Yen aka ¥ aka 円

Pounds & pennies, dollars & cents, yen and, well… yen. It's all about the yen in Japan, it's actually pronounced 'en' but whatever. Yen is the only measure used in Japanese currency so your ¥10,000 would only be $83 so your far from rich! Japan is a cash country and people do pay with cards at times but for the most part people are using Osatsus and Kozenis (notes and coins) for their Gari Gari Kuns or whatever they may be interested in. You have two characters that represent the the yen, one is '¥' which is the symbol just like '$' and the other is '円' which is the Kanji character version and both are equally common in usage, however, the '¥' is used at the beginning i.e. ¥500 and the other is used at the end i.e. 500円. I kid you not, the ¥1 coin is probably the lightest coin used in the world! Money is respected highly in Japan as with many other countries, however it is one of the three main virtues that has existed  throughout history here, the three being; the sword which represents force, jewels (or in modern times, currency) which represents wealth and the mirror which represents knowledge.

Useful info.
Japanese coins: ¥1, ¥5, ¥10, ¥50, ¥100, ¥500.
Japanese notes: ¥1,000, ¥5,000, ¥10,000.

Yen

Gari Gari Kun

Sword, jewel & mirror

Japanese Calendars

We've all heard of bank holidays but here in Japan you have 'red days' or 'Akai hi', these red days are scattered across most of the months within a typical calendar year except for June and August, these national holidays occur 1 - 4 times in a single month. There are two main holidays in Japan and they are called 'Golden Week' and 'Silver Week' which take place during May and September and on these days you can have 4 - 5 consecutive days off (including the weekends) depending on his or her work schedule, however, as with most schools across the world kids here get to indulge in their summer holidays during early July to late September. During the new year period it is common to have a rest on the 31st, 1st, 2nd and 3rd of January where people countdown in their local shrines and eat traditional new year Bentos called Osechi. Just like in the western world Christmas is also a national holiday and it is highlighted red in the Japanese calendar. If you want to greet a Japanese person during Christmas then you ought to know how to pronounce 'Merry Christmas', and it goes something like this: 'Merii Kurisumasu'!

Useful info.
-Day = Nichi
-Month = Gatsu
-Year = Nen
For example: "Watashi no tanjoubi wa 12 gatsu 23 nichi 1933 nen desu"

Japanese calendar

Mama-chari Bicycles

When it comes to Mama-chari bicycles in Japan you'll be seeing more than double! These friendly looking things are right up there in the list of most commonly seen things in Japan. Let me break it down for you... Mama = Mum and Chari = bicycle, so these are for Mothers apparently, however, everybody is riding them; teenagers, salarymen, Ojichans & Obachans. These Mama-charis are quite slow but safe and efficient as they have a light and a basket at the front for riding in the evenings and for grocery shopping, they also come with a built in lock that's attached to the back wheel, if you want to travel long distances or maybe just go a little faster, then road bikes and mountain bikes are also an option, however, are less common, I've also been seeing quite a few bicycles with HUGE wheels! Something that's trending in Tokyo atm, those rebels! If you live in Japan and you're planning on going to your local Conbini or station then it is more than common to use a Mama-chari. These bicycles are so popular in Japan that there are designated parking spaces for them where you normally pay ¥100 to enter, these parking lots are normally near stations, however are sometimes full due to the increasing number of people who are falling in love with Mama-charis!

Mamachari

Average Life Expectancy in Japan

Japan has the highest average life expectancy rates in the world with the average person living until the age of 84! That's 80yrs for males and 87yrs for women! For those of you who aren't aware, almost half of Tokyo is made up of the countryside, you have the main rural, industrial, city area on the Eastside of Tokyo and the green, Inaka, farm-life area on the Westside, so fresh local produce is always available. If you go to the supermarkets in Japan everything is very neatly presented with super-efficient staff at your service but most importantly you get your money's worth as the food here is very high in quality, although I find the fruits a little pricey. There's a lot of rice and Soya products that are consumed in Japan and this is like their base foods, Gohan is eaten everyday in Japan like pasta-based foods being eaten everyday in Italy! Gohan actually translates into two words; one is 'rice' and the other is 'meal' so you can already tell how important rice is in the Japanese diet!

