Wednesday October 19, 5:19 p.m.

Finished dinner here. My day has been pretty easy. I had The Businesswoman for the first time in about a month. She was at the end of her current contract and when I saw her bring some nice little confectionaries, I kinda figured that that was it for her. I usually assume someone bringing cakes at the end of a contract as a farewell gift. However, she actually did decide to renew although she will probably only be able to come monthly....which means in all likelihood that I'll only one more time to see her before I leave.

I've got 001 and Kirk for the first time in a few weeks as well, so probably lots to talk about and maybe very little textwork.

I hear "Fringe" is heading into its 4th season Stateside. Over here in Japan, we're just going to get the 2nd season premiere this Friday. So, no mention of Fauxlivia or Walternate, and Charlie Francis is still very much alive. The show has become quite popular here in Japan since shows about the strange and bizarre are always welcome in a country that often celebrates the same. I haven't been able to catch all the episodes in Season 1, including the pilot but I've become quite faithful as of late.

The Carolinan has introduced me to who will most likely be my very last student in this country. The lass is well aware that I won't be staying here too much longer but she apparently still needs some help in Business English, so if everything is cool, I'll see her in Shinjuku next Tuesday night.

Wednesday October 19, 3:58 p.m.

Now that I'm in the last two months of my life in Japan, I thought I can start talking about things that I will miss and things that I won't miss about this country. Of course, paramount on the former list is friends and students, but I'll probably give a tear-soaked tribute near the end in December.
As it is, I'll start off with the more conceptual stuff. For example, this picture is indicative of what I will definitely miss about life in Ichikawa, and that is safety. This picture was taken on one of the roads leading to my neighbourhood; that is the Tozai Line subway overpass on the left there. And as you can see, it was taken around 10 p.m. No people in there but that's a bit of an illusion since tons of people leave my station right up to the end of the subway schedule past midnight. I was just walking along the road in the lull moments between commuter disgorgings. But the point I'm making is that even on a desolate street at that time of night, I can walk home confidently safe without having to turn my head or putting a grip on my house keys as if they were a weapon. I can't say that on a similar street even in Toronto my hometown. In my 17 years in this city, I've never been mugged or accosted by street punks (my fist is banging down heavily on something wooden as I write this) on my 10-minute walk home.
Mind you, not too far away, there was that murder a few years ago involving Lindsay Ann Hawker, the British English teacher who had been killed by that deranged young man who had lived just a few blocks over from my apartment. There were some tense weeks immediately after the discovery of the body and the escape by the suspect, but it was back to normal soon after. I could still walk home safely at midnight even on the relatively dimly lit street in front of my apartment.

Something I won't miss about Japan? The summers in Tokyo. That's a no-brainer there. Swimming through atmosphere is something that I'll never appreciate. 35-degree C plus temperatures with 80% humidity...a deadly combination which demands a lot of handkerchiefs, Gatsby wipes and frequent stopovers at the nearby vending machines (of which there are many) for much needed juice. Initially, I thought that I wouldn't survive this summer due to the energy conservation policy in effect, made in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. But strangely enough, I could survive not turning on the AC even though I had to relent for The Egg's sake when he crashed in my apartment. My TEPCO bill was far lower and my fan kept me alive.
Toronto may have its own days of heat wave but it doesn't have them on a long continuous streak starting from July and going into September. Getting back to the ol' hometown may have me appreciating a good ol' Canadian Summer even more.

Wednesday October 19, 1:17 p.m.

Not sure if it had been the fact that the bossman had wanted to give tribute to my past birthday or that he'd felt guilty that I'd ended up at the school just a few minutes after The MedTech had dotakyan'ed last night, but last night he and his wife treated me to a steak dinner at this place. Steak dinner...on the house?! I am SO there!
The place is called Teppei and it's just across the street from our school in Nakano-Sakaue. Judging from the exterior, it seems to have that country house type of feel.

