Wednesday, 30 January 2008

Australia / Japan Apologies

Something really amazing has been announced this past week that really surprised me. I truly thought that it was something that just wasn't going to happen: Australia will apologise for the Stolen Generation!

This is something I think the majority of Australians had been wanting to happen for a while with a lot of us wondering why it hadn't been done already. One major theory was that if the government admitted fault for the Stolen Generation they would be liable to lawsuits and expectations of funds for compensation.

Now, finally I can have conversations about apologies concerning Japan without feeling like a hypocrite, though to be fair, while Australia just refused to apologise, Japan has a history of simply refusing that events took place and even editing school text books content.

Such massive yet little known incidents include;

The Kanto Massacre which happened in the aftermath of the Great Kanto Quake in 1923 in which the Japanese military spread rumours concerning poisoning of water, rape and murder being committed by non-Japanese (mostly Koreans) and then assisted in the rounding up and murdering of 6000 (of the 30,000 Koreans in Japan at the time) Koreans, 700 Chinese as well as numerous Okinawans and Japanese people from other regions who spoke other dialects who were thought to be Koreans pretending to be Japanese.

Note: Interestingly enough the Kanto Massacre is the reason a lot of Japanese businesses including my current place of occupation include small radios in their earthquake evacuation emergency kits to prevent spreading of rumours and rely on fact reported by the media.

WWII Mass Suicides in Okinawa where the Japanese military stole food and supplies, executed those who hid theirs, used Okinawan civilians as body shields and finally spreading anti-American propaganda that compelled 10,000 Okinawans to kill themselves and their families so as to avoid capture from the Americans who they were told would rape, beat, murder and mutilate them.

The Rape of Nanking. Horrific events committed by the Japanese military and government during WWI in which they raped, mutilated, and committed unthinkable things to the citizens of the Chinese city, Nanking / Nanjing. Roughly 350,000 Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed in the eight week period.

Thoughts?

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Labels: Australia, japan, Japanese Social Issues, Rape of Nanking

Sunday, 27 January 2008

Self Improvement

Just came across this rather cool blog about Self Improvement, something I'm very much interested in pursuing moreso this year than last (speaking of which, I should probably post my New Years Resolutions soon, yeah?).

It covers a whole range of topics around body mind spirit with some great articles such as this one about dangerous mercury levels found in tuna something that's really been on my mind living in Japan but moreso lately due to a tv report I saw when I was back in Australia about how many Asian communities in Australia may be unintentionally poisoning their children due to traditional meals.

On the other end of the Personal development spectrum is this article about how gaining weight can shrink penis size. Hilarious but true. (Random fact of mine: smoking can also shrink erection length by up to 3cm! Think about that next time you light up guys!).

Being the Yoga freak that I am, I decided to look at their Yoga category and found that they had written an article about my daily routine, Yoga Today! It's so good to see that word about Yoga Today is getting out there. It's not only changed me mentally but really, dramatically physically. Seriously, my body feels like someone else's body after doing Yoga Today for just over year! My bone alignment is completely different than it use to be and the shape of my spine and back muscles seemed to have moved something fierce from where they used to be.

Here's hoping DietMindSpirit.org posts some afterthoughts on actually having tried YogaToday. I'm always curious about other's experiences.

Cool blog.

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Labels: Sponsored Posts

Saturday, 26 January 2008

Happy Australia Day!

Just wanted to wish all the Australians here in Japan and everywhere else in the world a very Happy Australia Day!

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Labels: Australia

Wholesale Shirts

This last year or so, I've really started looking into the sale of t-shirts. I know that sounds retarded but being involved in several charities who raise funds from t-shirt sales and also thinking of creating my own to make money for... well... me, it's something that I ended up doing a fair bit of research on.

Basically there are two main ways to create your own brand t-shirts. One is to find a company that will mass produce a batch for you which you can sell yourself at events. The other is to buy blank t-shirts and paint or screenprint them yourselves.