I have a park very close to my house and sometimes when I'm up at 6am (for whatever reason...) I see a group of elderly people stretching to music and this is called 'Taiso' in Japan and apparently it is quite common, I also see elderly people running quite often, maybe even more so than the younger people! So back to rice and Soya... Soya is found in; Miso, Soya sauce, Natto, Tofu and plenty of other things, people were even chanting "Soya Soya" whilst carrying the Omikoshi during the Matsuri season! I'll give you a heads-up on the main things that you're going to encounter everyday when your in Japan; salarymen, "Irashimase" and Soya stuff.

Taiso

Ikegami Honmonji

Honmonji is a very famous shrine that exists in Japan and it's only a 30 minutes Mama-Chari bicycle ride from my house. It is the place where Nichiren Daishonin spent his final moments of his life until his death on October 13, 1282, he is most famous for having a huge influence on Japanese buddhism and it is said that the nearby Sakura trees all bloomed shortly after his death although normally they only flower during April in Tokyo. Every year a whooping 300,000 people from all over Japan gather here from the 11th to the 13th of October, I didn't go this year, however, went last year and the place was jam packed! There are plenty of Jinjas (shrines) all across Japan and the local ones are normally quite small, my local Jinja is 1 minute away from my place and I sometimes go there to pray, during summer there are Matsuri festivals and the Omikoshis come out of the Jinjas. You can think of Honmonji as the mother of all shrines in Tokyo or perhaps even Japan. It's a beautiful place and the it especially comes to life during April.

Stairs

Dragon fountain

Main building

Dirt Cheap Soba Noodles

This morning I stumbled across a Tachigui Soba restaurant near a train station, single staffed with no seats, there are also quite a few Tachinomiyas in Japan too and these places are usually for people who want to have a bite or have a drink and then leave fairly quickly although of course you can stay for as long as you wish. This Soba restaurant didn't have the best noodles but I couldn't complain because of how cheap it was, ¥210 which is equivalent to £1.14 or $1.75 at today's exchange rate! I almost felt bad for paying such a low amount to the man and wondered how this place made any money... Maybe they just make enough to cover their expenses, who knows. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the cheapest Soba restaurant in Tokyo, maybe they're trying to get into the Guinness book of records? I said the Soba wasn't all that but it wasn't terrible, I can imagine a salaryman stopping by to get a cheap bite after work and having the feeling of winning as he receives his killer bargain!

Restaurant front

Pricing

¥210

Kake Soba

Conbinis aka convenient stores

Convenient stores in Japan are referred to as 'Conbinis' and they might just be too convenient! Because just like the vending machines in Japan there are loads of these Conbinis everywhere, the most popular ones being; 7 Eleven, Family Mart and Lawson, all of them typically selling a wide range of soft drinks, alcohol, cigarettes, foods and magazines/Mangas. I can think of 5 Conbinis that all take less than 5 minutes to get to on my bicycle from my house! That's what I mean when I say that they might be too convenient! If you haven't stepped into one of these before then let me give you a heads up and expect a 'Irashaimase!' from the staff, it basically translates into something like 'welcome', you hear it not only in Conbinis but in many different places in Japan like restaurants and clothes stores. If I don't get my 'Irashaimase' things get really messy... 90% of the time I use these Conbinis for Onigiris as they come in many different fillings and styles so these convenient stores are really Onigiri shops for me. So all in all these places are clean, quick and cool!

7 Eleven

7 Eleven being built

A week later... 

