A typical Life

Today I’m going to let you in on one of my not so well kept secrets!  I LOVE BUTTER and I’m not ashamed to say it!  I don’t need an intervention I just need to figure out what I can do to fix the butter shortage in Japan.

Due to the shortage, I have been on a mission of late to find butter in my two local supermarkets and the excitement in my life is that I found some the other night!  I now have two packages waiting for me in the freezer - but I am considering selling them to the highest bidder since that’s the first time I have seen butter in about a week! 

I wonder if it’s a crime to deal in black market butter?  I could buy some milk, there is a lot of that around, and set hubby and I to churning while we watch the baseball games at night? 

But then we might end up looking like Popeye, with one bulging bicep, which wouldn’t be a good look….

Photo Credit:
Flickr, William Heck, a stockman

There’s not a lot new in my world lately. I haven’t been out and about very much this week for no particular reason except that the weather hasn’t been cooperating. It’ hasn’t been too cold or too rainy, just rather overcast and with a bit of an overall haze/smog which is a bit depressing and not conducive to sightseeing and picture taking.

So, today I decided to I walk with my hubby to the train station. On the way, we made a detour through the park to see what looked like a whole school of children out for recess.

. It was quite a sight! All the kids wear hats in a color assigned to their class or age group and there was a sea of colorful caps in the park with the joyful sound of children playing in the background. It just made me smile!

Here are some of the kids just hanging out.

Tomorrow is a Showa day, a national holiday to commemorate the birthday of a former emperor and part of Golden Week in Japan, so maybe the teachers decided to give everyone a break for the morning. The kid’s were sure having fun!

….when you have Kleenex sticking out of your nose!  But that’s just how Hideo Higashikokubaru, a one-time comedian using the stage name Sonomanma Higashi, and currently the Governor of Miyazaki prefecture in southern Japan, is portrayed on this tissue box cover.

I found this product while browsing through my local mall and just couldn’t stop laughing.  I thought it was hilarious even before my friend told me who he was.   He ran for governor on the slogan “dogenkasento ikan,” or “something must be done” and I know just what he should do - get them to stop selling this product.  He just looks silly!

If you don’t believe me check out his photo on the Miyazaki Prefecture website. 

The other day I went into Asakusa for the day and caught these two cool cats lounging around….they were guarding the front gate of the Asakusa shrine (Saja - sama) which is ironic as off to one side of the temple there was a smaller shrine with hundreds of small white ceramic cats on display.

I was in Asakusa to see the Jabusame (Japanese archery on horseback) demonstration at Sumida Park. It was a cool, overcast day and it was threatening to rain.  The rain held off long enough for the demonstration which was great because it was amazing.    I’m still working on the photos from the event and will post some soon, in the meantime here’s a larger shot of my two cool friends….

…or I should say an “e-re-be-ta” apology. This one is for my Dad…

When I got into the elevator today this sign was posted. You don’t need to know how to read Japanese to figure out that on April 24th they will be working on the elevator from 10-12PM.

That’s good information to have and I won’t plan on going anywhere during that time as I live on the 12th floor. I don’t mind the trip down the stairs so much as the one back up!

The thing that gave me a kick was that the little guy was bowing in apology for any inconvenience that he may cause. Now here’s the best part (for my Dad) - check out the company name on his hat…

Even in Japan, huh Dad?

For those of you that are saying “I don’t get it” that’s because you have no way of knowing that my Dad spent his entire career working on elevators. His first job, at the ripe old age of 17, was installing elevators for Otis Elevator Company. He’s been retired for a while now but he still checks out all of the elevators and escalators that we ride on (and tells us what’s wrong with them)!

Pepsiman was the mascot of Pepsi in Japan in the mid 1990’s. He was a cool dude who would deliver a Pepsi to those in need of refreshment and I need him now!

I drink Pepsi, not Coke, and not Coffee - my morning jolt is delivered by an ice cold Pepsi - I know it’s not healthy but it’s a hard habit to break.

While I can find Coke seemingly everywhere in Japan finding a plain old, ordinary, non-diet Pepsi seems to be near impossible. There are only two locations that I can get Pepsi in my neighborhood - Carrefour and Costco.

Today I put the last can of Pepsi from Costco in the fridge and though that I’d better get some more so that I didn’t have withdrawals tomorrow morning. So I pedalled off to Carrefour only to find the Pepsi shelf empty, yes empty! Oh no! A stock person was nearby so I asked him in my best (read awful) Japanese if there was anymore Pepsi. His response in his best (read passable) English was that I needed to come back on the 20th - that’s five days from now!

So now I’m stuck and I have to go to Costco. Normally you need to psych yourself up for a visit to Costco. It’s almost always a madhouse, but I was desperate so off I went on my bike. I purchase three, count ‘em three, flats of Pepsi and arranged to have two of them delivered on Friday. I broke open the third flat and put all 24 cans of Pepsi in the back basket of my bike for the trek home. Did you know that 24 cans of Pepsi can really slow you down?

