メタル侍

Last year, a Japanese 時代劇 (Japanese samurai period movie) movie was released titled 「メタル侍」 (Metal Samurai). And now it’s out on DVD.

In case you couldn’t tell by the title, this is not an average 時代劇 (Japanese samurai period movie). It’s quite tongue-in-cheek.

I can’t help but think that the writers of this movie were inspired by the success of the Japanese movie Detroit Metal City…because, besides both movies having the word “metal” in the title, in both movies the hero wears make-up similar to the make-up of the American band “KISS“.

Another unique thing about this movie is that not only does the hero wear KISS Kabuki-style make-up…but he’s also an 外人タレント (actor who’s a foreigner).

The movie’s website is in 日本語 (Japanese) with one page in English…click here to visit it.

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Also, there seems to be a number of Western (American / European) artists who are making Japan-themed work these days.

Of course, KISS is quite Japan-themed…with their kabuki style make-up and they have a song titled “God Of Thunder“…some people speculate that KISS got the title for that song from the Japanese 雷神 (God Of Thunder), who is usually with the 風神 (God Of Wind):

In fact, KISS‘s latest album 地獄烈伝 (“Hell’s Biography“) has the 雷神 (God Of Thunder) on the cover:

(It’s a Japan-only release, BTW. The English title is “KISSology“).

KISS also often uses the Japanese character for “Power“: 「力」…and their second album, “Hotter Than Hell“, had alot Japanese writing on it (albeit with many mistakes…for example: Ace Frehley‘s name is written in Japanese as: 「エース・フレーリー」…but on the KISS album it’s mistakenly written as: 「エイス・フューリ」):

More recently, Anthrax‘s 2004 album “The Greater Of Two Evils” has 「スラッシュ・メタル」 (“Thrash Metal”) written in Japanese on the cover:

Zebrahead released an album in 2001 titled “Stupid Fat Americans” with a Geisha on the cover:

Even more recently, both Eric Martin (of Mr. Big) and Andrew W.K. have each released an album on which they remake Japanese pop songs.
And Sum 41‘s new album is called 「ザ・ベスト・オブ SUM ★ 41」 (“The Best Of SUM ★ 41“). The album cover shows the band’s likeness in a Japanese 弁当 (lunch box) and says “8 Years of Blood, Sake and Tears” on a pair of 割箸 (disposable chopsticks).

Quarter Pounder

When I came to Japan, McDonalds Japan had quite a different menu from the McDonalds® in America. It’s still different…but it seems to be becoming more and more similar.

In the 1990’s, McDonalds® in Japan didn’t have any really large burgers, drinks or fries. The food was sold in smaller sizes…a “large cola”, for example, at McDonalds® Japan seemed to about the size of a “medium” at the U.S. McDonalds®. Japanese people who visited America often would be surprised at the size of the food portions at restaurants there.

Also, McDonalds® here has always had some items on the menu that are unique to Japan…some of which are seasonal (such as the “Lettuce Pepper Burger” and the 月見バーガー (“Tsukimi Burger” *) and others are always on the menu (such as the 「てりやきマック・バーガー」 (“Teriyaki Mac Burger“)).

(* The 月見バーガー (“Tsukimi Burger“) is available every Autumn at McDonalds® in Japan. 月見 (Tsukimi) is a traditional Autumn moon festival. (Click here to visit “McDonalds Japan’s Tsukimi Burger page).)

But recently, McDonalds® Japan has added some larger “American style” burgers to their menu. First, was the 「メガマック (“Mega-Mac“)…with four beef patties!

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And more recently, McDonalds® Japan has brought the 「クォーターパウンダー」 (“Quarter-Pounder“)…and even the 「ダブルクォーターパウンダー」 (“Double Quarter-Pounder“) from America and added them to their menus here! (Japan doesn’t use the American system of measure…so noone here knows that the name “Quarter-Pounder” means that the burger is a ¼ pound of beef (about 114 grams)).