Magazine/Manga section



 

Construction in Japan

As many of you living in Japan may know, there is always something new that's being built and it's usually refurbishment work or a piece of property that's being replaced with another, having said this there are still a few old fashioned  restaurants and things of that nature remaining in Tokyo but these gems are becoming harder to find as the city continues its' infrastructural evolution. Most of the construction is actually focused on road work where any small decay or imperfection is promptly resurfaced, I have to say that I am a fan of this as I used to do a bit of longboarding here and found many of the roads very smooth to skate on and these smooth roads are very Mama-Chari friendly too! But I had to first skate over the rough pavements in London to really appreciate the smoothness. Things are done more efficiently all the time in Japan and I guess it's human nature to progress in that manner, however, we humans know that there is no such thing as perfection so where is this all leading...? We get to see ants go about their daily life and we are privileged to have a bird's eye view, some of them involved in construction, others gathering food and there may be a few of them fighting amongst each other and of course there's the queen ant! Nobody pays any great attention to construction in Japan because of how common it is.

House being destroyed

Pachinko

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Pachinko, good! These loud electronic pinball-like machines are very common in Japan and I confess that I've had a go on one of these and let me be the first to tell you that you'll have more fun watching dry paint dry even more! I took a picture of this giant Pachinko place in Ikegami and someone who lives in there told my that it used to be a building with; bowling, cinema, arcade, shops and so on but was replaced with 'Arrow', the locals must of been pissed. As you walk into one of these you instantly lose your hearing temporarily as you are greeted by a few uniformed staff with disturbingly robot-like grins as they repeat a few animated sentences to you, you will then instantly notice the foul smell of cigarettes where you can end up with a saw throat if your not used to smoke and I'm joking. The goal is to increase the small metal balls that you purchase at the beginning and then trade them for money at the end. I fail to see how some of these customers or victims become interested in such hobbies but there is certainly a large demand, kinda like cigarettes.



Giant Pachinko building

Vending machines in Japan

You wanna know something cool…? There are currently around 5 people in Japan for every 1 vending machine! And there are 127 million people on this small island so you do the maths! I live in Tokyo where there are many narrow streets,  you'll spot a vending machine pretty much everywhere, sometimes there is just the one and other times there can be 5 lined up together and they won't be just dispensing soft drinks but a whole range of other things like; snacks, pastry, newspapers, cup noodles and a whole bunch of other things. Many vending machines in Japan dispense hot drinks too and especially during the winter, I've noticed that they adapt to the seasons just like a living creature! If you happen to have a phobia of vending machines then Japan is the last place you want to visit! I'm not a big fan of soft drinks, however, I used to drink quite a lot of those small coffees that contain god only knows how much sugar, I used to like the aloe drinks with the bits too and I'm used to the vending machines here but they still catch my attention when many are bunched in one place. I nearly forgot, cigarettes are also dispensed too, so are beers! Although you need to touch your ID card before purchasing these low priced cigarettes and when it comes to convenience it's every smoker's dream, having said that, there's something disturbing this... I've even seen bananas being dispensed! I'd rather a banana tree but we're talking Tokyo so it is what it is.


Vending Machine  



Cigarette vending machine

Digital vending machine

Pescetarianism in Japan

I've tried a variety of different foods from all over the world but nothing beats Japanese food, I'm in love with it and recommend it to anybody who may not of tried it before. The Japanese diet consists of rice, fish, meats, noodles, Soya products like; tofu, Miso, Soya sauce, Natto and the list goes on to all eternity. I'm a pescetarian and although you can survive perfectly well on this diet in Japan, there are a few things to expect like being questioned on why you don't eat meat and other times perhaps they might be a little surprised... So overall it is uncommon for someone not to eat meat and take themselves out from the culture in that small degree. You will also sometimes have to remind the people around if you don't follow a regular diet. Nonetheless, the fruits and vegetables here are very high in quality and the fish is delicious too! I met someone who is a raw vegan here and he managed that perfectly fine, but it must of been challenging at that start! If a raw vegan can survive in Japan then a vegan or a vegetarian shouldn't have any problems! I just came back from a BBQ and fortunately the weather was quite nice, I stuck with the veg, Sanma, squid, Yaki-Onigiri combo but was offered meats at times. Mmmmm, Yaki-Onigiri.



Sanma



Beef

Mushroom bar!

