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| Above, new sign. From NHK World video. |
The Japan Tourism Agency has devised guidelines to improve signboards and make them easier to understand for foreign visitors.
Tourism officials are trying to turn Japan into a more tourist-friendly country by enhancing explanations of facilities and places in foreign languages.
The draft guidelines say names of facilities, such as parks and museums, will be translated. For example, "Hibiya Koen" will become "Hibiya Park."To read more, go here.
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| Above, a view of Kyoto from Kiyomizu-dera. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
The best way to get free Wi-Fi in Kyoto is to stay in a Wi-Fi hostel or hotel. After a big day out, you can relax in your pajamas while catching up with friends from home or uploading your photos, leaving your day free to go sightseeing.From there, the article provides information to places with free Wi-Fi, including links.
Over the years, the term “otaku” has, as well as being accepted into the English language, come to mean not just computer or anime fanatics locked away in their bedrooms, but any person who shows above-average fondness for any given hobby or pastime. Crazy about pop idols? You’re an otaku. Can’t get enough cosplay in your life? Same for you. Have a collection of video games so large that your friends casually refer to your house as “the library”? You’d better believe you’re an otaku.
But is your passion for your hobby so great that you would willingly choose it over love and romance? A recent survey asked a group of otaku that very question, and found that 70.1 percent of them said they’d shun love in favour of their hobby if it came down to it.To read more, go here.
Aviation fans in Japan have rushed to get a seat on the Boeing 747's final domestic flight scheduled for March 31st.
All Nippon Airways said all the tickets were sold shortly after it began accepting reservations on Friday morning for the flight from Naha Airport in Okinawa Prefecture to Tokyo's Haneda Airport.All Nippon Airways (ANA) is quitting the use of the 747 due to its age and low fuel-efficiency.
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| Above, the National Diet Building in Tokyo where the NHK chairman will be grilled Friday. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
TOKYO —Japan’s public broadcaster was defending itself Friday over claims of political interference in its coverage of the Tokyo governor election, as its chief readied for a Diet grilling over his comments on “comfort women”.
Publicly-funded NHK admitted it had asked an academic to avoid talking about nuclear power during his radio slot ahead of next month’s election, which is effectively a contest between a candidate backed by the pro-nuclear government, and a former premier who wants all of Japan’s reactors permanently shuttered.
But the broadcaster said Friday it had only done so because it was not able to book a pro-nuclear guest to balance professor Toru Nakakita’s opinion.
The furor comes as the corporation’s new chairman is embroiled in a row over comments he made at his first press conference, when he claimed the system of sexual slavery used by Japan’s imperial army in World War II was “common in any country at war”.
Critics say the view—which finds echoes among supporters of right wing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe—makes him unfit to lead an organization that should uphold the highest standards of truth in its journalism.
Katsuto Momii is due to face a Diet committee later Friday over his comments.To read the full story, go here.
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| Above, Ginza's Mitsukoshi Dept. Store advertising Ginza Sweets Collection 2014. Photo courtesy of AngloInfo Tokyo. |
14 February 2014
Event: Valentine’s Day
Location: All over Japan
The tradition in Japan is for the girls to give chocolates to the boys. The favour is returned to the girls on a special day called White Day, which is celebrated a month later on March 14th.I thought this explanation was right to the point.
21.50 USD = 12.6739 GBPSo, if you are from the United Kingdom, this would be the total amount.
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| Above, remnants of the Urakami Prison can still be seen at Nagasaki's Peace Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
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| Above, Urakami Prison building foundation ruins can be seen from both sides of the walkway to the Peace Statue at Nagasaki's Peace Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
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| Above, U.S. Senate candidate Matt Bevin. Photo by Matt Bevin campaign. |
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| Above, the Matsushima Bay waterfront with Godaido Temple in backround. |
Japan is attracting all of the attention when it comes to Google Street View — the service that provides 360-degree images of locations, landmarks and cities — in Asia. That’s according to data released by Google for the first time today.
