Site News & Updates

eBay Japan Brats update

2006-06-18T23:01:00.000-07:00

In case you hadn't noticed, we've upgraded our eBay Japan Brats page and expanded our listing of base-related memorabilia. Thanks to some help from the folks at eBay, the page now features dynamic live listings of items that are currently available for sale or auction.

In addition to available images of the items, the listings include the beginning bid or asking price, the current number of bids (if any), and the amount of time left before the bidding closes and sales are final.

Base listings now include Misawa, Atsugi, Tachikawa, Camp Zama, Yokota, Yokosuka, Sasebo, Iwakuni, Kadena and Futenma.

We've even made it easier to access the specific bid item on eBay. All you need to do is click the item shown and the eBay page featuring the item will open in a new browser window. It provides all of the details and information necessary to bid or purchase the item. Convenient search boxes are also provided to enable you to search for more items.

In case you haven't registered on eBay as a buyer or seller, there's a banner at the very top of the page that you can click to do so immediately.

Japan Brats makes a small commission on every item sold, which helps defray any expenses in publishing our humble website. So we hope you'll take advantage of the opportunityto buy your Japan collectibles here.

GAMBATE (good luck) on your memorabilia hunt!

Improved Main Menu!

2006-05-31T11:23:00.000-07:00

Japan Brats has made a slight -- but welcome -- improvement to our Main Menu on our 3 main index pages to help you better navigate our huge interactive weblog. Now when you move your cursor over each menu item it will be highlighted in bright blue (as shown at right) so it will be more visible. We hope this will aid you in choosing where you want to surf. If you have any suggestions for additional improvements or enhancements, feel free to message us using our convenient Email Japan Brats or Contact Us links. Arigatou gozaimasu!

Subscribe to I Did Japan!

2006-05-31T10:40:00.000-07:00

You won't miss a single message from our I Did Japan mailbag ever again. Simply subscribe to our free subscription service, which delivers all of the posted messages in your personal email as they are received by us.

The service is provided courtesy of FeedBlitz, and forwards all public messages posted on our Japan Brats Yahoo Group message board, the I Did Japan guestbook and email received in our Mail Bag directly to your personal email in a timely manner. Registration is fast and easy. Simply enter the email address to which all messages should be sent in the yellow box that is displayed on our home page (see accompanying image).

NOTE: This service may not be appropriate or desirable for everyone. We recommend that you don't subscribe if you do not wish to receive potentially a large volume of email. Japan Brats cannot ensure a maximum cap on messages posted.

Japan Brats Messaging Reactivated

2006-05-31T04:45:00.000-07:00

Japan Brats messaging/email forwarding features have been reactivated effective May 31. This includes the Contact Us and Email Japan Brats links on all of our pages. The service was temporarily suspended as a result of a recent change in our message forwarding provider. We regret the interruption in the service and any difficulty you may have recently experienced when attempting to contact us. Sumimasen!

Japan Brats adds more features, upgrades

2006-02-24T21:11:00.000-07:00

In our continuing effort to keep up with the times and respond to visitor requests, Japan Brats has added a few new features and made some technical enhancements to our Main Page. With the addition of new features comes a little rearranging and minor tweaking of our existing features. Briefly, here's what we've done:

First and foremost is our all new Photo of the Day box, which you will find in the righthand column. It features a randomly selected photo from Japan and Okinawa that has been posted to our Japan Brats photo collection on Flickr, the wildly popular photo hosting service. Using the Flickr feed, the Photo of the Day changes each time you visit our main page. Click on the photo and you will be able to view the original image and be able to access our ever-expanding Flickr photo collection. We've initially posted a collection of photos of past and present scenes of Atsugi Naval Air Facility (formerly Naval Air Station), located in Kanagawa Prefecture, but we'll be adding photos of other bases and locations soon. (Japan Brats Yahoo Group members may access a special collection of rare vintage photos that are not publicly accessible. Membership is free, however, so we encourage you to join.)

Located inside the Photo of the Day box and just below the photo is a link to our Japan Brats Photo Albums -- a huge index of links to photos of U.S. bases, past and present, located throughout Japan and Okinawa. Although Photo Albums is also included in our Main Menu, many of you may have seemingly overlooked it so we simply wanted to make it more prominent. Trust me, the list of photo links is comprehensive. We will soon add additionally links our index, so we encourage you to check back from time to time.

