Some music....

This morning, my friend T and her husband invited me to join them to the fish market. Here, in Japan, New Year is a much bigger deal than Christmas. People usually go back to their families, spend days preparing traditional food in which every element has a special signification (e.g. fish eggs will represent fertility)...So today the fish market was especially busy. It was pretty amazing, felt a bit like in China with people shoving you around (^_^) and the products were amazing (photos on flickr). Awesome.

In afternoon, I spent few hours listening to stuff in tower record and here is a couple of stuff I wanted to share (I put links to their myspace page):

Ogre you asshole
click here









For info:
yura yura teikoku is a psychedelic rock band formed in 1989 from the underground tokyo scene, apparently super famous here. They're good but not my kind of music. They split up this year.)
the second band on list mirror balls (ミラーボールズ) is a duo of guitarists, a woman and a guy, dressed bit 60s, bit weird....

Foxloco Phantom
click here








P.S. Most band names are in romanji (latin alphabet) or katakana, not much kanjis around, I guess it makes it easier for everybody and make it easier to export. But price of CDs are super expensive, around 3,000yens (£24for) new stuff. YERK!

Neko Café

So today I woke up freezing, sniffling; outside it's grey, windy, snowy, icy....So I decided it was the perfect time to use my treat token: the Neko Café. Few weeks ago, my friend T-chan recommended a place near to where I live called Neko Cafe Keurig and I've been wanting to go since then. So today was the day!
This is how it works...
After changing your shoes to slippers, you come in, drop your coat in a locker and disinfect your hands. 
There are several options: you can either pay by 30mn (then charged 10mn extra) or choose a set. Perso I took the drink menu. For a mere 880yens (£7), you can stay an hour and have one drink (tea or coffee or juices).The waitress writes on a piece of paper the time you come in and when you need to come out and off you go....

The place is cat heaven and design conscious

Sometimes it's difficult to find a seat.

But finally found a free one...They bring you a menu where you must read the rules, from what I understood:
- do not take photos with flash
- do not feed the animal with your food (there are sets with biscuits/meal)
- do not try to carry the cats
- do not speak loudly
- do not wake up a cat who sleeps.

At the end of the menu, a little presentation of the hosts.

So I settled with my tea and started looking around...

There wasn't much going on....

...so the waitress decided to give us (we were 3 in the cafe, me included) a bowl of tuna flakes to feed the cats. 

And suddenly....

...I had lots of friends!

Of course, it only lasted the time I had tuna to give away but that was nice ^_^

I'm not sure how they find the cats, probably abandoned cats. Apparently, in some Neko Cafe, the cats are in rotation so they aren't in 'display' all the time, i.e. I guess people trying to stroke them all the time must be stressful ^_^

this one obstinately wanted to go at the back, 

with the waitresses and owner

 

The cats seems to get plenty of affection from the waitresses/owner, so the cats aren't looking to make contact with you (when you haven't got any food to give them). In this sense it's different to owning a cat, I'm used to have my cat following me, wanting to sleep on my knees/shoulder/belly/face that I found the experience in Neko cafe a bit weird. I think that's why the waitress was also a bit of an entertainer, bringing us tuna to give away, playing with the cats, talking to us about the cats, etc.

This one loves paper

But somehow, it was super relaxing just to see these cats around, sleeping, playing...I came out of there, warm, relaxed and happy. For 880yens, I'd say that was well worth it!

Kanji Dico + Katakana game on ipod touch

Up till now I've been using KOTOBA, a free app, which is great but, being in Japan, I discovered that I really needed a dictionary where I can draw a kanji and it tells me the meaning. So yes, you can buy an electronic dictionnary but they're expensive and all the explanations are in japanese (yes kanjis), so good luck with that.
Here comes Japanese. All you have to do is pay £5.99 via itune, download the app, add traditional Chinese keyboard in the preferences of your ipod and here you go: write the kanji on your ipod and it tells you what it means (it's very forgiving).
Suddenly my perspectives are opening up....Signs of shop windows, words on flyers, brochures....Ahhhhhh.....
In fact, Hiragana and Katakana are taught first to schoolchildren (and japanese learner) and then progressively they learn kanjis. So up till now I needed the furigana (hiragana/katakana alphabets) next to the kanji to be able to start to understand what was going on.

