FANTASTIC JAPAN：日本の常識は非常識!? This blog introduces you to how wonderful and beautiful Japan is using both English and Japanese languages. We will cover topics such as Japanese culture, tradition, technologies, people, etc. We provide information for those whom have visited Japan before or for those who want to visit Japan soon. このブログでは、日本の文化、伝統、技術、人々など、いかに日本が素晴らしく美しいかを紹介していきます。日本に来たことがある人、またはこれから日本に来る人に情報提供していきます。 2014-03-17T23:37:15+09:00 Japanese & American Ninja 忍者ブログ japan.iku4.com://entry/29 2014-06-16T15:47:26+09:00 2014-06-16T15:47:26+09:00 Hydrangea (Ajisai in Japanese)　梅雨のシーズンですねぇ

Did you know that the Hydrangea plant ("Ajisai" in Japanese) is native to Japan and China?  Since moving back to Japan this last year, I started noticing that many houses around our neighborhood had them growing in their yards, as well as in my own.  The flowers started blooming in our area in late May and are still going strong.  I also see them dotting the tollways when I drive through the mountains, as they seem to be growing wild in random places.

日本は梅雨ですねぇ。でも私の住んでいる地域は例年に比べて雨がとても少ないように思います。みなさんの地域ではどうですか？　東京や九州ではかなり降っているところもあるようですね。このころになると、紫陽花（あじさい）の花があちらこちらで咲いてかたつむりなんかもでてきますよね。　

この紫陽花って日本が原産国らしいですが、知ってましたか？
 
It is very popular in Japan to put the flowers in a vase and display them in your house.  One example of how popular they are here is when I casually mentioned to one of my neighbors that I had just cut some of the flowers to put in a vase.  She then got excited and started pulling buckets out of her house filled with her own hydrangea to show me a couple of varieties that she had.
 
この写真のように花瓶に花をかざるのは日本特有なようですね。
 
 
日本人にとっては、この6月あたりに色々なところで咲く紫陽花ですが、外国の方にとっては珍しい花で、見たこともない人もたくさんいるようです。

日本の四季、それぞれの季節で趣のある風景がいろんなところで見られる日本って素晴らしいと再認識しました。その素晴らしさを海外から来る人たちにも経験してもらいたいですね。
 
There are a supposedly thousands of varieties of hydragea with one even being named "Kyushu", which is the island of Japan where I live.  The type growing in my yard have the mophead shape and currently have a purple color. The ones I picked are shown in the vase above.  My in-laws have what is called a lacecap variety and have white flowers.  These are shown in the pictures below.  The lacecap kind have smaller flowers in the middle surrounded by larger flowers around the outside.
]]> Japanese & American Ninja japan.iku4.com://entry/28 2014-06-13T18:00:57+09:00 2014-06-13T18:00:57+09:00 Ramen　ラーメンは日本食？ The origin of Ramen is not clear but it is one of my favorite Japanese foods. Japanese people like to eat many different kinds of noodles, such as Soba noodles, Udon, and rice noodles, etc. I like to eat Nissin Top instant ramen which has chicken, beef, shrimp, or oriental flavors, etc...

日本食って改めて考えてみると、うどん、そば、やきそば、ラーメン、ビーフンなど麺類を頻繁にたべていますよね。種類もたくさんあり、しかも、それぞれの味が全然違って日本食というのは本当にバラエティに富んでいるんだなぁと思いました。


Here in Japan, you can eat more tasty ramen noodles. There are more than 30,000 ramen shops in Japan where you can enjoy really good local ramen shops. However, if you want to eat more authentic ramen noodles, then you should visit more specific cities such as Fukuoka or Hokkaido where they are famous for ramen.
 
その中でもラーメンというのは日本の食文化の特徴的なものです。もともとは中国からのものなのかもしれないですが、全国には30000店以上のラーメン店があるんだから、こりゃあもう日本食と言って間違いないでしょうｗ


Fukuoka is famous for Tonkotsu (pork soup stock) ramens. Hokkaido is famous for Miso soup ramens. City to city and shop to shop, the taste is different. You can choose from Shoyu (Soy sauce based soup), Tonkotsu (pork soup stock), Shio (salt based soup), and Miso based soup, etc.