We've consolidated our 3 separate message feeds into one in the I Did Japan box. It helps to avoid undue confusion among many of our visitors. The single feed now showcases the most recent messages posted on our I Did Japan guest book (which is publicly accessible), messages posted by Japan Brats Yahoo Group members, and individual email messages received at japanbrat@yahoo.com. So whether you are a Japan Brats Yahoo member or not, all of our most recent messages may now be viewed in one convenient location. To view the I Did Japan guestbook or Yahoo Group messages separately, simply click the links located in the top of the frame.

Just below the I Did Japan box is an exciting new feature -- the Brats Shout B ox, which combines the best features of instant messaging, a chatroom and a message board. You can chat with other Japan Brats in real time. Similar to chatrooms, you can chat with everyone who logs onto the Shout Box. Passwords or memberships are not required. Simply choose a nickname, log-in and start chatting! The Shout Box will open in a new browser window so you can stay "parked" on our Main Page.

Unlike message boards, however, individual messages posted here are limited to a maximum of 160 characters, but they are posted instantly for anyone to read and to reply to. For everyone's sake, it includes a bad words filter. You may even a smilie to your posts. In practice, the Shout Box is similar to our Japan Chat (located in the Fun Stuff box). The key difference is that the Shout Box is intended for Japan Brats visitors while Japan Chat accommodates all international visitors and is the leading English-language chatroom devoted to all things Japanese.

Brats Blogs is an all new feature that highlights blogs written by or about military brats in general and those with ties to Japan or Okinawa. It's a service provided by our newest partner, Technorati, the world's leading real-time search engine for keeping track of what's going on in the blogosphere -- the world of weblogs.

Just a word or two about our RSS feeds. You may have noticed a new icon -- -- located in many of the boxes on the Main Page. For the convenience of those visitors who routinely use a RSS (real simple syndication) newsreader or aggregator, this is the new universal symbol for RSS syndicated feeds. It's a service we've long provided but recently modified with the new icon. Click the icon to add the specified RSS feed to your newsreader.

Finally, we're proud to debut our new video collection as featured in our Brats Videos box, located midway down the lefthand column. I can't tell you how excited we are about this! For more information or to place an order, see the Brats Video box or visit our new Japan Brats PX page.

In addition to all of the above, we've made some technical strides to speed up loading the Main Page. We tried including an auto-updating feature on some of our news items, but it simply bogged down loading speed so we deep-sixed that idea. Besides, it wasn't essential. If you want to see more current information in our news and feature boxes, simply refresh your browser. We also modified some of the coding for the page to help with cross-browser compatibility, such as IE 4.0+ and Netscape 6.0 (not apparent to all but a few computer geeks and hacks out there).

If you have ideas or suggestions of your own on how to improve Japan Brats, please use the convenient Email Japan Brats link located on each page (look at the Main Menu at left). As always, we look forward to feedback from all Japan Brats!

COMING SOON: Japan Brats Podcasts

Locating Japan Brats Yahoo photos

2006-02-08T05:16:00.000-07:00

We've received a few inquiries and complaints (sigh) from our Japan Brats Yahoo Group members who are unable to access all of our photo albums. So here's a little primer:

First, our main photo collection is located at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/japanbrats/ and is accessible (once you've logged in) by clicking the Photo link in the lefthand column. But since our storage capacity is limited at this site, we had to establish a second site for additional photo albums and photos.

The second -- or overflow -- library is at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/japanbrats-photos2/ and contains photos that many of you probably were unaware of. Either click on the link shown here directly or click on "Links" in the lefthand menu and go to Japan Brats Yahoo Photo Collection No. 2.

Once you've found an album you wish to view, click on the album icon and the photos in that album will be displayed. You may then click on the individual photos for enlarged views or to copy them.

Our records show that the overwhelming majority of our Japan Brats Yahoo Group members have yet to visit our Photo Collection No. 2. Simply follow the instructions to join as you did with the main group, then sign in using your Yahoo ID and password.

To any of you who have photos of Japan of your own that you wish to contribute, we encourage you to do so using our second site. Thanks again. Email me at japanbrats@yahoo.com if you have any questions or problems. I'll do my best to help you navigate.

Tom Barry
Japan Brats web guru

Holiday Greetings in Photos from Japan

2005-12-29T08:26:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since we actually posted photos on Site News, but the holiday season prompted us to include a select few from Misawa to Okinawa.

Pictured at right, Larisa Herrin and her children Leneah, 4, and Shaylee, 3, work on a snowman at Sasebo Naval Base after a rare winter snowfall. (Photo courtesy of Greg Tyler/Stars & Stripes)

As of this writing (8:30 a.m. MST Dec. 29 -- 12:30 a.m. Japan Time), it is a relatively mild 64F at Camp Zama, a balmy 80F at MCAS Futenma in Okinawa, and a brisk 26F at Misawa AB/NAF Misawa in the far northern reaches of Honshu where snow still blankets the ground from this past week's snowfalls.

