A Walk with the stars at Roppongi

There were stars in Roppongi much more than that were on the sky. The beautiful part of Tokyo, the dream of night life at Tokyo – Roppongi – excited and electrified life of Tokyo attracted foreigners living in Japan. The stars on the earth at Roppongi were going so up and up that the heavenly stars got jealous of them.

Roppongi was the center or activity in Tokyo. Roppongi was in heaven. Rich men at Roppongi were Gods of wealth. They created wealth, enjoyed the best of the world and lived to the fullest meaning of life.

Everything is a big ‘Was’. Today Roppongi is silent. The Mori building, one of the attractive skyscraper of Tokyo stood in the December cold virtually shivered this season. We could not see any charm what is described in many internet sites about Roppongi. The reason is we were late comers to see what Roppongi is.

‘The Lehman brothers’ welcomed us to the Mori building. There was a Christmas decoration at the front of the building. Inside just at the entrance, there is a model of Roppongi hills. Japanese people paused for photographs in front of the model Roppongi hills with their kids.

Life at Roppongi is at a pause it seems. We were hoping to see Japanese celebrities making their choices at Roppongi. The economic recession has created a big havoc to the heavenly life at Roppongi.

The economic disaster of this millennium started at United States and spread into Europe and Japan. The victims at Japan will not be limited to Roppongi night bars only. It is going to be a devastating figure of damage to the society as a whole.

The scene is much visible and distinguishable at Roppongi than anywhere in Japan. This was by a shop owner at Roppongi. His shop never displayed price as it was mostly decided by the demand.

There were Japanese beauties coming from different corners of Tokyo to enjoy the life at Roppongi. The European and US brothers left Roppongi and there is not much remaining for excitement. The wealth was created and destroyed at Roppongi itself.

Owners of unlimited wealth made the Roppongi a heaven. Still it is, but with less charm. It is known here that Roppongi is the place where J-girls look for foreign friends, mainly Europeans or Americans/Australians. Many of them turn into fruitful relationships.

It is December winter and Roppongi is still. Coming out of Roppongi hills, I could see many stars on the sky.

Yesterday was yesterday and Today is today in Japan

I have got more than 15 opportunities to participate in social gatherings of Japanese people including drinking party. Generally as per previous experience at my home country, we will share our good feelings about the last night’s party while meeting at next day morning. At least a word of exchange in the morning while we meet at the work place will be done.

But here in Japan, it is very surprising that nobody discuss about last night’s party. After having the very first party in Japan, the next morning, when I went to office, I expected somebody will ask my feelings about last night’s party. I could see people working as if nothing had happened!

This prompted me to compare the attitude of Japanese people with the people of my country. Both enjoy the party. We share the enjoyable moments by talking about it again. Japanese enjoy while having the party. The past is past and no more! Why to discuss about the past. We have to concentrate on the present.

That is a great ideology, even though Japanese people may do it unconsciously. They really don’t care much what happened in the past. Ofcourse, they learn from the past experience, but try not to repeat the past mistakes.

There may be a connection to the materialistic approach of Japanese people for this attitude. It is good to forget the past as soon as possible, whether it is good or bad. Living at the heart of this moment is important. Live in the past is not a good idea to make progress for individuals and for society.

The Japanese people have that good side of mind to forget the past fast. This is a quality which many of the other societies do not possess. Forgetting may not be a good idea, but not giving much importance to the past is important and this is what Japanese people do with the past.

Past is not in our control and we can not undo it. Whether the happened incident is good or bad, we are unable to change it as it is already done. What we can do and control is at the present. So, do that part of work at present good. Probably Japanese people also remember those good moments of the party, but they don’t want to bother about it much.

Yesterday was yesterday in every country as far as days are concerned, but while dealing with memories, other people may give much importance to what happened in the past. Japanese people are little bit different in dealing with the past and present.

That is why I gave this caption to this post ‘Yesterday was yesterday and Today is today in Japan’!

A Sunday tour to Tokyo Tower

We had a good Sunday out in Tokyo when we decided to visit Tokyo Tower with our guest Mustafa-san from Jordan. He came to Japan for a short stay, but within one week he was all praise to Japan. He is also with a wonderful note on the high degree of discipline of Japanese people in the public behavior.

This was my first trip to Tokyo Tower. Along with Kawano-san, Ienaka-san and Mustain-san I had a pleasure trip at night around the Tokyo Tower, but did not enter inside the Tower building. We took ticket to go up to the Main Observatory which has height of 150 meters. The ticket charge for an Adult entry is 820 Japanese Yen.

The Main observatory is an exciting place to have a 360 degree view of the Kanto region surrounding Tokyo. There are many coffee shops to take break. Guide boards are available on the Observatory in which the name of the buildings that can be viewed from four sides of the observatory are displayed in different languages. Set up on the four sides, these guide boards help to orient the city of Tokyo with explanation of the view from the Tower.

We could see many people offer prayers to the Great Shinto Shrine of the Tower. Located at the highest spot in all 23 wards of Tokyo, the Shinto shrine grant the faithful divine favors such as successful passing of academic examinations and traffic safety.

The Information counter is welcome to visitors with their doubts and I don’t need to repeat the Japanese way of welcoming visitors and guests with all regards and warmness. The staffs at the Information center are so polite and helping that even stranger would not feel awkward to approach in case of confusion.

The look down window is an exciting portion of the Tokyo Tower. We could see some children enjoy standing over the glass and look down. Looking down to the streets form the tower, I felt dizziness and could not stay there long, but managed to capture some shots in my mobile.

Due to time shortage, we decided not to proceed further go up. There are special observatory at 250 meter height. We could see Mount Fuji from the Main observatory, but the vision was not so clear. From the Special observatory the view of mount Fuji is clear. Mount Tsukuba is also visible from that height. The top of the Tokyo Tower is occupied by NHK General TV, NHK Education TV, TV Asahi, Fuji TV, TBS TV, NTV TV, TV Tokyo and the University of the Air TV. The topmost of the Tokyo Tower is a lightning rod at a height of 333 meters. That is the total height of Tokyo Tower – 333 meters.

There are game centers for children to enjoy, restaurants and food courts at the Foot Town. Guinness World Records Museum, Crystal Planet, Space Wax, Trick Art Gallery and Wax Museum are other major attractions inside the Tokyo Tower. We were little confused due to time shortage on which one to choose. Finally we decided to enter Wax Museum.

Wax Museum in Tokyo Tower was opened in 1970. The wax figures of prominent personalities of the world history are displayed in the museum. Wax figures exhibited were imported directly from the workshop in London, where they were made. Also added are the figures of great personalities who created major impact on the human history in 20th century and played an important role in the society.

We missed many things like Thrilling Economics House, Amusement Park, Aquarium Gallery, Tokyo Souvenir Shop Town etc, but to come back again to view Tokyo Tower ! Next time I will try to have a night view of Tokyo from the top of the Tokyo Tower.

Mao Asada’s Figure skating performance – Maosan triumphed NHK Trophy

I used to watch the Japanese television, eventhough I catch 20% of the Japanese words. The process of hearing is more important for learning a new language. Repeated hearing will engrave new words in our mind and by correlating the visual slides in television will help to form the concept on the subject.

Today I watched Mao Asada win the NHK Trophy. Whenever possible I will watch her performing figure skating. It is wonderful and exciting to watch her figure skating. She has won the World Championships in March.

I started living in Japan from February 2008. During March, I remember, when I switched on the television, I could see a Japanese girl performing figure skating impressively. I was unable to read her name written in Kanji in television. At that time except some wishing words I was totally new to Japanese language. After repeated hearing of the commentary in Japanese language, I guessed the name of the girl as Mao Asada.

