First up is this place in Ueno, of which I forgot the name and the location! So sorry if you wanted to visit, cause all you are getting today is pictures! We were actually guided through the area (and Shimokita) by a close friend of my girlfriend’s mother. She had some business to take care of in the area, so we just decided to browse around.

I can assure you everything in that case is fake as Hamasaki Ayumi’s face, and probably just about as expensive. Each food item cost probably 4-8 times the price of the actual food.


The selection of 40 dollar beers. Although it is sort of obvious because it is all wrapped up in plastic, the image of it all on sight was quite deceiving. The beer glasses even had such details as condensation and the beer had air bubbles.


My point is made more obvious by this picture. Price of the beer in the middle 5,000 Yen or roughly 50 dollars Canadian.

Just a few more pics…

This one was my favourite! Also check out Xorsyst.com for some more info on these non-edible goodies.

Even the souvenirs were a little too expensive to constitute buying. I suppose this is the way it is for restaurant businesses in Japan though, as almost every restaurant has their food choices displayed outside their shops. This is also something I really enjoy about Japan, is that you can use your eyes and really make a good choice, and being quick about ordering when you sit down as well.

On to Shimokitazawa which is a real mouthful in english font but only 3 characters in Japanese: 下北沢。The area of Shimokitazawa located in Setagaya, Tokyo is one of the nicer areas of Tokyo with some good night life. When I first arrived in Shimokita, it gave me the feeling of a more relaxed, less hyped-up Harajuku. The people, shops and overall atmosphere was a lot more calm and not overly concerned with latest trends or expensive foreign goods.

One of the nicer looking shops which sold earrings and other accessories. The entrance was very creative.


The streets are smaller and more condensed with shops and restaurants than compared to the wider and longer streets of Harajuku. I got a more comfortable feeling from Shimokita. Everywhere seemed more homey and relaxed (not that the people at A BOMBER in Harajuku aren’t the nicest people I’ve met in Japan).


While being unable to decide where to eat, “Wendy” (our guide) had the idea of sitting down for a beer (on empty stomachs) in order to decide. Can’t say I dislike her thinking…


Not that this bar had no business, but the majority of the customers were sitting to the other side of me, on the tables which were outside of this open-concept bar. What I mean by that is, like many shops in area’s like these, there is no front door, but rather the entire wall is gone and the patio blends into the bar. It was a nice evening if I remember correctly.


Sitting down to a nice meal at the local yakitori-ya. “Wendy” took care of the order. Yakitori is various types of chicken/bird on skewers, all cooked/bbq’ed and smeared in different yummy sauces. They also have many other tasty dishes, and not to mention….


Nice icy cold ones.


First time trying cold stone ice cream. So good! Don’t know where it originated from though.


You are always better at picking the good ones. Chunky Monkey Mix. Not to say my Mango Mango wasn’t amazing either.

I definitely can’t wait to head back here when I return to Japan. Anyone else think they might like it here?

There are some more pictures in the picture gallery section!

Amongst other things of hers I’ve been meaning to watch, Yama Onna Kabe Onna （山女壁女), or “Mountain Woman, Wall woman” (this is in reference to breast size incase you are wondering if she stars in a jdrama about women who live in the mountains and paint on walls or something), is one of them.

In this drama, Itou plays a department store sales women who has a complex about her flat chest. It is definitely a comedy for the whole family (please don’t quote me on that). This drama was actually from last summer’s season, and I still haven’t gotten around to watching it! I am really slow with the jdrama watching these days! When I do get around to watching it, I’ll let everyone know how it is on here.

The basic format of the show goes like this:

The show begins with the introduction of 2 guests. These are generally 2 Japanese celebrities, idols, athletes, and so on. For today’s show, we have Hayami Mokomichi (I know, again!), and Becky, a famous half Japanese actress.



Before the show, both guests are asked to select 3 foods they really love to eat, and one food they absolutely hate. The objective of the game is to trick the opponent (the other guest) so that they cannot guess which food you dislike. There are many different strategies for this (ie: Some people pretend to hate the food they really like, or research the food they hate to sound as if they really like it.), and it is really fun to watch.

At the start of the episode it lists the 4 foods of each guest. This is one of Becky’s food selections, Horumon-yaki. I believe it is cooked intestine, not sure what animal though. I think I’ve actually had it before too.


The 2 guests then go back and forth through the items and get to watch each other eat the items, and ask any relevant questions about the food. The good part is the viewer doesn’t know which food the guests dislike either, so it is fun to guess as to what they don’t like.


Of course, conversations get really off track and hilarity is sure to follow. Making the show all the more enjoyable.


After they have gone through all the food, it is time for 実食（じしょく：Jishoku), or truthful eating. The guests take a stab as to what their opponent dislikes and showdown, basically eating as much as possible. The winner is determined by who correctly guesses a disliked food first.


During Jishoku, each guest has about 20-30 seconds to voice whether they forefit or love the food by either saying 「大好き」（だいすき：Daisuki : I love it!) or 「参りました」（まいりました：Mairimashita : Good game! I lost.) Mokomichi guessed right against Becky this time and won.


The loser generally undergoes パツゲーム (patsu-geemu), which is sort of a dare or a humiliation. This time Becky gives a rather realistic Nakama Yukie impersonation.


For those that are looking for some good study material, I’d suggest Kuwazu girai. Unfortunately, I don’t think there are subs anywhere for this show, but I could be wrong. Hmmm, If I started to sub it would you watch? haha

In the last 3 weeks, all I have managed is two episodes of Zettai Kareshi, in all its Mokomichi goodness. So I might as well summarize a bit about the interesting parts of each episode. Just to mention, the ratings for Zettai Kareshi are relatively low compared to CHANGE or Gokusen3. This being for obvious reasons I suppose, but I really thought it would do much better than it is. Oh well!