In addition to adding the 「クォーターパウンダー」 (“Quarter-Pounder“) to their menu in Japan. McDonalds® Japan has opened two Quarter Pounder Shops in Tokyo. These are McDonalds® owned…but the famous McDonalds® logo is nowhere on or in the stores! And the menu at these Quarter Pounder Shops consist of only two items: the 「クォーターパウンダー」 (“Quarter-Pounder“) and the 「ダブルクォーターパウンダー」 (“Double Quarter-Pounder“).
Click here to see the Quarter Pounder Shop website (日本語 (Japanese) only).

Due to McDonalds® success with these bigger burgers, other fast-food restaurants in Japan have also begun to include larger burgers in their menus now, too.
I think Japanese people should eat less fast-food and more tradional Japanese food.

I do like McDonalds® also, though…but we don’t eat any of those giant burgers. When we go to McDonalds®, it’s just for a regular size burger and coffee (cola or tea for the kids).
McDonalds® Japan has a “¥100” menu (about US $1.05*) with things like coffee, ice cream, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, McPork burger, etc all for ¥100. (Recently, some items on this menu, such as the cheeseburger and McPork, have gone up in price to ¥120 (about US $1.26*)).
(* The U.S. Dollar has weakened against the Japanese Yen recently).

If you want to see McDonalds® Japan’s menu…click here (it’s all in 日本語 (Japanese)).

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What type of 携帯電話 (cellular phone) do you use? Does it have alot of functions?
I use the most popular company in Japan: NTT DoCoMo.
My phone’s kinda old…so it doesn’t have the latest functions. But I don’t care. All I need is Email, Internet and the phone.
Like most people here, I mainly use my 携帯電話 (cellular phone) to send and receive emails. But I also use a website on it to check the train schedules.
My 携帯電話 (cellular phone) also has a photo camera and video camera that I occasionally use…and GPS that I never use.

Nowadays, people in Japan use their phone as a “wallet” (make purchases, including train fare, like a debit card), to watch TV, and like an I-pod®…in addition to email and internet.
Those functions are popular in Japan now.

This isn’t my 携帯電話 (cellular phone)…but it’s a popular style now:

Nokia, the Finnish cell-phone company, seems to be make very popular cell-phones in every country…except Japan.

Nokia came to Japan a couple of years ago with big plans to take over the lucrative Japanese market. But the Japanese were unimpressed with Nokia‘s products and design. I guess Nokia didn’t do enough market research before coming here and they didn’t offer what is popular here.
They just announced that they’re leaving Japan.
Vodafone, the large English cell-phone company, had a similar experience a few years ago. This company also, it seems, is quite popular overseas…so they came to Japan with high-hopes.
Two years ago, Vodafone Japan was bought out by a Japanese company called Softbank…and is currently the number two 携帯電話 (cellular phone) provider in Japan (NTT DoCoMo, the company I use, is number one here).

What’s wrong with the internet?

I like the internet alot. I think it’s amazing. And convenient.
But, I’m sure you’ll agree, it’s not perfect.

A few problems that I think should be corrected to make the internet better:

• There are no ratings
  I think every website should be rated according to it’s content and language. And parents and schools should be able to set their computers to what level they want to allow their children to have access to.
  As it is, it’s too easy for children to view all kinds of unmentionable things.
  I suppose some people will read that and think “It’s the parents’ job to monitor what their kids look at!“…to which I’d say that’s precisely why I want sites to be rated—so I can monitor what my kids have access to!
  I mean, movies are rated for that reason. Noone expects parents to go to a theater and watch a movie so that they can decide whether or not to allow their kids to watch it! I think the internet should be rated similiarly.
• Uninformed opinions posing as fact.
  If you’re not 100% positive of something that you’re writing, just say “I think…” or “Maybe…”! I mean when I search the web for the answer to a question, I’d like to think that the answer I find is correct and not the webmaster’s opinion. There’s nothing wrong with posting your opinion or observations on your site…but you should clarify it as such!
  For example, I saw a blog by someone who visited Japan and at one point he stated that Japan has no sales tax. This is wrong. Japan’s sales tax is currently 5%. I’m sure that he thought there’s no sales tax here because a few years ago it became mandatory for shops to show the after-tax price…so the cost on the price tag is the amount you pay.
  He should have either researched Japan’s sales tax online…or simply stated something like: “I think Japan has no sales tax“.
• Unanswered email and comments.
  If you put your email address and/or comment section on your site…you should reply to every email and comment that you receive! As soon as possible. Especially if you’re a company!

