Lost In Translation

Little Matsui In The Big Apple

Kazuo Matsui, my favorite player from my favorite team, The Seibu Lions, is going to be playing for the Mets next year. I guess he's a Ozzie Smith type, fast and hits for average and has a good arm and good range. I like the Lions because they play in Saitama where I first lived when I came here, and the Giants are like the Yankees they buy all the best players and always win, so I hate them.

Fujisan

Here's a cool picture of Mt. Fuji I got from a friend.

Apple Store

Speaking of Ginza, I went there today to check out the new Apple Store, and found a bunch of stuff that I want to buy (speakers for my computer, travel speakers for the iPod, and and iPod battery pack). I'll definitely be back to get some stuff.

Ginza-fication of Harajuku

The Christain Dior brand store just opened up in Harajuku in line with what I am calling the "Ginza-fication" of the Harajuku district. Ginza is the ritziest shopping district in Tokyo, and Harajuku used to have an avenue full of open cafes and funky littles bars, but as rents have become cheaper a number of big name name brands have been buying up space and opening super stores. What a pity...

The Channel building is the former site of Perbacco, formerly my favorite cafe, the perfect place to people watch and eat excellent gelato and panini. Now no more.

Test Site

This is where I took the Japanese Proficiency Test, Takushoku University. It's just up the street from me, so I came home during the breaks. I won't get the results for a while, but I'm not expecting any miracles, I didn't have enough time to fill out all the blanks on more than half of the questions in the second part of the listening section, which I think I did well on, oh well, there's always next year. Here are some other pictures from a separate part of the campus where they teach their foreign exchange students (I noticed that they have an exchange program with Central Washignton University in Ellensber, WA).

Bob "The Beast" Sapp

Bob Sapp, a former University of Washington football player, is now a major celebrity in Japan and you can see him all over TV commercials and Ads. He wants to fight former Sumo champion Akebono in a K-1 bout. I think it could be a major mismatch with Akebono looking foolish. He was also trying to get a fight with Mike Tyson.

In The iPod: Furnace Room Lullaby by Neko Case

This is an old album by Neko Case, but I really loved Blacklisted, so I went out and got this one and have been listening to it non-stop. Neko used to date a friend from a group of friends of mine from college and I met her at a Halloween party oh so many years ago. There's a refernce to some of these friends (JP and Mary Jo) in "Thrice All American", my favorite song on the album. I also really like "South Tacoma Way."

No Mariners

japantoday > sport

BASEBALL
Yankees, Devil Rays Tokyo trip almost a lock

Thursday, December 4, 2003 at 05:03 JST
NEW YORK The New York Yankees are close to reaching an agreement to open next season with a two-game series against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in Tokyo, an Associated Press report said Tuesday.

This really sucks since one of my brother's friends had conacts within the Mariners' organization, I was supposed to be an unofficial Tokyo guide, but that damn unecessary war by Bush put a stop to that, and now it looks like they're going for the Tokyo boy ( Matsui) rather than Ichiro.

Develop Your Tarento!

I saw this place the other day in Harajuku, it seems to be a place where you can try out your skills as a TARENTO, which in Japanese pop culture is being famous for no particualr reason. For example, having big boobs or looking cute are popular talents. Some idol groups fall in this category with their nonexistant songwriting or instrumant playing abilites combined with unimpressive vocal stylings. See Morning Musume for example. Apparently they are preying on teenage girls' desire to be famous and cute, so for a fee they can get photos, advice, etc.

Over-employment

This is one of the three guards onsite at Atomi Gakuen's construction site where they are building some new classrooms, a collection of schools down the street from me. These guys guide construction traffic when needed, but really don't do much of anything all day long. I see them every morning and every afternoon when I return. There are thousands of these types of jobs in Japan. Women who push elevator buttons and announce floors in department stores. A lot of tedious employment for whoever wants it I suppose.