福岡といえば豚骨ラーメン、北海道といえば味噌ラーメンと、地方地方で有名なラーメンがありますが、アメリカなんかではカリフォルニアに行けばハリウッドバーガー、ラスベガスにいけばカジノバーガーなんてものはないし、そのエリアエリアで有名な食べ物っていうものはあまりないように感じます。


Also, you can enjoy the different tastes of Shoyu (soy sauce based) ramen between east Japan and west Japan. People who live in the east side of Japan seem to like stronger tasting soup where as people in the west like it with a weaker taste.
 

皆さんが住んでいる地元にも美味しい行きつけのラーメン屋があると思いますが、せっかく福岡の博多に行くのなら博多ラーメン、札幌に行ったら札幌ラーメンの有名店を訪れたいですよね。
みなさんのおすすめのラーメン店、「この県に行ったらここにいけ！」みたいなのがあったら教えてください！

 Of course, you can go to a franchise ramen shop and you can enjoy the same taste wherever you go in Japan, but it is one of my pleasures to visit a private ramen shop which is locally very popular . I hope you enjoy not only Sushi, but also Ramen noodle when you come to visit Japan.


愛知県豊川市のとんこつラーメン
Tonkotsu ramen in Aichi prefecture
(Fukuoka is the No.1 Tonkotsu Ramen city though)

]]> Japanese & American Ninja japan.iku4.com://entry/27 2014-06-09T21:21:19+09:00 2014-06-09T21:21:19+09:00 Kaiten Zushi　回転寿司だって・・・

Kaiten zushi, in my opinion, is one of the coolest and most interesting parts about eating in Japan.  It is a great example of how technology and food can be combined to offer personalized service and quality fresh food.  The layout of the seating is usually a booth or counter type table.  Going all around the restaurant is a rotating train type platform that might remind you of a miniature baggage claim area at the airport that your suitcase rides on.

この間のブログ記事に日本の寿司のすばらしさ、おいしさについて書きましたが、100円近くで手軽に食べられる回転ずしは外国の人にも楽しめる日本の文化の1つだと思う。
ましてや、めちゃめちゃたくさんの量を食べる欧米人にとったら、安くて食べられる寿司は魅力があるのだろう。

Each table has its own touch screen for placing specific orders.  Also, each table has its own assigned color.  When you place an order with the touch screen, your item is sent out on a special plate, unique from all the random other ones.  When the ordered plate nears your table, a chime goes off to remind you to look for and take the item.  It arrives displaying your table's color on the plate, of which you must grab and remove from the continuously rotating track.


もし、お皿の色によって値段が違うところに外国人を連れて行って、どんどん食べて！なんて言ったらもしかしたら大変なことになってしまうかもしれないので、つれていくならどのプレートでも一緒の価格のところがいいでしょうｗ
 

最近は、衛生面も各回転ずしチェーンも強化してきて、アメリカのくら寿司ではすべてに蓋がついていて、日本よりも気を使っているようにも思える。下の写真のようにセンサーがついていて何周も廻っても取られないものは弾かれるように、こういった細かいことには日本人だからこそ気がつくことだろう。

Each plate has a sensor attached to the bottom of it. This sensor is used for the chime function mentioned above, but also to monitor how long that particular plate has been traveling around since first placed out. If the plate continues to travel around the track for more than a specified amount of time, the plate is then removed and the food discarded of.  This terrific feature enables the chefs to keep only fresh food rotating around the restaurant.  Who knows what else the sensor might be able to do.  I have yet to try and sneak one of the plates out of the restaurant to see if any alarms go off.





There is complimentary green tea in a little container at your table.  You take one nice scoop of green tea powder out of the container and put it in your empty cup.  There is a little spout where you can push your cup up against it and hot water comes out.  Just fill your glass up as much as you want and enjoy the hot green tea.

外国人が日本に来ても、なかなか緑茶を飲む機会もないかも知れないが、回転ずしに行けば、いくらでもお茶が飲めるから、これが日本のお茶だ！といってどんどん飲ませたらいいとおもいますｗ。日本茶がどんなものか試すにはいいのでは？




There is a nice selection of fresh seafood ranging from salmon, salmon topped with cheese, tuna, squid, shrimp, ikura (salted salmon eggs), scallops, etc. There is also french fries, fried chicken, ramen noodles, udon noodles, and tofu squares, among others. You can also order soft drinks, beer, or a variety of fruit juices.

