Food Prices

I was watching the NBC nightly news podcast this afternoon when they mentioned the price of food going up. So I decided to take a look at prices online from one of the stores I used to shop at in Vegas, and compare to what I spend here in Tokyo. Though the current exchange rate is somewhere around 108 yen to the dollar, I’ll use 100 yen to a dollar for simplicity’s sake.

Item: Vegas Price, Tokyo Price
• Eggs: $4.49 (12), $1.89 (10) or $0.37/egg, $0.19/egg
• Milk: $3.19 (.5 gal), $1.60 (1 litre) or $6.38/gal, $6.06/gal
• Bread: $2.00 (20 slices), $0.99 (8 slices) or $0.10/slice, $0.12/slice
• Yellow Bell Peppers: $2.00 ea, $0.75 ea

And it continues on in this manner with meats and veggies etc. For instance, I buy packages of 2 large chicken breasts for around $3.15. I’m shocked. When I came to Japan, I felt like everything was so expensive. Have prices gone up that much in the States in the last 6 months? Or was my initial perception of prices in Japan just misguided?

Shinkansen

A little look into what I see every day. It’s a JR 700 Shinkansen (bullet train) at Shinagawa station.

Back Alley in Shinagawa

Fuck the Machine!

Last week I won tickets to a local production of Glengary Glen Ross thanks to the fine gentlemen at TPR. The show was Saturday night and I invited Calvin to come since he had never seen the movie or the play before. The theater is in Iidabashi and is very small, less than 100 people in capacity. It was good, but it certainly didn’t compare to the movie. It’s hard not to be jaded after you’ve seen Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alan Arkin, Ed Harris and Kevin Spacey play those parts.

It was very cold and windy, and the walk from the station to the theater was long and up hill. Once the play was over, having conquered the treacherous hike once, we decided to avoid the return trip after spotting a subway station across the street. Unfortunately, on the way back home, we misheard the train conductor. Instead of getting off at Shinagawa and waiting for the next train to take us to Gotanda, we stayed on and ended up at Kawasaki. I really should learn the words for “Limited Express.”

Luckily, Kawasaki is only one stop via the Keihin Tohoku line from Kamata, which is one of the stations on the Ikegami line; the same line our neighborhood is on. We were starved and decided to venture outside the station at Kamata since the area is full of shops and restaurants. We spotted a tiny Indian place and decided to venture in. The staff was Indian as were most of the clientèle, so I knew we hit on something good. The menu had English, our waiter was nice, the nan was huge and everything tasted wonderful. I’ll certainly be returning.

Friday Night Out

Last night our previous plans of karaoke kinda fell through, so I ended up going to Kua `Aina in Gotanda for dinner with some other dorm mates. I had a BLT with cheese, an order of fries and a drink. Normally I hate mayo, but the mayo here (the Japanese love mayo and seem to put it on everything) is different here somehow. It actually compliments the flavors instead of overpowering them. Now, I’ve had tons of good food since I’ve come here, but I think that was the most satisfying meal I’ve had in Japan. I don’t know if it was just because it was like food I’d eat at home or if it was just that good. Either way, I’m glad we went, and I’ll be sure to go back.

After dinner we were trying to think of some place to go, preferably a large bar with some people. So we headed out to Roppongi. We exited the station through Tokyo Midtown which is absolutely amazing and definitely requires a return trip with the camera. I originally had no intention of ever going to Roppongi, and walking it’s streets was almost worse than I expected. There are Africans posted every few feet on the sidewalks who try to get you to come see “big titties” and “loose women.” But, unfortunately, this is where the big bars are. And there are foreigners everywhere! It’s disgusting. On the upside, there was a very nice pool hall with lots of open space, good looking tables and lots of electronic dart boards. It was rather empty (and expensive) so we headed across the street to the rather insensitively named Gas Panic! (club location).

It was pretty early (21:30) and there weren’t too many people there. The DJ’s started off with a really good set of house music, but it soon deteriorated into hip-hop once the people started pouring in about an hour later. We stayed until about 23:40, which turned out to be just a little too late. Luckily we caught the subways in time to get to Tamachi, and then the last train to Gotanda, but we got stuck taking a cab from there to our neighborhood because the Ikegami line was shut down for the night.