Just my opinion.

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On a different note, Guns ‘N Roses, the American rock ‘n roll band that was immensely popular in the late ’80s and early ’90s, just released a new album after seventeen years!

I believe that the only original member in the current line-up is W. Axl Rose, the vocalist.

The name of the new album is “Chinese Democracy“.

If they released this album in the early ’90s, soon after their 1991 two-album release (Use Your Illusion I and II), it surely would’ve been a big hit.

But I wonder how relevant Guns ‘N Roses are now.

Anyways, I read online that the Chinese government was upset with the title track and removed it from the pressings of the album in China…and that the Guns ‘N Roses website is inaccessible there.

Also, the American soft drink company, Dr. Pepper®, had a campaign that was if the Guns ‘N Roses album “Chinese Democracy” is released before the end of the year 2008…they’d give a free Dr. Pepper drink to every person in America. And, according to this website, they did it!
Did you live in America? Did you get a free Dr. Pepper?

マナー

Japanese are famous for their マナー (manners).
Even big cities in Japan like Tokyo and Osaka have less crime and more general politeness than other large metropolises in the world.

There is crime and there rude people in Japan…but considerably less than in cities overseas.

The high level of politeness in Japan means that the bad manners that most commonly encounter here are things like smoking or eating while walking, putting make-up on while riding the train, music turned up too loud on a Walkman®, not giving up a seat on a train or bus to the elderly, and using cell-phones near the silver seats on the train (where they’re supposed to be turned off).

So, fairly recently, both the Tokyo Metro Subway company and Japan Tobacco (JT) each started a series of good manners posters. (Japan Tobacco‘s posters were originally only aimed at smokers to reiterate good smoking manners…but have grown to include general good manners).

Both the subway and JT‘s posters are written in 日本語 (Japanese) and English. So I like to read them, not so much for their intentionally humorous writing style…but to study the 日本語 (Japanese).

Here are a few of JT‘s posters:

The Tokyo Metro‘s posters have a 「〇〇でやろう。」 (“Please do it at…”) theme, with a clearer explanation at the bottom. For example, one shows a man diving through the subway car’s closing doors and it says 「海でやろう。」 (“Please do it at the beach.”).

There are older manner posters, too. That don’t have any English written on them.

The ones above are the newer ones…but you can still see the original manner posters in Tokyo sometimes.

Here are a couple of the older subway manner posters.

They both basically ask commuters not to bother other commuters with loud music from headphones, sitting improperly (taking up too much space), applying make-up or eating and drinking, or putting their belongings on the seat next to them:

45 Years Ago…

Forty-five years ago last Saturday, on Friday 22 November 1963, the U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
And forty-five years ago today, on 24 November 1963, the man who was arrested for assassinating President Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald, was killed by Jack Ruby.

This happened before I was born (my parents were only 14 years old at the time), so of course I have no memory of it…but I’ve heard that people who were alive can still remember exactly where they were when they heard that JFK was assassinated. Kinda like the September 11 attacks of 2001 (Speaking of which, Click here to read my Sept 11 post).

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Anyways, yesterday we went to a キク祭 (Chrysanthemum Festival).　The キク (Chrysanthemum) is the official flower of Japan’s royal family. In fact, the 皇位 (Japanese Imperial Family) is often referred to as the “Chrysanthemum Throne“.

After that, we went where my kids really wanted to go: shopping. They’re girls, so that’s their hobby! 🙂

We took the train to a store that was having a big sale. My wife and daughters shopped, while I waited outside with a coffee and a newspaper.