You might also be surprised to see a delicious looking parfait come scooting by your table. Other desserts I've seen are chocolate pie, cheese cake, and various ice creams. On this particular visit, I chose to try the mango ice cream cup.

最近ではいろんな種類の寿司ネタがでてきて、デザートなんかも充実してきているし、今後ますますいろんな種類のものが出てくるんだろうね。もっともっとおいしいネタが気軽に楽しめるようになるよう期待したい。2000年ころ、アメリカで焼肉店なんてどうかなぁなんて思ってたけど、最近はどうなんだろう？




Once you are finished eating, you push the button next to your table and soon a waiter or waitress will arrive with a ruler in hand.  The ruler is placed next to your stack of plates so the height can be determined.  At this particular restaurant, the circular plates are all the same color and price, which makes this measuring practice possible.  Some restaurants have different colored plates with varying prices, which requires each place color to be counted manually.  At this place, different priced plates have different shapes.  Once your plates are counted up and a price is calculated, you then receive your ticket to pay and be on your merry little way.  

Usually each plate at these type of places will cost anywhere from around 100 yen to 300 yen, so don't forget to keep an eye on your plate count while eating.  I have seen some before that have an all-you-can-eat option for around 2000 yen.  Unfortunately these all-you-can-eat Kaiten Zushi probably go out of business soon after a gaijin, such as myself, move into town.]]> Japanese & American Ninja japan.iku4.com://entry/26 2014-06-02T17:17:50+09:00 2014-06-02T17:17:50+09:00 Sushi　日本人にとって寿司って？
日本人にとって寿司とは何なんだろう？ 生ものを好む日本人は変な目で見られてたりしてるのかな？でも、そんな生ものの食わず嫌いの人が、寿司を食べてハマる外国人を何人も知ってますｗここの寿司屋は日本人の僕にも魅力的です。


 

Sushi is vinegared rice topped with raw seafood, vegetable, egg...etc..  In the U.S., I've seen sushi come in a wide variety of quality and price.  If you visit a high-end Asian restaurant that hires its very own professionally trained sushi chef, you will pay a pretty penny.  On the other hand, if you go to a buffet style all-you-can-eat place, then you most likely aren't getting the full quality sushi experience.  You might want to stay close to the toilet too depending on how long that sushi sat out on the buffet before you came along and decided to try it.
 

海外にある寿司ってカリフォルニアロールだの、ドラゴンロールだの、フルーツロールだの、ほんと日本の本物の寿司とはかけ離れたものが多いですよね。日本人の想像を超える寿司をよく目にしますｗ　数年前にロサンゼルスで寿司を食べたときも、ビュッフェ形式で並べられていた寿司を照らすライトが青で、食欲減退させられたのを覚えています。


In Japan, if you eat at a sushi restaurant, you can enjoy good, fresh seafood sushi for about $25. Of course, you can also have very expensive Sushi, such as the $300 or more kind in Tokyo where President Obama ate.  I have to say though, Japan holds sushi in such high regard, that I have had a hard time finding anywhere that I could honestly say served bad sushi.  There are definitely quality differences even in Japan, but the US obviously has a lower threshold for what can be labeled as sushi and served at a public restaurant.

この間、オバマ大統領が食べた「すきやばし次郎」なんて特別なお寿司もあるけど、近所の寿司屋さんでも、そこそこ美味しい寿司が食べられる日本ってホント最高ですよね。ましてや、スーパーでも普通に寿司が買える日本ってホント素晴らしい。アメリカにいるときって、1時間以上かけて州都にある日本食レストランに行ったりしたけど、今思えば大したレベルではなかったなぁ…


There is one trick to buying good quality sushi for very cheap in Japan.  If you read our other article about grocery shopping, then you know that Japanese people like to buy fresh food usually on a daily basis.  This cultural practice results in the grocery stores having to keep fresh food in stock, so they have to try and get rid of their inventory as fast as possible.  If you time your shopping just right, you can catch some great deals for very good sushi, such as the 40% off one in the picture below. The original price was $5.50 and it became $3.30 for 10 pieces!  Around 8pm or 9pm, just before the supermarket closes, you can get 20%-40% and sometimes 50% off! If you want to try sushi of many kinds for the first time and do not want to spend much money, then the supermarket sushi is a smart place to start.
 