Indeed, the holiday season is in full swing throughout the Land of the Rising Sun, evoking such greetings as Kurisumasu Omedetou (Merry Christmas) and Akemashite Omedetou (Happy New Year), the latter celebrated more traditionally.

So here are a few more snapshots to remind us all of our loved ones and compatriots in Japan and Okinawa:

Master Sgt. Tom Johnson, left, and Master Sgt. Ruth Hutchinson of the Yokota Air Base First Sergeants Council wrap Christmas gifts. (Photo courtesy of David Westover/U.S. Air Force)

Camp Zama Cub Scout Pack 34 delivered juices, baby items, canned food, 800 pounds of rice and 50 packs of diapers Dec. 10 to Akeikai nyujiin (orphanage) in Machida City. (Photo courtesy of David Rood/Torii Times)

Capt. Wayne Radloff, commander of NAF Misawa, pounds mochi (rice cakes) at the annual Mochitsuki festival Dec. 26 as part of a Japanese New Year's custom. (Photo courtesy of Staff Sgt. Vann Miller/Northern Light)

A combined choir sings "The First Noel" during the 2nd Annual Ecumenical Christmas Cantata at NAF Atsugi's Chapel of the Good Shepherd. The event was held Dec. 18. (Photo courtesy of Brian Naranjo/Atsugi Skywriter)

Seaman Brandon Robbins tees off while Seaman Kevin Lamons and Lance Cpl. Jennifer Kriss wait their turn with a group of Hama Junior High School pupils Dec. 9 on Hamahiga Island, Okinawa. (Photo courtesy of Seaman Travis J. Fowler)

Thanks to the Pacific Stars & Stripes, Atsugi Skywriter (NAF Atsugi), Torii Times (Camp Zama/Sagamihara), Yokota AB Public Affairs, Northern Lights (Misawa AB Public Affairs), and USMC Okinawa Public Affairs for their photo contributions.

Decade of the '60s Rule!

2005-12-29T06:47:00.000-07:00

Ah, the decade of the 1960s. It began with crewcuts and bouffant hairdos and ended with long hair and tie-dye jeans and t-shirts. From Elvis to the Beatles and psychedelic rock, the space race to Vietnam. JFK inspired us to do more and Nixon became president. From rock around the clock to 8-track tapes.

What a rush!

In reviewing our ongoing Japan Brats Poll (on the main page), it seems that those of us who lived in Japan in the '60s dominate by a long shot. Of course, many of us also bridge a couple of decades, like yours truly who was born there in 1956 at Tachi AB Hospital to be exact, spent two memorable stints in the Kanto Plains and ultimately left in 1970 in the Age of Aquarius!

At last check, 1,056 of you registered your decades. I'm assuming that most, if not all, of you are Japan Brats -- loosely military brats or dependents of military or civilian personnel assigned there. I'm certain a few of you are veterans or ex-patriates who once lived there as well.

Here's the breakdown to date:

34% 1960s
26% 1970s
21% 1950s
12% 1980s
3% 1990s
3% 2000s
1% 1940s

Frankly, I'm surprised that those of you from the '70s are a not-too-distant second. Didn't know that you even considered it so much of your youth that you'd even take the time to register. We're glad you did. The '50s isn't too far behind. I have some recall of that era, albeit limited because I was still very young.

But in whatever era you may have lived in Japan or Okinawa, they were awesome years indeed. It took years and years of adulthood before I really learned to appreciate and miss those days and all of the special memories and friends I hold dear.

I think it was fellow Japan Brat Mark Roberts or Don Opedal who pointed out to me some time ago that those parts of our youth become more memorable and meaningful as we get older. We hope that those of you who currently live in Japan or lived there within the past decade will embrace these years as very special ones. Because in time they will be. Trust me. You are very fortunate to experience what you are experiencing. And you will be leaving a lasting legacy.

Plus, we at Japan Brats, are relying on you to carry on our unique heritage and tradition well into the future. Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu! (Happy New Year!)

Those pesky pop-ups on our Guest Book

2005-12-29T06:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, we've received a few complaints (not many thankfully) about the pop-up ads that occasionally surface on our I Did Japan Guest Book. Yes, they can be annoying. No, they are not to harmful. And, no, we can do little about them at the moment.

Bear in mind that Japan Brats strives to give you the maximum web surfing enjoyment with the least amount of aggravation. But we're also a non-profit endeavor. And as such we rely on a host of free services to enable us to bring you all of our special features, including the guest book. But there's a price we pay in exchange for this -- it's called advertising.

