Tokyo Heart

This week in review

Not a terribly exciting week here in old Edo (the old name for Tokyo), but a decent one. Started off with a planning session for the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan www.accj.or.jp Direct Market Committee - a committee that I have chaired since the beginning of last year. As you can determine from the name this committee was set up to assist the efforts of direct marketers in Japan. Why do I chair it? Well, up till the end of 2005 I was running a company that specializes in direct marketing of insurance products. And, the other company that I am a director of here in Japan - BoomerangIt Japan www.bij.jpwill be more involved in direct marketing as the membership base grows.

Other than that it was a week of meeting clients & interviewing candidates for my headhunting business. Always looking for good, qualified candidates, so if you know of someone who is interested in a change send 'em our way. They can contact me at info@isearchworldwide.co.jp

At least the weekend brought warmer weather so we enjoyed a nice sunny day on the golf course on Saturday with temps in the 15C range (that's about 60 for you Fahrenheit folks out there).

The warm weather continued on Sunday so the wife & I took a drive up north of Tokyo into Saitama prefecture where we found a nice soba (buckwheat) noodle shop for lunch. They have been hand making soba noodles there for over 20 years & the restaurant is housed in a 100 year old farmhouse that still has a thatched roof. Here is what it looks like.

So much for today's update. See you on the Blog!

Cold day on the golf course

Brr - only 4 degrees C yesterday, but we were out there on the links at Tama Hills Golf Course. Japan has a lot of great golf courses & with the lack of snow this year many of them are open & playable. We thought that was going to change yesterday as the clouds sent us a couple snow flurries, but those were brief and nothing stuck on the ground.

The good thing about Tama Hills is that it is only 30 minutes from my home, which is considered a very short distance to a golf course here. I have played many courses where it has taken me a couple of hours or more to get there - and even longer to get home. I remember a game from a few years back where the traffic jam was so bad on the way home that I actually had time to read most of a book I had in the car as I sat in traffic onthe highway. Score? Well, I broke 100, but not one of my better games - still, it's my best this year (of course, it's also my only game so far this year).

If you want to see a great site for a list of Japan's golf courses check out: http://www.golf-in-japan.com/

New Year visit to the shrine

READY TO TRULY START THE NEW YEAR

Of course, no heart beats without food to build up its lifeblood and food doesn’t always have to be something we can eat (but that’s good too here in Japan). Food can also be spiritual and Tokyo offers a veritable smorgasbord of spiritual satisfaction for one and all.

So, with that in mind, yesterday we made our way over to our neighborhood shrine, Omiya Hachiman Shrine. It’s a short walk along the Zempukuji River from our place to the shrine and though the day was brisk the sun was shining and the walk was a pleasant little journey. At the entry to the shrine we paused to watch some students practicing the art of Kyuko – Japanese archery – a hobby-sport shared by many in Japan. It looked interesting. Perhaps we’ll give it a try this year.

From there we walked over the stand where a young acolyte collected our old arrow which will be burned in the Dondo Yaki Festival that will be held on Jan. 15th. This festival is for burning notes and holy charms in a “cleansing fire” to show gratitude for the past year and bring happiness for the year to come. The arrows, which are made of wood and with a wooden tip, are known as “hamaya” which literally means, "demon-breaking arrow," is a decorative arrow sold at shrines at New Year's to ward off misfortune and to attract good luck. Before leaving the shrine we made sure to buy our hamaya, which we’ll keep in the house.

After turning in our old hamaya we went for our “yakubarai.” This is a blessing (or some may say exorcism) done by the shrine’s priest for those who turn a certain age each year, which is known as “yakudoshi.” In our case that certain age is 60 (but for yakudoshi purposes one year is added to the age one will attain during the year). The ceremony is done for a group of people, who are all sitting on stools inside the shrine’s temple building, and it takes about 25 minutes. The priest chants, says each person’s name, offers prayers, and leads us through the ceremony. At the end we are given a plaque and some small gifts from the shrine – some cookies, a bottle of water that has been blessed to give us health, and a bottle of sake to enjoy.

Following all this another short walk along the river brought us back home again. Of course, by this time it had turned colder and the wind had some teeth in it, so rather than brave the chill of the night we decided to order one of our favorite New Year dishes to be delivered to our house. One phone call and many minutes later we were enjoying one of the neighborhood sushi shop’s sushi menus – a good way to top off our final New Year celebration.

And so, off we go into this bright & shiny New Year of 2007 – the year of the boar – and we wish all of our readers a very happy, prosperous, health, and safe New Year!

Tokyo Heart

Tokyo - no denying that it is the Heart of Japan - and like a giant heart Tokyo has arteries (the roads, trains,and subways leading in & out, and all about the city). It also has life-blood (the people, the shops, activities that make it so alive). It has a beat - you can hear it if you listen - people hustling about, shouts of irrashaimase,& the pulse of all those people crowded into your train car or jostling you on the street. And of course, it has spirit! It even has what some may call & heart attacks. Just read the news; you can find attacks happening every day. Like the lady who couldn't take her husband's abuse any more so she cracked his head with a bottle then cut him up into pieces and distributed the pieces around the city. Or the bullies who pick on their schoolmates to the point where those who are bullied decide that suicide is better than living with the pain of bullying. But, despite the attacks, it remains an exciting, vibrant, blood-rushing, brain invigorating city to be in. When I first thought of a title for this Weblog I almost called it Tokyo Magnet, because like a giant magnet Tokyo pulls you in - and sometimes - repulses you. The boys and girls from the countryside of Japan are pulled in, but when the summer holiday of Obon or the New Year holiday rolls around the city "repulses" them and they flock back to their furusato (hometowns) to visit family and friends and relax in the countryside that they now miss - and then a few days later can't wait to get away from again. The foreigners who live here - at least those with an expat package - pulse out like flocks of birds in the summer for that inevitable trip home, wherever that may be, but after a few weeks (sometimes only days) back "home" the Tokyo Heart's Magnet starts pulling them back. Many who leave here after a few years working stint find that the pull of that magnet is so strong that they just have to find a way to get back here once again - some to the point of changing companies and careers for another opportunity to live in this city of millions; millions of hearts making one great Tokyo Heart and causing jaded people-hearts to beat along with it to the great pulse of the city. As a heart is made up of different chambers, so too is Tokyo. There are myriad chambers in the city, each with it's own separate pulse; some slow, some fast, some changing beats every day. Some may say the central chamber is the financial district of Marunouchi. Others would say that Shibuya is the strongest pulsing chamber in this great City Heart, and still others would swear that without Roppongi the Tokyo Heart would wither & die. Yet there are others who prefer the chambers on the edges, where the trees grow green, the parks are full of walkers, joggers, bikers, and dogs dressed to match their owners prance along on their daily walks. Stay tuned & read about some of these chambers - near & far - as this Weblog grows. Ask questions, tell me what you want to know and read about, and learn more about what keeps the Tokyo Heart alive & beating.