Japan Visitor Blog - Tokyo Osaka Nagoya Kyoto

Kyoto Beauty in Yukata Robe

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:19:55 PDT

浴衣姿の京美人

Ah, summer（夏だ、natsu da）！

Cold beer（冷たいビール、tsumetai biiru）, hand held paper fans（扇子、sensu）, and women in light cotton robes (浴衣、yukata).

In mid-July, at Kyoto's annual Yoiyama Festival （宵山）- held on three successive nights prior to Gion Festival （祇園祭り）, which is always on the 17th - women and men throw on their cotton （綿、men）robes and head downtown.

The streets are closed to cars from 6 pm until midnight. This in Japanese becomes "Pedestrian Paradise" （歩行天国、hoko tengoku）. Hundreds of thousands of people from Kyoto and surrounding areas pour into the city for a giant street party.

Everyone strolls with a beer in hand. There is much to see, from the great floats（鉾、hoko）that will be pulled around central Kyoto, to the many beautiful women and men and children in their colorful （華やか、hanayaka）robes.

Tonight is the final night of Yoiyama, and Friday will be the main event of the Gion Festival.

By all means go! （是非行ってごらん！Zehi itte goran!）Or, in Kyoto dialect（京都弁、Kyoto ben）: 是非行ってや　zehi itte ya!

© JapanVisitor.com

Yahoo Japan Auction Service

Book a Japanese Hotel with Bookings

Japanese Friends

Rough Guide To Japan

Tags

Japan Tokyo Kyoto Yoiyama Japanese

Kyoto Kanze Kaikan - Noh Theater

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:48:32 PDT

京都観世会館

Across the canal from the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, is the Kyoto Kanze Kaikan Noh Theater.

Noh is one of best known types of classic Japanese musical stage performance, and has has been performed since the 14th century.

Most of the characters wear white masks, and the dramas are usually based on Japanese historical plays.

It is similar to Kabuki, but perhaps not as dramatic.

For those not devotees of this art form, a wonderful way to experience it is at outdoor performances that are periodically held at temples and shrines such as Heian Jingu.

If you do go to a performance at this theater, or any of the other small venues in Kyoto, it will be long.

The plays are done in acts, interspersed with Kyogen, which is a form of comedy.

Directions

From JR/Kintetsu Kyoto Station (Kyoto-eki-mae boarding area A1); Kyoto City Bus No. 5 (toward Iwakura Soshajo). Get off at Kyoto Kaikan Bijutsukan-mae. From Hankyu Karasuma Station/Kawaramachi Station or Keihan Sanjo Station Kyoto City Bus No. 5 (toward Iwakura Soshajo). Get off at Kyoto Kaikan Bijutsukan-mae. Or a five-minute walk from the Higashiyama Station on the Tozai subway line.

Tel: 075 771 6114

© JapanVisitor.com

Yahoo Japan Auction Service

Book a Japanese Hotel with Bookings

Japanese Friends

Rough Guide To Japan

Tags

Japan Tokyo Kyoto Noh Japanese

Nagoya Friends - Party at Red Rock! 7/18 (Sat.)

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:32:27 PDT

Nagoya Friends 72nd party in Nagoya!

Date: Saturday July 18th, 2009
Time: 18:30 - 21:00
Drinks will be served between 6:30pm-8:50pm.
Place: The Red Rock (2F Aster Plaza Building,
4-14-6 Sakae, Nagoya (very close to Sakae Station)
Fee: 3000 Yen
Dress code: Anything (Casual, etc)
Reservations: Not necessary but recommended and appreciated. Just show up to the party!
Over 25,000 Yen worth of exciting prize giveaways each month!

There will be free food along with free drinks (beers, wine, cocktail drinks and juices).
Our party is not a dinner party, but we will have light food & snacks.
Quantities are limited, so please come early! Please free to come alone or bring your friends.
EVERYBODY is welcome to join regardless of nationality/gender. Reservation is greatly appreciated.
About 125-150+ people are expected to attend. Approximately 55% female and 45% male, 70% Japanese and 30% non-Japanese.
Pictures from previous Nagoya Friends Parties.

Map & Directions

Contact: 080-3648-1666(Japanese) 080-5469-6317(English)

Get off at Sakae Station [Exit #13]

The Red Rock (2F Aster Plaza Building,
4-14-6 Sakae, Nagoya (very close to Sakae Station)

The Red Rock is located behind the Chunichi Building in the Sakae business/shopping district.

Subway access from Sakae Station (serving the yellow and purple lines) Exit 13. It’s a big station connected to a huge underground shopping mall so you’ll need to do a little underground walking.

We’re also just a couple of minutes’ walk from the Tokyu and Precede hotels, and a 10 minute walk up Hirokoji Street from the Hilton Hotel in Fushimi.

Train Directions

From Nagoya Stn. take the Higashiyama Subway line to Sakae Station (GET OFF at Sakae Station!!) Take exit #13 and then walk straight AWAY from Hirokoji-Dori for about 3/4 of a block. TURN LEFT Red Rock is on the right side of the street in the middle of the block. Look for the sign on the sidewalk.

