Daily Life - Cascadian Abroad

Japanese New Year Traditions

October 6, 2024January 1, 2015 by Viktoria Haddan

Robert and I love traditions. And we go all out. Instead of focusing on Christmas activities this year, we set our sights on Japanese New Year traditions. We were in luck because Japan is steeped in traditions and we were on a mission to try them all. Here is our journey into 2015, Year of the Sheep!

Decorations

Sometime in early December, we started noticing that our local grocery stores started to put up these odd displays. What do round plastic disks, mandarin oranges, bamboo, straw, rope and pine branches have in common? They are parts of a shrine or decoration that is put out in the home to honor the gods. First, the “kagami-mochi” is two round rice cakes, usually with a real or plastic mandarin orange on top. This is part of a shrine placed inside the home. I asked a student if you’re supposed to eat these rice cakes and I guess the answer is no!

Next, “kadomatsu” is made of three, large bamboo sticks and pine branches and are put in the front of the house. These are to house the spirit until January 7; after which they are burned to release the spirit. Last, the “shimekazari” is a straw and rope decoration that is hung on the door to protect from evil spirits.

We did not put up any of these in our home, but it was fun to walk around our neighborhood and notice the varying ways our neighbors practiced this tradition.

Postcards

We also started noticing that while there were some Christmas card displays, they were largely outnumbered by stacks of postcards with 2015 and its Chinese zodiac sign, the sheep. “Nengajo” are cards you send to loved ones wishing them Happy New Year. We decided to send a handful to relatives and those who sent us a Christmas card. The Japanese Post works overtime to ensure that the cards are delivered on January 1.

Nengajo — Clockwise from upper-left: Our nengajo; tempura and sushi stamps; a selection of nengajo at the local store; our local mailman hard at work

The postcards have lottery numbers on them. The winners are announced in mid-January and include prizes like washers, dryers and TV sets. Maybe a Cascadian Abroad reader will be a winner?

New Year’s Eve Variety Show

New Year’s Eve (NYE) is called “omisoka,” which means the last day of the month. We started our NYE by watching a famous talent show, “Kōhaku Uta Gassen,” on a public broadcasting channel called NHK. It’s a great honor for entertainers to be invited to perform on this show. It’s similar to Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, or whatever the current iteration is.

I thought the show was really entertaining. It’s a Who’s Who of Japanese actors and musicians. We spotted our favorite soap opera (the show is called “Massan”) actor, who happens to be an American. We saw some mascots like Funassyi and Jinbanyan (orange and white cat). We tried to avoid getting the Japanese version of “Let It Go” stuck in our head.

Soba Noodles

After watching a little TV, we headed out to Kawagoe in search of a meal. “Toshikoshi soba” is a traditional meal eaten around midnight to ward off evil spirits before the New Year. We found a lovely restaurant that made its own buckwheat noodles near the shrine we were planning to visit. I’ve heard that sometimes the soba is one long noodle and sometimes it is in smaller pieces. We were given a little pot filled with the water the soba was cooked in to drink at the end of the meal. And hot tea and sake to warm up. Delicious! Oiishi!

First Temple Visit

“Hatsumode” is the year’s first visit to the shrine/temple. We thought about going to Tokyo, which has many large, famous shrines and temples. But with Tokyo NYE crowds projected in the millions, we thought it would be better to see what locals were up to!

We walked to two local shrines, Naritasan Kawagoebetsuin and Kita-in, alternating our time between both. We stood in line at the former to ring the bell at midnight. The latter was bigger and had many festival food and vendors of good luck charms and “Daruma” dolls.

After midnight, the crowds started to multiply and line up to say the first prayer of the year.

Ringing the Bell

“Joya no Kane” are purification bells. If one listens to or rings the bell 108 times, evil desires may be destroyed. It can’t hurt, right? Shortly, before midnight we climbed the bell tower and each rung the bell. It was definitely one of my favorite experiences in Japan so far. We were the only white people and, while I was nervous that we would be thrown out as nonbelievers, no one seemed perturbed by us participating in their religious traditions.

