出前

In your country, what types of food can you have delivered?

Is it good? Is it expensive?

As far as I remember, in America only pizza and maybe Chinese food is available for delivery.

Isn’t that right?

In Japan, you can have 寿司 (Sushi), カレー (Curried rice), ラメーン (Ramen), お弁当 (Japanese box lunches), 酒 (alcohol), ピザ (pizza), “Kentucky Fried Chicken“, and more delivered to your home.

All of it is quite good and most is quite affordable.

梅酒 (Plum wine) can be delivered to your home (as well as beer, sake, wine, etc)

寿司 (Sushi) is usually about ¥100 (US $0.90) a piece.

カツカレー (Pork cutlet & curry rice)

When you order 出前 (delivery) Sushi, Ramen, Curried rice and other foods like that, it usually comes served on ceramic dishes. When you finish the meal, you wash the dishes and put them outside your front door…and the delivery man comes back the next day to pick up the dishes.

Would such a system work in your country?

One thing that is expensive in Japan is ピザ (pizza), though.

I think the pizza menu is much better in Japan than in America…but many foreigners are surprised by pizza toppings that are popular in Japan, such as Japanese mayonnaise, corn, and potatoes.

Do such pizza toppings seem shocking to you? They’re actually quite good.

Japan has American pizza chains “Dominos” and “Pizza Hut“, as well as domestic chains like “Pizza-La” and “Wheely“.

Because the differences in toppings, pizza restaurants in Japan (even the American one) serve better side menus, desserts and drink choices than in America. (Most Japanese people could never eat just pizza for dinner. They want a salad and maybe some other side dish, as well.)

Another difference is the price. We almost never order a pizza…as I mentioned above, Japanese food is much more affordable in Japan than pizza.

For example, I checked prices on both the U.S. “Dominos“ and Japanese “Dominos“ websites.

In America, a large “Honolulu Hawaiian” pizza with a coupon costs US$13 (¥1198*)…but a comparable pizza at Dominos in Japan is called the 「トロピカル」 (“Tropical“) and costs ¥3100 (US $33.65*) for a large pie.

*(US dollar amounts are based on the ¥→US$ exchange rate on February 8, 2009. The US dollar is currently very weak.)

U.S. "Dominos" menu

At "Dominos Japan", you can get a "Quattro" pizza and a salad or potatoes for about US$25.

Kids' "Pikachu set" at "Dominos Japan"

"Mayo, Tuna, Corn Pizza" is actually quite good!

Baked potato is a side-dish at Dominos Japan.

Shrimp and potatoes is another side-menu here.

Dominos Japan's drink choices: Coke, orange juice, 御茶 (Green Tea), 紅茶 (Brown Tea)

Japanese Idioms

An idiom, by dictionary definition, is

An expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements…

(according to Dictionary.com)

In Japanese, it’s 慣用句 (kanyouku).

An example of an English-language 慣用句 (idiom) is “kick the bucket“…which, far from it’s literal definition, means “die“.

Here are some Japanese 慣用句 (idioms):

• へそを曲げる (Heso-o-mageru): (lit. “bend your belly-button”) means: “To sulk“.
• 尻尾をまく(Shippo-o-maku): (lit. “Coil your tail”) means: “Be defeated and demoralized” (same as “Run away with your tail between your legs”).
• 目を丸くする(Me-o-maruku-suru): (lit. “Make round eyes”) means: “Be very surprised“.
• 胸を打つ(Mune-o-utsu): (lit. “Beat your chest”) means: “Feel touched / emotional“.
• アゴが外れる(Ago-ga-hazureru): (lit. “Dislocate your jaw”) means: “Laugh loudly“.
• ゴマすり(Gomasuri): (lit. “Grind sesame”) means: “Brown nose / Sucking up“.
• 花に嵐(Hana-ni-arashi): (lit. “Flowers to storms”) means: “Misfortune often follows happiness“.
• 花より団子(Hana-yori-dango): (lit. “A snack rather than flowers”) means: “Practical things are preferred over the aesthetic“.
• 根も葉もない(Ne-mo-ha-mo-nai): (lit. “Without roots nor leaves”) means: “Groundless / Unproven“.

I’ll add some more later.

池袋

My kids were given five tickets to the movie 「西の魔女が死んだ」 (“The Witch Of The West Is Dead“).

The tickets were valid for yesterday and the day before (Friday) only, and only at one 映画館 (movie theater) in 池袋 (Ikebukuro, Tokyo).

Friday is a 平日 (weekday), so we planned to go yesterday. But when we got to the theater, they announced that the theater was full. We decided that the next showing was too late and we just couldn’t see it.

Oh well.

Maybe I’ll rent it when it’s released on DVD.

The story of the movie is about a thirteen-year-old girl who is one-quarter English (her grandmother is British) who decides she doesn’t want to go to school anymore. Her parents send her to spend some time with her English grandmother who lives in the countryside.

There’s a rumor that her grandmother is a witch, so she asks her grandmother to teach her to become a witch. The grandmother agrees…but what she actually teaches her are important life lessons.

The grandmother is played by Stephanie Sachiko “Sachi” Parker.

Do you know Sachi Parker?

Probably not. But you probably do know the famous American actress Shirley MacLaine.
Sachi Parker is Shirley MacLaine‘s daughter.
She was raised in Japan by her father (Steve Parker). She’s fluent in 日本語 (Japanese).

So instead of the movie, we went to サンシャインシティ (Sunshine City).
サンシャインシティ (Sunshine City) is a block of buildings in 池袋 (Ikebukuro, Tokyo) that include a shopping center, a convention center, a hotel, a movie theater, an aquarium, a planetarium, an observatory, offices, and more.

The observatory is on top of the 60-story サンシャイン６０ (Sunshine 60) building.

Click here to visit the サンシャインシティ (Sunshine City) website (in Japanese only).

Here are some photos that I took around 池袋 (Ikebukuro, Tokyo):

(Many restaurants in Japan have a plastic display of the menu out front.)

(Ikebukuro)