Sakae Station

Higashiyama Line

© JapanVisitor.com

Yahoo Japan Auction Service

Book a Japanese Hotel with Bookings

Japanese Friends

Rough Guide To Japan

Tags

Japan Tokyo Kyoto Nagoya Japanese

LDP - just gimme one more chance

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:01:16 PDT

自民党　改革断行演説会

Cycling through Tokyo’s Suginami ward yesterday, I discovered this over-the-top poster of three Liberal Democratic Party politicians looking like they’ve come down with 1970s disco night fever. It is advertising the public meeting of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) “Ceaseless Reform Speeches” at the headquarters of the Party from noon, September 10, 2009.

It comes at a time when the LDP, led by the abysmally unpopular Taro Aso, is struggling to maintain its traditional hold on power in Japan. Sunday, July 12, was the day for the election of members to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and is being seen as an important indicator of how the LDP is doing nationwide.

This poster features the three speakers (from left)
-Katsuei Hirasawa, a policitian who graduated from Duke University in the US, has close connections with security/police and diplomatic circles, and who in 2007 helped found the LDP sub-committee for the Korean peninsula issue, aiming to normalize relations with North Korea. Having begun his working life in television, he is (apparently) skilled in handling the media (not that it shows here!), and has written several books.

Nobuteru Ishihara, the eldest son of the reactionary Governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara. He is presently at the center of the controversy surrounding the ShinGinko Tokyo Bank, founded upon his initiative in 2005 with 100 billion yen of the metropolitan government's money, and which, due to allegedly sloppy practices, is now 101.6 billion yen in the red. When criticized for using his political clout to influence the fortunes of the bank, his father came to his rescue saying that “using political clout is a politician’s job”!

Ichiro Kamoshita is originally a Ph.D. in medicine, who joined the LDP in 1997 after being with the Japan New Party. It was reported in the Japan Communist Party’s organ, Akahata (“Red Flag”), in September 2003 that he received political donations from the National Financial Political Association (the lobbying organ of the loan-shark industry).

The title of the poster is “Building Japan’s tomorrow!,” but in the context of the LDP’s present fortunes, those John Travolta poses, rather than (I presume) pointing a digit in the direction of the new day, look more like they’re counting how many chances remain for them: one.

© JapanVisitor.com

Yahoo Japan Auction Service

Book a Japanese Hotel with Bookings

Japanese Friends

Rough Guide To Japan

Tags

Japan Tokyo Suginami LDP politics

Japan Visitor July Newsletter

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:48:00 PDT

ジャパンニュースレター

Subscribe to the Japan newsletter to receive all the latest news on our free Japan gifts, special offers and new competitions.

Take a look at July's Japan Visitor newsletter to see what you will receive in your mailbox.

© JapanVisitor.com

Rough Guide To Japan

Tags

Japan Contest Newsletter

Taro Aso Calls August Election

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 22:34:40 PDT

麻生太郎

 Taro Aso, the hapless and gaff-prone Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Prime Minister has called a snap election for August 30 following his party's resounding defeat in local Tokyo elections on Sunday.

The opposition Democratic Party (DJP) won 54 seats to the LDP's 34.

Aso is the 4th Prime Minister since the last general election in 2005 following Junichiro Koizumi, Shinzo Abe and Yasuo Fukuda.

The choice awaiting the Japanese electorate in August is between two conservative parties with similar agendas and backgrounds. One political commentator has likened Aso and his opponent, DJP leader Yukio Hatoyama, to "Tweedledee and Tweedledum."

Both are aged, wealthy scions of political dynasties, but with Aso's popularity ratings hovering around the 20% mark, it seems the Japanese public are ready to to give Tweedledum a chance this time around.

Yukio Hatoyama replaced Ichiro Ozawa as leader of the DJP earlier this year, after the latter became embroiled in a financing scandal.

Hatoyama, like Aso, is a super-rich, blue-blooded, hereditary politician and likewise a grandson of a former conservative party prime minister.

A graduate of Tokyo University, Hatoyama's grandfather Ichiro Hatoyama was a hawkish prime minister in the 1950s, Hatoyama's father Iichiro Hatoyama was Japan's foreign minister for a period in the 1970s. His brother Kunio Hatoyama is a leading LDP politician. Plus ça change.

Yahoo Japan Auction Service

Book a hotel in Japan with Bookings

Tokyo Serviced Apartments

Japan Friends

Happi Coats

Japanese For Busy People

Tags

Taro Aso Japanese politics LDP

Japan This Week: 12 July 2009

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 00:39:01 PDT

今週の日本

Mound Provides Painful Challenge to Japanese Pitcher

New York Times

Inside His Exteriors

New York Times

Fuji cancellation threatens future of Formula One in Japan

Guardian

Japan to defy US with another bout of intervention

Times on Line

Details released on criteria to let illegal aliens stay

Japan Times

Le hit des mauvais vacanciers

Libération

'Rude' French are worst tourists [Japanese best]

BBC

Smile please! Japan's Rail Police

BBC

Full Frame: Walking through fire, literally

Global Post

World Cup qualifiers Japan seek Dutch courage

Yahoo Sports

Last week's Japan news

Japan Statistics

2,217,000 million foreigners were registered in Japan at the end of 2008. That is an increase of 50% in the last decade.

