travel in Akihabara

Akihabara first started specializing in electronics when people dealing in black market radio parts began setting up shop under the elevated JR railroad after World War II. As Japan's manufacturing technology and economy grew during the 50's and 60's, the shops starting selling televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, and other consumer household goods.
Many computer stores started opening stores in Akihabara during the PC boom of the 80's and 90's, and otaku obsessed with computers and anime poured into the area. Japanese electronics manufacturers sometimes send prototypes of new products to Akihabara stores in order to see how popular they are with consumers there before release them into the national and international markets.

The urban legend that Coca Cola was originally green when it was first created is actually false (according to the company itself), but the idea still lives on in the hearts and minds of many of us. So it was with no little excitement that I first beheld Asahi's 'Green Cola' sitting on the convenience store shelves. It didn't take me long to figure out what was wrong though, it's not actually green. Sigh. Turns out that the 'green' isn't referring to the colour, but to the supposedly ecological way it's made. However there doesn't seem to be anything particularily environmentally friendly about it, unless the assertion that the drink's lack of colourants, caffeine and preservatives is supposed to equal green? Maybe Asahi is hoping people would focus on the gimmick instead of asking questions.Mt. Kumotori is Tokyo's highest mountain at 2012 meters. The route Kumi and I took started from Mitsumine shrine (Chichibu), finished in Kamosawa (Okutama), and required an overnight stay in a mountain lodge called Kumotori Sanso. The day started grey and overcast (as many Tokyo weekends are prone to do) but we decided to bite the bullet and just go, having planned this hike a number of weeks ago. We arrived at Mitsumine shrine (above photo) at around 11am (about 3.5 hours from our apartment) and took a quick look around the complex. Although the 2000 year old mountain shrine is supposedly worth a second look, we didn't stay long as it was already late in the morning and we had a 6 hour hike ahead of us. Although it wasn't raining, there was a dense mist surrounding everything.Kumi registers us for our hike at the beginning of the trail (below shot), in case we get lost or eaten by bears.
Akihabara now has over 250 electronics stores, from huge megachains to small part suppliers. Most of the shops are gathered around Akihabara Station and along Chuo Dori (Chuo Avenue), and many of the bigger ones have staff that speak English, Chinese, and Korean. Prices can vary significantly between stores and, unlike most places in Japan, are sometimes negotiable.
Many of the electronics in Akihabara are for use in Japan only and overseas shoppers should be sure to check voltage and warranty requirements before buying electronics to use at home. Duty free shopping is also available to foreigners (passport required) on purchases of more than 10,000 yen at some of the larger stores.

Economic and health in japan

The absolute percentages of people reporting poor health declined across all socioeconomic statuses following the crisis. However, after controlling for confounding factors, the odds ratio (OR) for poor self-rated health (95% confidence intervals) among middle-class non-manual workers (clerical/sales/service workers) compared with the highest class workers (managers/administrators) was 1.02 (0.92 to 1.14) before the crisis but increased to 1.14 (1.02 to 1.29) after the crisis (p for temporal change = 0.02). Japan is located in an area where several continental and oceanic plates meet. This is the cause for frequent earthquakes and the presence of many volcanoes. Over 1,000 times earthquakes happen in one year. Additionally, many typhoons make landfall every year because Japan is located in the temperate zone. So government needs to secure a reliable crisis management system. The Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 was big turning point in the development of contingency planning. 6,400 people died and 43,792 people injured over the disaster. After the earthquake, 16 laws are established or revised based on the lessons and reflections from this incident and Japanese crisis management system had been improved a lot. The association was stronger among males. The adjusted ORs among professional workers and young female homemakers also marginally increased over time. Unemployed people were twice as likely to report poor health compared with the highest class workers throughout the period. Self-rated health of people with middle to higher incomes deteriorated in relative terms following the crisis compared with that of lower income people.

