Boyfriend's Arm Pillow

Soundtrack: Radiohead's Bodysnatchers

The obvious followup to the Lap Pillow: the female centric companion product, the Boyfriend's Arm Pillow! While not the massive seller the Lap Pillow is, it is slightly cheaper at 8,500 Yen.
A great excerpt from the BBC piece about this:

Ms Suzuki, who is separated from her husband, says the pillow has other advantages.

"It keeps holding me all the way through. I think this is great because this does not betray me," she told AP.

Lap Pillow

Soundtrack: Biz Markie's Just a Friend
Japan is full of crazy stuff, and it's hard to ignore this.
Case in point, the Lap Pillow. Designed for "lonely men" to rest their sad little heads upon. While its sold over 3,000, reportedly its a popular joke present at office parties. This may be true, but to even think of this concept... it just boggles the mind.
The icing on the cake? It costs the equivalent of $90.

Japanese Victory at the World Baseball Classic

Soundtrack: Queen's We are the Champions

Around the office today, everyone had their cellphones switched to the World Baseball Classic Championship (yes, cell phone TV is that common). I remember reading about this in a Poli Sci article a long time ago, but it was mostly about international sports economics. I didn't think the WBC would survive, and while less than 3% of Americans tuned it, it was a huge deal here.
Here's a Japanese news clip about the American reaction courtesy of Japanprobe.

雨男: ameoto: rain man

Kiss the Sky by Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra
The kanji for Ameoto translates precisely into Rain Man.
In Japanese, being a Rain Man (or women, its equally applicable) has nothing to do with Dustin Hoffman or Autism.
It means that the person in question is always followed by rain. For example, this person's involvement in any outdoor activity seems to be accompanied by rain.

大勢: oozei: lots of people

大: Big
勢: Power
Together they mean: lots of people,
but individually: Big and Power.
Interestingly, after asking around, when people see these two kanji together, their mind doesn't immediately think "Big Power." Its interesting that kanji has evolved from individual character meanings to an almost alphabet, where people do not think of their individual meanings in order to determine the what they may mean when coupled together.
I actually find the word dissection to be a interesting way to learn new vocabulary, but more on this later.

Princess Mononoke: もののけ姫

Soundtrack: Theme for Princess Mononoke
Updated: 3/23
I'm back in Tokyo, after many sleepless nights in Yakushima (full story forthcoming) but first 3 quick points:
1.) That trailer I had up earlier was terrible, so I had to take it down. I blame the bad English dubbing script.
2.) I didn't cover the main theme of Princess Mononoke earlier because I thought it would give too much of the plot away. In hindsight, with my trip to Yakushima behind me, I realize that I will have to address this theme now. The idea of renewal, and particularly life from death is always on my mind in forest hikes, and Miyazaki masterfully incorporated that into Princess Mononoke.
In preparation for my trip to Yakushima (屋久島) this coming weekend, I purchased and watched Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫). I've never been a fan of Anime before, but this film is a truly captivating work of art. The film cells alone are museum worthy, and mixed with the epic scope, I would recommend this film to absolutely everyone. I actually watched it twice already, once in Japanese, and once with subtitles. I had difficulties the first time around, I'm not very familiar with the feudal style Japanese, and the animals (seemingly telepathic) communications are "spoken" in a style that I could not easily understand. Yes, there are talking animals, mystical realms, and its all set in feudal Japan at the dawn of the Iron age, but don't let these fantastical elements deter you. They may all be the stereotypical makings of a good versus evil opera, but somehow Mononoke is able to address these paradigms without being a slave to them.
The film opens, playing with these notions of the absence of a simple good / evil dichotomy. An attack on a village in North Honshu by what one presumes would be a clear evil, is later revealed not to be so simplistic. While protecting the village people, the protagonist, Ashitaka, is afflicted with a deadly curse (which later turns out to also grant him inhuman strength). Miyazaki is able to subtly propose the idea that the an action cannot be simply be judged right or wrong by whom the actor or the recipient of the action is. Simply put: the lack of morality of an individual does not lessen the impact of the repercussions of their actions.
Every character is portrayed with care and no individual is presented in unsympathetic light. Without giving away too much of the plot, the film draws parallels between the various tribes of animal's dying self-protecting order, and homosapien's (very specific reason I did not use "man" here) self-protecting rise to power.
The characters even ask the protagonist what side he is on, all the while the audience knowing that there are no sides. To see with "eyes unclouded" was Ashitaka's mission, and through him, the audience is able to perceive the beauty and majesty of Miyazaki's creation. Did I mention it was all inspired by Yakushima?