Anyways, here’s a common sight on the platforms of train stations in Japan…the KIOSK that sells newspapers, magazines, snacks, gum, candy, bread, beer, juice, cigarettes, hand towels, neckties, etc:

学芸会

Today is 勤労感謝の日 (Labor Gratitude Day). It’s a Sunday, so it will be observed tomorrow (Monday)…so this is a 三連休 (three-day weekend).
(Click here to read my short FAQ about 勤労感謝の日 (Labor Gratitude Day)).

Yesterday, my youngest daughter’s school had their 学芸会 (School Play). My youngest daughter’s in the sixth grade, so this is her last year of 小学校 (Elementary School)…next year, all three of my kids will be in 中学校 (Junior High) and 高等学校 (High School)!
So, yesterday was the final Elementary School Play for our kids 😦 ! Time flies!

My daughter played a 96-year-old elderly woman in her play. She did excellent!

After her play, we all went to the doctor’s office to get our インフルエンザ予防接種 (Influenza vaccination (The ‘Flu Shot)). Last year, my wife and daughters got the shot…but I thought that I didn’t need it. And I caught インフルエンザ (Influenza). It wasn’t fun!
So, I got the ‘flu shot today, too.

From there, my daughters went out with their friends. So, my wife and I went to a park and had a picnic.

(This thing was at the park. There was another just like it. We discovered that if one person put their ear to the mouthpiece on one, he can hear another person speak into the mouthpiece on the other…おもしろかった! 🙂 )

Mickey is 80

It’s probably safe to say that nearly everyone knows who Mickey Mouse® is.
The world-famous American cartoon character was created by Walt Disney and made his movie debut in the cartoon titled “Steamboat Willie” on November 18, 1928. Eighty years ago last Tuesday.

Have you ever been to any of the Disneyland® amusement parks?

I believe there are Disney parks in five cities.
Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California USA.
Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida USA.
Tokyo Disney Resort (includes Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea) in Maihama, Chiba Japan (near Tokyo).
Disneyland Resort Paris in Paris, France.
and
Hong Kong Disneyland Resort in Hong Kong, China.

I have been to Disney World® in Orlando, Florida and, of course, 東京ディズニーランド (Tokyo Disneyland) and 東京ディズニーシー (Tokyo DisneySea)® in Japan…but none of the others.

My kids love ディズニーランド (Disneyland)…so we’ve been to 東京ディズニーランド (Tokyo Disneyland) a number of times.

Speaking of 東京ディズニーランド (Tokyo Disneyland), not only is this year Mickey Mouse’s 80th birthday…but it’s also the 25th anniversary of 東京ディズニーランド (Tokyo Disneyland). The park opened in 1983.
(東京ディズニーシー (Tokyo DisneySea) opened in 2001).
When I came to Japan, 東京ディズニーランド (Tokyo Disneyland) was only seven years old…now 東京ディズニーシー (Tokyo DisneySea) is that old!

寒い

The weather here in Tokyo is getting cold! It was a nice, blue sky today…but chilly!

Winter’s coming!

Stores and shopping streets having their Christmas decorations up, and many parts of the city have started their Xmas illuminations (taking a date to see xmas illuminations is popular in Japan).

How’s the weather now where you live?

In Japan, when the weather gets cold, it’s popular to say 「寒くなるので体に気をつけて」 (“It’s getting cold so take care (not to get sick)”).

TSUTAYA

Do you live in Japan? Do you have a Tsutaya membership card?
Tsutaya is the biggest video-rental (I guess I should call it DVD rental now) chain in Japan.
It’s kinda like Blockbuster Video in America. (Is Blockbuster still in America? Is it still popular?)

I’ve had a membership card with Tsutaya for years now…ever since the one near my house opened.

I don’t remember what they have at Blockbuster Video in America (I don’t recall anything except videos)…but Tsutaya in Japan has rental DVDs (used to be VHS), and rental CDs (in Japan, you can rent a CD after it’s been on sale for one year (it used to be rental LPs and cassettes!)), and many branches of Tsutaya also sell CDs, DVDs, magazines, books, video games, etc.