Japan has the world best efficient public transportation network, especially within metropolitan areas and between the large cities. Japanese public transportation is characterized by its punctuality, its superb service, and the large crowds of people using it. Railways are most common, convenient and efficient way of transportation. Dozens of Japanese railway companies compete in regional and local passenger transportation markets. There are 173 airports in Japan and flying is a popular way to travel between cities. The main international gateways are Narita International Airport, Kansai International Airport and Ch?bu Centrair International Airport. The main domestic hub is Haneda Airport, which is Asia's busiest airport. Japan has 1,152,207 km of highways with 863,003 km paved and 289,204 km of unpaved ways, and also there are 1770 km of Waterways and twenty-two major seaports. People can get goods easily and fast.
Conclusions: Self-rated health improved in absolute terms for all occupational groups even after the economic recession. However, the relative disparity increased between the top and middle occupational groups in men.

dinner in japan

Strange but suggestive, "Noriko's Dinner Table" reps less a sequel to helmer Sion Sono's previous horror satire "Suicide Club" than an existential parallel. "Table" follows two teenage sisters who shed their identities to join a quasi-prostitution ring. Although told through a cascade of flashes forward and back, the puzzle doesn't quite form a complete picture by the end, which may leave genre fans frustrated but the arthouse crowd intrigued. Either way, pic -- which won special jury mention at Karlovy Vary -- is too long by half and will serve meager B.O. portions, but heartier meals on ancillary.
Pic is divided into five chapters, four of them named after major characters. Although each of the characters contributes a lengthy, overextended voiceover spiel explaining his/her thoughts and feelings, storytelling is highly fractured. Shots and scenes from different points in the story are jumbled together throughout to create a kaleidoscopic overall narrative -- and what was probably an editing room nightmare.
The story, in correct chronological order rather than how it is actually told, goes something like this: The Shimabara family -- journalist father Tetsuzo (Ken Mitsuishi), wife Taeko and their two daughters, 17-year-old Noriko (Kazue Fukiishi) and her younger sister Yuka (Yuriko Yoshitaka) -- live in Toyokawa. Shy and vaguely unhappy, Noriko becomes obsessed with a Web site called Haikyo.com (literally "a deserted or abandoned place"), where she makes online friends with other teenage girls. Japanese housewife Kazumi Izaki dutifully prepares lunchboxes for her family at the crack of dawn each morning before hitting the gym to beat up grown men.
Izaki, who became Japan’s oldest professional boxer last year, could soon overtake George Foreman by winning a world title at 46 years old.
However, Izaki still swaps her boxing gloves for an apron at least twice a day, also cooking dinner for her husband and two daughters before her evening training. She survives on barely three hours’ sleep a night.
Izaki’s future hung in the balance earlier this year when the World Boxing Council ruled she was too old to face Mexican Ana Maria Torres for the world superflyweight crown, pulling the plug on her Feb. 28 fight with the hard-hitting champion.
“I’m not scared of Torres,” said a defiant Izaki, who burst into tears the first time she hit another woman after taking up boxing 11 years ago.
Taping her hands beneath black-and-white photographs of Muhammad Ali at the height of his powers, Izaki is aware of the dangers involved, and has the scars to prove it.
“I’ve broken my nose in three places and broken a bone under my eye socket once,” she smiled. “All in sparring against men. Injuries are part of boxing.”
If Izaki beats the red tape and Torres, she will eclipse Foreman, who was 45 when he regained the world heavyweight crown in 1994.
“I don’t think about my age,” she insisted. “Once the gong rings all I can hear is my trainer — and my kids yelling, ‘Go on, mum!’ As long as my body works I’ll carry on.”
Her immediate plans were more clear-cut, involving a visit to the fishmonger.
“I’m doing grilled mackerel with grated radish tonight,” she smiled
Noriko decides to run away to Toyko to meet Haikyo's queen bee, Ueno54, who turns out to be a young woman named Kumiko (Tsugumi), a member of a bizarre group called Family Circle, semi-amateur actors for hire by clients in complex games of pretend.
Adopting her online nickname "Mitsuko," Noriko joins Family Circle and begins to forget her former identity, especially after Kumiko forces her to watch the mass suicide of 54 schoolgirls at Shinjuku station, the key event in Sono's "Suicide Club."
Final act, much too long in the waiting, turns into a Grand Guignol bloodbath, involving the dining table of the title along with other household objects, resulting in a bizarre open ending that hardly answers the most pressing questions but has a compelling mystery about it.
Overlap between "Noriko's Dinner Table" and the gorier "Suicide Club" extends not just to the Shinjuku suicide scene and preoccupation with shadowy cults, but also to thematic interest in alienation and the generation gap. New film, which is big on the nature of role-playing and memory, feels a bit more pretentious, although the occasional scene or image manages to deliver a hefty wallop.
Thesping is mostly OK, though a little hammy, suggesting the helmer is more interested in moving characters like chess pieces around his board.