初めて外国人が日本に来た時には、スーパーの寿司や、回転ずしに連れて行ってあげれば、充分楽しんでもらえると思います。さて、寿司食べよっと。

 Also, when you come to Japan, you should visit a Kaiten Zushi Restaurant (Train Style Sushi).  We will write about this Kaiten Zushi soon in a separate article, as it is too interesting and amazing to bundle in with this one.
    
]]> Japanese & American Ninja japan.iku4.com://entry/25 2014-05-29T10:29:54+09:00 2014-05-29T10:29:54+09:00 Automatic or Manual Driver's License: アメリカでは「オートマ限定免許」がない?
I can see this distinction becoming more and more difficult to determine with new automobiles blurring the lines between automatically and manually shifted transmissions.  And to also throw you for a loop, I think I even recall reading somewhere that some states in the U.S. were no longer requiring you to use a semi-automatic pistol during the firing test in order to carry that type of weapon.  Sometime in the future your car will begin to drive itself. I wonder what will become of the driver's license then.  Even more of a concern is when the guns start to shoot by themselves too.


先日、日本における運転免許に関してのブログを書いたが、日本では「オートマ限定」というのがあり、ちゃんとマニュアル車と区別されているが、アメリカではオートマで試験を通って、運転免許を取得しても、マニュアル車も両方とも乗ってもよいのだ。免許を取った後に自分でマニュアル車の運転技術を身に付けなくてはいけないのだ。なんと恐ろしい！


アメリカにおける「銃」のライセンスは、日本人にとっては銃はあまり馴染みがないが、レボルバーがついた銃とオートのピストルではそれぞれ別々のライセンスが必要になるらしい・・・が、しかし、ある州では、ピストルの発砲のテストもなくライセンスが取得できると基準があいまいらしい。使い方が分からないのに、銃を所持して発砲する！なんてことがあるのだろうか。


将来的に運転しなくても勝手に車が動くという社会になっていく中で、この運転免許というのはどのようになっていくのだろうか？　乗って行先をいれれば勝手にたどり着くなら免許はいらないですもんね。]]> Japanese & American Ninja japan.iku4.com://entry/24 2014-05-26T15:58:13+09:00 2014-05-26T15:58:13+09:00 Getting a Driver's License in Japan　日本の運転免許取得ってなかなか大変
Getting your driver's license in Japan is nothing like what I went through to get mine back home in the US.  What I did was take a written exam, which probably took a good 45 minutes or so.  Afterwards, I was followed by an officer out to my own car.  Once we were inside, I was instructed to drive out onto the road and drive straight.  Once we got down the road a little ways, I was instructed to turn left off of the road onto a large dirt lot.  I was then told to turn around and get back onto the road going in the direction that we had just come from.  She then told me to turn back into the office where we had started and to park.  That was it.  I passed and was now legal to operate a motor vehicle capabe of causing all sorts of havoc to the world.

知ってました？アメリカの運転免許って45分くらいの筆記試験をして、警察官を自分の親や友達の車の助手席に乗せて、警察官の指示のもと、真っ直ぐ運転して、何回か右・左に曲がって、来た道を戻って、出発地点の試験場に戻るというたった5分くらいの運転で終わりなんです！（自分が免許取ったところは少なくともこんなんでした）こうして、免許を取得できてみんな運転してるんです。日本に戻ってきて、アメリカの免許から書き換える場合は3年以上乗っていた証明が必要で、免許センターで試験があったと思います。
 
