McDonald's Japan To Raise Prices On Hamburgers and Other Items

Above, McDonald's signage in Shibuya, Tokyo. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Over the years, I've heard many stories of couples visiting Japan and one or the other does not like sushi or other Japanese delicacies and they opt instead for a McDonald's hamburger.

Well, those people will be paying a bit more for that hamburger as McDonald's Japan is going to raise prices.

According to the Japan News (Yomiuri Shimbun):

McDonald’s Company (Japan) Ltd. said Friday it will raise prices on hamburgers and other menu items on March 14 from ¥10 to ¥20 to counter factors that include the rising cost of raw materials.

The hike is in response to soaring prices of wheat, beef and other raw materials, as well as increasing costs for labor and transportation.

It will be the first price hike on burgers for McDonald’s Japan since October 2019, when consumption tax went up to 10%.

 To read more, go here.

Ten Years of "The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan"

It is hard to believe that it was ten years ago this month that The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan was published by ComiXpress.

ComiXpress is no longer in business and I was planning to publish an updated edition, but my move to New Mexico and my heart attack two summers ago put a delay into those plans. I will eventually do so, as it is my intention.

I am pleased how it sold and the press it received. The Japanese press gave it some great coverage.

Above, from the Daily Yomiuri in Japan.

Above, from Metropolis magazine (Tokyo).

A few months after publication, this promo video was created:




Then, a few months later, Monster Madhouse/Karlos Borloff, posted this video (featuring the late Vixxa Violet):




Copies are still available. Go to the links on this page.

Daily Yomiuri Article: "Most Liked" Photo of 2011

Above, the "most liked" photo of 2011 on Facebook.

Leave it to Facebook to post reminders of events and things gone by.

They reminded me that nine years ago that a post I made in 2011 was the "most liked" photo of that year.

I was a photo of me taken by the Daily Yomiuri at the Godzilla statue in Hibiya Chanter Square for their article of December 24, 2010 about The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan.

I made the trip to Japan to promote the travel guide and was interview by several Japanese newspapers.

The Japan News To Be Given A Renovation For 60th Anniversary

Above, the Japan News article on The Monster Movie Fan's Guide
 To Japan when it was called the Daily Yomiuri in 2011.

The Japan News, the English-language newspaper (and website) of the Yomiuri Shimbun, will be celebrating its 60th anniversary next month. To celebrate, they are giving the paper a face-lift.

According to their website:

The Japan News, the English-language daily newspaper published by The Yomiuri Shimbun, will commemorate its 60th anniversary on April 1. To mark this occasion, the pages and content of The Japan News will be improved to bring you an even better reading experience. We will carry more in-depth and insightful commentary and analysis articles, start new Japanese cuisine and tourism sections, and launch kabuki and sumo columns written by reporters specializing in these fields.

To read more, go here.

Facts and Details: Godzilla

Above, Yuu Asakura with "The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan."  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I've posted about this website before (two years ago), but it merits a revisit.

Facts and Details.com has a special page set up on Godzilla. The title of it is somewhat odd, "GODZILLA: HER STORY, HER FILMS AND HOLLYWOOD'S TACKY REMAKE." It is rather curious about the "her" part of it, especially since the contents refer to Godzilla as "he" and "him."

The page goes through the history of Godzilla and the numerous incarnations of the character. The page includes links to various websites and resources for those who want to delve deeper.

They also devote much space to the movies (early and later ones), actors, the 1998 American debacle, the tokusatsu filming techniques, Godzilla Guidebook and Museum Exhibits and much more. The guidebook they focus on is my travel guide for kaiju fans, The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan and the space devoted to it is quite generous. Here, they include quotes from my 2010 interview with Tom Baker of The Daily Yomiuri.

The site was set up in 2009 by Jeffrey Hayes and updated in January 2013.

To view the site, go here.

Cheap O Air's "Tokyo's Beautiful City Parks"

Above, the Godzilla statue in Hibiya.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

One of the attractions Godzilla fans flock to is the Godzilla statue in Hibiya, Tokyo.

Following the end of the second series (known among fans as the "Heisei Series") with Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1985), the statue was erected to celebrate the "King of the Monsters."

Cheap O Air Travel Blog post an article on "Tokyo's Beautiful City Parks." Included in the article are Ueno Park (used in Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster in 1964), Tokyo Tower and Shiba Park. The article ends with "Paying Homage To Godzilla" at the Godzilla statue in Hibiya.

The article begins with:

It is astonishing that Tokyo, a busy cacophony of a city, which is home to 13 million people, has some of the most pristine, immaculately-kept city parks. The Japanese dedication to efficiency and cleanliness is on full-display when walking its city parks. With flights to Tokyo, visitors can find themselves in one of the world's most visually enticing, culturally dynamic capitals, and with Tokyo's parks offering green patches of respite where you can enjoy museums, sweet potato ice cream, cherry blossoms – of course – and pay respect to Godzilla.