Now, steak in Japan is different from steak in the States. It's not that one big hunk that everyone sees in movies. It's often cut apart into little pieces like in Benihana and heavily spiced with salt, pepper and soy. And there were no onions or potatoes alongside. Instead, it was a leaf of lettuce and shredded cabbage topped off with dressing. Also, considering that the Japanese supposedly have one of the healthiest diets on the planet, the chefs sure like to grease the grills with butter and they even put a nice little pat on the steak after grilling it.

My 250 g (about 8 oz.) came with a sesame dipping sauce. Really nice and buttery meal...with a heaping bowl of rice. Yep, I know...8 oz sounds like a woman's portion. Teppei does have much larger portions and I would've gone for the heftier, more American size but I didn't want to break the bossman's bank.

The place itself is pretty puny...only 6 seats at the counter by the open kitchen and a bench in back that holds perhaps another 6. It was almost full when we came in but luckily there were 3 empty seats at the counter. Perfect! And it certainly had atmosphere. Incandescent lighting, the smell of sizzling beef and Sarah Vaughan singing in the background. Plus there was the sullen lone chef cooking away in his very lived-in kitchen. The bossman had told me about this place before...and about the chef. He's not mean or anything, but he has all the outer warmth of Mr. Spock. You give him the order, he cooks it, he serves it, you eat it, you pay him and you take off. Given the size of Teppei, I don't think he can really afford to have customers lounging too long in the restaurant. High turnover is a necessity here. Not surprisingly, there is no coffee served. Still it was a fine free meal. I may have to inform Skippy and MB about it although I think they are definitely more the lounge-and-chat types.

Tuesday October 18, 7:42 p.m.

As I said, my day has come to a quicker-than-expected end. At this time, I would've been in the middle of teaching The MedTech but she did cancel rather suddenly. It was a pretty long but good day. I had Cozy for an atypical Tuesday morning lesson followed by a rush over to Cafe Nard in Funabashi for my regular session with The Beehive. I got my belated birthday present from Mrs. Jade in the form of a Gucci velvet tie...I don't think I'll be turning into Isaac Hayes anytime soon, though. The ladies surprised me by wondering if I would be interested in going to Okinawa for a visit there to see Mrs. Pottery, our former colleague in the Hive. Even with them paying my tab there, I just can't see it happening seeing how things are starting to close down in my life here.
Heading home, there was one of those demented fellows who occasionally end up on either the Sobu or Tozai Lines. He was some scrawny middle-aged guy dressed up like a hip-hop kid screaming obscenities. Yup, we do have them here, too. Just crashed at my place for about 90 minutes before I made my way out for my next pair of lessons. Stopped off at Maruzen in Otemachi and ended up picking up an "Entertainment Weekly" when I was stunned to see that it only cost 903 yen. My favorite mags there usually cost more than twice the price there which is why I only get the foreign periodicals at Tower Records.
I got to Tully's in Tameike-Sanno over an hour before I was to meet The Godfather, partially in penance for last week's blunder. When he did show up, he quickly batted away any apology and just went straight into talk. I can only consider myself extremely lucky at his generosity.
And then I got through the rush on the Marunouchi Line to get over here to find out that my final class got canned. But Speedy asked me if I would like to try a nearby steak place with him and his wife. I'll never say NO! to steak in any burg.

Tuesday October 18, 7:30 p.m.
Well, my fairly busy day came to an abrupt end as soon as I came into Speedy's and Mrs. Speedy told me sheepishly that The MedTech had done a dotakyan (that's a slang term for sudden cancellation for my new Israeli viewer...shalom, by the way.) So I've been getting some odds and ends out of the way...answering e-mail, responding to comments on Facebook and writing letters informing about my impending departure from these shores. However, I would like to talk a bit about the second half of my rather interesting Sunday. The first half you have come across via my report on my visit to the Rabbit Cafe in Harajuku. The second half entailed meeting up with MB and The Satyr, plus their significant others in front of the famous LaForet Store nearby to line up for Eggs N' Things, that very popular pancake-and-breakfast place that had come over from its native Hawaii early last year.


