Sumo

Speaking of giants, the real highlight of last weekend was going to see Sumo at the Ryogoku Kokugikan. I love watching Sumo, but neither of us had actually been to see a live bout before. Saturday was day 14 of the Aki Basho, the second-to-last day of the Fall Tournament.

The big match of the day was between Mongolian Yokozuna Asashoryu, who has absolutely dominated the sport for the past three years, and Ozeki Chiyotaikai, known for his fierce pushing and thrusting attack. Despite the fact that with his 12-1 record Asashoryu was already guaranteed to win the tournament, the fight turned out to be quite the barn burner, complete with flying zabuton and a judges' conference to determine the winner. (Ultimately, the referee's original decision was upheld.)

We were up in the cheap seats, so we didn't get to see any of the current big names up close, but sitting near the announcer's booth meant I got to snap this picture of former Hawaiian Yokozuna Musashimaru being interviewed. The guy with the mutton chops is another retired wrestler, a former Komusubi named Toki.

That Blue and Yellow Giant

Last weekend we went to IKEA for furniture shopping. Not an excuse, but we basically ran out of stores to visit which have reasonable bookshelves. Turned out, it was rather easy to get there from our apartment, even though this IKEA store is located in the prefecture next to Tokyo.

Once got there, it was the same blue and yellow giant of a store as ones in the US. Same layout, and same concepts (that they charge lots for shipping). Prices were pretty reasonable and it was jam-packed with people, as we've come to expect from IKEA. We found the bookshelves we liked, so in the end the trip was worth it. I may go there occasionally, but I'd doubt Steve will want to come with me considering how much he likes IKEA...

By the way, IKEA Japan's online assistant (pictured above) is called Anna. I wonder if she is a Swede who speaks Japanese, or a Japanese who looks kinda Swedish and call herself Anna?

PUFFY x Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra - Hazumu Rhythm

Puffy and Skapara team up again for this special single celebrating Lipton Tea's 100th Anniversary in Japan.

Keirou no Hi

Happy Respect for the Aged Day, everyone!

Stroopwafels

So the biggest disappointment of my trip to Amsterdam was learning that I had mis-remembered my Pulp Fiction, and that France is the only country in which you can find a Royale with Cheese. (Duh! Why else would they be talking about Le Big Mac?) But it is true that the Dutch drown their french fries in mayonnaise. And I would expect no less from the culture that invented bitterballen. People claim these are little meat-filled croquettes, but they look and taste more like deep-fried gravy. Yum!

Still, the clear winner in the Amsterdam junk food derby is the stroopwafel. Two cinnamon graham crackers with caramel in the middle. The extra grote equals extra deliciousness!

Speaking of Garbage

Here's how they do it in Amsterdam. The garbage trucks have a big vacuum arm that they use to suck the trash right out of the cans. Very high-tech.

Garbage Madness

In Japan there are strict rules for when and what type of garbage you can put out for collection. For example, our Togoshi area has the following rule:

Tuesdays – Non-Combustibles (not suitable for burning)
Wednesdays and Saturdays – Combustibles
Fridays – Recyclables

Seems easy enough? Not so. Non-Combustibles include plastic and vinyl stuff. This means that when we get deli food from a grocery store (which is often), food scraps go to Combustibles and plastic tray that food came in goes to Non-Combustibles.

Recyclables are more fun. It includes cans, bottles, papers, and PET bottles (the kind like water bottles), and each category has to be in own bag. Papers include juice and milk cartons - we need to tear it open, rinse it & dry it before putting away. PET bottles are the ridiculous one of all – because, you see, cap and plastic cover label are Non-Combustibles but PET bottles themselves are recyclable! So, every time we have a drink that comes in a PET bottle (which is almost every day), we have to peel plastic cover label and put it away in a Non-Combustible bag together with cap, and a naked bottle goes in a different bag. Why can someone come up with a PET bottle with labels printed on it or something???

Thus, we currently have 5 different bags/containers in our tiny kitchen to combat this garbage madness – Combustibles, Non-Combustibles, cans, bottles, papers, and PET bottles.

Grrrrrrr!

My latest favorite chocolate

It is no secret that I am a major chocoholic. Part of the good things about being back in Japan is that I now get to try all kinds of fun chocolates and snacks all the time.