That means that most kids' mangas have furigana, which means that at least I can pronounce the words (it doesn't mean I get everything they're saying though). But obviously the stories are limited to high-school love, music bands and co. Which is fine but sometimes you want something a little bit more....how can I say....grown up??
Yesterday, I was in this 2nd hand shop called BookOff (far too close to where I live)...Everywhere people reading mangas: adults, schoolchildren, teenagers... I was fascinated to see this little girl reading quickly through a manga. She was half my size and could read something it would take me days to decipher!
Out of sheer frustration, I bought a manga recommended by my friend JM, called SOIL, which has a bit of an atmosphere straight out of a David Lynch's movie. It's for grown-up, so of course no furigana, only kanjis. Now, armed with my new app and with bit of patience and time (got plenty of the latest) I can actually start to begin to understand what they're talking about. AWESOME.
(Actually I also found a website where the manga is translated in English! So I think I'll try to combine the 2 tools (dico+English version) to learn. Hurray!!!)

I found another fun app, this time to learn katakana. Katakana alphabet is used for transcription of words from foreign language (except Chinese). For example, "television" is written terebi (テレビ) and I'm really bad at it. The app is called KANA and costs £1.79. It's fun and repetitive so I'm hoping the dammed katakana will get in.

I also got lots of other apps but haven't played with them much so will update later...

Going to school (en caméra embarquée)

To satisfy all the people who asked me to take more photos of my surroundings, here you go, this is one of the way I take to go to school in the mornings.

So get down the stairs...

...arrive at the bottom of the stairs. Italian restaurant on left and bike park on right. You turn right...

 

...at the entrance door, turn right and you arrive...

...in this street. Continue straight on till the end of the street...

 

...where you turn left...

After scaring off a pedestrian, continue straight on...

...straight on..... (no I haven't been to McDo yet)

 ...straight on.....

 

...straight on and you arrive... 

...at a crossing.  Note the corridor for bikes, which is rarely used. So, after testing your katakana reading ability, you cross the street...

...and turn left. There's lots of bike parking everywhere,
one example here.

 So you go straight on...

...straight on...The yellow marking on the pavement is not to separate cycling and pedestrian lanes as I initially thought but is for blind people. There is some 3d motif on them so they can just follow. Note how it allows for the street lamp.

 

At the corner of the street, turn right.

Straight on....Post office on left (with red T), convenience store (AMPM) on right.

Another convenience store, Lawson, on left but we need to...

...turn right. 

Straight on, passing Softbank shop where I got my mobile from. Arigatou 

On right, a blue/yellow sign for the school and there is also a little red banner on left, you can't miss it.

 

Time for a little auto-portrait.

 

More stairs...

And here we are....

Time for coffee and cigarette...

メリークリスマス (Merry Christmas)

Christmas here can be summed up by pretty illuminations everywhere, couples buying each others presents, parties with friends, people queuing to have their photographs taken in front of a Christmas tree in the mall and even a group of santas on motorbikes...

So on Christmas eve, I went to school, then I hanged out with my German friend, Holger, who left today. We went to Uniglo to get warm clothes (sales were on) and later on had a nice dinner in small restaurant. A freezing cold wind was blowing so we ended up having a hot chocolate in Starbucks ^_^  People seems to gather in town, going where? I don't know, most things were closed apart from Karaoke bars and arcade games..

During the night, I thought I felt a mini-earthquake but I could have been dreaming.
This morning, the air is crisp, small snowflakes falling and decided to make myself a special Christmas  breakfast. Yummy.
Today, off for Christmas lunch at the house of JM, a French guy I met few weeks ago and his wife, T-san, who lived several years in London. Then, later on, I'll try to cycle to the Christmas party of J-san, whom I met at my first party here... Yes, maybe some people are extremely polite but I also think lots of people are just simply amazingly friendly.

Merry Christmas!

Why did I come to Japan

I thought it was time to tell you, if you don't already know, what is it with me and Japan.

I grew up in France where most of the children programs on TV are anime. So if you're watching lots of TV then you're used to see a certain Japanese aesthetic. When the characters aren't pursuing fantastic quests, you get to see day-to-day life things/habits: onigiri, lunch box, taking your shoes off before entering your home, the ritual of the bath, square schoolbag, schoolchildren wearing the typical navy blue/black uniform...