Travel in Hiroshima

When the first atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima on 6 Aug 1945 the city became an immediate symbol for the horrors of war. Today Hiroshima (pop. 1 086 000) has several moving reminders of that day of utter devastation.
The centerpiece is called the A-Bomb Dome—it’s the skeleton of a domed building that survived the blast. Across the street is Peace Park where you’ll find the Cenotaph for the Victims (it contains all of their names) and the Atomic Bomb Museum. The museum’s photographs are the most compelling (and perhaps horrifying): They show the actual effects of radiation on human flesh.
The most moving monument is the Children’s Peace Memorial (also called the Sadako Monument) which celebrates the desire for long life and happiness traditionally expressed in the folding of paper cranes. You may see groups of schoolchildren adding more paper cranes strung together in rainbow garlands to the millions that already surround the base of the memorial. It is a tradition that every school group or organization that visits this memorial, will place 1,000 paper cranes there. Our group from Canada placed 1,000 paper cranes and it was a very emotional time for the students.
In the years since the war Hiroshima has been rebuilt into a fairly typical industrial city (Mazda has a huge factory there). It has covered shopping arcades lively department stores (with ardent consumers) and a helpful information office. The city’s streetcar system is not extensive but it is efficient and provides announcements of stops in both Japanese and English.
Miyajima island lies just off the coast from Hiroshima—a short ferry ride from the end of the streetcar line. The main reasons to go there are solitude the view and the Shrine of Itsukushima which is built on wooden piers over the water. The shrine’s torii (the huge T-shaped gate at the entrance to a Shinto shrine) is out at the head of a bay—its orange paint stunning against the blue water has made this one of the most photographed places in Japan. (To get the best pictures be there when the tide’s in.) The shrine was constructed hundreds of years ago when the island was considered holy and commoners could approach it only by boat. Today travelers often find lodging on Miyajima while visiting Hiroshima. They don’t leave the island without sampling the locally made crackers.
Only 30 mi/45 km from Hiroshima on the JR Sanyo railway line in Iwakuni is the most famous bridge in Japan the Kintai-kyo. Built in 1673 the Brocade Sash Bridge is composed of five gracefully arched spans. The bridge was originally meant for the use of samurai—all others were forbidden to step upon it. Vestiges of the Edo-period castle town can be seen in the vicinity of the bridge.
Two nearby villages are famous for their pottery. Bizen has been producing its distinct deep brown pottery for the past 1 000 years. Hagi only began crafting pottery 300 years ago when master craftsmen were kidnapped from Korea to learn the secrets of their art. Hiroshima is 175 mi/280 km west of Osaka.
Contributors

Shopping in Osaka japan

There are almost as many shopping opportunities in the city of Osaka as places to eat out. Perhaps largely to a surge in the yen, Tokyo is back as the most expensive city in the world, followed by Osaka which made a leap from last year when it ranked 11th in the cost of living survey by consultants Mercer. The best department stores can be found around the Umeda Stations and also in the JR Osaka area, where there is plenty to keep you occupied for your whole holiday.

Osaka's shopping scene is known for its electronics and Den Den Town is a true highlight, where a huge selection of local stores specialise in electronic goods. It is worth bearing in mind that it is possible to avoid paying sales tax if the store features a tax-free sign. Tourists visiting Osaka and looking to take advantage of this saving should be sure to bring their passport when shopping.
Osaka Shopping: When to Shop / Opening Hours - Osaka, Japan, JP
The general shopping hours in Osaka are fairly simple to predict, with the majority of shops around the city choosing to open seven days a week, from as early as 09:00, until 18:30 or slightly later. The main department stores usually tend to open at 10:00, with the smallest shops closing at around 17:00. Some of the city's smaller shops also remain closed each Sunday and many choose to close each Wednesday.

