99円

Oh, look these things all cost the same..!

"Well, they ARE all the same" you might argue, but what about these...






Well, these are clearly different products, so why do THEY also all cost the same...??







Ah, here lies the answer: We are in a 99 Yen shop.

These nice little places can be found in pretty much every neighbourhood, and they all have one feature in common: Everything costs 99 Yen (plus tax, which builds up to 104 Yen aölskdjflaskjdflaskjdföalsdfölasin totalin total - but never mind that).
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Yeah, even the POSH 'evian' water, which they import half around the planet from France only costs 99 Yen here!!







Hm, really everything..? Then why lable goods at all? After all, these labels cost money, too... Could this be a nice McKinsey cost saving measure for these shops? Must be worth at least a trillion Yen over the period of the next whatever years, no?

Ah, no. Unfortunately, labels are still required for the case that something costs actually LESS than 99 Yen:





These ramen (chinese style noodles) for instant... err... instance cost actually less than 99 Yen.
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...But then, what is this????? Something costs MORE then 99 Yen in a 99 Yen shop?? What, where, how, why????





Ah, 'exotic food' - i.e. cheese, some German stuff, too. No wonder it's selling at a super high price...

...But honestly, the rest, say 99%, really costs 99Yen. Come to think of it...I forgot to count how many different products they have....maybe 99...?

House hunting III

After only a few weeks I decided to move out of my Shinjuku (新宿六丁目) flat. Mainly because it was too expensive, didn't have enough light in the afternoon and I also wasn't too keen on the neighbourhood.

Now, you might ask why I moved in there in the first place. Well, that's explained quickly. I needed to get out of the hotel and this flat was cheaper than my hotel room (not surprising, I guess).

I also require a furnished apartment. Now, if you're the regular expat and your company pays for your accommodation, it's of course not a big deal. However, if not the market is pretty small here in Tokyo. Finally, I didn't want to compromise on space just yet.


...well, now I have, but:


The new place is near Hatsudai station (初台) and, while much smaller, it has a number of advantages that are relevant for me:

Firstly, it's 50.000 Yen cheaper. Then, it's brand new and nicely located near the Tokyo Opera City, which includes the National Theater, a concert hall, art galleries and a rather large number of good restaurants.

It's also just one stop from the Shinjuku (新宿) monster train station, which means quick travels into all corners of the city. Lastly, it's located on the 6th floor with a nice view on Mt. Fuji - especially in the evening when the weather is clear.
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So, while it's effectively a shoe box, it's still pleasant and given the little time I usually spend at my place, it's providing all the flexibility I currently need...

...and lastly it is only for five months - provided I don't find something bigger, nicer and still with a view on Mt. Fuji :-)

Rose water sake

Today, a long hidden, secret recipe will be revealed. It's highly recommended for everyone studying the Japanese language.

Its effect is kindly explained by my dear friend and neuro-scientist Carole Mathis:

Recipe:
Put 5 drops of rose flower in a glass of sake (temperature: 55°C)
Drink every morning at 8am and every afternoon at 5pm (local time).

Effect:
The flower power will keep you peaceful (no stress is always a plus whenever you are trying to fill your brain with hundreds of beautiful and complicated Japanese characters).

The rose essence will keep your mood up and put a beautiful pink fuzzy veil in front of your eyes.... lovely.

The Sake should synchronize your brain electric activity with the Japanese vibe.

Word of caution:
But be careful, do not abuse the beneficent effect of this potion. Nobody would be able to recognize you or understand you afterwards...

Thanks Carole, I'll think of it ;-)

Read more on:
> Japanese Sake (日本酒)
> Rose essence vs rose water
> Effect of alcohol on the brain

Tokyo - a definition

A concrete jungle where it rains Soy sauce and Udon snakes hang down from illuminated traffic signs. The risk of getting attacked by multi-colored Sashimi pieces is omnipresent and the wild cries of Karaoke singers lets you cringe...
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川越市 - or little Edo

Ah, yes. I know you thought I'd be stopping writing this blog. But I'm not. The last few weeks have been rather 'busy'. The next view entries will put some light on these things.

Well, one little trip I was invited to by my friend Azusa was a festival in Kawagoe (川越市) - some weekends ago. The city is located about 30-40 mins outside Tokyo and is famous for a lot of things (sweet potatoes among them) but for one thing in particular. Here, one can get a little bit of a better idea how Tokyo looked like, before we was wiped out by the fire bombs of the US Army in WWII.
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The festival we went to see though was a gathering by representatives of a number of temples. Each of them had richly decorated wooden carriages. With these they were parading up and down one of the major streets of the town - in both directions.

Each time two of them would meet they would 'greet' each other by playing specific tunes by flute, drums and other instruments.

Some of them would disguise themselves as animals, again being associated with the temple and it's symbolic world. For instance, one had a white fox. I will do some more research on this mystic world once I have a little more time.

Needless to say that - like any festival in the world - there is a lot of playing and eating around it. In this case the main shopping streets are - of course - open.

Some other streets have little food stands with sweet, sour, and other tastes, next to shooting galleries or little tubs with goldfish or turtles in them for (old and young) kids to try to catch some. This is particularly difficult as the means you get to catch them are usually made out of thin paper that brakes if the object is too heavy or handles in the wrong way.

It was a fantastic evening with many different sights and sounds - from a (sometimes) very different country...