Before midnight, we heard a group count down “shi, san, ni, ichi” (four, three, two, one) and a few “Happy New Year” exclamations in English. The main temple bells started to ring. It was a subdued, but happy reaction.

We ran into friends at another temple later in the morning and rang the bell again with them. Doubling the purification of our evil thoughts, perhaps?

Money Envelopes

It’s a custom to give children money as a present for the New Year, called “otoshidama.” Similar to the Chinese custom you may have heard of, children are given money in a small envelope that can be red or decorated with designs appealing to children.

I asked some of my college-aged students whether they would still receive money and the answer was a resounding, YES! As long as a “child” is enrolled in college, they still receive money from parents and relatives. Popular amounts for children range from about $10 to $50 and for teenagers, upwards to $100.

We have a handful of small children living in our apartment complex so we decided to give “otoshidama” a try. No harm in fostering good will with neighbors, right? We presented the children with their envelopes (our name is written on the back so they know who it is from). I think our neighbors were shocked and embarrassed, which is a normal reaction to anything we do.

Lucky Grab Bags

Otoshidama money can be saved for serious ventures or spent in stores promising New Year’s deals and grab bags called “fukubukuro.” Shopping is a popular Japanese hobby so we weren’t surprised by this tradition. And anything to jump start the economy, right? We decided to “grab” this bag in our local bakery filled with a cute blanket, a huge loaf of bread and some sweet breads. It was about $9.

Mochi Rice Cakes

“Zōni” is a traditional soup eaten for the New Year that has blocks of “mochi” rice cakes floating in it. We purchased a huge bag of mochi, which are small square blocks of rice flour. They are as hard as a brick and look like soap. We noticed long ago that our toaster oven has a mochi setting so in they went. You wouldn’t think so, but after a few minutes, they emerge as melty, chewy little cakes. They can also be cooked over a grill.

These rice cakes are so popular in the New Year festivities that sometimes people choke on them. Every year, a warning is issued, especially to the elderly. Chew your mochi carefully, y’all. There’s nothing really to compare mochi to in the states. It’s like a gooey, melty block of carbs. Yum!

Oh, how fun. Thanks for a great New Year, Japan.

Cascadian Abroad :45—Omisoka

Watch the video below for footage from the NHK New Year’s special and the ringing of the bells at Naritasan Kawagoebetsuin.

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

December 24, 2014 by Robert Haddan

I started thinking about “The Christmas Post” a few weeks ago, somewhere around the writing of Thanksgiving in Japan.

I’ve even been kicking around a parody of “The Night Before Christmas” in my head, maybe poking fun at some of the unique ways Japanese folks celebrate the American holiday (December 25 isn’t an official holiday in Japan). In a country where about 1 percent of the population identifies as Christian, Christmas is much more about the secular celebration—more Valentine’s Day than what Americans think of as Christmas.

In the 1970s, an American visiting a Tokyo branch of Kentucky Fried Chicken commented that, in a country where turkey is hard to come by, a bucket of KFC is the next best thing. The enterprising store manager overheard the comment and launched an advertising campaign touting “Kentucky For Christmas!” Today, people order their buckets of chicken weeks in advance, waiting in long lines on Christmas Eve to pick up their now-traditional chicken dinner.

There’s also a lot of preordering and long-line-waiting for extravagant and expensive Christmas Cakes. The origins of the cake come from the post-World War II recovery of the country. NPR recently did an excellent story about what Christmas Cake really means in Japan.

All that said, my take on this post changed today while watching a toddler shoving a cookie in his face at the checkout line. I caught his eye and he smiled big and waved. That got me to thinking about the spirit of the people we encounter every day, which made me feel bad about my “Night Before Christmas” parody.