Later on, you can easily continue the immersion: read mangas, see Japanese movies, play Japanese games, cook Japanese food, go to exhibitions on Japanese art, read books on Japanese design, learn about Wabi-Sabi....Very addictive.

A couple of years ago, I decided to start learning Japanese with an objective in mind: be able to read a novel in Japanese. Why? I guess I work with books so I love the book as an object but I also wanted to crack the mystery of a Japanese book: you start 'from the end', the text is vertical, written in incomprehensible characters.  I needed to know, to understand.

Last year, on an impulse, I went to Japan. I never been to Japan, so far away, so expensive...I needed an impulse to stop thinking about it and just do it. I came back hungry to know more: how do people live over there? How do they think? What are the unspoken rules? Where do their aesthetic sense come from?

Another trip around Kyushu followed and now this, a fantastic opportunity to get a taste of living in Japan.
I wanted to see, how it is to live in one place for 3 months, with a routine (even if it's not work), to experience the day-to-day life. Would being bored in Japan be better than being bored than in Europe?

So, how is it after few weeks? I'm starting to see the negative aspects of life here: the isolation of being an obvious foreigner, not being able to read signs, labels or have a conversation with people. I often wonder if people are friendly or just super polite or bit of both? Why don't they let me practice my Japanese (isn't it ok to be uncomfortable for few minutes)? When I sit somewhere why am I surrounded by empty seats? Why are things sooo expensive, even outside of Tokyo?

I went through the same thing when I moved to England. So I knew it was going to happen and I wanted to experience it. Because, after few weeks, suddenly, things will appear more balanced, accurate, real....I came prepared so that's fine, plus it's good timing because I have lots of parties planned in next few days.

So would I still live here, even now my expectations are a bit down? Yes, you bet! Last night, for the first time the door to the roof was opened. I went there, the night sky not dark because of the lights of the city, I looked around and felt this rush of hapiness, to be here, now. But I have unfinished business in London. So this time in Japan is what it is, a short term experience that I will cherish.

International ATM - McGyver - Kiri

What do you do when it's Saturday night and you have £1 left in your wallet? 
As far as I remember from my last trips in Japan, you can't withdraw cash with a non-japanese card in banks, but should be fine at ATMs in convenience stores and post offices.
It's Saturday, the post offices are closed. So I walk and walk and walk, trying to use my card in Lawson, Family Mart, 7-eleven, even a bank just in case... Each time my card is rejected. S-t-r-e-s-s.
Yes I could ask people I know to lend me £10 but I'm too embarrassed to ask them plus I'm supposed to be a grown up so I decide to find a solution on my own.

(opening music of McGyver starts)
I get back home, flip open my laptop, get the internet cable which is hanging outside, connect the two together, google, search forums....and then....this...
Off I go again. I walk and walk and walk, trying to find these dammed ATMs.
At last, I find one which even speaks in English to me. But it's only when I see the cash that I realise I've made it. Hurray!!
(opening music of McGyver finishes, I've got the same pose as the photo below except instead of the plane there's the ATM)

To celebrate I go to the supermarket and buy: a baguette (super good), kiri (bit like Laughing Cow but less creamy), salad, tomatoes, olive oil for a luxurious western feast of tuna salad and kiri on bread. (Yeah I know I live the high life)
Afterwards direction the sento for a hot bath and back home to watch Dexter S3 under the hot air con.

Now that's what I call life!

^_^

Extra notes:
Afterwards I did more researches and found this website. I must have been unlucky until now because every single time I tried to use my card at banks it didn't work. But, from what I gathered on this website, it should be fine at Citibank and Shinsei Bank.
And, in the past, I must have been lucky that each time I tried to withdraw money at convenience stores it worked (well up till this evening). Strange....

Concert

Craving to discover good Japanese bands, I picked up a free music magazine in a record shop and decided to look up on the internet all the bands listed (well there weren't many names I could decipher). And the result is DOES (pronounced DO-SEU in Japanese), who will play in January in Fukuoka. I haven't been to a concert in Japan yet so decided to go to theirs.

