6:00 curfew?!

I have been living in Japan for almost 12 years and I still learn things that surprise me. It isn't that I think I know everything about Japan but rather what I learn just seems so surprising!

The other day my high school student (she is 16) was telling me that she had gone to Canal City (beautiful shopping mall with movie theaters) to see the movie "Alice" and all the shows from the morning until about 3:30 pm were sold out so she couldn't watch it. I asked her what about the 4 pm movie and she said she couldn't because she had to go home. I thought perhaps she had something important to do at home but no...she has to be home at 6pm! Turns out this isn't exactly strange. I asked the other students in the class (all girls). One other student said 6 was also her curfew. The other girl said on Friday or Saturday nights she had to be home around 10-the other 2 looked jealous. I asked my boss about his daughter and he said when she was in high school she had to be home at 8. What kind of cracks me up about this is that most cram schools are open until 10 or 11 and before tests I have had students tell me they stayed at cram school until 1 am!!! So....studying and going staying at school for various reasons is fine until 10 or later but don't stay out "late" if you are having fun!! I should point out that high school kids don't have jobs in most cases as it can be against school rules, there are no school dances or proms and dating styles seem to be different (mind you, I live in the "countryside" so things are probably very different here than in Tokyo) so that perhaps changes things a bit but...seriously?! 6pm?! (Please note that I am NOT saying that all Japanese kids have such an early curfew...but it also doesn't seem as rare as you might think-I've been asking around.)

Another thing I learned this week was that elementary school teachers have to do a home visit. The school year starts in April and in April is also the home visit. So, for one week the students go to school in the morning only and then in the afternoon, the teacher goes to 5-8 students' homes and talks to the mother (most of the time). Now, since school has just started, this is not really to talk about how the child is doing but more to see the home life but as my friend puts it, you don't really see or learn that much. She has been a teacher for 16 years and says it is the most stressful part of her job as the home visits are very formal. And, unpleasant things do happen like being yelled at. Now, I'm pretty sure that my teachers never came to my house but I am curious.....in other countries do teachers do home visits?

A great video to show you Fukuoka!

This is a great video that shows many spots in Fukuoka city (the big city about 30 minutes from me and where I used to live). It is about 10 minutes long and starts in the morning and goes into the night so you can see how things change.

As you are watching you will sometimes here a kind of music or a mechanical kind of bird sound-those are the cross walk signals for the blind (which are only there because people donate money to keep it going). Also, you will notice along "Naka river" people are setting up little stalls with doors or plastic-those are "yatai" or night time food stands which Fukuoka is famous for. Every time my friend comes from Tokyo she goes to one. You will see "Canal city" which is a famous shopping mall. There is also "ohori park" which is a big beautiful park in the city and the "Nakasu" area which is famous for night time entertainment.

Enjoy!!

April in Japan is not just about spring...or ...More things I don't understand about Japan

When you think of April (and live in the northern hemisphere) you probably think of spring.... "April showers bring May flowers" and so on. But here, April is the beginning of the fiscal year, the new school year, the new working year and the bizarre (in my opinion) tradition of just transferring people willy-nilly.

I guess I have to explain a little bit about the work culture first . When you apply for a job in Japan, you aren't really applying for a job per se but rather you are applying to a company who will tell you what job you will do. So, they will also decide to change your job from say a scientist to a manger (this actually happened to a friend of mine who worked for the prefectural government). This explains why when you ask someone "what do you do?" they often tell you what company they work for rather than a job title. Ok...back to transfers....let's say you work at a post office and you are happy but you have worked there for 3 years so chances are you will be transferred to another post office. Why are you transferred? Because. Because it is the Japanese way. Because they don't want you to get too comfortable. Apparently, transferring salesmen will prevent corruption and stealing from the company! In some cases, people are transferred to another local branch or store but it also happens that people can be transferred to another prefecture altogether! I remember when my hubby and I discussed what we would do if his company (an electronics store) wanted to move him to another prefecture-our idea was for him to quit since we didn't want to live apart and I have a great job here (thankfully we never have to worry about that again!). Even teachers are transferred about every 5 years.....perhaps so they can learn how other people teach at another school?

Talking about teachers...I have a friend who is a teacher. She has taught 6th grade for about 15 years. Last year, out of the blue, she was told that she was (starting within a month or so) going to be teaching English to her class. She couldn't speak English never mind teach it. So, she started learning English so she could teach her kids. She studied hard and learned enough to teach her kids. Her confidence grew and she enjoyed it so much she decided to really study English and she was looking forward to teaching her new class this year. The school year ended in mid March and she was preparing for her new 6th grade class (which would have started this week) when she was informed on March 26th, that she is now a 2nd grade teacher so she doesn't need to teach English. Not only is her new skill wasted, there is now a new 6th grade teacher that is going to have to teach English that can't even speak English at this point. I just don't get this way of thinking!! How does this help anyone?

April is also the season of "Shin nyu shain" or "enter the new employees". In Japan, 3rd year university students start looking for jobs that would start the April after graduating from university (most do a 4 year program) . Hundreds at a time sit for company tests (this country loves tests!!!), and if they pass that test, they then might get a first interview, then a 2nd interview and hopefully, they will have a job lined up long before they actually graduate. See "freshmen" meaning just graduated students, are most sought after by employers. If you graduate without a job lined up, your chances for a "real" job (IE working for a big company) are slim as the next job hunting season will be filled with these "freshmen" and they will be chosen first in most cases. You will then be left working at an "albaito" or part time job (even if you work 40 or more hours a week, if you are not salaried then it is considered part time work). I know one woman who, after not being able to line up a job, has decided to stay at university for one more year so she can be a part of the next job hunting season while technically still a student. This will cost her parents at least $8000 and that is just for tuition.

So...as it is the season of people being transferred it was no surprise to me that when I walked into the local 100yen shop ($1 shop) there was huge area filled with packing tape, bubble wrap, boxes etc. So while moving companies are making a killing this time of year, I can't help but wonder if they are the only ones that benefit from this.

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.