江戸消防慰霊祭

Yesterday my wife and I went to a festival that I had been wanting to see for years but never got a chance until this year.

We were a bit early for the festival so, since the festival was in 浅草 (Asakusa, Tokyo), we decided to go by the Tokyo Sky Tree tower and walk to Asakusa from there.

Tokyo Sky Tree behind 押上駅 (Oshiage Stn)

The Tokyo Sky Tree, currently under construction, now stands at 389 meters (it will be 634 meters tall when completed).

The Asahi Beer HQ is in Asakusa

Cruise boat

The Sensoji Temple in Asakusa was covered while it's being renovated.

Once we got to 浅草 (Asakusa), we went to watch the 江戸消防慰霊祭 (Edo Firefighters Memorial Ceremony).
This is the festival that I wanted to see yesterday.
It’s a ceremony to honor fallen firefighters. The ceremony involves the firefighters dressed as firefighters in Japan did centuries ago and doing stunts on bamboo ladders.
In ancient Japan, firefighters had to balance on such ladders while fighting fires and they would practice such stunts on the ladders in order to improve their strength and balance.
Modern firefighters in Japan still practice these stunts…for tradition and to improve their strength and balance.

Actually, last January I went to the 「東京消防出初式」 (“Tokyo Fire Departments New Year Drill“). That ceremony had many exciting shows including a similar ladder show. But it was still fun to watch again yesterday.

They use these hooks to steady the ladders.

After the ceremony was over we stopped by a store and I saw these vending machines. One looks like Ultraman…it sells, among other things, 「ウルトラコーラ」 (“Ultra Cola“).

We saw this pretty cat.

We don't have a cat...but this is our pet turtle.

スキャット・ウルトラマン

Do you know 「ウルトラマン」 (Ultraman), probably Japan’s most famous super-hero?

I wrote a post about him last March. Click here to read it.

How about “Scatman John“? Do you know who he was?
He was an American musician who became internationally famous for his hit song “Scatman” in 1994.
He died, though, only five years later.

Like numerous other musicians, including The Stray Cats, The Ventures, and Deep Purple…Scatman John was more popular in Japan than anywhere else in the world.

When Japanese people are fans of something, they are extremely loyal.

At the height of his popularity here (in Japan), there were Scatman John toys and he even recorded a couple of songs for the Japanese TV commercials titled 「プリプリ・スキャット」 (“Puri Puri Scat“) and 「Su-Su-Su-Super キ・レ・イ」 (“Su-Su-Su-Super Ki-re-i“).

I remember when his songs 「Su-Su-Su-Super キ・レ・イ」 (“Su-Su-Su-Super Ki-re-i“) and 「プリプリ・スキャット」 (“Puri Puri Scat“) were on TV many times about 13 years ago.

「プリプリ・スキャット」 (“Puri Puri Scat“) was for a pudding TV commercial, and 「Su-Su-Su-Super キ・レ・イ」 (“Su-Su-Su-Super Ki-re-i“) was for a make-up commercial (the name means “Su-su-su-super pretty”).

Here’s his video for 「Su-Su-Su-Super キ・レ・イ」 (“Su-Su-Su-Super Ki-re-i“):

The reason I mentioned 「ウルトラマン」 (Ultraman) at the top of this post…and this post is titled 「スキャット・ウルトラマン」 (Scat-Ultraman) is because at the height of Scatman John‘s popularity in Japan, a song and video titled 「スキャット・ウルトラマン」 (Scat-Ultraman) was recorded which featured Ultraman and monsters from the show.

Here it is:

Hangover

I didn’t use my computer yesterday or Friday because on Friday after work I drank too much…and I had a bad 二日酔い (hangover) all day yesterday.

I had been a member of the PTA at my daughters’ 小学校 (Elementary School), but my youngest daughter started 中学校 (Jr. High School) last month so I’m no longer on the PTA.

So, on Friday, the PTA had a party at an 居酒屋 (Japanese izakaya restaurant) to welcome new members and say goodbye to former members.

It was an 飲み放題 (all-you-can-drink), so we all drank too much!

It was fun…but I paid for it the following day!

I like to drink beer everyday, but I don’t normally drink enough to get “drunk“. I don’t really like being drunk…and I especially don’t like suffering through a 二日酔い (hangover).

Anyhow, I feel much better today. But it’s raining today so the five of us are just gonna relax at home. Right now, my daughters are at the video rental store* (* actually, it’s “DVDs” now, of course…but I still call them 「ビデオ」 (“videos”)).
They asked me to recommend a movie that we’d all enjoy…since I’ve rented movies from my teen years such as “The Goonies“, “Karate Kid“, “Back To The Future“, “E.T.“, etc that they enjoyed, so they trust my judgement :).
I told them to get “Crocodile Dundee“.

Also, my wife bought a couple cans of 「ウルトラ・サイダー」 (“Ultra Cider“) for me so I could something easy-on-the-stomach to drink yesterday because of my hangover.
「ウルトラ・サイダー」 (“Ultra Cider“) comes in cans that look like 「ウルトラマン」 (Ultraman’s) costume.
I wrote a post last March about 「ウルトラマン」 (Ultraman) that mentions these cider drinks…click here to read it.

Here’s the cans she bought me:

Ultraman

「ウルトラマン」 (Ultraman) is a Japanese superhero television show from the 1960’s.

「ウルトラマン」 (Ultraman)

The story is basically about an organization that protects Earth from giant alien attacks. But they are always overwhelmed by the monster…fortunately, one member of the organization has a “Beta Capsule” that can be used to summon 「ウルトラマン」 (Ultraman) from the Sun.

「ウルトラマン」 (Ultraman) can only stay on Earth for a short time before he must return to the Sun…otherwise he’ll die. The 「カラータイマー」 (“Color Timer“) on his chest blinks to indicate that he must return soon.

I used to watch 「ウルトラマン」 (Ultraman) reruns dubbed in English on TV in the ’70s when I was a child in America.

In America, 「ウルトラマン」 (Ultraman) is considered low-standard and cheesy.
But here in Japan, 「ウルトラマン」 (Ultraman) is a pop-culture phenomenon. 「ウルトラマン」 (Ultraman) is still popular with young boys in Japan today.

In Japan, there have been numerous spin-off shows including 「ウルトラセブン」 (Ultra Seven), 「帰ってきたウルトラマン」 (Return Of Ultraman), 「ウルトラマン・エース」 (Ultraman Ace), etc as well as 「ウルトラマン」 (Ultraman) movies. And stores in Japan sell 「ウルトラマン」 (Ultraman) toys, clothes, shoes, lunchbox sets, towels, and all kinds of other merchandise.

Ultraman Alarm Clock

「ウルトラ・サイダー」 ("Ultra Cider") drink

「ウルトラセブンワインセット」 ("Ultra Seven" 40th anniversary wine set)

「ウルトラマン」 (Ultraman) was supposed to take place in the 1990’s…thirty years in the future from when it was filmed.

Have you ever watched 「ウルトラマン」 (Ultraman)? Do you like the series?