筍（Takenoko, bamboo sprout）

Bamboo sprouts have come into season! Last night, I got a pair of them and made たけのこご飯 (Takenoko go han, seasoned rice cooked with bamboo sprout). とてもおいしかったです！　So delicious!

You ought to have raw (not canned) one in the best time of the year. たけのこ (Takenoko) literally means 竹の子 (Bamboo’s child) and it grows so fast. If you found the ground rises a little bit in a bamboo bush, you should dig there and get the bamboo shoot right away. It takes only a week or so to grow up to few feet. That is why the Kanji for bamboo shoot is written as 筍. This character consists of 竹 and 旬 as you can see. 竹 is a bamboo and 旬 (syu’n) means "in-season." Indeed, it is. ごちそうさまでした。

初音ミク （Hatsune Miku）- Vocaloid

It's amazing. The girl with the long green hair is not an anime character, but she is a vocaloid, Hatsune Miku. It is a computer software (about $150), by which you can let Miku sing any song you like in any style. Basically, you input your lyrics on your own score, and Miku will sing your song. So far, many DTM guys contribute original pieces for Miku.

One of the most popular songs is "Hajimeteno no Oto" The lyrics goes like: What was the first tone? Your first tone. You are listening my first tone. What was the first word? Your first word. I cannot speak a word, so I sing a song. ... Blue sky, wind, sea, your voice. I don't know any of these, but I keep singing because my song can bridge you and me. Time will pass by, but nothing will change. It is just like my hajimete no Oto (my first tone).

Here is another popular love song "Melt" written for Hatsune Miku. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4jkxXyCBgs

Then, a fan made a movie for the song (using Haruhi) and other fans actually sing it. It is awesome, the movie is perfectly corresponding to the lyrics and the vocals are good too. I love this!

わさび (wasabi)

I feel so sorry; you probably never tried the real raw wasabi. All wasabi you have in the states or most of sushi restaurants even in Japan are freeze dried powdery wasabi (similar to Nescafe vs. regular coffee). It remains some aroma but, as you know, stings your tongue and nose.

Here you see the raw wasabi sold in Queen's Isetan in Tokyo (equivalent to Whole Foods). The true aroma of this raw wasabi is very tempting; hmm, it would take 2000 JPY or $17.50 from my wallet. Well, I will try next time.

仁徳天皇陵 (Emperor Nintoku's Tomb)

I doubt you have seen this before. The photo shows a tomb built about 1600 years ago in Osaka. The historical records indicate that this gigantic tomb was probably built for "16th Emperor Nin'toku", but it is not even certain that who was really the 16th Emperor. Japan was still in the age of myth at that time.
Anyway, the length of the tomb is 486m (531 yards or 0.30 mile). Yeah, it is very big. Then, why is it so unpopular? As these tombs are under the strict control of the Japanese government (The Imperial Household Agency), the tombs are not widely open to the public. In these tombs, the ancestors of the Imperial Family rest in peace. Not easy to turn them into touristic places. I guess...

東京都庁の展望台 (Shinjuku Skyscraper)

If you like to see Tokyo from above, then you may want to visit Tokyo Metropolitan Government Buildings in Shinjuku. It is free and open till 11PM (gate close at 1030pm). Their website says "Look down on Tokyo City from a height of 202 meters." Do you remember a scene from Death Note, in which Light first heard L’s voice on TV (see the photo to the right)?



There are two souvenir shops at the top floor, where I always stop by and make my own name sticker for only 300 yen ($2.5). Then, at the 1st floor, you'd better to stop at Tokyo Tourist Information Center (URL) This is the probably only place where you can ask questions about tourism if you do not speak Japanese. Before you leave, don't forget to get free maps and guides. There are English, Chinese (both), Korean, German, French and Spanish versions. Explore Tokyo!

カプセルホテル Capsule Hotel

Did you know about Capsule Hotels in Japan? In those capsule hotels, you will stay in a cell (capsule) instead of a room. The capsule is usually only 2 x 2 x 6ft long, but I wonder what else you would need for staying overnight in the middle of Tokyo? For 3200 yen ($29), you get a small locker and a capsule and enjoy several facilities like inexpensive restaurant, massage rooms and baths. It is modestly clean and very safe.

In the entrance, you will give your shows to the reception; so that they make sure that you won't go away. It seems to me that guests are supposed to stay in the hotel until they check-out. They give you a suit of inner wear and a locker key. Explore!

