Plain Talk
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD OCTOBER 11. 2019Supermarkets are Super! by Chris Pooh
After two years of absence, I was in Tokyo again this summer. The thought of heat close to 40 degrees C was intimidating, but surprisingly, I was quite active in the temperature that hovered around 37 degrees during the day. The heat wave in Europe in July might have prepared my body for the heat in Tokyo. Also, the temperature dropped significantly after the typhoon.
During the stay, many things surprised me, as Tokyo always did. One of the things was that I saw many tourists from abroad at the supermarket OK store in Yoga, Setagaya-ku.
When I lived near Yoga, I used to do my grocery shopping at the OK store almost every weekend. Yoga is a non-descript residential area between somewhat posh Futako Tamagawa and “Sazae-san’s town” Sakura Shinmachi. Needless to say, Sazae-san is a manga and a long-running weekly TV anime. I can’t think of anything special in Yoga for general tourists. That’s why it hit me as a surprise, when I saw a group of five Spanish-speaking tourists taking pictures excitedly of all sorts of snacks in the aisles. Then on the upper floor, I saw three English speakers closely studying rice balls wrapped in the plastic film and popping them in the shopping baskets.
How do these non-Japanese tourists find Yoga and OK store? My guess is that they stay at a private home in or around Yoga, which they had booked through, for instance, Airbnb. More and more tourists find their way into the residential area, hoping to see firsthand everyday life of the locals. Many should find it interesting, I suppose, after Tokyo Tower, Sky Tree, Meiji Jingu, Kyoto, Osaka, Shirakawa-go and so on and so forth.
A supermarket is a best place in that sense. You see what the locals eat at home instead of expensive sushi. You’ll see natto comes in such a wide variety. There’s no chocolate-coated crunchy sticks named Mikado; it’s Pocky. Fish look actually like fish with a head and tail, and they’re not only fillet.
At the same time, you’ll notice that the floor is mopped spick and span. No kid is carried on a shopping cart while munching a bun which hasn’t been paid for yet. When opening an extra checkout counter, the cashier makes sure that the shopper who’s waited the longest is helped first. Music plays incessantly and sticks to you. At a supermarket, one can see worlds of life in Japan.
On my part, my shopping cart soon became full with items that I’d fill an oversize suitcase with. I received the longest receipt I’d ever had!
この夏、２年ぶりに東京に滞在した。摂氏４０℃近い気温は恐ろしかったが、驚いたことに、日中３７℃あたりまで上がる気温でも案外活動的でいられた。７月に欧州を襲った熱波で、体が東京で耐えられるよう鍛えられたかもしれない。それに、台風の後、気温はぐっと下がってくれた。
滞在中は驚くことが多かったが、東京はいつも驚きに満ちているものだ。世田谷区用賀のスーパー、ＯＫストアで外国からの旅行客をたくさん見たことは、そのひとつだ。
用賀の近くに住んでいた頃は、ほとんど週末は、ここＯＫストアで食料品の買い出しをしていた。用賀は、ちょっと洒落た二子玉川と、「サザエさんの町」桜新町の間にある、何ということのない住宅街だ。言わずもがなだが、サザエさんは漫画、そしてテレビの長寿アニメである。用賀について一般の観光客にとって特別なものは何も思い浮かばない。だからこそ、5人の観光客のグループがスペイン語で話しながら、売り場で様々な菓子の写真を楽しそうに撮っているのには驚いた。その後、上の階では3人が英語でしゃべりながらビニールで包装されたおにぎりをまじまじと観察して買い物かごにポイポイ入れていた。
こういった日本人以外の観光客はどうやってＯＫストアを見つけるのだろう？思うに、例えばＡｉｒｂｎｂなどで民泊を予約して来日しているのではないか。多くの観光客が、自分の目で、地元の人々の普段の生活の様子を見たくて住宅地にどんどん入り込んでいるのだと思う。東京タワーやスカイツリー、明治神宮、京都や大阪や白川郷等々の後には、多くはそこに面白みを発見するのではないだろうか。
スーパーはその点で最高だ。高級寿司でなく、家で日本人が何を食べているのかわかる。納豆にはこんなにも多くの種類がある。チョコレートがコーティングされているカリカリの棒は「ミカド」ではなく、「ポッキー」である。魚は切り身でなく、頭も尻尾もある本物の魚だ。
同時に、床がピカピカに磨かれていることにも気づくだろう。子供が買い物カートの中に座って、支払ってもいないパンをかじっていることもない。新たにレジを開く時、レジの人は必ず、一番長く待っている客を優先する。延々と流れる音楽が頭にこびりつく。スーパーでは、日本の日常生活の多くを観察できるのだ。
私はといえば、買い物カートはすぐに一杯になり、これで大きなスーツケースが満杯になるだろう。そしてこれまでで一番長いレシートを受け取った！
Tokyo Fab
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD OCTOBER 11. 2019
Tsukiji Autumn Festival
