a coupon for four 1kg bags of rice; others got gift certificates for online shopping (none of which interested them).

It was just nice to have an evening of free food and entertainment. Nice to have an organization that takes care of you .... sometimes, in a big way.

Wine Tasting in Shinagawa - Enoteca Wine Shop

2007-12-17T00:15:00.001+09:00

On Wednesday, I finished work a little bit early and hurried over from Akasaka over to Shinagawa. In the Wing Takanawa complex, there is a small branch of a wine shop called Enoteca across from the Anna Miller's coffee shop (as you cross from Shinagawa station you pass McDonald's and take the escalator to the second floor). The shop was featuring a wine tasting of six different wines from the Rothschild stable of wines. Although the Rothschilds have fabulous vineyards in Bordeaux, they have also purchased and developed vineyards in Chile and have tied up with California winemaker Robert Mondavi to make the $300/bottle Opus One, supposedly one of the finest wines in the world.

The wine tasting started with a Chilean white and then a powerful Chilean red, very spicy (probably heavy on the Cabernet Sauvignon), and then a more balanced wine from Languedoc (the area somewhat southeast of Bordeaux). In the latter part of the session there were three wines, all fantastic, one from the Pauillac region (Armailhac 1992), one the legendary Mouton Rothschild (every year they have a different person paint the labels; some collectors buy the wine not only for the extraordinary wine but also frame the labels after finishing the bottle), and one mildly sweet Sauternes dessert wine. All three were fabulous, the Pauillac rich and aromatic, the Mouton silky with aromas of chocolate, and the Sauternes not cloying sweet like typical wines of that region.

Apparently this Mouton Rothschild 2005 (just released, as it takes two years for the wine to be matured and then bottled) was the first to be tasted publicly in the world. Quite an honor to have been able to do so.

Most of the people there were amateur wine drinkers, but one French guy showed up and I talked to him about the wines in French. He also pointed out which ones he would buy as well as others available in the shop, but unfortunately many of them were way out of my budget!

I'd love to go to another wine tasting, and will sign up for the next one that's scheduled.

-----

LINKS
Enoteca English site and Japanese site

Baron Phillippe de Rothschild site

The Joys of Shinjuku on a Weekday Night

2007-12-11T08:30:00.000+09:00

Shinjuku, for those of you who have been there on a weekend, normally teems with people. In fact, when I first arrived in Japan and stayed at the Keio hotel on the west side of JR Shinjuku station, I was so overwhelmed by the crowds that I literally decided to shut myself in my room rather than get lost. Actually I did get out a couple of times, but those first few days, when I knew none of the language, still stick in my mind.

I remember a pedestrian overpass just packed with people -- a place I now identify as the southern exit of the JR station, near the Lumine buildings.

Anyhow: I was in Shinjuku last night, Monday, on a couple of errands. I was able to sneak into Takashimaya department store in "Times Square" to register for Moriizou shochu (the one where you can buy at regular price a shochu (satsuma imo vodka) that retails on the secondary market for 35,000 yen (actual price: about 2800 yen). And I also was able to check out the stollen fruitcakes there which I may end up picking up next weekend. Seeing as I won't be able to make it to Germany this year, I may end up buying myself a taste of Deutschland in the form of a marzipan stollen (a moist fruitcake with powdered sugar on top and marzipan (almond paste) in the middle of it ...)

Takashimaya was just closing when I arrived (I found it easier to access the store from the Shinjuku 3-chome metro stop rather than the JR/Marunocuchi Shinjuku line, which is a maze, believe me, trust me!) and so on my way out the employees bowed at their prescribed 45-degree angle ...

I was in Shinjuku really to buy a heater. I gave up shopping for the heater on Sunday and instead decided to head out after work. That way I would have more time and face thinner crowds, I figured, and I was right: on the sales floor there were more help than customers, which was an encouraging sign. I found what I needed, they plugged in a number of heaters to help me choose one to buy for my room (I found one for about 6000 yen) and I asked them to ship it to my place come this weekend. Seamless service, as always: one of the things I love about Japan.

But after finishing this errand, I was able to linger in the store and look around at the new gizmos that had just come out in the last few weeks. Sony had been touting its new audio/video player as an alternative to the iPod and I wanted to look at it up close in order to try out the buttons and check out the functions. While it was well designed, it seemed a little bit small to carry around (about the size of a matchbook) and watching TV on a screen that large was a big minus. A nearby model by Toshiba, the Gigabeat, featured a wide screen, long playback time and recordability, with also the standard audio/video playback that Apple has designed into its iPod. I didn't end up buying it but having the time to peruse these items was a true luxury.

