Unfortunately, the above picture was taken on a rather grey day. But otherwise, I thought this spot was very cool. I had never been to this particular river (yes, it runs through the city in which I live... but still, hadn't ever seen it).



This is Fushimi. It's an extrememly busy area, but from what I can gather, it's mostly busy because it's between Ekimae and Sakae (see Spotlight Sakae and Spotlight Ekimae). It's literally the subway stop between those two places on the central subway line. Yet, it has plenty to offer. For example, when Christopher and I arrived in Japan, our hotel was located in this area. And our first dinner out for "yaki tori" (see Meat on a Stick) was also in Fushimi. Not only that, but I come to this area (on the eastern side, away from the river which is on the western side) at least once a month to pay rent at our agent's office. OK, so that's not really a draw... ;) Also, if I were interested in joining a gym, all my co-workers say the sports center here is the way to go.

For entertainment, this place has the usual assortment of restaurants, bars, karaoke places, and shops. If you like Hard Rock Café, Nagoya's branch is here. All in all, I think this is a pretty accessible, fun place to look around.

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I've never considered myself to be a fashionista. In fact, I really like jeans and t-shirts or sweats. So, I've had to adjust to wearing corporate-appropriate clothes everyday to work and fun outfits out. In Japan, fashion is definitely an institution. People are far more casual in the US.



Moreover, Nagoya is known for its fashion. You may have heard of Harajuku in Tokyo. That's the stylish part of Tokyo where the young adults (and adults) dress up in Victorian style garb, or costumes, or any other range of things. Nagoya, on the other hand, is a little less costume-y (although you can still see that kind of thing around). Below is a picture that Leah took of two girls walking down the street in Nagoya. The way they dress is not the norm (you can see everyone else around them in jeans, shirts, etc); however, they are certainly not weird for dressing this way.
On the other hand, this style is contrasted by women who regularly wear kimonos. I'm not entirely sure why they wear kimonos regularly, but here are some of the reasons that I've been able to find out: for a formal event such as an anniversary party, for a wedding, for a religious event, for a performance, or as formal wear (or business wear in some cases). There are plenty of kimono shops around. Kimonos can run the range from reasonable to ridiculously expensive. Christopher or I could buy one for ourselves for about 150 to 200 dollars. But wealthy families could pay up to 5 to 10 thousand dollars for a new wedding kimono. Many times, the kimonos are handed down through the women in the family.

Overall, I would say that the Japanese business people are traditional and not really outstanding. I was at a meeting where all the men were wearing either black or blue suits and white or light-colored dress shirts. But, they still have more style than me. I'm working on it! :)

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It's the simple things in life that make it worth living right? Right. The following little treasures were amassed for your reading/viewing pleasure. Sometimes the English is funny, sometimes overly serious, sometimes incomprehensible. Enjoy. :)



I love kindly feeling.

Yummy... fresh brain...
Not sure what to think, but I do love dogs!

At the Karaoke bar:
Or else!

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We were out on a day trip to the mall with a friend when he asked, "So, you guys want to come to the Dragons game with some of us?" Uhm, yeah! So we threw in our money for two tickets with the gang and head out on a Sunday afternoon to see the Dragons at their home, the Nagoya Dome.



Before getting in, we stopped by the mall (literally next door) for a little pre-game lunch and beverages. I had ramen. I missed the hotdogs and peanuts a bit, but I suppose we can't have everything. Then we met up with everyone and walked the 50 yards from the mall to the entrance. We filed in as security checked in our bags and punched our tickets.

We walked up to the appropriate section. A ways up but between home and first, so not a bad view. After having one of the Japanese members of our group ask a nice couple if we couple swap seats with them so everyone could be together, we settled in for the game. Below is a look at the dome.I have to say, it was a pretty uneventful first half or so of the game. No one from our team was really scoring or even making bases. The crowd, though, kept up the energy with small plastic bats of sorts. They would use two of the bats together as noise makers and clap and chant in unison. There were the usual beer, coke, and food vendors there. But, if I remember correctly, they didn't holler as they walked up and down the aisles. Then, after the 7th inning break - which, by the way, wasn't the 7th inning stretch that I was hoping for - the game got much more exciting. It was like the team was just waiting until then to really play. As you can see, the Dragons hit 5 runs in during the 7th, and another run in the bottom of the 9th to finish the game. All in all, it was a lot of fun and the company was good, so I'd definitely go again. And, since it's in a dome, I don't risk the usual sunburn I get from going to the ballgame!

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Almost one month ago, we had a long weekend. It was Japanese Golden Week. This means that practically the whole nation has a four day weekend. Many spend it traveling around Japan or short trips elsewhere. We decided to hop over to Inuyama. Inuyama is home to the oldest original wooden castle still in existance in Japan.



It took us a relatively short ride (40 minutes) on a local train to get to this city. The weather was great, so we were certainly lucky there. We got off the train and asked a local (well, she looked like a local to us) to point us in the direction of the castle. It's fortunate we asked, because right out of the gate, I think we would have gone the wrong direction. But anyway, we walked the 12 minutes or so over to the location of the castle. 500 yen got us tickets to the castle, a small but nice museum, and another small but nice Kabuki theater museum across the street.