Then in order to remember her name, I related her name with the Chinese communist revolution leader Mao Zedong. Normally I will forget Japanese names within 5 to 10 minutes of hearing. When I related her name with a famous leader, it was easy for me to remember.

I am great fan of Mao Asada now. I take care not to miss to watch her performance in television. Asada, after winning World championship in March has done many mistakes during her jumps at the Trophee Eric Bompard. It was unbearable to watch her pain.

Mao is 18 years old only and she has started training at a very young age. Her dedication to figure skating has taken her to the heights. Japanese fans are very supportive to Mao. Mao has done an excellent performance today. Maosan has shown the triple axel, a difficult 3.5-revolution jump that has been executed by only a handful of female skaters. She scored 191.13 in NHK Trophy today. She is well ahead of her competitors.

Mao-san’s new coach, a Russian national, is also very supportive to her like a mother. I have taken some photos from the television. Only at the final steps before finalizing the performance she was about to fall, but she laughed it off cheerfully.

Attitude towards foreigners in Japan – Racism in Japan

This blog was running a poll on this subject. The question was;

‘Do you think Japanese people are fairly good to Foreigners?’

78% of the visitors to this blog responded that Japanese people are fairly good to foreign people.
21% of the visitors said ‘To some extent’ Japanese people are good
Only 1% of the visitors told, Japanese people are not good to foreign people.

What I conclude from the poll and along with my 10 months living experience in Japan is Japanese people are really good to foreigners.

Almost 95% of the visitors to this blog are foreigners. Foreigners themselves say that they do not face any kind of discrimination in public in Japan compared to many other countries. Many times the fear of Japanese people to talk in English is misinterpreted as aversion towards foreigners.

My own experience says I have not faced any discrimination till now. I used to commute the heavily crowded Toei trains and Tozai line trains in the morning and evenings. Literally the people are sand-witched. Had any of the Japanese man or woman or children show any kind of dislike towards a foreigner at their face or action, I could have sensed it.

Reading through some Forums for foreigners, I had gone through many statements that they have faced discrimination in Japan. Some of the foreign people said, Japanese people are racists. In one discussion, when I commented that it may be due to the English speaking fear of Japanese people and told my own experience during the past months, I got the answer that ‘Jayaprakash is the lucky Indian’, who have not faced any discrimination till now in Japan.

I really don’t know on what basis some foreigners who lived in Japan say that Japanese people discriminated them. I have written in this blog on June that I used to attend a physiotherapy course for the disc prolapse and sciatic pain. 5 days a week I continued the course for 3 months and now continuing 2 days a week.

The clinic I have been going is having only Japanese staff and nurses. They do not speak English and I am not fluent in Japanese. I am the only foreigner patient visiting the clinic as far as I know. As part of the treatment, the doctor and the medical staff have to touch the body. I have not seen any kind of negative attitude towards me from any of them. In fact they treat me as if I am a Japanese and exchange all kinds of wishing words in Japanese while I enter the clinic and leaving the clinic after treatment.

Coming out of the clinic, I used to enter the nearby convenient store (kombini in Japanese!) to buy snacks and juice. Instead of discrimination, I have seen the little sales girls are interested to receive money from a foreigner!. That was really surprising to me when I thought of the bad experiences narrated in the websites and forums on discrimination of foreigners in Japan.

Frankly and very truly I can say, I have not faced any kind of discrimination or racism in Japan.

To mention one more warm relationship I have with my hair dresser Takagawa san, who runs his Hair dressing saloon near Toyocho. Every month I visit his saloon. He knows my choice in the Indian hair style. Only once for the first time in March 2008 I explained in my broken Japanese to him about my hair style. He do not ask me every month about the way my hair should look like. He knows. He talk in Japanese while dressing my hair. I could catch 20% of his words and the remaining portions I correlate and guess. The communication is all about understanding between two people, not really all about language!

Some day, it will be time for Takagawa-san and his wife to take snacks and traditional Japanese food. All the time they have invited me to join with them. One day, Mrs. Takagawasan gave me a set of traditional Japanese food. At first I hesitated to receive it from them. To be frank, it was due to my fear of getting discriminated from Japanese people as read in the forums and website. But they insisted to take their food and I obeyed.

Having been passed through many incidents of life in Japan and mingled with Japanese people, if I am true to my heart, I can not say that ‘I face discrimination in Japan'. I am really sorry that I could not join that group of foreigners who likes to announce to the rest of the world that Japanese people discriminate foreigners.

For those who say Japanese people discriminate foreigners, I do not have any advise or do not know what you mean by discrimination. But think before announcing: Is it only to catch attention of public, because discrimination is an issue in your own country? So, you want to declare to the rest of the world that Japanese people are also not free from that devlish nature in the mind like your own country men?

Further reading on this subject from experienced people are recommended. click here

The taste of Sashimi for the first time

Eating raw fish has been a biggest challenge posed in front of me ever since I landed in Japan. During the welcome party arranged by the department staff I was introduced different varieties of raw fish and was told by Japanese colleagues about what they called ‘Sashimi’.

Generally, even the well cooked fish itself to many Indians is not a preferred food. People living at the coastal areas of India like fish, especially Goans, Keralites and Bengalis are fond of fish. These three states in India have their own traditional fish cooking style. Goan and Kerala styles are almost similar, but I prefer the Goan style. But raw fish remained a mysterious food for me for many days.

When the Japanese friends describe about Sashimi and its taste, I struggled to avoid vomiting. Eating flesh without cooking is an act considered uncivilized in India. Reading and hearing more about Sashimi, I started thinking that when Japanese people can take raw fish, why I can not? It was not the feeling of comparison of abilities. I was thinking that if Japanese people can digest raw fish, why my stomach will not digest it.

This has pushed me many times to taste Sashimi during the parties, but avoided by the advise of Japanese friends as they also feared of stomach problems as I do not have the habit of eating raw fish.

But last week’s party with almost 25 Japanese people was compelling to taste Sashimi. With a huge variety of Japanese traditional sea foods, the party was enjoyable and memorable. More memorable to me as it was a sent-off party for one of my sensei (teacher) in Fiber optic technology in Tokyo, Kawano-san. The party was arranged in Sakanaya at Toyocho, Tokyo.

Yes, I tasted the Sashimi – the real raw fish for the first time. I dipped the thin sliced raw fish in Soya sauce mixed with wasabi and ate and imitated in the traditional Japanese style ‘Oishii!’ I have taken photo of the Sashimi, which I have tasted.

Friends were surprised on seeing an Indian tasting Sashimi! Then also I was thinking, If Japanese people can take, why I can not!

I did not vomit! Neither felt any bad while taking Sashimi. I felt the problem is in thinking about ‘eating raw flesh’. When we think of flesh, the traditional image comes in mind is a living creature's flesh with blood. This creates the aversion in mind towards such foods.

I had great confusion about Sashimi and Sushi. Sashimi is similar to sushi, another Japanese food, served with raw fish. I often conflate these two dishes, which are however considered distinct and separate.

Sushi refers to any dish made with vinegar rice. While raw seafood is a typical topping, sushi can have other featured ingredients as well.

A night riding experience in Tokyo city

I was yearning for a trip around Tokyo to have the experience of a night view of Tokyo city. The night view of Tokyo shown in many websites is eye catching. With many skyscrapers illuminated with colorful lights, Tokyo city is in competition with the mysteriously charming J-girls.

My wishes came true yesterday when one of my senior at office, Kawano-san invited us to have that experience of driving around Tokyo city in his car. Along with friends, Ienaka-san and Mustain-san we planned for a trip to Tokyo city from Funabashi.