I am writing this entry from a capsule hotel in Shinjuku, グリーンプラザ新宿. In Shijuku, it usually costs around $120-$200 to stay a 3-star level hotel. So, $29 per night is very cheap indeed. (But, few capsule hotels accommodate female guests in their facilities. There are a few of them with women-only floor, though.)

日枝神社（ひえじんじゃ- Hie Jinja）

I renewed my visa at the US embassy in 溜池 (Tameike) Tokyo. Near the embassy, I stopped by 日枝神社. It had been inside the Edo castle (Imperial Palace at present) until 1602 and it moved to this place after 明暦の大火 (Meireki Great Fire) in 1647. In spite of its long history, 日枝神社 is not a big shrine. The shape of its 鳥居 (Torii, the Gate) is, however, distinctive. As seen in the picture, it has a triangle roof on the top.

The small sticker shown in the picture may be a nice souvenir. It's only 100 yen ($0.80). Inside the area, I saw a familiar table. You know what it is, don't you?

Yokoso Japan! キャンペーン

The image to the left shows Yokoso Japan! ads in Narita airport (Tokyo). See the language. Korean comes first and Chinese (mainland-簡体字) and Taiwanese (Taiwan-繁体字) follow. This reflects the number of foreign travelers from those countries.

In 2005, Japan had 6.7 million travelers from overseas (out of which, 4.3 millions were tourists). 26% were from Korea, 9.7% from China (mainland) and 18.9% from Taiwan. 12.2% of the tourists came from United States. Visit Japan and please increase these figures.

YKK

Look at your zipper (fastener). You will probably read "YKK".
YKK is the leading company in zipper/fastener market and its global share is 45%. As the 2nd and 3rd companies, respectively, have less than 10% of the share, YKK is the very largest company producing zippers. YKK provides zippers with, for example, NIKE, Levi's and Adidas. Many top fashion brands buy zippers from YKK.

YKK stands for Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikikaisha ("Yoshida Company Ltd"), named after its founder Mr. Tadao Yoshida. He founded it in 1934 with other 2 people when he was 25. At the beginning, YKK was just producing zippers using machine imported from USA. But, Yoshida kept improving his company’s product by applying new technology. That constant innovation made YKK into the largest zipper producer in the world. Currently, the total length of the zippers that YKK produces in a year can surround the earth 57 times!!!

By the way, in Japanese, チャック (chuck) means a zipper. It is taken from 巾着（きんちゃく）.

ラーメンズ (Rahmens)

Rahmens is one of the most famous comedy performer groups in Japan. Here, they appear in a new TV-commercial for Mac in Japan. In Japan, a comedy team is usually consisting of two people. They perform a comedy sketch to a microphone standing in front of them. One of them is usually playing ボケ (boke, “clown/funny man”) and the other plays ツッコミ (tukkomi, “straight man”).

The TV-commercial is not really funny, but best comedy teams make you laugh to death. I hope someday you will catch their fast Japanese and the humor in Japanese culture.

Click for the transcript of the commercial →続きを読む

伊藤園 (Ito En) - Teas’ Tea

さいきん、アメリカで、いとうえん(Itoen) のおちゃを見ることが多くなりました。 Itoen's "Teas' Tea" brand seems to be getting popular in the US (http://www.itoen.com/). 伊藤園 (Ito En) is founded in 1966 in Japan and it has been a pioneer in Tea beverage industry. In 1981, Ito En succeeded to produce canned Oolong Tea for the first time in the world, and then made canned green tea in 1985 for the first time. I remember, in those days, people did not believe selling canned tea would be a successful business, because teas were not something to buy: teas were supposed to be free.

Things have changed since then. People have become more health conscious and wealthier. In 2004, Japanese purchased canned/bottled tea about 6,000,000,000 litter (1,542,416,452 Gallons), paying about 4,500 million dollars (estimate). Now, Ito En is expanding its market share in the US.

Ito En's leading brand in Japan is "おーい、お茶 (ooi, ocha)" (http://www.itoen.co.jp/oiocha/). It is very well-known not only as the first brand of canned green tea, but it is known for its Haiku contest. Anyone can submit her/his Haiku to Ito En for the contest, and Ito En selects best ones and prints them on the can of "Ooi, Ocha". Why don’t you submit your own one? (I took the photo from ItoEn's website: Copyright belongs to ItoEn.)

Female Emperor and Y-chromosome

Well. It's a boy. The Imperial Family of Japan finally got the first baby boy for the last 41 years. The family line lasting over millenium can continue for a while. The baby will be the 128th Emperor.

