Justin's Place

Blog of Justin Sullivan

Archive for January, 2011

Forceful magical time – let’s eats the candy!

Jan 7

Posted by js in Engrish, Silly stuff | No Comments

So, as I sit here listening to Al Jolson happily singing Swanee (never let it be said my tastes in music are anything other than eclectic), I thought I would post the first of no doubt many examples of “Engrish” from this prolonged stay in Japan.

This one has a nice mix of the bizarre and additionally manages to score bonus points for glitter ink, incorrect pluralisation, generally not making sense, three exclamation marks (count ‘em) and use of schoolgirl-like tartan material that makes Japanese men go weak at the knees.

So here we have it – with no further ado I present entry number one in the Engrish contest:

FORCEFUL – THE SPECIAL – S.A. 1986 Dream Crew

MAGICAL TIME IS SENT TO YOU!!

Let’s Eats the Candy of the Magic That We Made For You!

Udon lunch

Jan 7

Posted by js in Food, Japan | No Comments

Nice udon noodles for lunch at a new place near home that I hadn’t been to before.

It was good to see everything being prepared and the place was quite busy for lunch.

Verdict: quick service, tasty, cheap (especially as I forgot to take my wallet).

Abandoned farms in Japan

Jan 7

Posted by js in Food, Japan, Nature | No Comments

Harvesting mandarins in Odawara

Harvesting mandarins in Odawara. Image from Kyodo Photo via Japan Times.

Japan is facing an aging population as well as birth rates that are virtually the lowest in the world: Japan is ranked 220 out of 221 countries according to the CIA World fact book for birth rate (only Hong Kong is lower).

The low birth rates combined with the tendency for young people to seek out non-agricultural work means that all over Japan there are farms being abandoned.

Rather than let the land go to waste, it is usually desirable to have someone make some use of it. My Japanese family have maintained part of a tiny hatake or neighbourhood farm plot at the end of the street. I’m not acquainted with the financial aspects of the deal, but as far as I am aware no money changes hands, although the various neighbours who share out the space exchange surplus vegetables and herbs with each other throughout the year.

I also remember reading last year about an American family who was enjoying a rural life in Yamanashi, a mountainous area near Mt Fuji famous for its fruit such as pears and grapes. They were staying rent-free on a farm because the owner would rather have the farmhouse occupied and land put to use than it be allowed to go to ruin. Additionally, the family had several children and the local government pays a per-child allowance to live there. Unfortunately I can’t seem to find the original story to place a link here, as it was quite an interesting read.

Meanwhile, nearer to home, today’s Japan Times has an article about mandarin farms in my (new) hometown of Odawara. I have on several occasions thought about helping out our friend Hiroi-san who has a mikan (mandarin) farm in the hills near Odawara Hilton. While I would still like to give that a try, it turns out there is also a volunteer group that is helping to harvest the local mandarins from abandoned farms. I have sent off my contact details to the NGO that organises the harvesting, BeGood Cafe, so we will see what happens.

Edit: I found the above mentioned article about Homesteading in Japan which I found worthwhile reading (both originally and when I re-read it just now).

Bieber Fever gives me the chills

Jan 6

Posted by js in Commentary, Japan | No Comments

Hotted-up black car

Hotted-up black car

Picture this: walking along the road to the shops was a long line of cars banked up. From a distance I could hear loud, bass-heavy music doofing away from one of them and it sounded vaguely familiar but I couldn’t place it.

As I got closer, I could see the music was probably coming from a hotted-up black car that looked not dissimilar to the one in the picture.

Then the full force of it hit me: windows down, this car – with literally 4 LCD TVs mounted on the dashboard showing the accompanying video clip – was playing Justin Bieber’s Baby at very high volume.

The driver had a “tough guy” look and probably wasn’t to be messed with… and was happily singing along (with a lot of accompanying dancing, as best as he could while driving a car).

The whole thing seemed a bit surreal, as though I might be living in a parallel universe.

Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber

New Years morning shopping madness

Jan 4

Posted by js in Japan | No Comments

On New Years morning, Japanese people frequently undertake their first visit to a shrine or temple for the year, a practice known as hatsumode. This is often done at or just after midnight of December 31 or else during the day of January 1, and visitors may wear traditional costume such as kimono.

In contrast, you could choose – as we did – to rug up against the cool morning temperatures and do battle with the hordes of others descending on the local shopping centre for “splash bargains”, happy bags and general manic chaos – all a bit too much for me, although I admit I did succumb this year and buy a happy bag.

The happy bags are a boxed or bagged set of goodies offered by most retailers and offer exceptionally good value – at least if you believe the discounts offered compared to the ticketed prices on the items inside. My chosen poison, for the price of ¥10,500 (about $120), was a black box containing 7 equally black articles of clothing to help me blend in with the locals.

Tako yaki for lunch

Jan 3

Posted by js in Food, Japan, Silly stuff | No Comments

Takoyaki preparation

Takoyaki being made

About to sit down to tako yaki (octopus balls), soba noodles and tempura lunch.

I remember the first time I saw takoyaki being made: on my first trip to Japan in April 1996. It was during the hanabi cherry blossom festivals and outdoors at night, and they were being made by an attractive young lady in traditional attire. I thought it was very exotic but also not something that appealed to me to eat.

My second thought was something humourous (at the time) about octopi and their balls.

I no longer have too many qualms about eating octopus balls. And I have overcome the need to make boyish jokes about them.

Maybe.

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Biblical floods vs Rice cakes

Jan 3

Posted by js in Food, Japan | No Comments

Australia is currently experiencing its worst floods in 50 years or more, which have been described in the media as being of “biblical” proportions. The area under flood is more than 1 million square kilometres, larger than the size of Germany and France combined.

I just heard on the Japanese news that a woman sadly drowned in Queensland.

Meanwhile, in Tokyo, 6 people died – and another 5 remain in critical condition – from eating “mochi” rice cakes.

Mochi rice cakes baking over hot coals

The mochi rice cakes are made by pounding rice in a giant mortar and pestle. This itself is quite a physical feat and I imagine results in its fair share of injuries, involving at least two people in the process: one to wield the giant hammer and the other to scoop up the massive mound of sticky rice and reshape it between blows.

The deaths from mochi consumption result from choking on the sticky substance – particularly by the drunk or elderly. The usual resuscitation attempt for imminent death by mochi is to stick a vacuum cleaner down the throat.

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