sweet winter warmer

The mournful chant of stone-roasted sweet potato seller advertising his wares belongs to late fall and winter landscape in Japan. Originating in South or Central America, the sweet potato entered Japan sometimes in 16th c. and ever since holds a spacial place in its culture and history. Cultivation of satsumaimo or sweet potato quickly grew in Southern Japan areas of Kyushu. While in 18th c. rice crops failed, sweet potato saved people from dying of famine as far as in Kanto region. This is why in many parts of Japan potato digging became the rite of the fall. Braving the cold to rush out and buying a piping hot sweet potato wrapped in the newspaper, holding it in freezing hands, blowing on it to cool it down while saying Achi! Achi! (Hot!Hot!) became a popular scene in many movies and commercials. Eating sweet potato has a side effect though which every connoisseur knows quite well, it produces winds!

Gojira

In the hands of the most recognizable Japanese celebrity.

Godzilla is the title character of Japanese first and most famous monster movie released in 1954.
A gentle amphibious reptile of the Jurassic period, Godzilla, lay dormant in the depths of the ocean until awaken by nuclear bomb which transformed the creature into a ferocious flame spewing monster which burned city of Tokyo to ashes overnight.
The original film was a cautionary tale about the danger of radiation which is not so clear today but worth remembering when Japan fights to control back the nuclear plant in Fukushima.

new year new lies

If you want to be absolved from all your lies you have told last year without confession all you have to do is to buy a wooden statue called uso (lie) bird at Yushima Tenjin. The bird has the magic power to convert lies into truths. What more could one ask for New Year than a fresh start?

Happy New Tiger Year

before/after

Being on the metro in Japan makes one wonder if s/he hasn't accidentally stepped into a women-only dressing room. This is why some time ago Japanese metro decided to launch the educational campaign with a strong headline like: Please do it at home which was supposed to make Japanese young women show compunctions about applying their make-up on the train. But believe me or not it didn't work and why should it if a wrongdoer asked for the resons responds: ' .. but everyone around me on the train is a stranger so why should I feel embarassed? They don't know me and I don't know them, so who cares whether I apply make-up or not?' A neurologiest asked for a comment on the issue stated that those who are immune to noticing their surroundings have certain type of brain disorder. If so it seems that many people in Tokyo suffer from it.

chic way of eating noodles

It is said that the best way to enjoy the flavor of noodles is sucking the small portions all the way in and swallowing them without chewing. But you cannot be considered a connoisseur of Japanese food unless you learn how to slurp. And what is considered rude in Western world is the aesthetic way of eating in Japan.

nikko

There's this saying in Japanese: dont say it's good before you see Nikko (know in the Western world thru the image of three monkeys). A must see even if it's not on Lonely Planet travellers' ranking.