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Japan Gensuikyo
Japan Gensuikyo is a national anti-atom bomb, anti-nuclear organization that was founded in 1944. They do grassroots awareness and fundraising for vicitms of nuclear war, nuclear testing, and disasters like Chernobyl. They call these people hibakusha. Yesterday, they began their annual march from Tokyo to Hiroshima. They take a rather long route–curving around the country…
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Japan’s international affairs
Japan’s international political affairs seem quite parochial. North Korea, South Korea and China get into snits about various slights in ways they would never fuss with othercountries. As some examples, everyone complains when Koizumi visits Yasukuni Shrine, where the war dead are entombed. Diplomatic letters fly across the sea from the neighbors and complaints are…
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Advance summer
Today the weather is forecast to reach 28 degrees (82 F). It seems like a good day to break open the box of summer clothes. Although it’s too early in the season for shorts, there are a few favorites that I’m looking forward to unearthing. But it’s also time to shop for there are two…
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Taste testing sweets
Taste testing two new sweets may not be the healthiest way to begin a new day, but it is entertaining. This “sugar milk” flavored Petit Toast (118 yen for a 40 g cup) has the identity of a breakfast food but I’m not fooled. The toast nuggets are about an inch square and lightly coated…
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Today is Greenery Day,
Today is Greenery Day, the first of the official Golden Week holidays. We got a jump on it by strolling through Koishikawa Korakuen this weekend. This is the oldest park in Tokyo and was laid out by a Chinese landscaper for the Tokugawa clan in 1629. It’s full of water and bridges, minature mountains, shrines…
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New product season
It’s new product season. In the late spring, all of the summer products start appearing on the shelves of conbini around town. Many of these new items are simply variations on a theme, taking a twist to accomodate whatever lifestyle fad is current. Last year it was blueberries and cranberries–drinks, chocolates, yogurt, ice cream, pastries.…
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Bomb threat
Yesterday morning a bomb threat claimed the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Nomura Securities, and Tokyo Station would be blown up. They’re still standing today; apparently it was a hoax. But here’s an interesting point: 800 people were evacuated from the TSE while the police spent 30 minutes looking for bombs. Nomura’s office building and the train…
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Octogenarian croquet
Octogenarians if they’re a day, these croquet fiends have a little course of three wickets, all numbered with faded flags, and they laugh and cheer one another as they make their shots. Tod passes them in the park every morning on his way to work. Today I snuck a photo to share.
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Standing reading
Thank goodness for tachiyomi. Literally “standing reading” it what everyone does in bookstores here. It’s perfectly acceptable to stand at the shelves and read books and magazines. It’s a great way to kill time. I had some time to kill when Ben called to say he’d be an hour late meeting for lunch. He was…
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Cogaru Club
Cogaru Club! Only 18,000 yen! What’s Cogaru? According to Jeffrey’s Japanese-English Dictionary she is an “obsessively trend-conscious teen-age girls who may offer themselves for enjou kousai [ aka “compensated dating”] with older men in order to finance their lifestyle.” This leaflet appeared in my mailbox last night. In addition to listing off the sexual treats…
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