Osaka Shopping: Where to Shop - Osaka, Japan, JP
For food-related shopping in Osaka, the Doguya-suji Arcade is a good bet and is located in the Minami district, featuring around 40 shops in total. The city is almost over run with enormous shopping centres, malls and department stores, with highlights including the spreading ATC complex, where many popular shops stand alongside restaurants, cafes, waterfront attractions and entertainment venues, such as the ATC Hall.

The America Village (Amerika-Mura) contains a huge selection of shops and restaurants, together with a number of popular love hotels.
At the heart of Osaka's American-style Amerika-Mura district, the Big Street Shopping Mall is not to be missed and boasts nine floors of shops and more, including a cinema and many seasonal events. The nearby Triangle Park is also a good place to visit in this part of Osaka and features plenty of benches, where many people choose to take a much-needed break from shopping.

One of the most popular shopping centres in Osaka is without doubt Namba City, an underground mall in the Minami area and close to Namba train station. With Japanese chain stores, inexpensive goods, many excellent restaurants and a maze of interconnecting halls, Namba City lies alongside the city hall and is also next to the Nannan Town, a further underground shopping complex.
Moscow falls to the third from the top, while New York jumps to the eighth from the 22th last year.

Lagos (32) and Abidjan (34) are more expensive than San Francisco (34) or Luxembourg (38) while Bratislava (30) and Algiers (40) come higher than Frankfurt (48) or Washington (66).

Birmingham (125) and Wellington (139) are cheaper than Guatemala City (119) or Bogota (120).

Residents in Tokyo would pay £3,751.28 a month to rent a luxury two-bedroom unfurnished appartment while those in Johannesburg would pay just £624.16. A cup of coffee, including service, costs £4.08 in Paris, while it is just £1.80 in Sydney.

Warsaw is the cheapest place to buy a litre of pasturtised whole milk, above 2.5 pct fat (£0.55) while Beijing is the most expensive (£1.82) and Tokyo the second most expensive (£1.79).

The main shopping malls and stores in the city of Osaka are shown below.

food in japan

food in japan The objective of this research is to analyze the food consumption patterns and to conduct econometric analysis of food demand structure in Japan. In this study, we pay special attention to the questions on whether or not rice is an inferior good as previous researchers have so claimed and to what extent Japanese food consumption pattern has been westernized.

We use the cross-sectional household data, Annual Report on the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) in 1997 compiled by the Statistics Bureau, Management and Coordination Agency in Japan. For major 11 food items, the total number of observations used for estimation is 95,223. Food items are non-glutinous rice, bread, noodle, fresh fish, and shellfish, fresh meat, milk, eggs, fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, fats and oil, and food away from home. For meat items, the total number of observations used for estimation is 94,200, and items in interest are beef, pork, poultry, ground meat, ham, sausage, and bacon.

In order to deal with the zero-consumption problem associated with household-level microdata, we apply various single equation models: Working-Leser model estimated by OLS, Heckman’s sample selection model, and Tobit mode. For a complete demand system analysis, we apply the linearly approximated almost ideal demand system (LA/AIDS).Additionally, we apply the nonlinear almost ideal demand (AIDS) system.

Empirical results from the major 11 food items show that the expenditure elasticity of rice is positive and close to one. This proves that rice consumed in Japan is a normal good, contrary to the results from preceding studies. Marshallian uncompensated and Hicksian compensated own-price elasticities for rice are highly elastic in all models; on the other hand, the own price elasticity for meat is relatively price inelastic. Fresh meats and rice are mild complements in all models; however, fresh fish and rice show the mixed results with repect to their substitution pattern.