To me, Christmas is all about traditions. And the great thing about traditions is that they can change as we change. Our families grow and contract and grow again as the years go by and our traditions update accordingly.

Sampson — Me and Sam opening presents on Christmas morning. And yes, that’s a brand new Nintendo!

As a kid, I’d wake up early and start coffee on Christmas morning to make sure my folks would be awake enough that we could open presents—although I suspect my dad was awake before I was. I always made sure our dog, Sampson, had something to open as well. We’d have bear claws or butterhorns for breakfast.

In recent years, we’d spend a day in Leavenworth, WA, taking in the famous holiday celebration in the small Bavarian-style town, stopping for Starbucks Peppermint Lattes both on the way up and on the way back. We’d then host the whole family for dinner on Christmas Eve. This year, we’ll start a new tradition.

KFC for Christmas dinner might seem odd. There are no “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” signs in our neighborhood. Yet, Japan has created its own set of traditions. Christmas isn’t a national holiday, but it’s still a time when people show a little more kindness and a little more cheer.

This week, I’ve seen a hairdresser and a pizza delivery guy dressed in Santa suits and a dog wearing a Christmas sweater. “Illuminations” are popular and bountiful. Twinkling lights and guys in Santa suits yield the same joyful reaction here as they do in the U.S.

The Christmas season is one of the few times we Americans set aside our differences. We smile more, give more and spend a little more time together in community. Seeing the season from another perspective, in a society where the community is always the priority over the individual, shows that it’s possible to make that sense of community the norm instead of a seasonal exception.

So, whatever your flavor of the winter holidays may be, I sincerely wish you the happiest season. May that joy continue through the year to come. Happy Holidays!

The Emperor’s Birthday

December 24, 2014 by Robert Haddan

Japan was in full holiday spirits, enjoying the day off with family and friends. The wait was finally over. The magical day was here.

The Emperor’s Birthday.

December 23 was Emperor Akihito’s 81st birthday. His birthday is a national holiday. Businesses close and thousands flock to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo to catch a glimpse of the Imperial Family. It’s one of two days where the inner grounds of the Palace are open to the general public.

With each new emperor, the date of the holiday changes. During Emperor Hirohito’s reign, the holiday was held on his birthday, April 29. After his death in 1989, the holiday changed to Greenery Day, encouraging Japan’s population to commune with nature and recognize Hirohito’s love of plants without mentioning the still-controversial Emperor by name (Hirohito was Emperor during World War II and his legacy is still a point of contention among historians).

In 2007, the holiday was renamed to Shōwa Day, officially recognizing Hirohito (Emperor Shōwa, named for the period in which he reigned). The holiday is part of the long vacation period known as Golden Week.

What Doesn’t Kill You…

December 19, 2014 by Robert Haddan

Every season brings a new mystery food to our local grocery stores. Today, while browsing the local produce section, I saw a bag of mystery nuts.

Turns out they’re raw ginkgo nuts (ginnan/ぎんなん in Japanese). In addition to the well-known benefits of mental superpowers, the gingko nut also helps the respiratory and circulatory systems and attacks free radicals.

They’re also toxic.

Luckily, I didn’t know what I’d bought, so I did some googling and learned all this before tossing one down my gullet. When cooked, they’re considered a delicacy in many Asian cuisines, but they’re still to be eaten in small quantities as the toxin is heat-resistant.

I cracked one open, just to see what was inside (because I’m a male and that’s what we do). The nut is soft, bright green and smells like stinky cheese. I’d include a picture, but because I’m male and didn’t have the proper opening tool, I smashed it real good, so there’s not much left of the poor test nut.

In Japanese drinking establishments, they’re a popular snack, roasted and served on a stick. They’re also a popular addition in a traditional New Year’s dish called chawanmushi (steamed egg custard).

I’ll probably go the roasting route, although I may also try the “leave them in the fridge until they start to smell like stinky feet” method.