This is probably my number one qualm with Tokyo so far: you’re forced to go home early or stay out all night. The trains stop running between 0:00 and 1:00 and don’t start again until about 5:00. Cabs aren’t cheap here to begin with, and when the trains stop they add an extra fee on top of their normal starting charge (¥700). It’s not so bad when you’re with two other people so you can split the cost, but it ends up being at least an extra ¥1000 each that you didn’t want to spend in the first place.

The Weekend, Food and Trains

A friend and I were at the local bar somewhat late last night when it started to snow. The guy who owns the bar decided to close shop for the night and offered to drive us back to the dorm. It was more rain than snow really, but that didn’t deter him from driving what I perceived as rather fast. But he has lived his whole life around Ontakesan so he could probably drive these streets blindfolded. In the smaller areas of Tokyo, the streets are tiny and difficult to navigate. Once you spend some time walking around them you begin to understand why small cars with low horsepower are so popular. There is also a lack of stop signs at most intersections. Instead, they have a sign suggesting that you slow down as you approach the intersection. I’m really surprised there aren’t more accidents.

When I woke up this morning the ground was covered in snow. It was no more than a few centimeters, but it continued to slowly pile up all day long. In front of the dorm there is a small court yard and parking lot, so this evening before it got too dark we decided to have a snowball fight. One of the girls here at the dorm is from Hawaii and this was her first time ever having a snowball fight.

Saturday afternoon I met up with two other JAs at Yoyogi station. We had the objective of going to the sword museum, but it turns out that it’s not in the park or at Meiji Jingu, but north west of the area. Of course we didn’t find this out until we spent a few hours walking around looking for it, but we did come across a few interesting things. In the large forest area surrounding Meiji Jingu there are a few other buildings of interest, one being the treasure museum. Inside there are portraits of all the emperors up to and including Showa (Hirohito) as well as a number of artifacts saved from the Meiji emperor and empress. Another building close by houses a training facility where they practice traditional archery and other arts involving weapons.

After walking through the shrine and ending up near the Harajuku exit, we had built up quite a hunger and decided to find some place to eat. We walked down the major street near the station and looked into Lotteria and Jonathans, but both were packed. Standing outside, we happened to glance a sign for a Thai restaurant in the next building and decided to check it out. Luckily there was only one other customer and soon we had the place to ourselves. I ordered deep fried squid and my friends both had a red curry dish. The food was very good and not too expensive, but since we were in Harajuku we decided to head to the nearest crepe stand for desert. For between ¥300 - ¥500 you get a large crepe filled with things like strawberries and whipped cream or cheese cake and rolled into a cone about 30cm long. They even have lunch style crepes filled with salad or smoked salmon.

I’m surprised you don’t see many fat people in Tokyo. Everywhere you go there are small restaurants and entire buildings filled with eateries. The smells from inside make their way out to the streets, and it all smells fantastic. I want to eat this entire city. Maybe it’s a good thing that my vocabulary and reading ability are so poor; if I could speak the language and read the menus I’d never stop eating. And with the price of groceries being relatively high, it’s just as cheap to eat out as to cook for one. Anyone who tells you that Tokyo is an expensive place to eat is full of shit. A Big Mac does not cost $20. In fact, a meal at McDonalds (Maku Donorarudo, as the Japanese say) is probably a little cheaper than in the States, and much better quality.

One of my favorite things about riding the trains in Tokyo is that each station on the JR lines has it’s own little jingle played every time the train pulls in. The TV program I’m watching right now just interviewed a kid who learned how to play all of them on the piano and recorded himself playing each one. Here’s another little video to give you a taste of what it sounds like in real life.