I don't know why but this picture looks like it was taken in broad daylight but actually it was already past sunset as we were waiting on this side street. Yes, that is indeed a lineup to get into Eggs N' Things. When this place opened up last year, the line was reported to be 2 hours long. Luckily, 75% has been shaved off and we only needed to let our stomachs grumble for 30 minutes. In this country, a restaurant isn't worth a gold star if there is no sign of waiting.

Now, that is indeed a fine Sunday breakfast...on Sunday night. Eggs over easy, seasoned roast potatoes, Spam and corned beef hash. I would line up just for that.

But Eggs N' Things' claim to fame is the pancakes. This is the banana variation: five flapjacks powdered with sugar, decorated in sliced bananas and then topped off with a huge mound of whipped cream and chopped macadamia nuts. The cream wasn't actually too treacly. Pretty light and not too sweet.

This could be called The Leaning Tower of Pancakes....or a dessert in need of some Viagra (ahem).

In any case, with all of us sharing in the fun food, we only had to pay about 1,850 yen per person. For dinner in this part of town, that's a bargain!

Monday October 17, 8:41 p.m.

Over the years, cafe culture has become one of the more burgeoning aspects of Japanese pop and urban culture. Thanks to Starbucks, it became safe to actually wean oneself away from the green tea and become coffeeholics. Then, things further diversified over the last few years with things like Maid Cafes. Now, we've got animal-themed cafes. And Skippy took me and The Wedding Planner to one such place hidden in the side streets of Harajuku, known as a rabbit cafe. So, let me introduce you to Ra.a.g.f. Don't even ask me how they came up with that name.


Ra.a.g.f. is not really a cafe in the conventional sense. It's more rabbit than cafe in that it's really a 1K apartment in a building with a lot of cages with bunnies and a lot of free-range rabbits. I basically had to shuck out 1,000 yen along with a 100-yen feed fee which got me free drinks and rabbit food. There was one other party besides us which you can see here. A bit of a tight fit so reservations are absolutely a must. And the maximum time of stay is one hour. Apparently, there are a lot of rabbit fans in this burg.

Here's one cottontail who got a little interested in my camera. Perhaps a bit Pavlovian in that they've gotten used to getting their food from the tips of fingers. As soon as I activated my camera, the rabbits started going for the lens.

There was another rabbit who just couldn't get enough greens and carrots, and so basically decided to jump for the entire bowl.

It was a nice experience for the hour being among these bunny fans but I think the hour was good enough to get that rabbit fix in.

Of course, there was the question of the bunny bombs, if you know what I mean. Yep, there were plenty of those being dropped like land mines. So, we were fortunate that raisin bread and chocolate-chip cookies weren't on the menu. But the three staffers just nonchalantly picked up the turds with their bare hands. Then again, rabbits eat only vegetation so the smell wasn't any problem at all for these guys.

Saturday October 17, 6:13 p.m.
After paying tribute at The Temple of Jobs on Saturday morning, I went a few blocks north to Yurakucho and into the building known as Marronnier Gate (where they get these names is beyond me) and up to the 11th floor where I was to meet The Teahouse Ladies for one final swan song chat fest before I head on home to The Great White North.
Our target was The Singapore Seafood Republic, a buffet restaurant, a culinary phenomenon that has become commonplace in the last 15 years here.

One of the few times that I will ever visually identify folks in my little world. These are two-thirds of the Teahouse Ladies.

Our table had a nice view of the Swiss Cheese-like exterior of the Mikimoto Building.

Not the largest buffet that I'd ever come across (the legendary Farm Grill which closed its doors for good almost 10 years ago will always be the benchmark for me), but it suited our purposes. And I will try it again sometime between now and December.

Monday October 17, 6:08 p.m.
Was walking through Ginza when I came across the Apple Store. Not surprisingly, it was continuing to be The Temple of Jobs with folks lining up to get their iPhone 4S and paying tribute to the man himself. The message says it all.