Results from meat items show that the expenditure elasticity of beef is greater than unity, while other meat products are inelastic. Additionally, the expenditure and price elasticities look very similar to that of Western nations. This study shows that the Japanese meat consumption pattern has become westernized.

travel in Hokkaido

The Nihonshoki is often said to be the first mention of Hokkaido in recorded history. According to the text, Abe no Hirafu led a large navy and army to northern areas from 658 to 660 and came into contact with the Mishihase and Emishi. One of the places Hirafu went to was called Watarishima, which is often believed to be present-day Hokkaido. However, many theories exist in relation to the details of this event, including the location of Watarishima and the common belief that the Emishi in Watarishima were the ancestors of the present-day Ainu.During the Nara and Heian periods, people in Hokkaido conducted trade with the Dewa Province, the outpost of the Japanese central government. From the medieval ages, the people in Hokkaido began to be called Ezo. Around the same time Hokkaido came to be called Ezochi or Ezogashima. The Ezo mainly relied upon hunting and fishing and obtained rice and iron through trade with the Japanese.During the Muromachi period, the Japanese created a settlement at the south of the Oshima peninsula. As more people moved to the settlement to avoid battles, disputes arose between the Japanese and the Ainu. The disputes eventually developed into a battle. Takeda Nobuhiro killed the Ainu leader and established a Japanese victory. Nobuhiro's descendants became the rulers of the Matsumae Han, which ruled the south of Ezochi until the end of the Edo period.The Matsumae Han's economy relied upon trade with the Ainu. The Matsumae family was granted exclusive trading rights with the Ainu in the Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo periods. The Han gradually changed trade conditions so they came to favor Japanese merchants. As a result, some Ainu rebelled against the Matsumae han, but the rebellions were defeated. During the Meiji Restoration, the Shogunate realized there was a need to prepare northern defenses against Russian aggressions and took over most control of Ezochi. The Shogunate made the Ainu burden slightly easier, but did not change the overall form of rule.Hokkaido was known as Ezochi until the Meiji Restoration. Shortly after the Boshin War in 1868, a group of Tokugawa loyalists led by Enomoto Takeaki proclaimed the island's independence as the Republic of Ezo, but the rebellion was crushed in May 1869. Ezochi was subsequently put under control of the Colonization Office. When establishing the Colonization Office, the Meiji Government decided to change the name of Ezochi. Matsuura Takeshirō submitted 6 ideas, including names such as Kaihokudo (海北道) and Hokkaido (北加伊道) to the government. The government eventually decided to use the name Hokkaido, but decided to write it as 北海道, as a compromise between 海北道 and because of the similarity with names such as Tokaido (東海道). According to Matsuura, the name was thought up because the Ainu called the region "Kai." In 1882, the Colonization Office was abolished, and Hokkaido was separated into three prefectures, Hakodate, Sapporo, and Nemuro. In 1886, the three prefectures were abolished, and Hokkaido was put under the Hokkaido Agency. Hokkaido became equal with other prefectures in 1947, when the revised Local Autonomy Law became effective.

Nagasaki travel today

The best and easiest way to travel around the beautiful bay city of Nagasaki is by tram. The logical place to begin is central Nagasaki in the station area, known as Daikoku-machi, which although cluttered and busy, contains dozens of shops and restaurants of interest, as well as a handful of popular and moderately-priced business hotels, including the Hotel Wing Port Nagasaki and the Nagasaki Orion Hotel, whose comfortable rooms are only about a one minute walk from Nagasaki Station. In addition, extra travel information is available nearby at the Nagasaki Tourist Information Centre. After getting some maps and advice, the 26 Martyrs Memorial, in Nishizaka-machi, and Honren-ji in Chikugo-machi are both popular tourist attractions. Make sure to budget plenty of time to see all the sites, however, as Nagasaki's plentiful hills and steep inclines, wear out even the fittest of tourists.
Nagasaki Bay
Continuing south, you will soon be at the Ohato tram stop. Reaching out into the bay to the West is Motofuna-machi, where, besides a few hotels with good views of the bay, you will find the Nagasaki Terminal and port area. From here, boats run tours of the bay and carry passengers to such destinations as Iojima, where you can experience an amazing view from the top of the unmanned Iojima Lighthouse. Pass over the Nakashima River, and you have arrived in Dejima-machi, an area of considerable world fame. Dejima was an artificial island built in 1636 in Nagasaki Bay for foreign traders, as foreigners were barred from the country. Here you will find a park and the Dejima museum, dedicated to the former Dutch outpost of the same name. While there, grab lunch at Chikyukan, a unique restaurant where both the menu and chefs change daily.
Shinchi-machi