I may try to stop by Shinjuku once a month in the evenings, just to avoid the crushing crowds that populate these kinds of (electronic) stores on the weekends ... of course I'll have to put up with businessmen on their way out from drinking with colleagues, but that's only a temporary thing, on the street.

Pepper Lunch

2007-12-02T23:23:00.001+09:00

My family loves the Pepper Lunch chain that sells sizzling platters of beef and rice for about 800 yen a meal. Yesterday as I was buying some things in Ameyoko, near JR Okachimachi station, I found one in the B1F of a building right near one of the JR station exits.

Although there was a sign indicating that the company had been forced to raise the price of its selections due to rising raw materials costs, still, for 780 yen I was able to eat a cube steak platter with an extra large serving of rice. With bean sprouts and some sliced carrots and beans, it makes for a full meal, although it would be nice to have a little bit more meat.

Just a note: yesterday one guy was running the operation all by himself. A vending machine took the orders, but the guy was the greeter, water pourer, rice server, and the hot platter chef. It was just so fun to see how efficiently this young server was working and how cheerful he was in spite of the fact that it must've been exhausting to have maintained that pace for the last hour or so.

======

Pepper Lunch -> find more about the chain here. This is actually for the Singapore affiliate of the chain (wow! they serve fish and lamb there!) but it gives a much better version of the Pepper Lunch thing than the garbled English that appears on the Japanese site (which appears to have been machine-translated ...)

Christmas in Tokyo!

2007-12-02T23:17:00.000+09:00

Today I walked past some of the shopowners in the area where I live and some of them were hanging up Christmas lights to light up the shopping arcade where they work.

Later, when I went into Shinjuku, I went near Takashimaya and saw their decorations. Simply incredible, not only in design but in scale. I kid you not, they had two 10 foot tree decorations made out of ... teddy bears. Well, not true plush teddy bears but they were like toy bears wrapped in silver and gold foil. Quite a bizarre site. Cute in some respects, but really odd when you think about it. Look closely and you see the bears staring back at you!

Some of the other boutiques have their Christmas decorations out. Christmas is not celebrated as a religious holiday here, but it happens to coincide with the winter bonuses that regular corporate employees receive at the end of the year. All the shops, whether they be clothing or electronics, are competing for that hard-earned money, and so sometimes the sales are fantastic. Today I walked into a shop to get a new cell phone and they gave back basically 5000+5000yen = 10000yen back in rebates, when the phone itself was only about 20,000 yen after factoring out subsidies and calling charges.

It's a consumer's paradise here in Tokyo. Just be careful not to be trampled by the weekend crowds! Yikes!

Sorry again for the gap

2007-12-02T23:08:00.000+09:00

Sorry for the blank in the blog: over the last two weeks I've kept real busy: seeing a couple of friends whom I met in EM Lyon while they were here; meeting up with a fellow translator here in Japan who graduated from the same school I does and has the same sort of appreciation for the Japanese language that I do; travelled a bit; filled in for my supervisor during his vacation; enjoyed some more French food in Japan; and fit in a screening of the Bourne Ultimatum last Friday. So for the last two weeks I've been running nonstop.

That's funny, because the month of December is sometimes referred to by its old name of 'shiwasu,' the month where even the teachers are running around getting their last minute business done.

For me, the corporate results season was the busiest part, but that was at the beginning of November and everything has tapered off since then. It looks to be a pretty calm December (that's good and bad).

When I was living in Kyushu, I used to always dread the year-end when there would be two or three year-end parties, which took their toll on you financially (each party costing 3000-5000 yen), and in terms of eating and drinking. It's incredible that you have to celebrate and drink and sing karaoke and then go home and be at work at 8AM the next day. Well, things weren't actually that strict where I used to work ...

The funny thing is that since I've come to Tokyo there's never been a time when I've gone out drinking with people here until really late and until someone in the group is so far beyond recovery. In my business things stay pretty sober: not surprising since most of the teams in my office stay there from 8 until late evening or past midnight day after day. What are you to do when you have so much money but no time to spend or enjoy it? (Answer: hoard it, buy a house and a nice car. Just kidding).

Lunch Time at Matsuya / Rice Bowls

2007-11-19T23:25:00.000+09:00

So where do I go for lunch, you say? When I first started working, I imagined that I might have enough energy to cook during the evening, bring in rice and some okazu and zap it in the company microwave, just as I had done at my last workplace. How wrong I was! Not to mention, no kitchen in my office!