A lot of apples for the teacher here.

And the acolytes have been lining up down the Ginza for several hours.

Saturday October 15, 10:07 a.m.

"When it rains, it pours."

Yup, that was the case for me yesterday, literally and figuratively and ironically.

Here I was yesterday morning so worried about Swank missing my Facebook message to her about the change in meeting venue (as it turned out she did get the message; she didn't reply to me as she usually does because she was so busy). Everything was great with her. But then, I screwed up with The Godfather. I ended up going to Monzen-Nakacho, our usual place now, when I'd been told last week that we were to meet over at our old place of Tully's in Tameike-Sanno. I only remembered a half-hour into our supposed lesson wondering why he didn't show up. Man, after that it was a number of telephone tag messages between us before I ran off to Tully's although I knew that by the time I got there, it would be past the end of the lesson. Sure enough, he wasn't there. I had left my profuse apologies twice on his answering machine and I've just sent an e-mail in the politest possible Japanese, doing my own version of an o-gesa kneel of apology. I'm usually very good about keeping schedules so pulling a boner like this made me feel very small. I ended up just sitting by myself in the empty Tully's for a couple of hours in hansei mode. I did receive a couple of more messages from The Godfather...he didn't sound angry and actually asked me about what my schedule is for next Tuesday. I'm grateful but I'm still giving him a lesson on the house next week.

And of course, since I was feeling greatly sorry for myself last night, it also slipped my mind that there was a major rainstorm in the Kanto....and my laundry was on the line. I wasn't in a very good mood.

In any case, today I have my first goodbye party before I head on home for good with The Teahouse Ladies in Yurakucho. The party itself won't be til 12:30 but I wanted to check out Yamano Music and the Temple of Jobs, aka the Apple Store in Ginza.

Thursday October 13, 7:43 p.m.

A bit of a struggle getting through The Carolinan's lesson although not for the same reason that it usually is for her sister. This time the bugbear was perhaps the beginnings of a cold. My nose started flowing about half an hour before game time and then it was pretty much making sure the Kleenex was right by me for the hour that she was here. I had a double dose of my nose spray to little avail which could mean problems for the next couple of days.

Speaking about other problems, apparently a reading of 5.82 microsieverts of radiation was picked up in a park in Funabashi which is not only in my neck of the woods but it's also the hometown of the current Prime Minister. But as one of my former students replied on my Facebook, it was merely a matter of time before there would be fallout, literally and figuratively. I gather that the head of the Tourist Agency will be having his nightly headbashing against the wall again.

In some nice news, though, one of my former students contacted me from her home for the past several years, Perth Australia. The Hawaiian has been enjoying her life there going to school and work. She and I had a bit of a chat online. And she now knows my situation about going home. I just hope that my odyssey home doesn't have to happen much earlier than expected.

Thursday October 13, 5:21 p.m.


Well, the head of the Japan Tourism Agency probably has his own head bandaged up like that of a mummy right now. How else to explain the fact that he most likely banged his head against the wall of his office several times last night on hearing that a radiation hotspot had been discovered in Setagaya Ward, an area just west of Shibuya in Tokyo? This after either he or one of his staffers had come up with a plan to give out 10,000 free round-trip tickets to Japan next year to boost the flagging tourism rate. And apparently a fairly high dose of strontium has been discovered in soil in the Yokohama area. I'm gonna be a bit generous with my gallows humour and say that perhaps the government ought to be offering 100 million one-way tickets from Japan instead.


As for today, I went over to Ichikawa City Hall to inform them of my intentions to leave Japan permanently in December. When I got to the Foreign Residents' Desk, the lady there informed that I was a tad too early. She did this in a most apologetic way which I inferred as her way of saying, "You jumped the gun, dude!" However, I still gleaned some info from the 3-minute experience in that I will have to head to the Citizens' Affairs Desk and the National Health Insurance Department in mid-November to handle my City Tax payments and NHI premiums respectively.