Next step was to buy the ticket.
I haven't got a Japanese card and don't intend to pay the charge to use my English card so I was looking for a way to pay in cash. I asked my neighbour (who happens to like the DOES, cool) how to do that and I discovered that there is a code for each entry in the concert list.
So to buy the ticket, you go to any convenience shop (Lawson and co.) armed with your code, go to a machine in the shop and follow the instructions on the screen (with the help of the shop assistant to understand what's written (dammed kanjis!)).
You choose the date of the concert, how many people are going, give your name, telephone number, etc...Once it's all done, you get a receipt,which you bring to the till. They then issue you a proper ticket and sign* the receipt.

DOES here I come!!!

*Signature: in Japan, adult don't sign the way we do in Europe. They have a hanko (or personal seal).

Inside a shopping trolley

The first time I went to the supermarket was a bit daunting because there are lots of ingredients we usually don't see in European supermarkets. But I was lucky: I'm a regular customer of the Japan Centre in London so could recognise the stuff I like. Pffff....

Here, most of the seafood and fish are pretty cheap, which is really convenient as I love this kind of food. Yeah I also got some cans, just in case I got too lazy one evening :-) And no I haven't eaten wales meat yet but I did eat sword fish sushi, octopus, salmon, tuna, crab, squid, tiny baby fishes (yeah no pity)...

Sauce-wise, I always need to ask people to point me to the right bottle as I can't read most kanjis. First time, I stayed 10mn starring at the bottles, trying to guess what they contained but the magic didn't happen so had to gather up some courage to ask an old lady to show me the mirin (which, incidentally, was just in front of me and written in furagana, which I can read. Baka!)

The thing you notice while doing your shopping is the number of plastic wrapping used. Most fresh goods (vegetables, fruits or mayo as on the picture) are wrapped (sometimes individually); then, things that can leak are wrapped in small individual bag at the till and then you put all your wrapped up objects in big plastic bag....In other words, wrap the wrapping of the wrapped item in a bigger wrap.

Otherwise, the process in the supermarket is mostly like everywhere: you get the food, go to the till but then it differs as the cashier transfer your goods from one shopping bag to another one while announcing the price of each items (sometimes); you pay and then bring your shopping to another counter where you put all the items in a plastic bag. That way there is no queues at the till. Clever, isn't it?

hyaku en shop

The hyaku en shops or 100 Yen shops are an institution in Japan. Everything is sold for 100yens (+5% tax) except for product with price tags on them.
There are thousands of 100 yen shops across Japan and the one I went to takes up the entire top floor of Daiso, a shopping mall.
You can find anything from household goods to garden ware through stationary and tableware...Anything you want, you find. Personally I went there to get cutlery (saucepans, chopsticks, measuring cup), ashtray (a dice...it was the least ugly design, see below), towels and more stuff.

Of course, you're not in it for beautiful design and high-quality stuff but at the same time what would you expect for 105 yens?

Sento

Today I went for the first time to a Sento (public bath).

As you can see there are 2 doors, one on the left for women, one on the right for men. This is the time to get your kanji right!

When you come in, you pay, in my case 440yens to this old man who sits between the two doors. Prices are lower for children.

The interior was covered entirely in old wood, looking like it came from another time.

You leave your shoes in a little individual cabinet, take the key (a wooden rectangle with a number) and go in 'room' hidden from the entrance by panels.

At the difference to onsen you have to bring your own material: soap, shampoo and towel. of course you can buy most of these items at the entrance desk but they're pretty basic.

The main room has chairs and mirrors everywhere (yerk!).Then you get naked, putting all your clothes in a bigger individual cabinet, take the key (another rectangle but not in wood) and go in the bath area.

The bath area is a big tiled room with, on each sides, little 'station', each of them with 2 taps (cold/hot), and 2 baths, a small one in corner and big one in center. Not sure what the small one is for but will investigate.

Then you take a low plastic stool, a basin and sit at your station. Wash yourself thoroughly, rinsing soap with basin filled with water. It's important there is no soap or shampoo left when you enter the bath.

Once all is cleaned out, you go to the bath (lovely and hot).... While I was there, none of the other 3 women (mostly grannies) joined me so I think there might be an unspoken rule not to get in when other people are there, if possible.

Afterwards, you rinse yourself at your station, clean the station, dry a little bit and go back to main room to get dressed.

A funny thing in the sento I went to was that the hairdryer's cable went through an old box. You had to put 20yens in the box to active the hairdryer. Looked very old and basic but the system works.

I can tell you it's definitely worth a try: you come out of there warm and completely relaxed.