I have had a couple of students erroneously tell me that Japanese people don't like sweets. I beg to differ. It's true that desserts at a restaurant aren't common, at least not when we go out with people. And, perhaps they don't have dessert after dinner on a daily basis. But, there are hundreds of dessert choices at the supermarket and convenience stores. And I always see people snacking on sweet things. Not to mention, there seems to be an affinity for pastries and candy. I've given exhibits below to demonstrate what I mean.





What you see above is proof that Japanese taste buds are attuned to sugar. I mean, 5 flavors of Kit Kat? And that's not even including the chocolate varieties. Hello, sweet tooth anyone? :) I don't mind, myself. I have these pictures because I've "sampled" all the above.... to help with ..er... my cultural studies! It's true! ;)

And then there are the traditional desserts made with Anco (red bean paste). It's a different kind of sweet entirely. But it's sweet nonetheless, and you can find it in many, many things. Too many to name. They also had shaved ice for sale on the streets during the summer. The common flavors appeared to be green tea and something red, probably strawberry.

So, with that, I rest my case. A sweet tooth can find haven in Japan. :)

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The area of Osu has a lot to offer. It's within walking distance of both Fushimi and Sakae (see previous blogs on those areas), has many smaller family-owned furniture stores with everything from modern sinks to traditional household shrines (not that I need a shrine in my house, but if I did, I could get one here), has good food - both Japanese and international, and is called "Little Akihabara" because of its electronics stores like Goodwill above.



The fact that it's within walking distance of many places makes it a perfect first and/or last stop on a Sunday afternoon stroll. Not to mention, if it's raining, you can still be outside while under cover at the Osu Arcade, a semi-outdoor mall. This mall doesn't have it all, I'm not gonna lie. But it does have at least 6 small shoe stores. So that's pretty much all I need anyway. :) And it has electronics shops and hobby shops for everything from video games to model airplanes. It also has my favorite (tiny!) grocery store that sells deliciously fresh tuna and salmon, as well as veggies, drinks and things, at low prices. And I'm not the only one who thinks it's great. My ex-neighbor (who is Japanese and moved to Australia with her husband) also knew of this place and was impressed that I'd found it and shopped there. It was a good moment for me. :)

This neighborhood is important historically, because it's home to Osu Kannon temple. This temple is visited regularly by tour buses as well as by the locals. I must admit, at this point the temple has lost some of its "newness" for me. I rarely marvel at it anymore. But, I remember seeing it for the first time. It's funny, you walk out of the subway, go straight 50 yards, pass the Circle K, then pass the 7-11, turn left, and you're in the courtyard of this huge temple. Two weeks ago, I was waiting next to the subway to meet Christopher, and a couple walked up to me. I guess they thought that I looked like I knew where I was, because they asked me how to get to the Osu Kannon walking trail. I said, "Do you see the 7-11? Go there and turn left." Another good moment for me. :)

Last but not least, "otaku" (akin to saying 'nerds') also love to call this area home away from home on the weekends. Many stores cater to fans of manga and anime as well as cosplay (see blog about the cosplay parade). And it's not unusual to see girls walk by in maids' outfits or Victorian garb. You just never know who will be dressed up.

At any rate, I love this area. My only complaint... very little stays open past 7pm on weekdays. I guess that the difference between big commercial areas and historic districts with mom and pop shops.

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I was discussing hospitals with a student the other day. She's a doctor, and she used to work in the ER for a bit. Now, I believe she has her office somewhere else; we didn't get that far. At any rate, she said, "There was a homeless person that the police brought in because he couldn't stand. But then he left." I asked why he didn't stay.



She answered that he didn't have enough money. Of course. I felt dumb, that's the same thing that happens in the US, after all. However, I've come to feel that health care in Japan is SO cheap that everyone, even if they don't have a lot of money, can afford it.

That's not entirely true, but let's take a look at why I think so. :) We've been to the hospital three times so far. Seeing the doctor at the hospital, by the way, is equivalent to any 'ol doctor's visit. If I have a cold that won't go away, I go to the hospital. If I twisted my ankle, I go to the hospital, etc. We tried calling the day before we went to get an appointment, but they said it was full and to just come in a wait. We'd likely be seen within three hours of our arrival. Uhm, sounds like a long wait, right? But, we went anyway.

We arrived at 8:40am. Proceeded to the reception desk and got processed. Then we waited at our particular door, this time it was A-6. (For an explanation about this, see Christopher's post entitled "Hospitals in the Land of the Rising Sun"). A little bit later, we saw the doctor. When Christopher and I left it was BEFORE 10am. That means we spent less than 1.5 hours to get there, get processed, see the doctor, and leave.

So, how much was this speedy visit to the hospital without an appointment? Less than 20 bucks. Need I say more?

So, how is it that costs are so low? I asked around. Turns out that the government (i.e. The Man) publishes an enormous book each year of prices for medical treatment. So, a laceration of 3 inches - 5 dollars; sprained joint - 10 dollars. I have no idea what the actual costs are, but you get the idea. Seems like the State could intervene a bit more back home, in comparison. I have heard that actual hospitalization here costs a pretty penny, but let's hope I don't have to find out! I'd like to continue believing that the Japanese gov't stepped in long ago and decided that outrageous medical costs aren't going to be a problem here.