Kawano-san’s car is spacious and equipped with all modern controlling systems like car navigation system. The Japanese make car he brought five years back still looked new. The care Japanese people takes to their automobiles is noticeable. Kawano-san drove the car from Funabashi towards Tokyo. The car navigation system automatically tells which roads have high traffic and even the nearest Ramen shops and restaurants!

We passed near to the Tokyo Tower which was literally looked like a tower of lights in the night. The sight of Tokyo Tower is amazing in the night with illumination. During the ride, I could hear many old and new trends in Japanese culture from Ienaka-san and Kawano-san. New generation Japanese people are generally flexible to other cultures and food habits. The biggest barrier between the Japanese people and foreigners in Japan is the language.

Kawano-san and Ienaka-san are two interesting personalities in the office. Kawano-san is source of many information on optical fibers and cables whom I used to approach and talk to clear my doubts. The full name is Masahiro Kawano, he had travelled a lot as part of his profession. A highly technically integrated and matured personality, Kawano-san still could keep his simplicity.

Ienaka-san is one of the two persons in the office, whose voice will still there in my ears even after I go back to India. Ienaka-san has very delightful personality, with whom we will never get bored. Ienaka-san had also travelled a lot, meeting people at different countries dealing with customers at technical meetings and symposiums. Ienaka-san is highly technical and knowledgeable personality who keeps his simplicity together.

This unique nature of Japanese people – simplicity even at the high levels of personal achievements makes them different from other high-ego societies.

I was learning more about Tokyo and Japanese culture as Kawano-san’s car passed through busy Tokyo streets. We crossed the Rainbow Bridge. The scene of the illuminated colorful boats passing through the river when the car crossed the bride was amazing!

When we reached at Kiba, we decided to dine at an Indian restaurant. Cooked and served in traditional Indian styles, the dishes were delicious and we enjoyed the food. The restaurant was not known to me till yesterday. I was aware of Namaste India restaurant near to our office and ‘One Coin’ restaurant at Toyocho, which is around 10 minutes walk from the office. This new restaurant is in between the two exits of Kiba Railway station.

After dinner, Kawano-san set the car navigation system to Komatsugawa Park to drop me at my apartment. It was night 9:45 by the time we reached at Komatsugawa Park.

Kawano-san gave a good and different experience to all of us.

Ohayo gozaimasu Week and Ohayo gozaimasu Team

Ohayo gozaimasu is the first Japanese word I learned and it is very much required and used throughout Japan in the morning. This is the word being exchanged among people in Japan when they meet frist time in the morning. Good morning is not a word to word translation for Ohayo gozaimasu, but we can say it is equivalent to good morning in English.

For the last three days I have been noticing that there are more than 10 people at the entrance of our office building in the morning along with the security staff to say 'Ohayo gozaimasu'. When I enter the building, all of them in one voice say 'Ohayo gozaimasu' with a smiling face.

I used to exchange Ohayo gozaimasu with the security staff in all the working days after entering to the building. Either he say first to me or I say first to him does not matter. It is a custom in Japan to respect each other in the morning itself. When I reach to my section, many of the Japanese staff will be there started their work well before the office time officially starts. I will repeat Ohayo gozaimasu to all of them.

Ohayo gozaimasu is the polite form exchanged with senior colleagues and strangers and respectable persons. The more friendly derivative of ohayo gozaimasu is just 'Ohayo' or 'Ohayos'. That is too casual and can be used between friends. The gozaimasu makes a big difference to the listener and make them happy that the other person respects him. Give respect and take respect is well practiced in Japan.

Coming to the point, I could not understand, why there are additional people infront of the reception in the morning only to exchange 'Ohayo gozaimasu'. I asked one of my colleague and she explained that this week is "Ohayo Gozaimasu week".

It was interesting to hear her explanation. Many people forget or overlook to say Ohayo gozaimasu to their colleagues when they enter in to the office or their work area. It is a formality which all managements in Japan wants their staff to be practiced and strictly followed for give respect and take respect. This will reduce the ego related problems between staff. Eventhough majority of people exchange this greeting in the morning, some people keep mum while they enter into the office and their work area.

The security staff standing at the reception area will say Ohayo gozaimasu to every person entering to the building. But some staff do not repeat and exchange their greeting in return. This makes the difference. The person who told Ohayo gozaimasu at first feel bad at the mind and probably the next day he may not use Ohayo gozaimasu to that person. This attitude spread throughout entire organization slowly. It will affect the culture and mannerism Japanese people followed and observed for many years and will finally leads to cultural deterioration.

Our management does not want that cultural deterioration to happen in our organization. Management want to keep all people responsive to exchange of respectable words in the moring itself so that the respect will continue throughout the work also.

In order to remind people about the imporatance of Ohayo gozaimasu and thereby respecting each other by responding the teller, management made an 'Ohayo gozaimasu team'. The team members include respectable senior staff from many sections. Even the person who does not want to say Ohayo gozaimasu will respond when a whole team of his senior staff tell in advance the 'Ohayo gozaimasu' to him when he enter the office.

If he is not responding (he can't avoid that) that should make him shy. It will transform him slowly. This is the reason for the Ohayo gozaimasu week and Ohayo gozaimasu team. It is really a nice creative idea to make people realize their duties and customs as respectable members of a respectable society - Japanese society.

Komatsugawa - my new habitat in Japan

This is what I could take into my mobile camera, two pegions. There are a lot in this area of Komatsugawa Park. It was a fine autumn evening, I walked out of Higashi Ojima station to the nearby apartment named Komatsugawa Park Mansion. Some of the pegions flew to the trees when people started coming out of railway station.


Evenings are good in Komatsugawa. There are seating arrangement in the park. It is a common scene there people chatting with their friends, lovers make love and so on along with these pegions, the whole process makes Komatsugawa different from the busy Tokyo suburbs.

This is the building near to the Higashi Ojima station. It is just a one minute walk from the building. Starting from the room to the platform it may take two minutes, including waiting for the lift at the apartment. A fourteen storied apartment, Komatsugawa Park Mansion 2 is not a competitor for high rise buildings in Tokyo or even in the Komatsugawa area. There are 32 floor buildings just near to this apartments.

Komatsugawa is calm and quiet. The evenings are really enjoyable. Since I am living with Solitude at present, mostly I will be just walking around the apartment with her ! Solitude is the best companion ever a man can wed. There are poems on solitary reapers who enjoy singing in the lonliness.

The lonliness fill the nights with silence and the dreams are colorful with lot of friends and relatives. It is all dreams and we are the one who directs how it should be viewed! This is the building where I dream in lonliness. Its name is Komatsugawa Park Mansion. There is an ampm convenient store just dowh the apartment. It is really convenient to me and open 24 hours, 7 days a week. Varieties of Japanese food are available in this convenient store and on week ends I get my lunch and dinner from this store.

At the rearside, there is a bridge over the river. For me, that bridge goes to 'Namaste India Foods'. This stationery stores own and run by a Japanese young man is a meeting point for the Indians living in Higashi Ojima and Komatsugawa area. Walking over the bridge itself will bring Indians passing through, many times recognizing by identifying through typical Indian physical figures and passing a smile on the face. This gives a sense of unity among Indians, Yes I recognized you!

'Namaste India' is exclusively for Indian food items. The main attraction is Basmati rice and the ready made, Ready to eat' food items from MTR and Priya are also available, eventhough highly pirced. It is a relief for many bachelor Indians that these ready to eat foods they can buy far away from India also.

Other attraction of Namaste foods is Apa kabar card. This is an international calling card. This telephone card is sold at 2400 Yen. To India, I can call more than six hours through a Yahoo BB phone. If it is used in NTT public telephones in Tokyo, we can make a 4 hours call to India. Many other international telephone cards have less time compared to Apa Kabar card. I used to purchase this calling card from Namaste foods for my Indonesian and Thai friends, without taking any commission!