Now with nine countries from Asia on the service, the Internet giant has tracked global traffic to Street View in the region. The findings overwhelmingly show that Japanese places are drawing more eyeballs than anywhere else in the continent.Near Sendai is Matsushima, one of my favorite areas of Japan. For this blog post, I did a Street View of Matsushima Bay with the Godaido Temple in the background (I visited Godaido in 2006). Street View is easy to use (I used the Japanese site for the Matsushima picture and it was still easy to use, despite not knowing Japanese), so give it a try.
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| Above, Kansai International Airport. Photo by NASA Earth Observatory. |
OSAKA, Jan. 28, Kyodo
Kansai International Airport will offer from Sunday a "VIP service" for escorting a departing traveler for check-in and through security and immigration checks to the departure gate for 20,000 yen ($195), excluding tax, the operator of the Osaka airport said Monday.
An airport employee will meet the passenger at the curbside for those arriving by vehicle or at the exit ticket gate of the railway service. The passenger will be assisted through immigration, wait for the flight at a dedicated lounge and be sent off at the departure gate, New Kansai International Airport Co. said.
Mainly targeting business travelers, the company said the charge for two people totals 30,000 yen. Reservations are necessary and accepted by phone (072-455-2888) and e-mail (kixvipservice@kaakix.co.jp).
An arrival service is also offered for 5,000 yen per person for escorting a passenger from one of the two post-immigration arrival exits at the international section or the exit at the domestic flight arrival area to the curbside area or the train ticket gate.
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| Above, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
The infrastructure ministry started work Wednesday in Hiroshima to replace signs that bear Japanese names for streets in Roman letters with new ones with English equivalents, as part of its efforts to make signs across Japan easier to understand for foreign visitors.
A signpost for "Rijo-dori" at the center of the western Japan city read "Rijo dori Ave." Wednesday morning.
The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry is also scheduled to change "Heiwa odori Ave.," a main street in Hiroshima, into "Peace Boulevard." A total of 58 signposts in Hiroshima Prefecture will be replaced by the end of March.To read more, go here.
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| Above, Osaka Castle. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
The Osaka Government Tourism Bureau will start providing free Wi-Fi service for tourists from Jan. 29 throughout the prefecture at such locations as tourist attractions, hotels, restaurants and on public transportation, it announced on Jan. 28.
The goal is to provide useful information for visitors to the city and allow them to share their travel experiences online.
The "Osaka Free Wi-Fi" service will be available in about 44 locations (163 access points) when it first launches. That number is scheduled to increase to 3,000 locations (8,000 access points) by December 2014, with expansion expected to continue.
The Osaka Free Wi-Fi service is a collaborative effort by the Osaka prefectural government, the city of Osaka, the Kinki District Transport Bureau of the land ministry, NTT West Corp., NTT Broadband Platform Inc. and other public and private-sector organizations.
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| Above, King Kong vs. Godzilla. Photo by Toho Co., Ltd. |
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| Above, travelers entering the expressway stop's main building. Photos from a video by Armand Vaquer. |
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| Above, one needn't have to go inside the expressway stop for food. This one had a convenient food vendor outside. |
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| Above, a Kirin beer vending machine at Toho Sound Studio in Setagaya. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
When planning a night of overindulgence, it’s important to know what you’re up against. In this case (as in most cases) your enemy is expensive prices. So I’ll lay it out: generally speaking the average cost of a beer in Tokyo is around ¥600 and the average mixed drink is around ¥800. On their own, these prices aren’t too bad, but knowing you (or rather, knowing me), you’re not gonna have just one drink.
So what’s a broke-ass who wants to get drunk supposed to do? Drink in the streets! It’s totally legal in Japan to drink pretty much everywhere, so your best bet is to go to any of the many convenience stores that seem to be everywhere and buy a chu-hi. A chu-hi is a can of shochu mixed with some kind of citrus carbonated water. The combination is so good that a chu-hi ‘strong’ (which are around 8% abv), tastes like a refreshing soda. Because of this it’s important to pace yourself. You do eventually want to make it into a bar, don’t you? Keep your eyes peeled for vending machines that serve booze. Unfortunately they are harder to find now than they used to be.The photo at top shows were one can buy a beer at a vending machine in Setagaya. Down the hatch!