Akasaka (the general area where I work) has no dearth of restaurants in all price ranges, and all kinds of cuisines, including French, Turkish, Chinese, and Korean within walking distance of my office. But most of the time I end up eating at the restaurant pictured below.

It's like Yoshinoya, famous for its sliced stewed beef bowls, but (better than Yoshinoya) even the simple rice dishes come with miso soup: always a nice plus and filling too.

Matsuya's are slightly more expensive than Yoshinoya, but the taste is much better (especially the sliced pork bowls, which are made with -- I kid you not -- pork produced in Denmark). (Further irony: some of the waitresses are Chinese, you can tell by the accent and their name tags.)

When I get tired of eating regular-flavored sliced pork bowls (330 yen) I sometimes splurge on the BiBimDon bowls which are pork with green onions and kimchee sauce smothered on the top, for a slightly different taste sensation.

==========

LINK

Matsuya Home Page click here.

Cheap Sweets in Shinjuku Station

2007-11-19T23:10:00.000+09:00

On my way from futsal on Saturday I passed through Shinjuku station transferring from JR (trains) to the local metro line. Near the Marunouchi line entrance is a peculiar shop selling desserts for 105 and 150 yen. Impossible, you say? But there it was, puddings and mousses and chiffon cakes for 105, cheesecakes for maybe about 150 yen ... amazing that they can make ends meet on that, but perhaps the volumes that they sell are just phenomenal.

I bought a coffee mousse (105yen) and a baked cheesecake for 150 yen. Not the best that I've made, but it was fine for breakfast the next day.

============

LINKS

None for the store itself, but if you search google using the keywords "105" and "メイプリーズ" then it will take you to several people's blogs. A cake cheaper than a Coke from the vending machine? Unbelievable.

Eating my words - Beaujolais

2007-11-19T23:04:00.000+09:00

I broke down and spent almost 2000 yen on a bottle of Beaujolais at my local supermarket. A friend of mine said to me, Beaujolais really isn't about the wine, it's about celebrating the harvest and the promise of good wine in the future.

At the supermarket they were giving out wine glasses with a purchase of a bottle and I think I will probably try to enjoy it this weekend, while the wine is "fresh" (air flown from France in time for the third Thursday). Unlike the Bordeauxs which I usually drink, apparently it's OK to drink this wine chilled. Given that the temperature in my room is about 10C, I at least won't have to put it in the fridge ...

Futsal - Part 2

2007-11-19T22:58:00.001+09:00

This past Saturday was the second time I played futsal, or soccer on a handball-sized court, and like the week before I was so winded after the first two matches I thought I wouldn't make it through the evening. Fortunately with three teams there we were able to rotate and take short breaks -- the games lasting about 7 minutes each.

I realized why the game is so hard: unlike real soccer, where half the game is just standing around waiting for the ball to come your way, in futsal you have to chase after the ball and then be quick enough to get back to your side to play defense when the other team makes a quick break. In this sense it's probably closer to field hockey, or even basketball in terms of demands on stamina. But since it's equally compact, the game goes much faster and more intensely than traditional soccer.

Too bad that this time I didn't score, but I did set up one goal with a fantastic assist -- a pass down the center corridor right to my teammate waiting up at the other end.

Here's a couple of terrible pictures of the futsal courts (outside, on astroturf covered payment). But I hope you can a feel for the atmosphere.

Beaujolais Nouveau: A Luxury Good?

2007-11-15T23:01:00.000+09:00

At the prices it commands, one would be hard-pressed not to believe that Beaujolais Nouveau was a fine week, up there with the 2nd or 3rd tier Bordeaux wines. While lower-grade Bordeaux wines can go for as little as a 1000 yen (6 EUR), Beaujolais was selling at a local liquor shop for 3300 yen, or about 20 EUR at current exchange rates.

This in spite of the fact that Beaujolais can be drunk for about 3-5EUR in France even at the moment of it's release, the third Thursday in November. The high price reflects the air freight costs required to have the bottles ready in hand for those who want to be among the first (after Australia, perhaps?) to taste Beaujolais.

Needless to say, I held back (still on a budget) and am making do with vin de table from central France. Just one year ago, I remember the crowds celebrating the coming of Beaujolais until late in the evening -- 1, or 2 AM, in the courtyard just below my apartment. No such sounds tonight ... in my neighborhood, people are probably already fast asleep, or will wait until the surface (sea) shipments of Beaujolais (at about 10 EUR a bottle) arrive ...

