Posted in Business, Food, Japan, Society on Apr 3rd, 2008 1 Comment »
In Japan, food is judged on its health properties, real or imagined, and fads of such foods are fed by media frenzy. It is only a short time ago that all Japanese were eating blueberries for better eyesight and natto to slim down. Drinks, especially of the sort sold in 350 or 500 cc pet […]
Posted in Architecture, Art, Business, Food, Japan, Museums, Photography, Web on Mar 31st, 2008 No Comments »
Japan Newbie has a nice piece on a kushikatsu restaurant in Juuso, Osaka, run by an elderly couple. The cook wears berets and the wife is extremely forgetful, but the taste is great.
The New York Times features Mori Minoru of Roppongi Hills fame in The Builder Who Pushes Tokyo Into the Clouds. Yes, Mr Mori […]
Posted in Business, Culture, Food, Japan on Jan 13th, 2008 2 Comments »
Food crazes come and go in Japan, one after the other, sometimes many simultaneously, but the fervor for “black foods” is remarkably steady – it has already been with us for almost ten years. And indeed, black is better, as black foods often contain more anthocyanin (a type of polyphenol found in high concentrations in […]
Posted in Business, Culture, News, Society on Jan 11th, 2008 No Comments »
Japanese couples are spending themselves silly again on weddings. Couples that held a wedding reception in 2007 spent an average 3.4 million yen, an increase of about 200,000 yen compared to three years ago, as Asahi.com reports.
Japanese weddings have come a long way from the boring, standard affairs that were held in hotels in the […]
Posted in Business, Culture, Technology on Jan 10th, 2008 No Comments »
Rickshaws are something nostalgic, as on the picture below, and at the same time they fill me with a certain indefinable guilt, because of the contrast between the well-fed person (often a foreigner) in the backseat and the emaciated figure of the puller. This despite the fact that originally there was nothing colonial about the […]
Posted in Architecture, Business, Economy, Food, News, Society, Tokyo, Travel on Jan 7th, 2008 No Comments »
The British newspaper The Independent has undertaken a survey into the relative status of national (and regional) capitals. Tokyo scores fourth overall, behind London (surprise, the home ground of the newspaper), New York and Paris. It is therefore the capital of Asia!
But contenders are giving chase at high speed: Peking, Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong […]
Posted in Architecture, Business, Japan, Technology on Jan 6th, 2008 No Comments »
When I first saw elevator testing towers in Japan (one stands next to the Hankyu line between Osaka and Kyoto) I first wondered what these ungainly, eye-sore contraptions were for.
I found out years ago: they are for testing elevators and always stand inside an elevator factory of companies as Hitachi or Fujitec.
Mitsubishi Electric makes elevators […]
Posted in Business, Food, Japan, News on Jan 6th, 2008 No Comments »
Tsukiji, Tokyo’s famous fish market has held its first tuna auction of the New Year. This is always an opportunity for someone to show off his financial prowess by buying a fish caught in waters around Japan for an exorbitant prize.
This year the buyer was a Hong Kong-based sushi restaurant chain owner (!), an indication […]
Posted in Architecture, Art, Business, News, Society on Apr 20th, 2007 No Comments »
With sadness we note the passing of Clifton Karhu on March 24 at age 79, the great American-born blockprint artist who made Kyoto his home. Karhu’s prints are known for their strong lines and vivid colors and his themes pay tribute to the beauty of Japan’s old capital. Norman Tolman, founder of the Tolman Collection […]
