T - 415 hours

I sold my car in the US just over a month before coming to Japan and just a few days after the one year anniversary of when I last owned a car my parents picked up a new one for me. It is a bit strange to have bought a car that I have yet to see in person, but the deals and rebates ending June 30th were too good to pass up.

Road Mirrors

It's possible for the car navigation to direct me from a normal size two lane road onto a one lane, but still two way road without warning. In the photo below, taken out my windshield the road is so narrow that if oncoming traffic came I would have had to back down until a clearing to pull off the road was available. To make matters worse these roads are often in mountains terrain with constant corners. The solution is road mirrors that allow traffic in either direction to see oncoming traffic and prevent collisions.Because of their shape the image is mirrored making it appear as if approaching traffic is in your lane which can be confusing. On the route to Koyasan every corner had a mirror of this type which allowed some drivers to go faster, always taking the inside of the corner, and allowed less aggressive drivers like myself to prevent being trapped by the tour buses which were too long to turn the corners in one lane. It is common to see these mirrors in city intersections with poor visibility as well.

Pizza Advertisements

Early on I had a blog entry about a pizza advertisement and in the many months since then I still get a laugh out of the almost daily advertisements showing the amazing things that can top pizza in Japan.

Tofu Course Meal

On Saturday I went out for a 4600 yen tofu course meal with A (center) and M to say good bye to M. I don't love plain tofu, but depending on how it is prepared I think it can taste really delicious. I couldn't even keep track of how many courses we were served, but A had warned me not to eat lunch and to arrive extra hungry because it was going to be a lot of food.

The highlight was tofu that was prepared fresh at the table in the metal box with handles at the bottom of this photo.
When we arrived the container was filled with a liquid soy milk mixture and covered with a wooden lid, but a heating element under the box was used to solidify the mixture. While waiting for the fresh tofu to form we were served other items like breaded tofu fried on a hot rock.

Rebecca's Back

As further evidence that she is the greatest best friend I could ask for R is back in Japan. She will help me close out my time here and conveniently our flights home leave on the same day!With each guest and a worsening economy it has gotten easier to capture this 'arrival in Japan shot,' as fewer people are waiting for arriving passengers.

Japanese Women's Office Sandles

I previously mentioned my observations of Japanese lady's office wear in entries about Denji Boushi Aprons and Uniforms and after getting some more information about the footwear from A I wanted to expand on that. When I arrived for my assignment a pair of steel toe safety sneakers were ordered for me (I couldn't find a photo ugly enough to do them justice), I wear them when I attend a build which hasn't been very often. Many of the other women, including the OLs, have the same safety shoes but some also have sandals that they change into after arriving in the locker room each morning.
I had assumed that these sandals were part of the uniform, but A informed me that they are not uniform but only a preference. They are called "Nurse Shoes" (a katakana word so think English with Japanese intonation) and are meant to eliminate the strain of wearing heels.

Banana Splitting Hot

Now being the middle of rainy season dare not even crack a window while I am away at work which means that it gets hot in my apartment during the day. On Friday it was hot enough to damage a banana.

Dinner and The Wire

Almost every Wednesday for the past year M, L and I have eaten dinner together followed by an episode of The Wire. Last Wednesday we finished the 60th and final episode while eating ice cream cake with cherries for desert.

Duck House

On it's block this house stands out because of the color and shape. I am especially intrigued by the ducks sticking off the front.

Peaches

It is peach season in Japan. As a side note A also tells me that it is kiwi season, but I don't understand how that is possible given that kiwi are grown in New Zealand. I think what she actually means is that it is kiwi marketing season.

The peaches in the grocery store are prohibitively expensive, today when I checked the inexpensive ones were the equivalent of $4 for a package of two and the expensive ones are about $50 for a package about the size of a large shoe box.

Fortunately, there is a little stand along the walk from my office to the parking lot that just started selling peaches.
At the stand I was able to get 5 peaches for the equivalent of $3. While they are not quite ripe yet I couldn't resist having one for breakfast this morning. It was still a little hard, but the taste was great.The most fun part of the road side stand peaches is that I suspect they came from one of the orchards, with symmetrical trees, near the office.

Without an Oven

I am seriously confused as to how people are baking at home without an oven.

Scheduling Glitch

I don't actually have inspiration for something to write about every day, for me, it comes in spurts. To even out the flow and have something new up everyday I count on blogger to take care of scheduled posts. This week my strategy failed when blogger stopped publishing my scheduled posts.

Manhole Covers 13

Under the Rail Road Track

A few stations up at Fujigaoka the subway starts to run above ground and under the track a multitude of restaurants have built up. Wont it be a noisy place to try and enjoy a meal?