DS Love

I splurged and bought a Nintendo DS Lite. While I’ve played with them in the past and thought they were cool, I just never had a reason to buy one. Being in Japan and not being able to read Kanji is frustrating to say the least and this is where my purchase comes into play. Along with the DS I bought Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten (easy Kanji dictionary). A few of my dorm mates have this program, and after seeing how useful it is (reading the menu at a restaurant or a sign on a storefront etc) I just had to have one. The huge advantage this program has over any other type of dictionary is the ability to draw the Kanji you’re looking for. It also takes Hiragana and Katakana input and will find relevant Kanji for you. And since Japanese mixes the two, you can look up whole words and some short phrases. All for much less than something like a Wordtank. The dictionary isn’t the most comprehensive one available, but it’s perfect for every day situations. For instance, I just looked up these Kanji on the side of my box of tea bags: 緑茶 which translate to midori and cha or green tea. I’ve also found that the pronunciation of my last name transfers to a Kanji meaning art or skill: 芸

Miscellany

It snowed in Tokyo today. After a while it turned to rain, creating a nice slush all over the ground perfect for playing the “try not to slip and die” game.

I’ve noticed that Americans aren’t the only ones who go retarded when using a cell phone. Walking through the train stations the last few days, I’ve been slowed down any number of times by people looking at their cell phones instead of keeping up the pace.

The local Jusco sells some really good tortilla chips (made in Belgium of all places) but is definitely lacking in the salsa department. The only place I’ve seen salsa (and peanut butter) is Nissin. Even they didn’t have much to choose from. I’ll have to check out National Azabu. Speaking of Jusco, while browsing their tiny pizza/cheese area of the store, I came upon a “pizza crust.” I shit you not, it was a tortilla.

I’ve been dying for some good pizza lately so I decided to cave in and picked up a small frozen pizza for dinner today. It wasn’t too bad. It didn’t exactly taste wonderful, but not any worse than the small frozen pizzas I’ve had in the US. Tomorrow, since I’m out of school early, I think I’ll do a little real cooking and fire up an omelet.

Luckily I’ve had very little homework so far. Had to finish a short essay I began in class the other day, and I’ve got a rough draft of an essay due tomorrow morning. That’s it really, but I expect it to pick up as the semester moves along.

TV, Yoyogi Park and Yokohama

Russ, I have no idea about the timestamps. I imagine since I’m hosted in the US and I haven’t changed any prefs in WordPress that it will still show PST. I’ll look into that. And as for the phone, I got a white one.

Japanese TV is wonderful. Right now I’m watching a morning show on TV and they’re having a cooking segment with Hard Gay. Variety shows and game shows seem to be very popular. It’s very strange watching TV and having almost no clue what they’re talking about.

Saturday we went to Yoyogi park to play frisbee. Unfortunately I didn’t bring my camera but I plan on going back some day soon when it’s sunny out to take pictures. To get to the park from Harajuku station, you enter through the Meiji Shrine. I find it a bit ironic that the emperor who worked so hard to westernize this country is enshrined in a very traditional Japanese style. Nevertheless, the shrine is absolutely beautiful, as is the 175 acre forest surrounding it. It’s amazing to see considering it was all destroyed during the war, and it really makes you wonder how the Kanto plane must have looked before 13 million people decided they wanted to live here.

After frisbee we made our way back into Harajuku station. Don’t ever go into Harajuku station on a Saturday evening. It took 10 minutes just to get past the ticketing gates, but the trains weren’t very packed. We made our way to Shinjuku station and then on to Jimbocho which is the book district. After having dinner we hunted down the English language floor of the book store in the same building and bought some books we needed for school.

Sunday I decided to take a solo journey to Yokohama. I’m only a few miles from the ocean so I’ve been dying to see the water. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that Yokohama station wasn’t the smartest place to exit and I had to walk a few miles to get to the bay. I took some pictures of Landmark Tower (the tallest building in Japan) but it was very overcast so I didn’t bother going inside to the observatory. I also took some pictures of the wedge shaped building and the ferris wheel. I never got to see the open ocean though. I had walked so far already I didn’t feel like going as far as I’d have to to get there. I’ll plan my trip next time so I get on a train that takes me closer to the water. I’ll post the pictures within the next few days.

