Tokyo is the world’s (second) “most livable city”

Monocle magazine makes a list of the world’s most livable cities every year.

Tokyo is ranked number 2 on the list behind Copenhagen, Denmark.

In fact, three Japanese cities, Tokyo, Kyoto, and Fukuoka are on the top ten.

Six of the other seven cities on the top ten most livable cities in the world are European.

The criteria used to judge the most livable cities were:
economics, society, functionality, everyday living, happiness of people, crime rate, health care, public schools, public transportation, access to nature, culture, sunlight/climate, number of electronic vehicle charging spots, ease of starting a new business and tolerance.

Here is Monocle‘s list of the top ten most livable cities in the world:

1. Copenhagen, Denmark
2. Tokyo, Japan
3. Melbourne, Australia
4. Stockholm, Sweden
5. Helsinki, Finland
6. Vienna, Austria
7. Zürich, Switzerland
8. Munich, Germany
9. Kyoto, Japan
10. Fukuoka, Japan

Most popular Mothers Day gifts

Tomorrow (2014 May 11th) is 母の日 (Mothers Day ).

Did you buy your mother a gift?
At least say 「お母さん、ありがとう！」 (“Thank you, Mother!“)

What are the most popular gifts that people buy for their mothers on this day in Japan and in America?

As I’m sure you can imagine, the types of gifts that Japanese people buy for Mothers Day are quite different from what is commonly bought in America!

Here is a list of this year’s top ten Mothers Day gifts in America and then a list of this year’s top ten Mothers Day gifts in Japan:

 

Top Ten Mothers Day gifts in America

#10 – Flowers

#9 – Candles

#8 – Gift card (gift certificate)

#7 – Gift basket

#6 – Home spa treatment

#5 – Home decor items

#4 – Chocolate or other sweets

#3 – House plants

#2 – Perfume

#1 – Spa treatment

Top Ten Mothers Day gifts in Japan

#10 – 「バスグッズ」 (Bath items)

#9 – 「花」 (Flowers)

#8 – 「ネックレス」 (Necklace)

#7 – 「傘」 (Umbrella)

#6 – 「名入れグッズ」 (Personalized items) (This wine bottle says “Mother, thanks for everything” and her name.)

#5 – 「家電」　(Home appliance)

#4 – 「財布」 (Wallet)

#3 – 「バッグ」 (Handbag / purse)

#2 – 「キッチングッズ」 (Kitchenware)

#1 -　「マッサージ器」 (Massaging item (massage chair, etc))

What are popular Mothers Day gifts in your country?

Japan is the healthiest country

The online magazine Health Fiend recently published their list of “the World’s Healthiest Countries“ (and their list of “the world’s least healthy countries” too).

Japan was ranked the World’s Healthiest Country based on the magazine’s criteria of:

-the longest healthy life expectancy at birth,
-lowest pollution,
-the percentage of a country’s population with access to improved drinking water and sanitation,
-low infant mortality rates,
-low rate of prevalence of tuberculosis,
-the density of physicians per 1,000 people and
-low undernourishment rates.

Three aspects of Japan were credited in particular with giving Japan the world’s highest life-expectancy:
–the healthy Japanese diet,
–Japan’s health-care system, and
–ラジオ体操 (government-sponsored exercise)

Here are the magazine’s list of the top ten world’s healthiest countries:

10. Australia
9. Austria
8. Denmark
7. Italy
6. France
5. Germany
4. Switzerland
3. Iceland
2. Sweden
1. Japan

2010’s Top Baby Names

My daughters were born in the early – mid ’90s, so it’s not really relevant to me but it’s still interesting to see how the most popular names people chose for their babies changes over time.

The most popular names of my generation are no longer popular with today’s parents.

When I was born, the top five boys names for American babies were:
Michael, David, James, John and Robert.
The top five girls names in America that year were:
Lisa, Michelle, Jennifer, Kimberly and Melissa.

