The Cautionary Tale Of The Heike Crab

The Heike is a crab, native to Japan, with the distinguishing feature of what looks to be a samurai face on its back. The legend is that the Heike (Taira) tribe, failing in the battle of Dannoura towards the turn of the 13th Century against the Minamoto clan, committed suicide by retreating to the sea. The crabs embody the souls of these warriors.


Coincidence and urban myth aside, how can a crab's shell encapsulate such a striking resemblance to a face?

The answer is ingenious, and falls to Carl Sagan in the following clip (the answer towards the end):


If you can't be bothered to sit through it (or pick up some Spanish as you go), the reason is because of natural selection: later generations of fishermen kept to a superstitious sentiment of the crabs and would throw any with the strange pattern back to the sea. Thus these few crabs had free reign to populate.

Case solved. Scully would be proud.

Back Edo The Future

It's rained here for the last six or so Sundays in a row which has been driving me crazy. Yesterday was torrential, and scuppered my plans yet again. Instead I built a time machine, and ventured to eras forgotten:


Not really! I had you fooled, didn't I?

You can modify any picture by following the link here. The instructions are in Japanese, but it's pretty straightforward. Any suggestions for photos that would be effective?

Whale Of A Time

Keiko's parents came to Tokyo to see a concert; a folk singer coincidentally in the Shinagawa Prince Hotel*. As it was Keiko's birthday on Friday and mine this coming Thursday, her dad took us out for a meal. I chose somewhere controversial. For us, not for them.

I want to try everything at least once (except for fried tarantula, which goes without saying, although I just said it), so I opted for whale. I'm undecided on the moral implications of whale hunting, but for some unknown reason, I'm not inclined to be against it. The most famous whale restaurant in Tokyo is Kujiraya in Shibuya; Kujira is Japanese for 'whale', Ya for 'shop'.

Kujira is one of my favourite Kanji - 鯨 - the left part means 'fish', and the right part means 'capital' (itself the second character in Tokyo, and the first in Kyoto). Actually, whale isn't even a fish, as we all know, so this is redundant**. Kujiraya has a traditional set-up, with the sunken tables, waiters in yukata, and tatami floors. There are also whale ornaments on ledges, many smiling back at you.


We ordered deep-fried whale and whale steak, which came with the usual sides of salad, rice, miso soup and tea. I heard that whale is similar to beef, a little rubbery and salty but nothing too out there. And it was fine. Pretty much what I was expecting; nothing special in itself, but delicious on the scale that any meat meal would be. A good experience, and I'm glad to say I tried it.

*Past the 70 bowling lanes, and as far as I'm aware, all the restaurants were open. Thank goodness.
**The whale's closest common ancestor is in fact the hippo.

Trainspotting

Among the abundance of reasons I'll miss Tokyo, one stands head and shoulders above the rest: the efficient and cheap train network. The timetabling, connections and locality is genius, and more than makes up for the occassional busy carriage. Which is why the 14th June was a big date for the geek in me: the ninth and final Metro line opened. A few artist pictures here.


The Fukutoshin line connects Shibuya through the Shinjuku and Ikebukuro areas up North, travelling the whole West side of Tokyo and more. In fact, in 2012 or so, the line will join with my old line, the Toyoko, and run the way through; meaning that Yokohama, Shibuya and Shinjuku will be connected, cheaply and quickly. As Wikipedia write it's "conceived to relieve congestion along this busy corridor". It's a huge deal.


I checked out the hub station, at Shibuya, which connects to many of the other Metro lines. The Fukutoshin is located inside an oval blimp shape, with balconies over the train lines. Once on the platform, which has the half-height gates, for suicide prevention, you can walk over the uncovered railway lines which are lying in wait for when the Toyoko connects. Some of the actual trains are old recycled ones, but some have sleeker tops, all with the brown Fukutoshin theme.


Randomly, there are fire/emergency exit doors located around the station, which make little sense in context.


I'm a geek, but at least I wasn't alone, as most of the passengers were taking pictures around me.

This new development brings the total train lines in the Tokyo area to about 120.

Image Of The Week #86

(taken in Miraikan, Odaiba - 15th June, 2008)

Fashion Disaster

Recently, I've been losing clothes like there's no tomorrow. Bleached shirts, water-logged shoes, stains, and yesterday a hole in my long-sleeved t-shirt. Reading Freud is playing tricks on me; I'm starting to feel like it's a subconscious effort to reduce the load in my suitcase.*

No fear, as my Japanese-life-crisis spins ever further out of control, including a Japanese boy haircut, a bright purple hoodie among others.

*20 kilos.... I'm trying to repress it, sticking with the psychoanalytical theme.

An utterly bizarre press conference from RyanAir discussing long haul flights. Wait until the end for the revelation about the "service" differences between economy and business class.

(maybe they'll fly to Japan - that's my 'tenuous link of the day' - sung TV Burp style)

Time Frys

Why does a month feel so fast when you're dreading to say goodbye?

Oniisan!

For the Japanese literate among you, that means big brother (in the family sense), and an excellent leeway into my next topic.


Surprised to be talking about the Channel 4 programme so soon but: the next few days is a Japanese task! Karate, Karaoke, Geisha, Speaking Japanese, Chopsticks... What a great excuse for watching and blogging about my guilty pleasure.

Hydrangeas, Farewell Kamakura

Rudely awakened by the earthquake on Saturday morning*, I didn't feed the pigeons but I did cook pancakes (which gave me a sense of enormous well-being - ok, lyrics over). I'd missed the hydrangea season in Kamakura for the last two years so third time lucky and I headed down there. Usual story; so did the rest of Tokyo.

Kamakura, the Buddha and Enoshima have been a great getaway for me, my usual haunt to escape the metropolis of Tokyo and clear my head. I'm pretty sure, unless inspiration/frustration hits, this weekend was my last time before I leave. I've been so many times now I feel fortunate more than anything, and so confident with the area a tour guide fallback position is not out of the question.

Surrounded by a cascade of multi-coloured hydrangeas:





There are a few hotspots for the hydrangeas around the area, firstly in Kita-Kamakura at Meigetsu-in, which is nothing special the rest of the year round. The flowers here varied slightly in colour but for some unknown reason, the temple tries to keep to a blue theme.


The temple also housed a zen rock garden and bamboo trees.


After that, I experienced the train-door-slamming-in-my-face-bone-crushing-glove-pushing from that video a few posts back on the electric railway. A frail old lady had been taken to the front to be saved one of the seats by a guard, but it's true that the Japanese are polite except when near a train, and was almost trampled over.

A quick sayonara to the Buddha:


On to Joujuin, another rather unspectacular temple 15 minutes walk from the Buddha. The temple is built up the top of a slope which would be a slug otherwise but it was here that the hydrangeas lined the path, and the view behind was over the coast. The colours were magnificent.


The final stop was Enoshima, a brisk walk over the Island stopping for a wasabi-seaweed rice cracker (much nicer than it sounds) and then back home. A few more flowers, if you haven't had enough:




A slice of heaven.

*the landslides have sadly resulted in 10 deaths, and counting.

The Japanese Have Ears

Standing in an hour-long queue for sushi last night, I mulled over a way to reduce the waiting time: Chinese Whispers that the chef had diarrhoea and continued to touch the fish. Gross I know, and sadly the old lady in front of me left pretty quickly. I'm sure it was pure coincidence.

Actually my seat was in a direct line with one of the chefs battering a lobster to death. Now that's what I call fresh!

I know a much worse sushi-related real story, but I'll only tell you if you want to hear it.

One Man's Pain...

Thought I'd check out a clip from this year's Big Brother.* The people had just failed a task and were to be given a small food budget for the next week. They were moaning that they'd be stuck with jacket potatoes and tuna every day.

Wait. That's a problem?

*Last reference to UK TV; I'm weaning my way back to Britain.