In any case, I took the Sobu Line over from Moto-Yawata Station all the way to Shinjuku. I had my lunch at Jukeifu, my favourite Chinese eatery in the Shinjuku area. They serve a mean 1,000-Year Egg and Tofu Mix, and then a few hours later, I taught The New Yorker upstairs in the Starbucks. After all these years, it's still a struggle to get her to give full sentences with proper syntax. I should be seeing her sister in about 20 minutes here at Speedy's. Once again, I'm the only one in the school.

Ah, as for the kid in the picture. Her name is Kylee Saunders, and she is a half-Japanese, half-American 17-year-old being groomed to make her J-Pop debut. Born and raised in Arizona, she's been notable for putting on crowd-pleasing performances of the US national anthem at sports venues but now the fully bilingual girl wants to hit the big time in Tokyo. The reason I mention this is that she was featured on one of the morning wide shows today. Kinda reminds me of Hikaru Utada over 10 years ago except that Kylee doesn't seem to sing anything like the R&B that Utada started out with "Automatic". She's definitely more on the 21st-century idol pop beat. Still kinda nice to see someone come over from the States again as an alternative to all that K-Pop that's been hitting these shores for the past couple of years.

Anyways, time to get ready.

Wednesday October 12, 8:09 p.m.

Finished with my lesson with The MedTech. She's a quirkily charming young lady. We didn't discuss too much about her training in Stockholm last month since apparently there wasn't too much time for her to see the sights there. And also she wanted me to go over some highly technical articles concerning certain radiation therapies for cancer...in very small print. Plus there were some photographs of post-op surgeries that I could've done without after dinner. Still quite an interesting talk.
I'm done for the day, but tomorrow I gotta head on out to Ichikawa City Hall first thing in the morning and let them know that I'm heading home for good since that entails the eventual return of my Alien Registration Card, vernacularly known as the gaijin card. The return of this card will also affect on how much more of my City Tax payments and National Health Insurance premiums I'm obliged to pay since I will be leaving before those payments are up. In any case, this is just the next step in my Operation Exodus.
Afterwards, I've got The Sisters of State at different times: The New Yorker at 2 and then The Carolinan at 6 with Mrs. Thursday wrapping things up for me.

Thursday October 12, 5:24 p.m.

I'm writing this just before I get some dinner at the local conbini here.

I found out from CNN and The Japan Times websites that the Japan Tourism Board has initiated a programme in which it will give free round-trip tickets to 10,000 folks who come to Japan next year. Yes, you folks from the States, Russia and other countries reading this, that means you! The only catch is that you have to shuck out the big yen for accommodation and food...and you also have to blog your adventures. The second condition shouldn't really be a problem; ahhh, the first, though...well, depends on how you want to go and how much moola you have. If you're a fellow who's used to living rough or you have a very deep travel stash of money and other liquid assets, then no problem.

Of course all this is for trying to bring back tourism to this country after the March 11 Earthquake and all those radiation scares. Look, for the record...yep, I did flee back to Canada for a month but only because my family practically begged me to return home. Coming back to Japan, I have often wondered if I should've even bothered. It's basically back to normal here in Tokyo: the supermarkets are well-stocked, traffic jams still exist, and the lighting (even under setsuden policies) isn't all that dim frankly. Of course, the big question is the radiation level. I've been back here now in the Kanto since late April...I haven't started losing hair (at least not beyond the usual rate for a guy my age and stress levels) or throwing up at inconvenient times. And my friends, The Amiables, have been traveling through Japan for a couple of weeks. I don't think travelers should really about much....unless, of course, the reactors suddenly decide to explode...nah, won't happen. Look, as long as you don't have a death wish for cancer and head into the 30-km circle surrounding Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Plant, there will be very little chance of you getting hopelessly irradiated. You will probably get more roasted on the plane coming over here.