Just some quick snaps of episodes 2 and 3:

Talk about anti-theft system.



Mokomichi is so damn skinny. I remember him commenting on an episode of Kuwazugirai That he wanted to buff up. Apparently his dad is like 196cm and built like a tank.


Jam heart is too good!


Asamoto Soshi with the stare downs. He desperately wants some more cream puffs!


Beginning stages of attachment. Would you buy Mokomichi for　一億円（いちおくえん: Ichiokuen). $1,000,000USD!


Free promo boxers! Sasaki Kuranosuke’s role in this drama still doesn’t fail to amuse me.


“Why will no one eat my cream puffs!” *sad face I’m translating シュークリーム : Shuu Kuriimu to “cream puffs” because I don’t think “shoe cream” is correct, and it also doesn’t sound very delicious at all.


The janitor loves you!


Nakamura Shunsuke playing the “serious older brother” role. I’ve heard he generally plays roles like this. Although this is the first drama I’ve seen him in. I’ve only been watching Jdrama for about 2 years now.


The beginnings of some obvious love triangle action! Typical drama set up.


That’s all for now! Hope those of you who are watching this are enjoying it as well. For those that aren’t, you are missing out on some seriously funny stuff! But then again, I know there are those out there that disagree with Jdrama. As I’ve said before, I find it a useful learning tool as actions and settings are overemphasized to make it easier to understand when it is appropriate to say certain phrases, words, etc.

I’m actually out of here for approx. 2 weeks. I’ll have some posts in the vault which will self-release, but I doubt I will have access to the internet to allow me to comment back. So please excuse me for not responding.

I’ve come to the understanding that I’m getting rather lazy at updating this. Perhaps I shouldn’t have advertised as much as I did because I now feel like I’m letting you (my viewers) down a bit. Of course, from the start I had no idea where to take this and what to do really. I just did it as more of a way to burn some time in my long summer, and have been talking about a website for a long while now.

A friend and I came to the conclusion that writing about the past is difficult, especially when I’m dying to go back to Japan. We also came to the conclusion that when I return to Japan, posting here will become much easier and much more interesting as well. For those who have been following along (with the site, comments, and the youtube) will know more or less when I am going back. But I’ve kind of been in the dark about the details and never officially posted how/where/when/why/etc on here.

During this time of uncertainty concerning the future of this site, I just want to thank those that have been keeping up with the posts here & on youtube, and hope that you will continue to do so. Those that have exchanged links with me as well, I’ve learned a lot from your sites that I’ve never known before, and I’m going to continue reading your posts and learning more. 

Thanks for being a part of this. Who knows, maybe something will come out of it in the long run. For now I’m just going to try and focus on posting when I want to and about what I want to.

Finally managed to get another Youtube video up after several requests to do one based on how to learn the language. Just another silly video. Some people tell me there is some useful information in it. I’d consider it more advice on how to go about learning Japanese.

Check it out if you have 8 minutes of your day to spare. I know it is a bit long, and I tried to cut it down, but couldn’t manage to this time. Either way, enjoy!

Wow… thanks to otaku.fm my hits went up like crazy now that I’ve got the rss feed fixed and thumbs are being created. Thanks Danny! Beautiful thing you have created!

Of course, there are going to be a lot of pissed off idol fans when they realizes this site isn’t exactly for “health care” purposes. But please! Don’t be shy, have a look around… (maybe there are more pictures of Yuuri on here! Search hard! Tell your friends to search hard as well! Maybe if you all visit my site you can find something!)

This is as close to a real post as I can afford at the moment as people are trying to break down my door to watch Euro2008 all day. Go Croatia!!

Just a few things as I’m trying to sort this new layout out:

- Planning on narrowing down my post topics so I’m not so all over the place.
- Want to get category thumbs up below the header.
- Any feedback is welcome. Help is appreciated.

For once, I think I’ve put something out that I actually like. Despite having no intentions of making a video like this, and almost no footage whatsoever, I think I managed to put together something rather decent.

This video features just some of the places I came across during my time in Japan (May/June 2007). Locations include: Shinjuku, Yoyogi, JR Shinkansen, Asakusa (during Sanja Matsuri), Akihabara (Zelda shot), Ueno Zoo (animals & Chiki the street performer), Kyoto, Arashiyama, Miyajima (deer), Tokyo Tower (Roppongi), Matsushima, Hiroshima (arcade scenes).

Have a look and let me know your thoughts about it either here or on youtube. Thanks.

For those who haven’t heard of Jero, he is a 26 year old African-American who sings Enka, a form of Japanese music generally enjoyed by the older generations of Japan. I gave his first song 海雪（うみゆき：Umiyuki) a few listens and it is actually rather enjoyable. Prior to that I didn’t really listen to much enka (just a little Hikawa Kiyoshi, as he has also been making a big commotion in the enka world during the last few years).

There are those that hope that Jero will spread interest in enka to the younger generations of Japan. I believe it might be worth a shot as many Japanese youth are currently obsessed with African-American (in other words “hip-hop” or “urban”) culture. Either way, as long as the guy is doing what he wants to do, I’m sure he will be happy, as well as change the way people look at Japan in terms of racism and cultural diversity.

Here is the music video for Umiyuki, his first single released in February, 2008. Although the video itself is a bit stupid, the song is pretty good and it’s probably worth a few listens. I especially enjoy the chorus.