The service that hosts our I Did Japan guest book, server.com, places strategic ads on the pages in exchange for hosting us. While we'd love to do away with them, we really can't at this time without dipping into our own pockets. Plus, we're so deeply entrenched with our existing guestbook that it would take a major effort to replace it at this point. So please bear withus. Besides, it's really a small price to pay.

All you need to do is simply click those pop-up ads off. The other solution is to use either the free Google or Yahoo toolbars, both of which have pop-up blockers integrated into them. The Yahoo pop-up blocker is especially effective in blocking most if not all of them, plus it includes special anti-spyware. We recommend both. If you haven't installed them already, they're easy to download and install. They are available at http://toolbar.google.com/ or http://toolbar.yahoo.com/.

Message postings...how it works

2005-11-28T03:03:00.000-07:00

With nearly 50,000 hits since our launch two years ago, Japan Brats has received an overwhelming response from our visitors, both via emails and with our two message boards. Thank you all for your feedback.

The one question that frequently arises, however, is how soon the messages are posted on our two boards -- our I Did Japan Guest Book and the Japan Brats Yahoo Group message board.

Firstly, the two are independent of one another. I Did Japan is a public board for any visitor to post or reply to messages, while the Japan Brats Yahoo Group board is by membership (which is free). You are most welcome to join by using our easy sign-up widget on the Main Page.

In both cases, there may be a slight delay of between 5 minutes to 30 minutes on when the messages are actually posted for others to see. It's done automatically. Don't sweat it. If you followed our "destructions," your message is certain to appear in the order that they were posted and a brief teaser will be displayed on the Main Page. Have a little patience....it will be rewarded.

We encourage you all to post messages or share your thoughts, memories and suggestions on either forum. It adds to the fun and other visitors look forward to reading them. Generally, they also prompt responses. Who knows, you may hear from a long-lost classmate or tomodachi.

If for some reason you tried to post a message but it didn't appear, simply drop us a note using the Email Japan Brats link on any of our pages. We'll then try to post it in a timely manner. Thanks again!

Beloved Zama teacher needs our help

2005-11-22T20:55:00.000-07:00

I want to pass this along to all of those who was ever a student of Doug Schulte's at Zama American High School over the years. I was among his as I'm sure many of your were too. Mr. Schulte is in need of our help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The following email was received from Al Miyatake, president of the Zama Alumni Association. I hope you can pitch in:

Hi Zama Alumnae,
You should be getting a yearly mass mailing from me containing the KAKI-MONO, 2006 membership form, and a 2006 Booster page form. I didn't put in the information that we do have a deadline on the booster page, and would like to request that you send it in to me no later than the end of the month.

As I said on the application form, your Name, and year of graduation will be included on the page in the yearbook, and we are suggesting a donation of $10.00 to do so. All the funds for the booster page this year will be going to one of our Faculty, Mr. Doug Schulte. Mr. Schulte, who has taught at Zama High for 37 years, had his home stateside in New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina devastated the area, and his home is a total loss. He was showing us pictures of his home which were taken by a relative shortly after they were allowed to go back into the area which was flooded. I hope you will consider this and assist with our cause.

The reunion 2006 is being worked on this year, and we will have info on it shortly, but we do need funds to start the action and ball rolling. 2005 was not a good year for membership and our funds are very low at the moment. The mass mailing depleted much of our funds and we need your support to keep the organization and the website going. I hope that you will support us for 2006!

Thank you for your generosity in advance, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Al Miyatake, President mailto: zamaalum@hawaii.rr.com
Zama Alumni Association http://www.zamaalum.net

FYI: Tokyo travel tips to pass along

2005-11-22T20:01:00.000-07:00

Here's an email we recently received about some Tokyo travel bargains for the next cherry blossom season courtesy of fellow Japan Brat Lynn Ellis Miller. We don't customarily endorse a commercial plug on Site News but this is too good to keep to ourselves and some of you may be planning on making a trip in March or April. It includes a side trip to some old bases in the Kanto area. From Lynn:

WE have a very good deal on a week in Tokyo during Cherry Blossom season next spring. The price of $1672 includes roundtrip on United Airlines, transfers to and from the hotel, hotel accommodations at the Shiba Park Hotel (3 Stars) – breakfast included, a one day trip of sightseeing the old bases and areas in the Kanto Plain where we lived with an English speaking guide with lunch included. If you know of anyone who is interested please have them contact me.