“Isn’t Japan Expensive?”

December 17, 2014 by Robert Haddan

A few weeks back, I asked for your burning questions to be answered in future posts. Here’s a question from Cascadian Deni:

We’re really enjoying your blog. You asked for questions a few postings ago. Here’s mine: We understand that Japan is very expensive vis-a-vis food. lodging, etc. Are you finding it so?

We’d heard the same thing before coming to Japan. After nearly nine months on the ground, my answer is “It depends.”

Food

Standard grocery items are similar in price. Here’s prices from last week in Tillamook, OR (thanks Mom!) for some staple items compared with current prices in Kawagoe (converted to USD and comparable measurements).

Item	U.S.	Japan
Eggs	$2.19/12 pk	$1.75/10 pk
Bread (premium)	$2.19/18 slices	$1.92/8 slices
Bread (store)	$1.67/20 slices	$0.82/8 slices
Milk	$0.99/pint (473 ml)	$0.88/500 ml
Apples	$0.88/lb	$0.95/lb
Bananas	$0.79/lb	$1.60/lb
Red bell pepper	$1.79/ea	$1.08/ea
Potatoes	$0.59/lb	$0.64/lb
Yogurt	$0.59/cup	$0.71/cup

*Prices compared on 12/12/2014 (exchange rate $1 = ¥119.03)

Pretty comparable. One thing that’s a little unique is that many items are sold in packs. For example, you can’t buy a single banana in our local grocery stores. They’re pre-wrapped at a standard weight (usually four or five to a pack). Because apples are in season, we can currently buy them individually, but they’re still priced per apple, not by weight.

Buying bread is probably the trickiest thing. The loaves are packaged in five, six or eight slices with different thicknesses. The most common is called shokupan—a soft, white, chewy milk bread. The thicker slices are kind of like “Texas Toast” while the thin slices are more like Wonder Bread. As with most things, the preference for slice thickness differs by region. We occasionally find whole-wheat bread but usually buy sesame bread (goma no pan/胡麻のパン) or brown rice bread (genmai pan/玄米パン) from the local bakery.

There are some exceptions on both sides. Some fruit—especially melons—is much more expensive in Japan. During the past summer, a whole cantaloupe cost around 1,000 yen ($8.42 USD). One with Hello Kitty’s face carved in the rind went for 5,000 yen (about $42).

Eating out seems to be similar to the U.S…. some places are more expensive than others. When we eat out in Tokyo, we’re usually picking cafe-style vegetarian restaurants where we pay about 1,000 yen for an entree. Japanese fast-food restaurants offer the lunch crowds big bowls of udon or soba for under 500 yen ($4.21 USD). In my opinion, Tokyo is no more expensive than any other large city in the world when it comes to dining out. In fact, I thought prices in Melbourne and Sydney were far higher than anything we’ve experienced in Tokyo.

The one area I’ll concede is more expensive on average is Tokyo’s craft beer bars. It’s common to pay 900-1200 yen ($7.58-10.11) for a pint of craft beer. Even the big brewery beers are 500 yen for a large glass.

Shelter and Transportation

Living expenses are where “it depends” really comes into my answer. Our lifestyle in Japan is significantly different than it was in the U.S.

Our two-bedroom apartment in Japan is about 1,400 square feet smaller than our house in Oregon. Our rent is much less than our mortgage and it’s less expensive to heat. The garbage bill is covered by the rental company. However, we pay less for rent than I paid in Salem, OR in 2005 for a place roughly the same size.

Utilities are reasonable as well. Our fiber-based internet is fast and less than we paid for Comcast high-speed service. Electricity and gas is also less, which only seems fair with the difference in home size.

Japan also suffered a housing bubble burst in 2008-09 as the U.S., but the market in the metropolitan areas has rebounded in recent years. New construction in our area also seems to be booming. Since we arrived in March 2014, four very large homes have been built on our street. Watching them being built from the ground up, I’d guess they’re about 2,200 square feet, which probably puts them in the $300,000 price range.

