Quirky Japan Blog
Photos of interesting and unusual people, places, and things in Japan
"Quirky Japan Blog"
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[非公開] Mysterious Garden Rocks
If you’ve ever been to a Japanese garden, you’ve may have seen these little rocks wrapped in ropes in various places. What are they? Decorations? Stuff left by lazy workers? If I saw the rock in the middle of this path, there’s a good chance I’d just obliviously keep walking. Actually, though, this is a sekimori ishi (or tomari ishi), and it’s a “Do Not Enter” sign with a dif..Quirky Japan Blog|2010-08-30 10:10 am推薦 -
[非公開] Fukagawa Matsuri
The Fukagawa Matsuri (officially the Fukagawa Hachimangu Matsuri) is one of Tokyo’s “Big Three” festivals, but seems to be a lot less well-known than Asakusa’s Sanja Matsuri and the Kanda Matsuri. Its a mikoshi festival, and its gimmick is that people throw water on the mikoshi carriers to cool them down. This year I went to the children’s mikoshi event because it’s not nearly as c..Quirky Japan Blog|2010-08-23 09:10 pm推薦 -
[非公開] Happy Pineapple Day!
On August 7 this month, I found a huge bunch of about 15 bananas for only 120 yen at my local supermarket. Looking around, I noticed a sign saying that Aug. 8 was “Banana no hi” (Banana Day). This is a kind of Japanese wordplay involving numbers where the numbers’ sounds are used to make words. For example, my old homestay families phone number was 931-8782, which they remembered as “kus..Quirky Japan Blog|2010-08-17 05:51 am推薦 -
[非公開] Two Obons
This is the annual festival at my son’s preschool and was held on July 17. I thought it was kind of strange to have an Obon festival in July because the Obon holidays are in July, but apparently, the festival gets celebrated at different times in Japan. In Tokyo and Tohoku (northern Japan), it’s celebrated in July and is called “Shichigatsu Bon” (literally July Bon), but in Kansai and mo..Quirky Japan Blog|2010-08-11 10:11 am推薦 -
[非公開] Average Rents in Tokyo by Area
Tokyo is one of the world’s most expensive cities, and rents can be astronomical, but if you’re a little bit careful in deciding where you live, it can also be surprisingly cheap. This chart is from the homepage of a Japanese real-estate agent called Homes Chintai that shows the average rents for various apartment sizes throughout the Greater Tokyo Area. It goes from cheapest to most exp..Quirky Japan Blog|2010-08-03 10:43 pm推薦 -
[非公開] Boso no Mura Folk Village
The Boso no mura is a fantastic blend of history, nature, and beautiful architecture in Chiba, near Narita Airport. It doesn’t seem to get many visitors, which is really a shame because it’s a really worthwhile tourist spot – very educational, entertaining, and great for photography. The main attraction is this re-created samurai town. The buildings are amazing, and inside there are people..Quirky Japan Blog|2010-07-28 09:44 am推薦 -
[非公開] Memories of the Bubble
I’ve always been fascinated with Japan’s bubble economy. I think it’s because I came to Japan in 1993, just after Japan’s famous economic bubble burst. I was constantly hearing stories about people getting 10,000 yen an hour for teaching English, GOD (Gaijin on Display) jobs where all you had to do was show up at the office to make it look “international,” and guys getting invited by..Quirky Japan Blog|2010-07-22 09:43 am推薦 -
[非公開] Ueno Lotuses
I don’t usually recommend Ueno as a tourist destination (the zoo is just cruel, the museums are stodgy, Ameyoko-cho is charmless, and the park is ugly), but at the end of July and early-August when the lotuses are in bloom, the Shinobazu Pond in the lower section of the park is actually quite nice. The lotuses will probably be in full-bloom after the 20th or so, and it’s best to go around 10..Quirky Japan Blog|2010-07-12 04:24 pm推薦 -
[非公開] Urawaza 2
バーゲンで良品と粗悪品を見分 ける裏ワザ！ from 裏技・裏情報ブログ！ by urabox バーゲンで良品と粗悪品を見分けるにはタグを見ると良いそうです。 バーゲンで売られて いる商品は大きく分けて２つあります。 １つは、正規品として販売して売れ残った商品。 もう１つは、バーゲン用に作られ..Quirky Japan Blog|2010-07-09 02:34 pm推薦 -
[非公開] Urawaza – Japanese Living Tips
An urawaza is a helpful hint or secret technique for doing something. I recently found this interesting site, the Urawaza/Ura Jyouhou Blog (in Japanese only) which has some uniquely Japanese ones. How to stand stably on the train without a strap! If you stand on a bus or train without the strap, most people spread their feet apart and do their best to keep their balance. If possible, spread y..Quirky Japan Blog|2010-07-06 09:15 pm推薦
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