Topic: Japan Discussion

Journeys In Japan was on tonight! They went to the city of Matsue. Often called the "city of water", it's on Lake Shinji, and senic ferry trips around the moat of the city's 400 year old castle, are popular.

Mostly, they covered the tradition of Green Tea which is associated with the area. The local variety has a green foam that tops it. The host visited a 130 year old tea shop, participated in a traditional tea ceremony, visited a traditional sweet shop (traditional treats are eaten with green tea, to offset bitterness), and had a friendly drink with some locals.

Tokyo Eye was on tonight! They covered some live entertainment you can find in Tokyo, off the beaten path.

Robot Restaurant - In this restaurant, you get to see a show while you eat. It's a mixture of traditional performance & techno entertainment. Neon lights, traditional dance, mechanical robots, & traditional instruments mix for a unique experience. It's ¥4,000 a show.

Puppet Theatre - They then covered a traditional finger puppet theatre. The show features many humorous skits, with themes ranging from karate to fishing. It costs ¥500 a show. For ¥30,000, the artisan will make you a personalized puppet (the process takes a few weeks).

Monkey Show - A traditional monkey show. Held on top of the building directly below Tokyo Tower. The monkey, Riku, pulls of many amazing tricks. It's a hit with children. It's held on weekends & holidays, has no set cost (the audience is asked to make a donation afterwards), and starts whenever a large enough crowd has gathered.

Magic Bathhouse - In this traditional public bathhouse, after enjoying your bath, the proprietor will put on a magic show. He's actually a renowned magician in Japan, specializing in classic card tricks & the like (he also puts on shows for weddings, nursing homes, ect). His reason for doing this? He has a fondness for public bathhouses, and since they've been on the decline in recent years, he's trying to find ways to revive them (as in introducing new forms of entertainment into them).

Troubling news. There has just been a 7.3 earthquake off the coast of northeastern Japan, and the area is currently under a tsunami warning.

The areas in threat, are the same as last year's disaster (according to NHK World), but at this time, the Fukushima nuclear plant hasn't suffered any damage.

I pray that the people of Japan don't have to suffer through this again, & I'll update as I get more information.

Due to the importance of this current issue, I have temporarily altered the thread's name, to reflect awareness.

Update: The hour of NHK World we get a night is over, but I will visit their website periodically for any updates. Also, FNC is now running the news on their "bottom line".

The quake hit at 5:18 P.M. Japan Time (2:18 A.M. CST, where I am). Currently, Miyagi Prefecture is under a tsunami warning, with Fukushima prefecture, as well as some others, under a tsunami advisory.

At 6:02 P.M., Tokyo time, a 1-meter high wave made contact with Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture. I'm not sure what (if) damage was sustained, but the meteorological center doesn't believe there'll be widespread tsunami damage. It's still something to keep an eye on, though, as many of these areas are still recovering from last year's tsunami (which was triggered by a 9.0 earthquake. This one was triggered by a 7.3 earthquake).

I'm going to have to go to bed, but again I pray that no one gets hurt.

Oh no! They can't catch a break! Best wishes to those affected by this.

I'm certainly hoping for the best, this is sad news

although a 1 meter wave is really quite small. It's a bit more than waist height... I'm just wishing that the tremors don't worsen

I hope them the best "

Again? Man. I wish them the best, hopefully this wont go as bad as last time. Fortunetly it doesn't seem like that.

Thankfully, it doesn't appear that there was any significant damage caused by the event. At 7:00 P.M. Tokyo Time (about an hour after the meter high wave hit), all tsunami warnings & advisories were lifted.

That's good that it looks like it was minor, anyway Japan has WiiUs now and I'm loving posting on the Miiverse, and welcoming them to wiiu

Totally forgot to update this the past couple nights.

Tokyo Eye was on last night. They showcased the Bakurocho area of Tokyo. It's been known for it's clothing shops, but has recently been a busy area for the Tokyo art scene.

They showcased many galleries that have popped up in the area over the past couple of years (including one that came from Roppongi).

I'm really not into the whole art scene, so I really didn't know what to make of anything, though. There is one that is both a gallery & a restaurant, that serves Lebanese cuisine. Another is in a building that has other galleries & unique shops (like one that imports books & knick-nacks from eastern Europe). A lot of the galleries are opening up in old warehouses.

BEGIN Japanology was on tonight! They covered the Setsuna Mandarin. It's a seedless citrus that's native to Japan.

It's most often eaten fresh, and goes hand in hand with winter in Japan. It has a very soft skin that's easy to peel. frozen Setsuna Mandarins are eaten in summer. In Ehime prefecture, it is common to soak rice in it's juices, & make "Setsuna Mandarin Sushi". It is also dried, and used for spices.

It is first believed to come into existence some 500 years ago, splitting off from a type of citrus imported from China. It wasn't considered good for cultivation though, because it is seedless. It wasn't until the late 18th century that it's popularity started to grow. Production halted during WWII, when farmers were ordered to grow potatoes. It boomed again however, during the post war economic expansion (it even became popular overseas, where it became part of a Christmas tradition in Canada). In 1972, the market crashed though, because of an oversaturation caused by government encouraging farmers to grow exorbitant amounts, and competition from imported oranges, which were taking up market share. The citrus has grown back over the years, although not near it's peak.

They showcased a new, small company that harvests the fruit (as well as their mascot, the Setsuna Mandarin Ranger), and showed how they're brought to market (there are 36 different 'grades' in which they're categorized, based off of color, size, & sugar content).

Today the afternoon sun looked just like a mandarin, although it's daylight savings here so I wish it would Setsuna

_{(ok, that's the worst joke I'll make in a good while. Pls don't kill me guys )}

Jibtv was on tonight! They showcased some different Japanese music groups. The Idol group Berryz Kobo, the rock group MUCC, and the anison group JAM Project (I was confused at what genre anison was at first, but they explained it means "Animé Song". A group that specializes in making theme songs for animé & video games).

I thought all 3 groups were good, but for some reason JAM Project really stood out for me (and that was evident before I knew what genré they were. The songs they sung were "Victory" from Super Robot Wars MX, & "Vanguard" from Cardfight! Vanguard. I wasn't familiar with these songs before, what about you?).

http://www.japansugoi.com/wordpress/immigration-to-japan-usin...
Maybe easier then I thought

Tokyo Eye was on tonight. It was a repeat (the episode where the host highlighted his favorite spicy foods you can find in Tokyo).

BTW, sorry I haven't updated this thread in awhile (what with the holidays & all that).

Anyone seen Kagemusha?

Yup, they'll look at things like college degree, what college you went to, work history and other useful skills that would make you beneficial for Japanese society. Should be a piece of cake!