JapanPost: they're definitely stricter in the cities

2007-11-15T00:33:00.000+09:00

I registered last week for an Internet banking account, and the company sent me its application form ... but I received it neither last week nor this week (even after the company resent it on Monday morning). After I called the bank earlier, they explained the reason for the non-delivery: nobody by this name at that address.

What?

Come to think of it, wanting to maintain my privacy, I haven't written my name on my mailbox. That is in some ways, just inviting identity theft. (Feeling a little paranoid with the mail not arriving, I bought a lock to keep prying hands out of the mailbox ...) But it seems that banks and especially credit card companies are wary of their application forms falling into the wrong hands, and have Japan Post on their side, willing to send back mail if they are not able to positively identify the owner of the mailbox.

It was never this way when I was living out in the countryside. Everyone in the central post office knew who I was and where I lived, and somehow mail always found its way to my house. Not to mention, sometimes I would be stopped in the street -- "you got a package, come and pick it up when you have a moment!" Those days are gone, and everyone trusts no one.

So I scrawled my name on a piece of strapping tape (a small piece, to make it rather unnoticeable) and slapped it on the mailbox. Hope that this time the mailman will see fit to deliver the bank account materials!

Flu Shot: One ounce of prevention -- five seconds of torture

2007-11-15T00:26:00.000+09:00

Yesterday, my company sponsored flu shots, and I decided to take advantage of this offer. Some of my colleagues remain apprehensive about getting the shots (one of them evidently got a real bad cold right after getting the shot last year), but I thought it best to buffer up my immune system ahead of the long flu season. It's not quite cold yet but I expect the dry overheated buildings to start taking its toll mid-January. So a good time to build up the anti-virus while it's still warm. And besides since I take the metro every day, in cramped quarters, I know that I'll be face-to-face (no pun intended) regularly with the flu virus. I've even given thought to wearing a mask to protect myself from sick people on the train.

So I went to get the shot. They made each of us fill out a form waiving all right to an attorney ... nah, but it did list certian disclaimers about how some times the flu shots led to illness or other side effects, and so on. Understandable, since you are injecting foreign bodies into your system and each person's reaction should be different.

Before they gave me the shot, they took the temperature, not with an underarm or oral thermometer, but with a space-age device straight out of Star Trek and Dr. McCoy. They scanned my forehead with a light scanner and bingo! 36.1 degrees Celsius. Slightly below the average human, but still within range ...

After that, they administered the shot, and in five seconds it was all over. I felt the needle go in and especially when it came out. They advised us not to scrub the area when taking a shower, and asked us to refrain from drinking and exercising (not sure why). If anyone knows, please let me know ...!

SPAM o-musubi

2007-11-11T22:56:00.000+09:00

Just a throwaway post, but I got a kick out of this sign as I was walking up towards JR Nakano station the other day. Of all things, it's a banner for Spam o-musubi. Quite incredible that a meat designed by Hormel in the midwest could become a staple in Hawaii and then make it over to Japan in the form of a SPAM riceball.

Strings Hotel Tokyo - Shinagawa

2007-11-11T22:44:00.000+09:00

Although most of the action is concentrated on the west side of Shinagawa station, where the Prince hotels and entertainment complex is situated (there are theaters, shops, restaurants, and even a row of ramen restaurants underneath the Shinagawa train tracks), my family recently had the good fortune to stay on the "other side of the tracks," on the east side of Shinagawa (technically, 港南 konan, or "southern portside") which has been transformed over the last, I don't know for sure, maybe ten years into a row of office buildings and a convention center like building (where I had seen a Pompei exhibition quite a long time ago). This was only the second or third time that I had been on the other side of Shinagawa (the Shinagawa station is so huge it takes 5 minutes to walk across) and so for me, too, it was a real discovery.

To have a luxury hotel so easily accessible is a treat: the Four Seasons is a beautiful hotel but like the Sheraton Miyako, nigh inaccesible without a car. More recently opened first-class hotels have chosen much better locations: the Peninsula, near the Teikoku hotel over in Yurakucho; the Ritz Carlton, just a few minutes from Roppongi station and smack dab center in one of the newest spots, Roppongi MidTown; and the Conrad hotel, just minutes from Shiodome/Shinbashi stations.