Lynn Ellis Miller
Coldwell Banker Primus
451 Coventry Lane
Suite 101
Crystal Lake, IL 60014

www.lynnellismiller.com
lynn.miller@coldwellbanker.com

847-624-5966
815-444-1156
815-459-4735 fax

I Did Japan Guestbook issues

2005-11-22T19:43:00.000-07:00

We continue to receive queries regarding our I Did Japan guestbook and how it is archived and organized. Well, it's fairly straightforward and easy to navigate. But many of you appear to be a bit miffed at how you need to pore through pages and pages of messages to reply to only one or two.

Unfortunately, Japan Brats has little contol over that. We understand that it can be time-consuming...sort of like hunting for a needle in a haystack. All of the replies to any single message are threaded immediately below the message but remain on that page regardless of when you may have replied. So in order to see additional, more recent ones you have to go back to that page. Only new messages (not the replies) are posted on the first page.

We understand that it can be inconvenient and annoying, but we subscribed to the guestbook service more than a year ago and now there is too much data archived for us to easily convert to another service or format. If we attempted to do so, it would be extremely tedious to transfer all of the data and email addresses. Not only that, we risk losing much of it.

But on the bright side look at how many wonderful messages you will be able to scan as you do so. And who knows, you may stumble across a name, a place, a story that you may recall and may want to respond. Thanks for your understanding.

New Sanno site down for maintenace

2005-11-19T08:32:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed a big blank spot near the top of the main page where the New Sanno Hotel logo normally would appear. Also, the direct link to their home page may not open (posted on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2005 at 08:19).

Not to worry, especially for those of you wishing to access the New Sanno Hotel link. Their site is undergoing maintenance and is expected to be up and running soon.

Speaking of the New Sanno, I'll inject a plug for them while I'm at it. This is not spam, just a helpful but shameless plug. Having been a patron of the old Sanno and the New Sanno over the years, it's the best-kept secret for any of you travelling to Tokyo. The New Sanno is a world class American-style hotel right in the heart of Tokyo with bargain-basement room rates, excellent dining and a host of other amenities (for those of you with a military or government I.D. or veterans and their guests).

The hotel is actually a transient billet operated by the Navy's equivalent of MWR and managed by a private hotel management firm. They recently underwent a multi-million dollar remodel of their public facilities, including several restaurants, the main lobby and other features.

So if you're headed to Tokyo on TDY or space available, keep it in mind. But book well in advance...it's an extremely popular hotel. It's conveniently located within a stone's throw of all of midtown Tokyo's attractions, plus there are several shuttle buses daily to and from Narita Airport, Yokota AB, Yokosuka and other U.S. military installations in around Tokyo.

How we select the news stories

2005-11-19T08:09:00.000-07:00

There have been quite a few inquiries recently about how Japan Brats selects various news items for our news pages, such as Stars & Stripes Japan, PACOM News, Base News, On Campus, Japan Headlines and the like. Well, as the webmaster, I'll let you in on a little insider secret:

Actually, we don't select the stories that are published here daily, often by the hour or minute. It's all done automatically. Japan Brats relies on a rather ingenious method developed by Google News (our publishing partner). There are no human editors. It's all done by computer algorithms and are based on a set of relevant keyword searches. Google's computers find these then send them on to us. We call it "contextual" -- meaning the stories that do appear ideally relate to the general theme for that page or topic. Then all we do is aggregate the news feeds here. This same method is used for our Gaijin Blogs and Japan Weather. Believe me, it saves me a lot of sleepless hours!

It's not entirely perfect, as you may have noticed. On occasion a story may slip by that appears to be unrelated. That's simply because somewhere in the body of that news item there may have been a passing mention or a word that is related.

For example, you may see a story about a naval exercise in Guam under the heading of Yokosuka or Sasebo. That's probably because the name "Yokosuka" or "Kitty Hawk" (which was home-ported there) may have been mentioned somewhere.

Also, you're likely to see some redudancy depending on how many news sources that we use publish the same story. (At present, Japan Brats relies on 64 separate news sources.) Unfortunately, Google News cannot as yet distinguish between the sources. Overall, however, we are pleased it has worked well.

We also want to thank Stars & Stripes (especially our friends at the Tokyo bureau at Hardy Barracks in Akasaka) for their cooperation. At present, Japan Brats is the ONLY independent website that provides news exclusively about or from U.S. military personnel and installations in Japan and Okinawa. In fact, even the Stripes does not offer this exact same service. We do provide the Stripes main link for those of you who may be interested in more worldwide news from their excellent newspaper.

I hope this explains in non-computereeze how all of this gets put together. Just don't ask me any really difficult questions. Happy reading!