One of the primary reason for me to select Higashi Ojima - Komatsugawa are is that these locations have a high concentration of Indian population. And there are two Indian schools easily accessible from these places. One is at Mizue the Global Indian International School, GIIS. This is at Edogawa ward, I heard and the other one is at Morishita. India International School Japan, IISJ is affiliated to CBSE, New Delhi, India. For Indian students, the syllabus is one of the important concern. Their parents may have to go back to India after some years and continuing education in India should not be a trouble in such circumstances.

Morishita is accessible from Higashi Ojima within 8 minutes by Toei Shinjuku trains. Morishita is situated in Koto ward. Morishita is the transfer place to Toei Oedo lines for me to reach to the at Koto. Morishita also have a high concentration of Indian people in Tokyo.

When I get bored with internet and blogging, I will opt for an hour out on the river banks. The river bank will be a good place for us to relax. Komatsugawa has it all. Just 35 minutes from busy Tokyo, but this natural relaxing place provide cool breeze to the solitary minds.

Where these water goes ? It must be to Tokyo and then to the Pacific ocean. There is a buddhist philosophical thought that nothing is permanent in the world. Buddhists compare the life with a river. How can we call a river by a name? It is not reason to call a river by a name. A river is what we see with water. But water in a river always changes. Then how can we fix a name for something that always changes. Rivers can not assume name!

Going with the same philosophy, human beings can not be named, as the body is always in a state of change. The minute changes happens in the body which we are not aware in day to day life. New cells are getting formed and old one degenerates. When this process is going on, how can we name a person ?

Life is like a river! do not have a place to fix, do not have a name to attach, and really don't know what we are! but only know that we are flowing!

But like rivers, life is beautiful with flowers on the life's banks. In the course of flowing, we miss to notice them. Those flowers on the banks of river brings color to my solitude. My great meeting point for life and philosophy. The evenings I can ruminate old memories while walking on the river side. Still not missing the flowers.

We miss on this busy life many beauties of nature. They just manifest themselves and go from this earth, a life of two or three days, but still fragrant, still attracting bees. We, human beings don't have time to enjoy all these natural beauties.

The little rocks on the banks, half immersed in the river water has many stories to tell. But is there anybody to hear them. They may be telling their stories to the flowers and the fishes in the river. The way they travelled from far away mountains, the hardships they experienced while rolling, and so on. rolling, rolling down to the country side their sharp edges has gone and became smooth. But we humans living, living to this age became sharper and sharper in our behavior! That is the difference between human beings and nature. Nautre is humble at its beauty and knowledge, while we pride and show ego at our possessions.

The rolled stones did not gather moss! but the ones stopped rolling got enough moss on them. What story they might be telling to flowers ? About the lost Samurai warriors? About the mysterious geisha beauties who might have shared their life stories with these stones? Or the U.S army invasion of Japan?

Not sure, but sharing my lonliness with the nature at Komatsugawa, I have been learning one of the world's great heritage called Japanese culture.

The wooden stairs looks attractive and gives a village touch to the whole scenary. Walking up and down the stairs is play for many children. The river, the flowers, the wooden stairs, the bridge, the pegions, and the trees in Komatsugawa communicate with my lonely moments, to which my senses responds and to which I love to hear. The music of nature I could hear here in Komatsugawa, my new habitat in Japan!

Heavily Packed Tokyo Metro Trains

Today, I could see a heavy crowd in the Toei Shinjuku train, which arrived at Higashi Ojima station at 8:07 AM. Usually the trains are fully packed and it is a surprise that there are always place for the crowd waiting on the platform at each station and all of them manage to enter into the train.

Journey in Trains at morning time is a horrible experience. But Trains are maintained well in time and it is convenient to reach at office in time. Daily I have to commute from Higashi Ojima to Kiba to reach to the office well before 9:00 AM. From Higashi Ojima station to Morishita I have to travel in Toei shinjuku line. From Morishita I will change to Toei Oedo line to reach Monzen Nakacho. From Monzen Nakacho again I have to change to Tokyo Metro Tozai line to reach at Kiba. The whole process, starting from my apartment near to the Highashi Ojima station to the office at Kiba takes approximately 35 minutes.

Today in the heavily crowded train literally I was pushed out at Morishita station. On the platform I could notice a crowd helping an old man who fell unconscious. It is not a surprise that today it happened, but people were helping him to take to the first aid.

Eventhough the trains are heavily crowded, Japanese people are well disciplined and follow the queuee system. Otherwise there would be many casualties for daily news. Tokyo's train system is so convenient that we don't need to keep any car for daily living as the trains reaches literally everywhere. My first experience with Tokyo train was on the day I landed in Japan and coming out from Narita Airport to the hotel at Katsutadai with my boss. He showed and taught me how to take a train ticket from Tokyo stations at the Narita airport subway.

At Katsutadai station, in order to go out, he told me to take the ticket from my pocket. I started searching everywhere and could not find. I thought, there is no need to keep the ticket once it is purchased. But fortunately, I got it from my bag as unknowingly I kept the ticket in the bag and forgot about it. It was my first experience with such a system to come out of the station by putting the ticket at the passenger exits.

The commutation in Tokyo metro trains is very convenient, except in the morning, especially in the trains going to Tokyo city. Trains towards Tokyo will be crowded, but manytimes it prompted me to think, if this same crowd was in any other part of the world, the situation would have been different for sure. The public discipline and the authority's vigilance keeps the trains well maintained and passenger friendly.

Bala-san forwarded the Tokyo metro map, which I used to keep everywhere I go. It is a useful guide for transfering the trains to reach the destination without fail. One good thing about Tokyo metro is that even if we miss our destination to get down, we can get down at next station and just change the platform, and return back without paying extra money. But it won't be a wise idea if we start travel between stations to and fro in the same line without exiting in order to make the Tokyo metro loose money !!!

The Tokyo Subway is one of the world's most extensive subway systems. Tokyo Subway’s networks are operated by Tokyo Metro Co. Ltd with 8 lines and Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei in Japanese) with 4 lines. The lines are called Toei Subway.

Tokyo Subway and Japan Rail (JR) are separate and charges a separate fee from the Toei and other private lines.

There is a widespread complaint from many corners that the separate administration of two metro systems in the same city makes inconveniences to passengers.

Tokyo metro’s Shinjuku station has the reputation of being the world's busiest, and second largest railway station. This station has an estimated traffic of 2 million passengers per day.

Generally I use, Shinjuku line upto Morishita, Toei Oedo line upto Monzen Nakacho and then Tozai line to Kiba. To reach OVTA to attend our Japanese lessons, I use Tozai line upto Nishi Funabashi and from there JR lines.

I have observed some unique characters of Japanese people during my daily commutation to office and back to apartment. Yes, I will post them one day in this blog.

The following links will be useful for newcomers to Tokyo:

Tokyo Metro

Tokyo Metro map in English

Toei Lines

Earthquake at Kiba, Koto-ku, Japan - Training to act when earthquake happens

The announcement came in Japanese language that an earthquake happening at Kiba and all are instructed to go under the desk till further announcement.

I took my safety helmet issed to me and with a towel in hand rushed to the bottom of the desk to save the life. My Japanese colleague was there under the desk. The total office was silent and I felt as if everything will fall on my head. The announcement said the earthquake magnitude measured Shindo 4.o.