Voltaire on Languages

Soundtrack: Rolling Stone's Sympathy for the Devil
"je ne suis pas comme une dame de la cour de Versailles, qui disait: c'est bien dommage que l'aventure de la tour de Babel ait produit la confusion des langues; sans cela tout le monde aurait toujours parle francais."

"I'm not like a lady of the court in Versailles, who said it was unfortunate that the adventure of the tower of Babel has produced confusion of languages; otherwise everybody would always speak French."
-Voltaire in 1767

Voltaire speaks to the French stereotype (reiterated in The Onion's Our Dumb World entry France: One Nation Above God, read it, its hilarious) that the French believe French is the one true language. Living in France, you definitely get that impression. In Japan, however, it is quite the opposite. A foreigner speaking Japanese is regarded as a novelty, even in Tokyo where there are entire districts dedicated to reproducing Americana, Britannia and the other _anias.
Even the simplest usage of the language impresses. I remember asking a concierge where the bathroom was (less than 5 words) and being complimented on my "beautiful Japanese."
Here are two more quotes, that open Charles DeWolfe's book on sounding intelligent in Japanese, that I believe are now quite out of date, but still amusing:
"The foreigner in Japan, so long as he is not thought to be permanent immigrant, is treated very politely, but always as an outsider. If he speaks Japanese at all, not matter how badly, he is praised for this remarkable accomplishment, as though we were an idiot child who suddenly showed a streak of intelligence." -Edwin O. Reischauer, 1977
and
"...Seeing that you speak Japanese, they will wag their heads and smile condescendingly, and admit to each other that you are really quite intelligent- much as we would do in the presence of a pig or an ape of somewhat unusual attainments." - Basil Hall Chamberlain, 1904

Gun O'Clock

Soundtrack: Black Keys' Strange Desire
"Tell me Sage, do you sleep with a gun under your pillow?"
I've seen many a crazy alarm clock while living here in Japan: an alarm for deaf people, a rolling alarm clock, a flying alarm clock etc... but for me, the only way to wake up is guns blazing, its just the right way to start the day.

Microlending

Soundtrack: Dvorak Symphony 9 Mvt 1

Something awesome is upon us: OptinNow and kiva microlending sites, allowing you to make small loans (a couple hundred USD seems the norm) directly to entrepreneurs in developing countries.
Differences between the Kiva and OptinNow:
OptinNow is Christian, and has been around since the 1970s and the loans are made through OptinNow, then handed to the entrepreneurs. The site also has a very cool interface that makes it easy and desirable to choose enterprises you deem worthy of investment.
Kiva is nondenominational (as far as I can tell) and while its interface isn't as awesome as OptiNow, it does have a direct lending model.

Thoughts on Facebook

Soundtrack: Act III Scene 2: Trauermarsch
I was recently asked by a friend whether they should have a Facebook page.
While Facebook is a huge distraction to one's (by this I mean my) normal workflow, I believe they are on the cusp of something truly epic. With the advent of their comment boxes, affiliations with news portals, and most prominently, their adoption of OpenID, we are witnessing Facebook's grasp finally catching up with its reach.
I believe, that with these aforementioned technologies, Facebook will encompass the web with what I will not call Frame. Your web experience will now be viewed through the Facebook Frame: shaped by what your friends suggest, and attuned to your own preferences. Instead of waiting for you to search for something, Facebook is enabling a new system where information will come to you suggested by your family & friends, instead of you searching for it.
Facebook isn't looking to become an entry point like the Portal sites of yore, they creating a new Framework in which to view the web.