Japan Brats target of spammers

2005-11-02T05:24:00.000-07:00

We're sorry to report that twice in one week Japan Brats fell victim to spam attacks, resulting in unwanted advertising from external sources and affecting certain page display features.

Regrettably, one such spam attack has resulted in our having to disable all reader comments posting on both our Site News and Brat Essays pages pending further notice. Although we look forward to seeing your comments regarding specific news and essays, at present the spammers have forced us to take this action.

Should you wish to submit a comment regarding either a news item or brat essay featured on this site, please use our convenient Email Japan Brats links on any page.

A similar attack also occurred on our sister website, Japan Brats Yahoo! Again, while it did not impact overall functionaility and usability of the site, it imposed unwanted advertising into our message feeds.

In both instances, the apparent source of the spam has been in Canada.

If you see or suspect spam advertising or information on any of our pages, we would appreciate your cooperation in reporting this immediately to the webmaster using our Email Japan Brats link. Thanks again.

Japan Brats Videos soon to released

2005-10-15T07:13:00.000-07:00

This bit of news has been a long time in the making...literally. Japan Brats will soon premiere a collection of professionally produced videos that are sure to bring back nostalgic, sometimes haunting memories, for those of you who grew up as military brats in Japan.

The collection will be available as VCDs (video compact discs) that are compatible with most newer DVD players, as well as CD and DVD-equipped PCs. The individual VCDs will also be made available for purchase online from our new Japan Brats Post Exchange with PayPal, which offers safe, secure and convenient ordering, shipping and payment with most major credit cards.

We are "rolling out" this exclusive collection with three titles which we believe will prove popular among many brats:

1) Grant Heights Memories -- This video covers a unique chapter in brat history, from Grant Heights' war-time use as a kamikaze airbase, its post-war service as one of the main housing installations in the Tokyo vicinity, to its closure in 1973 and subsequent conversion into a sprawling municipal park. Among the highlights is a memorable segment devoted to Narimasu Tokyo American High School.

2) Postcards From Japan -- This one is sure to be a timeless keepsake and a classic for all military brats from the Land of the Rising Sun. It spans 60 years of U.S. history in Japan, from the beginning of the Occupation in 1945 to the impact of the deployment of American service personnel from Japan to Iraq in 2005. It also includes highlights from virtually all of the most prominent installations in Japan.

3) Camp Zama Memories -- Vintage photos and images have been woven into a fascinating trip down memory lane to Camp Zama, from its war-time role as the "West Point" of the Japanese Imperial Army to its current role as headquarters of the U.S. Army Japan.

4) White Christmas: The Fall of Saigon -- Inspired by the experiences of many veterans and those of us whose fathers served in Vietnam, this video dramatically recalls in words, images and sounds the climactic end of the Vietnam War and the harrowing escape of the last Americans from Saigon in 1974.

These videos were produced in cooperation with scores of fellow military brats, veterans, alumni and archival sources. Sample streaming video clips are available for viewing online from the main page. They are hosted free of charge by OurMedia.org and InternetArchive.org, two organizations dedicated to providing open source media on the internet.

Pricing has yet to be determined, but Japan Brats will make the videos available on an "at-cost" basis to help cover the cost of production, shipping and handling. As we approach the release dates, Japan Brats will post updates here on Site News to keep you abreast of the latest news. In the meantime, please address any inquiries using our email form.

Important: remove old Japan Brats web address

2005-10-13T16:47:00.000-07:00

About a year or so ago, in an effort to maximize exposure on search engines for Japan Brats I added a new web address http://japanbrats.cjb.net. Initially, it worked great and the service that provided the new URL seemed legitimate enough. But in recent months they began adding spam so that when you attempt to access Japan Brats you are prompted to download an unwanted and potentially virus-infected program. Do not download the program!

If you've been using that URL to access Japan Brats, I strongly recommend that you not bookmark or use it any longer! Instead, use our "real" URL at http://japanbrats.blogspot.com/. It may be a longer address but it's devoid of any spam gargabe and is hosted by Blogger, a credible hosting service.

I've notified the service, CJB, to remove Japan Brats entirely from their list. Hopefully, it will be removed shortly. Pending that, please use our real home address at http://japanbrats.blogspot.com/.

Japan Brats also uses the following URLs that you may find if you use a search engine:

http://m.1asphost.com/japanbrats/ This one is safe. It's the original URL we used when Japan Brats was first launched. Now, it simply redirects you to our new URL.
http://japanbrats.ne1.net Safe redirection URL.
http://japanbrats.r8.org Safe redirection URL.
http://www.geocities.com/japanbrat/ Safe but read the following:

The Geocities address includes a somewhat annoying sidebar on the righthand side of the browser that contains Yahoo advertising links. It's the price I pay for a free hosting service. Therefore, I don't recommend using it. Again, I recommend our main address over the others.