Though not something we usually think about in our day-to-day lives, toilets are actually kind of awesome. In addition to the wonderful sewer systems that keep our living environments clean and us healthy, the toilet can be a magical place of undisturbed tranquility. Jun’ichio Tanizaki even dedicated a significant portion of In Praise of Shadows, a landmark essay about Japanese aesthetics, to why he thought Japanese bathrooms were so great.
Tanizaki’s writing was published over 80 years ago and things have changed a lot since then–but Japanese toilets can still be awesome. Or least pretty funny. Here are 19 of the best toilet photos tweeted in Japan!To see the photos, go here.
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| Above, the McDonald's golden arches are prominent in this Shibuya street view. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
TOKYO -- The Golden Arches are about to turn silver in Japan.
Starbucks Coffee Japan Ltd. is set to overtake McDonald's Holdings Japan in terms of domestic earnings.
Pretax profits at Starbucks Japan are expected to hit an all-time high for the third straight year in fiscal 2013, which ends in March.
The Japanese unit of U.S. coffee giant is heading for top spot in the restaurant and food service industry for the first time since it moved into Japan in 1995.To read the full story, go here.
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| Above, the Yamanote Line in Tokyo. Photo from a video by Armand Vaquer. |
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| Above, Shibuya Station. The article says there's plenty of bars to hang out in near the station and there's no closing time law. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Instead of curling up in a corner and crying your eyes out until public transportation will take your sorry ass back home, spend the train downtime wisely. Tokyo's trains shut down between midnight and 1 a.m. (depending on the line), but the city doesn't just pack up and wait for shit to start running again (around 4 a.m.).Hachiko even gets a mention in the article, too!
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| Above, a view of Yokohama from the Landmark Tower. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
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| Above, a Goodyear blimp in Carson, California. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
THE PENTAGON -- The Pentagon has discovered a gap in the defenses of Washington, D.C., and it's about to test a solution.
But depending on your point of view, the solution is either vital for national security or a threat to American privacy.
Starting this fall, two blimps will float at 10,000 feet over the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland in an attempt to develop a defense for the nation's capital against cruise missiles fired from ships offshore.My friend is a blimp fan and he'd love to see a lot of blimps floating around. Maybe the Pentagon will accommodate him?
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| Above, the Atomic Dome. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
The Hiroshima municipal government has decided to reinforce the Atomic Bomb Dome, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, to cope with possible strong earthquakes.
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| Above, Narita International Airport's Terminal One departure gate lobby. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Japan's transport ministry has decided to ease its restrictions on liquid and gel carry-on items for travelers on connecting flights from abroad in line with a global trend to relax baggage controls, ministry sources said Friday.
The restrictions have been in place in airports worldwide due to heightened security for international flights after a foiled terrorist plot in 2006 to blow up a number of aircraft flying from Britain to the United States.
Japan's change in policy for liquid and gel-like carry-on items, such as wine and lotion, will come into force Jan. 31, the sources said.I usually limit my carry-on baggage to two items, my laptop and my camera bag, so this has never been a problem for me. Everything else is checked in to my big suitcase (that I dub "The Monolith").
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| Above, a view of the Sea of Japan from Niigata. Or is it the East Sea? Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Washington, Jan. 22 (Jiji Press)--The United States continues to refer the body of water between Japan and South Korea as the Sea of Japan, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Wednesday.
"The U.S. Government uses names decided by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, a well-named board. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names' standard name for that body of water is the Sea of Japan," she told a news conference.
South Korea demands that the name be changed to the East Sea.This came about when the Virginia Senate's Education and Health Committee passed legislation that requires all public school textbooks in Virginia to identify the waters as the Sea of Japan and East Sea. The article states that many Korean Americans live in Virginia.
