| When I arrived in Japan, I had certain misconceptions about what I would find. I suppose that's inevitable when one hasn't been to a country before, but in the case of Japan, I've found that a lot of these misconceptions are based on old information, or sometimes just false info. Japanese people do NOT wander around wearing kimono and fanning themselves with little folding fans... er wait.. some folks actually DO do that. A surprising number of people do, in fact, although they seem to be mainly middle-aged women. The first time I saw a typical salaryman on the train fanning himself with a folding fan, I was a little surprised, but within a few days, I saw it so often that it failed to register anymore. Just another aspect of their culture... Truth be told, I tried to go to Japan with as few preconceptions as possible. I expected a language barrier (I found it!), and I expected a cultural barrier. (I found it, but a lot less often) -- So am I rambling? I suppose so. Let's move on to something else. The following entries are just random thoughts on various aspects of J-culture. Enjoy! BEVERAGES -- I became fascinated with Japanese beverages almost as soon as I arrived. The sheer variety is impressive, however, I noted some "rules" that held fairly true for my entire stay..Firstly, that if there is no English printed on the can, then it's probably tea; unsweetened tea at that. Secondly, Japanese soft-drinks tend to be... different. There are, of course, Coke and Pepsi products (Coke rules Japan, and rightfully so!), but the various Japanese drinks are often very interesting and quite tasty: Aquarius -- A sports-drink. Most of the Japanese sports drink are pretty similar. Milky-white citrus-flavored drinks. This one is watery and less flavorful than most, although Kimie likes it. Asahi Cocoa -- A type of canned cocoa, which you can sometimes find sold hot. The thing I liked about this was that it was semi-sweet dark cocoa :) Aspara -- This is a 'health drink', sold in a tiny glass bottle. Supposedly it's very healthy. The taste isn't bad, but it's not something I'd want to drink a lot. Apparently, a lot of old folks drink these types of drinks as a daily tonic. Atsumi Cider -- The best of the various apple-flavored sodas that claim to be cider. Bikkle -- A sort of vanilla-y yogurt drink. Dakkara -- Another sports drink, very much like Aquarius, but tastes a little better. Fukigen -- Literally, "bad mood", this was a very unusual carbonated yogurt concoction. It's a lot like Bikkle, except with bubbles. I came to like it a great deal, even though it costs more than most soft-drinks. Good Fortune Soda -- This was a sort of kiwi-flavored soda being sold at vending machines on the grounds of Usa shrine in Kyushu. I never saw it anywhere else. Hello Kitty -- I'm not sure exactly what flavor this was? Punch, maybe? Too sweet. Definitely for little kids. Uncarbonated. Lifeguard -- "The Bionic Drink" it says. Comes in a camo pattern can. (so you know it's manly!) Tastes like crushed-up Sweet-Tarts, so I guess the closest American equivalent would be an energy drink like Red Bull. Match -- My favorite Japanese sports drink. This has a strong citrus-y (Grapefruit?) taste and is yellow in color. Melon Creme Soda -- This was made by a couple of different companies, and is quite good. Pocari Sweat -- Despite the nasty name, this is a sports drink, not real sweat. It's very similar to Aquarius or Dakkara. The advantage is it comes in large bottles suitable for hiking. Qoo -- This is a line of fruit-flavored sodas. I really like the grape and apple flavored ones the best, but it comes in Orange, Pineapple and Tropical flavors too. Smap! -- Gus's favorite. This is a sort of tutti-frutti soda, except not very sweet! I liked it. Smap! is also apparently the name of a well-known j-pop band. not sure if there's a connection. Winnie-the-Pooh -- This is an uncarbonated honey/lemon flavored drink. Nasty. CANDY -- The variety of snack foods in general (and candy in particular) in astounding in Japan. Most of these treats have fairly short lives, and disappear forever when they stop selling, but there are old standards, such as Botan (little chewy rice candies), and Pocky (thin cookie sticks with various flavored coatings). But many of the Japanese candies I've tried were unique. Gummis of all types are very popular, and of course, there's chocolate. I found that Meiji Candy Co. makes some of the best chocolate I've had. One interesting candy I found was called "Coffee Bean Time".. they weren't coffee flavored, as I expected, but where small chocolates shaped like coffee beans. As a rule, I tried to avoid candy, although once I saw Banana Kit-Kat and Pineapple Kit-Kat, I couldn't say no... :) COFFEE -- Well, Japan won't win any awards for coffee, although they get a lot of points for trying. The Japanese love coffee, and it's consumed everywhere by everyone. A common sight on Japanese city streets are vending machines selling various types of canned coffee. Sometimes cold, sometimes hot, there are a lot of different brands... each brand has several different varieties... sweet, unsweetened, with cream, without cream, extra strong, etc. Unfortunately, Japanese coffee is fairly mediocre. The best stuff I had was the fresh-ground coffee we made every morning staying at the Fukudas' in Tokyo. Various American and European coffee chains have expanded into Japan as well, including the omnipresent Starbucks..EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CONVENIENCE STORES -- There are a lot of them in Japan. 