True Colours

I don't think I have to exclaim any more my love for all things Japan. Turning Japanese included but swiftly moving on. Instead, a look at the aspect of Japan that I find the most hideous.

The News.

News in Japan is disgusting, repugnant and everything similar a thesaurus will spout out. International reports are almost nonexistent, and small-scale stories are blown out of proportion by the media to the extent where a pointless issue is focused on for, literally, weeks on end. I think it was when Mum was here that a small plane had crashed (no-one died) and every time we turned on the TV that week, the same clip was being shown. This isn't that important.

What is terrible is the way the paparazzi/journalists treat people in the spotlight and how this ties into the problem of assigning blame. Take the Akihabara problem last weekend; instead of looking to hard-hitting social issues, the parents are interviewed and take responsibility for what happened.

The following is tough to watch, and makes my blood boil. Be warned.


I don't know how everyone just lets that poor woman fall to the ground and struggle her way back inside while continuing taking photos. It's shameless and horrific.

Role Model

The future's here (see comments a few posts back) and The Apprentice is revealed. And what a terrible example of a winner. Not because he is illiterate. Not because he can't string a sentence together. Not because he bullied a woman. Not even because his motivating exercise is to squawk like a pterodactyl.

No, because he couldn't even be bothered to use a spell checker.

Image Of The Week #85

You gotta wonder - is this a dare or your average day-off cry of individuality?

(taken in Odaiba - 6th May, 2008)

Livin' La Fiesta Loca

I was reading about the 'World's Wackiest Festivals', and not surprised to see Japan featured (although the UK and Spain featured twice each!). I would've assumed that the Penis Festival was the event of choice, but instead it was the more general naked festival, where men usually wear loincloths and bond 'Top Gun-style'. The part I didn't know is that there is often one completely naked guy in the middle and touching him will bring good luck and happiness.


The article doesn't state where touching him counts. Some things are better left unsaid (or left to the imagination, if you wish).

1. El Colacho: the Baby-Jumping Festival (Spain)
2. Hadakamatsuri: The Naked Festival (Japan)
3. Up Helly-Aa: the Fire Festival (Shetland Islands)
4. The Monkey Buffet Festival (Thailand)
5. Holi: the Festival of Colors (India)
6. Cheese Rolling Festival (England)
7. Maslenitsa: free-for-all boxing match (Russia)
8. Tunarama: the Tuna Tossing Festival (Australia)
9. Roswell UFO Festival (USA)
10.La Tomatina (Spain)

Mt Mitake

A new tourist find: a mountain just under two hours outside of Tokyo. A short bus from the station to the cable-car which took us up a further 300 metres in a couple of minutes. It wasn't as steep as the Peak in Hong Kong, but smoother.


At the top of Mt Mitake (929 metres), after a 20 minute climb sat a Shrine and a few gift shops. There were also some hostels/onsen hotels but not much else in the way of civilisation.


It was peaceful with a beautiful scenic view over Tokyo in the distance.


The 'sugi' trees (responsible for the hayfever in Tokyo) were unbelievable. They spanned upwards and upwards:

There were several hiking routes to follow and, accidentally or not, we covered most of them, which was much harder than expected. In the distance, I saw a group climbing over a precarious rock. Clambering over roots and slipping on yesterday's rain, it was exciting, with a last crawl up to the top.


Down a bit towards the rock garden and against the river towards the first waterfall. Standing by the edge of the plungepool, the breeze from the water was extraordinary, you could feel the wind rush past.


Not sure how Keiko noticed, but this dead insect was camouflaged among the other leaves.


A short break for fresh water; gushing hard it was a skill to not come away soaked.


A second waterfall before the difficult last uphill leg, a neverending muddy staircase but we were rewarded with ramen/curry-rice for lunch.



Back at the station, we walked towards the gloriously-blue river that flowed from the mountain; there were kayaks and picnics and it was a generally nice area. The amazing thing is that this is the river that I worked near during Nova. Not the Tsurumi river in Tsunashima but the next one, the Tama river, that divides Tokyo and Yokohama.