2008 - A Retrospective

This was a strange year, nearly exactly midway did I finally take the plunge and make the reverse-culture-shock-inducing trip back to England. Unfortunately, circumstances beyond my control have resulted in a delayed start to a job. I trusted my instincts to (indefinitely) postpone the Masters and I was offered a far better job than I ever could have imagined so, without jinxing myself, it's worked out well. I hope it's a great challenge.

I can't say that one half of the year was better than the other because by saying "matane" to Keiko meant seeing family a lot more, although England still hasn't won me over. I can't find much to be excited about, which I hope will change with the job. Six months gone, however, and Japan doesn't seem like a distant memory - it's all so vivid and (or is that just Google Maps Street View?) calling for me to return.

And you know what? Of course I'll go back there.

I can wait. It'll be worth it.

2009 should be very interesting, but I'll leave that to January 1st to write about. For now, I'd like to reflect on some of the highs and lows of the media in the past year:

Books:
I haven't read much, to my own disappointment but I've recently rediscovered the wonder of the library and I'll be sure to utilise it more over the next year and beyond. A resolution (although not my main one) is to read more, as I've been amazed that I didn't leave the awful application of the English language behind in Japan! Even in mainstream sources such as Batman did I hear something like, "There is men in these windows."

However, I did read some fantastic novels - Haruki Murakami is the god of Japanese mainstream fiction. Kafka On The Shore was wonderful, but Norwegian Wood was brilliant for its haunting romantic tale, that made me cry and stay up eating cheese on toast. I highly recommend it.

Film:
As argumentative and divided on issues as blogs/forums can be, my fellow bloggers nearly all agree on the same thing: 2008 sucked for films. Top Ten lists drew heavily either from films that rolled over from 2007 or from abroad. I know I'm alone but I thought The Dark Knight was rubbish (not because of the grammar!) and I'm more than happy to explain in person but it's far too complicated to write here.

Still, I have three choice movies. Enchanted was funny, witty and one for repeat viewing; Cloverfield lived up to the hype and was a real thrill; Changeling was such an unbelievable story that it was... unbelievably good. I suppose there's also Mamma Mia which was 'so bad it's good'. Until Pierce Brosnan sung and then it was just bad.

Music:
Being in Japan, I fell behind so heard a lot of last year's albums this year. Nothing truly moved me like The Killers, Snow Patrol, Regina Spektor or Sara Bareilles in previous years, but Amy MacDonald, Katy Perry and James Morrison were all good (although the former was 2007 I think). The singles that stuck out were the Ting TIng's 'That's Not My Name' and 'Shut Up And Let Me Go'.

TV:
Forget the first six months - Japanese TV is great fun but instantly forgettable, and Hole In The Wall made that clear to you all. Comedians had a good year (mostly!) with Michael McIntrye and Alan Carr being excellent additions to the line-up. American dramas were still great - Dirty Sexy Money, Lost, Damages, and so on. I think the biggest realisation I made was that I'm over reality tv. I can see through the sob stories and interventions and now 'documentaries' are clearly faked, as are talent shows. Here's a good example: Alexandra won this year's X Factor. Fine, she can sing, but so what? As Amy MacDonald said, maybe if she wrote her own songs or played her own music that would be something, but she's a puppet for a quick buck. So what? Plus she sounds like Leona Lewis and do we really need another of her? She denies sounding like her, at the same time showing her ability to support her argument:

"At the end of the day, Leona is a fantastic singer and a fantastic person, but people need to realise that we are completely different," she told Heat. "There is enough room for both of us. Leona is a little Mariah. With me, I hope I can show that I'm a little Beyoncé."

Brilliant. Why copy one person when you can copy another!? Why are we rewarding these people? Peter Kay's Pop Factor was award-winning television, a great piss-take and spot on throughout.

However, an admission. I still love Big Brother. I can justify it by saying that the years the producers leave it alone and don't intervene are the best - when it remains a sociological study. Additionally, the winner this year was a lovely girl and the public support was a revelation.

The best show this year? Veronica Mars. I know it finished in 2007 but I only watched it in its entirety properly this year. Overtaken Buffy (sorry) as my Favourite. Programme. Ever.

My Blog:
A self-review, hmmm. Should I take the self-congratulating or the modest approach? A bit of both I suppose. There have been times when I felt uninspired to write, especially now that the blog has lost some focus. I really don't want to turn it into a 'Dear Diary' type thing because that's just inane writing that no-one wants to read. There are too many pointless sources of that out there i.e. Facebook (sorry everyone, I know I'm alone on this one) and the best blogs - the ones that survive - are the ones that have a niche. Yes, the blog has been going nowhere fast but I hope with the move to London that will all change. Yes, it won't be about Japan, but I hope my exploration of the capital will prove interesting.

