Resident, Japan

Carp on Shukugawa River

terrandabo — Sat, 15 May 2010 07:14:26 +0000

Children’s Day was on May 5th, but the fishies were still swimming the mighty Shukugawa, so I figured I’d post this pic.

Don’t be all that you don’t want to be

terrandabo — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:06:37 +0000

I wonder if the US Army still lures losers with the bullshit catch phrase “be all that you can be”, but on the train I saw copywriting in an ad for an art school that takes a refreshingly opposite tack to the usual bovine feces. The vertical Japanese copy reads “naritaku nai jibun ni, naru na” which means “don’t become the person you don’t want to become”. Ok, it works better in the original Japanese, but still I wish more advertising had the balls to straight talk us like this. Enroll now and pursue your dream so you don’t turn 50 one day and wonder how the fuck you ended up with a beer gut, a couple of ugly ingrates for kids, and a job that makes you want to put a cold, steel barrel to your temple and pull the trigger.

A phone box Doctor Who would envy

deeiy — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:20:34 +0000

It saw such a nice day this last weekend that we decided to get another picnic (お花見、ohanami, cherry blossom viewing) in. While we were out and about I came across this awesome temple phone box (or as is said on the side NE BOX) in Marugame city.

Outside of the phone box.

Inside, like a regular phone box, oh well no tardis.

Extra Extra See All About It

terrandabo — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 09:25:16 +0000

If you read Japanese, and even if you don’t I think you’ll enjoy Comics Newspaper or Manga no Shimbun (漫画の新聞). It’s an online news website that presents the day’s news in the form of cartoons. On the day of this posting the headliner was a lovely story about a man who bludgeoned his superior with a mallet because he “got on my nerves”.

Man bludgeons his superior

Eng’bitch

deeiy — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:45:59 +0000

Pretty much any native English speaker that lives in Japan either works, has worked or has been asked to work as an English teacher. I have even heard stories of random people running up to foreigners and asking them to teach English at their school. Strange but it does happen.

Despite the economic downturn in Japan, there are always English teaching jobs to be found, it’s just a case of finding a good one. But remember don’t become an Eng’bitch, make sure you know your rights and get a job that offers a good contract and that you’re not going to hate.

Looking for English Jobs.
There are a few obvious places on the net to look for English teaching jobs,

Dave’s ESL cafe
Gaijinpot Jobs

Fukuoka
Fukuoka Now – http://www.fukuoka-now.com/

Kansai
Kansai Scene
Kansai Flea Market
Cle Ecole Language School

Okayama
OGO studies
Kurashiki board of Education (some good press, some bad press. make your own mind up)

Tokyo and Other
http://www.seekjapan.jp/
http://metropolis.co.jp/

Interviews
All companies have different ways of interviewing, some interview you at one of their schools, while others will interview you at a coffee shop and some just by telephone.
I’m not going to tell you what you should or shouldn’t do in an interview, but what I will say is ask some questions, make a list of things you want to know and ask them (such as what kind of dress code do they have), never just sit there and nod your head.

Do your homework before going to an interview. Make sure you know something about the company and check the English forums, of course don’t believe everything you read.

Things to look out for in an interview
Does the interviewer know his stuff (is he um’ing and ah’ing or getting to the meat and potatoes)
Is the interviewer a little too eager?
Can they answer your questions (if they can’t, I would have some concerns)

Getting the Job offer
Getting the job offer is great, but don’t start jumping for joy just yet, you will want to make sure the contract is solid.
Don’t agree to do training before you sign the contract. (Schools should offer you a contract that includes training, if they are doing otherwise, then they are probably trying to shaft you)
Unpaid training, or training paid at a low rate ie ¥1000 per hour is not good.
We need you to start tomorrow, or in two days ( This does happen, its up to you what to do at this point, but if you haven’ seen the contract or want some time to consider things, tell them straight out, don’t let them push you around from day one)

Contracts
Once you get a copy of the contract, make sure you read it and read it well, If something is not in the contract, don’t take it for granted, query it and ask them to write it into the contract.
If something in the contract reads funny or is vague, get it clarified and re-written if needed.