Shindo is the counterpart of Richter used by the Japan Meteorological Agency seismic intensity to measure earthquakes in Japan. It is used in Taiwan also to indicate the strength of earthquakes. Richter magnitude scale measures the total magnitude of the earthquake, and represents the size of the earthquake with a single number whereas the Shindo describes the degree of shaking at a point on the Earth's surface. Because of this, the measure of the earthquake varies from place to place, and a given quake may be described as shindo 4 in Tokyo, shindo 3 in Chiba and so on.

Around 5 minutes we kept our breath to allow the things to fall down and waited for further announcement. Another announcement came telling us that the evacuation is now going on and they have contacted Tokyo Fire fighting for rescue operations and all are instructed to be under the desk for some more time. The evacuation will start from the top floor to the down floor.

Lifts can not be used and we have to get down through stair case. The announcement told us to keep discipline and do not make rush as it will create more casualties. Some where the smoke and fire will be there and people should not accidently jump into the fire while they madly rush to escape. Discipline even at the time of disaster is important to save ourselves and to save others as well.

We followed the instruction and when they told, one by one started moving down to the building. The eight story building housed approximately 300 people and the whole process took 20 minutes for them to take the whole staff out.

When we went out of the building, everybody was waiting outside in queuee for instruction. We followed them silently. There was a tent opened and we covered the mouth with the towel and were instructed to stand in queuee.

Two Tokyo Fire fighting vehicles came with siren and entered to the building premise. The action was quick and fire fighters jumped out of the vehicle and some of them wearing fire proof uniform rushed to the building to save those who could not come out.

The aerial ladders were lifted to the sky with one fireman to save the life of those trapped at the top floors. We witnessed the whole sequence of action. Tokyo Fire fighters are professional at their every action. Within seconds they reached to the top of the building and started rescue operation.

From fifth floor there was a 'help call' and the aerial ladder reached there suddenly. One fireman entered through the window and helped one staff who could not move down himself. The fireman lifted him to the box in the aerial ladder and he was took down safely.

The earth was still quaking, but the rescue operation continued. Some firemen could save a few people from the top of the building carrying them at their back and sliding down through the rope. When they reached down safely we clapped in appreciation.

There were no casualties reported ! Obviously !

This was a training given to us today to act in emergency if real earthquake happens.

Tokyo Fire Department provides training to fight disasters and help the public to become aware of the precautions they can take in case of emergencies. Learn how to Prepare for an earth quake 10 WAYS TO PREPARE FOR AN EARTHQUAKE

Interesting new waiters in a Japanese Pub

The first time I noticed the politeness and activeness of Japanese waitresses was when colleagues arranged a welcome party after my arrival to Japan. The party was at traditional Japanese restaurant. At that time I could not remember the name of the dishes ordered for party. Everything was purely Japanese food as it was my initiation to Japanese food.

Japanese waitresses and waiters are remarkably polite and guaranteed, we will be pleased. I had many times bad experience at some restaurants not getting enough attention, but that was not in Japan. Japanese waitresses are so polite that they use honorific form of Japanese to talk with customers.

Japanese restaurant staff are alert and vigilant to serve the customers. We will be pleased and will not mind for waiting for long time also, since he or she will be always there with a smiling face and always say sorry for the delay. I have many times thought, how we could show the angry face to a Japanese restaurant staff even if the service is delayed ! Such a pleasing service and care to the customers they show that we may put off our busy schedules and would rather prefer to wait!

Today I was browsing through the Reuters report and saw an interesting news about a restaurant waiter at a Japanese pub Kayabukiya. This bar is north of Tokyo and interestingly the waiters are not humans. They are a pair of monkeys named Yat-chan and Fuku-chan. Chan is another form of san used in Japanese language to call beloved younger ones.

Reuters reports that Fuku-chan is fond of first shift and is active in helping customers to hand over the hot towels before order for the nomimono (drinks). Fuku-chan has two years experience only and his duty is to hand over the hot towels to the customers. He is four years old now.

Both Yat-chan and Fuku-chan are appreciated by the customers to the bar. They will give them boiled soya-beans to eat.

Watch the video from Reuters,

Right or Wrong, Just obey the boss - Working in a Japanese company

Working in a Japanese company demands people to shed most of their past working at their home country itself ! This message has been conveyed to me through many incidents happened to some of my colleagues working in a Japanese company. But ultimately, the things will turn out to be good for the individual.

One of the basic essential element of Japanese work culture is 'obedience'. Disobedience is not at all encouraged or tolerated in a Japanese company. Obedience is not only limited to the Japanese work culture, infact it is one of the behavioral aspect of almost all Japanese. Japanese obedience to the law, obedience to parents, teachers, doctors and other prominent figures in the society is remarkably higher than any other country. This doesn't mean that other countries have higher levels of disobedience.

Japanese obedience to the boss and the system has become popular to the rest of the world through Japan's participation in Second world war, where as per most of the western historian, Japan was dragged into the war by a group of misinformed leadership. Her suffering and myseries out of that wrong decision is not to mention and not a subject of discussion today. Whatever be the consequence, obey the boss is the primary thing a Japanese is supposed to do.

When I was doubtful about the effectiveness of machine physiotherapy suggested by my Japanese doctor and expressed my concern to go back to my country for further treatment, I was told to just obey the doctor and trust him by my boss.

Exactly like a Nihonjin, I obeyed my boss and continued the physiotherapy treatment with Japanese doctor. As of today I am only the beneficiary of my obedience to my boss. He told me to just obey the doctor. I obeyed both my boss and doctor. I got the result good and now I am able to recover through the method suggested by my doctor. It is assumed that seniors know well what the juniors want and always suggest the good their juniors.

It is this mentality of Japan, that 'seniors know what the juniors want' lead Japanese people to follow year old cultural trait of obedience. Teachers are well respected in Japanese society. Even a doctor is called 'Sensei' same as a Teacher. This is like 'Guru' which is used in India to denote a person of high respect. Guru is rather a teacher with higher knowledge and spiritual appearance. Sensei in Japan is a person at a respectable position, who advise good things to people. Obeying sensei is always considered an obligation to the people.

Before preparing the mind to work in a Japanese company, be sure to offset the mentality of 'Individual achievements'. Individual is not important in Japan. It is the group, the collective idea which will be counted as important in Japan. This psychological approach has led to many complex thought processes and behavioral mutations over many years in Japanese society which led many people to leave their 'ego' at home.

With grudge at the core of the mind, people continue to obey the boss. Over a period of time it will be proved to them that the boss was right and afterall the decision of the boss was in favor of the company. A Japanese boss never takes a decision in favor of an individual which is not in favor of the company. The interdepartmental transfers and work assignments decided by a boss is also a collective decision in favor of the company.

Personal ego has very less value in a Japanese company. This is one of the most important thing to be kept in mind and to be reminded self while being in Japan. Individual ego and individual ideas which is not useful for a group is not going to be entertained in Japanese companies. Curse the boss is the only thing you can do in Japan. But the time will prove that the boss was right.

But there are instances, where the subordinate can influence the decision of the boss. That should be well before the boss discuss the matter with his boss and other groups and reach to a collective decision. Once the decision is taken, there are almost zero possibility for a change. It will be fianl and our duty will be just to obey.

Obviously, there are many ways to disobey the boss. That can be done by submitting the resignation, but that will cost the job itself !

Dolphines on a diet loss plan - also in Japan !

Some two months ago I read in Reuters that Monkeys on a Japan zoo are put under severe diet for diet loss. It seems Japan is too conscious on the dieting and weight loss evedr since the proposed law for waist trim and metabolic identification and imposing more tax on them.

Now it is the turn of Dolphins. Today morning I came across this news in AFP. This is their full report:

Fatty food isn't a problem just for humans. A Japanese aquarium is putting its dolphins on a diet after their portly figures got in the way of their water tricks.