Chinese took the top spot with 655,000 residents (30%). Koreans came in second with 589,000. Brazilians totaled 313,000, Filipinos 211,000, and Peruvians 60,000.

Source: Kyodo News

© JapanVisitor

Book a hotel in Japan with Bookings

Japanese Fiction

Happi Coats

Tags

Japan News Japan Statistics politics

Links for 2009-07-10 [del.icio.us]

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Beijing Travel Guide Book Reviews :: Beijing Visitor
Beijing travel guide book reviews - read book reviews of Beijing travel guides and purchase books from amazon US and UK.
Sobre ns :: Portugal Visitor
Sobre ns - PortugalVisitor.com um subsidiario de Soccerphile Limitado.

Hydrangea - Ajisai

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:34:03 PDT

アジサイ　紫陽花

The quintessential rainy season flower in Japan is the hydrangea - ajisai in Japanese.

Appearing in gardens and temples throughout Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, the hydrangea is at its best in mid-June. The stems should be trimmed in the fall to ensure strong growth.

A number of temple and shrine gardens are well-known for their hydrangeas including Meigetsu-in in Kamakura, Fujimori Jinja Shrine in Fushimi in Kyoto and Tofukuji also in south east Kyoto.

The hydrangea is native to south and east Asia (China, Korea, Japan, the Himalaya region and Indonesia) as well as North and South America. There are over 70 species. The leaves are toxic if eaten and there have been a number of cases of Japanese restaurants serving the leaves as a garnish and unwittingly poisoning their customers!

© JapanVisitor.com

Yahoo Japan Auction Service

Book a Japanese Hotel with Bookings

Japanese Friends

Rough Guide To Japan

Tags

Japan flowers Ajisai Kyoto Hydrangea Japanese plants

Falun Gong in Tokyo

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:01:00 PDT

法輪功

Walking through Tokyo’s Sumida ward last weekend, I happened upon a brass band parade livening up the gray, rain-soaked streets. I changed course and followed it out of curiosity, and soon discovered that it was a demonstration by the Falun Gong, a religious group famous for being outlawed in China.

The group uses the transliteration “Falun Dafa” rather than Falun Gong – a title that appeared on their banners and the backs of their jackets: “Falun Dafa is Good: Truthfulness, Forbearance, Benevolence.”

I was approached by a member of the group who talked with me at length as we followed the parade, and supplied me with some of the group’s literature.

According to the Falun Dafa, their members are subject not only to simple brutality, but are targeted as unwilling suppliers of body parts to others in need of them and who can afford to pay for them. As such, the body parts are allegedly removed while the victim is still alive to ensure their efficacy for the recipient.

Gruesome posters carried by the marchers were displayed as witness to the alleged acts of persecution.

Whether such alleged practices are the result of Chinese government policy or not, I don’t know. The recent Sanlu milk powder scandal suggests that much of what happens in China happens at the local level and is either ignored by the central government or invisible to it. (Due to local official corruption and connivance, it took a formal diplomatic approach by the New Zealand government to the highest echelons of the Chinese government to get the Sanlu milk powder affair recognized and resolved.)

Whatever the economics and politics behind the problems allegedly faced by the Falun Dafa, they are real enough to their Japanese counterparts to put their all into exposing it.

© JapanVisitor.com

Yahoo Japan Auction Service

Book a Japanese Hotel with Bookings

Japanese Friends

Rough Guide To Japan

Tags

Japan Tokyo Falun Gong Falun Dafa protest

shugi - ism

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:01:02 PDT

主義

shugi is an affix in Japanese that crops up all the time. Used at the end of various words, it corresponds to "ism."

The 主　(shu) literally means "main, principal, ruling" and the 義 (gi) is a meaning "cloud" that covers everything from "justice" to "humanity" to "integrity" to "chivalry" to "honor" to "morality" to "significance."
So, put them together, and you have something like "main/ruling object of worthiness/devotion/significance," or, in other words, "doctrine," "principle," "ticket." Conveniently, just as with the English "ism," you stick it on the end of the object of that "devotion."

For example:
資本主義　shihonshugi = capitalism
共産主義　kyosanshugi = communism
社会主義　shakaishugi = socialism
軍国主義　gunkokushugi = militarism
自由主義　jiyushugi = liberalism
保守主義　hoshushugi = conservatism
民族主義　minzokushugi = nationalism
愛国主義　aikokushugi = patriotism
平和主義　heiwashugi = pacifism
商業主義 shogyoshugi = commercialism
毛沢東主義 motakutoshugi = Maoism
帝国主義　teikokushugi = imperialism
個人主義　kojinshugi = individualism

There are times when it doesn't work quite as neatly; for example:
民主主義　minshushugi = democracy
but most of the time it does.

shugi can also be used alone, in the "doctrine, principle" sense. For example,

主義としてやるしかない。Shugi to shite, yaru shika nai. It has to be done [or, "I have to do it"] as a matter of principle.

主義に殉じる。Shugi ni junjiru. To die [sacrifice oneself] for a cause.

主義を支持する Shugi o shiji suru. To support [take up/stand for] a cause.