Real life examples from a company that shall remain un-named.
“Weekly day off usually on a Sunday” (if you have been told you have 2days holiday a week get it in writing)
“Increase student numbers” (problem with this is that you can do everything in your power to attract students, but whether they sign or not is out of your control, don’t accept a contract with a clause like this) Working hours are and average of 40 hours a week ( This is vague and could imply more than 40 hours a week, again query it and get it re-written ie. ‘a maximum of 40 hours a week’)
Employees are prohibited from entering into contractual agreements with other companies. ( Unless they are sponsoring your visa you have no obligation to agree to a clause like this)
Working on your days off and ‘cannot refuse them’ (this is out of line, your day off is your day off, if you do work on your day off, make sure you are paid and get another day off)
Attend Special Events, campaigns etc. (make sure there is a limit to this kind of additional work, ie ‘maximum of 4 events, campaign’ otherwise they will rope you in whenever they can)
Penalty fees , eg. Failure to return materials 1 week from the completion of the contract, ¥60,000 will be deducted from you last pay ( Straight out avoid contracts like this, end of contract conditions where money is deducted from you pay is out right dodgy)

national Health insurance, Japanese Pension and Unemployment insurance.
If these things are not mentioned in your contract ask.
Most companies will cover at least half your National health insurance, some or all of you Japanese pension.

All in all, Make sure the contract is a fair for you the employee as it is for the employer, if there is something in the contract that you feel is unfair or inappropriate, don’t be scared to try and negotiate, a good company will always be open to some negotiation.

English as a career
Unless you find a good company, ie one that pays a good salary, has some kind od bonus scheme, helps out with health insurance, national pension etc, give pay rises for additional years then its probably not going to be a good career choice.

Alternative Career choices for English
Working at an International school ( There are lots of international schools in Japan and almost all of them offer great pay and good working conditions, a lot do require degrees in teaching from you home country but some may have positions that don’t require one) Working at a private Japanese high school ( if you are looking to be a high school teacher in Japan, private high schools, offer good pay and long-term positions )
JET Jet is not long term and not a career, JET positions are usually only for 2 or 3 years Maximum, as a great way in and a way to get some experience its not a bad start.
Companies that produce English teaching material ( if you can find a position with a company that produces books, texts, etc for English teaching this is one way to stay in the industry)

The good
Jobs that pay more that ¥250,000 a month ( this is pretty standard, if you can find a job offering more than this your lucky) No more than 40 hours a week, 20 ~ 25 teaching hours ( jobs offering 40 hours of less and less that 25 teaching hours, more than this is hard work)
A company car (yes, some companies do offer company cars, usually smaller companies but its probably a good sign (They should also cover petrol costs)
2 ~ 4 weeks paid holidays ( if you can get 2 to 4 weeks holidays or more that’s good, some international schools offer up to 3 months holidays)

Companies that are pretty good
Okayama – OGO studies
Kobe – Cle Ecole Language school
Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo – JIEC, ES Consulting

Companies that are Ummmm
Seiha English Schools ( At your own risk)
Berlitz ( if you enjoy being a robot )
Nova ( No need to tell you )
GEOS ( again if you like being a robot )
Kobe – Kids World Sumiyoshi (no comment)
Interac – (if you don’t mind full time volunteer work)

If anyone wants to add to either list please leave a comment

Cafe de flots?

deeiy — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 13:24:11 +0000

No Idea what the de flots means, but great little cafe none the less.
Again another example of great little cafes and little shops out in the Japanese inaka (田舎 countryside). We found this little cafe while out for a drive a few weeks ago, Just of a main road, loads of parking and a feeling that takes me back to going to little fish and chip shops down by the coast in Australia.
They offer a two set lunches, either Hamburg (no thats not a spelling mistake, its what Japanese call a hamburger without a bun), or Pasta of the day. Its a case of getting really good at making a few dishes, and they do it well. Lunch will set you back a whole $9 ~ $10 and comes with an awesome view of the Seto Inland sea.

Can't beat a hand painted sign.

The exterior. Would almost miss it, if not for the sign.

Hamburg lunch

Pasta lunch

Another great coffee spot, with art.

View from the table, over seto inland sea.

When “Hey Grandma, it’s me.” is not enough

terrandabo — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:15:42 +0000

The classic Japanese “ore ore” (me me) scam has undergone an upgrade. Back in the good old days of ten, fifteen years ago shady characters would call up unsuspecting grandmas and claim to be their grandsons. The so-called ‘grandson’ would say “Hey grandma, it’s me.” and convince his ‘grandma’ that he needed help (i.e. money deposited into his bank account) because he had gotten in trouble with the yakuza. Of course, eventually the public caught on to this scam and it’s lost its effectiveness.
Nowadays, why pretend to be in trouble with the yakuza, when you can just be the yakuza. The new twist goes direct to the source, with the scammers now pretending to be yakuza and threatening the victims directly. An article on this fun trend is at the Japan Subculture Research Center

Freaky net cafe

deeiy — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:48:30 +0000

The cool thing about internet cafes in Japan is they are cheap and usually 24hrs. You can watch DVDs, read Manga, of course use the Internet, and drink as much soft drink as you want. Some also have showers just in case you need to spruce yourself up.
*As a travel tip if you miss the shuuden (終電 last train) or can’t find a hotel, find the nearest internet cafe, get the 8 hour special and settle in for the night. It will probably work out much cheaper than a hotel, though not quite as comfortable.
This is a CM for an internet cafe chain. Weird, but kind of funny.