Battery Recycling in Japan

As I blogged about in the past recycling is not optional in Japan. I take out more plastic recycling each week than any other type of rubbish. When some batteries died I was shocked to be informed by the consultant company that in Japan batteries belong in the Non-Burnable trash. In Michigan I felt like there was not excuse not to recycle batteries so it shocks me that in a country where I can recycle virtually all plastic I cant recycle a battery.

Taking Sun Protection to a New Level

I spent six summers lifeguarding and 5 years later my skin is already showing the negative effects. I thought I was being pretty carefully by wearing sunscreen daily, but in Japan I have been shown that sunscreen alone is a below average level of protection.

Visible Sun protection standards in my neighborhood include a sun umbrella,hat and long sleeves.More exotic items include fingerless gloves that are worn in combination with short sleeves, bicycle hand covers, and low slung visors.

Sunglasses are a less common sun protection item and there are some stigmas surrounding their use. Note that the temperature when I took all of these photos was well into the 80s with humidity on top of that.

Rose Kit-Kat

As advertised this was perfume flavored chocolate. Ick!

Gifts for Gifts

The Japanese culture is big on gift giving. Omiyage are one example and as an American it is pretty easy for me to understand bringing back souvenirs when you travel. This example is a bit more extreme. I mentioned in my entry about W-san's wedding that I went in on a gift and also received some favors at the party. Last week W-san brought over a wrapped package and explained that is was a Thank You gift for giving him a wedding gift and that the same gift was being given to the other girls whom I purchased the gift with. Seriously?
It turned out to be washcloths, which in Japan are to be used as handkerchiefs. They will come in handy for mopping up sweat given the current weather.

Hanko

Just a quick summary because plenty has already been written on this subject. An Inkan or Hanko is a stamp that is used in Japan in situations where a signature would be used in the US. I have an Inkan, it was arranged for me by the company because it is a necessary item to open a Japanese bank account. My Inkan says my last name in Japanese, but to my coworkers it looks a bit strange because it uses the alphabet for foreign words and not the Kanji which is used for Japanese names. In addition to the bank I also use my Inkan for tax documents, some work documents, and if I feel like it for apartment announcements.

The advertising on this bus is a good example of what an Inkan (or maybe the less formal Hanko in this case) looks like

License Shortage

Before April, when so many contract workers were let go, the issue in using a shared CAD computer was finding a free one. There is an extensive set of rules and a reservation system that makes it easy to always have a computer available to you if you arrive early enough. Shortly after the amount of people vying for computers went down the company also reduced the number of licenses available, meaning that there now are more computers than licenses. This means that if I temporarily leave my CAD computer for a design review of meeting when I return the license will probably be unavailable. After a few minutes of logging out and logging back in I may be able to snag the license of someone else who has temporarily left their computer. It creates an interesting question of weather the cost of time workers spend fighting for licenses is more than the cost saved by purchasing less licenses.

Telephone Pole Billboards

I have walked past these Billboards located on the telephone poles near my apartment for 11 months and just noticed them. I find it an interesting use of space and I wonder who gets paid for it.

Video Tour Part 2

Japanese Chevy

In my neighborhood I'd guess this is the most popular GM vehicle, the Chevy Cruze. I think the Trail Blazer is a close second but beyond that it is rare to spot a GM vehicle in Japan.

Japanese Convenience Store Bill Paying

When my ECT (highway toll card) bill arrives each month I head to Seven Eleven to pay it.
The bill, which has been as high as $350 USD depending on my travel for the month, has a bar code that the clerk scans to make the transaction. The money is then sent to the payee through 7-11. A credit or debit card isn’t accepted, and it hasn’t ceased feeling strange to be using that amount of cash at a convenience store.

Stove Top & Fish Broiler Cooking 23

Soba noodles with cucumber, avocado, bean sprouts, green onions, seaweed, red pepper and sesame seeds with a lime and soy dressing.

Studio A Hair Salon

The consultant company that my company uses for my relocation is H&R. Until last month they had a monthly e-mail newsletter, the xpat-files. I really like Aki-san who cuts my hair, when he asked me which English advertising sources in Nagoya I referenced most frequently I decided to write a blurb about his hair salon which appeared in the June edition of the xpat-files. Here it is:

Tel: 052-773-2003

Hours: Tue~ Sat 10:00~20:00, Sun 10:00~19:00, Closed 2nd & 3rd Tue

Website: http://studioa.ciao.jp In Japanese, but it includes a map and coupon.

