New 'Do

Just for kicks, I got a haircut today.  Here's the picture.  It cost me 3360 Yen.

What Didn't the Japanese Think Of?

Japan is a country that seems to have though of everything.  From the faucet that lets you wash your hands with water that is then used to flush the toilet, to the use of curbs in parking lots broken in the needless middle, it seems like most of the products in Japan were designed with some kind of foresight.  It's kind of funny to think about all the energy our country could save if we implemented some things like this.  

I feel like sometimes the American solution has to be big, brash and fantastic, and vast quantities of little changes that by themselves make small differences are overlooked.  It seems like we could do some much to limit our carbon emissions (or help the environment, because carbon emission seems like an annoying term to me) by just implementing a few things like this, even if we didn't try to make it retroactive.  Seriously, if more effort was made to make products recyclable, where would we be?  I haven't notices a huge problem in Japan (things cost more, but that's because of Japan's unfortunate situation as a developed island).  I also learned yesterday that Japan has no hydroelectric dams (meaning it has no dams at all, just to be clear.  It's partly for religious reasons, and partly to protect the water ecosystems.  I guess that our country wouldn't have been able to get by without using hydroelectric power (probably at more cost to the environment), but it would have been interesting.

My point is that with just a little effort American companies and the government could use already-existing technologies to greatly reduce our impact on the environment.  Simple things like what goes on over here in Japan, where even beer companies have a zero-waste policy (we visited Kirin's brewery in Yokohama yesterday).  I agree that some of these technologies has probably been developed because of the high price of most things, and the lack of space, but just because we can get away with it doesn't mean that we should continue to be so inefficient.

Our country's way of getting things done always had to involve the public's support, a way that seems to proliferate most of government policy (requiring demand for products and such).  However, it seems like this doesn't extend to war policy.

More on this later.

A Post in 中文

大家，你好！

日本很好。我的问题很多。日本饭好吃，日本茶好喝。我家说营文很好。我做我的中文课作业。我现在不太累。我进礼物。他们一点儿小意思。

在见！

音乐本

Popularity

Apparently jazz is not very popular in Japan.  I guess this is similar to America.  However, unlike in America, most jazz concerts are ridiculously expensive.  We won't be going to one I guess.

In other news...

According to Taeko, the Japanese image of an American drinks lots of Coca-Cola and goes to McDonald's.  I have yet to actually figure out what else they think (that might be it).

Today we tried nato, which is literally translated as "rotting soybeans".  This is the food that Jeff Chang warned me about.  It's not actually all that terrible (Japanese sour mangos taste a lot worse), but it's not the most pleasant thing, especially next to miso soup (yum!) and rice with some kind of beef sauce.  It is a very famous Japanese food, but is not popular in all parts of the country.  Taeko said that in Eastern Japan it is less popular.  I think Jeff went to Osaka, which is in western Japan.

Homosexuality in Japan?

This evening I asked Taeko if gay marriage was legal in Japan.  After a somewhat lengthy explanation (coupled with some strange looks) I learned the following things:

- Homosexuality is very taboo in Japan.  Otasan (father) said that it is something that should be hidden.

-Gay marriage is illegal.  I guess that would make sense.

I also learned how hard it is to explain exactly the situation with homosexuality in our country.  

It's a really hotly debated issue, but at the same time, you can't discriminate against people based on their sexuality (not sure about Japan though).  It was interesting to learn about at least.

More Findings

I haven't really made note of this, but the toilets in Japan are pretty cool.  In addition to the normal features of waste disposal, Japanese toilets also have a faucet at the top with which to wash your hands (the water comes out when you flush).  They also have a feature that allows you to spray various types of water to well, clean your butt.  On the toilet at our house there is one blue button that apparently is for washing your butt, and another pink button with a picture of what looks like a woman.  Not sure what that is for...

Experiencing World Class Shopping (which wasn't really the point)

In the previous two days I actually had fun doing something I never had really done before in my life.  Okay, granted, I bought stuff I needed (like a white-out pen and a bunch of chopsticks), but it was fun touring the commercial parts of Tokyo and Yokohama with friends, both Japanese and not.

Our first stop on Friday was Shibuya, the Japanese equivalent of Times Square.  After waiting about half an hour by some very handy misting machines, our party was complete and we were ready to see [at least part of] the city.

The first thing you notice about shopping in Japan is that almost everything costs a lot more.  Yes, we were in the most commercial district in possibly the world, but that's not entirely the reason.  For some reason, clothing that says it was made in Hawaii is really popular in Japan.  A good deal of people have shirts with some sort of reference to Hawaii.  Most of the T-shirts we saw (we weren't in an area that sold really nice clothing) ranged from about 3000 Yen to 13000 Yen, which can get pretty ridiculous, especially if all the shirt has on it is a picture of a Cherokee Indian holding a music note-shaped bow.

Shoes were the most expensive items.  I suppose they are similarly expensive in the US, but 23000 Yen for some shoes that look like the one's I currently own?  I guess style has some power.

Our "tour guide" (actually one of Taeko's friends) was a very energetic Japanese 20-year-old who was in an internship at Goldman-Sachs.  One of our group members was very interested in economics, and had a good time chatting with him.  He seemed to know Tokyo very well, as he took us to many interesting shops (and some other strange ones).

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One thing you notice in Japan fairly quickly is that the Japanese are fascinated enough with English that they don't really care what it actually means (kind of like what we think about Asian characters).  Thus, you run into a lot of shops with names like Titty & co. or Condomania (hence the picture).  This "Engrish" (as it is popularly referred to) also permeates signs and stickers throughout Japan.  A few great examples:

• On what is roughly the equivalent of a bumper sticker we found the following quotes: 

"Money is good. I love money. I want as much money as possible." (accompanied by a picture of a person with a Yen sign in the middle of their forehead)

"No diving, no matter how sexy she is." (again, pushing the politically correct bill)

"I have janky switch in my brain." (???)

We also discovered that the Japanese have stereotypes about the different blood types.  Type A people are supposed to be very punctual and witty, Type O very generous, and Type B somewhat cowardly (hence the sticker "Be careful of people with Type B blood, they often run away").  To me it seems like a really absurd stereotype, given the relatively recent discovery of blood types, and the inability to actual tell someone's blood type by quick and easy means (unlike racial or ethnic prejudices).  Taeko said it's not a very poignant stereotype, however, so don't expect the Japanese to look down upon you when they find out your blood has only B antigens.

I soon have to leave for another event at Yamate Gakuin (the high school).

Again, direct any questions to the comments.  I will answer them when I get to it (hopefully this evening).

Atiki Masu!