At the same time, the top five boys names in Japan back then were:
Makoto, Hiroshi, Osamu, Naoki and Tetsuya.
For Japanese baby girls, it was:
Akemi, Mayumi, Yumiko, Keiko and Kumiko (names ending with ～子 (-ko) used to very popular for girls in Japan…now, not so much).

These days, I guess those names are considered “old-fashioned” in both America and Japan.

In America, the top five boys names for babies born in 2010 were:
Aiden, Liam, Noah, Jackson and Ethan.
For American baby girls:
Sophia, Charlotte, Ava, Addison and Olivia.

This year (2010), the most popular baby names for boys in Japan were:
Ren, Hiroto, Souta, Yuuma and Sora.
For Japanese baby girls in 2010:
Yua, Yui, Aoi, Hina and Riko.

KISS are icons

The new KISS album “Sonic Boom” is excellent!

If you haven’t bought it yet…I highly recommend getting it.

This album is currently at #16 in Billboard magazine‘s “Rock Album” ranking…and #8 in their “Hard Rock Album” ranking.

And it peaked at #1 in both of those categories!

Number one selling album!! I don’t think KISS has ranked that high since the late ’70s!

Also, KISS has been eligible to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame since 1999*.

(* to be eligible, a band’s first album must be at least twenty-five years old. KISS debuted in 1974).

But they’ve always been passed over every year since they became eligible…that is, until now.

KISS have been nominated to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame next year (in 2010).

In March 2010, the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame will vote to see which of the twelve nominees will be inducted.

The nominees for 2010 are:

• KISS
• ABBA
• The Chantels
• Jimmy Cliff
• Genesis
• The Hollies
• LL Cool J
• Darlene Love
• Laura Nyro
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• The Stooges
• Donna Summer

Who do you think should be chosen?

In my opinion, besides KISS only two other acts might be worthy!

Tokyo’s high quality of life

I just found that Monocle magazine ranked the “World’s Most Livable Cities (Quality Of Life)”.

Their criteria was:

• Safety / low crime
• International connectivity
• Climate
• Quality of architecture
• Public transportation
• Tolerance of others
• Environmental issues and access to nature
• Urban design
• Business conditions
• “Pro-active policy developments” and
• Medical care

Tokyo ranked as the third most livable city in the world.

Their entire Top ten “most livable cities” are:

1. Zürich, Switzerland
2. Copenhagen, Denmark
3. Tokyo, Japan
4. Munich, Germany
5. Helsinki, Finland
6. Stockholm, Sweden
7. Vienna, Austria
8. Paris, France
9. Melbourne, Australia
10. Berlin, Germany

Tokyo runs like clockwork and its service culture beats any competition.

–Monocle magazine

Personally, I think Tokyo should be number one! Especially in regards to safety, international connectivity, tolerance, access to nature, business conditions, medical care, and public transportation.
All of those are top-notch in Tokyo!

2008 Olympics

Today is August 8. The opening ceremony for the 2008 Summer Olympics in 北京 (Beijing, China) will commence today at 8:08PM (China Standard Time).

Maybe you’ve heard why it’s set to begin at such an unusual time. It’s because the number eight is lucky in China (and Japan, too). So the Chinese decided to start the ceremony at ’08年8月8日午後8時8分 (’08/8/8 8:08PM).

(By the way, in China the numbers four and seven are unlucky because they have the same pronunciation as the word for “death” in Chinese. In Japan, the numbers four and nine are unlucky because they sound like “death” and “pain” in Japanese, respectively.)

The Official Website of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing is here.

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The Food & Wine website just voted Tokyo as the number one restaurant city in the world.

Paris, New York, and London were numbers 2, 3, and 4 respectively.

Click here to see their entire top-ten list.

This is after the Michelin Guide gave more stars to restaurants in Tokyo than any other city in their 2008 edition.

Click here to read the Yahoo news report about it. (from Nov 2007)

Tokyo is a shining star in the world of cuisine…

Michelin Guides Director Jean-Luc Naret