Shinjuku

We went to 新宿 (Shinjuku, Tokyo) yesterday.

Saw the giant Godzilla over the Toho Theater building, went to the 45th floor observation platform in 東京都庁 (Tokyo Government Building) to see the sunset over the city skyline.

And then we went to an 居酒屋 (izakaya restaurant).  While we were there, a big earthquake struck near Tokyo. I’ve experienced numerous earthquakes in Japan over the years…but will always hate them!

When we went home, it took longer than usual because, as we feared, the earthquake caused train delays.

No more Golden-gai

On Saturday (2013 September 7th), the IOC (International Olympic Committee) will decide which city will host the 2020 Olympics.

Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul are the three candidate cities.

If Tokyo is chosen, the famous 「新宿ゴールデン街」 (“Shinjuku Golden-gai“) might torn down and renovated.

If it does, that would be unfortunate. Golden-gai is a unique, well-known section of downtown Tokyo that consists of hundreds of very small restaurants and bars all with a small section of back alleys.

Very “Tokyo”.

Bic Camera x Uniqlo

If you’ve ever been to Japan…especially a major Japanese city such as Tokyo…then you undoubtedly are aware of the major chain of electronics stores here called 「ビックカメラ」 (“Bic Camera“) and also the major chain of affordable clothing stores called 「ユニクロ」 (“Uni-qlo“).
(Actually, I’ve heard that 「ユニクロ」 (“Uni-qlo”) has expanded overseas and has stores in America and other countries now…so maybe you know that store even if you’ve never been to Japan.)

Bic Camera logo

Uni-qlo logo

I like 「ユニクロ」 (“Uni-qlo”). In fact, I happen to be wearing a shirt today that I’ve bought from one of their stores. But for electronics, I normally go to the biggest competitor of 「ビックカメラ」 (“Bic Camera”)—「ヨドバシカメラ」 (“Yodobashi Camera“).
I choose 「ヨドバシカメラ」 (“Yodobashi Camera”) because I have a “point card” from that store. If you live in Japan and you don’t make use of the point cards that many stores in Japan offer, then you’re missing an opportunity to get free stuff! I have many point cards and I’ve gotten things I needed from many stores, including 「ヨドバシカメラ」 (“Yodobashi Camera”) at no cost!

Anyways, I saw a commercial on TV this morning for a new store in 新宿(Shinjuku, Tokyo) that is a collaboration between 「ビックカメラ」 (“Bic Camera“) and 「ユニクロ」 (“Uni-qlo“).

This new store will sell both clothing from Uniclo’s stock and electronics from Bic Camera.
The name of the store is 「ビックロ」 (“Bikkuro“)…which is a morphing in Japanese of both company names.

Even after over twenty years

I have been living in Japan for most of my life.
I came here when I was twenty years old…and that was over twenty years ago now.

I think Japan is the most beautiful country in the world and Tokyo is the best city.

I wanted to show some scenes that I see regularly in Japan and I may have started taking for granted but they are a part of what makes Japan so special.

Rather than go through the photos in my camera’s memory cards, I decided to be a bit lazy and see what I could find online.
I found a website called Getty Images that has many stock photos…some of them of Japan.
The people who take these photos must have cameras that are much nicer than mine because they took some really nice photos.

I use photos that I took myself in most of my blog posts, but the following photos are from Getty Images.

Every January, when the "Tokyo Stock Exchange" reopens after the New Years holidays, the female staff wear kimono.

A"bird's eye view" of Tokyo

A traditional Japanese breakfast.

A Japanese garden.

The symbol of Japan: 富士山 (Mount Fuji).

Tokyo's "Rainbow Bridge".

Japanese "Green Tea".

The Shibuya area of Tokyo

The Shinjuku area of Tokyo.

新幹線 (Bullet trains)

Tokyo Tower

By the way, today is the seventh day of the New Year.
On this day it is Japanese custom to eat 「七草粥」 (“Seven Herbs Porridge“) for breakfast.
I will have it for breakfast today as I usually do on January 7th.

Click here to see my post that explains this tradition in more detail.

The tallest structure ever built…and still climbing

The Tokyo Sky Tree broadcast tower and observatory is now standing at a height of 407 meters tall…which makes it the tallest structure ever built in Japan.
And it’s only 74% complete. When construction at it is finished next year, it will be 634 meters tall.

I had to go past the construction of the Tokyo Sky Tree yesterday, so I brought my camera and took a few photos of it.

