A few days ago two coworkers and I went sightseeing around Okinawa. We went to the Sweet Palace, Okinawa’s famous aquarium and Nago Pineapple Park. It’s the first video I’ve made outdoors so I didn’t realise how important a quiet setting is. I’m also umming and aahing a lot because I didn’t plan what I was going to say before I turned on the camera.
Anyway, below is the video. Below that are subtitles because it was too time-consuming to put them in the video.
Alec
Good morning! more …
Tags: Japan, Japanese, Okinawa, personal, sightseeing, video
This July, so much as happened with me settling in Japan for my working holiday, starting my first full-time job, and living away from ‘home’ for the first time.
Here are the events which shaped July 2007:
- Being able to put into practice and use all the phrases for shops and restaurants which I had so dutifully studied.
Going out to dinner with most of the foreign staff at the hotel. We had Korean BBQ and then went drinking on the beach. I remember the smoke from the BBQ being so strong, and laughing because it was all blowing in Attila’s face … then the wind changed and it wasn’t so funny anymore.
Watching Okinawa singing and dancing at the hotel. At the end I was called up on stage to dance with them, and then I had my photo taken with one of the performers. The great thing about being alone in a foreign country, is that you can do any silly/stupid/embarrassing things, and no one will really ever know about but you.- Typhoon Man-Yi. My very first experience of a natural disaster.
Going to Unna Matsuri with a co-worker and Natalie. We had a fantastic time and I’m sure I sweated out all my natural moisture. They had a massive hot pot which everyone took servings from, and there was also an old man who kept stepping on his poor little chihuahua.
Celebrating George’s 20th birthday. We had an Italian dinner in Chatan, and then went to Naha to go clubbing. Had an amazing time and we all ended up sharing a cheap hotel room with no air-conditioning. We slept in our jeans and woke up dripping with sweat. We were all too exhausted to care though.- Watching the YouTube version of my Top 10 Half-Japanese Celebrities article reach more than 8000 views, 70 comments, and 40 favourites.
Here are the funny anecdotes which made me more …
Tags: events, Japan, memories, Okinawa, personal
We recently got hit by the big Typhoon Man-Yi here in Okinawa. It was about Level 5 and came straight through Okinawa and even hit the mainland pretty badly.
Before it came I’d not experienced a typhoon, earthquake, volcano or any other serious weather like that so I wasn’t really sure how big it was going to be. There had been such a build-up to it that I expected chaos, cars rolled over, roofs thrown off and things like that. Fortunately for Okinawa, that didn’t happen, even though this it was the biggest typhoon to hit Okinawa in two or three years.
I took some photos documenting what happened in the the leadup, during the typhoon, and in the aftermath.
This first photo to the left is one I took on the day before the typhoon was due to hit. It’s a photo of the hotel beach and you can see the dark clouds hovering overhead. There were black clouds like this for two days before the typhoon and even people who’ve never experienced a typhoon before (eg; me) could tell something big was coming.
This photo on the right was taken from my balcony at 10.20. The only cars on the road were of people who absolutely had to travel as in serious typhoons like this, holidays are declared so no one 
has to risk going to work or school. We weren’t sure if our minibus to work would come because of the weather, but sure enough it did and I went to work where shops and restaurants were open, but no one was allowed to use the beach or pools. This pic on the left shows more …
Tags: events, Japan, nature, Okinawa, typhoon
I’ve been in Okinawa for a few days now and it really does feel like a different country from Japan sometimes! The Okinawan culture is blend of Japanese, Chinese and American cultures with a generous helping of island spirit. And whilst on the one hand Okinawa has been the object of international disputes for hundreds of years, it feels like a little island that no one’s discovered before.
When I first arrived at the airport, I noticed that everything was so amazingly clean. Riding the monorail to the centre of Naha I don’t think I would’ve been surprised to see people eating off the pavements! That side of Okinawa was very Japanese; the cleanliness. Once I arrived in Naha at my hotel, I began to see a bit of a more different side to Okinawa.
The budget hotel I was staying at was in a very non-touristy shopping area around Heiwa Douri (Peace Street). The shops seemed pretty basic and were run, for the most part, by little old ladies. As I walked around Heiwa Douri a lot of people were looking at me with what seemed like a mixture of curiosity and hostility. I’ve been around a lot in Japan but I’ve never been the object of such looks. I don’t know whether it’s because I’m a foreigner in a small city, or because they think I’m one of the many American soldiers stationed on the island (or perhaps because I’m just so damned good-looking!).
Last night I was walking to the beach and walked past a house which was really a bit of a shack. Inside the tv was left on and there was an old woman lying down who’d obviously just fallen asleep with the door open on to the road. It reminded me a lot of a kampung house in Malaysia.
The weather is really hot and really humid; again a bit like Malaysia. I suppose Okinawa is so far south that it’s not surprising it reminds me of South-East Asia in a lot of ways.
Tags: Japan, Okinawa, personal
Whether you’re holidaying in Japan or working in Japan, you’ll need to know the phrases they use in shops and restaurants. Either you need to know how to say them, or you need to understand what they mean! In this entry I’m going to introduce you to the most common phrases used in stores and restaurants which I’ve had to learn for my working holiday.