Also in Japan, many credit cards also double as point cards / membership cards for a store. Do credit cards in your country work like that?
I have a Visa, Master Card, and a JCB credit card. They’re all point cards at different stores, too. Meaning, if I either shop at that store or use the credit card, I get points on the store’s membership card!

My JCB credit card is also my Tsutaya membership card. So, anytime that I buy or rent a CD or DVD from Tsutaya or I use the credit card…I get points on the Tsutaya card.

If I get 190 points, I can rent a DVD or CD for free. Recently, I rented the new “Indiana Jones” movie for free (I’m glad it was free! That movie’s a disappointment! 😦 ).

Did you know, though, that Family Mart convenience stores, Lotteria Fast Food restaurants, and a few other stores have recently started giving Tsutaya points to their customers who show their Tsutaya card when they purchase something?

If you live in Japan and have a Tsutaya card, don’t forget to show it when you shop at places that have Tsutaya‘s “T” logo displayed!

(Looks like mine, but this image is from Tsutaya’s website)

浮世絵

I like 浮世絵 (ukiyoe: Japanese woodblock prints).

Have you ever seen 浮世絵 (ukiyoe)?
It’s a traditional style of Japanese “painting“. Instead of using a brush, the picture is carved into woodblocks which are used like a printing press to make the picture.
But the whole picture isn’t carved into one block…different parts of the picture are carved into different blocks. So the picture is printed in layers.

It must have been alot of work!

I have seen a number of 浮世絵 (ukiyoe) exhibits at museums over the years.

As with many people, my favorite artists are 北斎 (Hokusai) and 広重 (Hiroshige).

One of the most famous (if not the most famous) 浮世絵 (ukiyoe) works is 神奈川沖波裏 (“The Great Wave Off Of Kanagawa“) by 北斎 (Hokusai):

I like that picture alot, too. But my personal favorites are the 妖怪 (monsters):

浮世絵 (ukiyoe) subjects aren’t usually 妖怪 (monsters) though. Common themes of 浮世絵 (ukiyoe) are 相撲 (sumo), 歌舞伎 (kabuki), 芸者 (geisha) and 自然 (nature).

Anyways, this month, the 江戸東京博物館 (Edo-Tokyo Museum) in Tokyo is having a couple of special exhibits.

One is the 浮世絵 (ukiyoe) collection from The Museum Of Fine Arts, Boston of America, and the other is a 「浅草今昔」 (“Asakusa: Then And Now“) exhibit.

I went to see them yesterday. It was pretty crowded in the museum because it was a Saturday, but it was enjoyable. As I said, I like 浮世絵 (ukiyoe) and I also like 下町 (traditional downtown areas of Japan) like 浅草 (Asakusa).

The 浮世絵 (ukiyoe) in the exhibit from the Boston Museum were items that were from three American’s personal collections.

It was interesting to see the types of art that Americans like to collect compared to the types of 浮世絵 (ukiyoe) that a Japanese person might choose.
Americans seem to like the very colorful, almost flashy pieces…but Japanese tastes tend to be more simple. I’ve lived in Japan for awhile now…I guess my style is more Japanese now.
It’s just an observation. Not to say one culture is better than another…just interesting to compare.

Inside the museum, there are places that it’s indicated that it’s OK to take a photo…but the 浮世絵 (ukiyoe) and 浅草今昔 (Asakusa: Then And Now) areas were marked 「撮影禁止」, which means “No Photography Allowed”, so I couldn’t take any photos of those exhibits.

But there was a traditional Japanese dance show at the museum that I was able to take a few videos of.

I took eight short video of this group, and uploaded them to My YouTube Page. They’re pretty good, click here to visit my YouTube page and you can see all of my videos.

Here’s one video of them:

After the museum, we walked to 浅草 (Asakusa), and visited a Japanese Garden there.

There was a man at the Japanese garden playing a 三味線 (Shamisen) which is a traditional Japanese instrument.
I took this video of him: