abc

i'm going to play a game. i do this when i can't sleep (like now) - usually in my head, but because this blog doesn't get a lot of action, i thought i'd share.

rules are simple. pick the first word that comes to your head corresponding with the letter of the alphabet. usually i do things like country names, types of trees, fruit, brands of cars, etc. today's topic is broad, and therefore, easy:  japan.

annnnnd go~

a - asakusa

area in tokyo known for maintaining the 'old' feel of the
entertainment district and it's famous senso-ji temple and shrine
more info

b - bento

aka "boxed lunch"
more info

lucky school kids have moms that do stuff like this with their bento

c - chanoyu

tea ceremony

more info

d - daruma

good luck talisman modeled after bodhidharma
more info
my daruma story

e - enka

traditional and/or sentimental ballads
more info
usually conjures up an image of something like this lady...

...but then there is also this guy - jero

f - fugu

blowfish

it's poisonous - 
a chef has to be specially certified in order to prepare it
more info

g - genkan

entryway (technically, a foyer) - more info
first tip you are given about japanese customs is
"take off your shoes before you enter someone's home".
idk why people think this is unique to japan.
you better take off your shoes when you come into my house too!

h - himeji-jo

beautiful castle in himeji, hyōgo
more info

i - ikebukuro (hubby has been randomly saying this apropos of nothing the past few days)

commercial and entertainment district in tokyo
more info

j - jizo

protector of unborn children
more info

k - kaiseki

traditional multi-course meal
more info

l - licca-chan

essentially, the japanese barbie - more info
seems more like horror movie fodder than child's plaything to me...

m - maiko

apprentice geisha
more info

n - ninjin

carrot
(i just like the sound of it. and also carrots in japan are HUGE,
and the ones in kyoto are red. weird.)

o - onigiri

rice balls
more info

p - purikura

shortening of "print club" - or photo booth stickers

q - there is no q .... ichi maru Q? that counts, right? lol

109 shopping building in shibuya, tokyo
- called ichi (1) maru (circle) kyu (9)
...and nine sounds like q so it's made to look sort of like one
more info

r - ramen

noodle soup
more info (because it's NOT the instant crap you eat)

s - shinkansen

"bullet train"
more info

t - tayu

top ranked orian (prostitute/entertainer of yore) -
NOT a geisha
more info

u - ume

japanese plum - usually eaten pickled
and the blossoms are just a beautiful as sakura
more info

v - there is no v in japanese... i'll go with VICTORY! (not "peace", like we think)

inevitably, cameras come out and fingers go up
more info

w - wagashi

traditional sweets
more info

x - X-japan

superfamous visual kei band

y - yokai

japanese spooks
more info

z - zatoichi 

zatoichi: the blind swordsman
there are several versions but i've only seen this one.
it's a great movie written & directed by
and starring beat takeshi.
more info
it has an ending dance number that is equal parts
totally awesome and 'wtf did i just watch?!'

first, zenzen popped in my head, but that's hard to demonstrate in a picture.

fyi~ zenzen (one of my favourite expressions) means something like "absolutely".
ie. zenzen wakarimasen - i don't understand at all.
zenzen OK! - it's totally okay.

i'm long-winded

~in case you didn't know.

whilst doing my "research", i came across my new favourite youtube channel, sharla in japan. her videos are awesome. i guess she's somewhat famous or something. i'm kind of mad that i'm just discovering her now. i've been bingeing on watching her videos to the point where i feel stalkerish. and of course... 

O.o  

soooo~ i started following her on facebook, twitter, and instagram too. cause i'm creepy like that, i guess. anyway, she had posed a few questions to her fb followers earlier in the month for a future blog post she's doing or something. all the info she would have needed was posted within the day... but i didn't know who she was then. and i wanted to answer them just for fun. so i did.

annnnnnd, i can never answer concisely or get to the point without a story. (noticed that, have you?) it was really long, but interesting [to me], and shares some of my history of my love affair with all things japanese.  so, here ya go.

these were sharla's two posts:

"I'm working on a website project and I have some questions for you guys!! (For those of you that are interested in Japan, which I'm assuming is a good number of you, haha) If you could answer that would be amazing!! Skip any questions that you don't feel like answering~ Thank you! < 3

1. ) What got you interested in Japan?

2. ) Have you ever been to Japan? If not, are you considering visiting?

3. ) If you were to plan a trip to Japan, where would you look for information on places to stay, visit, eat, shop etc.? (guide books, google search, websites specialising in Japan...)

4. ) Which websites do you visit all the time? (Not about Japan, just in general!) What do you like about them?"

"Thank you SO much for answering my questions, very helpful and interesting to read!!

☆ One last question for you guys, if you had to pick one, what's the ONE thing you are most interested in about Japan at the moment? (Anime, food, cars, travel spots, pop culture, traditional culture, martial arts, kawaii stuff, video games, cosplay, etc.... )"

and this is my unnecessarily long answer:

i realize this is an older post and you probably don’t need more input, but i feel like answering anyway~ i apologize in advance for the length…

1. at this point, i don’t remember. i did my geography project on japan in grade 9 (i got a b- because i was so enthralled that it ended up being 45 pages long instead of the 10 maximum), but i’m pretty sure there was already an interest by then and that’s why i chose japan over any other country. i don’t think it was any one thing before that – just seeing pictures and thinking it was beautiful, i guess. in grade 10, my brother had a learn japanese audio tape (that’s how old i am…) and i stole it from him. there was no turning back after that. lifelong obsession ensued.

2. i have been to japan once before. hubby and i never went on an official honeymoon, so for our 3rd anniversary, he made my dream of getting there come true. we were there for 10 days. i’m now in the middle of planning our epic return.  still only for 2 weeks, but during HANAMI this time! (30 days to go!!!)

3. since i AM planning a trip to japan, i can tell you that i have been quite well-rounded in my research variety. lol. i have a few guide books from last time (i planned that all myself too) but i mostly use the internet. i use japan-guide. com a lot. white rabbit had made 2 ‘walking tours’ (akihabara and shinjuku) which we pretty cool. i wish they had made more.  but the BEST source of information for trip planning is from vloggers like you. i’ve picked up so many ideas and tips that way.

4. i’m obsessed with pinterest. i spend hours searching and pinning random crap. it’s a place i can do my two favourite things~ hoard and organize. and i spend a good amount of time split between facebook, twitter, youtube, blogger, and a group chat app (online version) called groupme (kind of the same thing as whatsapp).

oh yeah. i also use google maps a lot. it’s good for trip planning too. i love the street view thing where i can just drop that little dude down into the map and wander around the streets of tokyo. it’s almost like being there. …almost.

5. (from the next post) idk if there is ONE thing about japan i’m particularly interested in the most. i was really into traditional things before, especially geisha – not that i’m not still, but my general interest has grown to encompass much more than that. i guess you could just say ‘daily life’ or something like that. everyday things most japanese people would find mundane or boring. those are the things i am fascinated by.

damn. that was even longer than i thought. ~gomen.

wrench in the plan

i'm sad. we went downtown (with the help of my own instructions from last time) to pick up our JR pass exchange orders and tickets to the studio ghibli museum. everything went smoothly - got two 2 week exchange orders totalling an insane $ which we will hand in at the haneda airport JR office for our passes - EXCEPT they were already sold out of ghibli tickets. 2 and a half months in advance! we told the very nice and helpful lady at the JTB office which date we were planning to go. not available. tried a few more dates. not available. turns out, the entire time we are in japan - not available. so sorry. *waaah*  hubby is still trying to figure out another way to get them, but i'm not holding my breath. 
honestly, this really upsets me. it was the only top priority plan we didn't get to do last time. and now that it's happening for the second time... i'm kind of heartbroken. :(

ONLY the JR pass exchange orders were obtained
- no studio ghibli museum tickets

BUT, still superexcited! this trip is going to be amazing. i'm putting the final touches on our plans. i'm making a pinterest board that highlights all the fun things we're planning to do. hopefully, i'll stay on top of things this time and actually post daily pictures on here. 

38 days to go!!

let's

i wrote this back in 2010 and just found it in my email.
~~~~~

i love the idea of the japanese verb ending ~masho, meaning "let's~" such as "tabemasho" = "let's eat". as peter from j-list said, "these statements subtly create a warm and fuzzy atmosphere of cooperation that make people want to do their part for the good of everyone, an important pillar of Japanese polite society." (j-list sideblog - monday, august 23, 2010) it works very well for commands, giving them a softer edge. in english, you often see signs that give commands as what no to do, such as "no smoking" or "don't walk on the grass". it almost gives you an immediate feeling of wanting to break the rule just because you were told not to, an f-u to authority. but in japan, "let's not smoke" has more of the idea of everyone working together so as not to upset everyone else. if the sign in english read "we don't want to smoke because it might upset those around you"... or something.... i would be more likely to want to not do said behaviour. (and i don't even smoke anyway!)

when i was training for management in retail, i was told that you will get more of a positive outcome as well as respect if you add yourself into a request, such as "we need to be more aware of customers" when you yourself are already aware but the person you are addressing is the one who needs to work on it. it makes the person feel more like the member of a team and not just a subordinate. in staff meetings, we would actually use let's frequently, as in "let's work together in keeping the shelves tidy". it works very well for employees and also for children. if only the west would adopt the feeling of working together as a whole society instead of the everyone for themselves type of thinking. i think it would just be a nicer place to live~

plans

a few days ago, all i knew was that i was 98% sure i was going to japan this spring. now, i have most of the trip blocked out in a schedule and the flights and hotels are booked. hooray! (it was really hard to find hotels that had availability on the dates we wanted, especially in kyoto. granted, we are going at pretty much the busiest time of year. keep that in mind if you plan on going to japan during cherry blossom season. book waaaaay in advance.)

Day 0 – Tuesday, March 31
fly to Japan
13:40pm ….

Day 1 – Wednesday, April 1
….15:35
arrive at Haneda airport
pick up JR passes
check in to hotel - Celestine Hotel (Shiba)

Day 2 – Thursday, April 2
asakua http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3004.html
sky tree http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3064.html
open everyday 8:00-22:00 3090 yen
ueno http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3019.html
shitamachi museum – closed M, open 9:30-16:30 300 yen
national museum closed M, open 9:30-17:00 620yen
ameyoko http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3012.html

Day 3 – Friday, April 3
take shinkansen to kamakura and back
daibutsu
temples – hasedera, engakuji, kenchoji
shrines – hachimangu

Day 4 – Saturday, April 4
shibuya http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3007.html (dogenzaka, center gai, tokyu)

Day 5 – Sunday, April 5
harajuku http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3006.html
yoyogi http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3034_002.html closes at 20:00
meiji http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3002.html closes at sunset - inner garden 9-16:00 500 yen

Day 6 – Monday, April 6
yokohama http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2156.html
chinatown http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3201.html 
ramen museum http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3202.html
open everyday 11-22:00 300 yen

Day 7 – Tuesday, April 7
akihabara http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3003.html
edo-tokyo museum http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3070.html
closed M, open 9:30-17:30 (19:30 on sat) 600 yen
kokugikan http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3022.html 
closed W, open 10-16:30

Day 8 – Wednesday, April 8
ghibli museum http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3041.html
closed tues, open 10-18:00 – purchase tickets in advance from JTB (with JR passes)

Day 9 – Thursday, April 9
check out of hotel
take shinkansen to Kyoto http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2158.html 
