Shirihoudai

Here is another t-shirt I picked up in Japan that I wore on friday to work.  The bright orange is like a beacon to draw all onlookers to its greatness.

I just love that country pig playing the fiddle. Oh, and talk about bargain, here is the low low price of 390 yen!

**WARNING! Do not eat while reading this post**

You have been warned. 

Now we all love the Japanese for the great things they bring us: sushi, samurai, anime, violent tv game shows, the list goes on and on. . . . However, if you look hard enough, there are some contributions that should be better left undiscovered.  Unfortunately, I’m not so kind as to keep this information from you.  I share because I care and today’s contribution is from a dude called Ninoma. 

I would describe this guy as a cross between a scientific documentary and the guys from Jackass.   His latest challenge is to create salt from his own sweat.  To him, it’s seems quite simple:  extract the salt from your sweat.   First step was to eat good foods - don’t want your salt to contain impurities.

Next was to work up a good sweat:

Running proved not to provide enough sweat to extract and create his salt, so he tried smothering himself in blankets.

Still, this did not produce enough sweat!  He thought it out and decided to go to a sauna!

(more…)

By Jim Armstrong
The Associated Press
Thursday, March 20, 2008

TOKYO — J.R. Henderson is now J.R. Sakuragi.

Henderson, formerly of the UCLA Bruins and the Vancouver Grizzlies, is now a seven-time Japan Basketball League All-Star. He enjoys Japan so much he’s decided to become a naturalized citizen.

Taking that big step seemed to be the right thing to do for the 31-year-old forward from Bakersfield, who averaged 9.2 points and 4.2 rebounds as a freshman on UCLA’s 1995 NCAA championship team.

“I’ve really adjusted to the Japanese customs and respect how they do things here,” Sakuragi said Sunday. “So it was like a win-win situation for everyone.”

Sakuragi, who moved to Japan in 2001, still holds a U.S. passport but that could change.

“I have a couple of years to think about it,” Sakuragi said. “That’s part of the deal; they expect you to give up your citizenship. The U.S. allows dual citizenship, but Japan doesn’t, so that’s a decision I’ll have to make.”

Sakuragi plays for the Aisin Sea Horses in the JBL, but it was the chance to play for Japan’s national team that was behind his decision to become a Japanese citizen.

After earning his Japanese citizenship last July, Sakuragi joined the national team just before the Asia Championship, an Olympic qualifier.

Despite the addition of Sakuragi, who scored 11.9 points per game, the Japanese team fell short in its bid to qualify for the Beijing Games.

“I got on the team real late and we didn’t have enough time to get any chemistry going,” Sakuragi said. “I hope to be in good enough condition to give it another go for the next Olympics.”

After an impressive college career, Sakuragi was a second-round pick of Vancouver in the 1998 NBA draft. It was an experience he’d rather forget.

“That was the worst luck ever,” Sakuragi said. “When I got there, everyone was about to get fired, the team was about to move to Memphis. Timing is everything and there was nothing I could do about it.”

After playing 30 games for Vancouver in the 1998-99 season, Sakuragi had stints in Las Vegas, France, Puerto Rico and the Philippines before landing in Japan, a place where he now feels at home.

“This is the best country I’ve played in,” he said. “If you are good to them, they’ll be good to you. They don’t run you too hard and treat you like a piece of meat.”

They only drawback to playing here, Sakuragi says, is having to adjust to the cramped quarters when the team travels.

Many of the hotels in Japan, especially ones in some of the rural areas Sakuragi travels to, weren’t built for someone with a 6-foot-8 frame.

“It’s a bit of a crap shoot,” Sakuragi said. “Some of the hotels are OK, but in some places on the road, you can touch all four walls sitting in one spot.”

There is no problem finding room on the court, however, where Sakuragi annually ranks among the league’s leading scorers and rebounders. He plays for a team that won the championship in 2003 and 2004 and is in the finals again this year.

————————————

Pretty amazing  and I’m jealous,  but great for him that he can continue doing what he loves in another country that he fell in love with.  I always wondered what happened to him after his NBA career.  Has anyone watched the pro leagues in Japan? Its a run and gun style and pretty fun to watch if you’re not too critical about turnovers and bad plays. 

Engrish:  the term used to describe the wacky use of English in Japanese products.

Here is one of many t-shirts that I picked up last October.

He winks at me with a playful sparkle in his eyes!  What the #$*% is that supposed to mean?  In any case, this shirt is awesome!

The big question everyone has when in Japan is “Where to eat?”  There are thousands of options at your disposal, from the convenience stores (called combini) to the high end Michelin star rated restaurants.  What is in between is where I’ll usually dine.  Parsing down that list even further are the chain restaurants that you’ll see now and then usually within close proximity to any train station.  I’ll give you a quick rundown of my favorites. . .

