We are two longtime friends, a Japanese ("Nagamimi") and an American ("LilyOmori" or Lily Suzuki), who have teamed up to write about the Japanese language and culture. This is our way of building a cultural bridge that we hope sparks new insights, curiosity, and mutual understanding. If you're interested in Japan, come take a look. Irrashaimase! = Welcome!
My friend Nagamimi just wrote a great post on print advertisement media in Japan. Here is a related follow up post from me. Years ago when I lived in Japan, I used to like reading the English version of The Japan Times, a print newspaper that brought me up to date on current news, issues, special events, book and movie reviews, even Japanese lessons. Today, though I no longer live in Japan, I still want news of what's going on there. I continue to look to The Japan Times for my info fix by going to my bookmarks and clicking on my saved link to The Japan Times Online. It's a mainstream media news source useful for catching up on Japan current events and trends.
The Japan Times Online is quite impressive for being a free news website. You can get late breaking news and current date news reports, weather, sports and general interest and cultural stories. The English site (there is a Japanese website too) is well-written and organized. It's aimed at Western audiences and all English speakers; the writers seem to favor use of American English, as opposed to British English (if that makes any difference to you), except for weights and measures. In that case, the metric system, used by Japan, Britain and many other countries, is how you get your information.
The Japan Times Online is the electronic counterpart of the flagship newspaper, The Japan Times. In the electronic format you get a digest of news and feature stories from the newspaper.
One of my favorite sections is "Life in Japan." Click on this title in the menu bar to see a list of feature and special interest stories about life experiences and cultural discoveries. Articles are written by both Japanese and non-Japanese writers, so you can get different perspectives on what it's like to live in Japan (or visit). Here are examples of articles I recently came across that proved to be very interesting reading! I'll provide links if you'd like to read them in full. 1) Farmers markets in Tokyo; 2) Jelly noodles. Of course, there are articles on many other topics besides food. This just happens to be one of my favorite subjects!
If you wish to read the entire contents of the current day print
publication, that is made possible by subscribing to Japan Times Plus. This can be set up online. You can subscribe to receive daily issues, or weekly issues, in English or in Japanese.
I just discovered that The Japan Times has a You Tube channel, too. This is great since I spend lots of time on You Tube watching video news stories and special interest videos directly from Japan. (Okay, and Japanese singers and TV dramas as well.) Some videos are in English, while others are in Japanese. Very nice to have both! Keep in mind this is not the only media source taking advantage of You Tube. I also subscribe to other Japan-related You Tube channels, including asahicom, modulartokyo, tbsnewsi, fujitv and tokyomx.) Below is the banner for The Japan Times Online and one of the many video playlists you can choose from.
You can find videos like this one covering a summer festival that just took place last month.
The Japan Times is quite visible on the Internet, including Facebook.
Want to receive tweets about Japan via Twitter? You can! Just log into your Twitter account and do a search, then subscribe to one of the many options. I follow @japantimes_life. What I really like about the Facebook page and Twitter feeds is that you can view comments and reactions posted by readers in real time. It's fun to see what others think of the news stories published. Note: Another very reliable Japan-based tweeter of information I follow is Kyodo News (@Kyodo_News_EN). Also, I like reading tweets by Hiroko Tabuchi, a New York Times reporter based in Tokyo. Below is her Twitter summary and a tweet she sent 13 hours ago.
Of course, The Japan Times is not the only news source for Japan-related information - there are many options out there. But I like that it's very well organized in both print and electronic forms. It is a great place to start when you need more information or an update on what's happening in Japan right now.
Those of who ever have lived in an urban area of Japan just might miss seeing the images above. These are examples of advertisement posters for magazines that are displayed inside the commuter trains in Japan. Japanese-packed commuter trains are well known, thanks to Freddie and Bowie. I was a big fan of them both, and was so excited when they used the Japanese scenes in Queen's "Under Pressure" by the way.
This train shown below is not one of the packed trains but you can see some of the advertisement posters hanging down from the ceiling. These are called "Nakazuri 中吊り meaning inside (of train) hanging ads.