Here are photos of the room and the view of Shinagawa down below. As the hotel begins on the 26th floor of the building it occupies, you have a tremendous view of down below. And it is like an oasis in the middle of Tokyo. You literally walk into a different space the moment you step out of the elevator ...

Wireless in Japan: Who to Choose?

2007-11-11T01:25:00.000+09:00

As wired as Japan is, I still had trouble finding out how to connect to WiFi near where I work, in central Tokyo. For a long time I had seen posters for NTT-related WiFi services (as the national phone operator of course they have had a headstart in setting up the antennas in the areas that they service, which include office buildings and metro stations and JR train stations), but I wasn't really interested in paying the 900 yen ($9 or so) fees each month for service that I probably wasn't going to use more than three-five times a month.

Livedoor, run by the flamboyant Horie, had had ambitious plans for a Tokyo-wide wireless network, but after Horie's arrest the money dried up and they have had problems expanding their network. I had considered signing up with them, since they only charged 500 yen or so a month, but the lack of access points and the initial sign-up fee of 1050 yen made me hesitate.

By chance, I came across Yahoo BB's wireless network which is in several main JR stations and airports, and also in (get this) McDonald's all throughout Japan. They even have a BB point in the McDo near where I live. Better still, the reduced subscription fee is only 200 yen a month plus tax, which makes more sense for me because I use the internet at home and really would realistically use the Internet outside my home maybe a few times at most a month. The times, for example, I'm travelling inside Japan, or when I need to pack the computer to check or send a last-minute e-mail.

I signed up online and was sent an ESS-ID and WEP Key (these are related to limiting access to the wireless network). The next way I plugged these in and logged in using a user name and password I made up myself, and .... bingo, I was in! There's a McDonald's about a five minute walk from my office, and another one just 2 minutes away, so for last minute reservations or even Skype (gotta try that next), I think this will work really well. Yes, I think Skype will be useful because of the time difference with France or Hawaii -- I could call in the middle of the day during my lunch break. After having a quick meal at the Matsuya (a Yoshinoya-like chain serving beef and rice bowls) next door ...

==========

For more info, click on the links below

Yahoo BB (Yahoo Wireless) (in Japanese)

in English, (info looks a little bit old) click here

Busy week continues, but no overly long nights

2007-11-11T01:11:00.000+09:00

Second week into 1H results announcements for many Japanese corporations, but there was nothing like Halloween (31 Oct) when there were so many reports by analysts that had to translated into English and out the door before the next morning. There were two big days this week (the 6th and the 8th) but fortunately there was enough "capacity" (this is the term that they often use: they'll ask a translator: 'how much capacity do you have today? can you do a short one? or would you be able to do a (longer) one?') to cover the large number of reports still coming in at a regular pace.

This week I found myself settled into the role of a relief pitcher, the middle reliever who sets up for the closer. Right from about early evening it gets busy, and until the other translators based in Europe (and then later in the night, the US) come online (translators, you see, wait by their computers for translation offers to come in), there's a spread of two hours or so where if reports outnumber translators, then they start scrambling. And that's where I sort of come in. So far, I've been asked to take the shorter translations, short brief passages, but even then it takes me a good 45-60 minutes to translate it and put it into the desktop publishing template for publishing over the Internet. By taking the smaller jobs, I free up "capacity" and they can interest people with larger, meatier jobs (which of course means more work but more money at the end of the day).

I would like to take the plunge sometime and translate a larger article, but I don't know if I'll get the chance. I'm still settling into my dual role as editor/translator; half of my colleagues prefer to use me as an editor, the other half wants to use my translation skills. Either way I'm happy to be of service, just so long as they entrust me with some kind of work ...!

Lunch with the family -- French food in Ginza

2007-11-06T09:43:00.001+09:00

I'm going to rewind the tapes a bit to up load some of the photos from a meal my family and I shared at Paul Bocuse's Ginza bistro in the new Marronier Gate building. It's not exactly run by Bocuse himself (I believe it's a joint venture of sorts with an entrepreneur-chef named Hiramatsu who has several restaurants in Tokyo bearing his name and at all tiers of the budget (2000-20,000!).

The food was not nearly as exciting as at Pierre Gagnaire or Robuchon, but the cost-performance (as we say in Japanese) was quite good. For 3500 yen (tax, tip included) we had an entree, fish, meat, and dessert (creme brulee), not large portions like you get in Lyon bouchons but mysteriously enough to hold us over for five-six hours until dinner.

Here's some photos from the meal.