花闘 Hana Batoru – Flower Battle Card Game

terrandabo — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:49:30 +0000

Hana fuda (花札) or literally flower cards are Japanese-style playing cards that goes back to the Azuchi Momoyama period of the 1500s. Playing cards and card games were first introduced to Japan by the Portugese and this explains why Japanese often call game cards karuta (かるた) after the Portugese word carta. At the time, Portugese playing card decks consisted of 48 cards and this is still the number of cards in a hana fuda deck. The second picture is a deck of my friend’s flower battle or 花闘 (Hana Batoru) cards. Of course he kanji 闘 is normally not read as ‘batoru’ but as ‘toh’, which is part of the word ’sentoh’ (戦闘) and means, you guessed it, battle. Sometimes Westerners wonder why the Japanese and Chinese don’t rid themselves of the complex pictographic writing system, but this is one of the beauties of a writing system that originated from stick figures.
Traditionally hana fuda, as the name implies, had pictures of flowers on them but they can also have pictures of samurai, various anime characters, or even of fish. Like Western playing cards, the cards have suits and strengths depending on what or who is pictured. To be honest, I’ve never played cards with hana fuda, but it seems that many of the games are similar to many of the playing card games we’re used to. I’ll have to give it a go in the near future and report back to you.

Origami 100 yen

deeiy — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:10:20 +0000

Origami in Japan is more than just making paper cranes, although anyones that’s spent a bit of time at a Japanese high school will know that it’s how a lot of students pass the time in class.
A great place to find origami paper is the 100 yen shop (hyaku-en shoppu). As well as carrying the regular colored origami paper, they also have a selection of pre-colored paper for making things like animals, dinosaurs, food and a bunch of other things.
Definitely something to pick up on the next trip to the hyakkin (shortening of hyaku-en shoppu).

Origami Paper, Bugs and Dinosaurs.

Origami paper Cakes, Jets, Boats, Shapes

Coffee Japan 1 Saint Marc

deeiy — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:56:01 +0000

Japan might be the country of green tea, but can you find a good coffee?
Of course Japan has the likes of Starbucks, Seattle’s Best, Tully’s and a few others, but there are also some great little local cafes and some larger Japanese run chain cafes.
San-Maruku, is one of the better chain coffee shops and they are also the home of the Choco-Kuro (chocolate croissant), one of the greatest things ever. The coffee is cheaper than Starbucks and a much milder roast. They cary a nice range of cakes and pastries, baked in store hot and fresh.
The only minus point is they do allow smoking in the stores, usually on a separate floor but sometimes just in a divided room.

Saint marc cafe Logo

Choco Kuro, Yummmm.

The Coffee

Strawberry Kuro

Signs Iconography-2

deeiy — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:32:46 +0000

Spotted this sign on the way into Max Value, one of the abundant country supermarket chains. Guess they thought that a firecracker might not catch people’s attention (funny point: in summer Japanese supermarkets sell fireworks), where as a bomb would. Well, it worked.

Camera : check, cigarette : check, Bomb : Ummmm.

Outside of Max Value

Signs – 1

deeiy — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:22:04 +0000

Bus stop sign in Mitoyo Shi (City), Kagawa.

Japan loves a good cut out sign.

Hey Playa!

terrandabo — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 03:42:43 +0000

More Engrish confusion. Above the word player plus meaningless period this ad for Tipness fitness gym says “Even more, fun sweat” (もっと、楽しい汗を) Motto, tanoshii ase wo) and the small print in the corner says “Play/Enjoy (アソブタノシム AsobuTanoshimu) Body/Move (カラダウゴカス KaradaUgokasu). For the most part the word “asobu” (to play) has similar meanings and uses to it’s English counterpart, but is used more broadly for almost any activity people do that they enjoy. For example, if you went out for drinks last night with a friend you might say “I played last night with Taro” (夕べ太郎と遊んだ Yuube Taro to asonda) and no one would blink an eye. And Japanese do use the word to indicate a guy or gal who plays the field a lot, but in this case I don’t think the folks who do ads for Tipness quite get what it means to be a player.
Then agan, they could be saying that working out at Tipness really does make you into a player. If so, sign me up!