check into hotel - Hotel Boston Plaza Kusatsu
shopping in kyoto station
ginkakuji
ryoanji
byodoin

Day 10 – Friday, April 10
fushimi inari taisha
gion
higashiyama
yasaka shrine
maruyama park

Day 11 – Saturday, April 11
take shinkansen back to tokyo
check in to hotel - Ginza Grand Hotel

Day 12 – Sunday, April 12
imperial palace http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3017.html
closed M & F, open 9-16:30 - book tickets online
tokyo station http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3037.html 
ginza http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3005.html 
kabukiza – single act ticket available at window on the day
http://blog.gaijinpot.com/kabukiza-theater-tickets/

Day 13 – Monday, April 13
take train to nikko
check in to hotel - Nikko Station Hotel Classic‏
toshogu http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3801.html
open everyday 8-17:00  1300 yen

Day 14 – Tuesday, April 14
nikko edomura http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3879.html 
closed W, open 9-17:00  4700 yen
take train back to Tokyo
check in to hotel - Royal Park Hotel The Haneda‏

Day 15 – Wednesday, April 15
check out of hotel
shopping at airport
fly home 17:40-16:40


71 days to go!

pocari sweat

my first purchase ever out of a japanese vending machine was a bottle of pocari sweat at narita airport.

hmm, what to buy?

to me, at that point, it was kind of a thing. japan is known for it's abundance of vending machines and for the bizarre and wonderful things stocked within them. pocari sweat was also known to me, years before setting foot in the country. i can't even remember where i first heard of it (possibly youtube vloggers, possibly from jlist) but the drink has it's own notoriety online. 

the things we gaijin consider unusual become almost legendary. now, i guess because it's not new to me, i can't fathom what about pocari sweat is unusual. i think it's due to the name? idk. what's funny about sweat? maybe we think, 'ewwwww, sweat, gross. i don't want to drink sweat.' i was telling hubby the other day that people think it's funny because maybe they think it's a misspelling of sweet. (not sure about the truth of that...) when you know what it actually is, the name makes total sense. from what i understand, it's a sports drink. like gatorade. to replenish what your body loses when you sweat. (wikipedia here.) 

while in japan, i drank a few of them. but i really got to know pocari when i was in hong kong for a month in 2013 for school (there's a blog for that.) and discovered the REAL beauty of this somewhat soft drink. if you drink a whole can after a night of heavy drinking (BEFORE passing out), you drastically diminish your odds of having a hangover the next day. i swear by it. i bought it by the litre and there was always a giant bottle of it to be found in our mini-fridge.

on our second evening in hong kong
- note the can in my hand and how intoxicated i appear
(and i felt completely fine the next day)

they should really start selling it in regular grocery stores here. just saying. (you can buy it at asian markets like t&t or probably oceans or in chinatown.)

here's an example of one of those youtube videos (obviously not the one i would have seen, being this one was uploaded after i was in japan - but you get the idea). he's grossed out at first, because of the name. 

if you ask me, this drink is a win. and you can base that solely on the hangover-reducing qualities. taste-wise...? uh, it's okay. not something to drink for pure refreshment. but really, how good does gatorade taste? ...exactly.

now that i think about is ~ calpis sounds much funnier. and tastes much better. 

hiragana & katakana

i don't know if i'm going to have roaming turned on when i go to japan. i assume not, but JUST IN CASE, wouldn't it be helpful for me to have some japanese at my fingertips? yes. so this is for me and my own use:

あ い う え お        ア イ ウ エ  オ

か き く け こ        カ キ ク ケ コ

さ し す せ そ        サ シ ス セ ソ

た ち つ て と        タ チ ツ テ ト

な に ぬ ね の        ナ ニ ヌ ネ ノ

は ひ ふ へ ほ        ハ ヒ フ ヘ ホ

ま み む め も        マ ミ ム メ モ

や       ゆ      よ        ヤ      ユ     ヨ

ら り る れ ろ        ラ リ ル レ ロ

わ                  を        ワ             ヲ

ん                  ン

が ぎ ぐ げ ご        ガ ギ グ ゲ ゴ

ざ じ ず ぜ ぞ        ザ ジ ズ ゼ ゾ

だ            で ど        ダ            デ ド

ば び ぶ べ ぼ        バ ビ ブ ベ ボ

ぱ ぴ ぷ ぺ ぽ        パ ピ プ ペ ポ

ゃゅょ っ           ャュョ ッ ー ァィゥェォ