Thank you for your understanding.

Tom Barry
Japan Brats webmaster

Try our new Japan Brats PhotoMaps

2005-10-11T20:08:00.000-07:00

We've introduced yet another new wrinkle to Google Maps... PhotoMaps! Though still in beta (trial) version, this adds a new feature to our Sat-View and mapping program by adding photo tags to maps of select bases and installations in Japan.

Try the menu of links on the main page or visit our Japan Brats Sat-View page and scroll to the bottom of the page. When the map appears, click any of the thumbprint photos to view an enlarged image and read a brief description. You may zoom in or out, move the map around, or even convert to a satellite image.

Our selection is currently limited to Camp Zama, Yokota Air Base and Naval Air Facility Atsugi, but as Google adds more high-resolution satellite maps and images Japan Brats will add more locations and photos.

Yahoo messages & Guest Book combined

2005-10-11T02:09:00.000-07:00

In case you hadn't noticed, Japan Brats has modified it's message feature on the main page by consolidating both our Yahoo Group messages with those from our I Did Japan guest book. This is intended to lessen the confusion among some of our visitors as to which is which and to eliminate some of the clutter.

While both messaging features are still independent of one another, messages displayed on our main page combines the five most recent messages from both our Yahoo Group members and visitors who have signed our I Did Japan guest book. These are merely a few choice samples of all of the messages contained on both message boards. Links to both expanded message boards are provided in the box. Does that clear up the confusion some?

In response to those who were uncertain as to what the purpose of having two message boards is:

1) The I Did Japan guest book is open to the public. This means that any visitor may sign and post an entry, preferrably a "howdy" accompanied by a brief bio or recollection about their time in Japan.

2) The Japan Brats Yahoo Group is a members-only message board provided by Yahoo. It's for those of you who want to continue an ongoing dialogue among other members regarding a wide range of topics related to our Japan military brat experiences. As I've mentioned in previous posts, membership is free and takes only a few minutes to register. There are a host of other features as well, including posting photos and email services.

If you're uncertain which to use, try both. We welcome all Japan Brats who'd like to share their experiences with the rest of us.

Yahoo! Farechase removed

2005-10-11T01:59:00.000-07:00

I hadn't heard any complaints yet about Yahoo! Farechase, a little travel-related widget we recently added to the main page. But I've been anticipating some negative reviews. In theory it's a tool to aid those of you who may want to search airfare to Japan or anywhere else. In theory.

Problem is that it's still in a so-called "beta" -- or trial -- mode and the folks at Yahoo! haven't worked out all of the bugs yet. Would've been a handy addition to our portfolio, but after personally trying to find a flight from Phoenix to Tokyo a half-dozen times without any success I finally gave up.

Therefore, we've removed it altogether from the main page pending Yahoo succeeding in making it work. Besides, there are plenty of other airfare search engines available on the web, in addition to links we've provided in our Japan Trekker's Guide.

Do you Yahoo? Consider Japan Brats Yahoo!

2005-10-05T05:15:00.000-07:00

Do you Yahoo? You might consider Japan Brats Yahoo! Let us explain: If you're relatively new to Japan Brats, you might not have noticed that we have our very own membership club. It's rather exclusive in that it's comprised of military brats from Japan, both past and present. The club's primary purpose is to promote fellowship, camaraderie and just good-natured communications among we brats.

Membership is free and offers some unique advantages: You can swap messages among group members, send and receive email, post and view rare photos of your time in Japan, subscribe to an optional daily digest of group messages in your email, and receive special notices. It's a terrific place for those of us who tend to be somewhat sentimental and like to wax nostalgic about the good ol' days of our youth in Japan.

Unlike typical high school alumni associations, Japan Brats Yahoo welcomes everyone who may share similar experiences regardless of the school you attended or when you lived there. We even invite veterans or ex-expatriates who may have lived in Japan or spent a tour of duty there to join the fun.

Some may wonder why we havd a membership club at all when we already have a guestbook. Firstly, the guestbook primarily serves as a place to introduce yourself and to share a bit about when and where you lived in Japan or Okinawa. While Japan Brats Yahoo also serves this purpose, it's also a place where you can continue an ongoing dialogue with other brats as a whole or individually. Secondly, as a members-only group Japan Brats Yahoo is safe from spammers. Yahoo provides the added bonus of Norton anti-virus and anti-spam protection that you wouldn't have otherwise.

