Cherry Blossoms, Sushi Cake, Tomato Sweets And More

Yesterday I went to Hakata (the big city near mine)and while I was on the train, I took this picture of the train doors. In Japan, many kids in their school uniform sit on the floor so they had to put these "don't sit on the floor" stickers on all the doors. I think this might be another "only in Japan" thing.

I also took some pictures of cherry blossoms at a train station.

Today I went to a shop famous for traditional Japanese sweets. It is really beautiful!

They had a display of tomato daifuku...tomato sweets! These are cherry tomatoes covered in mochi (sticky rice cake) and sweetened with mirin (sweet Japanese sake used for cooking).

Then we went to a sushi shop and we saw this for sale. Sushi cake for kids!

Then we went to the supermarket. There are spring decorations and food everywhere.

Here are some pictures of sweets.

Here are some pictures of the Kimchee section. I love kimchee!


This next picture is of pickled potatoes. The are pink thanks to plums.

The next 2 pics are things most of us in North America don't/won't eat-Raw chicken and raw horse meat.



And the last picture is of some fried food available at the supermarket.

Crazy Japanese Beauty Gadgets!

WARNING: Breasts and nipples will be shown in this post so if that offends you, please skip this one!

I'm sure most if not every country has interesting/crazy gadgets and doodads for losing weight, getting toned, cleaning your house, fixing broken items etc. Japan is no different! One thing though...they have some crazy (in my opinion) beauty gadgets.

I found these ads in very popular catalogs called "Belle Maison" (yep...they love French as much as they love English!) and "Dinos" which are kind of like a Sears catalog for you North Americans.

Let's start with the nipples! Don't like the color of yours? Don't like the wrinkles around your nipples? No problem! Just apply "Top Peach" et voila! Light colored, non wrinkled nipples!

Do you have a "dango bana" (means dumpling nose-see below-the nose without the gadget)? You can get a nice high straight nose if you use this contraption!

Are you cheeks and jowls droopy? Not if use this! Just 10 minutes a day and all droopiness will vanish!

Do you furrow your brow and the lines don't quite go away anymore? Do you have big wrinkles across your forehead? Roll them away with this!

Are those bags under your eyes weighing you down? Not anymore!! Add batteries and apply for 3 minutes a day. Heat and micro currents will kick those bags to the curb!

Does your face need all over toning? Wish you could train your face not to droop! There is an answer! Just apply the "lift patch pro" to different parts of your face and watch your face get whipped into shape!

Roll, roll, roll your way to a more toned and shapely face! As your roll this across your face (and apparently anywhere), the rollers gently lift your skin and the micro currents help keep your shape!

How many women actually use these? I have no clue but they are available in many catalogs!!

Would you pay to hang out in a restroom in a train station?

I'm thinking this might be another "only in Japan" idea but apparently it is a popular one. The West Japan Railway Company (JR West) in Osaka opened a ¥300-per-hour toilet service called Angelbe back in 2007 after hearing complaints from women that there was no place to do their makeup or kill time while waiting for the train. In this spa like restroom you can enjoy tea, learn makeup tricks and even shop for lingerie. It has become so popular that now big brands are sponsors and Panasonic will bring in a professional hair stylist to show women/girls how to use their new hair product that is just being launched. And Wacoal is going to have a fitting event for lingerie. Here are some pictures.

So...what do you think? Would you pay about $3 to hang out here?

How do you say "doggy bag" in Japanese? You can't!

Once, many years ago, when I went to an Italian restaurant and I couldn't eat all of my dinner, I asked for a doggy bag. They didn't understand.So, I said "mochi kaeri onegaishimasu" ( which means "take out") while pointing to my dinner. They said no. Take out food is take out food. What you can't eat at the restaurant is garbage. Thankfully, that idea might be changing.

According to the Tokyo-based nonprofit organization Doggy Bag Committee (DBC) ,the amount of food wasted in Japan every year equals the amount of global food aid (actually, according to the According to the Ministry of Agriculture's Food Action Nippon Committee, 19 million tons of food is wasted every year and only 5 million are recycled in to fertilizer or feed. ) So, The DBC was founded last March and is trying to popularize the English term "doggy bag" to help reduce the waste. At a recent meeting he had to explain that a doggy bag is not a bag you put dogs in nor, is it a dog shaped bag.

The DBC recommends using a reusable doggy bag that you can carry with you. This special doggy bag was created using origami techniques and it won't leak. The biggest challenge will be to get people to use them and to allow restaurants to let people take their food home. Apparently, many restaurants fear that if people take their food home they will get food poisoning and then won't go back to the restaurant . So the DBC has created cards that people can sign and leave on the table stating that they are taking their food home "on their own responsibility" So far only 200 restaurants in all of Japan have signed up with the DBC and posted notices in their restaurants stating that customers can take their food home if they wish.

Perhaps if the government steps in, it will help? Well, in Chiba prefecture, that is what has happened. The prefecture is worried about the space left in their landfill and so has asked about 280 restaurants to participate in "Chiba Tabekiri Eco Style" (Chiba Finish Your Dish Eco Style) and let people take home their food. Only time will tell if this will work or not.

Geeky foreign men = stars!!

When I first came to Japan, I hung out at and eventually worked at a local bar. I was living in an area near a University so there were lots of foreigners around. And it never ceased to amaze me to see cute Japanese girls falling all over .....ummm.... geeky foreign guys. Guys, who when they lived in North America would never get a second look. But here....they are stars! I've seen it so often that I don't give it much thought anymore but then I saw this article on CNN and I laughed so hard because it is so true and yet hard to explain to people back home. I also believe that many of these guys will never go back to their own countries-at least not while they are being treated like Hollywood stars!

Raw Donuts Anyone?

There is a craze going on for "nama donuts" in Nagoya at a shop called Love Sweets Antique(ラブスウィーツ アンティーク). "Nama" basically means "raw" but in this case it is more like "uncooked". Apparently they take sponge cake, mousse, jelly and fruit or other flavors, combine them in a donut shape and freeze them. When you eat one it melts in your mouth and apparently has a very interesting texture. Prices range from 168 Yen~ 189 Yen (less than $2).

This is a new shop and people are willing to wait for up to 1 hour for them.

Here are some of the donuts they offer.

Apple.

Cream cheese.

Chocolate

Strawberry.

Blueberry.

Matcha (green tea).

My honey keeps looking at them and is practically drooling. Too bad Nagoya is so far away!

Snow!

What is up with the weather? In February we had 2 strange periods of May like weather and now it's March 10th but feels more like January and we got LOTS of snow! Seriously....this is lots of snow for where I live. I imagine the taxi will have chains on the the tires! My little students sure will be happy! I checked out the extended forecast and it is supposed to go up to 17 degrees Celsius by Monday but then more chance for flurries on the 18th! I wonder if that will actually happen.....