Friday - Tough Day for the Transport Networks

2007-11-06T09:37:00.000+09:00

Last week, it was a pretty dismal week for the public transport networks. I think there were maybe three accidents involving humans during the whole day, on various metro and JR train lines, which means (above all things) that trains get delayed, people get antsy, and tempers flare.

I can't remember a day like this when three times during the day, they've announced unexpected delays because of these accidents.

Some of the stations have been taking precautions to reduce the number of accidents, putting in barriers that open only when the train enters the terminals, much as they do with the Tube up in London. In fact some of the newer terminals on the Nanboku line running north/south have the same kind of space age, plexiglass doors that open up onto the train (they have similar terminals like this up in Kyoto).

In any case, I hope they get more of these barriers up. I know it sounds like we're protecting people from themselves, but in a crazy city like this, sometimes you do need that sort of extra precaution.

Graveyard Shift has its Perks

2007-11-01T22:19:00.000+09:00

Yesterday (Halloween) I worked until close to midnight. I made sure to leave before then (in order to make sure I had a metro back to my area), but there were so many reports to translate, they kept coming and I wanted to support one of my colleagues there who was scheduled to be there from 4pm to 12 midnight but who ended up being there until 2AM!

I ended up having three brief passages to translate from Japanese into English. Unfortunately, these texts are not simple letters, greetings, or similar material. On the contrary, they're quite dense and (though it may be hard to believe) wordy in Japanese. And considering that each Japanese character in term generates somewhere around 2.5 English words even a short passage will take some time to translate. But I still relish the chance to cut my teeth during these times, under time pressure and with fatigue weighing on me.

One bright spot, as I noted in a previous entry, is that the firm has seen fit to give us bentos or box dinners during the busy results period. Given that some analysts and their staff are in there way past midnight (yes!), this is a small, yet meaningful gesture to show that they are appreciated. I enjoy working the late shift because that means taking part in the daily feast ....

So far we've had Pizza hut pizza, burgers (twice; see photo), and also traditional bentos, some of which are actually quite delicious. Today's burger was an avocado-filled burger with a side salad, and used organic beef. A small luxury but I am extremely grateful, and am translating between bites ...

Sorry for the gap in Entries! Family was Visiting!

2007-10-30T22:37:00.000+09:00

Just this past weekend my parents and an aunt came up to visit me in Tokyo. Originally I was only to join them for two days (on the weekend) but after a little bit of juggling of my schedule and some help from Kuroneko Yamato (they brought me a couple of packages earlier than scheduled and allowed me to open up one evening after work), I was able to see them for four out of the six days they were here. Not bad.

Just for the record, they stayed at the absolute high and low ends of the hotel chains in Shinagawa: Toyoko Inn and String Intercontinental. Toyoko Inn is located on the bustling west side (Takanawa) of Shingawa, full of shops and eateries and a terrific "ramen alley" where you can choose from six or seven different types of ramen noodles and fill up for about 700-800 yen ($6 or 5 EUR). The strings, in contrast, is located in a quieter area full of office buildings and the target of redevelopment spanning the last, I don't know, maybe ten years. Its end (the "Konan" side) also has its share of shops and restaurants, and upscale stores like Isetan Queen's and even a branch of Dean&Deluca (where you can buy an ever-so-chic denim logo bag for 2,100 yen.)

They were thrilled to be in the Strings, a five-star located on the 26th and above floors of an office building and perhaps a refuge for stars and businessmen; but being at the Toyoko meant breakfasts of freshly baked croissants and coffee, not too shabby. Of course, normally, to stay in the Strings you need to pay upwards of 30,000 to 40,000 yen -- best to stay there if you can on a free night or as part of a tour group or package.

Halloween only recently adopted in Japan

2007-10-30T22:30:00.000+09:00

I can't remember exactly when Halloween started to become a fixture at shops all over Japan, but I definitely remember that when I first came here about 15 years ago it wasn't a very well-known holiday.

Nowadays, it's much different. Although I'm not sure that people know the legend and lore behind the celebration, they still seem to celebrate its arrival with anticipation and know that at least it has something to do with bats, ghosts and carved-up pumpkins.

In the arcade near JR Nakano station, several shops advertised Halloween costumes and halloween-themed items. Even a favorite snack food of one of my former EM Lyon classmates, Monster Munch (which is available year-round in Europe, by the way!) is brought in only during this season because of its cheery ghost-shaped chips.

For better or worse, Halloween here doesn't include fattening chocolates and candies. You can of course find them at import shops and the like, but if you prefer to abstain it's not difficult.