In the bus and trains in Chicago we see advertisement posters on the walls above the seats. Japanese trains have those too of course, and stickers on the windows and the train car-size ads like we see in the US as well. But I haven't yet seen these Nakazuri ads anywhere in the US so far.
This is clever as well as too much, whichever the opinion goes, but they change these hanging ads a lot more often than the ones on the walls. So these ads are for a short span, focusing on upcoming store events, seasonal destination campaigns sponsored by travel agencies, and special alerts from the transportation service or authority. Posters advertising current magazine issues are the most common.
Lots of them are weekly, some are monthly or fortnight. All sorts of news and information I got in the deadly packed trains for years. These ads show only the headlines, which tend to be rather sizzling and attention-getting, but not necessarily representative of the actual article; that everyone knows. However, for those trains packed packed so tight with passengers who even can't open a book, the ads are offer some slight relief, information and distraction.
So, every time I visit back Japan, I enjoy looking at the Nakazuri ads. Since I rode those packed train for a long time, it still remains in my brain as a common way to get up to date information briefs.
I get what's new and hot, in politics and among girls/boys, bargains of department stores, museums' current exhibitions, etc. The special airport express trains don't have these ads so I take regular commuter train into the city. It's just like a path to transform me from the US mode into Japanese mode.
It is funny though that I cannot understand what the ads say for a while right after boarding the train. It is like too much of information and overwhelms my brain, really. It could be related to the direction of the text too; English goes horizontally and Japanese mostly goes vertically (in the ads above, they have both examples).
It makes me frustrated in the beginning because I can't read the lines as fast as I know I can. It is where I amaze how brain processes information with familiarity. The location in the train, typeface and size (present day font styles), the layout, the background color, etc., I used to be automatically able to process the information from looking at the ad text. I could pass the lines I didn't need without recognizing doing so. Now, I have to read each line from the beginning to the end to know what it says and see if it is needed, the magazine title to know what type of magazine that is, etc. It seems to frustrate my brain. My eyes even don't want to stick with the same eye site so long and start looking at something else before I finish reading as if the eyes know the estimate time better and I do. Therefore my comprehension of the information gets delayed and that frustrates me. Gradually I get better at reading and processing these ads the longer I stay in Japan, but my brain resets when I get back to O'Hare. This is fun to know that such a shifting struggle is going on in my brain though!
Anyway, they have a portal site of magazines with a page showing the current Nakazuri ads. I enjoy looking at them when I want to see brief updates on current events in Japan. You need some background knowledge of Japan and common sense knowledge about the advertisements in addition to the ability of read Japanese but I think these ads are good learning tools. When you click a magazine icon, some of headlines are displayed. You can copy/paste or right click the word or phrase or the whole sentence into either translation or dictionary page in the net. The headline sentences are short, so even translation tools may show a pretty accurate translation of the selected phrase.
You probably can purchase some of these magazine from a few different services in the US. Also, Japanese are finally gets into the age of eBooks. We'd love to review the device or service, so please send us a free trial! :D
August is a month in Japan when special remembrance is given to relatives who have passed away. In honor of that tradition, this video shows the singer Arai Man performing a song he wrote called Sen No Kaze ni Natte, or I am a Thousand Winds. It was inspired by an English poem written by Mary Elizabeth Frye.
Song lyrics and translation are as follows.