According to the current 皇室典範 (こうしつてんぱん, Imperial House Law), Emperor should be a man from the Imperial Family. You may wonder if there was any female Emperor in the past. Yes, there were 8 female Emperors. 6 female Emperors were in 6-8th century: 推古天皇, 皇極天皇(斉明天皇), 持統天皇, 元明天皇, 元正天皇 and 孝謙天皇(称徳天皇), and there were 2 female Emperors in 17-18th Century: 明正天皇 and 後桜町天皇.

I hear another interesting feature of the blood line of Emperors; it has been strictly maintained in its spear side. That is, tracking back to father's father and his father..., the parental line leads to the "first" Emperor 神武天皇 (Jinmu Tenoh) in the legend. It means the Y-chromosome of the current Emperor directly comes from the Legend. Uh-huh, interesting...

Note that Emperor is now the 125th generation officially. But, many believe that the Imperial Family built the stable government in the early 6th century (around 29th generation). So, the Family has had about 90 Emperors, not 125, who actually attained supreme power. Anyway, the Imperial Family and their (secret) rituals may be a living World Heritage.

線香花火 （Senko Hanabi, Sparkler）

It's summer, there are hundreds of firework festivals in Japan. Well, I believe Japanese fireworks really outstand. Please watch good ones by yourself and confirm my belief. (There are many bad/poor ones in Japan, too. Don't bother.) As for biggest festivals, there will be around 30,000 shots and 300-1000 thousands people come to watch. It's been a long tradition to go fireworks for centuries since Edo Period.

Alternatively, at your home, you can enjoy traditional tiny sparkler called 線香花火 (Senko Hanabi). Perhaps, it seems to you that Senko Hanabi is "shabby." No, no. It reflects the very Japanese taste like "wabi" and "sabi". You probably will appreciate it after you have watched Japanese anime a lot... Click the image below to play wmv movie.

リサイクル・ゴミ分別 (Recycling)

In Michigan, you need to pay the $0.10 deposit for each can you buy at store. In Japan, you do not have to, but the recycling rate is not low. For example, in 2004, 18.5 billion aluminum cans were sold in Japan, out of which 15.9 were collected for recycling. So, the recycling rate in Japan was about 86.1%. In the US, 99.7 billions were sold and only 51.2% were collected (Japan Aluminum Can Recycling Association).

I took the photo in a subway station in Tokyo. From left, you can read 空ビン (empty bottle), 空カン (empty can), 新聞・雑誌 (Shimbun/zasshi) and その他のゴミ (other trash). This set of trash boxes can be seen in many places. Notice that trash boxes are transparent. In 1995, a cult group spread extremely toxic gas in subway trains and killed 12 people. Since then, trash boxes have been transparent, so no one can conceal any bomb inside.

In domestic household, Japanese usually need to separate trash into 8 or more categories: 1.combustible trash, 2.non-combustible trash, resource trashes (3.cans, 4.glass bottles, 5.plastic bottles, 6.papers, 7.paper container (for milk or juice), and 8.Styrofoam containers) and 9.others. It is not really because Japan is lacking of resource, but simply because there is a little place to dumb those waste in Japan. So, local governments require residents separate anything recyclable from waste to reduce its size.

Although you do not pay any deposit for cans/bottles, there is a few beverage vending machines that charge 10 JPY (10 cents) for a paper cup. The image below shows one of those vending machine and paper cup recycling machine.

禅 (Zen)

Let me quote a very cool dialogue from Hofstader (1979, pp.254-255):
--------
Zen is holism, carried to its logical extreme. If holism claims that things can only be understood as wholes, not as sums of their parts, Zen goes one further, in maintaining that the world cannot be broken into parts at all. To divide the world into parts is to be deluded, and to miss enlightenment.

A master was asked the question, "What is the Way?" by a curious monk.
"It is right before your eyes," said the master.
"Why do I not see it for myself?"
"Because you are thinking of yourself."
"What about you: do you see it?"
"So long as you see double, saying 'I don't', and 'you do', and so on, your eyes are clouded," said the master.
"When there is neither 'I' nor 'You', can one see it?"
"When there is neither 'I' nor 'You', who is the one that wants to see it?"

Apparently the master wants to get across the idea that an enlightened state is one where the borderlines between the self and the rest of the universe are dissolved.

