It’s gonna snow?

This winter it hasn’t snowed at all in Tokyo yet.

It usually snows once or twice every winter. Not too much…usually just enough to turn the ground white, and it melts away in a day or two.
(I seem to recall that it used to snowed more heavily and more frequently in Tokyo when I first got here in 1990. Is my memory off…or has global warming changed Tokyo’s winters?)

Anyways…it’s forecast to snow in Tokyo for two days next week. On Tuesday, March 3 and Wednesday, March 4.

There’s an 80% probability of rain for today, then cloudy tomorrow, Sunday and Monday are supposed to be mostly sunny…then the snow on Tuesday and Wednesday…followed by a cloudy day next Thursday.

Do you like snow?
Personally, I don’t care for it much. Actually I like Spring and Summer much more than Winter!

Tokyo's weather forecast for February 27 - March 5, 2009.

Statues and dolls

There are many interesting statues around Japan…especially in or near train stations.

Often they are of a famous person who lived in the area, a cartoon character whose story took place in that area, or of something or someone that the area is famous for.

I have taken photos of many statues around Japan over the years…maybe oneday I’ll go through them and make a post about them all—but for now, here are just a few that I’ve taken with my ケータイ (cell-phone) camera:

両津勘吉 (Ryoutsukankichi)

At 御宿 (Onjuku, Chiba, Japan)

Tora-san

Sumo

Whale

I’ve got many more photos of statues…as I wrote above, maybe I’ll write another blog-post later about them all.

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Next Tuesday (March 3rd) is ひな祭 (Doll Festival).

On this day, families with daughters set up elaborate sets of dolls of Japanese royalty, and eat a special type of 寿司 (sushi) called ちらし寿司 (Chirashizushi).

I have three daughters, so of course we have a ひな祭の人形 (Doll Festival dolls) set.

Click here to read my FAQ about ひな祭 (Doll Festival).

ひな祭りの人形 (Doll Festival set)

Flowers

My daughters have final exams at school next week, so they’ve been studying hard these days.

So, my wife decided to go out today together and let them stay home alone to study.

We didn’t go far nor for long. My wife prepared lunch for the four of us (my youngest isn’t home…she’s currently on a ski-trip in 新潟 (Niigata). Click here to read about that.), we ate lunch together…then we left them to study. We were back before dinner.

We went on a bicycle ride to a nearby park and had a beer together and talked for awhile.

There were a number of trees with 寒桜 (Kanzakura)…which is a type of Sakura cherry-blossom that blooms in colder weather (earlier than other cherry-blossoms):

And 梅 (Plum Blossoms):

And here’s pictures of 水仙 (Daffodils) that were there:

一番好きな花は何？ (What’s your favorite flower?)

Mine is 「ハエトリグザ」 (Venus Flytrap). Is that a flower? No?
OK, then, I’d say my favorite is 桜 (Sakura cherry blossoms).

Japanese beer

Do you like beer?
Have you ever tried Japanese beer?

I ♥ beer!

「麒麟ビール」 (Kirin Beer) is my favorite…but I’ll take any cold lager!

Kirin Tanrei Double

Japan has five major brewers:

• Kirin Beer – This beer began in the late nineteenth-century in 横浜 (Yokohama, Japan). It’s named after a mythological creature called a 「麒麟」 (kirin) that looks like a dragon (it’s featured on the beer cans)…not named after a giraffe (which is 「キリン」 (kirin), also).


A mythological "kirin".

Many people don’t know that hidden in the creature on Kirin Beer cans is the word 「キリン」 (kirin):



「キ・リ・ン」 (Ki-ri-n) written in the creature's mane.

(I wrote another post that mentions Kirin Beer. Click here to see it.)

• Asahi Beer -Started in 大阪 (Osaka, Japan).





The Asahi Beer brewery is a Tokyo landmark.

(I have pictures of old Asahi Beer posters on the end of another post. Click here to see it.)

• Suntory Beer – Also started in 大阪 (Osaka, Japan).
  Suntory Beer got it’s name because the founder’s name was Mr. Torii…or Torii-san. So, he took the words Torii and san and reversed them into San-torii and changed the spelling to Suntory.

(Another famous Japanese company got their name in a similar manner. The Bridgestone company was founded by Mr. Ishibashi…which translates into Stone bridge, which he reversed to Bridgestone.)



Suntory Beer

• Sapporo Beer – Started in 北海道札幌 (Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan).