"These days animals at the sealand are a bit ... fat!!!" a zookeeper confided on the website of Kinosaki Marine World in western Hyogo prefecture.

Audiences have apparently noticed, with the dolphins failing to jump into the air as high as before, he said.

"But we ask you, please be lenient with them as they are making efforts to lose weight," he said.
The problem lies in their diet of mackerels, which are popular at this time of year in Japan. Mackerels are known in Japan for their rich taste but also their high fat content.

"We are trying to make them return to their best weight by feeding them other kinds of fish with less fat or by offering fewer mackerels," the zookeeper said.

The marine park offers audiences shows by dolphins, sea lions and other marine animals.

Dolphins are popular attractions in Japan, even though the country has come under fire abroad over the annual tradition of slaughtering thousands of dolphins for meat in the western town of Taiji.

It is exciting to know that Japan care its animal community for a better health and living along !

Japan care her elder citizens – New airbag to protect fall victims

Japan has always been a step ahead of others in declaring new inventions. Many times it prompts us feel that is that all really necessary for us to live ? But to a great surprising extent, Japanese people think well ahead of the problems and possible solutions.

The air bag to protect those people who may fall, especially the elder citizens, is such an invention from Japan. Prop, a Tokyo-based company, demonstrated such an airbag that can inflate in 0.1 seconds if it starts moving quickly towards the ground.

Many times while travelling in trains, we may feel like falling behind. If we wear this airbag and travel and if we are not really falling behind, will this airbag inflates? This will surely put us in an embarrassing condition with an inflated air bag at our back in the crowded train. However, the cushions that suddenly inflate only work if the fall victim slides backwards.

The device is strapped around the body thereby giving protection to the head and hips while falling on the ground.

President of Prop. company Mr. Mitsuya Uchida, said the invention was targeted for old people with epilepsy, who were particularly vulnerable to such sudden and dangerous falls.

Cushions of this airbag weighs 2.5 pounds and are to be tied around the waist. They will be activated by means of electric sensors that can feel a sudden movement.

Once the alarm is set off, 15 litres of compressed air will be injected into the inflatable pads puffing them up to protect the most vulnerable parts of the body.

With a price of around $1,400, the new invention is only available for those with a big pension - or rich children with a strong sense of parental duty.

Japan is famous for her highest life expectancy rates, which is attributed to a mix of factors including a traditional healthy diet with plenty of vegetables.

People aged 65 or older accounted for 21.5 percent of the total population of 127 million last year, according to the government. More than 36,000 people are aged over 100.

Watch the demo in You Tube video:

My Kitchen in Japan - McDonald's Outlets in Japan

When I start from my country to Japan, I could not imagine how I am going to manage food at Japan. I was told by friends that you are going to face problem with food and language. Language problem may be to some extent overcome as I will be posted at the office where many of my Japanese colleagues can communicate in English.

Food was really a nightmare for me! I depended on bread and jam for the initial days, tried some Japanese food. Many Japanese food tasted OK for me, but nothing came out my way to be a regular food. My mother at homeland was also worried as anybody's mothers do.

My problems was the lunch! We have one hour lunch break. Initially I tried at our company canteen. I treid Japanese food eventhough it tastes totally new to me. Within one week, I found my kitchen at Ito Yokado at Kiba.

There is my Kitchen - The McDonald's ! Yes, the McDonald's at Ito Yokado near Gatharia, Kiba, Koto ku, Tokyo.

Who told foreigners will face problem for food in Japan. Rather, I will think these all are a part of propaganda against Japan. Japan has the maximum number of McDonald outlets in the world except U.S.

Japanese people are crazy to eat McDonald burgers. My favorite burger is the recently introduced Shrimp burger which costs 270 Yen. The set (Setho in Japanese) which consists of Shrimp Burger, Fried potatoes (I like to call it fried potatoes instead of french fries) and medium size Coca cola, costs me 650 Yen. That is the cost of my lunch. And my 'lunch box 'setho' will be waiting for me at McDonald at 12 Noon every Monday to Friday.

At the middle of all my food problems, my friends criticize me for having lunch at McDonald, for having 'junk food' daily. This is what they have been informed through media against McDonald ! Now my eating out at McDonald outlet at Kiba is a matter of discussion at our Japanese class on every Saturday.

McDonald showed me a way to live in Japan, if I am not exaggerating the taste of McDonald food. The Ebi-Fileto, which I take on atleast 3 days a week along with fried potatoes keep me alive in Japan. Then there is a natural question, why you can't cook ? The answer is this blogger currently have some problems with health, which prevent him straining the body. Cooking is a strain?

Yes, cooking is a strain when McDonald is there around you !

McDonald's Japan official site says: Since 2004, adoption of world-wide success cases to Japan, re-introduction and continuation of proactive investments, full-implementation of customer base expansion strategies, and driving of company reform through the enhancement of personnel awareness were implemented to further drive globalization. In addition, the following initiatives were implemented during the period: (1) further enhancement of QSC (2) introduction of new products, such as ‘Premium Roast Coffee’, ‘Premium Roast Iced Coffee’ and ‘Mega Muffin’ (3) reinforcement of 100 yen Mac menu with ‘Shaka-Shaka chicken’ (4) expansion of 24hr drive-thru & front counter operation (5) refurbishment of stores to provide comfortable dining area (6) investment for people development (7) expansion of e-marketing, and (8) franchising program. These initiatives generated great synergistic effects and resulted in further expanding our customer base. During the period, the highest daily sales record was renewed twice (June 28 & 29, 2008). Monthly sales record is growing for 18 consecutive months, and system-wide sales is showing positive growth, year-on-year, for 29 straight months.All these brought about the following strong consolidated performance during the FY 2008 interim: consolidated sales of 202.891 billion yen, consolidated current profit of 6.854 billion yen, and 6.192 billion yen net profit for the period.

All these McDonald food is consumed by Japanese people. And still Japanese people are the most healthier people in the world, and Japanese people live more than people from any other contry live. Many times, I will have a seventy plus year old Japanese grandma near to me tasting her McDonald burger!

Still, you search in the google or Yahoo! about Japanese McDonald outlets, you will get the negative propaganda news about McDonald at the front pages. They are so powerful to make their presence at the front pages of search engines!

But, tomorrow, I will have my Ebi Fileto!

Unhygienic practices in Akihabara - Garbage disposal in Japan

I would not have surprised and shocked, had I been noticed these garbages thrown carelessly on a roadside in any other country except Japan. But to my surprise this is in Japan and when my friend asked about my opinion on this, I was without words, but agreed silently, 'ya, it happens in Japan too, but unfortunate'.

I was walking from Yodobashi camera building in Akihabara towards Laox today evening with my friend. First we noticed this garbage and passed by, but returned back and had a look at this and wondered such irresponsible acts happens in Japan ! We thought of taking these snaps in order to make public more aware of what is happening in our own Tokyo.

When it comes to hygiene, I was full of admiration with the Japanese authorities and Japanese people for their high level of social awareness and discipline to practice public safe health behaviors. Public garbage disposal control comes under the jurisdiction of prefecture governments.

Infact I used to argue with my friends about the public awareness of garbage disposal and public hygienic practices being adopted and practiced by Japanese society. J. Philippe Rushton, in his famous k-group transition theory grouped Japanese society as one of the most civilized human race, both intelligent and culturally developed and advanced. He got severe criticism from all the corners for supporting far east Asian countries including Japan and negating the Africa.

But I have observed characteristics of a culturally advanced society in Japan and used to propagate my feeling to my friends and relatives in other countries.

