Statues

I wasn't planning on posting anything today. However, I was playing around with a little tool (created by J Wynia) which suggests photos from Flickr relevant to the subject of your blog post, and I just had to show you this pic. I searched for "Japan" and the following image was one of the results.

Photo: Joi Ito

I'm not sure if this is real or not, but Ito lives in Kyoto so it might be a bunch of statues from there.

English

A few months ago, I realized that my English input was stagnating. I started searching out anything to read in my native tongue. When I received an MP3 player as a gift a few weeks ago, I started listening to podcasts and other speeches. I stumbled across the following website of interviews with famous authors very recently: http://wiredforbooks.org/swaim.

Japanese Computers

Japanese homes are typically quite beautiful, with wood trim and sliding doors everywhere. Japanese computer cases are the same.





Kidding. This is actually a "mod" (geek abbreviation for modification) of a PC case. More info here.

Insulation come hither

As some people know, most homes have little (if any) insulation to keep them warm (or better, "not freezing") in the winter. Thus, homes are freezing in the winter. So, why don't all Japanese people die each winter? Because, they've come up with ingenious heating devices to keep them warm. Some of these devices are portable (as there is no central heating) and some are wall-mounted.

I spoke of this in a previous post (Winter's here! Winter's here!) but failed to mention the kotatsu. This is a low, square or rectangular table which has a radiating downward-pointing fan on its underside, and which people stretch their legs under, and read or play cars or drink tea. A kotatsu blanket is draped over the table and hangs to the floor so very little heat can escape. We have one of these and I'm anxious to set it up.

(this is a cat (not ours) enjoying the warmth of a kotatsu)

These words were inspired by a video on how insulation is made, which you can watch here.

Memoirs of a Geisha

I just watched a short preview of this movie at Yahoo's video search site. Already, I'm quite disappointed with the portrayal of Japanese people. Of course, the actors are speaking in English - that's understandable. But where is the formality, the politeness, the body language. I watched a stranger speaking to a young girl. There was not a hint of bowing, no polite Excuse mes or Thank yous. It was like I was watching a young Canadian girl (wearing a kimono) speaking to a Canadian man.

This short scene was out of context, so perhaps these two characters were raised in the West and then brought to Japan. Perhaps this is why they lack any trace of Japanese-ness? Unlikely. Or, maybe Hollywood, in typical fashion, decided to sanitize, and westernize, and remold, and cut a story about a wonderfully different culture to the lowest common denominator, so that it wouldn't be obscured (but more appropriately, embellished) by "strange" cultural references.

I suppose I should hold further judgement until I see the whole film.

Winter's here! Winter's here!

I forgot how cold it was in Japan in winter. Not outside, inside. Most homes have no central heating, and very little insulation. So each room is a different wintery environment. There's the winter bathroom and winter shower. There's the winter bedroom. And the winter kitchen. Each room needs its own heating setup. In my home, it's portable heat fans or kerosene heaters, but many homes have wall-mounted all-season air conditioners (cool in summer, warm in winter) in well-frequented rooms.

The winter shower is the coldest room. Standing naked on cold tiles in a freezing shower room is not fun. If you turn on the water to heat the shower room a few minutes before you enter, you're greeted with fog and can't find the soap, or walls for that matter. In the winter bathroom, you may be lucky enough to find an electrically warmed toilet seat. Mmm...

The winter bedroom is kinda fun if you're a couple. Snuggling and so forth.

Anyhow, I can't wait to go back to the central-heating of Canada and the warmth of my parents' home. Two weeks!

Expensive Candy

Japan is full of places where people can throw away their money very, very quickly. I hate these places, but many Japanese people love them.

I think there are basically two types of these places: gambling and games. The gambling places are called Pachinko halls or parlours. I've only been to a few of these, as your money disappears at nearly the speed of light. When I first arrived here, I was intrigued by the game centres, where there are many ways to lose your money at a slower rate.

For example, you can play a game where you control a mechanical scoop, which picks up (usually zero) small objects, puts them on a moving tray, which slowly pushes more small objects towards the edge of the tray and down a chute into your possession. More often than not, the scoop doesn't pick anything up, or if it does, the items fall of the moving tray back into the original pile of objects, or if they do stay on the tray, it takes you an hour to push a few small objects into the chute.

To make a long story short, you end up spending $20 on a couple of mini Kit Kats.

Demolition

I haven't witnessed the full process of a demolition before. During the past few weeks, that's changed. Across the street from my apartment, there is (was) a building called Exciting Town, kind of like a very small Walmart. Now, it's a pile of rubble. More specifically, it's many piles of neatly organized rubble. All the scrap is being organized into individual piles of thick steel, thin metal, concrete, plastic, etc. and then being taken away in large trucks. Japan is very focused on recycling, and I wonder if this demolition method is also true of Canada and the U.S.

In any case, "Goodbye, Exciting Town!" You weren't that exciting, other than on days whose last digit was a 1, when you would offer a 10% discount on all of your wares. I hope your replacement raises the bar a little bit, and provides a much better view from my bedroom window.