One such site I came across concerning blank t-shirts was WDUSA.

The offer a HUGE range of different blank shirts with many different colours and designs for sale. What's more, they're cheap! I'm talking about US$1 - $2 a shirt here. Pretty good!

The site does seem a bit dodgy though with the design leaving a lot to be desired (they really should hire a professional to redesign it for them) plus several obvious spelling and grammar mistakes. "100 Dozens"? "help us keep cost down"? " Please enter all orders oniine"? "Due to our low prices any one can buy cheap t shirt in any quantity over minimum one dozen."?

Perhaps they should hire a professional writer as well.

However, despite the obvious warning signs there is a testimonial page with testimonials from 43 customers both positive;

I am a new customer of yours. Which I am happy to say that I have been very pleased with the quality of your merchandise. And also the super fast deliveries.

and positive but with issues:

Thank you for working around my problems with the order. The order actually made it here today and I was very pleased with the quality of the product. I'm planning to put another order in today and this time I have a reloadable visa debit card. Once again thank you and I am pleased to say I'm going to be doing a lot of business with you.

I personally haven't tried this site but if you're after cheap shirts in a wide range of shapes and sizes this seems to be the place to go.

Hope you found this useful. I know several friends who'll be very interested in this site.

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Friday, 25 January 2008

Strawberry Japanese Kit Kat

Something that's always surprised me is the popularity of strawberries in Japan... in Winter. They're out of season and I'm pretty sure they're not from Japan (or elsewhere in Asia for that matter).

I asked several Japanese people and was told that they're popular because they're almost always on top of the Japanese Christmas cake (which is normally a sponge cake or vanilla and covered in cream and strawberries). But why are strawberries on the Christmas cakes? Because they're red and white... the same colours as seen on Santa Clause!

That's the theory going around, though this wouldn't be the first time a Japanese person has told me a "fact" about Japan that was incorrect.

Anyway, to celebrate the season of Winter, I present to you the Strawberry Kit Kat and it's "little" offspring! Be afraid, be very afraid.

Japanese Kit Kat: Strawberry

I actually felt sick after eating these things. It tasted like fake strawberry but there must be something in it that's trying to make it taste as milky as possible because I felt like I was eating solidified whipped cream.

Avoid this one (as if you were going to buy it anyway).

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Labels: japan, Kit Kat Spotlight

New Orleans Hotels

Sponsored Post!

I've often wondered about going to New Orleans (seriously). I used to be the biggest fan of Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles (remember Interview with the Vampire?) which set several scenes in or around the New Orleans area. She just made it seem so magical and ancient and always a little bit different than any other city in the world.

As I got older though I learnt about the the enormous music scene and the annual Mardi Gras which a friend of mine at Uni went to and raved about for weeks.

Hurricane Katrina seemed to put an end to almost all of that... or so I thought.

Seems that the a lot of the area (though unfortunately many are still suffering) is on the mend and I'm curious now about visiting not for any of my previous reasons but to see how the city is coping.

Searching around, Mariott Hotels has a massive range of New Orleans hotels. It's actually kind of scary how big their range is. From full on hotels to smaller residences, Mariott Hotels is a great source of accommodation if you're planning a trip there.

For the anti-smoker (like myself) the Courtyard New Orleans Downtown Near the French Quarter is apparently completely smoke free since 2006 which makes it my pick out of the bunch.

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Labels: Sponsored Posts

Wednesday, 23 January 2008

Sakura Kit Kat 2008

Those crazy Japanese Kit Kat flavours keep on coming with yet another release of the popular sakura (cherry blossom) flavour that I saw just a few days before New Years and bought a bag load for pressies for peeps back in Australia.

Japanese Kit Kat: Sakura 2008

While it tastes the same, the box design is different than last year's sakura Kit Kat. They're also releasing a little bite size pack of Kit Kat balls that taste the same as the regular one but... well, in ball shape.