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Lost? Just ask a stranger. Of course, it helps if you speak ten words or so of Japanese, but if you don't, you should try anyway! It's amazing just how far people will go out of their way to help you if you're lost. Even if you're touristy-looking. For example, while in Tokyo, we wanted to head out in Shinjuku.



Unfortunately, it was our first time there, and we had next to no clue how to arrive at our destination. As such, we stood on the side of the sidewalk, and started to guess how much the people walking by knew about the area. We decided to stop two girls, one of them was in a school uniform. We thought, if she's in a school uniform, she must go to school around there and know the area. However, we had guessed incorrectly. The girls told us politely that they had no idea where we should go. We stood there a bit longer, and stopped a young guy walking by. We told him what we were looking for and he started to point in a direction.

Rather than let that be that, he took us to the nearest city map (usually they are pretty easily found around subway and train stations). Then, he plotted our route for us. But his courtesy didn't stop there. He said he would walk us at least part way there, since it wasn't out of his direction. He was totally being just nice at that point, because it was in fact the opposite way he had been walking. After about 8 to 12 minutes of walking, we made it there. He didn't just walk us part of the way. He walked us ALL the way there. We thanked him over and over and invited him to come sit and have a drink with us (we were on vacation after all). But he declined and left. Wow, how helpful was he??? And, by the way, the man in the photo is the one who helped. I can imagine someone from home spending a long 5 minutes explaining how to get somewhere, but I can't imagine someone from home actually walking there. I was impressed.

There have been other instances of people helping both of us find what we needed. But this case definitely stands out the most. Subarashi!

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On Saturday, there was a Cosplay parade. What's Cosplay you ask? Costume + play. So, adults dress up as characters from anime, TV, and movies. Think, Halloween - only, it doesn't matter what time of year it is. :) Also, not everyone thinks this is a cool activity, but for those who do - the parade is a time to strut their stuff.



So, who did we find at the Cosplay Parade? We didn't dress up ourselves, but we took a prime spot on the parade route to catch a few pics and check out the costumes.
The guy on the right is Auron from Final Fantasy. I'm not sure who the girl on the left is. It was extremely humid, so I can't even image how gross they must have felt after the parade was over. I was in a cotton shirt, myself, and let's just say I was "glistening". Believe it or not, this was just the beginning of many festivities surrounding Cosplay over the weekend. That night, there were fireworks. Also, the next day (Sunday) there was another event in Oasis 21 (see Spotlight Sakae) where Cosplayers gave performances and competed for best costume. I think that the team from Brazil won best costume. We didn't attend the Oasis 21 event, but if you're interested, you can find video from it online at the Cosplay 2008 website. In the meantime, maybe you should get crackin' on what you'll wear for Halloween this year! ;)

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As some may already know, the two of us plus a visiting friend went to Tokyo about two weeks ago. The trip was amazing all around. One of the sights we took in was the Tsukiji Fish Market. This is a world famous market, fully functional, totally hazardous, and fast paced. In fact, this locale even made the list of the top 1000 places you must see before you die in a book that our friend had read.



This wasn't any walk in the park. You can't just saunter up at 10am, Starbucks in hand. Oh no. We woke up at 5:20am. That's AM if you weren't reading closely. ;) This is after we had spent the previous night out at dinner and karaoke with friends. I pretended that I was a morning person back when I played volleyball and we had 7am workouts. I pretended again when I worked for a coffee shop in college and woke up at 4:45am. However, I was purely pretending. 5:20am is not a happy time for me. Nevertheless, persuaded by our friend's fervor (she is a morning person), off we went. We took a taxi and got dropped off at the outside market that lines the bay (Not to be confused with the inside market. The inside one is the actual Tsukiji market). After pretty much discounting everything they had for sale, we headed in to the market. It was pandemonium if you ask me. I have absolutely no idea how people aren't seriously injured on a daily basis. Men were quite literally racing around on motorized buggies of sorts.

My description isn't doing it justice. I guess that's why it's on that list of places you should see for yourself. The market was enormous. There was an open area where the auction for that day's tuna took place (see the first photo), but beyond that there were rows and rows and long rows of booths for fish and seafood. Many merchants were in the process of killing their "wares." I'll spare you the photos, though. Many had tanks of live fish. And others sold other types of dried food and things I didn't recognize. It was a lot to take in. I think the most surprising this for me was the shear speed with which everything was taking place. More than once, I had to get myself out of the way of a man on buggy-thing, a man with a wheelbarrow, or a man with crates.

Once we had gotten enough to fill our sightseeing duties, we left and browsed the outdoor market once again. We headed back to the hotel and hung out until a couple hours later when we could once again pursue our tourist agenda. The next place we headed was Akihabara (or Akiba for y'all "in the know"). But that's another post. :)

Note: The second picture was taken by yours truly, but the first was taken by our friend. And used with permission as long as we give her credit. (Thanks, L.T.!)

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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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