Above, yours truly with the Godzilla statue in the Daily Yomiuri. 

I've been to the Godzilla statue in Hibiya several times. The first was in 2001 where I met up there with fellow G-fan Richard Pusateri and most recently in 2010 when I was interviewed and photographed with the statue for The Daily Yomiuri article about The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan (the guide spotlights the statue in the Tokyo section). There's a man-sized Godzilla statue at the entrance to Toho Studios in Setagaya.

To read the Cheap O Air Travel Blog's story, go here.

The Daily Yomiuri Is Now The Japan News

The Yomiuri Shimbun's English edition, The Daily Yomiuri, is now The Japan News.

The changeover took place today.  According to their managing editor:

Today the English-language newspaper published by The Yomiuri Shimbun starts anew under the name of The Japan News. 

Amid Japan's declining international presence, the nation is facing a challenge over its ability to communicate information and knowledge about itself to the world. 

With the world's largest circulation, nearly 10 million daily, The Yomiuri Shimbun is Japan's most influential newspaper. We will be more active than before in conveying news and opinion pieces about Japan based on The Yomiuri Shimbun's nationwide news-gathering network in our pursuit of enhancing knowledge and understanding of Japan overseas. We consider this to be a social mission of The Japan News, the only English-language daily published by a national newspaper in Japan.

The Daily Yomiuri interviewed me while I was in Japan about The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan and the article appeared on December 24, 2010 (below).

To view The Japan News, go here.

Dollar Surges Above ¥90

The good news continues in relation to the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen.

Jiji Press reports:

 Tokyo, Jan. 18 (Jiji Press)--The dollar surged above the 90-yen threshold for the first time in about 31 months in Tokyo trading on Friday, on the back of speculation about additional monetary easing by the Bank of Japan.

At 5:00 PM today (Japan time), the dollar was quoted at 90.02-02 yen.  This will help Japanese tourism as it makes a Japan vacation more attractive to American tourists.

In a related article, The Daily Yomiuri reports:

A desirable exchange rate between the yen and the U.S. dollar would be 95-105 yen to the dollar, Fujio Mitarai, former chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), said in an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun. 

"If the yen-dollar exchange rate stayed around 100 yen, give or take about 5 yen, it would provide the nation with a good balance of imports and exports," Mitarai said. "As a cheaper yen increases import costs, it makes it possible for companies to maintain competitiveness in exports."

JATA To Vet Tour Agents

Above, Shibuya Crossing.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Daily Yomiuri posted that a new certification system for travel agents will be started.

They wrote:

The Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) plans to launch a certification system for travel agents that arrange domestic tours for foreign tourists in a bid to squeeze out rogue operators and attract more visitors, according to sources. 

The association plans to decide details of the system this year and adopt it in April, the sources said. 

The system is designed to exclude rogue agents that force tourists to buy expensive items at certain shops.  

By enhancing tour quality, the association hopes more tourists will visit Japan repeatedly. 

To read the full article, go here. 

Japan Tourism Tidbits

Above, the Godzilla statue at Toho Studios.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Here's a couple of tidbits on Japan tourism.

The first comes from the Daily Yomiuri:

The government is hoping to attract more tourists by seizing the chance to promote Japan at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group in Tokyo from Tuesday. 

With the public and private sector acting together, the government aims to showcase the attractiveness of the nation's culture through various kinds of events. 

It also hopes such activities will lead to hosting more international meetings in the future, at a time when many countries have campaigns to attract similar gatherings.

The government also aims to restore the image of Japan, which was damaged following the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent disasters. 

The second comes from The Star Online:

ARGUABLY one of the most “committed” group of fans must be those devoted to Hello Kitty! If you are one of them, this will be real good news: it’s now possible to have the feline as your virtual tour guide when you visit Japan. 

The “Visit Japan with HELLO KITTY” application is now available at visitjapanapp.jp for iPhone users (downloadable till March 31, 2013). 

Once you’ve got it on your device, the kawaii (cute) feline – in a collection of more than 50 regional Hello Kitty in different themes, costumes or backgrounds – will guide you around Japan. As the application is also equipped with camera functions, visitors can take photos “with her” at the various places of attractions.

Could a "Hello Godzilla" application be far behind?  Until then, fans will have to settle for the ebook edition of The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan.

JR East To Provide Wi-Fi Services Starting October 1

There's some good news for foreign travelers to Japan with laptop computers or tablet devices.

The Daily Yomiuri reports:

East Japan Railway Co. announced it will begin providing free public Wi-Fi services from Oct. 1 to provide greater Internet access for foreigners visiting Japan. 

The company, known as JR East, said it decided to set up the free wireless Internet service in response to popular demand for increased Internet accessibility. 

