For the current McDonald’s ad campaign in Japan they have chosen a random foreigner to be the poster child. They stuck some geeky-looking glasses on him, put a heart above his head, and attached the slogan “Nippon All Stars.” What any one of these many components have to do with each other, McDonald’s, or anything else is a mystery to me. I suppose that is the case for anyone seeing the ads as well.

Currently, Mr. Nippon All Stars (actually I think they are calling him Mr. James) is pushing the “Tamago Double Mac” (たまごダブルマック) which is a piece of bacon, an egg, and two hamburger patties on a bun. I will pass on that one.

Uni Qlo, in the background of the above photo, is a clothing store which we have already endowed with a few thousand yen. The prices are pretty good and the selection is nice. What does Uni Qlo (or Uniqlo) mean you ask? I have no idea.

From the front of Uniqlo a different view of the Golden Arches can be obtained. I believe this is a Waseda University building forming the single arch across the (Meiji Doori) street. The main campus is a 10 minute walk to the northeast though.

Posted on August 27th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: food, japan pictures, Tokyo. Comments: 3

A couple days ago my kids began their school year as students at Tokyo International School. Beyond the track and field area is the school’s swimming pool.

The school is four stories high and includes a playground on the roof. Also from the roof one can observe the Buddhist cemetery which sits right up tight next to the school. I don’t think I’ve seen one from this angle before.

On the roof, playing basketball or hopscotch between the skyscrapers is something us country bumpkins aren’t used to, but my kids will quickly adapt.

You can also play soccer (football) or skateboard on the roof, not your typical location for such activities.

The school has students from over 40 countries, and no single country makes up more than 20% of the total so everyone is a minority. The gymnasium has flags from all represented countries hanging from the ceiling.

My daughter’s home room teacher is from Singapore. On one of their field trips they get to go to Hiroshima and Miyajima. My son’s home room teacher is from Australia and has taught in Thailand and other places around the world. On one of their field trips they are going to Cambodia. You can read about those trips after they happen here.

Posted on August 26th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: Tokyo, tokyo international school. Comments: 4

Tsukiji is huge. If you tried to walk down every aisle in the place it could take a week. So it’s no wonder that we never found the tuna auction on our first trip. The auction is tucked back and out of the way. To find it you will need a map. We made a beeline for it, with map in hand, as we came off the first train of the morning, and I’m glad we did. The above sign will let you know that you’ve found it. I was surprised that we weren’t first in line. I don’t know how the others got there before us, but the line quickly grew very long behind us.

Only a few people are let in at a time (and there have been occasions when the auctions have been banned to the public for viewing). If you arrive after 6 a.m. your odds of getting in are very slim indeed.

The freshly frozen tuna, with tails cut off, are lined up in row after row. Potential bidders are allowed the chance to poke around in the tuna’s cut off portion. They were diving in with all manner of poking devices to check for quality before bidding I suppose. Then, at just after 6 a.m., the bells started ringing and the auctions began in a flurry. I shot a 1 minute video of this scene below. The quality isn’t great as I was being jostled about by the other tourists. It wasn’t all that different from a rock concert.

Posted on August 25th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: food, Tokyo, tsukiji, video. Comments: 2

From my apartment window I can see the top of a Buddhist temple not far away. It took me almost a week to actually pay the place a visit. The Nichiren sect temple is called Ryochoin (亮朝院). The structure and grounds are set a bit above the rest of the neighborhood. At this link you can see an old Edo Period drawing of the place.

These two guys are the Nio guardians of the Buddha. Usually they are in the sides of the gate leading to the temple and made of wood, but at this temple they are out in the open, past the gate, at the top of the stone stairs, and made of stone. I posted some more typical pictures of them previously.

I imagine I’ll be taking many morning walks through these temple and burial grounds in the coming year. It’s nice to have so much protection nearby. 😉

This last protector is on the roof of the bell tower at 亮朝院.

Posted on August 24th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: buddhist, buildings, japan pictures, nishi-waseda, temples, Tokyo. Comments: 3

The kids just left for the train station to get to Tokyo International School (notice the uniforms) for their first day of school in Japan. I took the above photo in front of the front door of our apartment before they left. We thought they’d be sitting for most of the train ride (of 26 minutes), but they ended up standing for all but one stop.

Hopefully they’ll start blogging more so you can hear directly from them.

Posted on August 23rd, 2009 under Japan. Tags: apato. Comments Off on First day of school