The sign says that the tower is currently 470 meters tall.

I have been up in many observatories in Tokyo…some have free admission, such as the government building in Shinjuku (click here to see my post about that building)…and some aren’t free, such as Tokyo Tower (click here for one of the post I wrote about that tower).

Are there any tall towers or observatories in your city? What the tallest one you’ve been in?

Godzilla in Tokyo and Godzilla in Hollywood

The Japanese baseball player Hideki Matsui used to play for the New York Yankees major league team until he began playing for the Los Angeles Angels last December.

(Click here to read the post I wrote last December about him moving from the Yankees to the Angels.)

His nickname is “Godzilla“.

He is currently the spokesman in Japan for the Kirin “Fire” canned coffee and in 新宿 (Shinjuku, Tokyo) there is a huge balloon in his likeness wearing a baseball uniform similar to his L.A. Angels uniform that has “Fire” emblazoned on the front.
The balloon statue is leaning on a giant can of “Fire” coffee.

The campaign is called 「ビッグマツイ」 (“Big Matsui“).

My daughter had to go to Shinjuku today, so she took a couple photos of this giant display with her cell-phone camera when she passed by it.

Here are her photos of the giant Hideki Matsui balloon in Shinjuku (you can see how big it is in proportion to the people standing near it):

"Godzilla" has hit Tokyo again!

Speaking of Godzilla…this time the iconic Japanese monster called 「ゴジラ」 (“Gojira“) in Japan and “Godzilla” in other countries that continually destroys Tokyo in his countless movies from Japan’s Toho Studios.

I wrote a post last summer (click here to read it) about the numerous Hollywood remakes of Japanese movies…including a 1998 remake of Godzilla that was poorly received by both critics and fans.

Hollywood's "Godzilla", circa 1998

I also wrote a post last April (click here to read this one) about both America’s “King Kong” and Japan’s “Godzilla“…and the classic film in which they battled each other.

Well, America’s “Legendary Pictures” has just announced their intention to film another “Godzilla” movie.

The movie is scheduled to be released sometime in 2012.

A major complaint that many people had about the 1998 American remake of “Godzilla” was that both the storyline as well as the appearance of the monster were too different from the Japanese movies.

Legendary Studios has implied that their version of Godzilla will stay true to the Japanese original.

According to their press release:

“…Legendary intends to approach the (Godzilla) film and its characters in the most authentic manner possible….”

That would probably be a good strategy if they want their movie to be successful…especially here in Japan.
Because in Japan many of the characters from Japanese classic movies, such as Ultraman and Godzilla, are still very popular.
Their movies are still made nowadays.

2009 Dec "Ultraman" movie poster

"Godzilla: Final Wars" movie poster; circa 2004

Japan is Eco

Japan is becoming more and more 「エコ」 (“eco”).

How do you say “eco” in English? I’m not even sure. 😉
It’s a Japanese abbreviation for “ecological” or “ecology”…and it describes acting out of concern for the environment.

In Japan, most convenience stores won’t give a plastic bag for small purchases anymore until the customer requests one.
And supermarkets often give bonus points on the customer’s point card if they use their own personal shopping bag rather than taking bags from the store.

Also many restaurants now use regular, washable 箸 (chopsticks) instead of 割箸 (disposable chopsticks).

Japanese automakers are working on making cars that use rechargeable batteries, solar power, or hybrid vehicles.

Every household in Japan separates their garbage.
And large, unnecessary appliances such as clothes dryers and dishwashers are virtually non-existent in Japan.

And even people who have cars in Japan use public transportation such as the trains and buses as often as possible. And when going short distances, most people walk or bicycle.
It’s possible to buy auto insurance in Japan that is only valid on weekends, because many people only use their cars on the weekend and use the trains for their work commute.

Also, last year, a few of the busiest train stations have begun using the footsteps of people walking through the train stations to generate electricity to run the station.

This sign says that the foot traffic over this special mat in Tokyo Stn generated over 3600 watts of electricity so far that day.

And then, if you go to 「江ノ島水族館」 (“Enoshima Aquarium“) south of Tokyo by 2009 December 25, you can see the 「デンキウナギのクリスマスツリー」 (“Electric Eel X-mas Tree“).
The electricity to power the lights on this Christmas tree is generated by an electric eel.

How about your country? Is there an “eco movement“?

McCafe

Yesterday McDonalds Japan opened a number of “McCafé” shops around Japan.

