Cherry Blossom Queens

Did you know that there are Japanese 桜 (cherry blossom) trees in Washington DC?
And that they have an annual Japanese-style cherry blossom festival when the flowers bloom in the spring?

And did you know that those trees were a gift to America from Japan about sixty years ago?

Well…did you know that both Japan and America crown a Cherry Blossom Queen every year?
It isn’t a beauty contest type of competition. Each state in America and each prefecture in Japan enters a young woman into the competition based on community service that she has done.

And then the country’s Cherry Blossom Queen is chosen by a random draw.

Every year the U.S. Cherry Blossom Queen comes to Japan and meets the Japanese Prime Minister along with the current Japanese Cherry Blossom Queen.

Last year, the 2012 U.S. Cherry Blossom Queen was an African-American woman for the first time.
She made headlines in Japan!

The 2013 U.S. Cherry Blossom Queen, Mary Anne Morgan, just came to Tokyo and met Japanese Prime Minister Abe and 2013 Japanese Cherry Blossom Queen, Chiori Kobayashi yesterday.

Rainy season

I watch the 天気予報 (weather forecast) on TV every morning.

Today, they said that 梅雨 (rainy season) has officially started in Japan today.

It is starting early this year! Normally rainy season begins in mid-June (I wrote a post about it four years ago. Click here to read it.)

It’s raining in many parts of Japan today…but, thankfully, not in Tokyo.
It is forecast to rain in Tokyo tomorrow though.

Are you in Japan? Are you planning to come soon? Have you ever experienced a rainy season in Japan before?

ドンキホーテ

Do you know what this is?

Please take a guess in the comment section.

I’ll give the answer soon.

(edit. I just gave the answer in the comment section (and two visitors knew the answer too).
This is a chain of stores in Japan called 「ドンキホーテ」 (“Don Quixote”). Commonly referred to as 「ドンキ」 (“Donki”).)

Over 6 million in 365 days

The Tokyo Sky Tree , the tallest tower in the world turned one year old today.

The Sky Tree opened to visitors on 2012 May 22nd…one year ago today.

I went up to the observation deck in the Tokyo Sky Tree on a clear day last January. I wrote a post about it with some photos that I took of the view.
(Click here to read it.)

Today is the first anniversary of the Tokyo Sky Tree‘s grand opening…but two days ago (Monday, 2013 May 2oth), another milestone was reached for the tower: Tokyo Sky Tree welcomed the 6.34 millionth visitor.

6.34 million visitors is a key number for the Sky Tree because the tower stands 634 meters tall. Officially the world’s tallest tower.

The height of 634 meters wasn’t chosen arbitrarily. In Japanese 6-3-4 can be pronounced 「ムサシ」 (mu-sa-shi)…and the Tokyo Sky Tree stands near an area that is referred to as 「武蔵の国」 (Musashi Region).

What do you think about giant skyscrapers and towers? What is the tallest one you’ve visited? Are there any near where you live?

We Are Stars!

I’m sure you’ve heard the USA For Africa charity song from the ’80s that raised money for starving children in Africa called “We Are The Children”.

I know that song was popular but, honestly, I never liked it.

You may not be aware of a much better charity song for African children that was recorded 28 years ago today by some of the biggest names in 80s heavy metal.

On 1985 May 20th, members of Dio, Judas Priest, W.A.S.P., Twisted Sister, Dokken, Queensryche, Quiet Riot, Rough Cutt, Motley Crue, and more got together and called themselves Hear ‘N Aid to record the song “(We Are) Stars “!

“(We Are) Stars“, twenty-eight years old today, is the heavy metal answer to We Are The World.
And it’s much better!

Check it out:

Japanese school lunch is excellent

I wrote a post about three years ago comparing Japanese and American schools.
(Click here to read it.)

Well, the Washington Post newspaper wrote an article fairly recently about Japanese 給食 (school lunches).

The article is here.

Basically, it says that school lunches in Japanese schools are healthy and delicious.
They are like home cooked meals made with locally grown ingredients, unlike the fast-food type of lunches that I ate in schools in America.

Also, the students serve the food to each other in Japanese schools.

having raised three kids in Japan, I know that students in Japan eat proper food in school.

OzzFest Japan

Yesterday (2013 May 12), my friend and I went to OzzFest Japan.

It was great!

We went the second day of the two-day heavy metal festival. There were bands on the first day that I would’ve like to see…namely Slipknot, but I mostly wanted to see Black Sabbath.

Here’s the line-up of bands that I saw:

Black Sabbath played:
“War Pigs“, “Into the Void“, “Under the Sun“, “Snowblind“, “Black Sabbath“, “Behind the Wall of Sleep“, “N.I.B.“, “Fairies Wear Boots“, “Symptom of the Universe“, “Iron Man“, “God Is Dead“, “Children of the Grave”
and the encore was “Paranoid“.

Here’s a photo that I took of Ozzy Osbourne:

(A bit blurry…)

 

BBQ Whopper “from Miami” ?

I’m from Florida.  Is Miami, Florida well-known for BBQ sauce?
I haven’t lived in Florida (or even in America) for quite some time…but I don’t recall ever hearing about any “Miami BBQ“.

Well, anyway, Burger King in Japan has recently begun offering “BBQ Whopper Burgers…from Miami“.

Does Burger King offer this in America too?
Have you tried it? How does it taste? “Citrusy”?

Kabuki

Yesterday we watched this famous 日本舞踊 kabuki dance.

Wisteria Festival

Last weekend, we went to a 藤祭り (Wisteria Festival) in Tokyo.
藤 (Wisteria) is a type of flower that is purple and blooms around this time of year.

Here are some photos that I took:

We also saw the new Tokyo Sky Duck bus.
Here’s a photo that I took of it:

The Tokyo Sky Duck is a new bus service that just started in Tokyo last March.
It gives passengers a tour of Tokyo both by street…and then by river cruise because it’s both a bus and a boat!

Here is a video of the Tokyo Sky Duck bus getting into the river: