Holiday Souvenirs

What’s the most important part of taking a trip? Is it the sights and attractions? Local festivals and events? Unique cuisine? Indeed, all are important but it may be of interest to you that in Japan, acquiring omiyage (souvenirs) is high on the list. In many cases, some may even say that it’s the most important thing to remember while away.

This is because the culture of gift giving is extremely important in Japanese culture. Certain social and business protocols dictate that gifts are to be exchanged. Partnerships with new clients require some form of gift exchange. Likewise does catching up with friends, family and workmates after even a short trip away.

It’s not necessarily the gift that is important but the gesture itself. Most souvenirs found in Japanese cities and towns tend to be small, relatively inexpensive snacks or nick-knacks. Popular types include manju (a soft dough cake with perhaps a sweet bean paste filling) and varieties of mochi (glutinous rice flour cakes).

Because of its place in the culture, the souvenir trade in Japan is worth millions. Each town in Japan knows the importance of having a local specialty to peddle to visitors. Even if there isn’t a distinguishing product, a town will make one. For instance, did you know that the recommended souvenir snack of Tokyo is the Tokyo Banana (a banana shaped and flavored cream cake/cookie)?

You can’t leave town without buying the local specialties and recommended foods. Most Japanese people travelling within Japan will stock up on goodies for their friends, family, colleagues and even boss. This tradition extends to international travel too. Some Japanese tourists to foreign countries even state a particular product or food as their reason for going. Such travelers are usually expected to bring samples of the product back as a souvenir. A few years ago when there was only one Krispy Kremes store in all of Japan, Japanese visitors to the USA were flying back with cases of donuts. Fortunately, there are a lot more Krispy Kreme stores in Japan these days.

So if you’re coming to Japan for the first time, remember to bring an assortment of goods for souvenirs. If you live in Japan and are going to travel domestically, do not forget your all important omiyage!

Train Culture

It may not be at the fore of the Lonely Planet guide to Japan but each year many train buffs come to Japan to experience the country’s state of the art trains and rail network.

Japan is home to some of the largest and busiest rail networks in the world. High-tech trains such as the shinkansen (bullet train) and the new high-speed Keisei Narita Airport Skyliner have always been at the forefront of Japan’s railway industry. There are at least sixteen major train operating companies in Japan. Tokyo itself contains dozens of different train lines operated by at least nine different companies. The Tokyo rail network can at times seem overwhelming but it is however a tourist attraction in its own right.

Train spotters from within and outside Japan can frequently be seen on Tokyo’s train platforms. These are very serious individuals indeed. They pack an impressive array of camera equipment and will travel the lengths of the country to get shots of a rare or special edition train. During peak hours and seasons, rail companies make special provisions and guidelines for train spotters as they can be so numerous and enthusiastic that they may obstruct proceedings. A huge range of collectible goods are also lapped up by train enthusiasts.

You don't have to be a train spotter to appreciate Japan’s trains. A mixture of high technology and quirky themes has kept the industry thriving.

This December train spotters and tourists alike have a new train to marvel over. It’s not a new high-speed maglev train, nor is it particularly modern. The Seibu Electric Railway company have decided to run a “maid train service.” Realizing the popularity of maid culture in places like Akihabara, Seibu are cashing in by staffing fully costumed maids on their express service between Chichibu in Saitama and Ikebukuro in Tokyo. The maids will be selected from some of Akihabara’s most popular maid cafes. A single trip will be 3600 yen for adults, and 3000 yen for children. If you’re interested in trains and anime culture, why not take a ride and experience both!

Holidays and Festivities

It’s around this time of year that those of us from “western” countries tend to start thinking of holidays and how we are going to spend them. In a previous entry we looked at Halloween and how it`s an example of a western festival slowly encroaching into Japanese culture. These days there are many more holidays and festivals from overseas being observed in Japan.

The biggest and most high-brow example has to be Christmas. The non-secular nature of Christmas these days is common everywhere. In Japan Christmas has been spun into a sort of extra Valentine’s Day in which spending time with your significant other on Christmas Eve seems to be the most important act. For those looking for the more traditional Christmas experience, more and more restaurants and hotels are catering to the expat community by offering traditional western-style Christmas dinners with all the trimmings. While only a very small percentage of Japan’s population is Christian, major cities usually contain several churches where midnight mass and Christmas day services are open to the general public.

A similar holiday for any Americans present in Japan is Thanksgiving. Although there is no similar equivalent in Japanese culture, Americans living and working in Japan can still enjoy a traditional thanksgiving dinner. Similar to Christmas, many restaurants that cater towards foreign clientele in cities like Tokyo and Osaka offer special Thanksgiving menus. Bookings usually need to be made very early as seating is often very limited.

Over recent decades there have been an increasingly diverse range of foreigners moving into Japan. These migrants and visitors often bring their festivals and traditions with them. For instance, large numbers of Indonesian factory workers have boosted the number of Muslims in Japan. This has made observance of Ramadan and its rules necessary in some workplaces. Brazilian migrant workers who arrived for work in the car assembly industry of cities like Nagoya have introduced Brazilian carnivals and festivals to that city as well as to other parts of Japan. The size-able Chinese community in places like Yokohama’s China-town has made Chinese New Year a huge event in the area.

While mostly contained to major cities, it is increasingly becoming easier to celebrate or observe a wide variety of festivals and holidays in Japan.

Seasonal Displays

The holiday season is almost here. Despite not celebrating Christmas (at least not as many in the west know it), from the amount of Christmas displays all around Japan, you’d swear it was the most important holiday of the year.

Shop displaying is an art and it’s taken to great heights in Japan. Displaying really goes up a notch in early September when believe it or not, it’s Halloween. Halloween is another festival that has a very short history in Japan and not a lot dedicated followers outside of the children’s and young-adults age bracket. Nevertheless, Halloween seems to be growing in popularity each year. Big department stores such as Loft and Tokyu Hands pull out all the stops with massive amounts of decorations and Halloween themed costumes and paraphernalia on sale. I’d even go as far as saying that the attention and detail paid to Halloween in Japan exceeds that of many English-speaking countries.

Almost immediately after Halloween ends on November 1st Christmas season begins. Department stores have already rolled out their Christmas decorations and trees and it’s only the beginning of November. KFC, a major player in the Japanese Christmas, have already announced their Christmas fried chicken menus and prices. Christmas sponge cakes which are tremendously popular on Christmas day are already available on order.

You needn’t be a predominantly Christian nation to cash in on Christmas. Christmas day is not a holiday in Japan. Students still go to school and everyone else goes to work, yet the season is a major sales period. Another difference is that Christmas abruptly ends on December 25th. In a matter of hours all Christmas decorations give way to New Year’s displays. New Year’s being the most important holiday in the Japanese calendar.

Despite the majority of Japanese people not observing such festivals and holidays, the attention paid to Halloween and Christmas is quite amazing. This time of year really is a treat if you want to see beautiful Christmas light displays. Most cities in Japan dedicate entire parks and neighborhoods to such displays. The displays in Tokyo’s bay-side area, Shinjuku’s Time Square and Roppongi Hills are well worth taking the time to go see.

Pampered Pets

It’s hard to find a person anywhere who doesn’t like animals. Naturally, it’s the same scenario in Japan. In the English speaking world we tend to live in places that allow for keeping large dogs and perhaps a few cats. The love of cats and dogs is shared in Japan but it’s no secret that the average Japanese home is somewhat smaller than that of anything we’re used to. A smaller home means keeping smaller pets.

Probably one of the first pets a Japanese child is introduced to is the beetle. Particularly popular among young boys, beetles are hunted, collected and even sold. Some rare varieties of beetle can sell for staggering sums. The beetle is an ideal pet for Japanese children. Its small size makes it suitable for any home, and their abundance in nature makes them cheap (in most cases).

Other miniature pets that are extremely popular are hamsters and turtles. Again, due to their size they can be kept with a minimum of fuss. These critters are more expensive than beetles but are still relatively cheap. Hamsters typically sell for something around 3-5000 yen, and baby turtles sometimes as cheap as a few hundred yen.

Just as in many other countries around the world cats and dogs are probably the most popular pet. Miniature dogs tend to be most common (again, due to living space), but can fetch some high prices. Even a tiny chihuahua can sell for hundreds of thousands of yen. Cats are a popular choice also. Due to their wild nature, they don’t need to spend a great deal of time indoors which is ideal when you don’t have a lot of space or are busy. Stray cats are often adopted in Japan but pedigree varieties, like their canine counterparts, sell for lofty sums.