In Japan, it's not so simple.  For a Japanese citizen, not holding a foreign driver's license, one is required to go to driving school.  At the driving school, you are taken out on a closed course to practice along with an instructor.  This closed course consists of many turns, stop signs, traffic lights, parallel parking, reversing, hills, and sometimes even fake railroad tracks.  Once you are capable enough, they will then take you out on the public roads for more real practice.  Once you've finished driving school, you are then allowed to attempt to pass the actual license tests.  The tests consist of a driving test to get your permit for driving with an instructor, a written exam, followed by another driving exam.  The driving exams are carried out on a closed course similar to the ones at the driving schools.  While taking the driving test, the officer is doing mirror checks, accelaration checks, stopping checks, turn signal timing checks, eye direction checks, hand maneuvaring on the steering wheel checks, etc.  And on top of all of that, you have to memorize the course and know where to go since the officer remains silent while he's examing and rating your skills.  And to add even more pressure, there is often another student in the back seat of the car waiting for their turn next.

でも、日本ではそういうわけにはいかないですよね。日本に滞在していて、国際免許を持っていない人は、自動車学校へ通います。自動車学校では横に教官を乗せて、運転の基本から、縦列駐車、坂道発進などを学びます。そして、自動車学校を卒業して、筆記試験を受け、免許センターで実技試験を受けるといった流れです。この試験ってとなりの試験官がだまって色んなポイントをチェックしてるんで緊張しますよね。更には、後部座席にほかの人が乗ってるのでさらに緊張しますよね。

Once you obtain your driver's license, for the first year you are required to place a magnet on the back of your car indicating that you are a new driver.  They also have different magnets indicating elderly drivers and deaf or hard of hearing drivers. 

初心者マークやを付けるというのも日本の独特なことです。もみじまーく、高齢者マークとよばれる70歳以上の人が運転する際につける磁石のマークなんかも特徴的です。ほかの国ではどんな感じで免許が取れるんだろう？
]]> Japanese & American Ninja japan.iku4.com://entry/23 2014-05-13T23:08:39+09:00 2014-05-13T23:08:39+09:00 bosozoku　暴走族は日本だけ？  
僕の友人が日本に来て、暴走族のバイク音にまいっているようだ。
そもそも、暴走族ってなんで騒音を立てて走っているんだろうか？
これって日本特有のもので、海外で暴走族って聞いたことないなぁ。

The young gangs like to be loud, ignore traffic signals, and enjoy running away from police. They have learned over time that the police do not use their guns against them while chasing.  It is said that the police fear being accused of killing such a young person, so instead they just continue to chase them and yell out them over loud speakers.  To avoid being identified on police video and tracked down later, the gangs bend the license plate on their bikes where they are unable to be read.

It seems that some of the younger Japanese have a need to show their rebellion against society by doing these type of things. Maybe they just enjoy the risk of being caught by the police. Some of them eventually grow out of this phase.  For others though...maybe that's a topic for a different article.

よくテレビの「警視庁24時」なんか見てると、警察を挑発したりしているけど、アメリカなんかでこんなことしてたら、みんな即、銃で撃たれてたりするのかな(笑)　ルールを破ることや、社会への反感など様々な理由はあるとして、それが、どうして騒音を立ててバイクを走らせることになるんだろう？　グループで行動するっていうのがやっぱり日本人特有の文化なんだろうね。

今じゃ、「マイルドヤンキー」なんて言葉もあって、地元で家族や友人との絆を大切にして平穏な日々を過ごすのが目的の若者たちがいるようだが、この暴走族とはまた別の世界で生きていくんだろうね。日本の現代文化は移り変わりも激しいが、やはり奥深くて面白い。
 
Is there anything similar or comparable to this type of subculture in your own country?  Please feel free to leave comments below.

]]> Japanese & American Ninja japan.iku4.com://entry/17 2014-05-13T22:35:39+09:00 2014-05-13T22:35:39+09:00 Laundry Time: 日本の洗濯機は世界的にも優れているけど・・・ Laundry time in Japan is a daily ritual. Japanese washing machines are fairly compact, but also very efficient. No longer do you see a huge cube that is the washer and another huge cube next to it that is the dryer. They have managed to combine them into one unit. Not only does it save space, it also saves you from having to go remove everything from one unit, put it in the other, and then turn it on again. But why would you want life to be so easy?