Now with 120 members worldwide (and growing), Japan Brats Yahoo has helped reconnect old friends and classmates, forge new friendships with those who share something in common (like schools you attended, bases you lived on, and places in Japan you've visited). Even if you're not a "joiner" per se or wish to remain anonymous, you can read messages posted by other members who like to share their experiences in Japan with the rest of us. That's why Japan Brats features samples of the most recent messages on our main page.

Joining Japan Brats Yahoo is simple. To make it even more convenient, we've added a new sign-up button on the main page under the heading "Join Japan Brats Yahoo!" (pretty clever title). So why not join? There's absolutely no obligation, no membership dues, no requirement whatsoever. It's strictly for fun and old-times sake.

So next time someone asks, "Do you Yahoo?" you can answer "Hai!" (Yes).

New features added...just too much fun!

2005-10-01T18:13:00.000-07:00

"Amazing!" "Outstanding!" "Excellent!" "Terrific!" The superlatives keep pouring in to the Japan Brats mailbag for our award-winning website/weblog for military brats from Japan and Okinawa.

Yes, "award-winning." In case you missed the recent site news post about it, Japan Brats recently earned a coveted award from Japan Reference, or JREF, Japan's foremost links directory for gaijins.

The latest scoop for those of you who haven't visited the main page in a few days is that it's been updated again with more exciting new features and useful links for the Japanophile in you. Among them:

1) Military Community -- Outstanding links to the most comprehensive reference guides about the global U.S. military community. With these links, you can easily search and find information and resources about virtually any base or duty station in Japan and throughout the world.

2) Gaijin Pot -- An entertaining weblog featuring postings by gaijins in Japan who just can't remember what a real Krispy Kreme tastes like but can tell you the difference between Meguro (a neighborhood in central Tokyo) and maguro (a type of raw fish used in sushi).

3) 43 Things -- A unique and unusual weblog penned by those among us who've yet to fulfill their long-held ambition to visit or live in Japan as we Japan Brats have. An interesting read to see how they plan to accomplish their goals.

4) Kureji Japan -- A directory of the most hilarious, amusing, entertaining and unusual websites about Japan that you probably couldn't find in a month of Sundays searching the worldwide web on your own. They include such arcane and offbeat sites as:

* How To Bow -- A animated lesson on Japanese etiquette. Trust me, it's hilarious!

* Origami Boulder Company -- A mail-order site for origami boulders (a crumpled wad of paper). This guy is dead serious. You'd better place an order...NOW!!! Even if you don't buy, it's a hoot.

* Kushami Room -- This is a twisted photoblog, but the Japanese web author’s fetish for sneezing (kushami) women is for real.

* Oh My O-Benjo! -- Richard Seaman's really crappy but authoritative look at Japanese toilets.

* How to Use Japanese Toilet -- More potty training and toilet humor courtesy of Yuuji Hayashi.

* Engrish.com -- The grandaddy of all amusing Japanese websites, featuring photographic examples of how the Japanese manage to butcher, warp and generally mangle the English language in everyday life.

* What Kind of Gaijin Are You? -- You wear a yukata at home, sleep on a futon and eat rice every day. Rate yourself as a gaijin.

And there's dozens more. So take a break, sip some ocha and have a laugh on me. I launched Kureji Japan about two years ago just to amuse myself, but hadn't really kept it updated. So forgive me if a few of the links you find there are no longer functioning. But, trust me, you will find it immensely entertaining nonetheless.

5) Wowcams -- Similar to Japancams in format and function, but much broader in scope. You can access hundreds of controllable webcams from around the globe.

And finally...

6) Japan Trekkers Guide -- If you're headed to Japan or Okinawa, these links could save you a chunk of change on airfrare and hotel rates. There are a few other useful and informative links here, too.

Japan Brats wannabes chime in

2005-09-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a new twist to our Japan Brats Yahoo, I Did Japan and Gaijin Blogs message boards. Scroll midway down the main page and you'll see a new addition to our ever-evolving weblog. It's called 43 Things where those who hadn't been there express their long-held ambitions to visit Japan some day.

If you're curious about the title of this bulletin board, it's taken from a rather unique weblog called 43 Things where just about anyone can post their deep-seeded desires, whims and fantasies. It poses the age-old question "What do you want to do with your life?" then recommends that you "discover what's important, make it happen, and share your progress. Find your 43 things!"

Amazingly, there's well over a thousand posters whose ambition is to go to Japan for a visit. A few of them wax eloquently about their dream trip while others are more pragmatic and earnest in achieving their goal. I thought it rather unique in that it may give those of us Japan Brats who have already been there and done that pause for thought and reflection on what a great experience we indeed enjoyed.