They offer seven types of coffee that aren’t available at regular McDonalds restaurants, as well as the two that are (“Premium Roast Coffee” and “Premium Roast Ice Coffee”).

The hot coffees are shown in red. Ice coffees are in blue.

The “Premium Roast Coffee” and “Premium Roast Ice Coffee” are available for ¥120 and ¥220 (depending on size) just like they are at the regular McDonalds restaurants.

The other coffees are:

HOT

• カフェラテ (Cafe Latte) ¥190 / ¥240
• カプチーノ (Cappuccino) ¥190 / ¥240
• カフェモカ (Cafe Mocha) ¥250 / ¥300
• キャラメルラテ (Caramel Latte) ¥250 / ¥300

ICED

• アイスカフェラテ (Ice Cafe Latte) ¥190 / ¥240
• アイスカフェモカ (Ice Cafe Mocha) ¥250 / ¥300
• アイスキャラメルラテ (Ice Caramel Latte) ¥250 / ¥300

To promote the McCafé in Tokyo, they’re giving away free cups of hot カフェラテ (Cafe Latte) in specially designed paper cups for a few days.

It says in this ad above that from 3:00PM on 2009 November 3 (yesterday) until 2:59PM on November 6, the McCafé in 渋谷 (Shibuya, Tokyo) will be giving away the small hot カフェラテ (Cafe Latte)…and that the first 1000 customers will receive a special ceramic mug as well.

There will also be a McCafé truck giving the free latte coffees and it’s scheduled to be at Roppongi, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Yurakucho, and Akasaka at various dates and times this month. (If you want to know when and where it’ll be at, then visit the McDonalds Japan website. (if you can’t read it and would like to know the details, then tell me which area or date you’re wondering about in the comments section of this post and I’ll reply)).

回転寿司

Today my wife and I went to a Levi’s outlet sale in 新宿 (Shinjuku, Tokyo).

We bought some clothes for our kids.

While we were in 新宿 (Shinjuku), we had lunch at 三葉回転寿司 (Mitsuba conveyor-belt sushi).

Do they have 回転寿司 (conveyor-belt sushi) restaurants in your country?

At this type of sushi restaurant, the sushi chef prepares various types of sushi and puts them on different colored plates. Each colored plate represents the price for that particular sushi.

Then the sushi is placed on a conveyor-belt and goes around and when the one you want passes in front of you, you can take it off and eat it.

When you’re ready to leave, the restaurant staff calculates how much you owe by counting the colored plates from all the sushi you ate.

You can also request the sushi chef to make a particular sushi that you want, if you don’t see it on the conveyor.

Here are a few photos I took of the sushi and around 新宿 (Shinjuku):

フグ (Blowfish) skin

This building in Shinjuku has banners advertising Tokyo's bid for the 2016 Olympics.

The banner says: 「Tokyo 2016.　日本だから、できる。 あたらしいオリンピック！」 ("Tokyo 2016. This is Japan, so we can can do it...a new Olympics!")

新宿御苑

Today my daughters each went out with their friends.
My oldest daughter went to お台場 (Odaiba, Tokyo) with her friends,  my second daughter went to the 動物園 (zoo) with her friends, and my youngest went to 東京ディズニーランド (Tokyo Disneyland) with her friends.

So, my wife and I decided to go to 花見 (Cherry Blossom Viewing) together at 新宿御苑 (Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden).

新宿御苑 (Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden) is a very large, beautiful park with both Japanese and Western-style gardens right in the center of metropolitan Tokyo.

We had a nice picnic lunch in the gardens and went home before our daughters were due home and we all had dinner together.

Here are some of the photos we took today:

「東京体育館」 (Tokyo Metropolitan Gym) was used in '54 World Wrestling Championship and '64 Olympics

「新宿御苑の千駄ヶ谷門」 (Sendagaya Gate to Shinjuku-Gyoen)

桜 (Cherry Blossoms)

The skyscrapers of Shinjuku can be seen from the gardens.

ツバキ (Camellia)

There were many people enjoying 花見 (Cherry Blossom Viewing) today.

ボケ (Flowering Quince)

Japanese garden

(Click here if you want to see the official 新宿御苑の花見 (Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden‘s Cherry Blossom Viewing) page.)

My wife and I also stopped by 上野 (Ueno, Tokyo) to see the 桜 (Cherry Blossoms) there. It was very crowded there (as expected).

The crowd at Ueno.