Hofstader, D. 1979. "Godel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid," Basic Books, New York.
------

龍安寺 (Ryoan Ji) in Kyoto has the famous rock garden known as "Zen Garden." There is another famous thing in Ryoanji: its fountain or つくばい (Tsukubai). You see the square hole in the middle of the fountain. That is a part of Kanji and the other 4 parts surround it. Clockwise from the top, you can read '五', '隹', '足(omit the square)' and '矢'. These make 4 kanji's 吾　唯　足　知 and it literally means "I know just fulfilled."

Oh, here is another hidden calculation you can find in the Zen Garden.
Neuroscience unlocks secrets of Zen garden at Nature. (This entry was written in May 2006)

日本語はむずかしかったですか？

Greeting card and my message. また会いましょうね。

Share the Reward with me...

U-M gave me $1,000 for the Outstanding GSI Award. As I wrote "I feel that I share this award with them," I am going to donate the half of the reward to my dearest students and the Japanese program. So, I have ordered the following Manga. They will be available at MLB soon.

In Japanese
　NANA, by Ai Yazawa, Vol. 1 - Vol. 15
　のだめカンタービレ, by Tomoko Ninomiya, Vol. 1 - Vol. 14
　雨柳堂夢咄, by Akiko Hatsu, Vol. 1 - Vol. 5
　あずまんが大王, by Kiyohiko Azuma, volume set.
　ポーの一族, by Moto Hagio, volume set.
　感謝知らずの男, by Moto Hagio.

In English
　Phoenix, by Osamu Tezuka, Vol. 1 - Vol. 6
　Buddha, by Osamu Tezuka, Vol. 1 - Vol. 8
　A-A', by Hagio Moto.
　Nausika, by Hayao Miyazaki, volume set.
　AKIRA, by Katsuhiro Otomo, Vol. 1 - Vol. 3
　Death Note, by Tsugumi Ohba, Vol. 1 - Vol. 4

雨柳堂夢咄 （うりゅうどうゆめばなし）

This Manga is a series of short stories about a Japanese antique shop in 19th century (fiction). The beautiful boy, the main character of the story, is the son of the antique shop and he could see and talk with spirits of antiques.

Antique item has its own long history and reflects the memory of its owners. The memory embedded into the item sometimes becomes the spirit living in the antique and appears in front of the boy. Each of them has something to do or something to tell that the owner could not do when they were alive. These antique cause troubles (not horror ones, though). The boy is resolving those problems. All of the episodes are very beautiful, sweet and often sorrow.

I buy and donate this series to the Japanese program and it will be available at LRC soon.

盆栽-Bonsai which lives centuries

Bonsai 盆栽 is a miniature of a tree in a small pot. Allowing your full imagination to play its role, you replicate the Mother Nature and a landscape in a small pot. You plant a trimmed branch of a tree and make it grow like a real trunk. But it is still a miniature, and the size usually ranges from few inches to few feet tall. The tiny tree could bloom flowers and even bear fruit.

Bonsai keepers always trim their bonsai, so they keep the original size and shape for years and years, or decades and decades. Vintage Bonsai has passed through generations to generations, and it could live more than 100 years in a small pot.

Here is a website in English
http://mini-bonsai.com/indexe.html
or you can google “Bonsai” for further information.

Here is a vintage bonsai which is not usually available on the Internet. The age is about 500 years and the pot is 300-year-old one, too. How much is it? Huh! 210,000 US dollars!
http://www.rakuten.co.jp/seikouen/733373/775650/

There used to be Takagi Bonsai Museum in Tokyo (Ichigaya), but it closed in 2004. There is a district in Saitama prefecture (1 hour from Tokyo) called "Bonsai village." Its address is literally Bonsai Cho. Read more about →続きを読む

Cafe in Japan. 喫茶店（きっさてん）

If you go to Tokyo, you will see many Starbucks with full of customers. I know it’s a safe choice for you, but stay away from those easy choices. But if you are curious enough, you may want to visit a traditional café 喫茶店（きっさてん）. The Japanese hang-up about a cup of coffee is beyond your imagination, and it can probably run back to the tradition of Japanese tea ceremony.

In a café, you will select beans by choosing the port of origin: Mocha, Kilimanjaro, Java, Manderin, Guatemala, etc. (In some nice café, you also select your own cup and saucer while the master is preparing your coffee.) The master of the cafe starts brewing your coffee and you will wait 3-5 minutes or so... A cup of coffee usually costs about $5, unless you order expensive beans such as Blue Mountain.

