I Love Japan: #43

The brooms




The concept of the "garden broom" is, admittedly, a new one to me, especially when they look like something you play Quidditch with. Every day Christina and I pull up to school to find the soccer kids sweeping the front walkway with these things as part of their morning routine. (This is only one of two times they'll clean throughout the day. They clean the school again after a full day of classes, then stay until 8 practicing soccer. Who said Americans were the only ones who overextend?)

I Love Japan: #44

Everyone sleeping on public transportation, and being able to unfailingly wake up seconds before their stop

I'm convinced that Japanese people can sleep anywhere.

I Love Japan: #45

Video game nation

While video games have certainly become more mainstream in most industrialized nations, Japan is still the most accommodating--it is, after all, where most video games are made. You'll see a lot of people playing a DS or PSP almost everywhere you go, regardless of age.

There are also ads for video games and consoles everywhere:

I Love Japan: #46

Japanese puppets - Bunraku （文楽）



While I've never actually seen a bunraku show (complete with a backdrop of shimasen music), I'd love to see one. They're really cool, though some of them are even freakier than marionettes from the West:

I Love Japan: #47

Kaki goori （かき氷）



If you see this symbol, it means you are in the proximity of deliciousness.





This stuff is basically what the Japanese call a snow cone, except the ice isn't so much crushed as it's almost pulled into wisps, kind of like cotton candy. You see kakki goori on the menu of a lot of festival stalls.

Fruits and other foods are added for some interesting results (e.g., the beans in the upper left...)

I Love Japan: #48

Haichu （ハィチュウ）



Japan's answer to Starburst, but less taffy-like and more gum-like. The one in the picture is melon-flavored, which is another common flavor in Japan.

I Love Japan: #49

My gym

Sure, it only has six different types of machines. Sure, it's the size of a couple walk-in closets. But what it lacks in options, modernity and general quality, it makes up for in character.

For example, like most vending machines in Japan, the ones at the gym make various sounds after you put in change and purchase something. In this case, you're greeted with animal sounds.

So far, I've encountered:

-Meowing
-Oinking
-Cock-a-doodle-dooing
-And some Japanese guy saying, with a very thick accent, what I believe to be "OLD MCDONALD!"

And oh yeah, we have this thing:

I Love Japan: #50

The flavor of green tea and its ubiquity

It's not just limited to ice cream anymore...

I Love Japan: #51

Paper lanterns （提灯）

These things are awesome.








You can find them at festivals, or just walking down the street. The red ones are usually hung outside of restaurants or food stalls. I took those last three pictures in Osaka (the bottom one is advertising a place that sells ramen).

The things really add killer ambiance. If you're walking down a city street at night, the entire place can be illuminated with a faint red glow that emanates from the lanterns, which in some places, can be found hanging outside every other shop. They're like jack o' lanterns, but cooler. And more Japanese.

I Love Japan: #52

The overnight highway bus (aka: "Dream Express")



Twice has this bus saved my hide. When I traveled outside the country for winter and spring breaks, I always got back to Tokyo around dinner time, and had to be back at work the next morning. So, for a mere 50 bucks, I can take this handy double-decker directly from Tokyo Station to home sweet home in good ol' Shiz.

I Love Japan: #53

No tipping

In Japan, tipping simply does not exist. In fact, America is the only country I've been to where there is any kind of tipping culture. And in Japan, I think trying to tip someone might be somewhat insulting, as it's implying that this particular service is exceptional, when it's probably their norm. It's like saying, "Wow, you didn't suck. What a surprise! I bet you're usually horrible. This is a special occasion, so here. Buy yourself some Mentos." It's a philosophy I agree with. I'll have to adjust my attitude pretty soon, though. Tip calculators on cell phones seem like such an oddity at this point...

I Love Japan: #54

Umeboshi （梅干し）





If you can forgive the fact that it looks like an extracted tumor, umeboshi (a dried, plum-like fruit) is a kind of tsukemono and is delicious. Incredibly sour and almost equally as salty, it provides an explosion of flavor after eating a bowl of rice, although I like to eat them straight up, out of the package. (This is definitely NOT normal.)

It's usually served with a bento, and the grains of rice immediately surrounding the umeboshi are my favorite to eat. You see, the umeboshi leaves nothing but bright fuchsia stains and tart flavor in its wake, so the affected rice is kind of a prelude to the acetic main event.

Something tells me I won't be able to find this at Kroger, but here's hoping that the international aisle has expanded from beyond fortune cookies and Baja Fresh.

I Love Japan: #55

Okonomiyaki （お好み焼き）




This is in Osaka last weekend at an okonomiyaki restaurant. Okonomiyaki are another one of my favorite Japanese foods. It's kind of like a pizza/pancake made out of flour batter, shredded cabbage, other vegetables and usually some kind of meat, all topped with mayo (Japanese people love the stuff), seaweed flakes and fish flakes. You usually grill it in front of you, as seen here.

I Love Japan: #56

Japanese phone conversations

I always get a kick listening to people in the office talk on the phone. It goes something like this:

"Hai, moshi moshi!" ("Hello?")
...
"...hai..." ("OK")
...
"...hai..."
...
"...hai..."
...
"...hai hai hai hai."
...
"So so so so so so so so so so so so." ("Right, right, right...")
...
"...uun, hai. So so so so so so so so so so so so."
...
"Hai, wakarimashita!" ("OK, got it!")
...
"Hai, arigatou gozaimasu! Sumimasen! Hai! Sumimasen! Shitsurei shimasu! Hai! Sumimasen!" ("OK, thanks! Excuse me! Excuse me! Excuse me! Excuse me!")

*hangs up*

I Love Japan: #57

Obsession with Lilo & Stitch

This is one I simply do not understand. I mean, the movie was pretty popular in the States, but it's friggin' huge here. Girls think Stitch is the most kawaii thing ever, and many have Stitch folders, pencils, or fuzzy pencil cases shaped like his head.

Maybe it's the fact that Hawaii is a popular tourist destination among the Japanese (some even seem to think it's its own country...), or that many Japanese people live in Hawaii. But whatever the reason, the blue alien can be found far and wide.

I Love Japan: #58

Incredible taxi cabs



As I've said before, public transportation in Japan is the best in the world, bar none. Take taxi cabs, for instance. The outside is so buffed and polished, you can count your pores in its reflection. The driver always gets out and opens the door for you, is wearing a starched-and-pressed uniform, and dons white gloves. Enter the car to find doily-covered seats and a spotless interior. And unlike American cabs, it doesn't smell like a public bathroom filled with mothballs and sweaty yoga mats.

I Love Japan: #59

Plastic food outside restaurants




I never really think it makes the food look very appetizing, but at least you get to see what the eel intestines look like before you eat them.

I Love Japan: #60

Shinkansen （新幹線）

...aka, the bullet train!




Japan is really on the ball with public transportation. The shinkansen, the super fast superexpressway, gets you anywhere in Japan in mere hours. I was just on it this weekend when I went to Osaka.

At Kappa Sushi, they bring your order out on a mini shinkansen that pulls right up to your table.