Tsukiji Market is Japan's "Food Town," where one can encounter all kinds of Japanese traditional foods. A mixture of wholesale and retail shops along with numerous restaurants line the streets and new culinary trends are born here. Originally Tsukiji Market used to be the wholesale market for the professionals. That is why items sold there were generally too big for a small family to buy. However, some of the wholesale shops in the market have started retailing high-end merchandises for ordinary customers. For example, ready-to-eat omelets for sushi are now sold in smaller sizes. Even a bite-sized egg roll can be available for those who just want to try it. Tsukiji Market, primarily catering to the professionals, has recently opened its doors to ordinary customers and visitors. This weekend Tsukiji Market celebrate its annual Autumn Festival. From lottery, beer garden, cooking classes to BBQ, the festival is packed with fun and tasty experiences.
Date：October 10th (Thu) - 12th (Sat) @ Tsukiji Market
Closest Sta.: 1min walk from Tsukiji Sta.
http://www.tsukiji.or.jp/know/info/2019/10/010397.html
KAGURAZAKA BAKENEKO FESTIVAL
Kagurazaka Bakeneko festival started in 2007. "BAKENEKO"(a type of Japanese y?kai, or supernatural creature) meaning "Goblin cat". this festival is mix of halloween event and cat cosplay. People ask "why just cat?" the answer is related to this place. Kagurazaka is a place related to a japanese famous writer "Soseki-Natsume" His book "I am a cat" was read by a lot of people. They combined Halloween and Cat to make this festival. Both adults and children, dress up in cute costumes. On this day the shops and neighbors know that BAKENEKO will be coming. Some shops will give you a warm welcome. Also BAKENEKO can receive some present or specials offers.
Date：October 13th (Sun) Starting at 10:00am @ Kagurazaka
*Make-up Take-a Number Ticket will be given out from 9:30am)
For more details and concert schedules, please visit
http://bakeneko.oops.jp/English/
What’s App With You?
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD OCTOBER 11. 2019
AnyDo:
Busy people often forget daily tasks and chores, but Any.do is there to keep your schedule on track with to-do list, reminders, notes and the ability to share lists with and assign tasks to others. Over 20 million people rely on Any.do to organize their life and get more done. "IT'S A MUST HAVE APP" on any device (NYTimes, WSJ, USA Today & Lifehacker). An all-in-one to do list, calendar, planner and reminders app. Free & Simple. The app lets you sync between phone, desktop, web, and tablet to keep your lists up to the minute. A voice-entry feature lets you add items to your task list just by speaking. Calendar integration is available for better task list management. Further enhance your productivity with cross-platform support for sub-tasks, notes, and file attachments. Choose either a free or premium version with advanced features.
Waze:
If you're taking the wheel yourself, you might want a more focused navigation app that's all about finding the fastest, most efficient driving route. Always know what’s happening on the road with Waze. Even if you know the way, Waze tells you instantly about traffic, construction, police, crashes, & more. If traffic is bad on your route, Waze will change it to save you time. Waze feeds your smartphone real-time traffic information, based on reports from other Waze users. That data includes accidents, speed traps and other hazards that might keep you from getting to your destination in a timely fashion. Other features sure to impress travelers include automatic rerouting, cheap gas alerts and the ability to send your ETA to anyone waiting at your final stop.