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| Above, the Godzilla statue at Toho Studios. The Japan Daily didn't pick up the Godzilla story, but here's a picture of the Big G anyway. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
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| Above, the Hibiya Godzilla statue. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Following are our predictions and analysis for the Top Three biggest flops of 2014, in order of magnitude (net loss):Furrier neglects to factor the 1985 dollars and adjust them to inflation when it comes to Godzilla 1985. Plus, the studio who produced and distributed it paid relatively a paltry sum. So, $4 million in 1985 dollars was not that bad a return.
1)Godzilla. Hands down, “Godzilla” will be the biggest box office bomb of 2014. Godzilla as a character is box office poison. The fact is the last 3 Godzilla movies released domestically have flopped: “Godzilla 1985” made $4M; “Godzilla 2000” made a whopping $10M and the last attempt at a Hollywood-style big budget remake, also called “Godzilla” bombed so bad that its lead toy licensee went bankrupt. Had the movie made a profit the studio wouldn’t have just let the rights expire in 2003 without even attempting a reboot or sequel. They had 5 years to make a new film based on this property yet they passed. Think about it—Sony, the studio that greenlights sequels to most anything—”Resident Evil 6″ is on the horizon and don’t forget about “Underworld 5″—walked away from investing another cent in Godzilla.
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| Above, the Godzilla statue at the main entrance of Toho Studios. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
It's been almost 60 years since the celluloid monster, awoken and empowered by radiation, first ravaged Tokyo. With a U.S. reboot scheduled to be released worldwide this summer, we examine the shifting views of the savage beast over time.To read the full article, go here.
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| Above, a television set in a ryokan. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
There are certain things almost everyone who moves to Japan seems to like. The food? Tasty and healthy. Public transportation? Clean and punctual. But Japanese TV? Let’s just say there’s a reason Internet access is one of the first things new arrivals in the country look to outfit their apartments with.
It turns out this lukewarm reaction to the country’s programming isn’t just a foreigner thing, either, as some 75 percent of Japanese citizens polled by the Asashi Shimbun newspaper also said that TV has become boring. Today we look at why.To read the full article, go here.
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| Above, a cleaning crew waits to begin preparing a shinkansen train for the next scheduled run. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Coming from abroad to live in Japan, there’s a lot to love–and there’s a lot to be frustrated about as well. One thing that nearly everyone loves about Japan though is the trains! With many of us coming from rural areas where you either drive or walk, being able to hop on a train pretty much any time anywhere can sometimes feel nearly miraculous. Tired? Distracted? Had too much to drink? Raining? None of that matters, because you’re on a train!
And we’re not the only ones who think so either. Today we’ve compiled a list of foreign residents’ favorite things about trains in Japan. Check them out and see if your favorites made the list!To see the article, go here.
You can experience Legendary’s GODZILLA before it hits theaters in the all-new graphic novel ‘Godzilla: Awakening’, on sale May 7th Get all the info here:
http://bit.ly/GZAwakening
Co-written by Greg Borenstein and Max Borenstein (screenwriter of the forthcoming movie), this epic adventure, set decades before the film, is the perfect way for fans to experience the new Godzilla before seeing it in theaters.
Every year, thousands of young native English-speakers fly to Asia in search of an adventure, financed by working as English teachers. They come from Australia, New Zealand, the U.S., Britain, Canada and elsewhere.
But it can be risky leaping into another country on the promise of an “easy” job. In Japan’s competitive English teaching market, foreign language instructors are treading water. “Subcontractor” teachers at corporate giant Gaba fight in the courts to be recognized as employees. Berlitz instructors become embroiled in a four-year industrial dispute, complete with strikes and legal action. Known locally as eikaiwa, “conversation schools” across the country have slashed benefits and reduced wages, forcing teachers to work longer hours, split-shifts and multiple jobs just to make ends meet.I remember the uproar when the biggest eikaiwa, Nova, collapsed and left hundreds of foreign teachers stranded in Japan back in 2007. When the collapse started, teachers didn't get paid on time or not paid at all. It was one big mess.