7-11 and Circle K (and various home-grown chains, such as Family Mart) have made big inroads, but my first big surprise in Japan was turning a corner in Tokyo and seeing a Lawson's. Yes, Lawson's.. the same blue and white sign with the milk bottle on it that was so familiar from my childhood in Cleveland. Lawson's was more or less a regional convenience store chain in Ohio, and parts of Pennsylvania and Michigan, so it was a surprise to see it here! All of the Lawson's in America closed sometime in the early 1980's, but the Japanese operation is still going strong. I wouldn't have any less surprised if I'd seen a Sohio station. ENGRISH -- The Japanese use of the English language has often been lampooned. Whole web sites exist that collect examples of what is commonly called "Engrish".. mainly advertising copy written by people with minimal English skills, often with humorous results. A classic example is the sign for a Tokyo clothing store which reads "Ladies Outfatters: Women come have fits here" You still see some interesting examples of Engrish if you look hard enough: While traveling around, this is seen most readily in the t-shirts people wear, especially when the shirts are home-made, rather than mass-marketed... I jotted down a few of the funnier slogans, which I reproduce here. Sometimes t-shirt sayings are funnier when taken in context, so I also mention the wearer: "I am atom-age vampire in 308" (seen on the back of a Japanese motorcycle punk's leathers -- Only in Japan do you see "motorcycle punks" riding scooters) "So many men, too many hands" (worn by boy about 13 yo) "First Classical Person" (worn by young guy, 20's) (t-shirt shows a small silhouette of a cow) "Is possible to feed but it bites" (ditto) "Expression of Love Hell's Kitchen" (worn by woman about 19-20 yo) Unfortunately for afficionados of "Engrish", there is a lot less of it around than in the past, as Japanese folks become more widely versed in English, their use of it becomes more correct, and therefore less humorous. FOOD -- Nihonryouri!!! Ah. I shudder to think of it. Now that I've been to Japan, I love Japanese food all the more. In fact, I crave it a lot, so it's a pain that I can't get it so easilly here. My hiking food was often inari (egg-based soft crepe-like covering over spiced tofu and rice filling) or onigiri (according to Kimie, the Japanese equivalent of a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich.) These are a triangular chunk of rice with some sort of filling inside, and wrapped in nori. (Seaweed) Takoyaki I talked about already in a previous essay; I still crave the stuff. Various noodles, especially soba (buckwheat noodles) and udon (thick, white wheat noodles.. ok, I need to stop now, I'm getting hungry! MCDONALDS -- As I always rate McDonalds abroad, Japan was no exception. While I did prefer the homegrown Japanese fast-food such as takoyaki stands or Japan's own native-born fast-food joint Mos-Burger, McDonalds is actually pretty good there. The sandwiches are smaller, Japanese style, but the quality is better than at home for the most part. There are a few items on the menu that one doesn't see here, such as the Teriyaki McBurger, or the Egg-burger. You can also get beer there, as in Europe. It's also reasonably cheap, whereas in Europe, sometimes McDonalds isn't the best cheap option. SNACKS -- The variety of snack food in Japan has to be seen to be believed. I've never seen so much in the way of various different CATEGORIES of snack foods. Not just chips, pretzels, candy, gum and mints, but also zillions of varieties of nuts, rice crackers, seaweed snacks, shrimp crackers, and squid crisps (my personal favorite). Coming back to the US, I feel like I have NO choice of snacks here... SWEETS -- According to my cousin Norie, if you can't readily identify a Japanese sweet, there is probably bean paste involved. Sweet shops are everywhere, and almost all of them offer bean paste pressed into various shapes and colors and flavors. This is all fine if you like bean paste, which is a bit bland, and has a starchy texture. (I like it in very small doses) There is also mochi, which are pounded sweetened rice balls. They're a bit chewy, and often have fillings (usually bean paste) inside. In the fancy hotel (Jingukaikan) I stayed at in Ise, instead of putting a mint on your pillow, they left a mochi on your writing table. TELEPHONES -- Amazing. Local calls can be almost ludicrously cheap, provided you can make a call quick. In my quest for accomodation in several places, I was able to complete a number of calls for about 20 yen each.... That's less than 20 cents here in the States. Considering that here in Chicago, you pay 50 cents for 3 minutes *IF* you can find a coin phone, it's a bargain. Of course, the longer you talk, the more you pay, and the yen rack up very quickly. Pay phones in Japan are almost everywhere, even with the millions of cell phones you see everyone carrying. What's more, if you find a pay phone, it will work (unlike public phones in Chicago, which are usually non-functioning), and the connection will invariably be good. -- There are basically two types, coin phones and card phones, and you can get phone cards pretty much everywhere. I didn't make enough calls to really have to deal with cards. I assume that the pay-phone industry in Japan is something of a dinosaur, much like that of the States, but for now they're still going strong, while pay phones here are becoming less and less common. TOILETS -- No, this isn't about accidentally walking into the wrong one, although that can happen if you're in a less-touristed area and have no knowledge of the right kanji. In tourist areas, there is generally some sort of icon to tell the difference... The difference is the john itself. Japanese toilets are of the "squat" variety. Sort of a porcelain trench set in the floor. For some of us that wouldn't be a major problem, and for some, like me, who aren't as used to that position, it's a struggle to keep from falling over. To put it bluntly, I don't like Japanese-style toilets very much, but I've learned to use them after a fashion. Fortunately, especially in larger towns, western-style facilities have become more common. I managed to avoid Japanese style toilets until Kagoshima City, and my first Japanese-style accomodation, and then I had simply no choice. Interestingly enough, many Japanese shun western-style toilets as "unsanitary" -- Interesting, as theirs are little more than holes in the floor, and there is significantly more margin for error. Should you find yourself in Japan, and are worried about finding an appropriate facility, check out pachinko parlors: they usually have both. WHISKY -- Yes, they make whisky in Japan. Whisky has always been amazingly popular there. The first company to make it domestically was Suntory, who still lead the field in Japan today. Their founder travelled to Scotland in the 1920's to learn how to make whisky. Suntory now markets a large variety of different types, although only one of them (Yamazaki) is a single-malt. As a malt, Yamazaki is fairly good. It has a very clean (almost sterile) palate, and is very smooth. Since the Japanese malting process is different (they use rice rather than barley), there is also a slightly different taste. It doesn't compare with a good Scots single-malt, but it's drinkable. |
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