A pint full of creamy white stuff

terrandabo — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:20:10 +0000

Oh, the Japanese and the ways they unknowingly disturb us native English speakers. I had to buy this lovely near-beer product when I saw it. Unfortunately, as you can see, for a product that proudly announces the creaminess of its whiteness, it doesn’t give good head. It was creamy smooth as it went down my throat though.

Sanuki U-Don

deeiy — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:45:06 +0000

One of the cool things about living in Kagawa is that it’s the birthplace of udon (of course there is a lot of history surrounding the origins of Japanese udon) and pretty much the only place you go in Japan if you want to eat really good udon noodles.
Kagawa people love udon, they can eat it for breakfast lunch and dinner and trust me sometimes they do. When you go to an udon shop in Kagawa there are pretty much 3 ways to eat it, kake-udon (udon with hot soup, some wakame seaweed and kamaboku- a fish cake), bukkake-udon (udon with a stronger concentrated stock soup, which can be ordered hot or cold) and zaru-udon (udon on a plate which comes with a stock/soy mix, spring onions, ginger etc.). Most shops usually have a table with toppings that you can add to your udon- in most shops these are spring onion, grated ginger, tenkasu (the little scraps left from making tempura), wakame (kelp seaweed), goma (sesame seed), lemon slices and shichimi (七味, 7 mixed spices.).
My favorite is actually Niku-bukake-udon, which is bukake-udon with slices of beef cooked in a soy stock broth. Unfortunately because udon is such a tourism draw-card for Kagawa, any man and his dog tends to open an udon shop. Many people use the number of cars parked outside an udon shop as measure of how good the place is, but even then you can’t be guaranteed its good, so its always best to ask a couple of locals which udon shop is worth going to.
An average bowl of Udon in Kagawa will cost you from ¥250 ~ ¥400 ( between $3 ~ $5) for a pretty good serving. One of my favorite places is Wataya (綿谷), off one of the main streets in Marugame city about 40 minutes from Takamatsu.

View Larger Map

Front of Wataya Udon shop

The Wataya udon turtle mascot

Niku-bukake udon

Bukake udon with chiku-ten (fish cake stick tempura)

Eating Niku bukake udon

Eating bukake udon

Oh and when you go to an udon shop, don’t forget to buy all your friends some dry packed udon as omiyage (a local gift from your travels) and share the udon love.

Temaki sushi Japanese taco night

deeiy — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:12:27 +0000

Most people will be familiar with sushi rolls, god knows the western world loves them, but in the average Japanese household they are not made that often, unless it’s for a special occasion i.e. Setsubun. Perhaps because its tedious work, for whatever reason most people prepare a version know as temaki sushi (手巻寿司) which translates to “hand rolled sushi”. A good comparison would be something like taco night.
A few trays of large nori (Seaweed paper) are set out on the table, along with a selection of fillings like sashimi, tarako (cod roe), cheese, ham, cucumber, shiso (perilla leaves, rather like mint) egg (cooked and sliced in strips), tuna mixed with mayonnaise and pretty much anything else that could be wrapped up in rice and seaweed. First the sumeshi (酢飯, rice with vinegar) is placed on the seaweed paper, then you are free to mix and match as you please ( watch out for the over-stack, if you put too in it will get messy come rolling time). Lastly roll up your sushi into a kind of cone or funnel shape, dip in soy sauce and eat.
Next time you’re going to have a Japanese night, have a go at making temaki sushi. Also great fun for kids.

Temaki Sushi ready to roll

Rolled and ready to eat.

Baked Snapper sweets

deeiy — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:53:43 +0000

After doing a bit of shopping today we stopped off at the local tai-yaki (たいやき) shop to pick up some of the delicious bean paste filled snacks. Tai-yaki is one of those great Japanese snack foods that can be found at street vendors, festival stalls, tako yaki shops, taiyaki shops and pretty much everywhere in between. They can usually be found with a couple of fillings, custard, chocolate, bean paste, cheese cream and a few other combinations if your lucky.