The castle itself sits at the top of a rather large hill, and the stone path / stairs leading up to it are less than smooth. Before you can go inside, you have to take off your shoes and carry them around with you in a plastic grocery sack. Sacks provided. I have a theory that the city workers ask tourists to do this for 2 reasons. 1 - It's important to show respect for the construction that still stands, and 2 - To bet on how many tourists will fall down the polished and extremely steep wooden staircase inside. It was more like climbing a ladder with two-way traffic. At the uppermost staircase, people could not even go up and down at the same time. This led to a traffic jam or two.

The view from the top of the castle was really great. The top floor had a viewing platform around the outside of the building. While this area didn't scream safety, we still felt comfortable. I can't say so for the couple who were in front of us though. They were scooting around the outside of the building, backs to the wall.

After checking out the view, we headed over to the two small museums. Spending 5 minutes in each was totally enough time to get the scoop. I mean, the museums were super small. Really really small. In one were cool parade floats that are all lit up, and of course, wooden as well. Once checking out these, we decided to head back home. We'll have to go back to Inuyama again sometime. I hear that there is a nice Monkey Park to see. I'm assuming there are a lot of monkeys, but I'll withhold judgment for now.

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I've come to appreciate many things about Japan. However, there are a few things that I don't like or don't understand. Here's a list of "thumbs up" things and "thumbs down" things. You can judge for yourself! :)

Thumbs Up
1. Hilarious variety shows on TV
2. Vending machines EVERYWHERE
3. The widest selection of cell phones and cell phone accessories I've ever seen
4. You can buy a Starbucks drink right outside the ballpark and be allowed to go in with it
5. Strangers are extremely helpful if you ask for directions. They may even walk you part of the way there.
6. Conservation of water and electricity is a pretty high priority for most
7. Japanese castles are very cool
8. No tipping at restaurants
9. Sick people wear masks so as not to infect the non-sick. I can appreciate that on a crowded subway train.
10. Take out sushi rocks

Thumbs Down
1. Cosmetics are twice the price as the US
2. No one opens the door for others
3. I can never find a trash can when I need one
4. Eastern style toilets make me feel like I'm participating in urban camping
5. Fish is often served with the head still on. Yuck.
6. Conservation of paper doesn't even come close to the aforementioned #6
7. Public bathrooms may or may not have paper towels or hand dryers, so a third of the time you come out with clean, but wet, hands
8. Shoe sizes come in S, M, L, and LL. Somehow that takes some magic out of shoe shopping.
9. Japan's smoking population is pretty large meaning smelly bars and restaurants
10. Mayonnaise comes on everything. You have to make sure to ask first to get your order without it, just in case.

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For those of you still keeping up with this blog of ours, you may have noticed a lack of posts lately.. Well, we lost our internet connection. It was our own fault, really. Never the less it was extremely irritating as well. My Japanese language skills are improving, but not enough to be able to understand a full phone call to our ISP, Biglobe. It seems we made a small mistake: We never paid for their service. Much like most Americans would, we waited for a bill for the first month, and since it never came, I think that we forgot about it.

Regardless, expect updates to come soon.

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Can you live in Japan on a budget? Lots of helpful advice givers told us that the answer was no. They said that living in Japan is super expensive and we better be prepared to pay lots for little. Fortunately, that's not true! yay! In fact, living in Japan is totally reasonable - price wise. You just have to know not to shop at expensive department stores every weekend, and not pay for parking in the city.

View Exhibit A:

Wow! This so-delicious-lunch that I bought myself at the take out sushi place down the street cost about 6 bucks. These are freshly made everyday and given a lovely spot on the counter next to the tuna and cucumber rolls. In the bottom right-hand corner, you can see some boiled veggies. In this case, carrots, mushroom, and Japanese radish (daikon). Of course, to the left of that is some rice with a small plum in the center. In the top left-hand corner is a small portion of pasta salad. And then in the main entrée section some cabbage, a slice of omlette-style egg, three pieces of fried chicken and a slice of yummy salmon steak. 6 dollars is a pretty average price for a take-out lunch like this one. However, if I had really felt like it, I could have walked just a little bit farther to the discount market for a half-price lunch like this one. Although, I think I went out around 2pm, and the half-price market sells out of lunches by 12:30 (unfortunately, it's not a well-kept secret).

Also, daily goods seem to be the same price as home or cheaper.
View Exhibit B:
I picked up some stuff at the Wal-greens-style store earlier today. You're looking at two refills of fabric softener, one 1kg box of laundry detergent, one package of toilet paper and one package of paper towels. (And behind them is my gray grocery bag that I picked up 5 months ago at the dollar store). This stuff cost 836 yen. About 9 dollars. I don't know what I was expecting, but I had to do a double-take at the register because I already had the equivalent of 20 dollars out ready to pay for my stuff.

So, can you spend a lot in Japan? Yes. For example, Gap jeans in the US cost 58 dollars. In Japan, they cost 98 dollars. There are Japanese-style barbeque places where you can easily spend 50 dollars a person. But, you don't have to. In my opinion, one can live relatively easily
on a budget. To be fair, living in New England was about the same, if not slightly more costly.

So, if you haven't decided where to take a vacation yet, maybe you should consider Japan! :)

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