Still, I'm proud of myself for continuing with the blog. I feel guilty if I haven't updated it for a few days and then I see other blogs which either die in their infancy or get updated once in a blue moon. Mine is surprisingly high on the entry count and, even with the second half decline in posts, I managed 264, which isn't much less than 2007's 277 or even 296 in 2006. Yay me!

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Which just leaves me to say, "Thank you for reading and have a Happy New Year."

All Quiet On The Winter Front

So the snow never happened, even though I encouraged it with my blog. Mixed opinions about my artificial snow I can report; thanks to the two of you that acknowledged it. It's gone now anyway.

Not a lot to tell of the past week. A birthday party up in London for a friend which was great. Nice to see uni friends again after so long and hopefully I'll see them more often when I move up there. I would like to mention how fantastic the National Express coaches are - cheap and regular. If I was a campaigner, 2009 would be my crusade for more people to use public transport. I know some of it is expensive and I refuse to pay those prices, but riding a coach and being stuck in traffic on a motorway full of one-person cars is insanity; it does not make sense ecologically or economically.

I received some great presents, as well as two shower gels on the same day. I get the hint. Luckily the blog era, like the TV, has not yet reached smell-o-vision capabilities so you're all spared!

I think the best thing was this card - the detail is astronomical. My favourite is the full santa, as well as the green tea which is usually written as "ocha" but written here as "sancha".


I also saw the christmas lights and displays around Oxford St a few weeks back. Here's a selection:

Setting Sail

Drafts are an interesting thing. Today I found the feature to search my blog for unpublished posts, and there were just under ten. That's about ten things I forgot to post, for whatever reason, but were worth the time to write. Should they stay unpublished? This one - about the ferry home from France in October - felt like the right time to finish it properly:

I was eagerly rushing back to England in preparation for the Police Check for my new job, to find that they hadn't even been sent off yet and, since then, I've had a few sufferable months waiting. How does it tie in?


I wrote this originally two months ago:

"I'm not a sea person, probably more a coast/beach-type, but I do like the idea of vast space and the freedom of the waves in front of me."



Without remembering that sentence, that's the point I was going to make. Keiko made the observation that I'm the most relaxed near the coast. Mountains are fine, as is city life, but there's something cathartic and releasing about being near the edge of land. Maybe it's growing up in Bournemouth - I wonder if I would've been a sailor if I grew up in Poole? - but I think it's the adventure, the possibilities that are past the horizon.

Recently I've been walking to my Grandma's flat along the overcliff. At night, without looking carefully, the water and sky merge and create a vision of deep nothingness until a faint glow comes into focus and divides the two. I like the idea that there is all that space to escape to, to discover, and all that unknowing out there - here's the important part - if I ever wanted to. As I said, I'm not big on the sea itself but it's comforting that it's there. If.

I haven't really explained it, I suppose, but it ties in with pretty much how life goes.

All that adventure.

All those possibilities.

メリークリスマス

Merry Christmas everybody

Tis The Season To Be Shopping

I saw a mildly amusing sight today. Maybe not amusing, but you can fill your own word of choice in later.

Walking back from the library through town, I passed a couple of men proclaiming Christianity to passers-by. One was holding a placard with something about repenting in time for the apocalypse and the other was handing out leaflets. I watched for a while and realised that not a single person stopped, paid any attention or took an interest.

Not that I'm sympathetic - because I personally think they're wasting their time - but I did admire their efforts. All these Christmas shoppers too busy to even acknowledge what the purpose of the holiday is for. The men might as well have written on the sign "Sorry we're bothering your shopping time" and on the back "P.S. Jesus loves you".

For quite a few years my realisation that the commercial scam has far overtaken the religiousness has never been more apparent than this year. With fear of the economy and people not wanting to spend, giving "this will do" presents and receiving "great, what do I want this for?" gifts seems like a waste of time.

Want proof? This is how much the rest of the world knows about it:

Outside The House

Has this become the dumping ground of Bournemouth‽


How cool is the ‽ - it's an interrobang, made up of the word interrogation and bang, as in exclamation. Love it.

A Change Is Gonna Come*

The Kanji of the Year has been announced again. Following 'Life' in 2006 and 'False' in 2007, 2008 is the year for Change.


変 can be read in a number of ways. The most relevant is change, and this is regarding Obama's Presidency, as well as the economic and ecological climates. However, the kanji can also mean 'strange' and 'uncertain' which seems equally fitting as the world shifts into 2009...

*This entry could equally be titled: A Change Would Do You Good; I Can Change; Seasons Change; or simply, Change...

Say Cheesu

Hollywood actors have been making a nice profit by advertising products in countries away from their English-speaking fans; which is a key plot point for Lost In Translation. I would've made the assumption that with the increase of the YouTube generation, they would stop but I guess it's true, I made an ass out of you and mption... anyway...

The term a website has given for this is Japander, which makes sense if you break up the word. Notable examples are Tommy Lee Jones with Boss Coffee - his face appearing on many a vending machine, as well as Richard Gere in the fantastically named Dandy House (a male beauty spa). Probably the best is Keifer Sutherland sending himself up in a 24 spoof for a healthy snack bar.


The other major one of recent times is Cameron Diaz and Brad Pitt for Softbank (the Japan Vodafone). Pitt advertises more than anyone: jeans, watches, you name it, he's done it.

Along with the posters for the Softbank phones, the two also do adverts - with the usual theme of one of them walking along a scene with things happening in one take. All fine and well, except for the most recent which is causing a stir as it involves Brad photographing naked young girls.



Interesting choice... I wonder how much he demanded for that!
(More videos can be found on YouTube - I love it and all its HD goodness.)

Fish And Tourists

The local fish and chips shop has been merged with a Chinese takeaway for some time now but it was only recently I bought some mushy peas which, under new management, translates as a tub of boiled peas. Foolishly or otherwise, I tried it a second time but still no luck. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice then shame on... the point is you can't be fooled again. Speaking of Bush, nice to see that his eight years in Presidency ends with shoes being thrown at him!

And that my friends, is what you call a ramble.

Back on track, and the news is that Tsukiji Fish Market is closing its doors to the public over the holidays. Whilst it won't make or break a holiday in Tokyo, the tuna auction is impressive. I can't comment on the problem of tourists as the day I went there were only about ten of us in total and we all stayed far back. Larger groups I could imagine getting in the way, although those scary carts they drive everywhere are not worth trying to dodge - just stay well away, they won't slow down for you.

And then a News clip has emerged, explaining why the ban is being taken seriously by the workers: the disgusting and offensive Londoners here give all tourists a bad name. It's worth watching to the end of the video to see the main foreigner demean the worker.



This is why people suck.

Newsposter

The Telegraph has picked up on the "Please do it at home" Metro posters, and analyse why manners are slipping - with the conclusion that the young have less pressure to conform to societal expectations, as well as the lack of respect developing and the Japanese typical response of ignoring it. You can read about it here.

Hello Baby

Hitting the news this week is the Hello Kitty maternity hospital in Taiwan, designed to ease the stress of giving birth.


The uniforms, bedsheets, wallpaper, scalpels - all pink and Kitty themed. Maybe not the scalpels. They even give the newborns cat food. Ok, again they don't but you get the gist.


Interesting fact: strangely Kitty herself was "born and lives" in London. Even weirder, she is five apples tall and the weight of three apples.

(Anytime I think of the character I remember Keiko scaring a businessman by addressing him "Hello Kitty". Mistaken identity but hilarious at the time.)

Speaking Of Train Manner

I found this photo the other day that I'd sneakily taken ages ago*. It took me a while to realise what was odd but made me laugh again. I can't do it, yet Oli is able to. Do I need to be practicing more yoga?


The question is, can you?

*If you've seen the size of my camera, you'll know it wasn't.

Drink And Ride

For those of us who are working (and for those that hope to be working soon) the end of the year offers an intriguing drinking party (who cares if we're in Japan or not!). Bounenkai is typically a social for coworkers and with the translated name of "forget the year gathering" it's the time to down your sorrows and forget any troubles you had. While I would imagine this is to prepare for a positive outlook on the year ahead, it seems that it's just an excuse to drink.

Due to this, the Tokyo Metro's poster of the month is applicable:

Happy Anniversary

Tokyo Tower is 50 years old. Weighing 4000 tonnes, it is the world's tallest self-supporting steel structure at 333 metres, narrowly beating the Eiffel Tower by 13 metres.


I went up once but the observation deck isn't that fantastic; there's no outside area and the glass was too dirty to see outside. In my opinion, it's better as part of the skyline itself. Actually, that was the time I realised my camera had broken so I wasn't in the best mood for it. The night was salvaged by a trip to the other side of the city and a drink in the "Lost in Translation bar."

Here's my own favourite picture of Tokyo Tower:

Miyajima

I'm feeling diligent so...

Following the two days in Kyoto and preceding the Hiroshima excursion here is the write-up for Miyajima Island. We arrived early into Hiroshima and checked-in at the hotel. We were given some maps and a free tram pass, which was a nice touch. The next two days in Hiroshima took some scheduling. As much as I wanted to see the A Bomb Dome, we only had one night here and so we spent the first day on Miyajima, which was said to be worth seeing after dark.

The tram took us through the commercial area of Hiroshima, much like any shopping centre, and onto the outskirts and finally the docks. We jumped on a ferry which shuttled us towards Miyajima. This island is one of the three scenic views of Japan, another being the islands in Matsushima (near Keiko's house) and the third is Amanohashidate in west Japan and appears to be quite beautiful. And so it should when it translates as "Bridge of Heaven". To find out how to view the sand bridge, it's worth following the link!

Miyajima - "Shrine Island" - is famous for the deer that roam the island freely, as well as the monkeys on top of Mt Misen, the highest point. The other tourist-pulling device is Itsukushima Shrine and the red 'torii' gate.


The deer were mischievous.


Walking from the harbour to the gate, the tide was out and we could see many people bent over on the wet sand doing something. Up closer, they were cockling!


We could walk all the way out to the gate (I'd checked the low and high tide times and hoped that we would be able to see both before the last boat); it was impressive, not least for withstanding the tide. The structure was so wide.


The shrine was also picturesque, raised on stilts, and we even saw a traditional wedding.


That was about as much as I knew of Miyajima and I was dreading hanging around until dark to see the high tide. Fortunately, the island offered a great deal more. I didn't realise it was so enormous.


We took the path up past the small village towards a hiking trail and the cable car. The signs explained how far it was; we took the leisurely option!


The first cable car took us upwards onto a peak, with signs advising us to be aware of the monkeys. A short walk around the path was a second ropeway which took us onto Mt Misen, at 530 metres.

The rest of the decent walk was past a few temples and some passes formed by boulders towards the summit.


The view was absolutely incredible, a 360 panorama of Hiroshima, other islands, and the Seto Inland Sea - between Honshu and Shikoku. My fault entirely that I didn't know any of this existed (research, people, research!), we didn't have much time to take in the sights as we were worried about missing the last times down to the base of the island.


Unfortunately, no monkeys except these two:


From this height, it was easy to imagine on a clear day why Miyajima was named one of the three scenic spots in Japan.


The sun was slowly setting although we had a bit of time to kill and stumbled upon this treasure. Hard to believe but it's not listed in guidebooks as a reason to visit Miyajima, it is in fact "The Largest Rice Scoop In The World"! I know, stop and compose yourselves. Truly something, hey. Made from 300 year old Zelkova tree and 7.7 metres long and weighing 2.5 tonnes. According to the sign, it has been placed here to symbolise Miyajima as the birthplace of the rice scoop, as well as celebrating the Shrine becoming a World Heritage Sight.


If anything, it's good for a question on Eggheads one day.

Hungry, we found a small restaurant and we were the only customers the woman had. We sat at a counter in front of a surface metal plate, on which she cooked everything before our eyes. Keith opted for ramen, and Mum and I had a Hiroshima delicacy 'okonomiyaki' - basically a pancake with everything.


I had a limited conversation with her whilst she cooked, but more than anything we enjoyed watching the size of these pancakes grow by the minute. Layers of egg, noodles, pancake mixture, vegetables, until they were as big as the plates. It was an impressive skill and she seemed laid back whereas I would've been stressed keeping on top of it and trying to flip the pancakes. They were only about four pounds each as well!

When we left the restaurant it was dark. We turned a corner to see this:


The tide was in and the gate was illuminated. It was spectacular.


We took some pictures and then a ferry back to the mainland and onto the hotel. I should mention the hotel was fine, except for a bizarre feature: the radio station which only played the Rocky theme tune back to back. We listened the next morning whilst we prepared for Hiroshima and felt all energetic, until the music died down and started straight back up again. Even more strangely, we listened a few times! Some other bloggers have mentioned this mysterious station but I've never found out where or why it's broadcast.

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The next day was Hiroshima, which I've written about. Afterwards, we took a shinkansen back to Tokyo, stopping for Mum and Keith's final night at Shin Yokohama's Ramen Museum; a brilliant end to a brilliant trip.