私のお墓の前で 泣かないでください
Watashi no ohaka no mae de nakanai de kudasai
Please don't cry at my grave
そこに私はいません 眠ってなんかいません
Soko ni watashi wa imasen, nemutte nanka imasen
I am not there, no way I'm sleeping there
千の風に 千の風になって
Sen no kaze ni, sen no kaze ni natte
A thousand winds, I am a thousand winds
あの大きな空を吹きわたっています
Ano ookina sora wo fukiwatatte imasu
That big sky, there I'm blowing
秋には光になって 畑にふりそそぐ
Aki niwa hikari ni natte hatake ni furisosogu
I am the light showering over the field
冬はダイヤのように きらめく雪になる
Fuyu wa daiya no yooni kirameku yuki ni nari
In the winter, I'm snow that shines like diamonds
朝は鳥になって あなたを目覚めさせる
Asa wa tori ni natte anata wo mezame saseru
In the morning, I'm a bird to wake you up
夜は星になって あなたを見守る
Yoru wa hoshi ni natte anata wo mimamoru
In the night, I'm the star that looks after you
私のお墓の前で 泣かないでください
Watashi no ohaka no mae de nakanai de kudasai
Please don't cry at my grave
そこに私はいません 死んでなんかいません
Soko ni watashi wa imasen, nemutte nanka imasen
I am not there, no way I've died
千の風に 千の風になって
Sen no kaze ni, sen no kaze ni natte
A thousand winds, I am a thousand winds
あの大きな空を吹きわたっています
Ano ookina sora wo fukiwatatte imasu
That big sky, there I'm blowing
千の風に 千の風になってSen no kaze ni, sen no kaze ni natte
A thousand winds, I am a thousand winds
あの大きな空を吹きわたっています
Ano ookina sora wo fukiwatatte imasu
That big sky, there I'm blowing
あの大きな空を吹きわたっています
Ano ookina sora wo fukiwatatte imasu
That big sky, there I'm blowing
Steamy hot summer
days in Tokyo and all around Japan call for everyone to take a break from busy
schedules, dress "cool-bizu" style (lighter weight casual clothing for keeping cool), pour a glass of iced
coffee, and celebrate the season. It's time for the summer
festivals. And with a flash of colorful yukata (summer cotton kimono), bright
lights, drumming and flutes, the dancing begins. The atmosphere seems to
buzz and sparkle with laughing children, as oba-san and oji-san, the older adults, look on with
nostalgic expressions. Ah, these familiar sights and sounds bring smiles
and sighs to the crowds of spectators who arrive to get in on the excitement.
One popular summer festival held each year in late July in a
neighborhood of Tokyo's Shinjuku district is the Kagurazaka Matsuri, an event that revives the lively atmosphere of Tokyo as it might have looked and sounded like long
ago.
The
name Kagurazaka is a combination of kagura (a shrine-dance to music)
and saka (hill) and is the perfect name for this beautiful
part of Tokyo. It's layout has not changed much since the town
was established in the 17th century, even though most of the area was tragically
burned down in an air raid on Tokyo in 1920.
In the center of Tokyo is Kagurazaka Slope, a place that was just beyond
the walls of the imperial palace grounds, where poets, artists, politicians and geisha
once gathered. Today the cobblestone alleyways and shops provide an
interesting historic ambience.This is actually where
Karyukai, or the geisha culture, was born. In 1910 there were as many as
600 geishas who lived here. A few Ryotei, or Geisha houses, are still in operation.
The
annual Kagurazaka festival features a Hozuki Ichi
(Ground Cherry Pod Fair). The highlight is the Awa-odori Dance. This dance originated in Awa, Tokushima Prefecture, Shikoku. It was first held in
Tokyo for the Kagurazaka Matsuri and now a part of many summer festivals in
Tokyo, where fifteen to twenty groups of musicians and dancers form a procession along
Kagurazaka-dori, the main street and dance to the sound of the shamisen, flutes,
and drumming. It is truly a family event, where kids participate too! Here is an amateur video
recorded by someone who attended this year's festival.
If you go next year, look for the
Japanese lantern plant market, held in and around Bishamonten Zenkoku-ji
Temple. There you can find volunteers dressed in yukata who guide visitors
around the neighborhood. Local cafes and restaurants open stalls for business, welcoming everyone to enjoy a "taste of Kagurazaka."
Anytime you're in the mood to explore this part of Tokyo, first do a little research online on the website of the Shinjuku City Tourism
Association. For great walking maps published online in
English featuring Kagurazaka and other areas of Shinjuku, click this link.
Kagurazaka is conveniently located
and accessible from the JR IIdabashi station on the Yamanote Line. As you exit
the station, turn to your right and a one minute walk will place you at the
base of Kagurazaka-dori. Tokyo Metro Iidabashi and Ushigome-Kagurazaka
stations also provide access to the area.
The Kagurazaka event has already wrapped up for this year, but you still have lots of options! Japan Times Online has an excellent listing of summer festivals in Japan, inside and outside Tokyo, happening in July and August 2012. Take a look here.