主義を曲げない Shugi o magenai. To fly one's colors/Nail one's colors to the mast.

So, even if you're not up to talking principles and politics in Japanese, at least, knowing "shugi," you will know roughly when to run - or at least keep your mouth shut!

© JapanVisitor.com

Yahoo Japan Auction Service

Book a Japanese Hotel with Bookings

Japanese Friends

Rough Guide To Japan

Tags

Japan language Japanese ism shugi

Nagoya Hostess Bar

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 04:29:09 PDT

名古屋のホステスバー

A recent business trip to Nagoya included Japanese-style night time entertainment. Work then play.

This ended, predictably enough, with the local accountant dragging us to a hostess bar.

In front of a multi-story building in Sakai were several women dressed in the Nagoya hostess uniform: slinky dress with a lot of shoulder and side flank exposed, or a kimono.

Up the elevator we went to the eighth floor. The accountant led us to the second door on the left and into Aun, a small hostess bar with about 10 customers.

The bar was fairly bright, and only a few hostesses were on duty.

Fortunately, the other men in the bar were either preoccupied with hostesses - or drunk - so they didn't notice or mind our karaoke singing.

Mama-san, pictured above right, ministered to many of our needs. She served watered down "drinks," sang for and with us, and kept the nut tray full.

After a few hours, we left considerably more sober than when we arrived.

The accountant coughed up, and we tottered off to our hotel.

© JapanVisitor.com

Yahoo Japan Auction Service

Book a Japanese Hotel with Bookings

Japanese Friends

Rough Guide To Japan

Tags

Japan Tokyo Hostess Bar Nagoya Japanese

Links for 2009-07-07 [del.icio.us]

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Books on Japan :: David Mitchell Cloud Atlas :: Japan Visitor
Cloud Atlas author David Mitchell. Cloud Atlas author David Mitchell discusses his work and time spent in Japan.

Links for 2009-07-06 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Books on Japan - Japanese History :: Japan Visitor
Japanese history book reviews - read reviews of Japanese history books both ancient and modern, including samurai, the Edo Period and World War II - and all can be purchased from Amazon US, UK & Japan.
Books on Japan - Japanese Art & Design :: Japan Visitor
Japanese Art & Design books - read book reviews on titles from the world of Japanese art and design, purchase books about arts and crafts from Japan.

Gion Festival Kyoto

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:22:43 PDT

祇園祭

Listen to the sound of Gion Matsuri

Kyoto's Gion Matsuri takes place throughout the month of July with something happening nearly every day.

Gion Matsuri began over a thousand years ago to placate Susano-o no Mikoto, the god of wind and water in an effort to halt a devasting plague that was sweeping the country. The gorgeous floats were traditionally maintained by merchant guilds (now neighborhood associations) who vied with each other to produce the most ostentatious show of kazari (decoration).

The main event and climax of the festival is the yamaboko junko, a procession of 32 giant, decorated floats (23 yama and 9 hoko) through the streets on July 17th. On the preceding evenings of July 14-16th, the floats are illuminated by lanterns and nearby houses display their family heirlooms. This part of the festival is known as Gion Bayashi with the evening of the July 16th (Yoiyama) the most significant, when thousands of people dressed in summer yukata take to the pedestrianized streets of downtown Kyoto to view the floats amid the constant festival music of flutes, drums and bells.

On July 10th, there is a welcoming ceremony for the floats (omukae chochin) when the festival lanterns are carried in a procession and later that evening in a festival known as mikoshi arai - the sacred palaquins are washed on Shijo Bridge.

After the main procession on July 17th which lasts from around 9am-1pm, three palaquins are taken from Gion's Yasaka Shrine at 6.30pm and brought to Shijo Otabisho just off Teramachi Street, south of Shijo Street. This is known as the shinko-sai.

On July 24th, hanagasa-junko is a procession of dancers including maiko (geisha) and children in traditional costume. This begins at 10pm and proceeds around the downtown area. At 5pm the three palaquins are returned to Yasaka Shrine from Teramachi in a tradition called kanko-sai.

Mikoshi-arai is the formal conclusion of the festival on July 28th and sees the floats cleaned again on Shijo Bridge before returning to Yasaka Shrine until next year.

On July 31th, a nagoshi-no-harai purification rite is held at Yasaka Shrine with visitors passing through an arch of sacred grasses. This ritual is usually performed at the end of June at other shrines around the country.

Images: Jake Davies

© JapanVisitor

Japan Friends

Happi Coats

Japanese For Busy People

Tags

Gion Matsuri Japanese festivals Kyoto

Tanabata Festival, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:22:00 PDT

七夕祭り

Tanabata, or "the festival of the star Vega," is celebrated around Japan on the 7th day of the 7th month (though later in some rural parts of Japan).

The festival originated in China and is the celebration of the meeting of the stars Vega and Altair in the Milky Way for their annual lover's tryst. The festival is especially popular with young children.

There are larger Tanabata-themed festivals in Japan - Sendai's is the best known - but the festival is more of an occasion to be celebrated at home.

Wishes, written on colorful pieces of paper, are hung on bamboo. They are known as tanzaku in Japanese, and are usually about health, wealth, love, and the educational success of one 's children.