Workplace Haiku

Soundtrack: Chopin Prelude in D-flat major
At work, we are asked to write daily emails (日報) summing up our thoughts for the day. I often times express mine in Haiku form, my first entry was just an observation:
働いているキーボードは降ってる雨のように鳴いている
or
"Busy keyboards sound like falling rain"
This created a riotus uproar demanding that my following entries be submitted in poetic form. Naturally, Haiku was the medium of choice. If it was in English, it would be a sonnet. French some sort of Rondeau and German, an instructive but gruesome fable.
I was thus reminded that Haiku's typically require a seasonal reference, making an already difficult form of poetry even more challenging. I decided to supplement the Haikus with Senryus, a comical form a poetry that has looser form and content expectations.
I will be sharing some of these Haiku and Senryu on Konjoe.

Dog Takes Care of Monkeys

Most of the Japanese TV-shows I've caught are panel-style ensembles, where they eat food, show soft-news clips (like this one), share stories, judge comedians, or interview celebraties. In my quest to increase my exposure to Japanese, I try to watch this stuff. Here is a sample:

You can see why I limit my TV watching here. Instead, I'm trying to watch some Japanese series (mostly anime recommended by friends), and I'll be posting some thoughts and reviews here.

Dino 246

Soundtrack: Rolling Stone's Gimme Shelter

As the age of the gas powered supercar winds down, I think it is only fitting that we look back on some of this age's finer moments. Case in point, the most beautiful car ever made: the Dino 246. While its sibling, the Dino 206, has the smoother lines and artistry of a light speed sculpture, the 246 was its automotively refined successor. Followed by the angular designs of the 80s, this car has been recently revisited as a design paradigm for current Ferrari creations. Unfortunately none of these modern callbacks match the inspired design and risks taken with the 246.
The Buggatti Veyron provides the perfect bookend to the era of the gas powered car. Like the Concord, Titanic and the Hindenberg before it, the Buggatti represents the ludicrous ultimate end of an enterprise gone wild before it comes crashing down (or people realize how ridiculous that end actually is). Not that gas powered cars won't continue to crowd our streets, the gas engine will simply be slowly phased out in favor of more efficient energy systems (as soon as someone perfects them, I still believe that the current options need refining).

風船: fusen: balloon

Soundtrack: 99 Luftballons
風: wind
船: ship
Total random thought, but I like the kanji for balloons. Basically, the first kanji means wind, and the second one means ship. So naturally, the next logical question is what is the kanji for things that I consider to actually be an "air ship." Things that carry passengers, like zeppelins and hot air baloons.

熱気球: Hot Air Balloon (kanji breakdown: high temperature+spirit+sphere)
ツェッペリン飛行船: Zeppelin (kanji breakdown: zeppelin, in katakana; avaiation, the first two kanji; and the last one being ship again)

French Teens Give Foreigners a Bad Name

So 3 French kids were caught stealing about 1 million Yen ($10,000) worth of games and gaming systems. This, even after the number of crimes committed by foreigners has dropped for the third year straight. Their defense: "Japanese people shouldn't be so trusting." Way to think that one through guys.

Pocari Sweat

Soundtrack: Muse's Our Time is Running Out

The Virtual Tokyo Marathon was sponsored by by Otsuka Pharmaceutical, makers of Pocari Sweat. This reminded me of a friend of mine, Joe, and his immortal question: "Who is Pocari, why are we drinking his sweat?"
The answer: It is not sweat and there is, disappointingly, no Pocari.
The strange English name is an endemic here in Japan. You see people wearing poorly written or nonsensical English (often referred to as Engrish, a recent example I encountered was a woman wearing a shirt reading "I'm Constapation"). The analogy given to me by a friend is that English in Japan is like Latin in English. The layman is not always fully versed on the langauge or the meaning, but they like to plaster it all over the place.
Anyway, back to Pocari and his Sweat. The name was supposedly derived from the fact that it replenishes the nutrients you sweat out: such as electrolytes.
The name Pocari is derived from the Japanese for lightly or ぽっかり.
As for how it tastes: like sweetened water and no, I do not drink it that often because the name is still off-putting.