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Labels: japan, Kit Kat Spotlight

Snow in Tokyo

It's snowing this morning! First Tokyo snow of this season! (As far as I know!)

I'm kind of scared of the thought of once more dodging umbrella wielding Japanese pedestrians this morning. Lack of spacial awareness is normally bad enough but a few hundred people carrying umbrellas.... I'm surprised my eyes have lasted this long.

On a plus side, I get to watch a lot of women slip and slide all over the place. That's always good for a laugh.

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Labels: japan

Monday, 14 January 2008

10 Things: Australia and Japan

Well I just had the best last few weeks! Caught a flight from Narita to Sydney a few days after Christmas where Pam and Greg picked me up and rove me all the way to Orange to stay with my sister, Heather who was getting married on New Years Eve!

The wedding went really well and I found myself realising just how much I had not only missed Australia, but Orange as well!

A few days after New Years, Heather and her new husband, Jamie drove me to Wentworth Falls where my grandparents live to be passed over to Pam and Greg once more who drove me to Mosman, Sydney to stay for several days so I could catch up with all my friends from Sydney and also a friend of mine I had met while working in Tokyo, Christie who had just moved to Sydney with her Japanese fiance several months before.

It was a breath of fresh air to be able to actually talk about life in Japan with someone without coming across as an arrogant tosser. For some reason it's fairly hard to talk about living in another country with people back home. The slightest "In Tokyo..." sentence can seem like bragging depending on who you're talking to. While several people were generally interested I did find myself stopping myself from talking about the last four years of my life.

Ironically enough it was also great to talk to Christie and Kosuke (fiance) about how much Sydney and Australia as a whole had changed.

After a few days in Sydney I caught a flight to Melbourne which I had never been to before, to attend the wedding of Chris (who I used to work with but still hang out with in Tokyo) and Takayo.

Melbourne was great (though Sydney's still better!) and the wedding was really nice with both sides of the family being some of the friendliest people I've ever met.

After a few days in Melbourne I got on a flight from Melbourne to Cairns and then another to Narita.

Now that I've been back in Tokyo for a few days, I thought it'd be interesting to list 10 things that surprised me, shocked me or just stood out during my stay in Australia after being in Japan for 2 years and 10 things that surprised me, shocked me or just stood out about Japan after being in Australia again for a few weeks.

Australia

Everything was so expensive! Clothes, food, everything!

Genuine friendly service.

The air quality was so good no matter where I went!

Seeing a movie could once again be a relaxing experience! Half the price of seeing one in Japan, better and cleaner cinemas.

I felt healthier being in Australia.

Cleaner people. People wash their hands, no spitting as far as the eye could see.

Women who weren't annoying! Women who had a brain! Women who were in almost every way equal to their male counterparts.

I felt like I was in a country which was improving itself and it's place in the world. Very environmentally concious, and progression / awareness of human rights such as gay marriage, etc.

Friendly people. I had more conversations with complete strangers in the span of a few weeks in Australia than I had has in four years in Japan.

Australian tv is now also full of crap though Sunrise on 7 is well worth waking up for.

Japan

Rude people. Period.

Tokyo is ugly! I'd gotten so used to it but after being in Sydney and Melbourne it REALLY stood out.

Shopping is once again stressful do to being screamed at the second you walk into a store.

Everything's so CHEAP! Bought three bunches of broccoli for 80cents each. In Australia it would be about $3-4 each.

Trains are convenient!

Train system still makes no sense though. How come I can buy one ticket to go from Numabukuro to Roppongi but from Roppongi to Numabukuro I have to buy two. No common sense.

Old technology. Old ticket machines. Dirty machines. Still no EFTPOS.

Dirty people. Coughing everywhere. No covering of mouths. Sick people riding trains.

Japanese women seem VERY week both physically and emotionally. I don't want to sound racist or sexist but this is definitely the case. Japanese women in Tokyo anyway.

A lot of history and culture.

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Labels: Australia, japan