Founded before 1500, Nagasaki was originally a secluded harbour village. It enjoyed little historical significance until contact with European explorers in 1542, when a Portuguese ship accidentally landed nearby, somewhere in Kagoshima prefecture. The zealous Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier arrived in another part of the territory in 1549, but left for China in 1551 and died soon afterwards. His followers who remained behind converted a number of daimyo (feudal lords). The most notable among them was Omura Sumitada, who derived great profit from his conversion through an accompanying deal to receive a portion of the trade from Portuguese ships at a port they established in Nagasaki in 1571 with his assistance.Under the national isolation policy of the Tokugawa shogunate, Nagasaki harbour was the only harbour to which entry of foreign ships was permitted. Even today, Nagasaki shows the influence of many cultures such as Dutch, Portuguese, and Chinese.The little harbor village quickly grew into a diverse port city, and Portuguese products imported through Nagasaki (such as tobacco, bread, tempura, textiles, and a Portuguese sponge-cake called castellas) were assimilated into popular Japanese culture. The Portuguese also brought with them many goods from China.In 1587, Nagasaki's prosperity was threatened when Toyotomi Hideyoshi came to power. Concerned with the large Christian influence in southern Japan, he ordered the expulsion of all missionaries. Omura had given the Jesuits partial administrative control of Nagasaki, and the city now returned to Imperial control. Japanese and foreign Christians were persecuted, with Hideyoshi crucifying 26 Christians in Nagasaki in 1596 to deter any attempt to usurp his power. Portuguese traders were not ostracized, however, and so the city continued to thrive.When Tokugawa Ieyasu took power almost twenty years later, conditions did not improve much. Christianity was banned outright in 1614 and all missionaries were deported, as well as daimyo who would not renounce the religion. A brutal campaign of persecution followed, with thousands across Kyushu and other parts of Japan killed or tortured. The Christians did put up some initial resistance, with the Nagasaki Shimabara enclave of destitute Christians and local peasants rising in rebellion in 1637. Ultimately numbering 40,000, they captured Shimabara Castle and humiliated the local daimyo. The shogun dispatched 120,000 soldiers to quash the uprising, thus ending Japan's brief 'Christian Century.' Christians still remained, of course, but all went into hiding, still the victims of occasional inquisitions.The Dutch had been quietly making inroads into Japan during this time, despite the shogunate's official policy of ending foreign influence within the country. The Dutch demonstrated that they were interested in trading alone, and demonstrated their commitment during the Shimabara Rebellion by firing on those Christians in support of the shogun. In 1641 they were granted Dejima, an artificial island in Nagasaki Bay, as a base of operations. From this date until 1855, Japan's contact with the outside world was limited to Nagasaki. In 1720 the ban on Dutch books was lifted, causing hundreds of scholars to flood into Nagasaki to study European science and art.During the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate governed the city, appointing a hatamoto, the Nagasaki bugyō, as its chief administrator.
Nagasaki History - Modern era
US Commodore Matthew Perry landed in 1853. The Shogunate crumbled shortly afterward, and Japan opened its doors once again to foreign trade and diplomatic relations. Nagasaki became a free port in 1859 and modernization began in earnest in 1868. With the Meiji Restoration, Nagasaki quickly began to assume some economic dominance. Its main industry was ship-building. This very industry would eventually make it a target in World War II, since many warships used by the Japanese Navy during the war were built in its factories and docks.
From this point, the tram veers west toward Shinchi-machi, an area more colloquially known as China Town. This area is similar to other Chinatowns worldwide, with excellent Chinese restaurants and a few specialty shops. From Tsuki-machi, the nearest tram stop, you can then head south toward the Glover Gardens. Glover Gardens are considered an "important cultural asset" by the Japanese government, because it is the home of the oldest wooden building of western design in Japan. The gardens are a relaxing and tranquil place to have lunch, or visit the nearby historical buildings, such as Oura Cathedral and the famed Dutch Slope. The slope is