Now, JTB actually has to pass this by Parliament, so it's not a done deal yet. I'm sure there will be some fiscally conservative MPs who may go apoplectic at the thought of giving 10,000 foreigners free airfare....but then again, Japan was able to do the same for participants on the JET Programme. But if it's cool in Nagatacho, it'll be cool in Japan. So if you have some time next year, take over my reins for a while and come on over!

Wednesday October 12, 4:58 p.m.

Yup, still on the Taeko Onuki kick. But well worth it. She is a fine singer-songwriter. I gave my rave review on her 1980 changeover album "Romantique" last week but I think her 1982 "Cliche" is still her most accomplished work during her Sakamoto collaboration period in the 80s.

I've already talked somewhat about the album itself so I just wanted to pick out one tune that has been a pleasant ditty to listen to often, but has never been put on any of her BEST albums. It's called "Tourbillon", one of her French-titled tunes, and appropriately so. Of course, Onuki is the composer and lyricist while Ryuichi Sakamoto arranged it. The first few bars of it threatens to sound like a minor techno piece but then it quickly morphs into a jaunty musical equivalent of Charles Boyer walking down the Champs-Elysees on a warm Spring day. It even has some pretty convincing synthesized strings and accordion to give its Gallic flavour. At just a bit over 3 minutes, it fulfills the label of "short and sweet".

Just check it out on YouTube.

Wednesday October 12, 4:16 p.m.

From the sublime to the ridiculous. We go from one of the late 20th-century's deep thinkers to...dessert. But then again, Marshall McLuhan made it OK for us to actually study about pop culture seriously. So, I digress.

But this isn't too serious here. I would like to illustrate Japan's ability to try to pull off a hybridization of two popular sweets into one, a la America's invention of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

This is the Hokkaido Custard Purin Roll. Now, purin is basically the Japanese linguistic bastardization of the word "pudding", but even the formerly mellow Bill Cosby wouldn't have been able to crack that code (for you readers outside of the States, Bill Cosby is a famed African-American comedian and actor who had hawked Jell-o Pudding for decades...you might say that he was the Will Smith of the 60s and 70s).
Additionally, Japanese purin and American pudding are far different animals. The local product here is more reminiscent of a wobblier and softer Creme Brulee. And it has been a popular sweet staple....along with roll cake. The Japanese love their cakes all rolled up in forms such as the German baum kuchen and the Christmas buche de Noel.

So I gather that someone in the industry got a light bulb blazing away over his or her head and came up with this culinary merger. Therefore, we have this dessert of a spiral of sponge cake surrounding a moat of whipped cream with the purin as the castle. A bit on the rich side but a fine addition to convenience store shelves everywhere.

Wednesday October 12, 3:46 p.m.

I got my periodic delivery of "U of T Magazine" from my alma mater, The University of Toronto yesterday. There was an article on Marshall McLuhan, the great Canadian scholar and philosopher, who had come up with the famous quote: "The medium is the message". My knowledge of the man until a few hours ago was basically restricted to that saying. But after reading this article, I just wonder if the Editor-In-Chief was also a Prophet-In-Chief for this issue, considering the passing of Steve Jobs last week.

Of course, I say this with tongue fully in cheek since the magazine couldn't have known that Jobs was going to die, and the article was probably started several weeks before his passing. But I just thought it very interesting that the Thomas Edison of our time has passed away in the year that Toronto is commemorating the 100th birthday of the so-called Patron Saint of the Internet (he passed away 31 years ago). I found out that McLuhan had predicted the rise of what has become the biggest technological phenomenon in human history thus far along with its good and bad points. And I also discovered that he had this theory of extensions via his book "Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man" (1964) in which Man creates something that can extend the human body or mind. A U of T graduate sending a letter to the editor gave an example of the invention of the chair to extend our ability to sit.

