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I`m a relative newbie in Japan. I count my time here in months (15) rather than in years like a child who says he is 7 3/4 rather than just seven in order to prove how mature he is.

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Newbie

The very mighty Hanshin Tigers Baseball Team have just won the 2005 Japanese League in their 70th anniversary year by beating their hated rivals the Tokyo Giants. Here`s a picture of the yet mightier team member Akahoshi.

They did this by overcoming the curse of Colonel Sanders described in the Mainichi News below:

Hanshin’s winning season in 2003 ended an 18-year pennant drought that was referred to by Tiger fans as “The Curse of the Colonel.”

In 1985, an overzealous Hanshin fan threw a statue of Colonel Sanders taken from a nearby Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet into Osaka’s Dotonbori River. The statue was never retrieved and the team’s losing ways were attributed to the missing mannequin. (AP)

It`s the perfect time to sing the Hanshin Tigers Fight Song - Fure, fure fure fure!

There`s more at the Unoffical Hanshin Tigers Page (in English.)

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, Baseball, Hanshin, Tigers, Hanshin Tigers

Partly inspired by this post at www.thisiswhatwedonow.com.

I LOVE TO BLOG. At home I will spend happy hours scouring the updates on my favourite blogs and on writing my own posts. I will spend the day thinking about them or on how I can recraft the day`s events into an interesting, amusing or thought-provoking read. On the train to work I will draft future posts. The time flies when I do this.

I consider my fellow bloggers as friends even if we have never met. I know what makes them tick, their likes and their dislikes even if they`re on the other side of the world. I have over 170 RSS feeds in Bloglines. I love Bloglines.

Blogging has given me a new hobby of photography. I love Flickr. I`ve uploaded 800 photos in a year. Miraculously, a couple of them are quite good. (I`m surprised too!)

One reason I want to stay in Japan is so I can continue this Japan blog. To be paid to blog would be a dream come true. I love to blog.

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, RSS, Flickr, Bloglines, Love

Japanese women are the mistresses of the purse in Japan, controlling the family budget with a ferocity only equalled by their love for their kin. She will dole out a pitiful “okozukai” or insultingly enough “pocket money” to her salaryman husband who has spent the past month working away his soul 15 hour shifts at a time to earn the majority of it.

When the family goes to restaurants, the car breaks down or other such event, she will be the one controlling the purse strings.

This is amusing when you see how women are treated in Japan. Their pay is consistently lower than their male counterparts, even when doing the same job. They also don`t get as easily promoted. Ageism is also rife with adverts specifically asking for only for women under a certain age - 30 for example. And then they get control of the entire family budget?

Perhaps it is because the salayman husband is too busy working away his soul at those 15 hour shifts at a time to be able to go to have the car fixed or reign in the callous overspending? I guess there`s a balance in everything.

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, women, Inequality

Thanks to the all-knowledgeable green tea pundit Shannon, I have been put in my place about the levels of caffeine in green tea and more importantly after reading his blog, become aware that the sumo wrestler who beat yokozuna Asashoryu has his own blog. Now if I could only read Japanese. Well off to babelfish I go.

Shannon`s blog is a fountain of pure Japanese knowledge. Here is a link found via his site to a firefox extension Rikai XUL which translates Japanese kanji when you hover the cursor over them (via Rikai.com) What doesn`t he know?

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Sumo, Blog, Rikai

Simon AKA
Simon-san AKA
Si-san AKA
Simon-chan AKA
Si-chan AKA
Si-samma AKA
Simon-kun AKA
Simon-sensei

These are all titles I go under in Japan. San and Samma being roughly akin to Mr, chan is like dear, kun (pronounced koon) refers to myself being a young boy and Sensei as any Teenage Mutant Hero Turtle fan will know is of course a teacher. I like Simon Sensei the best.

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English

I think this is the last in the Lomo series for the meantime. This is a self portrait meaning you can always have me close (perhaps necessary for the post below?) Taken with the flash set to red, this is perhaps my favourite lomo photo taken so far.

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Lomo

Some of Reiko`s friends and family make her very sad because they constantly talk and ask questions about me leaving her feeling unloved and inferior. Many of her friends who didn`t talk to her before she left for England, now call or email her repeatedly and ask how Simon is or would Simon like to go do something ie. surfing, pachinko or the beach.

I wouldn`t mind doing those things but Reiko gets upset not only because she hates the beach but because the only reason they`ve called her (and these people are often her friends since childhood or close family) is so they can go out with me. Of course she can also come out as well but the sole reason is to look after their kids.

One of Reiko`s cousins from Yamaguchi has a young kid who is mysteriously having his birthday party at Hard Rock Cafe in Osaka in October and sent her mum an email which basically asked specifically if I`d like to go to the party (and on a sidenote her mum, Reiko and her sister could all go if they wanted.) Naturally this makes her feel pretty unimportant and is a bit rude considering they are closely related.

I don`t get why any of these people are so keen to invite me along. Reiko is far more interesting sober or drunk. I`m shy to the point of aloofness and then I get drunk and do embarassing things. This is where the panda effect (where the abnormal and unusual foreigner does simple things like using chopsticks for easy applause) comes in. In their worlds being close to a Westerner is unusual and exciting. This is cunningly used by many Westerners but has it`s drawbacks. They are all very friendly and nice people but doing all this makes her very sad. What do you reckon?

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English

Link to a man who travelled Japan, shooting photos of odd, elaborate or improbable coin/card-operated self-service machines, from porn vending to egg vending.

Found via Boing Boing

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Vending machine

Continuing the Lomo series, this is a clothes shop in the market-like arcades which snake out around Osaka centre.

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Lomo, English