coffee shop in tokyo

Whichever caf้ you decide to visit, you may be surprised to find that Caf้ culture is a little different as I explained in, Marking Your Spot. Now I would like to tell you about my attempt to mark, ‘My Own Spot’.
After carefully watching how Japanese people get seats in their very crowded cafes I felt somewhat confident that I could do it. I had to do it, for sitting down with a cup of coffee what my favorite past time. It was more than just a past time; it was a way of life.
I entered the caf้ and quickly spotted the perfect table. I walked up to it and proudly placed my belongings on one of the chairs and made my way to the counter and ordered. My timing was impeccable, my technique cool, smooth and accurate. “This wasn’t so bad,” I thought to myself. As I waited for my fresh brewed coffee and dessert I noticed that other people in line were staring at me. It’s not uncommon for Japanese people to stare at strangers, especially foreigners, but this felt different. I thought I had done something wrong or someone had made of with my things? But, I was wrong. Instead to my disbelief there was a small group of people sitting at MY table and my things and the chair that they rested on had been pushed into the middle of the aisle.
I wasn’t prepared for this. I had no experience on how to handle this situation. So, I thought that there might have been some kind of misunderstanding. Perhaps they had not seen my belongings or perhaps someone else might have pushed my things into the aisle. Maybe they just didn’t realize. So, I approached the table and politely explained to them in Japanese and accompanying hand gestures that I had marked this table as my own, just as everyone else does in Japan. It was then that the three older ladies all looked up at me, as if I had done something wrong. There was a brief and tense moment until one of the ladies replied, “Ki-ni-shi-nai.” Meaning, “ I don’t care.”
At that moment many ideas ran through my mind and a small crowd was starting to form around me and I felt that I must do something, but what? Perhaps I should completely lose it and throw my coffee in their faces and watch them scream in agonizing pain, but then I remembered that I ordered an iced latte. Then I thought I should make my plastic fork into a weapon and create a scene much like those found in a prison movie. But before I could even begin to think of how to create such a weapon, the person at the next table got up from their seat and left. Leaving me the perfect opportunity to redeem my self-esteem. No one would dare try to take my new established territory seeing that my manhood was on the line. So, I finally sat down to my coffee. One of my favorite spots I'll usually hit up in Culver City. It's a little hard to find; the place is located in an alleyway next to one of the public parking structures. The place itself is small.I'm a fan of the Royales - basic scrambled eggs mixed with various ingredients. Usually when I come here this is what I get. Cheap food, great service, and basic but good breakfast. Cash only and good parking since it's located next to a parking structure. Nothing special about the interior - it's old, wood paneling plastered with various pictures of actors and what not. My kind of joint. This is old school and will be back for more. One of my favorite "hole in the wall" places
When I told my friends of this story, they all laughed. Unknowingly, the rules of claiming your domain in a cafe do not apply to older women in Japan.
Please don’t get me wrong. I have always considered myself a gentleman of sorts. I willingly open doors for women and often give up my seat on the subway, and bus. But, older women or oh-ba sans as they are referred to here, are much more different than anything I have experienced back home. If you cross their path they will push, shove or hit you at the drop of a hat. Of the social hierarchy they are the most feared next to roving thugs and gangsters.
They usually travel in packs of three or more, but are just as potent by themselves. They are not concerned with the taste of coffee or the aroma. Nor are they interested in the ambience, caffeine buzz or even the people in the caf้. The reason they come to the caf้ is to get out of the house and exert their powers on innocent victims. It is not uncommon for these groups of women to sit down at a table, whether it’s occupied or not, with one cup of coffee for four hours or more. In some areas they completely dominate the local cafes causing certain death to the caf้ owners. Really a great place to have a quick, cheap breakfast. Usually not too crowded. Saturdays you might see a short line, but nothing to worry about, five minutes maybe. I liked my Hawaiian royale last time, and it was excellent, especially the Portuguese sausage part (the char siu was a little dry). I've had lots of the other breakfast items, and never disappointed. It's in the alley. Find it. Go. It's not pretty, but it gets the job done.
As I sit down at my seat in one of the most crowded areas of central Tokyo. Where the most ruthless caf้-goers can be found I am proud to say that I crossed their paths and was able to live and tell about it. And as I finish my decent cup of coffee, I get up and watch people scuttle and dash for my seat I smile to myself, then pass through the crowd and make my way to the door. It’s then that I see a fellow foreigner remarking to his friend, “Sure is crowded, How do you get a seat around here?”