Well, it would've been interesting to have gotten McLuhan's assessment of Steve Jobs had he lived past 1980. At that time, Jobs and Wozniak were still getting Apple off the ground. Had he survived to this year, McLuhan could've given Jobs an award for proving his extensions theory right. Jobs may not have invented the Internet (and neither did Al Gore) but he certainly knew how to extend the individual's brain and senses via technological marvels such as the iPod and iPad.

The final few lines of the article consisted of a quote by McLuhan in an interview to "Playboy" (I'm sure he read the articles, too) which also seemed very prophetic on the Nostradamian level:

"In the electronic age of instantaneous communication...our survival, and at the very least our comfort and happiness, is predicated on understanding the nature of our new environment. If we understand the revolutionary transformations caused by new media, we can anticipate and control them; but if we continue in our self-induced...trance, we will be their slaves."

He may have conceptualized the otaku.

Wednesday October 12, 1:16 p.m.

It's been a quiet week for me here...nice in all ways except financially, of course. I only had Cozy for his morning lesson and then it was 8 hours at the I-Cafe where I made my last entries to this blog.

Today, I've got two lessons. One is with The Kimono Nurse in about 45 minutes. She's been a pretty genki young lady so far. Hopefully, I can keep that good vibe going unlike the lost Bossa Novan who lasted about 8 lessons before giving up the ghost. The other student is actually Speedy's but since I don't have 001 and he's gonna be busy with counseling, I'll be teaching her later at 7 p.m. The MedTech isn't a high speaker in the language but she's definitely no shrinking violet. I've taught her before and she's pretty confident and sharp despite her linguistic improficiencies. She should have come back from her conference in Norway a few weeks ago. She might have some good insights about going over to a vastly different country.

The Anime Chamberlain has kept me updated. As expected, my old friends from Toronto, The Amiables, have returned to Tokyo after traveling through places like Kyoto and Nikko over the past week. They're due to head back to The Great White North this Saturday although I am concerned about this potential strike action by Air Canada. The Chamberlain will be seeing them tonight and tomorrow night for dinner and whatnot; they're staying for the last leg of their Japan trip at The Shinjuku Southern Tower Hotel across from Takashimaya Times Square, not too far away from where I'm teaching, but unfortunately I've got lessons over the next two nights. The next best chance for me will be Friday night.

We reached the 7th month since the March 11th quake. Once again, all of the media outlets noted the monthly anniversary like a tolling bell. It's starting to become a bit annoying to me but I gather that the updates are needed to make sure that none of the victims have been forgotten. As it is, apparently, the last of the quake refugees have been able to leave the shelters and find more permanent housing elsewhere.

Tuesday October 11, 12:08 p.m.

Another screen capture shot, this being of the show, "HEY, HEY, HEY! Music Champ", one of Japan's longest-running music programmes. In fact, it had debuted just a couple of weeks before I flew into Tokyo on my current stay here....almost 17 years ago. As of last night, it started its 18th season on Fuji-TV. The format has changed from time to time over the nearly 2 decades it's been on, but the hosts have always been the comedy duo of Downtown, Hamada and Matsumoto. I don't get a chance to see the show since I usually teach on Monday nights but there's now a bit of wistful nostalgia when I do get a chance to catch it. In fact, when I reached my temporary NOVA apartment that first night back in Japan, the TV was showing this very show. Currently, it's all about the Korean pop stars, Arashi and AKB 48, but when I first caught it back in the mid-90s, it was all about Tetsuya Komuro and his harem. At the time, Komuro (ex of 80s techno group, TM Network) was on top of the world with his trance-influened pop sound which permeated his acts such as a teenage Namie Amuro, TRF, and Globe. The feeling wasn't lost on the show...TRF showed up to do a medley of their hits.

Monday October 11, 11:52 a.m.

It was indeed Sports Day in Japan yesterday, so instead of folks gobbling up turkey in Canada for Thanksgiving, folks here were getting involved in sports...the biggest being surviving marathon traffic jams. As you can see from these TV image shots from Mt. Takao, it wasn't too deserted. Mt. Takao happens to be the absolute western end of The Big Sushi...one of the very few countryside areas in the world's biggest megalopolis.