To contrast how efficient and easy they have made drying clothes though, they do not like to use it unless necessary. They consider using the dryer to be wasteful for electricity and also do not like how it shrinks your clothes over time. They simply prefer the old fashioned way your grandmother used of hanging them all outside for the world to see. A true fresh air scent from an outdoor breeze on your knickers will make all your neighbors smile as you greet each other in the morning.

日本人にとっての毎日の洗濯は当たり前のことだが、海外ではちょっと違うようだ。ちょっとしたこのようなことでも文化の違いはあるものだ。 日本の洗濯機はとてもコンパクトで効率が良い。アメリカの昔の洗濯機のような大きな四角い箱は見ることはなく、日本の洗濯機は乾燥機能と一つにまとまっている。場所を無駄に使わないだけだなく、服を出しいれする必要がないのだが、はたしてそんなに生活を簡単にする必要があるのだろうか？ ただ、日本人は便利で効率的にもかかわらず、必要がなければ乾燥機を使わないようだ。というのは、電気の無駄使いと考えたり、何回も乾燥機に入れることで服が縮んでしまうのを好まないためだ。日本人は、乾燥機を使うよりも、おばあちゃんが昔からやってきたように、外に干して乾燥させる方法が好きなようだ。となりの家からの洗濯物のにおいもコミュニケーションの一つだったのだろうか。
Instead of using clothes lines made of string, goat intestines, or whatever they used to be made of, the Japanese prefer these long extendable metal poles. The supporting poles usually have a few different slots to place the long poles in so that you can use multiple poles at once. One side is usually higher than the other in order to get maximum sunlight exposure when hanging out many clothes.

日本では洗濯紐ではなく、物干し竿を使うのが一般的。この物干し竿を何本かのせて、太陽の光が洗濯物にしっかりあたるように、高低差をつけてあるという工夫もされているのだ。


What you do when it's raining outside and still refuse to use the dryer.

雨が降っても乾燥機を使うことをしない日本人はこうやって部屋干しをする。








]]> Japanese & American Ninja japan.iku4.com://entry/22 2014-04-22T14:24:04+09:00 2014-04-22T14:24:04+09:00 Fish in Dog Food 　日本のドッグフードは特有？ Dog food in Japan can be purchased that has tiny fish in it.  It also comes in divided up sealed packages to maintain freshness.  I recently brought my toy fox terrier here from the US and most Japanese have never seen this type of dog.  You won't find any breed specific foods for them either as there are only a few that seem to be common here.  These are the few that I've seen in the breed specific food section:  Chihuahua, Toy Poodle, French Bull Dog, Pamaranian, and Shiba Inu.


日本のドッグフードって特有みたいですね。

①特に魚が入っていること。
②新鮮さを保つために中に小分けされて包装されていること。


僕は、最近トイ・フォックス・テリア（アメリカ原産）を日本に連れてきたが、日本では珍しいらしく、この犬種専用のドッグフードというものがないようだ。　購入できそうな犬種のエサは、チワワ、トイプードル、フレンチブルドッグ、ポメラニアン、柴犬。このくらいの種類しかないようだが・・・


↑そもそも海外ではそれぞれの犬種ごとに何十種類ものエサがあるのだろうか？
 
 

Let's try it and see what she thinks.


She Loves it!
 

Time for a relaxing break in the sun next to the shoji.

]]> Japanese & American Ninja japan.iku4.com://entry/19 2014-04-21T14:23:06+09:00 2014-04-21T14:23:06+09:00 Taiyaki - fish shaped pancake filled with red bean paste　たい焼き

「鯛焼き」　日本人にとってはとてもなじみの深い冬の食べ物ですよね。アメリカ人の僕にとってはとても新鮮な食べ物です。英語では、魚の形をしたあんこで満たされたパンケーキとして訳されているようです（笑）　

屋台だったり、露店で鯛焼きは買うことができ、焼き立てのふわふわの生地を楽しむことができます。でも、冷えてしまうと少し硬くなってしまいますが、オーブンで焼けばまたおいしく食べることができますのでご安心を！　2分ほど温めれば外はカリッと中のあんこもあったかくなり、
 再び楽しめます。

僕は、夕飯後にいっぱいのコーヒーと食べるのが大好きです。
日本に来た時には、是非お試しください！

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