Disposal of garbage and domestic waste is an indispensable task of local authorities. Refuse disposal, sewerage disposal and street cleaning expenditures take up more than half of the total municipal health and hygiene expenditures, where municipalities are making their greatest effort. The volume of garbage has been increasing as living standards rise, and municipalities are trying hard to dispose of it as efficiently as possible.

Sewerage disposal is directly tied to maintaining good sanitary conditions and to ensuring clean rivers or lakes. Therefore, it is imperative to provide disposal plants with sufficient capacity. It is important to note that municipalities are only responsible for the disposal of domestic waste; it is the responsibility of the producer to dispose of industrial waste. However, the complexity of the problem forces local authorities to demonstrate commitment in this field.

In the field of health and hygiene, the central government handles the national qualifying examinations for doctors and nurses, the licensing of pharmaceutical products, general planning and instructions. Most of the actual administration closely connected with residents is undertaken by prefectures and municipalities.

The total expenditure is 5,707 billion yen in fiscal 2005, and the share borne by municipalities is three times that of prefectures. Public health comprises more than 86% of the total prefectural expenditures; on the other hand, in the case of municipalities, refuse disposal, sewerage disposal, and street cleaning expenditures comprise more than 51% of the total.

Japan has such an admirable local governance system handed over by generations and implemented and verified by culturally developed and advanced community members.

Akihabara may be one of the most crowded region of Tokyo. Maintainance of public resources in such an area requires constant monitoring. Lapses happens but will be corrected immediately. But even if it is for a short period of time, throwing garbages publicly is one of the unexpected thing in Japan.

Akihabara's crowd and a small level of indiscipline can be attributed to the street sales and sales canvassing on the road sides. Akihabara may be the place where we can see maximum number of gaikokujins - foreigners. But the disposal of garbage may not be accused on the density of the foreigners !

Anyway, I thought of sharing these photos to make aware within the Japanese society and among foreigners living in Tokyo that sometimes Tokyo municipalities are also not immune to unhygienic practices !

Waiting for Typhoon in Tokyo !

Yesterday till late night or early morning 3:00 AM I did not sleep. I was waiting for the typhoon.

It all came to my interest as our Japanese class on this saturday was cancelled due to the expecting typhoon. OVTA, where I go for learning Japanese language for beginners informed through my company adminstration that they will compensate the class which will be cancelling as a precaution towards the typhoon on October second week.

I have never experienced a typhoon and wanted to see how it happens. One of my friend at the office told about the typhoon which is expected to hit Tokyo on early hours of 20th September. He told the name of the typhoon is Sinlaku.

We browsed the internet for getting more details about the typhoon. Many Japanese sites had given detailed information on the route and time of the typhoon.

My interest grew to watch the typhoon. There was moderate rain in Tokyo area on 19th evening onwards. Typhoon as my friend informed will be with heavy stormy wind and landslides. He had experienced last year 2007 July a similar typhoon, in which some people were killed.

Last year's typhoon destroyed many houses and created panic among the public. People can not stand outside as the storm speed will be around 130 miles per hour.

This time the Meteorological Agency in Japan had warned the public to stay alert for heavy rain, stormy winds and landslides that the season's 13th storm is expected to cause in wide parts of the Pacific coast.

Japan has an admirable system to report and monitor typhoons, tsunami like killer waves and earthquake etc. One of the reason is Japan have similar past experiences of natural calamities and over a period of time have been developed encounter measures.

The place where I am living is with lot of trees and high buildings. I thought I can see the strength of wind while the typhoon passes through the area. The Komatsugawa area is one of peaceful area in Tokyo for living. Komatsugawa is with trees, rivers, bridges, and high buildings in between.

But I could not sense any big difference between normal wind and yesterdays typhoon atlest in Komatsugawa area. The news papers reported something different, that there were small casualties at some parts of Japan.

Today morning I woke up and had a round around the Komatsugawa area, but could not find any noticeable changes due to the typhoon. But the Japan Times online reported casualties at Owase.

The Owase Municipal Government urged about 7,900 households to evacuate. A total of 12 homes were flooded, the city said, adding that about 50 residents fled to public halls and other places to take shelter. Sinlaku also caused 17 schools to close. Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) announced the suspension of eight express train services due to the typhoon.

The summer is just finished ! - Japan and her weather

The summer is horrible in Japan. Many Japanese go out of Japan during summer holidays. When I first landed in Japan it was too cold and could not imagine the weather can turn exactly opposite !

In our Japanese language class also teaher used to say 'Nihon no natsu wa atsui desu'. Japanese summers are hot. The weather is a suitable topic for coversation for foreigners to start with Japanese people. The differences between the seasons in Japan are distinguishable. Spring and Autumn are the most convenient and pleasant. Spring is associated with cherry blossom popularly known as Sakura in Japan. O'hanami parties are very famous in Japan.

Autumn is another best season in Japan. It is associated with the autumn leaves known as momiji in Japan. I had a visitor to this blog from Japan who suggested me to put the photos of autum leaves in my blog. Her name is Momiji. She did not disclose that her name has the meaning of autumn leaves! I searched in the internet for momiji and from a Japanese site, I got the meaning and photos of momiji. It looked wonderful for me.

Foreign people can start conversation with seasonal changes. The Japanese summer is less pleasant as first the rainy season will start in June followed by a hot and humid August and September first half. Summer and early autumn coincide the typhoon season. The winter is short and mild in the south of Japan but grows longer and more severe at North of Japan.

The change in seasons are always mingled with festivals. Each area has its own festival in Japan. The major yearly festival is at the beginning of the year and in mid of August. At New Year everyone has about a week off, which would traditionally be spent at home, with visits to relatives home. Japanese people visit to their temples at this season. I have heard from friends that they go to temple only once in a year that is at New year !

Japan have Shinto temples and Buddhist temples. At new year children will get gifts of money in small envelopes, from their parents and visitors to home and from those whom they go to visit. April is the month for Cherry blossom. Schools will be starting at this month. My daughter will attend her LKG this coming April in one of the Indian school in Japan.

At the end of April or beginning of May there is a Golden week festival. It is a ten day holiday. This is the time for Japanese people to visit their ancestral home and visit their family graves. Increasingly it too is being used as an ordinary holiday. Generally Japanese companies distribute bonus during June and December.

The summer gifts are known as 'o-chugen' in Japanese language and the winter gifts are o-seibo. The contents of the gifts will be same, generally gift-wrapped boxes of towels, soap, tinned food, whisky etc, which are not handed over personally but delivered by the store from where Japanese people will purchase those gifts.

Mysterious life of some beautiful Japanese women - remembering Geisha

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Some of the irresistible pictures flashing into the mind while thinking of Japan were of the girls beautifully cladded with traditional Japanese cloths, having a bunch of cloths at her back, the face almost like white washed, lips reddened like hibiscus flower, the bunched hair tied at her back attractively and walking as if her legs are tied.

This terribly beautiful Japanese woman images persisted and dominated my thoughts of Japan while I was in India. The other image was of westling men with huge physical figure.I always wondered how these giant wrestlers and beautiful women make a perfect combination in a wonderful part of the earth – Japan. I was not knowing that these beautiful women are called geisha in Japan. To my surprise now, It was after almost three months of stay in Japan, I came to know about the term geisha and became interested to read more about such wonderful entertainers of Japanese culture.

Geisha are entertainers, skilled in singing, dancing, story telling, and flirting with customers, Geisha were conversationalists employed at parties and other social affairs to entertain men in a male dominated Japanese society.

The Japanese word Geisha consists of two kanji, 芸 (gei) meaning art and 者 (sha) meaning person or and the translation of geisha into English would be artist or performing artist.

Another term used in Japan is geiko, a word from the Kyoto dialect. Full-fledged geisha living in Kyoto are called geiko. This term is also commonly used in the region to distinguish geisha practiced in traditional arts from prostitutes who have co-opted the name and attire of geisha.