Mos Burger - Great selection of burgers and the food actually looks like the pictures on the laminated menus at the ordering counter.   I’ve tried the fish burger, mos burger, kalbi rice burger among others.  Rice burgers are cool, just like having a gyu-don in the palm of your hand, but watch out, they are piping hot when they bring it out!

Yoshinoya - Don’t try to order a chicken bowl here, it ain’t happening. This is the original giant bowl of rice, beef, and for the hardcore Japanese (or people who think they are), a raw beaten egg poured on top.  yummmmmmmy!  Always a destination for me when I’m visiting.  Gyu-don oomori - thats my usual order.  On a cold winter’s day or typical rainy day, nothing tops this place.

Except for maybe Tenya! I have a weakness for tempura and for a quick cheap ten-don (tempura bowl), this is the place to go.  Just look for the blue and yellow signs.  Part the curtains, touch the black bar to open the automatic doors and let your fried food fantasy come alive!

 Hokka Ben or Hokka Hokka Tei as the sign on the storefront is called specializes in bento box lunches.  Another quality quick meal right here.  Made my days living in rural Saitama a more pleasurable experience knowing I could get a great meal, right down the block that tasted like it was homemade.   Yes, you can taste the love here.  I always ordered the katsumeshi: 

 Lastly there is Ringerhut. Odd name for a noodle place, but do they know how to make their Nagasaki Champon! While in kyushu, I went to the Ringerhut near Sasebo station and got the Champon + gyoza set. Man, that was good! Even tried their Saraudon (seafood over fried noodles) and that was excellent!

Man, now i’m hungry. . .

All pictures were ripped from their respective restaurant sites, sorry for not asking first!

What a bunch of crybabies! So the coaches don’t get paid $40k for their trip to Japan like the players do and the team is all upset about it. I’m sure this will get resolved before they have to board the plane in a few hours but come on! My trips to Japan only cost me $2k at most! What the hell do you need $40k for? To eat Kobe steak every night? Trips to soapland? Buying up all the costumes and figurines in Akiba? Can’t the players chip in and pay for their coaches trips there? Thats why there is a player’s union and no coaches union, deal with it!

Do it for Daisuke! He needs this paid trip to visit his family. Oh wait, he signed a $50M contract last year. . . he can afford it.

usatoday story

Look out below!

Photo courtesy of slate.com
Yes, just add more insult to injury. You can raise my gas prices (oh, i have many thoughts on that), raise the cost of milk and eggs and the necessities in life, even raise the cost of a hot dog at Weinerschnitzel! But make it harder to travel to Japan?? Now you’ve gone too far!

At last check the exchange rate was around 98 yen per dollar. sigh. . . guess that means future trips to Japan will have to be put on hold. On the bright side, that could mean more cute Japanese girls visiting here in the States!

Think you got a bad name, well hopefully yours isn’t on this list. I pity you. . .

Mutton Bucker. . . hahaha sorry Mutton, your parents are evil.

I was sad and glad to see Crocop leave the UFC and go back to Japan to fight. Sad because he seemed like a shell of a fighter that used to dominate in PRIDE, but glad that he isn’t going to retire soon and we can all enjoy his decapitating high left kicks.

This Dream 1 event happened over the weekend and I totally forgot about it, damn me! But I’ll be searching the ‘net’ for the vids as soon as I finish this up. Here is a link to a good summary of what happened at Dream:

Dream 1 results courtesy of the Bleacher report

Must find this DVD!!

As reported on Yahoo and AFP:

Nearly half of Japanese bathe with cellphones, poll finds

TOKYO (AFP) - Hi-tech mobile phones and leisurely baths are well-known passions of the Japanese — and apparently they’re not mutually exclusive.

A survey released Monday showed that 41.2 percent of people in the country have at least once taken their mobile phones to the bathtub to make calls, type e-mails, listen to music or play games.

The practice extends across all sexes and ages, although teenagers were the most likely to have bathed with their phones, according to the poll of 16,250 people carried out by video-game maker Sega.

The most common reason for taking the phone to the tub was to type e-mails, followed closely by listening to music.

The survey will come as no surprise to Japanese mobile phone makers, some of which advertise that their handsets are safe for the bath.

Japan has one of the world’s most advanced mobile networks, with nearly 85 percent of users carrying third-generation phones that allow Internet access and other interactive features.

Soaking in the bathtub is a nightly custom for many in Japan, where trips to hot-spring resorts are a popular pastime.

———————————–

Photo courtesy of mobilementalism

Now I’m all for technology advances and bathtime in Japan is one of the most relaxing times of the day, but 41% use their phone in the bath??? geez! Out of those 41%, I wonder how many are taking and sending pictures of eachother. . . hmm, now there is a business idea. . . .

My buddy Curtis could have used this a while back. . . his poor phone died in a horrible toilet accident.