As I mentioned before, our lifestyle here is significantly different than it was in the U.S., which makes comparing some things difficult. We chose not to have cell phones while in Japan, which average more than $100 a month in the U.S.

We used to commute 45 minutes each way and, even with our gas-friendly Toyota Prius, we were still paying $40 a week for gas. Viktoria commutes to work through the courtesy of her own two feet, so we’re not paying for gas, vehicle maintenance or insurance. We regularly use trains and local buses, which can be as much as 1,500 yen each if we’re gallivanting around Tokyo, but usually 1,000 yen will last a couple weeks for trips around Kawagoe.

We have three large grocery stores, a giant home goods store and a 100 yen shop (like a Dollar Store in the U.S., although with the current exchange rate, it’s more like the 84 Cent Store) within a few blocks of our apartment, so we’re not paying jacked-up prices as a result of shopping local.

Health

Fortunately, we haven’t had to exercise our Japanese national health care plan yet. Upon becoming residents in Japan, we received our national health care cards. I’d rather not have to write the experiential post about how the health care system works. I’ve heard second-hand stories about how it seems more inconvenient than U.S. health care (requiring doctor visits for every prescription refill, preventative dental care isn’t as common), but I can’t validate those myself.

In the U.S., we were both public employees and had access to affordable, quality health care through our employers. In the last couple years, we had to start making small monthly pre-tax contributions, but it was still far better than what most private-sector employees contribute.

Travel

Traveling in country can be expensive, but it all depends on your lodging and transportation choices. For example, we found an excellent deal (less than $100/night) at the Hilton overlooking Hakata Bay and Fukuoka Tower when we went to Fukuoka in June. We used Airbnb (affiliate link) to find apartments on our recent trip to Osaka and Kyoto. We loved Airbnb when we traveled at home and usually found it to be far more affordable, convenient and comfortable than staying in hotels.

Transportation is usually the most expensive part of any trip and that’s no different in Japan. We flew from Tokyo to Fukuoka (548 miles) for about the same price as a flight from Portland to San Francisco (536 miles). The Shinkansen (bullet train) to Osaka was about 300 miles and was more expensive than flying, but that’s without considering the cost of the Shinkansen from Tokyo to the airport and back again. In the end, it was probably still more expensive to take the train, but also much more comfortable.

“Isn’t Japan Expensive?”

In our experience, I’d say the answer is “For some things, yes, but generally it’s no worse than the U.S.” Our personal cost of living is much less in Japan than in the U.S. For tourists, I don’t think it’d be much worse than our experiences in San Francisco, Chicago or Washington D.C. as far as dining out or lodging goes.

Thanks to Deni for the great question!

Thanksgiving in Japan

December 1, 2014 by Robert Haddan

Thanksgiving is the first big family holiday to roll around since we’ve been in Japan. For the past few years, we’d hosted family at our house. We’d make too much food and everyone would bring their favorite treats. We’d squeeze ourselves around the dinner table and share what we were thankful for during the year. I figured this would be the first time I’d really miss home.

Fortunately, there weren’t a lot of in-your-face reminders that Thanksgiving was coming. The day sort of snuck up on us and, since we’re a day ahead of Cascadia, social media hadn’t quite lit up with family photos and sweet potato casserole selfies yet.

Japan celebrates Labor Thanksgiving Day (勤労感謝の日 / Kinrō Kansha no Hi) a few days before American Thanksgiving, but it’s a different beast. In the 5th century, it was a way to celebrate the hard work leading to the harvest of grains. After World War II ended, the current holiday was established to mark changes in the post-war constitution related to workers rights.

Blackboard — The day’s lesson on the blackboard along with a list of Thanksgiving-related vocabulary, from Pilgrims to Black Friday. And a ghost?

