What kind of shop is this?

Let me know what you think this old shop is. I'll let you know soon. The Japanese word "Kami" will give you a big clue.

Would you like to visit this shop?

Hat Shop

Of course shopping is one of the number one past-times of young people in Japan. Sometimes there are just too many choices and it's difficult to know which one to choose. This hat shop had something for everyones taste.

Japanese English

You thought studying Japanese was hard.... well you should try learning English. English is a very difficult language to learn and many people here speak it so well. However sometimes you come across some unusual attempts at english. Here are a couple i found recently. 

 The sheep is beating. 

 The rabbit isn't chirp.

Drop you ticket here stop.

It is great that there is so much English spoken and written in Japan. The train stops are announced in English. Train staff and Police are all expected to speak some English. It helps when you are a just starting out in japanese.

Emergency Services

Japan has a lot of emergency services and their fire trucks are always very well polished. I called into the station the other day to say hello. Two men were standing in front of a 30 metre practise tower. One of the guys climbed up the outside of the tower about 10 metres off the ground. It was quite amazing because he was only allowed to use his arms. Even on the way back down he couldn't wrap the rope though his legs. He really was the "Ninja Warrior". 

The ambulance drivers have to get through a lot of traffic at times and some drivers are not so helpful. The medic in the front with the driver talks nicely to any annoying drivers through the loud speaker. "Please get out of the way! Yes that's it pull over a little more."

Ambulance or Kyukyu-sha  = "k-you k-you sha".

Fire engine or Shoba-sha = "Show bo shar".

Happy Train

I saw this rather bright and happy train travelling between Arita and Imari. It is quite a small train for Japan, but it looks fun! Many children in Japan grow up dreaming of being a train driver. There are so many trains here that for many children their dreams come true. The Japanese word for train is "densha" = den sha.

The happy train whizzing towards Arita city Office.

Gliding over the rice field with its many happy passengers.

We're on track.

Nice French colours.

Super Fast Sushi - Catch me if you can!

I found this Sushi restaurant in a big department store. Actually Yodobashi camera in Fukuoaka to be exact. Each plate costs $1.20 and is deliver at high speed by a racing bullet train or Shinkansen, or by an F1 racing car. You can order via a computer at your seat then the train comes rushing out with your sushi. I had to laugh when a young girl dropped her phone onto the train by accident and it rushed off to another hungry customer. "Wow you can order phones here too!" I thought to myself.

Formula 1 Sushi

Shinkansen Sushi

Ebi (shrimp) Sushi - My favourite.

Normal slow Sushi - Just as delicious, but not as fun.

Night Time Visitors - Golem?

These guys have been have been hanging around my apartment at night. Are they attracted by the lights? I hear you ask. Yes they are after a free meal. Beetles and moths are on the menu. I think they look like Golem from the Lord of the Rings. They are a kind of fleshy colour and have big eyes. When they see you they scurry off with their tails flapping in circles. They are funny little critters. The Japanese name for these is "Imori or Yamori". 

 Golem

Golem Geko

Water Gods - Protecting The Water

I went into a little shop to buy some fruit and on they way out I wanted to wash it before I ate it. It is a small orange tropical fruit called Biwa. I bent down to use the tap and I saw a water God. I should leave him 10 cents or a little food to thank him for protecting the water. He seems to like hanging out by the mop. He might be a cleaning God too.

Rice Planting Season!

Rice planting season is an exciting time for families and farmers in Japan. Last years seeds are carefully raised in trays and fertilized to help them get off to a good start. It was my job to "put on the medicine" when I joined a family's seed preparation day. The trays were wrapped up in a large plastic sheet to help them germinate. After seven days they sprout. About 100 trays will give you 7000kg of rice. Wow! While the rice is sprouting the fields are being weeded and the soil is hoed. Most of this work is done by machines now, but some people like to do it the traditional way and have a small rice field. When the soil is light and fluffy a small stream is diverted into the paddock, flooding it with cool, clean river water. The water is left there for a few days then the ground is hoed again making a sloppy, custard like consistency. Rice loves to have wet feet in its early days. So the little sprouts get off to a great start they are fertilized again, by hand. People are excited around this time of the year and looking forward to delicious new season rice. 
The watery habitat makes an ideal place for frogs to live, so the fields are alive with frogs, birds and sometimes snakes. 

Rice in Japanese is "gohan" = go harn. A mountain rice field is called "Tanada" Tarn na da.