The bamboo pictured here with its many tanzaku is typical.

It was placed at a children's center in central Kyoto called Kodomo Mirai Kan.

© JapanVisitor.com

Yahoo Japan Auction Service

Book a hotel in Japan with Bookings

Tokyo Serviced Apartments

Japan Friends

Happi Coats

Japanese For Busy People

Tags

Japan Tokyo Kyoto Nagoya Tanabata

Japan This Week: 5 July 2009

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:57:06 PDT

今週の日本

Young Japanese Raise Their Voices Over Economy

New York Times

Japan: Unemployment hits six-year high

Guardian

Canada and Japan blocking climate-change deal, Sir David King warns

Times on Line

GM ends NUMMI deal with Toyota

Japan Times

Kodo, le culte du dieu tambour

Libération

Japan murder hunt reward raised

BBC

Toyota Weighs Future of Joint-Venture Plant

NY Times

Recession Fashion

CNN

Japan's fashion rebellion goes West

BBC

Journeys: Japanese Baseball: Root, Root, Root and Buy Me Some Eel

New York Times

Japan’s Nakazawa stung by loss to ‘pizza eaters’

Yahoo Sports

Last week's Japan news

Japan Statistics

In an article on the women's movement in Japan, the Asahi Shinbun looked at women's progress vis-a-vis four criteria over three periods: 1) the beginning of the Showa Period (1926), 2) the end of the Showa Period (1988), and 3) 2008.

Number of Women in the Japanese Diet

1926: none (not permitted at the time to hold national office)
1988: seven women (1.4% of the Diet)
2008: 45 women (9.4% of the Diet)

Percentage of Women who Enter University:

1926: no data
1988: 14.4%
2008: 42.6%

Birth Rate:

1930: 4.72 children/woman
1988: 1.66
2008: 1.37

Salary (men = 100):

1926: no data
1988: 57.2
2008: 65.8

Source: Asahi Shinbun

© JapanVisitor

Book a hotel in Japan with Bookings

Japanese Fiction

Happi Coats

Tags

Japan News Japan Statistics politics

Kaoru Yosano

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:01:02 PDT

与謝野馨

Rogues' Gallery Part XIV

Kaoru Yosano is the current Minister in charge of Economic and Fiscal Policy in the cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso. Yosano was defeated by Aso in the LDP leadership election in September last year after the resignation of Aso's predecessor Yasuo Fukuda.

A graduate of Tokyo University, Yosano has held a number of important government posts and is considered a reliable moderate, who may one day take the top job.

Yosano also took over the Finance portfolio in February this year after the drunken embarressment caused by Shoichi Nakagawa at a G7 conference in Rome.

Yosano is a grandchild of the feminist poet Akiko Yosano (1878-1942).

One thing that always puzzles me about the man, who lists golf, shogi and fishing among his hobbies, is that his hair is always jet black, despite the fact he's in his early 70s.

Can we trust a politician that hides the truth by dyeing his rug and eyebrows? Methinks not. To the tumbrils with him!

© JapanVisitor.com

Yahoo Japan Auction Service

Book a Japanese Hotel with Bookings

Japanese Friends

Rough Guide To Japan

Tags

Kaoru Yosano Japanese politics

Subscribe To The Japan Visitor Newsletter

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:08:51 PDT

ジャパンニュースレター

Sign up to the Japan newsletter to receive all the latest news on free gifts, special offers and new competitions.

Have a look at May's JapanVisitor newsletter to see what you will receive.

© JapanVisitor.com

Rough Guide To Japan

Tags

Japan Contest Newsletter

Applying for Permanent Residency in Japan, I

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:01:01 PDT

永住権　申し込み

I began the application process for permanent residency in Japan. As a rule of thumb, you should have lived here at least ten years before you apply, although there are exceptions. My present unbroken run in Japan is 13 years, and it was only inertia that kept me from applying earlier.

The night before, I first rang a good Japanese friend of many years standing, who had agreed to be the guarantor for my apartment when I first moved to Tokyo, and asked him if he would be my sponsor for permanent residency, which he kindly assented to.

The following afternoon, I went to the Immigration Office in Tokyo’s Minato ward, a short bus ride from Shinagawa station. I had printed out and filled in the form from the website of the immigration office and submitted it for preliminary approval at a counter on the second floor.

The only bit that required any real thought was the "Reasons for application" bit. I pulled out the "social" and "cultural" stops and crafted a 50-or-so word appeal.

The poor guy I handed it to was extremely polite, but inept at describing what had to be done, and I had to ask him several times to slow down and start again when it came to describing the bit about copying the number that would be entered into my passport onto the front of the envelope that I was given in which to send the documents that would be needed later. (Actually, perhaps it’s no wonder I couldn’t understand the Japanese: it makes for pretty turgid English, too!)

I then went to the main application counter, took a number, 464, and waited my turn, all the way from 322. It took about an hour and a half. Once summoned, the procedure was, again, very polite, explained very lucidly, and I was given all the information I needed in the form of a pamphlet (pictured at top).