So I ask again, where is Pepsiman when you need him? My request is not huge, I just want my local Daily Yamazaki start stocking Pepsi….do you think he could come out of retirement to arrange that?

Photo Credit: Pepsinut.com

In American baseball the number 42 is revered and April 15th is a historic day because of one man, Jackie Robinson - he wore number 42 on that date back in 1947 when he was the first man of color to play for a Major League Baseball team in the United States. 2008 marks the 61st anniversary of that historic day and more than 330 players, managers and coaches in the United States– including nine entire teams — wore Jackie Robinson’s # 42 to celebrate the Hall of Famer’s accomplishments.

Number 42 was retired in 1997 by Major League Baseball in honor of what the man wearing the number went through and what his legacy still represents to this day. Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera is the only player remaining from then who still wears Number 42.

Thousands of miles away and in a different country, across a vast ocean, the number 42 is not treated with the same respect. In fact it is considered an unlucky, if not disastrous, number. In Japanese, 4 (shi) and 2 (ni) are together pronounced like “going to death” (死に) (wikipedia).

Given that the number 42 is considered bad luck one would think that it would not be used in Japanese baseball. But in 2008 there are 10 players on Japanese major league teams that all wear this unlucky number. Here is the complete list:

• Brian Sweeney of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
• Craig Brazzell of the Saitama Seibu Lions
• Julio Zuleta of the Chiba Lotte Marines
• Alex Cabrera of the Orix Buffaloes
• Rafael Cruz of the Chunichi Dragons
• T. Shimoyanagi of the Hanshin Tigers
• Kida Masao of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows
• Marc Kroon of the Yomiuri Giants
• Masayuki Hasegawa of the Hiroshima Carp
• Travis Hughes of the Yokohama Baystars

Only the Fukuoka Soft Bank Hawks and the Rakuten Golden Eagles do not have the number 42 assigned to a player listed on their respective websites.

It is uncertain how many of these men benefited from the struggles of Jackie Robinson but some of them may not have been permitted to play Major League Baseball in the Unites States had it not been for his perseverance.

Nippon Professional Baseball has unknowingly, or due to a cultural superstition, allowed these men to wear a number that is revered in the United States and honors a man whose struggles allow them to don a uniform each day and take the field as professional baseball players.

I’m currently reading A New Earth;  Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle and it’s a very good read.  I’m finding the book interesting on many different levels and thought that I would share this quote with you:

“Most people are only peripherally aware of the world that surrounds them, especially if their surroundings are familiar…..Some people feel more alive when they travel and visit unfamiliar places or foreign countries because at those times sense perception - experiencing - takes up more of their consciousness than thinking.”

Since arriving in Japan I am finding that  what I can do at home without expending much energy tends to exhaust me in Japan.  I am not alone, my new friends and I have been chatting about it lately and we all agree that it’s due to sensory overload, or simply processing what is not familiar in our minds.  We also think that it’s due to the fact that we are required to pay more attention simply  to accomplish every day tasks.  I touched on these things in my Japan - Awe & Wonder post a while back.

As I read through this book I am struck by how full life can be if you can only get out of your own way.  I’m trying to take the time to be present for everything and it’s amazing how amazing the little things are!

As many of you know, I got my long sought after new camera for Christmas this year. It’s a Nikon D40X and I just love it! I can’t believe the quality of images that I’m getting from the camera and thought that I would share some of them with you.

You can find a Flickr slide show of my images so far here. Don’t be afraid to look as it won’t take much time at all. The slide show consists of eleven images and I hope that you will enjoy them. I am trying to learn about my camera and all that it takes to create a compelling image so any feedback that you have would be appreciated.

As you can tell by the slide show I am into black and white lately so I’ll include a color one here for fun…

This shot was taken yesterday and is one of the many amazing torii at Meiji Jingu shrine in the Harajuku/Omotesando area of Tokyo.

If for some reason the slide show doesn’t work here is a link to the image page on Flickr.

Which one is your favorite?

I have been asked to be a contributor to a new Japan Blogzine called 7:10 to Tokyo.   Billy West, the founder of 7:10 to Tokyo describes the publication like this:

“7:10 to Tokyo is an online magazine or blogazine, if you will. It’s contributors are bloggers who either live in Japan or have a strong interest in the place, its culture, and its people. It was designed to be entertaining as well as informative, and everyone involved in this publication sincerely hopes that it will be a pleasure to read for all who drop by.”

My first article titled “Do you want Mashrooms on your Pizza?” is now up and I encourage  you to check it out along with the rest of the site.  Marshrooms you say - what are mashrooms?  The article is about the passion the Japanese have for the English language but how they don’t always get it quite right.

I’ve committed to contribute two articles a month to the site and I’ve added 7:10 to Tokyo to my blogroll so you can check back often to see what going on over there.