The service will be made available via JR East's Travel Service Center in Tokyo Station, and other such centers at Haneda Airport International Terminal Station and Narita Airport starting Oct. 1. The service will also be accessible from 13 JR East stations including Tokyo, Shinjuku and Akihabara.

This will come in handy for those monster fans in Japan who want to access the Amazon Kindle edition of The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan to visit those monster locations and landmarks shown in the movies.

To read the full article, go here.

The Daily Yomiuri: Setting The Stage

Above, Yokohama harbor, featured in two Godzilla movies.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

An interesting article caught my attention, especially so since I have long been advocating similar things for kaiju fans.

The Daily Yomiuri posted:

OSAKA--Some local towns are turning to a new attraction as they seek to energize their communities and bring in visitors--anime and manga.

Towns across Japan are holding unique anime events and offering tours to locations that provided the settings--"sacred sites" to diehard fans--for popular manga in the hope that they can entice more tourists and give their local economy a shot in the arm.

One prime example is "ufotable CINEMA," which opened in Tokushima in March as a theater for anime fans. The cinema is operated by Tokyo-based anime production firm, ufotable Inc.

The Japanese tourism industry should organize "kaiju events" based on science-fiction and fantasy movies of the past 58 years similar to the ones described for manga and anime fans. They can be staged in localities that were featured in the films.

Fans can still organize their own tours by using The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan.

To read the full article, go here.

"TOKUSATSU--Special Effects Museum"

A new exhibit on tokusatsu miniatures is opening in Tokyo on July 10.

The Daily Yomiuri reported:

For decades, children have been enthralled by science fiction and superhero films and TV series, such as Godzilla, Ultraman, Gamera and Chikyu Boeigun (Global defense force), which are produced using "tokusatsu," a Japanese special effect that involves filming miniatures.

This technique will be showcased in the exhibition, TOKUSATSU--Special Effects Museum, which will open Tuesday in Tokyo.

Hideaki Anno, 52, who directed the anime series Evangelion, is the exhibition's curator.

Anno took up this role because he loved tokusatsu movies as a child. Before his professional debut, he directed and acted in the amateur film Kaettekita Ultraman (Ultraman Returns). He wanted to create the exhibition to draw attention to tokusatsu, which is suffering due to the popularity of more advanced methods of filming special effects.

"Tokusatsu is being replaced by computer graphics, which means the filming technique using miniatures is in decline," Anno said.

His concern is backed by the loss and destruction of miniatures that were made for older films and TV series.

"The miniatures are only used when the movies and TV series are filmed." Anno said. "So they are not repaired when they break, and some are simply thrown away."

He created the exhibition based on his fear that it could be the last opportunity to collect a vast array of miniatures.

The exhibit features about 500 items used in the filming of tokusatsu movies and TV series that had a huge influence on Anno.

"TOKUSATSU--Special Effects Museum"runs from July 10 through Oct. 8 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo in Koto Ward. Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Closed July 9, 17, 23, and 30; Aug. 6 and 27; and Sept. 3, 10 and 18.

Admission: 1,400 yen for adults, 900 yen for middle and high school students, 400 yen for primary school students and free for younger children.

To read more, go here.

Japan's May Tourism Numbers Up 87%

Above, Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

There is more good news on the status of Japan's tourism industry.

The Daily Yomiuri reports:

The number of people visiting Japan in May shot up 87 percent from a year before to 669,000, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said. 

The surge reflects a sharp rebound from the fall a year earlier in the wake of the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami and the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

To read the full article, go here.

Attracting More Tourists To Japan

Above, the Wako Department Store in Ginza, Tokyo.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Daily Yomiuri has posted an editorial on beefing up tourism to Japan:

Brainstorm to attract more tourists to Japan

In the editorial they wrote:

We hope the government and the private sector will make concerted efforts to convey to the world the appeal of Japan as a tourist destination. 

For the first time in five years, the government has developed a new master plan to boost the nation's tourism. The new Tourism Nation Promotion Basic Plan contains various policy targets to be achieved over five years from fiscal 2012. 

The number of foreign visitors to Japan--both tourists and businesspeople--reached a record 8.61 million in 2010, but the number plummeted to 6.22 million in 2011 due to the Great East Japan Earthquake and the subsequent nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. 

The numbers are alarming--the 2010 figure only ranked 30th in the world. In Asia, Japan lags far behind China, which recorded 55.66 million tourists in 2010, the third-largest number in the world. Japan also trails such countries as Singapore and South Korea.

The comparison of numbers between tourists to China and Japan are indeed "alarming."  After all, Japan is a first-world constitutional monarchy, whereas, China is still a communist dictatorship.  It is also hard to fathom why Japan also lags behind Singapore and South Korea in foreign tourism.