A trip to a Japanese pet shop is quite the experience. There are all manner of species available; birds, reptiles and even small monkeys can be found. Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of pet shops in Japan though is the range of pet supplies and accessories one can find. Treats, toys, clothes and even goggles for your pet do a healthy turn-over in Japan. A recent government survey found that growth in pet-related expenses for Japanese families has exceeded regular family expenditures.

The pet-industry in Japan is big and is getting bigger. Small dogs in sweaters may sound odd at first but for their owners doggy fashion is no laughing matter.

Korea: Big in Japan

The title maybe somewhat misleading for a blog about Japan, but there is a good reason for this.

Since the 2004/2005 period, the Korean pop culture has been on a roll in Japan. It was in this period that Japanese TV stations began screening Korean TV drama shows subtitled in Japanese. The first big Korean hit was Fuyu no Sonata (Winter Sonata). The show had already been a success in Korea and its popularity in Japan caused an explosion of Korean actors, singers and culture to burst onto the Japanese scene. The Japanese have named this the “Hanryu boom” (Korean culture boom).

During the height of the boom there was a rush on all things Korean. Japanese people flocked to Korean restaurants, traveled to Korea in greater numbers and idolized Korean TV personalities and singers. The most popular being the actor Bae Yong-Jun who is affectionately known in Japan as “Yon sama.” Yon sama can still be seen on billboards and magazine covers throughout Japan. It would be fair to say that a large number of Korean actors and singers earn a significant portion of their income in Japan.

The Hanryu boom may have peaked but it is still big business. TV and music aside, there are tons of great Korean restaurants and shops in Japan. Japan’s Korean population, both immigrant and Japanese-born, is sizable. This makes for communities of Koreans throughout the country. The largest and most famous Korean community in Japan is Shin Okubo in Tokyo. Only a short distance away from Shinjuku, the town is packed with Korean shops and restaurants. Signs written in Hangul almost outnumber signs written in Japanese. If you enjoy Korean food, Shin Okubo is a must visit. Other areas in Tokyo like Akasaka also have small Korean towns. The Korean community in and around Osaka is also a large well-established community.

So if you don’t have time in your schedule to hop over to Korea while you’re in Japan, there’s no need to worry. The popularity of Korean TV, music and food in Japan means that a small taste of Korea is not hard to come across.

Going places the HIGH way in LOW cost

At the stroke of midnight, it arrives and while you are asleep it takes you to the destination. No, I am not talking about any magic carpets or Cinderella's pumpkin carriage; I'm talking about the overnight bus.
This overnight bus, also called the highway buses, could be the alternative way of going to places here in Japan.

Japan is not one of those places where you just “go to” for a 3-4 day vacation. It is somewhere you visit once and try to see the most out of. And when trying to do so, I hear many people say how everything is so expensive in Japan, and how the transportation fee is so expensive, too. So for those people, I suggest this highway bus.

There are some disadvantages too, but if you are looking for something cheap to travel around Japan, I highly recommend it.

Since they have dense networks, there are many routes going all over places. The bus covers most of the major cities in most prefectures, but usually many of the buses leave from Shinjuku station or Tokyo station. (If you are staying in the Yokohama area, there are a couple of buses that leave from Yokohama station as well)

The prices are very cheap also. For example, if you take the bullet train to Osaka, it may cost you somewhere from 14,000 yen but if you take the bus, it is somewhere from 4,500 to 6,000 yen. You could save yourself the cost worth one way on the bullet train!

If you are planning to actually see many places in Japan, I 'HIGHLY' recommend you use the high-way bus!

Japanese Burgers

When you think of burgers, names like McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy’s probably spring to mind. These are the American-based companies that have popularized the hamburger and its many varieties around the world. Since the dish’s origins in Germany many years ago, the burger has traveled to every continent and has spawned many variations.

The burger may be something of an American icon, but the dish is also immensely popular in Japan. The dish gained popularity in Japan after World War 2 due to the number of American servicemen stationed throughout the country. By the 1960’s “hamburger-steak”, a beef patty with no bun and often served with demi-glace sauce, had become a regular fixture in restaurants and households throughout Japan. In 1971 Asia’s first McDonald’s store opened in Tokyo’s Ginza district. Japan’s love for McDonald’s quickly developed. Only the United States has more McDonald’s restaurants than Japan. At the time of writing, there are over 3,500 McDonald’s across Japan.