"Takenoko no Sato" is basically a chocolate-covered cookie in a shape of bamboo shoot (don't ask), and has been a popular snack ever since it came out almost 30 years ago. My latest favorite is the "autumn limited edition" special version of Takenoko no Sato. It is a coffee-flavored cookie covered with chestnut-flavor chocolate. Yam!

There is another "Autumn" special version of Takenoko no Sato, this one is a baked-apple flavored cookie covered with vanila chocolate. Stay tuned for the tasting report...

The Rembrandt Cipher

An advertisement in Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport for an exhibit celebrating Rembrandt's 400th birthday. Smells like an attempt to milk the Dan Brown cash cow to me.

Timing

It figures I would be out of town when Princess Kiko finally decided to give birth to a baby boy, the first male heir to be born in the Imperial family in 41 years. I'm in Amsterdam on business, otherwise I'd be out there on the streets of Tokyo with everyone else, smashing store windows and overturning cars in celebration. Banzai!

Update:
It has come to my attention that my reports of rioting in the streets of Tokyo may have been greatly exaggerated. I regret the error.

-S

A Word of Caution

If you happen to be in a Freshness Burger and are feeling adventurous, go ahead and try the Bacon Omelet Burger. The Green Onion & Miso Burger isn't bad either. But avoid the Avocado Banana Smoothie. It's not nearly as good as it sounds.

Fun with Movie Titles

Spend enough time in a video store in Japan, and you'll notice that the names for American movies can be very different from their familiar US titles. Most often the English title is just written phonetically in Japanese, although it is sometimes shortened or modified to be easier to understand. For example, the Tom Clancy thriller The Sum of All Fears doesn't really roll off the tongue in Japanese, so it was changed to "Total Fears." Similarly, John Travolta's Domestic Disturbance sounded better to Japanese ears as "Domestic Fear." And the Harrison Ford / Brad Pitt IRA drama The Devil's Own simply became "Devil."

Denzel Washington's 2003 action film Out of Time was called "Time Limit" here, but apparently nothing was wrong with the name itself because "Out of Time" is what they're calling the new Wesley Snipes action film Hard Luck (which also goes by the name Nine Lives, just to make things more confusing).

Last year's airline thriller Red Eye was released in Japan as "Panic Flight." A shameless attempt to ride the coat-tails of Jodie Foster's Panic Room? The Japanese distributors of Flightplan must have been furious.

The strangest one I've seen recently is the Broken Lizard slasher-comedy Club Dread. In Japanese they dropped the pun for the generic "Mystery Tour," and the packaging gives no indication that the film is a comedy. Not that I found it terribly funny, but anyone looking for a serious horror film is likely to be even more disappointed.

For the 2002 film Like Mike someone got clever and came up with their own pun - "Dribble X." Bonus points for synergizing a crappy sports-comedy franchise with a crappy action movie franchise.

Other classic examples include the Ralph Macchio Karate Kid series, which was known here as "Best Kid."

And the 1991 Keanu Reeves / Patrick Swayze undercover surf-cop drama Point Break, which was cryptically named "Heart Blue."

But my all-time favorite still has to be the 1987 Shelley Long / Bette Midler "comedy" Outrageous Fortune. Nothing fancy, just good old-fashioned truth in advertising. The Japanese title, "うるさい女たち," translates as "The Annoying Women."

Desktop

I found this little PC (complete with desk) sitting on the curb outside our apartment last night. Perhaps it was left as an offering at the shrine next door, or maybe some little office elf had been kicked out onto the street.

The Bed

The bed frame we ordered a little while ago (see the picture) was finally delivered this past Saturday. The first furniture we got upon arriving was a mattress so that we'd have a place to sleep on, but "sleeping on a mattress on the floor" was not as comfortable as I thought it'd be. Sure, the mattress is thicker than typical Japanese futon, but still I was waking up with a back pain almost every day. For a month.

Now the bed is here - I am so cherishing the joy of sleeping on a mattress off the floor. How wonderful it is, to sleep on a comfortable bed and to wake up without a back pain! Sleep tight friends, family, and kitties.

Back to the Old Turf

Steve and I were back in Madison last week for work. It was only a month ago that we left Madison for Tokyo, nonethless we very much missed our friends, family, and beautiful city. Maybe because we haven't quite settled in Tokyo yet, it felt like I was home when I was in Madison.

The trip was too short, but most importantly we were able to see lots of our dear friends there. What an awesome bunch of people - I feel very fortunate to have been friends with each one of them.

And, most most importantly, I got to see my lovely kitties!