These are being used to fill in any gaps left by the planting machine.

Tanada or mountain rice field.

This is back breaking work, but this granny or Obachan is built tough.

Here some international students from Fukuoaka try rice planting. There's a kiwi girl in there.

High-tech rice planting.

Sun protection is important when working outdoors, even if the sun is nowhere as strong as NZ.

Pizza Oven?

I came across this old building when I was biking around. The section had been cleared, but this old brick place had been left standing. Do you know what it is?

Have a guess and put your guesses on the comment page. I will tell you next time. The Japanese word for this is "Kama". Arita Yaki is pottery from the famous pottery town of Arita.

A few Halloweens Ago

These scary monsters arrived on my doorstep a couple of years ago. One of them had a sweet tooth!

Plastic Display Food - The best menu on earth.

Japanese restaurants show customers models of the food they cook. It is usually displayed in shop windows, so you can see it before you eat it. It is great to be able to see your meal before you order it. There is a company that makes plastic display food. It looks so real, good enough to eat. 

One of my favourite foods in Japan is Japanese curry rice. It's hot, spicy and fills the tummy quite nicely. Everyone loves curry and most mum's know how to make it. Children start to learn how to make it from an early age. It's everyones favourite.

 Plastic fantastic!

Japanese curry rice.

Fun for Japanese kids.

These machines are set up in most shopping malls for children to scoop out a few lollies or their favourite soft toy animation character. Some you have to scoop goodies while others, like the UFO catcher grabs the toy. Can you scoop out some goodies from these? It is quite easy, but don't be too greedy or they will drop off. Can you see the guy that looks like a mushroom? His name is Nameko. He is so popular at the moment and he has lots of other mushroom friends too. Children enjoy growing them online. I met a young boy at a barbecue the other night ( Souma) and he gave me a glow in the dark Nameko sticker for my cell-phone. 

 Anpanman or bread man is a favourite character of Japanese children.

Nameko

Most Japanese people love eating mushrooms and there are many varieties. 

Frogs, frogs, frogs.

Being rainy season, Japan gets lot of rain this time of the year. There is no animal which loves the rain more than the cute and cuddly frog. There are many different kinds of frogs in Japan, river frogs, tree frogs and giant toads. When the rain drives down a chorus of croaks and chirps can be heard in the dark of the night. It can be quite relaxing at bed time. 
Night driving can be difficult when its raining as the road is covered in frogs and I don't like squashing them. 

The tadpoles live in the rice fields and these are now full of water and baby rice plants. Today when out hiking we found this frog hiding in the river. Can you see it? Frogs are of course snakes number one snack. So if you hear or see frogs there will probably be a snake living nearby. But more on snakes another time. 

Frog = Kaeru  (Kai air roo) Tadpole = Otama-jakushi (o ta ma jack ku she)

While we were watching this frog a leech stuck to my hand. Oh no!

I wonder if a snake can see this frog? Can you?

Hotaru - Fire fly

It's Hotaru season in Japan. These friendly little glowing beetles come out of the stream at night and can be seen between about 7pm and 10pm. They are only about 20mm long, have a black shell and look like a normal beetle. There is a huge difference though. They have a beautiful, bright green flashing light on their.... well tails. When they hatch from the stream they make their way up into the sky and start flashing every few seconds. When they find a mate, they flash in time and up to 20 can be flashing together. They are like flying Christmas lights. Pretty neat aye!

It is a little hard to photograph them, because they hang out at night. Pronunciation = Hoe Tar Roo.

 Can you see the glowing spots - Hotaru!

Hello From Japan - Konnichi Wa

Hello to all at Murchison Area School. As you know I'm currently in Japan to brush up my Japanese, eat some curry rice and catch up on the latest Manga (Japanese comics). I will write a small post for you all to read and show you some interesting things that are happening in Japan. 

Firstly I'd like to share with you a strange, but true story from Korea. My friend Mr. Tanaka went on a trip to Korea, which is only about a 1 hour flight from Japan. Very close indeed.( Have  look in the Atlas or online). While he was there he bought some famous aged garlic. It is so old that it turns black and is meant to be very healthy. "That's not so strange I hear you say!" 

The weird thing is that if you eat more than two pieces you will get a bleeding nose. That's right. I wonder what makes this garlic give you a bleeding nose? Anyway I have tried it, but I'm too scared to eat more than two pieces. I wonder if any of you want to try more than two?

 The famous Korean black garlic.