Probably the first true Japanese variant of the burger was the previously mentioned hamburger-steak. However, up and down the country there are all sorts of Japanese burgers. One of the most famous is the Sasebo burger. The city of Sasebo lies on the island of Kyushu. A US naval base was established there in the 1950’s. As a result, the city soon adopted burgers into its local cuisine. The Sasebo burger is famous throughout Japan. The burger typically consists of at least one burger patty, lettuce, tomato, omelet, ground chicken, mayonnaise and a variety of vegetables. There are however numerous variations of the burger throughout Sasebo city.

The burger business is a big business. Each year the major burger vendors; McDonald’s, Burger King, Lotteria and Mos Burger spend huge amounts of time and money developing and promoting new burgers to the Japanese public. The public appear to love it. McDonald’s in particular regularly changes its seasonal menu. Earlier this year McDonalds promoted a series of regionally themed American burgers which were a massive hit. Right now they are releasing a series of new chicken burgers with flavors such as; carbonara, German sausage and cheese fondue.

Clearly, the Japanese have really taken to the burger and have developed it to some remarkable extremes. Some may not be “traditional”, and some may not be the best tasting, but Japan has certainly been creative with this humble dish.

Haneda Airport’s New International Terminal

From this month if you’re arriving to Japan (to Tokyo in this case), then there’s a chance that you may be arriving at Tokyo’s newly opened international terminal.

The new terminal is part of Haneda airport’s expansion program which began some six years ago. In addition to a new terminal, a new runway is currently under construction. When completed at the end of this year, Haneda airport will be able to handle over 400,000 take-offs and landings per year. It currently handles around 285,000.

An official opening ceremony for the new terminal was held last week. The grand opening revealed a unique feature; a shopping and viewing area called Edo Komichi, an area resembling a traditional Edo-era Japanese street-scape. Waiting travelers can also pass the time in a full range of duty-free stores restaurants.

The addition of a new international terminal and runway has been applauded by many frequent travelers in and out of Tokyo. Until now, international travelers have had to make the journey to Narita in neighboring Chiba prefecture which could take at least an hour from downtown Tokyo by express train.

Currently, international flights from Haneda go to Asia, Hawaii, North America, the United Kingdom and France. More slots are expected to be added soon.

Haneda airport is located in Tokyo Bay and is accessible by monorail or the Keikyu railway line. Both lines will take you into the heart of the city within thirty minutes.

To take a further view of the new terminal, check out this video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ojf8MJgbz0&feature=player_embedded

The Tastiest (but not always the prettiest) Restaurants

It’s often remarked how clean and organized Japan is, and for the most part, this is true. However there is an interesting, less tidy culture of street scape and architecture still present in Japan’s larger cities. It would be fair to say that in every major Japanese city there are dozens, perhaps even hundreds of “kitanai” restaurants.

The term kitanai literally means dirty or unclean. That’s not to say that the previously mentioned restaurants are dirty and unhygienic, it’s more a comment on their general appearance than anything else. Although in some of these establishments, it may be a good idea to concentrate on the food only completely ignoring the aesthetics. So why mention these seemingly unsavoury eateries? The answer is that they are often delicious, not to mention cheap, quirky and cheerful.

Just recently on Japanese TV a “kitanai restaurant award” was the feature of a popular show. The show’s hosts travelled all around Tokyo visiting and sampling the cuisine of Tokyo’s best kitanai restaurants. The eventual winner was a Thai themed izakaya situated under the train tracks of the JR lines. The decor of all the contest’s finalists was shabby to say the least but all agreed that the food and manner of the hosts was top rate.

Naturally, you’d expect to find such places in the older quarters of town. Tokyo’s shitamachi area, the alleyways surrounding Tokyo station and older parts of Shinjuku are great places to start on searches for such places. Make sure your Japanese skills are ready for a good workout as most of these places obviously don’t see a lot of tourist customers.

So if you’re ready for a culinary and sensory adventure, keep an eye out for interesting little eateries along Japan’s less trodden paths. Search hard enough and you may find veritable diamonds in the rough.