Tokyo Voice Column
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD OCTOBER 11. 2019
Is Truth Over There? by Takehiro Hashimoto
We are all prisoners of our conceptual thinking. We THINK THINK AND THINK. We think about the world around us. We try to find out words that justify our thinking. Unfortunately, we fail to attain the enlightenment. Instead of being aware of being right here and right now, we try to reach the goal, our solid objective, and get lost in the woods. I had been like that, and somewhat still, I am. But so long as you cling to the notion that I am here and Truth is over there, confusion remains for the rest of your life.
Nowadays, we have become too intellectualized, with the advent of obsessive-compulsive social media syndrome, to sense everything arises and falls away, in just a blink of eyes. Intellect makes us see the world as it was, meaning that it cannot allow us to see the world on this moment, as it is arising and falling away at the same speed.
We can intellectualize how the world worked with words, yet we cannot say exactly how the world is working. When we see the river, for example, we say to ourselves, “This is the same old river. I saw it yesterday, and I will see it tomorrow as well.” Actually, each flow of water is a unique flow of water; it is new-born, right here, at this present moment, this time only, at this very place and in this very shape.
How many times do we have to suffer, before we realize the world doesn’t repeat itself? How many times have we tried to take pictures of this world and felt isolated? You know it. I know it. We know it. But really? If so, why do we cling to the past? Past is no more. What’s done is done. If we knew it for sure, we wouldn’t feel sadness for things that have gone from us?
私たちはみんな自分の思考の牢獄のなかにいる。私たちはみんな世界について絶え間なく考えている。そして、自分の思考に符合する言葉を探し回っている。残念ながら、目論みははずれると決まっている。いまここにいることに気づくかわりに、ゴール、言い換えれば確固たる目的を目指し、森をさまよっている。私はずっとそんな感じで生きてきた。ある意味で今もそうだ。しかし、私はこちらにいて、真理はあちらにあるという想念にしばられているかぎり、混乱は生涯つづくだろう。
近年、ソーシャルメディアへの執着によって、私たちは知性化した。そして、目の前で生じ滅している世界に気づく感性を犠牲にした。知性はいつも、生じ終わった過去の世界を見せてくれる。つまりそれは、世界が同じ速度で生じて滅しているさまを、私たちは見ることができないということだ。
私たちは言語によって、この世界がどのように生成したかを概念化することができる。しかし、世界が今、どのように動いているかについては話せない。たとえば、川の流れを見る。「これは古くからある川だ。昨日も見たし、明日もまた見るであろう」このように思うはずだ。しかし、水の流れそれぞれは、本当は唯一無二なるものだ。それはいま生まれ、まさにこのときここにあり、この場かぎりで、このかたちとしてあるのだ。
私たちはいったい何回苦しまなければならないのか、この世界が二度と繰り返さないということを知るまでに。今までいったい何回、この流動する世界を撮影しようとして、孤独を感じてきたのだろうか。そんなことはみんな知っている。本当に？もし知っているなら、どうして私たちは過去に執着するのか。過去はもうない。終わってしまったのだ。もしそのことを知っているというなら、なぜ、もうないものに対して悲しみを抱えつづけるというのだろう？
Strange but True
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD OCTOBER 11. 2019
How to Avoid a Hangover?
Party season is around the corner. Starting from Halloween, soon the Thanksgiving, Christmas and a New year. Don't want a hangover? This might be worth trying. Nutritionist and health coach sets out the things you should be doing at every stage of boozy night out. He recommends eating a balanced meal which includes protein and fat, drink a lot of water with a pinch of sea salt in the day, take an extra multivitamin before you head out. Then before bed grab some fruits high in fructose instead of kebab and boost your B1 with a supplement. The next morning, drink his special hydration saviour; 235ml of water, 118ml of coconut water, 118ml of orange juice and a pinch of sea salt. Beetroot will improve liver function so put some in your lunch or find a juice. Let's hope we've finally found a cure that actually works.