Shibuya Hikarie, Diver City Odaiba and Sky Tree Solamachi
Japan has been going through a long period of economic struggle, and the natural disaster of last year damaged it even more. However, Tokyo recently added three new shopping complexes -- one in Shibuya called Hikarie, another called Diver City in Odaiba, and the third, Solamachi, under the Sky Tree.
Despite the lack of English information available right now, which is unusual for a newly introduced attraction like that, Shibuya Hikarie opened its doors on April 26th. Recently (meaning except during the recession after the disaster) most visitors are from China so lots of tourist attractions provide Chinese information which seems to urge English information as well; but this place doesn't seem to have it set up yet.
This is the successor of Tokyu Bunka Kaikan (Cultural Center) shopping center. This place has long been known for its planetarium. Even when I was a child, the planetarium was that building. I was shocked by the news they closed the business there, but in fact it has been revived by a new, modern establishment. Taking the place of the old Tokyu, this impressive refurbished mall has shops, restaurants, movie theaters and event halls as well as several galleries; and of course the planetarium. However the complex has been completely updated and targets adult women rather than teenagers. The name "Hikarie" is "hikari e 光へ" means "towards light". It has in the lower floors corridors that connect to the Shibuya train terminal, where 8 train lines converge.
Sorry, I didn't find a good video in English, so here is a clip in Spanish.
Odaiba is a whole new place to me, you the readers probably know about it a lot better than I do. So I will explain what I know. Odaiba means battery. The island was built as a battery to protect Edo, nowadays Tokyo, after the 1853-54 visit of Commodore Perry. It had been a coastal park for a long time but I grew up in the age of air and water pollution; I never went there. I only knew there were ruins of the battery on that site, which was interesting to me.
A few years ago, one day I was talking with a guy who had just visited Tokyo. I asked him where he stayed and he explained the location, which went, in my knowledge, off the cliff. I mean, Tokyo Bay ended in the middle of his explanation in my mind but it continued in his visit. Yeah, they extended the landfill -- that I never knew. So, I think this is built on the newer landfill.
Diver City, which opened on April 19th, features a large complex of shopping, dining and attractions; you can browse in this page too. It seems, in my observation on the net, to target a casual crowd rather than high end. It has the regular suspects in the malls all over in the US such as Old Navy and Auntie Ann's pretzels. I know these places, so seeing them there is nothing special to me. But they are new to Japanese.
The most talked-about spots are the Calbee's store and the life size (?!) Gundam, a robot transformer statue. They only have a take out only shop for Gundam Cafe - the eat-in cafe is in Akihabara - but the statue is a big favorite of visitors. Calbee is a large snack producer, probably the biggest, for Japanese potato chips. They have a take out shop in the store which serves fresh fried potato chips that I've seen many times in Japanese blogs of common people. They line up for a long time to get these just fried chips.
Okay! This establishment is built in an area I'm familiar with, near Asakusa, by the Tokyo Sky Tree. It opened on May 18th. This large shopping and amusement complex surrounds and is attached to the Tokyo Sky Tree. It has a couple of restaurants in the high floors of the building next to the tower so I don't know how to describe the building location.
The area is in Oshiage of Sumida ward in current address, commonly known as an area of Shitamachi which is old residential area. Therefore this place is more traditional and domestic oriented. They have 312 businesses including shops and restaurants and many of them are from the domestic area. Some of them have been carried by a few generations. The video introduced shops selling original sweets and jewelry as well as traditional crafts and curios. It also has an aquarium.
Although the near-by train station of Tobu line changed its name to Tokyo Sky Tree, the station used be called Narihira-bashi (業平橋 Narihira Bridge). It was named after Ariwara no Narihira, a legendary good looking romantic poet who lived during the 9th century, and supposedly the main character of Ise Monogatari (Tales of Ise). The area used to be Narihira which is from the shrine dedicated for him.
The broader area also is known as Mukoujima - it is familiar to people like me who grew up in Asakusa, which means "the island across (the river)". The area is on the other side of Sumida river from Asakusa.