The fish in question. a think cake/ pancake outer

Inside the tai yaki, yummy bean paste (seriously it is good)

Kinoko No Yama

deeiy — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:39:25 +0000

Kinoko no yama (きのこの山) meaning mountain of mushrooms and takenoko no sato (たけのこの里) meaning countryside of bamboo shoots are probably one of my top 10 Japanese snacks, sure they are just chocolate and little biscuits but its the presentation that counts and makes them taste so damn good.
They were one of the first snacks I had in Japan, thanks to my cousin Ben for getting me hooked on them. Seriously I must be a share holder in the company by now.
If you not in Japan you can pick up some Kinoko No Yama and Takenoko No Sato from over at Amazon.

takenoko no sato

kinoko no yama

kinoko no yama and takenoko no sato mixed bag (sold in Japan)

Second Royal Records VOL.5

deeiy — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:45:03 +0000

I would like to introduce one of my favorite Japanese music labels.
Second Royal Records are a Kyoto based record label run by Osanai-kun. He is a very soft spoken guy, but has followed his passion for music and built a pretty cool and sucessful label along the way. Second Royal is home to, Halfby, Handsomeboy Technique, Toss&Volley, as well as Kate (Keijiro-kun) a good friend of mine who also hails from Okayama, and who I have had the pleasure of collaborating with on a couple of tracks over the years. They put out some amazing compilations each year as well as their artists solo albums and are currently doing a little podcast available on itunes.
You can get the current compilation SECOND ROYAL Vol.5 from Amazon Japan.
This is a little live performance we did with KATE in Kyoto- a cover of the Eels ‘Fresh feeling’ (Note: bad audio and too many beers).
or check out the KATE myspace page for the good audio.
Also be sure to check out youtube for Halfby’s Videos.

Cancer Curing Fish?

terrandabo — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:00:03 +0000

I was running errands Monday morning when I walked past a line at 鮮魚吉本商店 (Sengyo Yoshimoto Shouten) or Yoshimoto Fresh Fish Shop. I have no idea what the big deal was but there must have been cocaine in the carp or something.

A rainy day cheer up

terrandabo — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:29:58 +0000

Japanese love uniforms for school kids (from elementary to high school and sometimes college). These kids are just wearing white and red caps (I think they’re reversible), but they’re ready for a field trip with their art set/clip boards(?). Some schools have the kids in a pretty elaborate set of navy blue coat, shorts, and brimmed hat. And of course the awesome leather backpacks called randoseru ランドセル. Spring is field trip time so should be easy to get a pic next time.

Engrish #2 CAT SMACK

deeiy — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 07:19:04 +0000

キャットスマック (Cat Smack) Found this one today while looking through the local chirashi (チラシ) junk mail. Wrong in so many ways, but funny.

Kendama – no buttons but still fun

deeiy — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:40:41 +0000

Japan has invented some awesome games from Street fighter to Dance Dance Revolution, but one of my favorite games/toys is the kendama. Now kendama has nothing to do with Ken’s balls, though I’m sure barbie wouldn’t mind if it did.
Kendama (剣玉) was invented way back in the day, maybe even before the Last Samurai (useless movie reference), or in the 20th century if you believe everything written on wikipedia. The name comes from ken (剣) meaning sword and tama, which in this case when followed by a ‘nn’ sound, we say dama (玉) meaning ball. The kendama is a stick with four catching positions (3 cup positions and one point) attached to a ball with a hole in it by a piece of string. The object of the game is to catch the ball on each cup position in order from largest to smallest and finish by catching it on the point. Skilled players can perform some incredible tricks like catching and balancing the ball between the cup and point or reverse catching the point while holding the ball.
The cool thing about kendama like a lot of Japanese traditions is that it’s still thriving today despite all the technology and computer gaming. You can even find Kendama clubs at elementary, junior and senior high schools and there are nationwide kendama competitions held each year.
So if you’re looking for a way to sharpen your hand-eye coordination or just something to keep you busy when you have a mental block, I would highly reccomend getting a kendama and taking a break.

Ball on the 2nd cup position

Ball on the 3rd cup position

Also take a look at this for some crazy kendama antics.

Trad Japanese Breakfast at Miyamoto Munashi

terrandabo — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:01:13 +0000

Had this lovely 680yen (about $7) hokke teishoku (ほっけ定食 mackerel set) for breakfast this morning at Miyamoto Munashi (宮本むなし). Miyamoto Munashi is a Japanese set menu or teishokuya (定食屋) franchise where you can get all sorts of Japanese eats from kara’age (fried chicken) to hambahgu (hamburger steak) with side dishes for a reasonable price. The name is a play on the name of famed Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi (宮本武蔵) and means roughly means Miyamoto the Sad. I guess this is because only sad and single specimen like me frequent these joints. Fair enough, by why insult your base?
Clockwise starting from the 11 o’clock position: miso soup, pickled cucumbers, tofu, chicken in sesame sauce, and obviously the mackerel and a bowl of rice.