There are some techniques to brew a cup of tasty coffee, which you can see for example at <http://www.kimameya.co.jp/howto/paper.html >
Do you know that you should steam coffee beans for a minute and should not drip all hot water into the cup? I guess not... Espresso machine, unfortunately, can never replicate the rich aroma.

If you are lucky enough, the master uses a flannel to drip your coffee, which is I believe the best way of brewing coffee. I hope you could find a good coffee shop in Japan and enjoy a cup of Japanese coffee.

アメリカンコーヒー (American Coffee) is of course available at Japanese café or coffee shops. It refers to weak one and some people still prefer weak coffee to strong one. But, try strong coffee.

Edo Castle Moats became a fishing pond (市谷)

Kyoto had been officially the capital of Japan since 794 till 1869 as 天皇 (Tennou, the Emperor) lived there. But, Tokyo also has been effectively the capital since 徳川幕府 (Tokugawa Bakuhu) was set there in 1603. The Edo Castle was built in the center of Tokyo, which was surrounded by お堀 (O hori, moats). Even today, there are many old canals/moats surviving in the modern megalopolis.

If you take 中央線 (Chuou sen, Chuou line) in Tokyo, you will see a fishing pond from 市谷駅 (Ichigaya station). It is part of the moat that protects the castle. From train, I had been seeing idlers sitting at the fishing pond uncountably many times, but I had never had a chance to actually visit there. Last summer, finally..., finally, I went to the fishing pond and joined to the group of idlers whom busy commuters on the train might envy. hahaha.

Result..? Ah, I could only catch one after 1 hour. I was very pleased anyway.

I am an Outstanding GSI for the year!

I have received the Outstanding GSI Award for this year, which is given to the best 20 graduate student instructors (GSI) each year among over 2,000 ones at U-M. I might be an outstanding GSI, but it never could have happened without interacting with the students. I feel that I share this award with them. Thanks to all of you... どうもありがとうね！

The cleanest, safest and most reliable subway.

If I compared with NYC, Paris, London and Barcelona, based on my experience, I would say Tokyo has the cleanest, safest and most reliable subway system. I took the picture at the midnight (0:02), as seen in the digital clock of the picture. But I did not feel any danger at all. It was like walking on S. University St at 10pm, and there were no homeless people. Reliability..? Yes, you will get the next train on time (with 30-60 sec. error). There are time tables working for the subway system.

The Perfect Disproportion and Imbalance.

I shot this picture in my hometown in Tokyo. This 大正寺 (Taisho-ji, Taisho temple) is open to its parishioners only, but it usually opens the gate to the street. You might think that the entranceway seems to be very wild and ill-groomed with thick forest. Click on the image and see it in full-size.

Then, your attention probably is attracted into the façade of the building in the back. The stone path in front of the building is reflecting the stabbing sunlight of early summer, while the rest of the path is in the dark shade. And, a branch hanging from a tree on the left side also adds a contrast in the middle of the scene. Another contrast of the bright and dark green is impressive, too.

It seems to be imbalanced and disproportioned structure at the first glance, but I hope you appreciate the spirit of Japanese Gardens (日本庭園, Nihon Teien), the hidden perfect calculation.　

日暮里とParadise Kiss (パラダイス・キス)

矢沢あい(Yazawa Ai) のマンガで『Paradise Kiss』がアニメになっています。The Anime has its setting in 原宿 (Harajuku) area, which is the trend setter of young fashion. The urban life of Tokyo is cool, I miss it.

I see many scenes of Tokyo in ``Para-Kiss'' that I am familiar with: 原宿駅、竹下通り、新宿三丁目、渋谷道玄坂 (Harajuku Eki, Takeshita Doori, Shinjuku 3-chome, Shibuya Dougenzaka). But, I had never been to 日暮里 (Nippori) before where the cool students in fashion school look for fabric they want. So, I visited there last month.

日暮里 is not a fashionable city, but somehow wholesalers of fabric and textiles started gathering in this area in 1910's. There are about 60 small, probably family owned, textile shops in one street.

I took a photo of 日暮里駅 (Nippori Station), which repeatedly appears in the Anime Paradise Kiss. Compare my picture with the image above that I took from a Para-Kiss DVD.

61 years after the massacre

The fire bomb raid on Tokyo, March 10th, 1945
http://blog.livedoor.jp/takekan/archives/16028062.html

Robert McNAMARA was the assistant to the carpet-bombing."The Fog of War"

Miyazaki's "Hotaru no Haka" ("The Grave of the Fireflies").