For the both sides of the river, the area never had been fashionable. Well, actually it had been at the turn of the century, around the 1870's. But it was hit pretty hard by the WWII air raids, and was a forgotten domestic dead area ever since, especially when we were kids.
It was a big topic a few years back when I visited Tokyo that the city would soon see a new tall tower like Tokyo Tower by the Narihira river. My friends and I didn't that expect a major attraction like this would be coming, though. Fashionable boutiques and updated buildings don't fit the area. I thought it could adopt the updated fashion like Shibuya or Odaiba and they are close but not quite.
Even though the sleek look of the tower and all new shops in the brand new Solamachi mall are nice to look at, the architects did not forget to add the spirit of Shitamachi, that is what I observed from the video. The domestic shoe maker doesn't have one of those cute girls or boys, instead, they have this middle age guy explaining his long time inherited business and a guy sawing a shoe. The guy of the fish market says he wants neighbors to come and shop everyday... uh... you want to turn this major tourist attraction a supermarket, my dear?? I love these people.
Well, it's not like any other shopping malls I've seen but I bet it is a fun place to visit. Of course, you'll get the updated attractions as well.
Life has changed completely for me in a short space of time. Now I have a new home, a new job and a new commute. Every day I leave home by 6:00am, drive a few minutes to the train station, then take my place on the platform with the other Chicago "Metra commuters." My ride to work? A commuter train that takes me to downtown Chicago in about an hour. Except for the train commute, I'm not new to Chicago. A decade ago I spent eight years living here, and back then I always got around by car. Mass transit was not something I cared much about.
My transportation situation changed completely when I moved to Japan. Every single day I rode a city train to work, and took the subways all the time at night and on weekends. Sometimes I took the bus. On lucky occasions I got to travel on the fast and futuristic looking Shinkansen, Japan's network of high speed bullet trains that run like clockwork and zip you across the country to another city by the time you've finished your coffee and some lunch. They are clean, comfortable and beautiful. Train attendants wear uniforms and white gloves. Hostesses serve beverages and snacks stocked on drive-thru carts. Life is good when you're a passenger on the Shinkansen watching the countryside go by, usually at speeds of over 100 miles per hour (especially if you're in the Green Car -- first class!).
Riding a train again is convenient and stress-free. Not only for getting to work but also for attending events in Chicago and other locations. It removes the headache of parking and traffic. Metra commuter trains are comfortable, well managed and on time. Apps that run on my iPhone make checking schedules and getting updates very easy.
So, a couple of weeks ago I was standing on the train platform out here in Chicago suburbia, and noticed the tracks had "Nippon" stamped on them. Wow, we have rails made in Japan. Okay, that's interesting.
.
Not long after that I was in one of the commuter train cabins when I looked up and saw this:
Chicago Metra has contracted a Japanese company to make our commuter trains? Excellent decision! For years I have been hoping America would tap into the engineering expertise of Japan to make some trains for us. They are SO GOOD at it. We have Amtrak. Twenty years ago I rode Amtrak trains a few times. The seats were so uncomfortable I had back pain for days after the train ride was over. Once the train lurched so hard I thought our train car jumped off the tracks. The ride was very bumpy, noisy and unstable. Every experience was bad, so I promised myself, never again. Japan does it differently.
Nippon Sharyo, Ltd. (日本車輌製造株式会社 (Nippon Sharyō Seizō Kabushiki-gaisha)
was established in 1896, and today is a major manufacturer based in Nagoya, Japan.
In 1996, it abbreviated its name to "日本車両" Nippon Sharyō. Its shortest
abbreviation is Nissha "日車. In 2008, JR
Central became the majority shareholder of the financially struggling Nippon Sharyo
making the firm a subsidiary of JR Central.
This company has been in the train business for over one hundred years. Now it designs city trains and bullet trains in Japan; each have smaller carbon footprints - so much better for the environment. Above right is an image of the N700 series Shinkansen. Below left is a photo of the Odakyu Railway "Romance Car VSE-50000" - both are built by Nippon Sharyō. These trains are currently running in Japan. Only time will tell which train designs will be introduced to the States.