Photo: Flower shop in Akasaka Mitsuke metro station

Changing Work Hours

2007-10-25T09:43:00.000+09:00

I work in downtown Tokyo, meaning that I have a 30-minute commute from where I live. Depending on the time of day, the trains can be packed, as they were yesterday when I rode in at about 7:15AM, or quite pleasant going in, as I expect them to be when I check in for work today at 11 AM. Even with flex-time allowing employees to stagger their hours and come in an hour or two later, the trains are still quite crowded on weekdays. I can see how people could grow tired of this, especially if there commutes are an hour or so, or more!

People obviously come up with coping strategies for the long ride in, which could (depending on the situation) be spent mostly standing up. But that's a topic for another entry.

This week has been a little bit odd as I've had to readjust my internal clock not once, but twice, as the place where I work is short on staff just this week, and so I've had to straddle the time slots where the other staff members work: one works the mornings and the other the evenings, and I've sort of been the relief pitcher in the middle. Well, only in a matter of speaking.

On Monday it was late hours, 11AM to 8PM, then the next day from 8AM to 5PM, and then back today (Thursday) to 11AM to 8PM. Working late will have its perks: as this is company results reporting season, meaning that analysts and their dedicated (I mean that seriously, not sarcastically!?) support staff will be working around the clock, the company may be serving meals during the night (although I will have to see this for myself to believe it!)

Although my room is bright and as a consquence it's hard to stay in bed until late, I still prefer working the evenings because that means I can take the mornings slowly and give my body some time to adjust ... and evenings are not so rushed either, since I know that I can wake up at a decent hour the following day.

A week ago when I first moved into my new apartment, I was skeptical that I would feel at home. But after a long day in the office, staring at a computer monitor and using my brain all the time (translating is taxing!), it's nice to come back to a space that is complete yours, swhip something up in the kitchen, and then take a shower in a unit bathroom (i.e., bath, toilet sink all in one prefabricated room) that has good water pressure ...

Caramels aux beurre salé -- Tokyo Version

2007-10-22T22:04:00.000+09:00

Three years ago, in Paris, I bought salted butter caramels, a specialty of Normandy and Bretagne. They're chewy, or if they're made and eaten fresh, literally melt on your tongue. The sweetness and saltness are just heavenly, for those of you who have been lucky to try them.

Anyhow: the Japanese have always loved caramel (or at least for the last fifty years or so?), but only recently has salted caramels been on the menus here and there.

In Isetan in Shinjuku, there are not one, but TWO places, that sell caramels. One of them, Henri Le Roux (incidentally the same brand that I bought in Paris, at EUR0,70 a piece (110 yen)) sells them by the box of 10 at a rich 1,575 yen! Incredible! Would you rather have a box of Godiva chocolates, two bowls of ramen, or ten caramels!

Just a month ago, at a Hokkaido fair in one of the department stores, several vendors came selling caramels made with creamy Hokkaido milk and refrigerated (so unstable they are at if you left them out at room temperature during the hot September you would be left with a complete mess). Even these caramels were 840 yen for 10.

Anyhow, you can imagine how mainstream it's gone when you see today's photos: salted caramel bun, sold at, of all places, Lawson convenience store in the station where I get off to go to work. At 110 yen it's not cheap, but I wanted to try it once, for the record. And here it is: brown bread the consistency of a hamburger or hot dog bun on the outside (similar to what the Japanese I think call "koppe pan"), with a butter caramel paste on the inside (stabilized with preservatives but neverthless just the right sweetness).

It was nice to try it once, but I think next time, just so that I don't go hungry, I'll go for a couple pieces of oden ...

=====

LINKS
1)
Salted caramel makers from Hokkaido
-Naganuma　（あいすの家）
-Hokkaido Grand Hotel

2)
Henri Le Roux

Japanese home page -- fancy

French/English home page -- simple unpretentious layout

AmeYoko and Akihabara

2007-10-21T23:23:00.000+09:00

Yesterday, on my day off (Saturday), I headed over to Akihabara, the electronics mecca of Tokyo, and the nearby Ameyoko area, near JR Okachimachi station (or Tokyo metro Naka-Okachimachi station).

These two areas are the antithesis of the riches of Ginza or the upper-class tilt of the Azabu-Juban areas, but I like them for their energy that comes from the crowds passing through in search of bargains and obscure merchandise.

I'll talk more about these areas in future posts, but I'll share a few photos of just a few restaurants in those areas.