“Irasshaimase” 「いらっしゃいませ」
This welcome is what’s shouted at any place of business in Japan. Upon entering any store, restaurant, brothel or bar, the staff will immediately scare the crap out of you by shouting this. You get two types of staff using this; either the conscientious staff who keep an eye on the door and shout it, or the type who just shout it randomly at 45-second intervals. The latter do exist; I don’t know if they do it because they can’t be bothered to watch the door or if they’re trying to make the store look busy to passerbys/customers.
“Okaikei wa __en ni narimasu” 「お会計は＿円になります」
Used by workers when adding up the bill, this phrase means “your bill comes to __ yen”. Notice the use of ni narimasu instead of desu at the end. Ni narimasu is more formal and literally means “becomes”. The phrase “Your bill becomes 3500 yen” really means “Gosh, your bill turns out to be 3500 yen. I had no idea! All I am is a humble shop assistant who cannot predict bills and such things. Please don’t hurt me!” Basically, by using ni narimasu you’re expressing the idea that you’re just a humble shop assistant with little idea of what the bill might come to.
“__en wo azukari itashimasu” 「＿円を預かりいたします」
When shop assistants receive a customer’s money, they say “I’m receiving 5000 yen”. I don’t know why. I suppose it’s more …
Tags: advice, Japan, Japanese, work
Japan’s entertainment industry is bursting at the seams with part-Japanese and part-foreign talent. There are dozens of models, actors and singers who’ve made it big largely due to their exotic looks. But, there are many truly deserving of fame and fortune (*cough* me *cough*).
Here is my list of the top 10 mixed-race Japanese celebrities. Not all are half-half, but they are mixed Japanese and foreign. In order of fantasticness:
1. Namie Amuro
Not the most obvious mixed-race Japanese celebrity, Amuro is quarter-Italian and three-quarters Japanese (from Okinawa). Some combinations seem really interesting. I’m trying to imagine a big Italian mamma fitting in with a little Japanese family. Ah well, stereotypes aside, Amuro’s at #1 because of how prolific she is and what an impact she’s had on Japan; she’s been credited with inspiring gyaru and also for popularising R&B in Japan. Plus, she has some pretty good music.
Check out Want Me, Want Me for one of my favourite songs of hers. (First person who can tell me how many half-Japanese back-up dancers there are, wins!)
NB. It’s come to light that apparently Namie Amuro is not part-Italian and that is was just a rumour started by her record company. It’d be hard to confirm, but don’t start writing any fanmail to her in Italian anytime soon.
2. Angela Aki
She grew up in Japan. Then she popped over to the USA for high school and university. She dabbled in music and was successful as an indie artist, but didn’t really make it big. So she came back to Japan, started writing in Japanese, and is now huge! Playing the piano and singing, this girl is talented. I’m still waiting for her to start tap-dancing though. I’ve been told more than once that I look like her. more …
Tags: actors, celebrities, half Japanese, Japan, models, singers, tarento, top 10
Applying for a Japanese working holiday visa can be a relatively pain-free affair if you know what you need to do. The requirements and application procedures vary somewhat depending on where you’re from but they’re all pretty much the same.
What is it?
The working holiday visa for Japan allows you to to live in Japan for up to a year and work. Tourist visas will only allow you to stay for a few weeks or months and you may not work, and student visas have restrictions on how much you can work and you must stay enrolled in full-time education. The working holiday visa is designed for young people who want to travel around Japan and work part-time jobs to suppose themselves. Working-holidayers are not supposed to stay in the same place for the whole year and they shouldn’t really work full-time jobs. The visa itself is an official document pasted into your passport, as seen on the right.
The working holiday visa is a single-entry visa, which means once you can only enter Japan and leave once with it. If you want to pop over to Korea in the middle of your working holiday, tough luck; you’ll have to return to Japan with a regular tourist visa. Not a big deal really, but it just means that if you want to go to your home country, your working holiday visa is finished. However, you can get a re-entry visa if you apply for permission.
Countries
There are five English-speaking countries which have working holiday arrangements with Japan. These are Australia, the UK, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand. The other non-English-speaking countries are Korea, France and Germany, but I won’t be dealing with those countries. The US does more …
Tags: advice, Japan, working holiday
Here I am, a week before leaving to Japan, and people are asking me why I’m doing this. Why am I living in Japan for a year? Why am I intent on spending a year on the Japanese minimum wage? Why a working holiday and not just sunbathing in Thailand?
The reasons are quite simple really. I want to write them here for you to consider and also for me to look back on during and after my year in Japan.
Learning Japanese
This is the main reason I’m going to Japan. I really enjoy learning languages and being able to talk to people. Because I’ll start studying another language at university, I want to get fluent in Japanese so I can forget about it and start learning those other languages.
Travel
I live to travel! When I think about my life up until now, the things I remember are moving to new countries and travelling to new countries. I want to look back on my life when I’m 85 and have great memories of living in different countries and seeing different places.
It’s the Right Time!
I’ve finished high school but I’ve not started university. I don’t have a mortgage, a family or a career so I have nothing tying me down. Before I step on the treadmill of life, I want to enjoy my freedom and just bum around for a year working silly jobs.
Culture
Japanese culture is so foreign. Such a cliche so please don’t kill me for writing it, but it’s true! Honestly, who wouldn’t want to spend a year surrounded by air sex, eyelash wigs, Pepsi Ice Cucumber and cute mascots for political parties?
Tags: Japan, personal, working holiday