桃の節句 ひなまつり（Momonosekku, hinamatsuri）

March 3rd is 桃の節句 (Momo no Sekku, a Seasonal Festival of Peach), when Japanese have ひな祭り (Hina Matsuri, Doll's Festival) or Girls' Festival. Families that have daughers display ひな人形 (Hina Ningyo, Hina Doll) in their houses for the daughers, and you will see Hina Doll in many public places such as department stores, stations and airports, as seen in the picture that I took at Narita Airport in Japan.

On the top of the 7 steps, a couple is sitting accompanied by three female imperial court servants. Then, there are two ministers standing at another step below, five male servants playing music and the other three servants following.

You will probably hear this song in many places in Japan, too. うれしいひなまつり.

You can own your Hina Doll, which is available, for example, at this store. Hmm, it's expensive, but Japanese spend about 500 million US$ a year for Hina Dolls!

This tradition can go back in Heian Period (8-12C), when aristocrats were too bored to spend their daily lives without festivals or rites. They had 5 Sekku in a year and the 2nd one was held for their health in the season of peach blossom, as peach was the symbol of long life. Later, in Muromachi Period (14-16C), the tradition was merged with Doll festival.

Let's not forget to enjoy 桜餅 (Sakura Mochi, Cherry flower Mochi) on March 3rd. The mochi with red bean paste inside is wrapped by a salted leaf of cherry. The sweetness of the red bean paste and the salty cherry leaf create the one of the best combinations of 和菓子 (wagashi, Japanese sweets). I would eat the sakura leaf, but there are some Japanese who don't appreciate the combination by throwing away the wrapping leaf. Oh what a waste!

第３のビール ("The Third Beer")

Currently, the tax law classifies beer taste products into 3 categories in Japan; beer, Happoushu (sparkling spirits) and Sonota no Zashu (other liquor). All of these look same and taste very similar, but the prices are different. The retail price of a 350ml can of those beers is about 220 Japanese yen (1.9 US dollar), 145 yen and 128 yen, respectively.

The government raises tax revenue of 876 billion yen from taxes on beer in FY2003. The tax law defines an alcoholic beverage as beer if the ratio of malt extract in the total weight of the fermentable ingredients exceeds 66.6%. Then, it imposes commodity tax of 222 yen (1.9 US dollar) per liter on the beer. On average, about 46% of the money that consumers pay for beer is attributed to the beer tax.

Suntory Ltd., one of the Big 4 beer companies in Japan, put "Hops" a new beer product on the market in October 1994, which contained malt extract content of only 65%. Thus it was not classified as beer but Happoushu, and the commodity tax on Happoushu was only 152.7 yen per litter in those days. In less than a year, Sapporo Breweries Ltd., another Big 4 company, released "Drafty" that contained less than 25% malt, whose tax was only 83.3 yen.

The Ministry of Finance quickly reacted to those two brands of Happoushu by raising the commodity taxes. In 1996, the tax on Happoushu with more than 50% malt was increased to the level of beer, and the tax on Happoushu with less than 25% malt was also increased to 105 yen from 83.3 yen per litter. This tax increase apparently targeted the new beer taste products.

However, as shown in Figure, Happoushu has been substituting Beer from year to year. The annual sales of beer decreased almost by half for the seven years. So did the beer tax revenue.

In 2003, the Ministry of Finance levied much heavier tax against Happoshu. The taxes on low malt Happoushu were increased to 178.124 yen and 134.25 yen, which had been before 152.7 and 105.0 yen, respectively.

In 2004, beer makers lauched a counterattack, by making so-called "The Third Beer" which contained no malt at all. Those liquors are classified as Sonota no Zashu (2) (other liquor(2)) and the tax is only 103.722 yen per litter. The beer is mainly made of corn, but it tastes beer (at least I could not find any difference).

恵比寿駅と七福神 （YEBISU, Seven Lucky Gods）

There is the set of Seven Lucky Gods in Japan; 恵比寿、大黒天、毘沙門天、寿老人、福禄寿、弁財天 and 布袋 (Yebisu, Daikokuten, Bishamonten, Juroujin, Fukurouju, Benzaiten, and Hotei). Yebisu is a god in the Japanese native legend, Daikokuten is Mahākāla from Hinduism, Bishamonten is Vaisravana of Buddhism, Juroujin and Fukurouju are both from Taoism, Benzaiten is Sarasvatī of Hinduism, Hotei is a Chinese Buddhism monk. It seemed that Japanese collected the best parts from Asia.

