Living in Tokyo

Long time, no write

livingintokyo — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 23:04:11 +0000

My apologies to anyone who had been following my writings. Finding time to write has been very tough when looking after a family, working, attempting to learn how to build a website, … and trying to write about interesting topics.

I found myself beginning to write this blog as though it were a diary. That is not/was not the aim of developing this blog.

I will try my best to write at least twice a week or more often (if something interesting happens to me in Japan.

Please keep coming back regularly. As always, if you have any comments, please write in and make your opinions known.

Of tutting

livingintokyo — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:33:26 +0000

I don’t know about you, but I tend to tut. Tutting was part of my childhood. Do something bad, parents tut. Misbehave at school, teachers tut. Feel bored, I’d tut.
Sounds like my life was filled with tut … But it wasn’t all tuts!

Try tutting with Japanese friends or tutting in Japan. You’ll get a very strong negative reaction. Basically, it’s a very bad, offensive, angry sound in Japan.

For me it’s a natural, inoffensive sound. Make a mistake, I tut.

I find it very difficult not to tut. So not doing this one small sounds makes things difficult!

Do you ever tut? Is it so offensive?

CK – questions (final)

livingintokyo — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 12:16:25 +0000

Sorry, I couldn’t get into my account. Only now can I post questions.

1. How often do you eat natto?

2.What do you usually do on Friday evenings?

3. Where did CK start up (begin)?

CK – questions – class 2

livingintokyo — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:14:40 +0000

Sorry for the delay … PC problems!

1. Which do you prefer, coffee or tea? (why)

2. What is your favorite burger restaurant? (why)

3. Which company is better, Nissan or Toyota? (why)

Your habits

livingintokyo — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:11:02 +0000

View This Poll

The mobile age?

livingintokyo — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:37:13 +0000

Spot the odd one out.

Is this a sign of the mobile (cell) phone age? Or is it a sign of someone refusing to be part of the mobile phone age?

I’m sure this scene can be seen all over the world on public transport … or is it something particular to Japan?

I think this is one of the many things people do to ‘disconnect’ from others. I’m not saying this is good or bad, but I have seen many cases where this ‘disconnection’ is a bad thing.

Of course, the one person you don’t see in the photo is me. I was using my phone to watch a video … or was it to disconnect to others?

What do you on the train or bus?

Fighting in Japan

livingintokyo — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:43:38 +0000

‘Japan is a safe country.’, I hear this statement quite often from various people. Personally, I don’t think it’s as safe as many people think.

Violence against the person, i.e., fighting, is quite low. People can go out at weekends and get extremely drunk and not have to worry about getting into a fight. Unlike my home country, Scotland.

Something that I discovered directly is that ‘fighting’ is quite different in Japan. I’ll tell you something that happened to me and you can be the judge.

Morning time at a busy train station. I was going up the stairs in the ‘up’ section, divided from the much wider ‘down section’ by a hand rail (the ‘up’ section is wide enough for about one and half people).

People were coming down the stairs and a businessman decided it would be quicker to come down in the area I was going up. As a result, he bumped into me quite hard. As he bumped into me he grabbed my right arm: by this time I was 2 steps higher than him.

What to do? My natural instinct at being attacked this way was to twist my arm and break his hold. As I did this I punch him in the chest – not so hard though! He almost tried to charge me but thought the better of it as I had the higher ground. Conflict over.

Was I wrong to punch him? I think, maybe, this is where cultures divide. Most Japanese would say that I was in the wrong for escalating the violence by punching him. Most ‘westerners’ might say I was right to defend myself after having my person attacked. Or maybe I was completely wrong??

What do you think? Please tell me your opinion.

Of escalators

livingintokyo — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:56:52 +0000

In Tokyo, you should stand on the left side of an escalator in order to allow those in a hurry to walk up. One thing I have noticed is that by far the majority of men and women when walking up the escalator walk flat-footed. That is, planting their feet hard and flat, making a loud stomping sound. It’s almost as if they are in some kind of foot-stomping musical.

Why do people walk this way? I always thought the way to walk up a set of stairs was to walk on the ball of the foot, NOT plant the foot flatly and solidly on the step.

And just why is it that some people feel the need to stand at the top of an escalator to hold a conversation, blocking the way for others? Why?!?!

How do you walk on stairs and escalators? Is there anything else that people do on escalators that annoy you?

CK – questions

livingintokyo — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 01:57:03 +0000

1. Who do you work for?

2. What do you do? (job)

3. What does your company do?

Comb overs or combovers

livingintokyo — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 11:06:08 +0000

For reasons that will quickly become obvious, I have not been able to post any photographs for this post.

Male baldness being the topic, or should I say, the hairstyles that men develop in order to hide a receding hairline. This is not exclusive to Japan, but seems to be a global phenomenon. I thought it interesting because it is to do with human behaviour … and the Japanese name for this bad hairstyle is quite funny.

In the UK it’s usually called a ‘comb-over’. In Japan, a ‘bar-code’ (a very apt name).

For those of you not sure of what I’m talking about. It’s when a man is going bald but has hair at the sides or back of his head. He then grows this hair to such a length that it can be combed over to cover the bald spot. I think this works when the bald spot is very small, but when the bald area is clearly visible, even with the ‘comb-over’ that’s when this style is just plain silly.

Why do men do this? Is it because the think they are unattractive to the opposite sex? Is it because they feel they are losing part of their manhood? Is it because they feel they look old?

There is also a huge industry built around male baldness. Health supplements for the scalp that are supposed to strengthen or promote growth, hair implants, a spray on powder (makes existing hair look thicker, in order to help cover the bald spot), etc.

The craziest attempt I have ever seen was a couple of years ago on a Japanese train. A man, sitting reading, the shine from the black area on his head caught my eye. It looked like he had taken a black pen and had just filled in the bald spot!

Do you have any theories as to why men resort to this hair style? Are you one of those men??