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Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Natto

納豆

One standard question that many foreigners in Japan are asked is: "Can you eat natto?"

The strong smell and slimy constituency of natto - fermented soybeans - means that even many Japanese are put off this much-maligned, healthy, gooey and 100% vegetarian delicacy.

Natto is usually served with a touch of karashi mustard and a drizzle of soy sauce and eaten as an accompaniment to rice whether at breakfast or dinner. A little bit of sake poured on the natto as a condiment can also add to the flavor, I've found.

Mass produced natto sold in supermarkets usually comes in a 50g polystyrene pack with little sachets of mustard and soy sauce.

The health benefits of eating natto are many and legendary and include lowering cholesterol, preventing cancer and strokes to helping fight obesity.

Kan Defeats Ozawa In Leadership Election

小沢一郎

Naoto Kan easily defeated Ichiro Ozawa by 721 to 491 points in the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) leadership election today.

Ozawa Kan

Prime Minister Kan won a small majority among DPJ party lawmakers and was a convincing winner among local DPJ politicians and party members.

Ozawa's alleged involvement in a political funding scandal was likely to have told with disgruntled party members.

Japan's economy is still stalled as the yen hit a new 15-year high against the dollar today. Kan favors a rise in Japan's consumption tax, presently set at 5%, to help curb a Greek-style debt crisis.

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Monday, September 13, 2010

Aoyama Gakuin University

青山学院大学

Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo is one of Japan's top universities, known for its international atmosphere.

The university evolved from a number of boys' and girls' schools established by American missionaries in the late 19th century becoming a full university in 1949.

The university's Christian roots are traced back to the teachings of Methodist John Wesley.

Access

Aoyama Gakuin University
Shibuya-ku, Shibuya 4-4-25
Tel: 03 3409 8111

Approximately 10 minutes on foot from Shibuya Station - Walk towards the direction of Miyamasu-zaka). Alternatively a 5 minutes walk from Exit B1 of Omotesando Station.

The campus is located across the street of The United Nations University.

The Sagamihara Campus can be reached from JR Fuchinobe Station with trains from Tokyo Station, Ueno Station and Omiya Station.

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Sunday, September 12, 2010

Japanese Craft Beer

クラフトビア

Japanese "Craft Beer" or real ale is undergoing something of a boom in a country for too long dominated by the uniform brews of the big four Japanese beer producers: Kirin, Asahi, Suntory and Sapporo.

Toshi Ishii, who has studied brewing in the USA, Czech Republic and Norway is a leading light in the Craft Ale revolution with his own company Ishii Brewing.

Some time back Toshi e-mailed Stone Brewing Company in California as his name translates as "stone" and was taken on as a 3-year intern, thus beginning a long journey to becoming a master brewer.

Toshi's prize-winning "Amber Ale" is his trademark beer on the foreign circuit. Back home in Japan Toshi was responsible for the popular Yona Yona Ale, an American style golden pale ale, brewed by Yo-Ho Brewing in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture.

Craft Beer is not cheap in Japan, I recently paid 1,100 yen for half a wine glass of a top beer in Nagoya, but by god, it did taste great.

Some recommended bars to sample craft beer in Nagoya city include Bar Cask (Tel: 052 752 8200) not far from Kakuozan Station on the Higashiyama Line of the Nagoya subway, Craft Beer Keg (Tel: 052 971 8211) near TV Tower in Sakae and Cafe Lembeek (Tel: 052 734 8558) near Motoyama Subway Station also on the Higashiyama Line.

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Saturday, September 11, 2010

Japan News This Week 12 September 2010

今週の日本

Depression Costs Japan's Economy $32 Billion

New York Times

Baby twin pandas debuted in Japan

Christian Science Monitor

Japan convicts Greenpeace's 'Tokyo Two' for whaling investigation

Christian Science Monitor

Divorce ceremonies give Japanese couples a new way to untie the knot

CNN

Japan fattens textbooks to reverse sliding rank

Washington Post

Barcelona gana puntos en Nissan para fabricar su vehículo eléctrico

El Pais

234,000 centenarians listed in registries missing

Japan Times

Boat collisions spark Japan-China diplomatic row

BBC

Le Japon injecte 8,5 milliards d'euros pour relancer son économie

Libération

Rugby-Kirwan targets two World Cup pool victories for Japan

Yahoo Sports

India-Japan Ties Poised for Advance as Both Nations Eye China

Japan Focus

Last week's Japan news

Japan Statistics

Number of foreign students enrolled in US universities, by country (2008-2009):

1. India: 103,260
2. China: 98,235
3. South Korea: 75,065
4. Canada: 29,697
5. Japan: 29,264

Source: Asahi Shinbun

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Friday, September 10, 2010

Public Telephones in Japan

公衆電話

With nearly every man, woman and child owning a mobile phone in Japan, public telephones are decreasing in number.

However, you will usually be able to find a public telephone at most railway and subway stations, hotel lobbies, schools, universities, office buildings and department stores in Japan.

NTT operates the public telephone service and in general you will encounter two types of public phones: green and gray.

From both gray and green phones you can usually make domestic and international calls. If the phone does not take international calls it will say so on the screen on the phone (DOMESTIC; 国内専用) as in the image below.

Both gray and green public telephones take 10 yen and 100 yen coins as well as telephone cards with a value of 1000 yen which can be purchased at any convenience store.

A local call within the same city costs 10 yen per minute. Charges for city-to-city calls vary according to the distance. Domestic calls are cheaper in the evening and on Saturday, Sunday & public holidays.

Increasingly rare is the pink public telephone which takes 10 yen coins only and is exclusively for domestic calls.

Unlike in the UK, I have yet to encounter a public telephone in Japan that didn't work or had been vandalized.

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Thursday, September 9, 2010

Japanese Hairdressers and Hair Salon Names

美容師

There are innumerable hairdressers in Japan's cities ranging from cheap, 10$ "dry-cut" joints with no shampoo and the red, white and blue revolving poles to the glitzy salons on inner city boulevards that charge 600 bucks a crop for a "course" from their "menu".

Frequently bizarre, the names of many of these establishments never fail to amuse. I have experienced such classics as: Be FeelBy Harada, Bim Bum Bam, Buddy Hair Leap, Bush, C-Blow, Chouette, Chronic, Coma, Cut House May-Be, Drop, Flap, Gohair, Growhair, Hair & ParmSoup, Hysteric Mama, NudeColor, Phat, Piggyhair, Poo, Purplenumber, Red Nose, Shoop, Shrimp, Shup, Snobenvamp, Spic, Tedhair, The, Yayoi-Brains, Warp Hair, and my personal favorite Single Carrot.

Wherever you decide to have your hair cut or styled in Japan, it will normally be an enjoyable and relaxing experience despite the name.

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