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| Above, my first lunch pail was one of these. This one is now being offered on eBay. |
It's 60 years since the world's first nuclear-powered submarine was launched. The USS Nautilus was the first "true" submarine as it did not need to be refuelled and could remain submerged for months. So what was it like living on it?When I was a kid, I was a big submarine fanatic. I had books on them and some of my favorite television shows included Silent Service and Voyage To The Bottom of the Sea. Both featuring submarines. The BBC article on the USS Nautilus reminded me of my first lunch pail (they are called lunch boxes now, but back then they were made of metal, so pail was appropriate) which was of, naturally, submarines. According to current offerings on eBay, the lunch pail depicted the USS Seawolf and the USS George Washington.
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| Above, a Starbucks in Ginza, Tokyo. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Tottori Prefecture, the final frontier. It may sound strange, but when it comes to Starbucks, Tottori is uncharted territory and the only prefecture in all of Japan without a Starbucks location. That will all change soon as the coffee giant plans to open a new store somewhere within the small prefecture’s borders by March 2015.
With the largest population of elderly folks in all of Japan, it might seem natural that Tottori went without a Starbucks for so long. However, you might be surprised to find that there are places in Tokyo that have yet to see the familiar green and white mermaid.For regular coffee, I prefer Tully's (the regular coffee at Starbucks tastes burnt to me, although I do like their hot cafe mochas). So, if I should ever go to Tottori Prefecture, at least there will be a Starbucks there in the future should I want a cafe mocha. Tully's has a good cafe mocha as well, by the way.
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| Above, a shot of the offending ANA ad. |
Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways says it is modifying a TV commercial after apologising to customers who complained it used racist stereotyping.
But the airline insists it meant no offence.
ANA started airing the new 30-second television advertisement on Saturday, aimed at promoting its beefed up schedule of international flights from Tokyo's Haneda airport in March.In the commercial, two Japanese men in ANA uniform discuss in English how they might boost the image of the airline as an international carrier.The ad doesn't bother me, but then I don't have blond hair or a "Mr. Mxyzptlk" nose.
One of them says: "Let's change the image of Japanese people."
"Sure," replies the other, who is now wearing a blonde wig and an improbably long rubber nose.
White westerners are often believed in Japan to have big noses, blue eyes and blonde hair, characteristics generally thought desirable among Japanese.
TOKYO —Japan’s largest carrier All Nippon Airways said on Tuesday it was pulling a TV advertisement featuring a Japanese actor in a large false nose and blonde wig after it was criticised online for having racist overtones.
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| Above, Adam "Batman" West at the 2012 Comikaze Expo. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
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| Above, Yvonne "Batgirl" Craig and Armand in 2005. |
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| Above, the cover of World's Finest Comics no. 163 by Curt Swan and George Klein. |
LOS ANGELES —Warner Bros pushed back the release date of the still untitled film that will bring together superheroes Superman and Batman, delaying it by almost a year to May 2016, the studio said on Friday.
The sequel to last year’s hit Superman film “Man of Steel” was revealed at the Comic-Con convention last July by director Zack Snyder, who said the two DC Comics’ caped crusaders will face off against each other.DC Entertainment is a division of Warner Bros.
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| Above, a Japanese ATM kiosk. Most of the world's ATMs will be vulnerable to attack due to the phaseout. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
More than 13 million personal computers in Japan will be exposed to higher risk of virus and other attacks starting in mid-April, experts warn.
These computers are still running the Windows XP operating system, which Microsoft Corp. will stop supporting entirely on April 9.
An estimated 7.23 million Windows XP-based PCs are still in use by companies, accounting for 20 percent of all PCs in Japan. Migration to newer operating systems, such as Windows 8.1, has been slow, especially at small and midsize firms, because managers are either unaware of the problem or want to avoid the cost of updating.Windows XP was introduced in 2001 (hard to believe it has been that long, since my now-discarded Acer laptop was bought in 2007).
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| Above, the Bandai Bridge in Niigata, Japan. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
You’ve come home from your trip and you’re looking through your photos, but they’re not as dynamic as the destination you’re remembering. Our photo experts and editors gathered a list of 14 tips for making those memories as good as those in your mind’s eye.If you are shutterbug as I am, you may want to take a look at the article so your future travel photos are much more dynamic.