The editorial goes on with suggestions:

Tell the world Japan is safe to visit. 

First of all, the government and the public sector need to actively convey information to the world to dispel the false idea that travel to Japan is dangerous.

Prepare unique tourism plans.

 Of course, tourist destinations also need to rack their brains to find ways to make themselves more appealing. Measures to boost local tourism led by prefectural and municipal governments often end up creating duplicate facilities or hosting events similar to those already available elsewhere in the nation.

Even before this editorial appeared, it has been evident that the Japanese government is getting serious about  boosting tourism to the country (getting the foreign exchange rates more favorable to foreign tourists would be a big help).  Perhaps the silver lining of the Great East Japan Earthquake is that it woke up the government to (finally)  take action.

To read the full editorial, go here.

More On Yasuyuki Inoue's Passing

Left, Yasuyuki Inoue in Hollywood in 2004. Photo by Brett Homenick.

When word got out in fan circles that Yasuyuki Inoue had passed away, I emailed Tom Baker at The Daily Yomiuri in Japan to see if he had any additional information.




I received this reply today:

Dear Armand:

Sorry for the slow reply to your message. I just checked the Yomiuri database and was mildly surprised to see that the paper ran nothing about Yasuyuki Inoue's death. But then I did a Japanese Google news search (results here: http://bit.ly/wZW59n) and saw that the Jiji wire service, the Sankei Sports newspaper and the Nikkei Shimbun each had an item on it -- but each of the items is only two or three sentences long.

Basically, they say that he was a Fukuoka Prefecture native who died in Kanagawa Prefecture of heart failure at the age of 89. They also mention a couple of the movies he was involved in.

His Japanese Wikipedia entry has been updated to show that he died on Feb. 19. http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%95%E4%B8%8A%E6%B3%B0%E5%B9%B8

Yours,
Tom

I sent this reply:

Tom:

Thanks! You may want to go to YouTube to check out a video featuring Inoue entitled, "Bringing Godzilla Down To Size." It is well done and Inoue demonstrates a volcanic special effect technique.

Best,

Armand.

Seesaa.jp Picks Up Daily Yomiuri Article On "The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan"

Above, the article as it appeared in The Daily Yomiuri's print edition.

Seesaa.jp has picked up the link to The Daily Yomiuri's article on The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan, "A Look Around Godzilla's Old Stomping Ground" from last December 24.

This article was from an interview taken in Hibiya, Tokyo by The Daily Yomiuri while I was in Japan.

To view the site, go here.

Monster Japan Travel Guide Featured in Facts and Details

Above, Miki Hayashi with "The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan is prominently mentioned in Facts and Details's page on Godzilla. My interview with The Daily Yomiuri is extensively quoted.

Also included is a photo of the premiere of Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-out Attack (2001) that I took.

It is interesting that Godzilla is referred to as "her."

Facts and Details is run by Jeff Hays, who describes himself:

I am a teacher and writer currently living in Saga, Japan. I was born in the Mojave Desert in California and brought up mostly in Reston Virginia, in the Washington D.C. suburbs. I graduated from Wesleyan University in 1979 and later took courses to be a high school teacher. Over the years I wrote about rock music and had some pieces published in the Washington Post, the NME, The Face and other publications, wrote a guide about sports in the Washington D.C. area, worked construction, did a stint as bike messenger in D.C. but mostly I have worked overseas as an English teacher—at an elementary school in Istanbul, language institutes and a university in South Korea, as a freelancer in Barcelona and for the last 10 years or so running my own little informal school in Japan. Being an English teacher is not a very high status job but it does allow one to travel around and has given me ample free time to pursue the website project that you see here.

There is a misquote. It was posted: "One place he didn’t visit, Vaquer told The Daily Yomiuri, was New York City, dismissing the monster in the 1998 U.S. film as GINO ("Godzilla In Name Only")." During The Daily Yomiuri interview, it was discussed that New York City wasn't included in the travel guide since it was only for locations in Japan. Fans are aware that the real (Japanese) Godzilla did pay a visit to New York City in Destroy All Monsters.

To view the site, go here.

Yen Still Rising Against The Dollar

It appears that the intervention by Japan did nothing to stop the continuing rise of the yen against the U.S. dollar.

The Daily Yomiuri posted this on Twitter this morning:

Yen still climbing in Tokyo today. Dollar being quoted at 76.75-80 yen a few minutes ago at 4:09 p.m.

This does have a silver lining.

If members of G-TOUR 2 didn't spend all of their money on the tour, they will be able to buy back more dollars when they exchange their yen before heading home.

The Daily Yomiuri $ ¥ Charts

Regular readers know that I've been following the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and Japanese yen.

The Daily Yomiuri has posted tracking charts on the dollar-yen exchange on their website. They are quite interesting to see.

To see the charts, go here.