ANA (All Nippon Airways) has announced that in all its flights between Tokyo and New York the passenger seats will be equipped with an extra connector (including tourist class seats). iPhones and iPods will be able to be plugged to recharge their battery, listen to music or even watch the movies that are loaded in the device using the in-seat screens. It looks like a great idea to me, but maybe they should extend the idea further so that the system can be used by other devices and not just iPhones and iPods.
Since Dragon Ball Kai started to be broadcasted in Japan, it seems like Dragon Ball s becoming superpopular again like in the 90s. This weekend the most advertised video game in Akihabara was Dragon Ball Raging Blast for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was showcased at the entrance of almost every shop and the only other game that seemed to overshadow it was Winning Eleven 2010.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (走ることについて語るときに僕の語ること) is the penultimate Haruki Murakami book published in Japan; the last one is 1Q84. It is not a novel, it is a book written in first person by Haruki Murakami about his experience running marathons, triathlons and even a 100 km ultra marathon.
The book is quite entertaining and can be read easily in some hours without stopping; when you finish reading it you feel like going out and start running. Haruki Murakami never tells the reader to go running, he simply tells how he combines his life as a writer with his love of running. The writing style is informal, enjoyable and not very structured; it reminded me a lot of the travel diaries of Haruki Murakami (3 books that haven’t been translated to English).
Now I would like to share with you some passages of the book that grabbed my attention:
Sometimes when I run, I listen to jazz, but usually It’s rock, since its beat is the best accompaniment to the rhythm of running. I prefer the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Gorillaz, and Beck, and olides like Creedence Clearwater Revival and Beach Boys.
I don’t have an iPod, I use MD. At this point I don’t want to mix music and computers. Just like it’s not good to mix friends and work, and sex.
The most important things we ever learn at school is the fact that the most important things can’t be learned at school.
Nothing in the real world is as beautiful as the illusions of a person about to lose consciousness.
I think certain types of processes don’t allow for any variation. If you have to be part of that process, all you can do is transform - or perhaps distort- yourself through that persistent repetition, and make that process a part of your own personality.
English book cover
Japanese book cover. Japanese book covers are usually pretty dull.
Since I started living in Japan one of the main concerns in my life are earthquakes. I have always wondered if buildings and houses are really prepared to endure a great earthquake. The truth is that, after asking many people and informing myself, most of the structures would resist less than you would have expected. Earthquake legislation was changed in 1981 and every building or house built after that year is supposed to be more secure against seismic shakings. In 2007 the legislation was changed once again to make it even more strict. But even so, everybody is afraid that there will be a huge earthquake with epicenter in a very populated area.
If you come to Japan, the newer the house you stay the better, at least it should have been built after 1981. Earthquakes are one of the reasons (among many of them) why houses value goes down over the years.
A house in construction with a special system in the walls that is able to withstand strong shakings.
Down to the left you can see the structure of the walls interior. There is some kind of “mobile scissors system” integrated inside each of the house walls.
This is a sketch of how an earthquake would affect the Tokyo town hall.
The two girls in the left are chatting, the foreigner in the center talks on the phone (Don’t do it! It is considered bad manners), the girl next to him thinks and the girls in the background plays with her Nintendo DS
The girl with the yellow purse sends an e-mail with her cellphone, the other two girls keep on talking.
The girl with the yellow purse checks her hair with a hand mirror, the girl to the left browses the Internet on her cellphone.
The girl with the yellow purse keeps on checking her hair and the other girls keep on chatting.
The girl with the yellow stops fixing her hair and eats an onigiri (rice ball).
The girl that was doing nothing in the first picture falls asleep.
This is the first fuel cell battery charger on sale in the world. It is called Toshiba Dynario and until now it is only available in Japan. It works with concentrated methanol that Toshiba sells in little bottles/batteries. Dynario uses methanol and the oxygen it obtains from the air to produce, through a chemical reaction, DC electric current (5V-400mA). It can be connected to any USB device and it looks like with only one little methanol bottle you can recharge you cellphone several times. The product has been released only to test the market and is quite expensive, it costs 30,000 yen (222 euro, 332 dollars), but if it is successful there will be soon more fuel cell battery chargers on sale.
In the mid-nineteenth century, when Europe and the United States were already fully engaged in the industrial revolution, Japan was a feudal country ruled by an army (samurai) who had the power of life and death over the rest of society. In July 1853, an American squad led by Admiral Perry entered the Tokyo Bay. The Admiral proposed the Japanese government to sign a treaty that would authorize the United States to do business with the archipelago.
Perplexed before the sight of American cannons, the Shogun, for the first time in six centuries of military power, consulted the Emperor about the most convenient way to act. Without hesitation, he replied that they needed to expel the Americans. Unfortunately, the General didn’t have sufficient means to expel the Americans and he was forced to sign the treaty.
As a result to his disobedience to the Emperor, considered a living god by all Japanese, Tokugawa lost the trust of his people. He had to resign in order to allow a triumphant restoration of the imperial power. Young Mutsushito, better known as Emperor Meiji, found himself, being only 15 years of age, as the head of the country. The first thing he did as Emperor was to change the name of the capital from Edo to Tokyo (Capital of the East). Paradoxically, with the return of the Emperor to power, Japan would fully enter the modern world.
This post is the third part of my brief summary of the history of Japan:
When I arrived to Japan for the first time I was surprised to see whale meat cans in the supermarket, now I am totally used to it (which doesn’t mean I agree with it). What surprised me the other day was bumping into a shop where only whale meat is sold!! They are specialized in whale bacon, they have meat from different whale species, they have many varieties depending on the conservation method and they sell the most delicious parts frozen. Moreover, at the entrance of the supermarket there is a sign which says “クジラは日本の食文化” that could be translated as “Whale is part of the Japanese culinary culture”. I guess nobody still thinks whales are hunted in Japan for “scientific” reasons…
The character 鯨 can be seen at the background. It means “whale” in Japanese language.
Whale is part of the Japanese culinary culture
In the shelves at the background many different kinds of canned whale meat can be seen.
Clients trying to decide what part of whale to buy.
Whale bacon on sale. They say it is very healthy.
Leaflets about cooking, recipes, etc. using whale meat.
Shop background decorated with a huge whale.
This is how whale meat looks when ready to eat. There is a restaurant next to the shop which is specialized in cooking whale meat.
A hamburger restaurant in Tokyo has decided to put a hamburger vending machine at the entrance of the restaurant. You put the coins and you get a hamburger right away. The problem is that there is only one hamburger available at a time, if you want a second hamburger you have to wait until the cook inside the restaurant restocks the machine with another one, or you can go inside the restaurant and order it. If you want to try the burger vending machine it is located here
Antonio sent me a while ago these pics of a traditional festival that is celebrated every year in Saidaiji. In the festival men go out on the streets dressed in some sort of gigantic thong, with their butts hanging out and all. I don’t know why, but this festival somehow reminds me of the Festival of the Steel Phallus
The climax of the festival is at midnight, when the goal of all participants is to get sacred sticks that are thrown from a temple. To catch one of those sticks is a sign of good luck. In this video you can see the moment when everybody fights to catch one of those sacred sticks:
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