In order to expand in the North America market, the company entered into a joint venture company with Sumitomo Corporation to form a firm called Nippon Sharyō U.S.A. The headquarters is right here in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, IL. Nippon Sharyō U.S.A. is doing well, winning commuter train contracts besides Illinois: Indiana, Maryland, Virginia, California and Michigan, for example. If you want to read more, here is an interesting brochure in .pdf format. This is what the brochure looks like.
The company is also reaching out to help customers internationally. You can find Nippon Sharyō trains in these countries outside the United States: Brazil, Venezuela, Canada, Singapore, Taiwan and the Philippines.
I love the idea of Americans learning the Japanese way of transport: 1) walking more, 2) riding public transport much more, and 3) depending less on cars and oil as individuals and as a country. I think many Americans could get used to a different way of getting from Point A to Point B besides taking to the highways or airports. I
told my brother the other day: "Imagine if you could get on a train here
in Chicago and arrive in Indianapolis or St. Louis in an hour. Or head west and be
in Denver in a couple of hours flat." "Wow, that would be great!" he said.
Right now, Americans like us have only two methods to make such trips:
driving or flying. Both ways are getting more expensive and becoming
more of a hassle. There are trains and busses, but they are slower. A really nice modern
train would be a perfect way to travel to another American city. Nippon Sharyō to the rescue! Today, commuter trains, tomorrow...mag lev trains that can take you to another state at high speeds. It's not in the U.S. yet, but I think we're on that track~!
Back to Chicago now. Metra, the Chicago commuter train company, has several lines that meet up in downtown Chicago. Each line is named according to the railroad company operating it. From what I have seen, they all have these bi-level
cars. There is another line too. The South Shore Line operates between the Chicago Loop and northwestern Indiana. As of a recent report they have 82 rail cars
built between 1982 and 2009 by Nippon Sharyō. Sixty-eight cars are single level and 14 are gallery style bi-level
cars like the ones I ride to work.
According to their website, Nippon Sharyō U.S.A. was created in 1982 with a contract to
supply 44 single-level EMU cars to the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation
District (NICTD), and has been a consistent and steady presence in North
America ever since. The contracts (totaling over 880
individual cars) have been delivered on time and within budget.
Car body shells are manufactured in Japan. Then the company teams up with a local
North American company for final assembly. Nippon Sharyō assumes
responsibility for overall project management and quality control. The company is now
building a factory in Rochelle, IL. Metra has signed on for more train cars. The first car, a
Gallery-Type EMU for Metra, will roll out of this facility at the end of 2012. I hope our train line will among the first of the train lines to place this car in service.
Everyone should ride on a Japanese train to experience what civilized, modern age mass transit is like. Go for it by boarding a Japan Railways (JR) train in Japan, or in one of the places where Nippon Sharyō has partnered with local transport authorities. You'll be in for a pleasant surprise.
More info about Annular Solar Eclipse, please see the official site of NAOJ.
For the Annular Solar Eclipse observation, these observing glasses are big hit. From a free give-away pair to some officially certified ones, most Japanese must have got one of them. Here's inside of a store selling the glasses.
It starts around 6 in the Monday morning (4 pm CST, 5/20/2012). Hopefully they'll have a nice clear morning!
My friend Nagamimi just wrote a great post on print advertisement media in Japan. Here is a related follow up post from me. Years ago when I lived in Japan, I used to like reading the English version of The Japan Times, a print newspaper that brought me up to date on current news, issues, special events, book and movie reviews, even Japanese lessons. Today, though I no longer live in Japan, I still want news of what's going on there. I continue to look to The Japan Times for my info fix by going to my bookmarks and clicking on my saved link to The Japan Times Online. It's a mainstream media news source useful for catching up on Japan current events and trends. 
The Japan Times Online is quite impressive for being a free news website. You can get late breaking news and current date news reports, weather, sports and general interest and cultural stories. The English site (there is a Japanese website too) is well-written and organized. It's aimed at Western audiences and all English speakers; the writers seem to favor use of American English, as opposed to British English (if that makes any difference to you), except for weights and measures. In that case, the metric system, used by Japan, Britain and many other countries, is how you get your information. 