Sapporo Beer

Sapporo Beer bought the Yebisu Beer brewery (which was from Tokyo), so they make that beer as well.



Yebisu Beer (pronounced "Ebisu")

• Orion Beer – From 沖縄 (Okinawa, Japan)


Orion Beer

Have you ever tried Japanese beer? Which ones have you tried? Did you like them?
What’s your favorite beer in the world?

As I said above, I like 「麒麟ビール」 (Kirin Beer) best…and probably オリオンビール (Orion Beer) as my next favorite.

Karate Kid remake?

The American actor, Will Smith, was in Tokyo recently to promote his new movie.

It’s always fun to watch his interviews when he comes to Japan. Unlike most Hollywood celebreties, Will Smith behaves in a way that fits in here. Not to say that other actors from overseas carry themselves wrong…but Will Smith remembers the names and interests of the Japanese celebreties that he has met here and always acts pleased to see them. He even treats his interpretor that way.

And he’s quite funny in his interviews.

I was surprised to learn, though, that Will Smith‘s son, Jaden, will co-star in a remake of the classic 1984 movie 「ベスト・キッド」 (The Karate Kid)!

Karate Kid Japanese movie flyer

“The Karate Kid” is called 「ベスト・キッド」 (Best Kid) in Japan, by the way.

More surprising than the news that 「ベスト・キッド」 (The Karate Kid) is being remade and that Will Smith‘s son will play the part that Ralph Macchio played in the original is the news that popular Hong-Kong actor Jackie Chan will play the part of “Mr. Miyagi“, made famous by Noriyuki “Pat” MoritaI*…and that filming for the movie will take place in 北京 (Beijing, China)!

Noriyuki "Pat" Morita as "Mr. Miyagi".

*(Noriyuki “Pat” Morita, June 1932 – November 2005, RIP).

空手 (Karate) is Japanese, 宮城さん (Mr. Miyagi) is a Japanese name…so, no disrespect to Jackie Chan, but why would they choose a Chinese actor and a Chinese city for this movie?

Noriyuki “Pat” Morita was great in the 「ベスト・キッド」 (The Karate Kid) movies! The way he watched Daniel-san get into trouble and help him without Daniel even realizing it was quite Japanese. Do you remember the scene when Daniel trashed his broken bicycle in a fit…and the next day found it repaired anonymously? And, of course, “Wax on, wax off“!

It’s a great movie! I’m not sure if a remake will do it justice.

————————update 2010 January 29———————————–

It’s seems that the new The Karate Kid movie will be in theaters in America on 2010 June 11 (no word yet of the Japan release date).

It seems that this movie was going to be titled “The Kung Fu Kid“…but I guess they decided to stick with name-recognition and call it “The Karate Kid” even though it takes place in China and the boy learns Kung-Fu.

The explanation for the title is that the boy had learned a bit of karate in America…but it does him no good in China. So he needs to learn Kung-Fu (from Jackie Chan’s character).

I watched the official trailer. I noticed many differences between the Japanese style teacher-student relationship and the Chinese style.

Instead of a remake of The Karate Kid in China…I think they should have made a movie version of the old American TV show “Kung Fu” that starred David Carradine.

Anyways here’s the official trailer for the upcoming 2010 version of “The Karate Kid“:

Niigata

Today my youngest daughter will leave with her class for a school field trip to 新潟 (Niigata, Japan)…which is on the other coast of Japan and further north from Tokyo.

(I mention it in an earlier post. Click here to read it.)

新潟 (Niigata, Japan) is near the 日本海 (Sea Of Japan).

When her older sisters were in the sixth grade (the grade my youngest is in), they went on the same trip. They both had a great time…and my youngest daughter is really excited about it.

This trip is five days long…they’ll return on February 24. On the trip, they’ll meet local craftsmen and make a traditional Japanese craft, go to an 温泉 (hot spring), and do some hiking…but what the kids are looking forward to is the snow skiing that they’ll do!

The weather in Japan has been really nice recently (although cold)…but it’s forecast to rain starting today and continue for most of next week (it’s also supposed to snow in 新潟 (Niigata).

I hope the weather is good for my daughter’s trip.

Here’s 全国の天気予報 (weather forecast for all of Japan) for today:

Japan's weather forecast for Feb. 20, 2009

Here’s this week’s 天気予報 (weather forecast) for Tokyo for the next seven days:

Tokyo's weather forecast for Feb. 20-26, 2009

It says there’s 90% chance of rain in Tokyo today…and 50-60% chance of rain on the 23rd and 24th.

