When I was still a coffee cherry-boy, back in the days when all I knew was instant Nescafe (I still shudder when I think of those times!), I always used to scoff at the self proclaimed coffee habitués that loved to tell everyone within earshot how they couldn’t get through their morning without (insert number here) coffees. I was introduced to real coffee at quite a late stage in life, I guess when I was around 20. It was in Kyoto at Gold’s house actually, and I have never forgiven him for it..!
I am now as hooked as any of those junkies that used to preach to me, and I now want your sympathy for my caffeine addiction..!! Only joking, but I am hooked, and am the proud owner of one of those fancy espresso makers which make reasonable milk foam in the comfort of your own home. It is a Saeco Magic model, a little expensive, but damn it is easy to make a pretty reasonable cappuccino. You can click here to view it on Amazon.co.jp and buy in English, or just click on the image to the right. That is the machine in action. Continue reading Café Art in Tokyo→
There remains this enormous and wicked sociocultural myth. It is this: Hard work is all there is.
Work hard and the world respects you. Work hard and you can have anything you want. Work really extra super hard and do nothing else but work and ignore your family and spend 14 hours a day at the office and make 300 grand a year that you never have time to spend, sublimate your soul to the corporate machine and enjoy a profound drinking problem and sporadic impotence and a nice 8BR mini-mansion you never spend any time in, and you and your shiny BMW 740i will get into heaven.
This is the Japanese Puritan work ethos (much like that in America of course), still alive and screaming and sucking the world dry. Work is the answer. Work is also the question. Work is the one thing really worth doing and if you’re not working you’re either a slacker or a leech Continue reading Why do the Japanese Work so Hard?→
Japan’s Supreme Court has rejected an appeal against the death sentence for Asahara Shōkō (麻原 彰晃), the former leader of the doomsday cult, “AUM Shinri Kyo” (Supreme Truth Sect, now known as Aleph). The decision clears the way for 51 year old Asahara Shoko to be hanged for his role in masterminding the 1995 subway gas attacks. Lawyers of the former head of the cult had argued that he was mentally incompetent, and asked for the case to be suspended. Asahara was sentenced to death by a Tokyo court 2 years ago for the attack. 12 people died and over 5000 were injured when the members of the cult released sarin, a lethal nerve gas on Tokyo’s subways. The attack was directed against trains passing through Kasumigaseki and Nagatacho, home to the Japanese government. This was (and remains, as of 2006) the most serious attack that has occurred in Japan since the end of the Second World War.
The former guru could be hanged at any time, once final approval is given by the justice minister.
Akihabara News is the only (English) website that I know of the continuously covers new developments in the Japanese electronic/gadget market.
If you are thinking of visiting Japan, or already live in Tokyo, then check them out. There are some really amazing bargains, and some just plain bizzare stories about “gadgets in Japan”… And who of us doesn’t like our gadgets..? Click on the image to take you there.
(“Akihabara” is the electronics town, that almost every foreign visitor feels sucked to upon a visit to Tokyo..)
Jgram is an interesting page for people learning Japanese and are struggling with the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT – 日本語能力試験). Its goal is to tackle how to learn Japanese grammar, which is one thing that online dictionaries, textbooks, and even many Japanese teachers never go in to to any level of complexity. Continue reading JGram – The Japanese Grammar Database→
“Full of ups and downs” This pharse basically means that something has been eventful, but in a negative way.
Examples: 彼女の波瀾万丈な生活にずっとつきあってきたよ。 “I have put up with her rollercoaster of a life for so long”
It can be used for almost anything, even for more formal usages, 波瀾万丈な経歴 means a “checkered career” etc.
One More: 話が時代を超えて展開する時、波瀾万丈の物語の幕が開けます。”This creates an exciting saga as the story jumps through different periods in history”
I thought this was a cool phrase, and I was surprised that I had never heard anyone use it before yesterday..
Basically points out a situation or a confrontation, or even just a discussion between two parties that did not go well, and ended with no conclusion. It also portrays that the meeting or discussion was a waste of time. This happens so much in Japan, that this phrase will be so useful for me.
物別れで終わる
end in disagreement, or without any conclusion.
話し合いは物別れになったとの電話連絡を受けた。
I got a phone call saying the talks had broken down.
その二国間の協議は物別れに終わった
Talks between the two countries got nowhere.
物別れのままである
remain stalemated
This article is reproduced from the discontinued, but much loved Mainichi Waiwai column by Ryann Connell. Read more about this at the bottom of this article.
A “badger game” is a type of extortion scheme in which the victim, often a married man, is coerced into a compromising position and then subjected to some form of extortion, either for money or information. The Japanese word for this, “tsutsumotase,” is written with the characters for “bijin” (beautiful woman) and “kyoku” (affair).
According to Asahi Geino (Aug. 31), who knows how many Japanese men in China — convinced they’ve met the girl of their dreams — have been falling victim to such entrapment.
Aggrandize
1. To increase the scope of; extend.
2. To make greater in power, influence, stature, or reputation.
3. To make appear greater; exaggerate
Example:
Seriously, I think personal blogs are one of the most self-aggrandizing activities of our generation. More so than MySpace. With MySpace, you are at least not pretending that anyone cares about you beyond looking at that hot picture of you covered in nothing but whipped cream. With a personal blog, you are pretending that people care enough about you to read your random musings about a random selection of stuff that’s going on.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi a week ago paid homage to Japan’s World War II dead at the Yasukuni Shrine, drawing South Korea’s and China’s condemnation, which was heightened by the date of his visit – the anniversary of Japan’s surrender. Despite repeated protests from Beijing and Seoul, Koizumi kept a promise to make a sixth pilgrimage as premier to the shrine – which honours Japan’s 2.8 million war dead, including 14 Class-A war criminals – before he steps down next month. The visit was the first made in 21 years by a prime minister on the anniversary of the war’s 1945 end, which is remembered in Japan as a defeat but which South Korea celebrates as Liberation Day after it and China both suffered under Japan’s often-brutal wartime occupation.
That colonial past has worsened relations between Tokyo and the two countries, and the shrine and Koizumi’s visits there have brought charges from Seoul and Beijing that they glorify Japan’s past military aggression and imperialism.
“My name is Blue, and I am an addict”..
I was introduced to real coffee at quite a late stage in life, I guess when I was around 20. It was in Kyoto at Gold’s house actually, and I have never forgiven him for it..!
There remains this enormous and wicked sociocultural myth. It is this: Hard work is all there is.
Japan’s Supreme Court has rejected an appeal against the death sentence for Asahara Shōkō (麻原 彰晃), the former leader of the doomsday cult, “AUM Shinri Kyo” (Supreme Truth Sect, now known as 
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi a week ago paid homage to Japan’s World War II dead at the Yasukuni Shrine, drawing South Korea’s and China’s condemnation, which was heightened by the date of his visit – the anniversary of Japan’s surrender. Despite repeated protests from Beijing and Seoul, Koizumi kept a promise to make a sixth pilgrimage as premier to the shrine – which honours Japan’s 2.8 million war dead, including 14 Class-A war criminals – before he steps down next month. The visit was the first made in 21 years by a prime minister on the anniversary of the war’s 1945 end, which is remembered in Japan as a defeat but which South Korea celebrates as Liberation Day after it and China both suffered under Japan’s often-brutal wartime occupation.