Often there is a confusion between geisha and prostitutes. Prostitutes wear the bow of their sash, or obi, in front of their dress- kimono. Geisha wear their obi at the back. A full time geisha usually had the luxury of a professional aide to help them in the difficult process of dressing; their clothing is made up of several layers of kimono and undergarments, and an obi is more than a simple band of cloth. Dressing could take over an hour, even with professional help. Prostitutes, however, had to take off their obi several times a day, so theirs were far less complex, and tied at the front for ease of removal and replacement.

Geisha are expected to be strictly entertainers and not engage in sex business, but the distinction between entertainment and sex has always not been maintained precisely and some of them became the mistresses of men who purchased their contracts from the masters who held them in bondage. In old times, eventhough the Tokugawa government directed the geisha not to engage in prostitution, the problem and mysterical confusion of geisha and the prostitutes persisted.

Interestingly there remains some confusion, even within Japan, about the nature of the geisha profession. Geisha are frequently depicted as expensive prostitutes in Western popular culture. Geisha are entertainers, their purpose being to entertain their customer, be it by reciting verse, playing musical instruments, or engaging in light conversation. Geisha engagements may include flirting with men and playful innuendos; however, clients know that nothing more can be expected. In a social style that is uniquely Japanese, men are amused by the illusion of that which is never to be. Geisha do not engage in paid sex with clients.

Apprentice geisha are called maiko. It is the maiko, with her white make-up and elaborate kimono and hairstyle, that has become the stereotype of a geisha to the outside world, ratther than the original geisha. A woman entering the geisha community does not have to start out as a maiko, having the opportunity to begin her career as a full geisha. In fact, a woman above 21 is considered too old to be a maiko and becomes a full geisha upon her initiation into the geisha community. However, those who do go through the maiko stage enjoy more prestige later in their professional lives.

Young women who wish to become geisha now most often begin their training after completing junior high school with many women beginning their careers in adulthood. Geisha still study traditional instruments like the shamisen, shakuhachi (bamboo flute), and drums, as well as traditional songs, Japanese traditional dance, tea ceremony, literature and poetry. By watching other geisha, and with the assistance of the owner of the geisha house, apprentices also become skilled in the complex traditions surrounding selecting and wearing kimono, and in dealing with clients.

Kyoto is considered by many to be where the geisha tradition is the strongest today, including Gion Kobu. The geisha in these districts are known as geiko. The Tokyo hanamachi of Shimbashi, Asakusa and Kagurazaka are also well known.

In modern Japan, geisha and maiko are now a rare sight outside hanamachi. In the 1920s there were over 80,000 geisha in Japan, but today there are far fewer, estimated to be from 1,000 to 2,000.

Young girls were sold into the geisha life by their families until the mid-20th century and were often subject to the ritual of 'mizu-age,' whereby their virginity was sold to the highest bidder. Such practices were eradicated after World War II and the geisha profession went into a steady decline.

Although the profession of geisha has declined greatly in modern times, some geisha have been successful working in the political world. These geisha are engaged to entertain at parties of leading politicians, where the sake (Japanese alcohol) flows freely and some times in important political negotiations are conducted. Although geisha are supposed to remain silent about what they hear at these affairs, it is interesting that the leading political parties tend to patronize their own groups of geisha. Political canvassing and eaves dropping business is not limite to some countries and Japan is not an exception !

An article about Japanese geisha can not be concluded without mentioning MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA.

Arthur Golden’s best selling novel – memoirs of a geisha depicts a world where appearances are paramount; a world where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion. It is a unique and masterpiece work of fiction, at once romantic, erotic, suspense at the same time unforgettable with haunting memories.

In ‘memoirs of a geisha’, Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life as a geisha. The story begins from a poor fishing village in 1929 when, Sayuri, as a nine year old girl with unusual blue gray eyes, has taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. The readers witness her transformation of her life as she learns the rigorous arts of the geisha: dance and music; wearing kimono, elaborate makeup and hair; pouring sake to reveal just a touch of inner wrist; competing with a jealous rival for men's solicitude and the money that goes with it.

Ukiyo-e Japanese woodblock prints or woodcuts and paintings

Ukiyo-e , meaning -pictures of the floating world is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints or woodcuts and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, featuring motifs of landscapes, tales from history, the theatre and pleasure quarters. It is the main artistic genre of woodblock printing in Japan.

The floating world (ukiyo) refers to the impetuous urban culture that bloomed and was a world unto itself. Although the traditional classes of Japanese society were bound by numerous strictures and prohibitions, the rising merchant class was relatively unregulated, therefore "floating." (pictures and headings from wikipedia)

The immediate precursor of the Ukiyo-e was the genre painting, that flourished in the late 16th and 17th centuries. It is debatable what criteria should be used to distinguish the earlier genre works from the ukiyo-e, eventhough one major difference is in the fact that the former were painted by members of the aristocratic schools such as the Kano~, whereas the ukiyo-e were done by townsman artists.

The establishment of ukiyo-e as an independent art form was to great extent the work of Hishikawa Moronobu who was the son of a Kyoto embroiderer. He grew up in the ancient imperial capital Kyoto and moved to Edo where he perfectly captured in visual form, Edo's vital and and engaging spirit. Throughout the Tokugawa period, the art of ukiyo-e remained, first and foremost the art of Edo.

Moronobu possessed two qualities apart from his natural artistic ability, that made him a successful pioneer in ukiyo-e. He had an intimate and personal interest in townsman life and he was assertive to demand recognition as an independent artist.

Moronobu's great innovation was the make shift of painting to Woodblock printing. The earliest ukiyo-e done by Moronobu and others were simply black and white prints known as 'primitives'. Slowly artists began to have colors generally red or reddish brown and green painted in by hand on their prints. The multicolored print, known as nishiki-e or brocade picture necessitated cooperation from three people - the artist, the wooblock carver, and the printer and became a joint artistic endeavor.

From the beginning, ukiyo-e artists were interested in two subjects - Women of the pleasure quarters and kabuki actors. Throughout the Tokugawa period the overwhelming majority of prints they produced were of these two subjects of nightlife. The ukiyo-e representations of pleasure women and actors usually stress the sensual and erotic, in contrast to the earlier genre paintings in which people were for the most part portrayed objectively and with little infusion of emotion on the part of the artist.

Many artists of the ukiyo-e school are noted for their depiction of feminine beauty. But the most celebrated among them is Kitagawa Utamaro. Utamaro-san's typical beauties are long and willowy and have about them a languid and sensual air, often portrayed in great intimacy, with one or both breasts opened and with hair and clothing casually displayed.

Utamaro san in his celebration of the beauty of the female body, represented something new in the Japanese cultural tradition. Until this age of townsman culture and establishment of the artistic theme of erotic love, the Japanese had devoted little attention to the human body, either male or female, as an object of beauty.

One of Utamaro san's contemporaries was a mysterious genius Toshusai Sharaku. He did mostly kabuki actors. The less-well-known sōsaku hanga movement, literally creative prints, followed a Western concept of what art should be: the product of the creativity of the artists, creativity over artisanship.

Traditionally, the processes of making ukiyo-e — the design, carving, printing, and publishing — were separated and done by different and highly specialized people (as was also traditionally the case with Western woodcuts. Sōsaku hanga advocated that the artist should be involved in all stages of production.

The movement was formally established with the formation of the Japanese Creative Print Society in 1918, however, it was commercially less successful, as Western collectors preferred the more traditionally Japanese look of shin hanga.

Ukiyo-e are still produced today and are influential in many ways, inspiring, for example, manga and anime.