If your out and about in Tokyo late at night, lets say midnight, you'll be surrounded by Izakayas of all sorts (a place to drink); old fashioned, modern, some of them that are completely 'peek-proof'' so you just have to push the door open whilst you hold your breath and hope for the best... You also have many venues with hostesses, you'll pay 3,000 yen for 90 minutes to drink with some girls and a lot of these drinking places have late closing hours. It is also not uncommon to find ladies standing around the streets during the midnight hours and they're not handing out pocket tissues! Among the endless rows of typical Izakayas, I stumbled across a peculiar looking place with someone I had a drink with, it caught my attention as there was a mushroom painting at the door and it looked like an enchanted house from Lord of the Rings or something.. as I entered the place I was thinking about how strange it  was for this kind of a bar to be in this area, everything was mushroom themed; the menu, decorations, accessories for sale, everything! We enjoyed the music as we drank our red wines, 10 minutes into us being there, a strange Amazonian type bug started to fly around the place, a bug that I've never seen in Japan before and just above me was a bird's nest used as decoration (I thought at least) but the bug actually lived there. The whole place had a super hippy feel to it and I enjoyed the unique environment as it definitely stood out from the other bars.




Mushroom bar entrance

Mushroom menu!




Interior




Mushroom decorations

Puppies, 8 of them!

So my Aunt sometimes goes to Fukushima to do some volunteering with a group that she's been associated for a fairly long time, this group goes to Fukushima every week and consists of 10 people, 2 weeks ago as the group decided to go to the local shrine (Jinja) they found 4 puppies inside a box which were thrown away by its' owner so the pups were picked and are being looked after by one of the group members in Tokyo, but to their surprise there were another 4 pus that were thrown away the following week at a different location in Fukushima which are now at my Aunt's house. All 8 puppies were described as Labradors by the veterinary but they weren't 100% sure because of how young there still were. I was invited to my Aunt's house a few days ago where all 8 pups were arranged to be together, I managed give them milk and it wasn't easy at all, I've never seen so many puppies in one place! There was a cat that just watched from a distance with a 'I don't want anything to do with this' look lol. These pups were hyperactive one minute and going into deep sleep the next as they twitched. Some of them still had their eyes shut as they tried to find the milk bottle.

Otter?



Biting my finger!

Sitting on a plate

"What the hell is going on?"



Zzzzzzzzzz

Hundreds of Fish!

Just recently I've been seeing a lot of people having a peek at the river from the bridges near my house in Japan, to find out what all the fuss was about I too checked out the river myself and as I looked down I thought 'oh snap!' as there were hundreds of fish swimming in groups where some were jumping, big ones, small ones, all sizes! The picture doesn't do it justice, I mean these fish weren't just clustered in one area, they literally filled up the river from one bridge to the over, I've never seen anything like it. I was told that these fish are called 'Bora' and its' name changes according to its' size (if I remember correctly), kinda like Pokemon! I don't know if it's a seasonal thing were all these Bora fish show up at the rivers during Autumn or they just happened to be there and had nothing to do with it being October... I don't know anything about how fish behave so I'm not even going to try to give an explanation. These fish weren't that small either! Ranging from about 20cm-90cm, packing weight!

Bora

Kame

Koi fish

Old old Soba noodle restaurant

Yesterday afternoon I found a gem of a restaurant and it was hidden 3 minutes away from my house, it looked very un-restaurant-like and more had the appearance of a rundown house as it kept its' anonymity with me for all those years. Soba is my favourite type of noodle in Japan and is made of buckwheat, I've been to many soba restaurants in Tokyo and this was the best one I've been to so far! It clearly wasn't a franchise and the owner was preparing the noodles in a very old fashioned way. They say never judge a book by its' cover, well, never judge a soba restaurant by its' appearance! You can't fully experience the old fashioned atmosphere by just having a look at few pictures so here's how I felt; I felt as if I was time-traveled 50 years back with all the old Japanese Mangas and cooking-ware that I was surrounded with. The noodles were cooked perfectly and the best part of it was the soup that it was served in, 1 jolly man was working there and he was the owner/chef/waiter/awesome, he really did a great job and didn't have that typical Japanese 'kneel-before-your-customer' feel about him which was refreshing.