They became patrons of, respectively, business, agriculture, ethics, long life, luck, art, and happiness. 七福神信仰 (Shichifukujin Sinkou, Worshipping Seven Lucky Gods) started around late Kamakura Period through Muromachi Period (13-15 C), and people widely practiced it in daily life in 江戸時代 (Edo Period). Particularly, in 1780's, visiting Seven Lucky Gods shrines at New Year was a fashion. The people also put a wood-block print of a fortune ship with Seven Lucky Gods under a pillow and hoped they would see a good dream in the first night. If they could, then the new year would be a good one.

恵比寿駅 (Ebisu Eki, Ebisu Station) is the next station from 渋谷駅 (Shibuya), which was named after YEBISU BEER in 1901. There was a brewery of YEBISU BEER around the station, which is now a small museum of Beer 恵比寿麦酒記念館.

Valentine's Day in Japan

バレンタインデー (Valentine's Day) in Japan is the day when a girl/lady tells someone how she feels and the day when chocolate companies make the highest profit.

In 1959, when love-based match still accounted only for 40% of marriages, メリーチョコレート started singing from the rooftops 「女性から男性へ」("From Lady To Man") and sold heart-shaped chocolate for ladies who hesitated to tell her feeling to someone closest in her heart. Since then, February 14th has been the day when girls and ladies give chocolate to her boyfriend or anyone in heart.

義理か本命か (Giri or Favorite)
In workplaces and offices in Japan, female workers give a small (and cheap) chocolate to male colleagues as token of courtesy, which is called 義理チョコ (Giri Choko, Courtesy Choco). On the other hand, if you give a chocolate to someone special, then the chocolate is now 本命チョコ (Honmei choko, the favorite or cert chocolate) which is very special. In fact, many girls and ladies make her own hand-made chocolate. The image shows a chocolate gift corner at 東急ハンズ. You can read 手作り (Tezukuri, Hand-made) in the pop-sign.

友情チョコ (Dachi Choko, buddy choco)
Whether 義理 or 本命, you cannot expect any great response. 義理 is just for courtesy, and 本命 is usually someone you cannot get. Why don't you give chocolate to your best friend? 友情 (Yuujou, friendship) is sometimes the better than 愛情 (aijou, love feeling). I hear that it is now another fashion among young girls to give chocolate to best female friends, which they call 友情チョコ (Dachi Choco). Dachi comes from 友だち (Tomodachi, friend) and probably sounds like buddy in English. Hmm, it's an interesting custom.

Who is the happiest? Of course, chocolate makers! In 2004, chocolate companies earned about 430 million dollars (estimate) for Valentine Day which accounted 12% of the annual consumption of chocolate in Japan (Chocolate and Cocoa Association of Japan). One of them was so clever and he changed March 14th into "White Day" for boys and gentlemen. To be continued...

渋谷駅スクランブル交差点 (Shibuya Scramble crossway)

渋谷 (Shibuya) is the trend-setter district of Japan, and 渋谷駅 (Shibuya-Eki, Shibuya station) is the 4th busiest station with over 2 million commuters a day. スクランブル交差点 (Sukuranburu Kousaten, scramble crossway) of 渋谷ハチ公口 is probably the busiest crossway in Japan.

In the rush hour, 500-1000 people are crossing at one time. Tokyo residents may make fun of country-cousins, as saying “they could go missing in Shibuya scramble crossway.”

There is a Starbucks on Shibuya scramble crossway as seen in the image above, which gains the highest profit per square feet in the world. If you start your business in Japan, your goal may be to open your office/store on Shibuya scramble crossway.

Meet ハチ公 statue. See another entry.

丙午と八百屋お七（Hinoe-Uma and Yaoya O Shichi）

Please read Hinoe-Uma the Myth of 1966 before you read this entry.

"O-shichi, by the way, you are 15... aren't you?" The judge showed his mercy on O Shichi by asking if she was 15 years old, for which the government could commute a death sentence into imprisonment. But, O-Shichi was not aware of the judge's generous offer. Showing evidences, she foolishly proved that she was actually 16 years old: old enough for the government to execute her by the law.

天和2年12月28日 (December 28th in the 2nd year of Tenna (1682)), another big fire broke out in Edo (Tokyo at present), and O-Shichi took refuge at 吉祥寺 (Kissho-ji, Kissho temple) at 駒込 (Komagome). At the temple, she met with 庄之助 (Sho-no-suke) and fell in love. After the fire was extinguished, she came back to her home and started missing him.