In 新潟 (Niigata):

Weather forecast for Niigata for Feb. 20-26, 2009.

It says it’ll snow and rain in Niigata today…and snow again tomorrow, then rain on the 23rd and 26th.

When I was in my twenties, I went snow skiing a couple times. I’ve only ever skied in Japan…in 北海道 (Hokkaido) and 新潟 (Niigata) (where my daughter’s going today).

Have you ever gone skiing? Where? In Japan?

Japan-related news…

Did you hear these news stories? What do you think?

• Hillary Clinton, the current U.S. Secretary Of State is currently in Tokyo on her first official overseas trip for her new position.
  It’s the first time a U.S. Secretary Of State begin a overseas tour in Asia.
• Japanese baseball players Ichiro, Daisuke Matsuzaka and other Japanese baseball players are back in Japan from America to play for Japan in the World Baseball Classic.
  The Japan team will play China in the first game of the tournament on March 5 at the Tokyo Dome. The final game is scheduled for March 23 in Los Angeles, USA.
• The Japanese Finance Minister, Shoichi Nakagawa, gave a press conference last weekend at a G-7 meeting in Rome, Italy last weekend…while he was drunk!
  He resigned his position today.
  Here’s a video of his embarrassing act:

  (Not that it excuses his behavior. But it seems that Nakagawa-san wasn’t the first politician to give a drunken speech at a G-7 conference…politicians from other countries have done the same. Kinda makes me wonder how productive G-7 meetings are!)

上野

Next Friday, my youngest daughter will go on a school trip to 新潟県 (Niigata Prefecture) on the other side of Japan for a four-day ski-trip.

Her sisters both took the same field trip when they were in the sixth grade…and they both had a great time.
I’ll worry a bit when she goes on this trip (just as I did when her sisters went), but I’m sure she’ll have a good time.

Today, we went to 上野 (Ueno, Tokyo) to get some things she needs for her trip.

After we finished shopping, we went to a カラオケ・ボックス (Karaoke box)…which is a place that has many small, private rooms where you can go to enjoy food and singing karaoke without strangers being able to see or hear you.

Our Karaoke room

Here are some photos that I took around 上野 (Ueno, Tokyo) today:

アメ横 ("Ameyoko") in Ueno

Here’s a video that I took of this corner:

Some more photos I took of the area:

上野の「たぬき小路」

Tommy Lee Jones does TV commercials for "BOSS Coffee"

「若狭屋」 (“Wakasaya Sushi”) restaurant

「立入禁止」 = "Do Not Enter"

Sometimes men need to stay in a cheap hotel for a business trip (or because they missed the last train of the evening)…this type of place is popular for them—A Capsule Hotel with sauna and “Pachinko parlor“:

Capsule Hotel

ちょうちん (Paper lantern) for a 「うどん」 (noodle) restaurant

One of the oldest buildings in 上野 (Ueno, Tokyo) is the old shopping center 「聚楽」 (Jyuraku) will be demolished soon. So I took a photo of it:

上野の「聚楽」

Last Friday, the DVD for the movie “Detroit Metal City” went on sale. There are two versions…the regular DVD of the movie and another version that includes a bonus “making of the movie” DVD.

KISS bass guitarist, Gene Simmons, makes a cameo in the movie and plays on one song on the soundtrack.

I wrote a post about this movie. Click here to see it.

Here the DVD promotion poster:

"Detroit Metal City" DVD promo poster

It was a fun day. The highlight was listening to my daughters sing カラオケ (Karaoke). 🙂

Western Stores in Tokyo

Many overseas companies want to open shops in Japan.
The Japanese market is very lucrative…for companies that prove to be popular here. But the Japanese consumer is very finicky. Companies that don’t meet Japanese expectations are doomed to fail.

For example, the American donut company, Dunkin’ Donuts, is popular in America. But when they opened stores in Japan, the Japanese people found their donuts too sweet…and Dunkin’ Donuts was  unable to stay in Japan.

On the other hand, the less-sweet American donut chain Mister Donuts is very popular in Japan. (Ironically, Mister Donuts isn’t very popular in America).

Krispy Kreme Donuts set up shops in Tokyo recently, too.

Some American chains have been bought by a Japanese company and were brought here by their new Japanese owners. For example, the convenience store chain 7-Eleven was bought by the Japanese department store Ito-Yokado. (A couple years ago Ito-Yokado changed the signs on their department stores to reflect their connection with the popular convenience store they own…their signs now say “Seven & i Holdings” on the Ito-Yokado stores.)