Do Try This at Home!
So the party season is approaching and we all want to look great. So here's some advice from a skin expert. Keep your skin hydrated. Avoid wearing too much makeup especially oil based products. Make sure you prepare your skin from pollution by wearing sunscreen, using a good moisturiser to create a barrier between your skin and pollutants and double cleansing your skin. Don't wear too much powder foundation. Be wary of amplifying wrinkles with concealer. It's important to use eye cream. Use sun cream every single day. Always, always take your make-up off at night!
Links
Guesthouse Tokyo
10 minutes to Ikebukuro.
Interhouse
safe and accessible solution for your accommodation needs in Tokyo.
Sakura House
1830 monthly furnished rooms at 204 locations in Tokyo.
BAUHOUSE
Private furnished rooms in Roppongi, Akasaka, Azabu-Juban etc.
J&F Plaza
Furnished & unfurnished guesthouses and apartments in Tokyo.
May Flower House
Tokyo furnished apartments. Ginza, Roppongi, Yotsuya and more.
TenTen Guesthouse
33,000yen/30 days for working holiday students.
GOOD ROOM TOKYO
Share room, Private room, under 50,000yen
MOVE JAPAN
Private furnished rooms in Tokyo with free internet. Call us first or call us last!
Tokyomove.com
Hassle free moving starts from 6000yen.
Tokyo Helping Hands
Very flexible working hours to effectly help you with moving, deliveries, disposal, storage and more!
AirNet Travel
We'll cut you the best air ticket deals anywhere.
Fun Travel
Discount air travel & package tours 2min from Roppongi Stn.
No.1 Travel
We go the extra mile for you. International air tickets and hotels.
JR Tokai Tours
Top-value travel to Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya from Tokyo by Shinkansen.
Matsuda Legal Office
All kinds of Visa, Immigration & Naturalization, International Marriage etc.
Futaba Visa Office
Licensed immigration lawyer & certified public tax consultant.
American Pharmacy
English speaking pharmacy since 1950.
Tokyo Skin Clinic
EU-licensed multi lingual doctors.
Tax-free AKKY
Japanese Appliance, Watch, Souvenirs
Tokyo Speed Dating
1st Sat. & 3rd Sun. at Bari n Roppongi ETC.
Tokyo Spontaneous
Picnic, Parties, Language exchange
TMA
Japanese women & Western men.
Tokyo Fab
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD OCTOBER 11. 2019Tsukiji Autumn Festival
Tsukiji Market is Japan's "Food Town," where one can encounter all kinds of Japanese traditional foods. A mixture of wholesale and retail shops along with numerous restaurants line the streets and new culinary trends are born here. Originally Tsukiji Market used to be the wholesale market for the professionals. That is why items sold there were generally too big for a small family to buy. However, some of the wholesale shops in the market have started retailing high-end merchandises for ordinary customers. For example, ready-to-eat omelets for sushi are now sold in smaller sizes. Even a bite-sized egg roll can be available for those who just want to try it. Tsukiji Market, primarily catering to the professionals, has recently opened its doors to ordinary customers and visitors. This weekend Tsukiji Market celebrate its annual Autumn Festival. From lottery, beer garden, cooking classes to BBQ, the festival is packed with fun and tasty experiences.
Date：October 10th (Thu) - 12th (Sat) @ Tsukiji Market
Closest Sta.: 1min walk from Tsukiji Sta.
http://www.tsukiji.or.jp/know/info/2019/10/010397.html
KAGURAZAKA BAKENEKO FESTIVAL
Kagurazaka Bakeneko festival started in 2007. "BAKENEKO"(a type of Japanese y?kai, or supernatural creature) meaning "Goblin cat". this festival is mix of halloween event and cat cosplay. People ask "why just cat?" the answer is related to this place. Kagurazaka is a place related to a japanese famous writer "Soseki-Natsume" His book "I am a cat" was read by a lot of people. They combined Halloween and Cat to make this festival. Both adults and children, dress up in cute costumes. On this day the shops and neighbors know that BAKENEKO will be coming. Some shops will give you a warm welcome. Also BAKENEKO can receive some present or specials offers.