On March in 1683, 吉三郎 (Kichizaburou), a neighbor of O-Shichi, heard that O-shichi was burned with love, missing Sho-no-Suke desperately. Then, attempting a thief at a fire, Kichizaburou instigated O-shichi to arson, as saying that she could meet with Sho-no-suke if a fire broke out. The fire did not spread, but arson was the crime punishable by the death.

The government needed to execute O-shichi by the law, and she was burned at the stake in 鈴ヶ森刑場 (Suzugamori Execution Ground) in 1683.

Three years later, 井原西鶴 (Ihara Saikaku), the most popular scenario writer in those days, included O-Shichi's story into his book 『好色五人女』 (Koshoku Gonin Onna, "Five Women Who Loved Love"). Then, this episode became very popular as well as the Hinoe-Uma’s myth. Year 1666 was the year of Hinoe-Uma, and O-shichi born in 1668 was burned with love and burned at the stake. Although there was a 2-year lag, her story was shocking enough to start the Hinoe-Uma myth. The myth-ridden birth control still existed even in 1966.

You can visit the grave of the poor O-Shichi who devoted her short life to the Love. It stands in 円乗寺 (Enjou-ji, Enjou temple) at 駒込. See the photo above.

丙午 (Hinoe-Uma), The Myth of 1966

This image shows the Japanese population by age as of 2003. Baby boomers are now retiring their jobs, while the young people are having fewer and fewer child. Notice that a sharp valley at age of 37.... What's that? The number of babies born in 1966 was significantly smaller than the others. It was because year 1966 was 丙午 (ひのえうま、Hinoe-Uma).

Hinoe-Uma is a year in the Chinese 60-year cycle calendar. In the 20th century, 1906 and 1966 were Hinoe-Uma's year, and year 2026 is the next one. 陰陽五行説 (The theory of Yin-Yang and the five elements---Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water) characterizes both of Hinoe and Uma as Yin side of Fire. So, it was commonly believed that there were more fires in Hinor-Uma's year than the other, and some said also that a woman born in Hinoe-Uma's year would be very rough and henpeck her husband to his death. (Yes, it implies that couples seriously planned their parenthood in 1965....haha)

The myth had been just a myth and people had not believed it seriously until a 15-year-old girl died in 1683, whose name was お七 (O Shichi) or people called her 八百屋お七 (Yaoya O Shichi). To be continued.... Click

(Read 明暦の大火 (Meireki no Taika) before I upload the next episode. )

Traditional Colors in Japan.

After the long era of civil war, Japanese people lived in peace in 江戸時代 (Edo jidai, A.D. 1603-1867) and the culture was blooming very rich in Tokyo.

One of the examples of the rich culture is the variety of colors! When one ordered a green jacket, she/he could not just tell `green.' The taylor would ask back "Which kind of green would you like, sir?"
http://www.colordic.org/w/

Blue, Red.... there were plenty of those. Notice that each color has its own distinguishable name, which sometimes identifies the ingredient of the color and the process of dyeing. Please visit the following website, from which I took the image to the left.



http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~sakamaki/yurai2.html
http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~sakamaki/yurai.html

There were super idol Kabuki performers in those days. Imagine that young girls were talking about the color of Kabuki idol fashions. Phew, it must be an endless talk. In fact, 梅幸茶（ばいこうちゃ） shown at the top of the imaga is named after 尾上梅幸 the First, who was famous around 1772-1789. The second green shown in the image 岩井茶（いわいちゃ） is named after 岩井半四郎 the Fifth, who was very popular around 1804-1829. Here is the 浮世絵 (Ukiyoe) poster of 岩井半四郎 for Kabuki play that he performed in January of 1815 (Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum).

節分・豆まき（Setsubun-Mamemaki, Bean-throwing celemony for a new spring)

節分（Setubun） is the eve of a new season and usually refers to the eve of new spring, which is February 3rd in this year. In 節分 ceremony, Japanese eat soybeans as many as his/her age praying long and healthy life, and also throw soybeans around their home shouting "鬼は外！福は内!（Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!）".

Oni means an ogre/monster that symbolizes evil sprits and Fuku means happiness. So, people are calling out "Oni goes outside! Happiness comes inside!" The image shows a typical bag of soybean sold in a supermarket for 節分 in the late January. It often comes with a free Oni's mask, so some of family members can play the role of Oni and the others throw beans against them.