Some Things I’ve Noticed

The Japanese like their juice. I’ve yet to see anyone ordering a soda aside from an American at McDonalds. The vending machines sell mostly coffee, water (or flavored water) and juice. On the flight over they served tomato, orange and apple juice. At an Italian place a few days ago I witnessed a woman order orange juice on ice with her pasta. A very popular alcoholic beverage found in konbini and vending machines across Japan called Chu-hi (shochu highball) is flavored like citrus juice.

Western style toilets have handles that flush both ways. One side has the symbol for “big,” the other for “small.” Be sure to return the handle to it’s original position because in some cases it doesn’t do this on it’s own.

Settling In

Went to the Ota city ward office yesterday to file for my alien registration card and national health insurance and then walked around a bit and checked out the shops near Kamata station. Today I registered for classes and we missed our stop on the way back and decided to get off at Shibuya since it was only a few stops away. Walked around a little bit and stopped at Softbank to look at cell phones. Couldn’t get mine yet as their English speaking guy wasn’t there and none of us could speak Japanese well enough to cover all the technical terms.

So many people talk about culture shock in Japan, but I really haven’t experienced any so far. Maybe it’s living in Tokyo; I assume going to more rural parts of Japan would be quite different. The only real problem is the language barrier. I’ve been picking up new things just about every day, but it’s not like I’m entirely immersed in the language, so it may be a slow process.

The SA kids arrived today. The first batch I met seemed OK, but overall they don’t seem to have the interest in Japan that us JA students do. Unfortunately this is exactly what I was afraid of. Without a certain level of knowledge and respect for the culture, they can very easily make the rest of us look bad throughout the neighborhood. And if this kid who (literally) just plopped down in the room next to mine continues to be as annoying as he is right now I’m going to have to kill him in his sleep.

I’ve posted a few more

Orientation

Today was my first full day in Japan, and here are some things I’ve noticed so far:
There are very few trash cans on the streets of Tokyo, and when you do finally find one, it’s usually for cans or glass only. In Japan you must separate your garbage; combustible, non-combustible, plastic bottles, cans and glass.
Bathrooms rarely have anything to dry your hands with. Narita airport had air dryers, but I have yet to see them or paper towels anywhere in Tokyo. Including at the dorm.
Face masks: not just for hay fever. People here wear them whenever they are sick. In fact, I bought some from the 100 yen store today since I’m still a bit under the weather. One ride on the Yamanote line during morning rush hour and you’ll understand why.

On the plane from San Francisco, after about the 6th or 7th hour, and then again today while I was sitting in the classroom during orientation, I started thinking “why the hell am I doing this?” It’s tough. It’s not at all like I expected. Sure there are a few cultural idiosyncrasies you know about before arriving, but living it is somehow a little less exciting. I guess I really had hyped it up for myself over the years.

But then tonight, as we were walking back to the dorm from the train station, I felt it. Walking down the quiet streets at night, the song Sakura softly playing from speakers throughout the shopping area near the station, the light drizzle, the small shops filled with smiling faces and warm greetings… This is what I was looking for.

The Big Shift

For a long time now this blog has been more of a tumblelog (with the occasional long post) than anything else, but that’s all about to change in the next few weeks. I’m about to embark on the biggest and possibly most important adventure of my life, and I hope to be able to share some of it with all of you through blog posts and photos.

For the past few years I’ve been completely obsessed with Japan; the history, the culture, the food, everything. I spent hours reading, learning the language (attempting to, at least,) and trying to come up with a way visit or possibly move there. I had been toying with the idea of going back to school since I’d heard one of the requirements to move to Japan was to have a degree. But why would any company hire me without any experience in the country? Coming up with nothing, I stumbled upon a podcast from an English teacher working at an American University in Tokyo and quickly realized I’d found my way in.

After doing a bit of research, I decided to throw my hat into the ring, and I received the good news in September: I’d been accepted into Temple University Japan Campus (TUJ). Since then it’s been a grueling battle to get everything in order, the only thing left being my student visa (which I should have in a week or two.) Barring any major setback, I’ll be leaving Las Vegas on January 5th to begin my new life in Tokyo.