The association of businesses in the Nishiwaseda area put on a festival of sorts back in early July. As we were walking down Waseda Street on a weekday we were invited to join them under a tent for some crackers and tea. We heard some interesting stories from some of the locals and were invited back for the weekend festivities. They gave us some vouchers for lottery chances. On the following weekend we went back and the kids tried their luck with the spinning, bingo-like lottery wheel. The result? A box of tissues, a can of CC Lemon, 1,000 yen in Nishi-Waseda bucks good at many of the stores and ramen shops in the area, and three jizo candies (one pictured above).

Posted on August 27th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: jizo, nishi-waseda. Comments: None

I recently picked up Foot-loose in Tokyo, not because I thought it would be useful (due to when it was written) but because I thought it would be fun to see what things were like along the Yamanote Line in the 1970s. The funny thing is many of the things the author, Jean Pearce, thought would quickly disappear are still here and many that were thought to be permanent fixtures are long gone.

The book is very interesting to read even though the contents are so dated. Perhaps the fact they are so dated makes it an even more enjoyable read. I read the whole book on the train (the Chuo Line, not the Yamanote Line) one day. The contents changed the way I think about many of the Yamanote Line stops.

The entry for Takadanobaba shows surprisingly few differences from the book’s era until today. Big Box, Omokage-bashi, Mizu Inari Jinja, Waseda University, Kansenen–all are the same today, decades later. One entry caught my eye, dealing with an ancient tree on a street I walk down nearly every day. I had no memory of seeing this ancient tree so I figured, as did the author, that the tree’s location had turned into a parking lot or apartment building in the ensuing years.

“You may see the tired remains of what was once a majestic old shiinoki (sweet acorn) tree which in other days was encircled by a Shinto rope to commemorate its venerable age, said to be more than 500 years…

Years ago there was a five-story pagoda here. It was destroyed during the wartime bombings; only the trees remain. The property is presently a parking lot, but once it belonged to a daimyo family.” (p. 114)

So I looked for the majestic old shiinoki and, in so doing, discovered that what was always there I had never before seen. Sure enough, it still fills the corner of a parking lot and probably goes completely unnoticed by the vast majority of people who pass. There is no sign (as there frequently is in Japan) commemorating its age or history. The Shinto rope (shimenawa) is back up and around its trunk however. A sake offering rests at its base.

Posted on June 18th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: book review, guidebooks, nishi-waseda, shimenawa, takadanobaba. Comments: None

Near Waseda University you can find a mini Don Quijote (ドン キホーテ) store (no relation to this Don Quixote) called Picasso (Pikaso or ピカソ西早稲田店). Though not as strange as its larger counterparts, you can find some rather bizarre items at Pikaso as well.

While waiting in the check-out line at Pikaso I snapped today’s photo. With these devices you can supposedly make your cigarette smoke smell like mango, grapefruit, or peppermint. Maybe I should buy some of these and leave them on my next door neighbor’s smoking deck…

Posted on May 22nd, 2010 under Japan. Tags: nishi-waseda. Comments: None

After eating ramen at Ippudo (一風堂) I was presented with coupons for free gyoza at Chanpon Taro, a chanpon restaurant that recently opened in the neighborhood. Never having tasted the stuff before I wanted to give it a try. I immediately became a fan of chanpon (pictured above), sort of a variation on ramen. However, I must say that each time I eat chanpon it is a little less good. That first bowl was the best, and now I’ve run out of free gyoza coupons.

I like the fact that both Ippudo and Chanpon Taro are smoke free, but next time I think I’ll be back at Ippudo.

Posted on May 20th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: food, nishi-waseda, takadanobaba. Comments: None

This random picture showed up on my SD card. I’m guessing Ellie took it while Ryan was breaking down our cartons to recycle.

Truth be told, there isn’t a cheap grocery store within walking distance of our apartment, although there are nearly half a dozen of them. There probably isn’t one in all of Tokyo or even all of Japan for that matter. Sure, a few things are cheaper and a few more can be had for similar prices to those found in the USA, but most supermarket items are priced higher and many are much higher. One example are the beverages shown above. In a regular Japanese supermarket these cost between 180 and 300 yen ($2 – $3.50) each for 1000 ml (1 liter). In the states we are used to purchasing a gallon of milk for a similar price. Unfortunately a gallon is nearly 4 liters, meaning we would pay four times as much.

To make matters a bit better we shop for many of our groceries at a convenience store. I know; that sounds crazy. People don’t shop for groceries at convenience stores in the states. But we go to Lawson 100 here on a daily basis. Everything is 105 yen once you include tax.

Posted on February 19th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: food, nishi-waseda. Comments: None