Japan's UNESCO Sites

One of my MANY goals for while I'm living in Japan is to visit all of the United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organization World Heritage Sites. Here is a run down of the sites, courtesy of UNESCO:

Cultural

• Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area (been here)
• Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu ()
• Himeji-jo (been here)
• Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) (been here, everyone should visit this)
• Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) (been here)
• Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara (been here)
• Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama ()
• Itsukushima Shinto Shrine ()
• Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural Landscape ()
• Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range ()
• Shrines and Temples of Nikko (been here)

Natural

• Shirakami-Sanchi ()
• Shiretoko ()
• Yakushima (Going later this month)

I'll be posting my impressions of each of these sites.

Tokyo Marathon: Virtual Edition

Soundtrack: The Postal Service's Such Great Heights

Tokyo is a great city to run in, and unlike Paris, many locals partake. So many in fact, that the March 22nd Tokyo marathon is a madhouse to get into. 250,000 people applied for the lottery for just 35,000 spots. Colleagues and friends who want to participate suggested that I just go to the Taipei marathon. However, these doubters didn't account for the wonders of the web: yes, you can now virtually run the Tokyo marathon using custom avatars. The ultimate lazy runner's marathon, your avatar can even have a bulbous head with birds nesting in your hair.

Japan's Sewage Gold

This has been covered internationally, but "A sewage treatment facility in central Japan has recorded a higher gold yield from sludge than can be found at some of the world's best mines."
Article at: China Daily
So... many... easy... jokes...

オタク

Soundtrack: David Bowie's Oh! You Pretty Things
オタク (n) (col) geek; nerd; enthusiast
While "geek" or "nerd" in English carries some negative weight, オタク in Japanese does not have the same connotation. A better translation might be "connesieur." This is because seemingly EVERYONE here is some sort of オタク. Whether that be an Ahkihabara computer nerd (this is the first image that comes to mind when people use オタク), a Shibuya fashion nerd, a Harajuku anime nerd or a Music nerd. These are by no means mutually exclusive titles. I fully admit to being 2/4 of these.

"You can count on me": 任せて

Soundtrack: Junior Kimbrough's All Night Long
任せる 【まかせる】 (v1,vt) (1) to entrust (e.g. a task) to another; to leave to; (2) to passively leave to someone else's facilities
I'm constantly trying to directly translate my English thoughts and speaking style into Japanese. This is 1.) ill-advised 2.) near impossible. For example, I use "no problem" alot in English, which directly translates into "問題ない”but sounds very unnatural when used in similar context to the English "no problem." The more direct translation of "問題ない” is that "no problem exists." A friend of mine suggested using "任せて" which, when dissected, means ”obligation entrusted to me” or more naturally "you can count on me."

Why There is a Soundtrack

Soundtrack: Ibrahim Ferrer's Boliviana
I love music and
音楽は一種の魔法であり、ミュージシャンにはある種の力がある。
Music is a sort of magic, and musicians have a sort of power.

Mini Love

Soundtrack: Iggy Pop's The Passenger
I am constantly conflicted by practicality versus pure awesomeness. While this Runabout styled Mini nailed a perfect 10/10 on practicality, the awesomeness gets still spectacular 9/10.
I like the idea of a Runabout: a tall 2 door hatchback. Thus far, there are slim pickings. The Range Stormer got watered down into the disappointing Range Rover Sport, the X1 is relegated to rumordom, the Wrangler is less reliable than a insert pun here and the 2 Door G-Wagon is... well, its actually the only solid one I can think of.
SUVs have nixed the "sport" component of their acronym and interpreted "utility" as meaning gas-guzzling-suburban-mom-machine. I'm glad mini has manned up (strange to admit to that) and re-imagined the Runabout, sadly its only a concept and will undoubtedly be distorted beyond recognition before I can give it a hug. So when are we going to hear about broader electric options?