The documents that must be submitted include my tax records for the past three years, and a certificate of residency. The next morning, therefore, I went to my local ward office and got those documents – all within the space of half an hour (but 2,100 yen poorer) - and still made it to the office on time.

I now need to get a certificate of employment in the name of the company, and get my sponsor to supply me with an certificate of identification, a certificate of employment, last year’s tax records, and a certificate of residency. Poor guy. My shout this Friday.

Stay tuned for the next move.

© JapanVisitor.com

Read more about visas in Japan

Yahoo Japan Auction Service

Book a Japanese Hotel with Bookings

Japanese Friends

Rough Guide To Japan

Tags

Japan Tokyo immigration permanent residency application

Links for 2009-06-30 [del.icio.us]

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Qing Ming Jie Ancestor Worship Festival :: Beijing Visitor
Qing Ming Jie Ancestor Worship Festival. Read an article on the Qing Ming Jie ancestor worship festival which takes place across China in April.

Osaka Brothel Signs

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:10:21 PDT

大阪ファションとソープの看板

Though prostitution in Japan was formally made illegal in the 1950s, those in the pink industry are very adept at finding loopholes in the statutes.

Government officials rewrite the laws; the brothels alter their modus operandi. A fascinating cat and mouse game.

The industry is often said to comprise 5% of the Japanese GNP - and it is very openly conducted.

You will thus find, in the former red light areas, establishments offering nearly the same services as they did in the "good old days" when it was legal.

One such area can be found in the back streets a short walk from Osaka's Kyobashi Station.

The area is sordid, and a bit depressing. It is the preserve of older men, the jobless, and misfits. Cheap noodle joints, pachinko parlors, and an assortment of raffish shops line the arcades. Just off them, though, you enter a different universe.

Kyobashi has none of the verve of Namba or Umeda or Shinsaibashi - where many more brothels are located - but it still is packed in places with multi-story buildings in which every floor has at least one business offering a range of services for men.

The two places pictured here were both in the same ten-story building.

The photo at top is of "Kiss," which is on the 4th floor. And Visa is accepted! The other establishment is on the second floor, and we are not sure about credit cards.

© JapanVisitor.com

Yahoo Japan Auction Service

Book a Japanese Hotel with Bookings

Japanese Friends

Rough Guide To Japan

Tags

Japan Tokyo Kyoto Osaka brothel sign Japanese

Nagoya Friends Rocks Misfits July 4th, 2009 (Saturday)

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:22:51 PDT

Nagoya Friends Rocks Misfits!　July 4th, 2009

Date: July 4th, 2009 (1st Saturday)
Time: 18:30 - 21:00
Place: Imaike Bee House Bldg. 3F
Imaike 4 Chome 10-16, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya
Fee: 2500 yen All you can drink!
Dress code: Anything (Casual, etc)
Reservations: No Reservations Necessary. Just show up to the party!
Great local musical talent, poetry, comedy, and art
This is a regular international party with live music!!

Pictures from previous Nagoya Friends Parties.

Map & Directions

Contact: 080-5169-1666(Japanese) 080-5469-6317(English)

Get off at Imaike Station (Higashiyama Line[Exit #4 or #5])

Misfits

Imaike Bee House Bldg. 3F
Imaike 4 Chome 10-16, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya

Train Directions

From Nagoya Station, take the Higashiyama Line and get off at Imaike station Take Exit #4 or 5 and follow the map.

Imaike

Imaike Station

Higashiyama Line

© JapanVisitor.com

Yahoo Japan Auction Service

Book a Japanese Hotel with Bookings

Japanese Friends

Rough Guide To Japan

Tags

Japan Tokyo Kyoto Nagoya Japanese

Nagoya Friends - Whitewater Rafting Trip! 7/12

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:16:38 PDT

Nagoya Friends Whitewater Rafting! July 12th, 2009

Adventure Spirit Nagoya Friends

present

4th White Water Rafting - Nagara River one day trip

July 12th, 2009 (SUNDAY)

Central Japan’s Premier Rafting River.

Nagoya Friends proudly presents our 4th Nagara River Rafting trip. For 12,000 yen (tax included in price) you get a full day of white water rafting, a delicious lunch and admission to the onsen at the end of the trip. A thrilling ride not to be missed! Rafting will be held on Sun. July 12th

Experience the adventure, raft the exciting rapids of the natural Nagara River, relax in the calm pools and beautiful scenic mountain environment. Enjoy the outdoor challenge, feel alive!

WHAT ADVENTURE SPIRIT WILL SUPPLY

1. 4 x 8 person inflatable rafts and paddles.

2. Helmets, Life jackets, spray jackets and thermal tops for each member.

3. Professional Instruction from experienced Rafting Guides.

4. Insurance.

5. A delicious lunch

6. Onsen Admission ticket

7. A drink (500ml pet) to be carried down river with us.

WHAT YOU NEED TO BRING

1. Swimsuit, sunscreen, shorts, sports sandals or wetsuit-boots or sneakers.

2. Full set of dry clothes and extra shoes.

3. Onsen towel and bathroom set.

4. Adventurous spirit!

PRICE

Raft, paddles, safety equipment, insurance and instruction is 12,000 yen per person for a full day rafting.