Still, Thanksgiving Day is an important American tradition and we celebrated as best we could. On the day of, Viktoria invited me to visit her classroom for their Thanksgiving party. The first half of the period was a regular class and it was cool to see her in action. The students were engaged and really connected with her. They didn’t know much about American Thanksgiving, but I didn’t know much about Japan’s Thanksgiving until I Wikipedia’d it five minutes ago.

Group Photo — Two of the classes came together to celebrate Thanksgiving

The second half of the period was dedicated to partying! The class sizes are fairly small and groups of students move between teachers, so two of the classes shared by Viktoria and another teacher, Ramon, joined together for the party. Behind the group, you can see a sneak peek of the spread. It was very non-traditional Thanksgiving food, for sure! A lot of Japanese convenience treats mixed with the items brought by the Americans (apple cobbler, cheese, dinner rolls, macaroni salad…).

The students really seemed to enjoy themselves though. We brought a can of whipped cream for the cobbler, which ended up in nostrils, on the floor, in a dinner roll….

That evening, we had a slightly more traditional Thanksgiving. Vegetarian Thanksgiving doesn’t include turkey. In the past, we’d ask family to bring turkey or ham for everyone else and we’d slice into a Tofurky loaf. It’d become our own little tradition. Alas, those frozen vegetarian comfort foods aren’t readily available in Japan, but I think a new tradition may have been established this year.

The above photo is why I can’t be a food blogger. Staging be darned! It’s time to eat! I made the famous seitan roast from Post Punk Kitchen’s recipe blog. It’s texture comes from vital wheat gluten (the protein from wheat) and a shiitake mushroom and leek stuffing is a little surprise waiting inside. It turned out awesome and was even better the second day.

This year’s dinner was a far more scaled down version than years past, but still included Thanksgiving staples like mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie, all made mostly from scratch. A little taste of home for the holidays.

It Takes A Village

November 28, 2014 by Robert Haddan

The support of our family and friends during our journey has been so appreciated. And when that support includes chocolate, it’s just that much more appreciated!

Eight months in and with autumn in full swing, the recent round of care packages from home came at a perfect time. So, without further ado, let’s get to unboxing!

Care Package from Mom — At the end of October, a fall-themed care package arrived from Cascadian Mama Val

Shortly before we headed out for our trip to Osaka and Kyoto, a package arrived from Viktoria’s mom. It included some pantry staples like split green peas, lentils and quinoa; dark chocolate from Oregon’s Dagoba Organic Chocolates; Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Bar mix; and a host of goodies from Costco and “The Russian Store” as we all refer to the European-goods store back home. More than a few of these things made it into the backpack for our trip and more than a few of these things have already been eaten.

KronWeld Care Package — The first of two packages from Cascadian KronWeld arrived in mid-November

After we returned from our trip, the first of two boxes from Cascadian KronWeld showed up at our door. I only managed a picture of one, but the second box was full of spices that we’ve had a hard time finding. Among the treats were Costco-sized bags of pistachios and walnuts, Sriracha hot sauce, caramels, pumpkin-spice tea and a giant bag of tortillas. Extra-large containers of smoked salts, cayenne pepper and pumpkin pie spice followed shortly. A special thanks to Cascadian Brian for carrying that smoked salt in your car for a couple hundred miles.

A special treat worth it’s own paragraph: Pumpkin Pie Almonds (I’m assuming from Costco). These only lasted a little over a week despite the giant bag. Almonds with a pumpkin pie flavored candy coating. Holy $&@^ these things were amazing!

Care Package Vera — Today’s arrival from Cascadian Mama Vera. In other news, Justin’s Peanut Butter stock is through the roof.

Today, I heard a faint ringing while washing the dishes. Fortunately, I investigated as it was the mailman delivering a package from my mama. This one had some odd specific requests (which I chose not to include in the photo, but Thank You Mom!) as well as some creature comforts from home, such as Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, every package of Justin’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups on the Oregon Coast, fresh cranberries (which were still cold after a week in transit), Starbucks instant lattes and some static-cling mustaches, which I’m certain will end up in some interesting places.