Yesterday after getting a haircut in QB House (a no-frills chain sort of like Super Cuts) for exactly 1000 yen, I headed right across the street to a place, Uogashi Nihon Ichi, that has fantastic sushi at lunch for an extremely reasonable 1000 yen. 12 pieces, chawan-mushi custard, and miso soup, with the sushi extremely fresh and an anago (unagi-like fish) strip that was three times the size of the other sashimi ...

The other two snapshots are a) the personal favorite of my family, Pepper Steak, which offers beef and rice served on a sizzling iron skillet -- cheap, fast, but delicious, and 2) doner kebab sandwiches, which have finally hit Japan. I personally haven't tried it yet, but there was a line of about 3 or 4 people when I passed by. I think the Akihabara bargain seekers (I was one of them!) are starting to recognize how convenient they are, and a good value (better in some ways than a deluxe hamburger at a McDonalds or Lotteria!).

KingKebab, click here.

Pepper Lunch, click here.

Where I Am: Nakano - Suburb of Shinjuku

2007-10-21T22:55:00.000+09:00

While it is certainly possible to live within central Tokyo, surrounded by the Yamanote line, depending on the area, the rents for small apartments can rival those of, I'm guessing, New York. Some apartments I've sent for rent in the Azabu area or the better parts of Roppongi or Akasaka rent for upwards of 120,000 yen a month. That's at least a $1000US, and for only a one room apartment. Of course for some people proximity to their work and shopping might be a priority, but for those with less options, life in the suburbs (or adjoining prefectures) is a necessity.

I chose to live in Nakano because it lies on a metro line that takes me into Shinjuku in 7 minutes, and only 3 stops, on the Marunouchi line. My office, where I work, is within walking distance of the Akasaka stop of this line, and when I was interviewing for my current position, I was told to find someplace along this line.

I also needed to find somewhere which would rent to foreigners and where I would not need to put up hefty deposits just to guarantee the apartment. As this was my first time living in such a big city (recall the towns I used to live in here in Japan were no bigger than 30,000 people, with the last one no more than 8000 full-time residents), I didn't want to lock myself into a particular area or apartment with a full deposit (2 months in some places), that I might forfeit if I ended my contract too early.

Proximity to a metro station was also important: as much as cheap rent would mean more Japanese sake and sushi, I knew from experience that having access to public transportation within walking distance was a given. Recall that even in Lyon the bus literally stopped right in front of my apartment.

And so, here I am, living near Shin-Nakano, which is actually a bustling area with lots of shops and restaurants and eateries, many of them 24-hour chain restaurants. I hadn't counted on this when I chose this area to live in, but I consider myself lucky. Since I finish late, it's nice knowing that there are convenience stores where I can pick up a late bite; supermarkets that stay open until 12 midnight, or 4 AM, or 24 hours. Even in a pinch I can eat at Matsuya, the arch-rival of Yoshinoya serving flavored-beef bowls.

Sometime soon I'll up some pictures of the area.

=======

Back in Japan!

2007-10-18T22:05:00.000+09:00

I'd never expected to find myself at the beginning of September 2007, in Tokyo. I'd had dreams of possibly working in Europe (or still chasing after jobs at this time of year), which is one of the reasons that I went to business school abroad: I wanted to get an MBA and be able to savor Europe at least once in my life. And that I've done.

Through a whole mysterious chain of events, I now find myself here in Tokyo, far away from my previous life in Kyushu. I'd always heard about people "going to live and work in Tokyo" but hardly expected that I would join their numbers some day. Of all places to work, I had thought that life in Tokyo would be miserable and crowded and expensive. Hardly the type of place where I'd like to live.

True, the mass media does like to focus on the high rents and miniscule apartments, and the occasional expensive items found in Ginza department stores. But Tokyo is also a hodgepodge of high and lowbrow culture: side by side with the LV stores and countless boutiques near Omotesando are the small eateries selling meals for 300-500 yen, not more than 2-3 EUR at current exchange rates.

Sure, in some ways Tokyo can be expensive, but the quality of life can be pretty good if you know how to live smartly. In the next few weeks I hope to touch on different aspects of my new life here in Tokyo. I hope you find it either instructive, entertaining or both. If anything I hope it will give you some insight into what it means to live in Tokyo.

It is a challenge, and (like New York), you do have to work to live here. But it is a city brimming with things to eat, see and buy and I hope that I won't get fed up with this place too soon. I've only been here one month!