My first experience having my hair cut in Japan turned out OK, but I
 was a little disappointed because the result wasn't worth the
 communication trouble. Luckily, a co-worker introduced me to Studio A
 near Issha station (Higashiyama line). The stylist, Akihito Kawamoto,
 worked 5 years at Coiffuer salon in New York City before returning to
Japan and opening Studio A. Each visit Aki-san considers my requests
 and then offers his suggestions, which have included cutting the bangs
 such that they grow out more gracefully. I always leave feeling
 pampered and excited about my haircut!

Manhole Covers 12

Guess what city this manhole cover can be found in!

Illiteracy

I got past getting upset about being mostly Illiterate fairly soon after arriving and at this point I like that most of the talking going around me is just noise. One thing that I still struggle with his hearing my name in conversation but then having to wait for someone to explain (or not) later what the conversation is about.

White Chocolate Lemon Kit Kat

White chocolate and lemon Kit Kat in a box designed to have a secret message written inside to the gift recipient.

Early to Rise

I wake up almost everyday around 5:45am and freak out, for just a second, thinking I slept through my alarm and am late for work. This week sunrise is at 4:37am which means by the time my alarm goes off it has been light for almost 3 hours. This time of year the length daylight in Nagoya is 44 minutes shorter than at home and since Daylight Saving Time isn't used sunset happens just after 7:00pm.

Fainting is Generational

Monday I had my company health check. M did a great job explaining how the company health check is run, so go read his blog! In addition to the efficiency that M mentioned I was also given a Kanban Card, which is a type of identification used for products in Toyota manufacturing, to process me through the assembly line physical.

The second to last stop in the physical was giving blood samples, it seamed to go fine until about three minutes into the five minute mandatory rest after the samples were taken. I got a bit light headed put my head on my knees and fainted. I blame it on not being given juice, but the nurses blamed it on low blood pressure. At the final station, a stethoscope check by a doctor I-san, who acompanied me, mentioned to the doctor that I had fainted. The doctor's response, through I-san, was that people of my generation dont faint after giving blood. I wish I'd had to time to get a more through explination of what he was trying to say because that opinion sounds like nonsense to me.

Bun Season

Rainy season officially started last Tuesday. It rained Wednesday and Thursday, but Friday had some of the most blue skies I have seen in Japan and it hasn't rained since. I am not complaining because I really dislike having to deal with rain. For me rainy season means bun season because the humidity and heat leave me not wanting hair anywhere near my neck.Walking around on Sunday I spotted quite a few women who shared my hair style.

Japanese Parking Lot Attendents

L&M both blogged about this topic and I cant resist joining in. The number of parking lot attendants and their apparent desire to go above and beyond my notion of what one might expect from a parking attendant is impressive. In this case M and I were having lunch at a Denny's near Osu Kannon station above an arcade. Three parking lot attendants were manning this arcade's lot. In addition to directing cars two of them could be seen giving directions to some pedestrians and one was constantly straightening up the bikes parked along the sidewalk.

Lazy Weekend

This past weekend was my first full weekend since the first weekend in February without a visitor. While I love having company and running allover to see new things it was nice to take a weekend off.

A left for Hawaii on Friday so this week I will be without my lunch companion which was just the nudge I needed to get a Japanese bento lunchbox. During my assignment I have occasionally taken my lunch to work, usually when I got sick of the options in the cafeteria, but A and M made fun of how I packed my lunches in Gladware style plastic containers. Japanese lunch boxes are small, for example mine is two 300ml containers and as I learned from http://www.justbento.com the number is ml the containers hold is roughly equal to the number of calories you can pack in.
My first lunch in the new box isn't very traditional because it is missing the rice, but bean sprouts were on sale so I went with them instead. So today for lunch, in addition to bean sprouts, I will be having sweet and sour vegetables and baked tofu with orange sections.I love how it closes up and latches together. The real test for this box is going to come when I get back to MI put it in my bag for a bike ride to work.

Daruma Doll

At a recent team nomikai honoring the outgoing and incoming team leaders a strange ritual, involving a round, one eyed, red doll took place. This event was the first time I’d seen a Daruma Dolland at the time I didn’t have any luck getting an explanation between my Japanese and my coworkers’ English. My experience was something like this, people yelled monetary values, auction style, that were recorded. When the bidding was complete the second eye of the Doll was drawn, it was placed in a plastic bag and given to the incoming team later who smashed it reveling money which was given to the closest bidder. I still don’t understand all of the details of what was going on but I have since learned that Drauma Dolls are based in Buddhism and are used as a tool in achieving a goal. At the start of the goal one eye is drawn on the doll and upon completion the other eye can be drawn in, in the meantime the doll is stored in the household Buddhist shrine.

Kinako Kit Kat

M made me feel a little lame for falling pray to the marketing of the makers of Kit Kat, but I spotted a new bag of flavors and wanted to try them. Kinako and Choco Kinako, kinako is soy flour which when mixed in a Kit Kat comes out tasting a bit like coffee. Of the unusual flavors I've tried, this one is my favorite thus far.