Front of Soba restaurant

Old looking menue



Kitchen



Old Mangas



Tempura Soba

422m Marathon

Yesterday morning I went to Yokohama (just south of Tokyo) to attend a mini-marathon event, 1/100th of a full marathon to be exact! Anyone who ran this miniature marathon had the chance to run the full Yokohama marathon (around 1 in every 50 people), although I've already signed up for the full Yokohama marathon ballot I thought to maximise my chances and go for it but luck didn't favor me this time as I didn't win. It was a short 1 minute & 16 seconds, at the event there were 2 apparently well known comedians speaking on the mike all throughout the event and although I didn't understand fully on what they were saying they were entertaining. I ran as fast as I could and they were saying things like '"look at the guy in blue, his going too fast, he's going to gas-out towards the end" (which I did lol) and I was laughing whilst running. I was interviewed at the end by the taller half and he got excited when I told him that I was from London.



Comedians



Yokohama Stadium



Track



Hula Dance

Seamo (Japanese rapper)

Last night I went to a place called Jiyugaoka in Tokyo where a fesital took place near its' local station, I found the festival online and it was advertised as 'Jazz & Wine', it was my first time going to that area and took the time out to check it out. I arrived just as a well-known Japanese rapper named Seamo was about to perform, I've never heard of him but a sea of people quickly formed around the stage anticipating this Seamo guy and some were screaming his name out. Although I didn't understand much of what he was rapping about he did crack some funny jokes in between songs. His style of music was uplifting and positive and I enjoyed it, I can't complain because it was free!



Seamo in action



Seamo fans

Stingray

It isn't uncommon to stumble across a hedgehog, fox, rabbit or even a dear in England but you'll lay your eyes upon one of these very rarely in Tokyo, but look at this fella I came across as I was taking a walk down my local beach last week (way cooler than a hedgehog!), the weather was good and the water was clear, it was around 7am and not many people were around so I guess thins Stingray decided to swim very close to the shore. I managed to get quite close to it as I took a picture. I followed it up the beach for a good 10 minutes and surprisingly it wasn't that shy about me getting close to it.

Stingray near the shore

Kaki

Autumn is the perfect season for apples all across the world but a delicious sweet fruit called Kaki remains at the heart of Japanese Autumn fruits, they are orange in colour and although I eat them with their skins on, people here normally peel the skin before eating (I think...), you'll see them everywhere if you come to Japan during October; in the supermarkets and on trees. I used to have a Kaki tree when I was a kid living in Japan in my garden and if you haven't tried them yet they are super tasty so I recommend you try a few. Although they may be hard to find outside of Japan, you might be able to find them at a regular fruit and veg. store if you look hard enough. So what are you waiting for... go get yourself some!

Ripe Kaki!

Fishing

Tokyo... a place of big buildings, salarymen and turbo-charged efficiency! Whether your in Japan as a national or foreigner, a student or worker, an Umeshu drinker or a Nikka whisky drinker, at times you can get lost in the huge array of lights in the night-time or among the sea of suited & booted company employees, so Japan has many traditional and beautiful past time hobbies that you can indulge in, I picked up a rod a few days ago at one of many fishing shops in Tokyo, I used to go fishing pretty much every summer so I'm not a complete newbie. You can fish at your local river or perhaps a pond, I tried both places out and had luck at the river as I caught about 8 fish all together in 2 days but it was 2 long hours of doing nothing until I caught one!

Although I had no luck at the pond the other day, the Autumn weather was nice and I managed to take a few cool pictures:

 So here's how I set up my fishing rod sometimes; resting against a fence...

Here's a Dragonfly that let me take a close up pic, these are very common
 in Japan when the weather is good.



There was a guy with a tiny rod

 (that sounds so wrong!), he was catching 

tiny fish with it (surprisingly...), he let me

 take a few pics of the fish and whilst I was

 doing so he managed to catch one, it's not very

 clear but there a little fella attached to a hook.