7-Eleven (and other convenience stores) are very popular in Japan. Japan is a small country, but there are almost twice as many 7-Eleven stores here than in all of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico combined!

Convenience stores in Japan are very different from their counterparts in America. Japanese convenience stores are great!

7 & i Holdings, the Japanese company that owns 7-Eleven also owns the restaurant chain Denny’s. Denny’s in Japan have a different menu than Denny’s in America. I like Denny’s Japan better (but that may be because I’ve been in Japan for awhile now, and I’m more used to Japanese style food).

デニーズ・レストラン「セブン＆アイ HLDGS」 (Denny

The American bakery Vie de France is in Japan, too. But it’s not American anymore either…Yamazaki Bread owns this company. I like Vie de France. Their bread is excellent.

Of course, American fast-food chains are here…

ケンタッキー (KFC) in Japan.

I have wrote a post about Domino’s Pizza in Japan. Click here to see it.

I like Subway sandwich shop, alot. The Japanese Subway sandwich shop. The menu is much better at Subway Japan than the U.S. branches.

There are Japanese fast-food restaurants, too.  These include MOS Burger, First Kitchen, and Freshness Burger (which has beer on the menu! 🙂 ). Occasionally you can still find a  Dom-Dom Burger, and there used to be a chain called Love Hamburger. Love Hamburger went out-of -business about 12 years ago and the U.S. chain Burger King bought all of the Love Burger shops and opened Burger King in Japan in the late ’90s…but they made the ill-fated decision to offer only a limited menu to test the Japanese market. That didn’t go over well and soon they went out-of-business in Japan, too.

But recently, Burger King decided to re-try the Japanese market…and I guess they learned from their past mistakes—they seem to be doing well in Japan now.

There are also branches of Sizzler, Outback, and Tony Romas in Japan.

All of these foreign companies that have stores in Tokyo (How many of these have stores in your town? Do you shop at any of these?):

"The Body Shop" in Tokyo	"Godiva Chocolate" in Tokyo
	Toys "Я" Us

There are other foreign companies here, too…but you get the idea.

All of these foreign companies have to keep on their toes and provide the service and products that the Japanese expect…and for each of these foreign stores in Japan, there are Japanese companies that provide similar products that they have to compete with.  But if the effort is worth it…Japan is the most profitable market for most of these companies.

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Anyways, today is Valentine’s Day.
My wife and daughters made delicious chocolate for me. ♥
(Click here to read a post I wrote about Valentines Day in Japan).

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Friday The 13th

今日は十三日の金曜日 (Today is Friday the 13th).

Are you superstitious?

I wonder why Friday the 13th is considered unlucky.

In Japan, the unlucky numbers are four and nine.
American hospitals and hotels don’t have a thirteenth floors (the floor above the twelfth floor is the fourteenth)…in Japanese hospitals and hotels there are no fourth floors.

And old Japanese telephones didn’t have a numeral written on the “four” number slot (old phones were rotary, not push-button). You could dial a “4”…but it wasn’t written.
They don’t make telephone like that anymore, though.

Also, nothing in Japan comes in sets of four (dishes, cups, Chicken McNuggets, etc) are sold in sets of five, usually.
If you give a present to Japanese people…don’t give a set of four.

Unlike “13” in the West, I can tell you exactly why “4” (and to a lesser extent, “9”) are unlucky in Japan.
In the Japanese language, one of the possible pronunciations for “four” (「四」) is “shi“…and “death” (「死」) is also pronounced “shi“.
“Nine” （「九」) can be pronounced “ku“…and “pain” or “bitterness” 「苦」 can be pronounced as “ku“, also.

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明日は「バレンタイン・デー」 (Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day ♥).

When I came home from work yesterday, my wife and daughters were all in the kitchen making homemade Valentines chocolates.

It smelled wonderful!

I wonder how much is for me. I’ll find out tomorrow.

Click here to read my “Valentines Day” FAQ. And click here to read another post in which I wrote about “Valentines Day” in Japan.

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On October 2nd of this year, the host city for the 2016 Olympic Games will be chosen.

Tokyo is one of the four finalist cities. The other three are Chicago, Rio, and Madrid.

Here are the the four 2016 Olympic Applicant City logos:

2016 Olympics Applicant Cities

If Tokyo is chosen to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, I might volunteer my help. It would be fun.