Thanks again to everyone for your support during our adventure!

Oh, My!

November 13, 2014 by Robert Haddan

I was riding the bus back from the train station the other afternoon. Since it was mid-day, it was mostly me and the local seniors running their errands, so I sat in the back row to keep the more-accessible forward seats free.

Across the aisle and a couple seats in front of me, a man was reading a newspaper, a common sight among the commuter crowd. However, something caught my attention as he opened up the broadsheet…

“That’s a naked lady,” I thought to myself.

Sure enough, right there in the middle of the newspaper was a large photo of a topless woman. A smaller picture near it featured a half-topless woman. Some scantly-clad women stared seductively from the series of ads across the bottom of the page. The folio across the top of the page read “スポーツ” or “Sports.”

Is this normal? In the U.S., if you see someone looking at this stuff in public, there’s an air of secrecy or at least an attempt to conceal, but this guy had the paper pulled open to the length of his wingspan. I looked at the man sitting behind him to see if he had a reaction. I saw him peek at the page a couple times, but otherwise he was unfazed.

At one point, the man pulled the classic broadsheet adjustment maneuver. The problem with the large newspaper format is that it requires two hands to hold it open. Occasionally, the middle will collapse and, since both hands are occupied, you have to use your head to push the center fold back to its intended position.

Of course, when he adjusted the paper with his head, his face was pushed right up against the naked lady. This happened more than once, which made me question the true intent of the head-adjustment maneuver.

He spent some time on this page, reading the articles I’m sure. Eventually he flipped to another page. I expected to see more naked ladies, but instead I saw a pop culture page, an actual sports page and some local and national news. This wasn’t a smut rag at all… this was the newspaper! The actual newspaper!

According to a few articles I’ve found, this has been part of the newspaper for decades. Articles back to the mid-80s talk about the problem of newspaper nudity on the trains during rush hour. More recent articles talk about the tabloid-like newspapers, targeted at the male commuter, featuring gossip, scandal and, of course, some naked ladies.

Your Burning Questions Answered!

October 27, 2014 by Robert Haddan

Want the real dirt on what’s happening in Japan?

Sorry folks… no dirt here! That’s what they call “clickbait” in the internets biz.

I’ve been doing a lot of “here’s what we’re up to” posts lately. I’d like to dig back into some topics related to the overall experience and I’d like your help!

If you have some burning questions about the experience, differences between life in the U.S. and Japan or the easiest way to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit in your head (Celsius temperature × 2 + 30 ≈ Fahrenheit temperature), post them in the comments section below.

I still have a few things in the hopper, but I’ll work in these posts along the way too. Can’t wait to see the ideas!

The 5:00 Song

October 6, 2024October 22, 2014 by Robert Haddan

Everyday at 5 p.m., the loudspeakers around town play a charming little tune. At first, I thought “well isn’t that a nice little tune,” but as the weeks went on, I wanted to know what purpose it served. End of the workday? Not likely with all of those salarymen shuffling home at 9 p.m.

My Japanese googling skills are getting better and today I finally found the answer, although the next question is why I was thinking about the 5 o’clock song at 9 in the morning.

Turns out, it really is called the 5 O’clock Chime (五時のチャイム or goji no chaimu) and each city has its own version. It’s actually a daily test of the Municipal Disaster Management Radio Communication Network. Much like the Emergency Broadcast System in the U.S., if you hear the chime at any other time than 5 p.m., trouble is a’brewing.

In Kawagoe, our song is called “Wild Rose” (野バラ or nobara). In addition to its official purposes, it’s also a reminder for Japanese children to head home before dark. During the day, public information announcements are played over the loudspeaker as well, although they’re all Japanese to me at this point.

You can listen to “Wild Rose” in the video below.