denbushi | blog

…reads the text in this pervasive billboard. You can imagine that was also the expression the photographer was trying to coax out of this week’s gaijin model, but what he ended up with instead was a blank stare that says, “How’s this? Is this where I should be looking? How about now?”I don’t know how they do it, but Japanese advertisers have an uncanny ability to make all caucasion models look like mannequins.

After a week of rain and chilly temperatures it looks like Spring is finally here. Rie and I enjoyed an afternoon at Shinjuku Gyoen and bumped into this fellow who I seem to meet on the streets on Shinjuku every few months. He also appears in the O-shougatsu video from 2001, climbing the steps to Hanazono Jinja.

This is a shot of an FM Keitai poster/ad in Shibuya station. Gaijin 1 (foreground) is apparently listening to Howard Stern and having such a good time that he’s oblivious to the lustful stares of everyone else in the room. Can anyone imagine a group like this actually hanging out? More importantly, is that a chandelier in the background?

Information-rich and amazingly multi-lingual, the Issho Kikaku site is a great resource for information on living in Japan no matter what languages you may speak. Not to be confused with your garden-variety “Japan guide” site offering tips of chopstick etiquette and rail travel, Issho focuses on the serious issues facing long-time foreign residents such as taxation, discrimination, permanent residency, as well as legal and political issues that us as non-Japanese citizens. In 14 languages.

From the Issho web site:

ISSHO Kikaku (also known as ISSHO), is a Japan-based, non-profit, non-governmental organization established in 1992. The organization aims to monitor issues related to human diversity, language, culture and coexistence worldwide, and strives to facilitate a greater recognition and understanding of these issues, both in the East Asian region and worldwide. (note: ISSHO = Together; KIKAKU = Project) We can be reached by email at the following address: issho AT issho DOT org.

…I met this fellow (Kouji Yamamoto) and some of his friends. Most of them belong to the cast of the current hit drama Shinsengumi, airing on NHK Sunday evenings.

He was joined by the vivacious Tomoko Tabata, who plays Tsune Kondo in the same drama, and struck up a conversation with Dave and I from the next table. He had picked up some English while appearing in Rent in New York, and we ended up bouncing back and forth freely between English and Japanese, discussing cross-cultural topics over imo-jochu. In the drama he plays a burly samurai-type, but in person seems almost, well, gay. Good fun hanging out and talking with the lot of them.

Looks like things are up and running. I’ve been migrating over bits and pieces from the old site, trying to decide what to keep and what to throw away. Maybe I’ll just leave the old site right where it is. Now, gotta do something about this vanilla interface…

Rie and I traveled to Central Europe near the end of last year. I decided to write a simple travelogue for the trip, but then got carried away and finished up with something considerably longer. I’ve posted it online in two PDF versions, a low-bandwidth version with images compressed and a much fatter one with high-quality pix intact. If you’re interested in reading about our trip (in WAY too much detail, mind you) you can download one or the other using the links below.