Yes, there are even lineups to get up a mountain.

Of course, being Sports Day and all, means that there are a lot of real marathons going on as well. Not that I would ever participate in one.

Ahhh...only in Japan. There's currently the trial of a major political kingpin in Tokyo, and the Arabian Spring, but one of the big stories on the news was the sudden snapping of a rope used in a tug-of-war contest. Of course, having 14 people, including some kids, injured in the fall is nothing to laugh at, but I think it's almost cute how much seriousness this rope story got. This is the suspect right here.

And since we are in the midst of specials between drama seasons, this is a shot of one such special starring the legendary Tamori. As I have mentioned in past entries about the guy in the black cardigan and sunglasses on the right, Tamori is the Japanese equivalent of Johnny Carson on TV here. But he hasn't only presided over his Fuji-TV noontime flagship show of "Waratte Ii Tomo" for nearly 30 years, but he also hosts "Music Station" and "Tamori Club" on TV Asahi. Usually his contribution to the inter-drama season specials is a 3-hour nighttime version of "Waratte Ii Tomo" in which the stars of the upcoming drama season come on to plug their shows and partake in various party games. However, this time, Tamori went for a different approach last night and held a home party on an elaborate home set which is far bigger than the actual home I live in. Along with a couple of members of SMAP, all of the major drama stars came on for a ton of food and drink. It was like watching a very congenial reality show of celebs eating yakiniku and karaage.

Tuesday October 11, 11:32 a.m.
Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't have named this blog, "A Canuck in Emperor Akihito's Kitchen" instead with all of the food pictures I put up. But then again, since I'm almost down to my final two months in Japan, I'm trying to upload and load up on as many examples of authentic Japanese cuisine as I can before the final takeoff...then again, Air Canada is probably going on strike so I may be "forced" to stay a bit longer. In any case, this is my neighbourhood ramen restaurant, Kagetsu Ramen, one of a chain of noodle joints. In terms of Japan urban geography, the placing of a ramen restaurant in a station mall is a no-brainer. When you take into consideration the reasonable prices and the near religious devotion to ramen (there are monthly...perhaps even weekly....magazines published just for ramen), the existence of such a place pretty much guarantees as much of a multiplier effect as building the station itself.


And this is the bowl of ramen itself. Of course, the fans eat it all year but it's in the cool months that it is most appreciated. Over the noodles, there are the de rigueur pork slices, boiled egg, menma (stewed bamboo), chopped scallions and seaweed. Not sure what the soup is made from, but often restaurants make this a corporate secret. Kagetsu Ramen is notable in that it tried to get into the Guinness Book of World Records for cramming in as much garlic into one bowl of ramen as possible. I think the Guinness assessor may still be in a coma after talking with one satisfied customer. It is one of the zestier bowls I've had in this country. Pretty much once I leave, everyone walking by me probably knows where I've been.

My branch of Kagetsu has that ticket vending machine where you put in the yen and choose your ramen and side dishes. My choice has always been a plate of gyoza and a bowl of rice topped with stewed garlicky minced pork and chopped onions. As if my breath couldn't already burn down Tokyo after having the world's most garlicky bowl of ramen. And yup, I do eat all of it with gusto.

And here are the gyoza dumplings once again. Kagetsu only serves 3 per order, as opposed to some other places which serve 4 or even 5 of the stuff. But then again, these ones are a bit larger than usual.

Condiments are absolutely necessary. There are the bottles of chili oil, soy sauce and vinegar to whip up the dipping sauce for the gyoza. And what is unique to Kagetsu is that there is even special sauce (on the bottom left) to pour on the ramen itself.

Yup, I'd say that ramen will be one of the things that I'll miss once I head on back to The Great White North. I'll have to munch on a lot of soulvaki in Greektown to make me forget about the ubiquitious ramen shop in the Kanto. Well, back to Sapporo Ichiban.