Date：October 13th (Sun) Starting at 10:00am @ Kagurazaka
*Make-up Take-a Number Ticket will be given out from 9:30am)
For more details and concert schedules, please visit
http://bakeneko.oops.jp/English/
What’s App With You?
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD OCTOBER 11. 2019AnyDo:
Busy people often forget daily tasks and chores, but Any.do is there to keep your schedule on track with to-do list, reminders, notes and the ability to share lists with and assign tasks to others. Over 20 million people rely on Any.do to organize their life and get more done. "IT'S A MUST HAVE APP" on any device (NYTimes, WSJ, USA Today & Lifehacker). An all-in-one to do list, calendar, planner and reminders app. Free & Simple. The app lets you sync between phone, desktop, web, and tablet to keep your lists up to the minute. A voice-entry feature lets you add items to your task list just by speaking. Calendar integration is available for better task list management. Further enhance your productivity with cross-platform support for sub-tasks, notes, and file attachments. Choose either a free or premium version with advanced features.
Waze:
If you're taking the wheel yourself, you might want a more focused navigation app that's all about finding the fastest, most efficient driving route. Always know what’s happening on the road with Waze. Even if you know the way, Waze tells you instantly about traffic, construction, police, crashes, & more. If traffic is bad on your route, Waze will change it to save you time. Waze feeds your smartphone real-time traffic information, based on reports from other Waze users. That data includes accidents, speed traps and other hazards that might keep you from getting to your destination in a timely fashion. Other features sure to impress travelers include automatic rerouting, cheap gas alerts and the ability to send your ETA to anyone waiting at your final stop.
Tokyo Voice Column
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD OCTOBER 11. 2019Is Truth Over There? by Takehiro Hashimoto
We are all prisoners of our conceptual thinking. We THINK THINK AND THINK. We think about the world around us. We try to find out words that justify our thinking. Unfortunately, we fail to attain the enlightenment. Instead of being aware of being right here and right now, we try to reach the goal, our solid objective, and get lost in the woods. I had been like that, and somewhat still, I am. But so long as you cling to the notion that I am here and Truth is over there, confusion remains for the rest of your life.
Nowadays, we have become too intellectualized, with the advent of obsessive-compulsive social media syndrome, to sense everything arises and falls away, in just a blink of eyes. Intellect makes us see the world as it was, meaning that it cannot allow us to see the world on this moment, as it is arising and falling away at the same speed.
We can intellectualize how the world worked with words, yet we cannot say exactly how the world is working. When we see the river, for example, we say to ourselves, “This is the same old river. I saw it yesterday, and I will see it tomorrow as well.” Actually, each flow of water is a unique flow of water; it is new-born, right here, at this present moment, this time only, at this very place and in this very shape.
How many times do we have to suffer, before we realize the world doesn’t repeat itself? How many times have we tried to take pictures of this world and felt isolated? You know it. I know it. We know it. But really? If so, why do we cling to the past? Past is no more. What’s done is done. If we knew it for sure, we wouldn’t feel sadness for things that have gone from us?
