Tokyo Girl's Diary

BUSHIDO-one of my favorite books

2010-04-09T04:20:00.000-07:00

There are so many books about Japanese Culture and History.

BUSHIDO by Inazo Nitobe is the book I definitely recommend to those who would like to gain understanding of Japanese culture which is unfortunately prone to misinterpretation by many.

This literature reemerged several years ago as it was reported to have inspired Tom Cruise to produce the movie, "Last Samurai" which wonderfully depicted Japanese cultural flavor.

For that, I am truly grateful.

Mr. Nitobe's insight would surely help you understand why and how Japanese react and behave certain way, and differently from Americans.

Who said things are expensive here in Tokyo ?

2010-04-07T00:51:00.000-07:00

The one of few benefits coming from two lost decades and stagnant economy is the bargain price like this.

You can enjoy lunch like this at 1000 yen (approximately $ 11) in the center of Tokyo.

Free-refill for drinks and breads is included.

This place isn't an exception. There are so many places like this where you can have a tasty lunch with a 1000 yen bill.

In New York, a mediocre sandwich and a cup of coffee will easily cost you more than $ 10.

I still hear complaints from foreigners saying dining is expensive in Tokyo.

That is because they dined at the hotel. Whenever you go, hotels overcharge you.

When I was in London last year, the room service for a miserable sandwich and lukewarm tea costed $45 !!

So please enjoy this bargain lunch before deflation ends ! ( I guess you still have a plenty of time lol ).

Is your Japanese Masculine enough ?

2010-04-06T00:58:00.000-07:00

Nowadays, it is not unusual to have a foreigner speaking reasonably good Japanese in business scenes.

Some surprisingly speak good and natural Japanese, especially those from Asian countries, and some speak remarkably feminine Japanese, especially guys from Western countries; the answer is simple, they learned from their Japanese girlfriends or wives.

Yesterday, I was in a meeting to discuss a potential M&A deal with my colleagues and consultants from U.S.

One of the consultants attempted to show his Japanese language skill to us, but he spoke exceptionally feminine Japanese, almost baby-like.

After the consultants left, my boss said " He must be dating a teenage girl".

In addition to polite and humble expressions, Japanese encompasses expressions by gender.

If you speak Japanese and have propensity to hang out with Japanese girls more than guys, check whether your Japanese is masculine enough.

Are you blogger or blagger ?

2010-04-03T04:08:00.000-07:00

Another beautiful day for Hanami in Tokyo today.

I received 2 separate mails from my female friends, one from here, the other from California, a friend from college.

Their stories were surprisingly similar; dating horror stories lol.

Both of them endured tortuous time with so-called undatable guys.

Tokyo's case, the guy blagged about his education and his family's education, the company he works for (which is typical), the place he lives for two hours, not bothering to ask about her.

Cal's case, the guy appeared just undatable. " I said, elaborate."

My friend replied, " the guy tucked his T -shirt in his trouser. "

If you are men going to date, please wear datable clothes and be more attentive.

That would make women pleased, and this law is universal.

Customer Satisfaction vs Eco-friendliness

2010-04-01T23:58:00.000-07:00

In Japanese service industry, enterprises tend to strive to achieve the highest customer satisfaction, which, sometimes results in excessive or I should say over caring service as shown.

In a rainy day, a newspaper is delivered in a sealed thin plastic bag.

In a way, it is nice that I would not have my finger inked by a wet newspaper.

But, in my recollection, I have never had an unpleasantly wet newspaper delivered to my place.

Occasionally, I had newspapers with few watermarks, but it was not a big deal.

Is this a reflection of demanding Japanese consumers or endless pursuit of customer satisfaction ?

Although I do not have an answer,

one thing I can tell for sure is that Japanese consumers are accustomed to this type of over caring service and their expectation is usually a lot higher than western standards.

Therefore, it would be wise to keep that in mind when you engage in the business with Japanese counterparts.

Mata-ashita !

Introducing you to the beautiful cherry blossom from Tokyo

2010-03-31T23:53:00.000-07:00

Usually the beginning of April is the best timing for Hanami (cherry blossom sight-seeing) in Japan.

Sorry this photo is fuzzy since I took it by my mobile. I will upload better one before the season ends.

In contrast to the beauty of SAKURA (cherry-blossom) , Japan tends to be portrayed as a nation of peculiarity.

But are we as that idiosyncratic as some foreign correspondents often claim it is in their report ?

I am here to share a life and thought of an ordinary Japanese individual which you seldom get to see covered by media, hopefully to let you interpret Japan from different perspectives.

Jaa Mata!