Minimum 5 customers. Maximum total 28 customers.

Cancellation Fees.

2 weeks before 0%

14-8 days before 30%

7-2 days before 50%

The day before 80%

On the day 100%

TRANSPORTATION

**All customers are reponsible for their own transport to the rafting site. I will be able to mee a few people at Gifu station and take them up to the location, but you will need to assist with gas/highway tolls if you need a ride.**

MEETING TIME AND PLACE

8:30 am Gifu-ken, Minami-mura, Daily Yamazaki store. Right by Minami IC Interchange (Turn left off the Tokai-Hokuriku do on Route 156)

PLAN

8:30 am Meet and welcome at the Minami village Daily Yamazaki Store.

9:15 Issue personal paddling gear.

9:30 Drive to the Nagara river rafting start point.

10:00 Start rafting: complete the morning safety training.

10:30 Enjoy rafting the exciting, refreshing rapids of the Nagara river.

12:00 Relax at a nice beach and eat lunch.

1:00 Raft the bigger rapids of the afternoon section.

3:00 Arrive at the finish point -Kodakara Onsen.

3:30 Relax in the hot spring. (onsen admission fee included)

5:00 Drive back home.

THIS EVENT WILL TAKE PLACE RAIN OR SHINE

Reserve HERE

CONTACTS

Adventure Spirit E-mail: info@adventurespiritjp.com

Fax: 05 8686 2323

Chris090 9949-3495 English/Japanese

Sam: 080-5469-6317 English

Yuka:080-3648-1666 English/Japanese

Adventure Spirit & Nagoya Friends

© JapanVisitor.com

Yahoo Japan Auction Service

Book a Japanese Hotel with Bookings

Japanese Friends

Rough Guide To Japan

Tags

Japan Tokyo Kyoto Nagoya Japanese

Ise Shima Liner

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:17:02 PDT

伊勢志摩ライナー

One of Japan's most luxurious trains is the Kintetsu Ise Shima Liner which runs from Nagoya and Osaka Namba stations to Kashikojima on the Ise Shima Peninsula in Mie Prefecture.

The train has a European-style "saloon" carriage, a "deluxe" carriage and a trolley service for refreshments.

The train usually stops in Tsu, Uji Yamada, Toba and Kashikojima from Nagoya Station.

Journey time from Namba Station in Osaka to Toba is around 2 hours. From Nagoya the time is approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes. A special "weekday four" ticket cuts the price to 2,980 yen per adult from Osaka or 2,500 yen from Nagoya if you travel as a group of four people.

© JapanVisitor.com

Yahoo Japan Auction Service

Book a Japanese Hotel with Bookings

Japanese Friends

Rough Guide To Japan

Tags

Japan travel Mie Kintetsu Nagoya Japanese trains

Korea Break

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:58:02 PDT

Seoul is an increasingly popular and increasingly cheap getaway for residents of Japan.

All the major airports and many of the provincial airports have flights to Incheon Airport, just outside Seoul, including Hiroshima.

Just over an hour's flying time away, Seoul offers great food, cheap prices and a vibrant atmosphere.

You can also reach Busan by hydrofoil or ferry from Hakata.

Korean Friends

Rough Guide To Korea

Tags

Korea Seoul

Japan This Week: 28 June 2009

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:16:08 PDT

今週の日本

A Solution to the Whaling Issue? Former MOFA spokesman speaks out

Japan Focus

Japanese exports plunge again

Guardian

Ryue Nishizawa and Kazuyo Sejima's Serpentine Pavilion: now you see it, now you don’t

Times on Line

Popularity of the abacus rises as kids get back to basics

Japan Times

Au Japon, le surmenage au travail tue

Le Monde

Toyoda takes reins at Toyota Motor Corp

UPI

Japan Airlines to receive bailout

BBC

BRIEF-Soccer-Espanyol sign Japan midfielder Nakamura from Celtic

Yahoo Sports

Last week's Japan news

Japan Statistics

During the recent influenza scare, the Yamaguchi Gumi - Japan's largest organized crime group - distributed 1,000 masks for free to three Kobe day care centers.

Local police however confiscated the masks when word got out about their origins.

Source: Asahi Shinbun

According to estimates, Japan's public pensions will provide recipients with the second lowest payout as a percentage of their salary of any of the OECD member states.

According to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, 22 percent of Japanese over 65 had incomes below the OECD poverty level. This is much higher than the 13% average.

Pensions in Japan will provide just 33.9% of salaries. Only Britain is lower.

Source: Yomiuri Shinbun

The number of foreign visitors to Japan declined 34% in May compared with the previous May.

486,100 foreign visitors entered Japan last month, which was the 10th month of decline in a row.

Source: Kyodo News

80% of children either bully or are bullied, according to the National Institute for Policy Research.

Bullying was defined as "being shunned by friends, ignored, or talked about behind one's back."

Source: Kyodo News

© JapanVisitor

Book a hotel in Japan with Bookings

Japanese Fiction

Happi Coats

Tags

Japan News Japan Statistics politics

Links for 2009-06-27 [del.icio.us]

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Xian Street Food Shaanxi :: Beijing Visitor
Xian Street Food Shaanxi - see an image of street food from Xian, China's ancient capital in Shaanxi Province.