私たちはみんな自分の思考の牢獄のなかにいる。私たちはみんな世界について絶え間なく考えている。そして、自分の思考に符合する言葉を探し回っている。残念ながら、目論みははずれると決まっている。いまここにいることに気づくかわりに、ゴール、言い換えれば確固たる目的を目指し、森をさまよっている。私はずっとそんな感じで生きてきた。ある意味で今もそうだ。しかし、私はこちらにいて、真理はあちらにあるという想念にしばられているかぎり、混乱は生涯つづくだろう。
近年、ソーシャルメディアへの執着によって、私たちは知性化した。そして、目の前で生じ滅している世界に気づく感性を犠牲にした。知性はいつも、生じ終わった過去の世界を見せてくれる。つまりそれは、世界が同じ速度で生じて滅しているさまを、私たちは見ることができないということだ。
私たちは言語によって、この世界がどのように生成したかを概念化することができる。しかし、世界が今、どのように動いているかについては話せない。たとえば、川の流れを見る。「これは古くからある川だ。昨日も見たし、明日もまた見るであろう」このように思うはずだ。しかし、水の流れそれぞれは、本当は唯一無二なるものだ。それはいま生まれ、まさにこのときここにあり、この場かぎりで、このかたちとしてあるのだ。
私たちはいったい何回苦しまなければならないのか、この世界が二度と繰り返さないということを知るまでに。今までいったい何回、この流動する世界を撮影しようとして、孤独を感じてきたのだろうか。そんなことはみんな知っている。本当に？もし知っているなら、どうして私たちは過去に執着するのか。過去はもうない。終わってしまったのだ。もしそのことを知っているというなら、なぜ、もうないものに対して悲しみを抱えつづけるというのだろう？
Strange but True
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD OCTOBER 11. 2019How to Avoid a Hangover?
Party season is around the corner. Starting from Halloween, soon the Thanksgiving, Christmas and a New year. Don't want a hangover? This might be worth trying. Nutritionist and health coach sets out the things you should be doing at every stage of boozy night out. He recommends eating a balanced meal which includes protein and fat, drink a lot of water with a pinch of sea salt in the day, take an extra multivitamin before you head out. Then before bed grab some fruits high in fructose instead of kebab and boost your B1 with a supplement. The next morning, drink his special hydration saviour; 235ml of water, 118ml of coconut water, 118ml of orange juice and a pinch of sea salt. Beetroot will improve liver function so put some in your lunch or find a juice. Let's hope we've finally found a cure that actually works.
Do Try This at Home!
So the party season is approaching and we all want to look great. So here's some advice from a skin expert. Keep your skin hydrated. Avoid wearing too much makeup especially oil based products. Make sure you prepare your skin from pollution by wearing sunscreen, using a good moisturiser to create a barrier between your skin and pollutants and double cleansing your skin. Don't wear too much powder foundation. Be wary of amplifying wrinkles with concealer. It's important to use eye cream. Use sun cream every single day. Always, always take your make-up off at night!
Links
Guesthouse Tokyo10 minutes to Ikebukuro. Interhousesafe and accessible solution for your accommodation needs in Tokyo. Sakura House1830 monthly furnished rooms at 204 locations in Tokyo. BAUHOUSEPrivate furnished rooms in Roppongi, Akasaka, Azabu-Juban etc. |
J&F PlazaFurnished & unfurnished guesthouses and apartments in Tokyo. May Flower HouseTokyo furnished apartments. Ginza, Roppongi, Yotsuya and more. TenTen Guesthouse33,000yen/30 days for working holiday students. GOOD ROOM TOKYOShare room, Private room, under 50,000yen |
MOVE JAPANPrivate furnished rooms in Tokyo with free internet. Call us first or call us last! Tokyomove.comHassle free moving starts from 6000yen. |
Tokyo Helping HandsVery flexible working hours to effectly help you with moving, deliveries, disposal, storage and more! |
AirNet TravelWe'll cut you the best air ticket deals anywhere. Fun TravelDiscount air travel & package tours 2min from Roppongi Stn. |
No.1 TravelWe go the extra mile for you. International air tickets and hotels. JR Tokai ToursTop-value travel to Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya from Tokyo by Shinkansen. |
Matsuda Legal OfficeAll kinds of Visa, Immigration & Naturalization, International Marriage etc. |
Futaba Visa OfficeLicensed immigration lawyer & certified public tax consultant. |
|
American PharmacyEnglish speaking pharmacy since 1950. |
Tokyo Skin ClinicEU-licensed multi lingual doctors. |
|
Tax-free AKKYJapanese Appliance, Watch, Souvenirs |
Tokyo Speed Dating1st Sat. & 3rd Sun. at Bari n Roppongi ETC. Tokyo SpontaneousPicnic, Parties, Language exchange |
|
TMAJapanese women & Western men. |
|
50 Shades of Yikess