Eco Bacon

This bacon claims to be Eco and low CO2, so did they figure out a way to trap pig farts?

Rudeness by Oblivion

I blame my recent annoyance with what I consider unintentional rudeness in combination with excessive patience and politeness around my office on my anticipation of going home. Three examples:

The copy machine / printer is capable of making copies, printing, and receiving faxes at the same time. However if someone is waiting for copies or a scanning job to finish they don’t budge an inch from the machine causing a line of people waiting to retrieve completed print jobs to build up. People waiting to grab a document out of the tray will wait silently rather than fishing their arm past to reach the tray.

The sidewalks are just wide enough for a single lane of pedestrian traffic in each direction but people walk two abreast at any speed they please preventing those is a hurry to get past. If someone approaches from the opposite direction one person will drop back to single file letting them pass, but immediately resume their position blocking anyone behind from passing. The common way to deal with this is to tailgate until an intersection then quickly jet past.

There are signs on the stairwell doors that suggest knocking before opening a door given that they swing into the stairway. I put the percentage of people who actually knock at 50. Doors are never held open and many people open doors just wide enough to barley pass through so any person close behind is forced to open the door from scratch.

I Want This at Home 2

I get an e-mail from the company that leases my car, it’s time for service. I pick a time and place, a man in a suit picks up the car and returns it two hours later. It's good as magic, I didn’t have to know what service was needed or when and I didn’t have to spend any time waiting around at the dealership.

HHR

I found an HHR (I worked on this seat) in Japan...but at the Lexus dealership?

Nagoya Station

Looking out at the Nagoya Skyline from the JR Shinkansen Platform

Blood Types

On the application for access to Toyota one of the questions is the applicants blood type. None of the other questions stood out to me as unusual and the application inst that long, it requests things like address, company, license plate number, and the reason for requesting access.

Wikipedia has an extensive article on the history of why blood types because important in Japanese culture. Personally I don't know my blood type, I have attempted and failed to donate blood twice, but the Red Cross still cant tell me my type. The Japan Times also has an article with more information about the cultural importance of blood types.

Manhole Covers 11

OT Pay

It is Typical for employees of a Japanese company to work a lot of OT (or it was prior to the current economic conditions). I am paid hourly in Japan, so working a lot of OT should be a good thing right? I just calculated my OT hourly rate and it is equivalent to what I made as a lifeguard in college.

...I wrote this post several months ago near the start of my assignment and just after the economy started to get really bad. Since then I put it one hold while I debated if it was appropriate to post something about my salary. Considering that my salary is divided between the company in Japan and the company at home, excluding OT which is paid only in Japan I think that the lower pay for working OT is the interesting thing to consider, rather than the actual OT rate...

Neighborhood Church

What are the odds that I move to Japan, a country where most people are Buddhist or Shinto, and end up living next to a Church?

Crab BBQ

S-san and his wife were the most amazing hosts of a BBQ at their home on Saturday. There was such a variety of food that I left feeling beyond stuffed, but the highlight for me was definitely the largest crab legs I have ever seen flown in overnight from Hokkaido. Quite a messy, but delicious mix of crab and grilled pumpkin.

How the VIPs Get Home

After Y-san's going away party as we all shuffled out of the restaurant the top four highest ranking guys hopped on to a bus belonging to the restaurant to be shuttled home. Drinking and driving is absolutely not an option in any form in Japan.
I needed a cover to get a photo of the bus so M-san and I-san posed for me.

Japanese Can Collecting

This is how the serious returnable can collectors in Japan go about it.

Apple Vinegar Kit Kat

Immediately after I opened the plastic wrapped I regretted having bought this Kit Kat flavor. It smelled like vinegar or at least fermenting apples. The taste wasn't too too bad mostly just an artificial apple taste.

Video Tour Part 1

So I got board driving home from work and decided I could make a video tour of my life in Japan. This part is about driving to and from the office. Excuse the bugs on the window and the shakiness of the videos, I was concentrating more on my driving than on holding the camera steady.

Clip 1: Listening to War and Peace on the way to work as I enter the toll road, Sanage Green Road.
Clip 2: On the way home from work driving through the nearly 2km tunnel along Sanage Green Road.
Clip 3: Entering a more urban area about 4km from my apartment
Clip 4: Passing through Kamiyoshiro Interchange
Clip 5: My neighborhood

Arimatsu Festival

Today Mom and I went to Arimatsu, the tie dye district in Nagoya, for their festival.
We arrived at exactly the right time to see the festival parade.

There was so much died cloth and even more old ladies pushing and shoving to get to it.