Links for 2009-06-26 [del.icio.us]

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Hong Kong Area Guides :: Beijing Visitor
Hong Kong Area Guides: read guides to Hong Kong areas and outlying areas - Central, Wanchai, Tsui Sha Tsui.

No parking

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:01:02 PDT

駐車(輪）禁止

I have been parking my bike across from the office building in Tokyo’s Kojimachi district for the 18 months or so since we moved into the office. I lock it to the railing between the two apartment buildings across the road.

For the first time, about a month ago, as I was leaving the office after a small party – admittedly a little worse for wear – I was accosted by an old codger in his mid-to-late-fifties, the kind who wears a permanent, childishly petulent, grimace. One glance at him and I knew it was trouble, and, sure enough,
“Parking your bike there is a nuisance.” (Soko de tomeru to jama da yo!)
Being slightly tanked I put up a bit of resistance.
“How is it a nuisance?”
“It’s difficult to get past”
… which was patent nonsense. Where it was parked was nowhere near the entrance to his building (the building on the right in the photo), and space left between my bike and the kerb was still considerably wider than the average doorway.
I got on my bike, wished him goodnight, and that was that.
Until today, when I found a police notice stuck to it:
“This vehicle is illegally parked – No parking – Please move [your vehicle] as quickly as possible – Police Department, Kojimachi Police Station”
And, in handwriting, “A complaint was received, 6/25, 14:00”

I have no doubt who made the complaint – old Sour-Face – but I can’t really go against the Law. Although, speaking of which, is it coincidence that I came out of the office only the day before (the 24th) to find that my front tire was flat? Not only flat, but with a deep, half-centimeter cut in it, and, strangely, I thought, no sign of any glass or metal fragment that, for a cut that deep, you’d expect to find embedded there.

Furthermore, is it a coincidence, too, that my front tire suffered a puncture only two weeks ago?

Japanese neighborhoods are delicate terrain. Tread, pedal, and park, carefully.

Yahoo Japan Auction Service

Book a Japanese Hotel with Bookings

Japanese Friends

Rough Guide To Japan

Tags

Japan Tokyo Kojimachi bicycle parking
police

JR Hohi Mainline

noreply@blogger.com (JapanVisitor) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:50:25 PDT

JR豊肥線　赤水-立野

The 148km-long JR Hohi Mainline which runs in the Aso caldera region of Kyushu connects Kumamoto, Oita and Beppu, east-west across the island.

Running from Kumamoto, it goes down the slopes via a switchback slowly zigzagging back and forth until it reaches the town of Tateno. At Tateno the JR Hohi Mainline connects with the Takamori Line (高森線) run by Minami Aso Railway. Look out for the long station names on this line, one being "Minami Aso Mizuno Umareru Sato Hakusui Kougen Eki" - probably the longest in the country.

©: JapanVisitor.com

Yahoo Japan Auction Service

Book a Japanese Hotel with Bookings

Japanese Friends

Rough Guide To Japan

Tags

Mount Aso Japan Trains Kyushu JR Japanese trains

Links for 2009-06-24 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Japan Visitor Podcast :: Sounds Of The Real Japan - Kyoto Bento Singer
Listen to podcast mp3 recordings of sounds from everyday life in Japan - a Kyoto lunch stall vendor sings to passersby.
The Suicide Diaries :: Japan Visitor
Suicide is relatively common in Japan according to the statistics. Read an article that takes you beyond the statistics to eye witness accounts of suicide in Japan.

Japan Visitor Blog - Tokyo Osaka Nagoya Kyoto

Kyoto Beauty in Yukata Robe

Kyoto Kanze Kaikan - Noh Theater

Nagoya Friends - Party at Red Rock! 7/18 (Sat.)

LDP - just gimme one more chance

Japan Visitor July Newsletter

Taro Aso Calls August Election

Japan This Week: 12 July 2009

Links for 2009-07-10 [del.icio.us]

Hydrangea - Ajisai

Falun Gong in Tokyo

shugi - ism

Nagoya Hostess Bar

Links for 2009-07-07 [del.icio.us]

Links for 2009-07-06 [del.icio.us]

Gion Festival Kyoto

Tanabata Festival, 2009

Japan This Week: 5 July 2009

Kaoru Yosano

Subscribe To The Japan Visitor Newsletter

Applying for Permanent Residency in Japan, I

Links for 2009-06-30 [del.icio.us]

Osaka Brothel Signs

Nagoya Friends Rocks Misfits July 4th, 2009 (Saturday)

Nagoya Friends Rocks Misfits! July 4th, 2009

Nagoya Friends - Whitewater Rafting Trip! 7/12

Nagoya Friends Whitewater Rafting! July 12th, 2009

Reserve HERE

Ise Shima Liner

Korea Break

Japan This Week: 28 June 2009

Links for 2009-06-27 [del.icio.us]

Links for 2009-06-26 [del.icio.us]

No parking

JR Hohi Mainline

Links for 2009-06-24 [del.icio.us]

Nagoya Friends Rocks Misfits!　July 4th, 2009