Mizu-yokan 水羊羹 (Sweet-bean jelly)

These days I video-chat with my mother in Yokohama a couple of times a week.  She’s 80-years old but pretty savvy with computer considering.  She can do most basic tasks on her iMac like emailing and doing research on the Internet.  So we’ve been using iChat for quite some time now, but when we connected via video-chat for the first time almost two years ago, it was pretty sensational.  As I use my laptop, I get to walk around my apartment as we chat and show her what’s going on.  The best part is that she gets to talk to the grandkids, the kitties!

Well, the best part just changed last weekend.

I happened to call her on the iChat around my midnight, which was late afternoon for her.  As we started talking, my mother proceeded to exit frame and re-entered with a tea cup and a small tea pot in her hands, followed by a cup of “mizu yokan (水羊羹)“　−　a jello-like sweet made with sweet beans.

Whenever I stay with her in Japan, we always have an afternoon snack together.  It’s usually a strong green tea (煎茶) and some type of Japanese sweets (和菓子).  I suppose it is my mother’s routine with or without me. I just caught her during that time the other day. She quite contently showed off the yokan while I drool on the other side of the computer screen.  She grinned and said, “Oh, I wish I could push this thing through the computer screen for you!  Haha…”

That was a sweet little moment I got to share with my mom of a favorite Japanese pastime thanks to video-chat.

Water Conserving Version: “Don’t Be Afraid of Our Toilet” Part 2 (音姫）

So as I wrote previously, Four Seasons Hotel in Tokyo had to place a little message card on the bathroom vanity, “Don’t Be Afraid of Our Toilet” to explain to the hotel guests about the sophisticated toilet system.

Lately I’ve spotted the TOTO Washlet or similar product in American homes as well, though it still seems to be a rather exclusive amenity unlike its popularity in Japan.  Besides, I have yet to acquire one myself for my home in Los Angeles.

Then on my last trip to Japan, I noticed something else in public bathrooms:  yet another TOTO bathroom “gadget” or perhaps I should call, an “amenity.”  It’s the “Otohime （音姫）,”.the literal translation of which would be, “sound princess.”   I had seen it probably more than a decade ago in bathrooms of some private offices and such.  It is a simple device to create camouflaging noise to cover any natural “sound” that comes with your personal activity in the stall.   The premise, I guess, is that people would flush the toilet unnecessarily to cover the  “sound;”   therefore waste the precious water.  (Either that or rattling the toilet paper roll.) Of course, leave it to Japanese.  They’ll have a solution!

Push the button on Otohime, and it would make some sound as if you’re actually flushing the toilet.  I always thought it was brilliant, but I had not seen it around like the Washlets.  Then on my last visit, I noticed in public places such as department stores and restaurants that their bathrooms were equipped with Otohime.    May be I was just missing it, but I didn’t know it was getting to be a normal fixture in the bathrooms.

I’m sure it’s a lot simpler to install than the Washlet, and I’m sure I can probably get one to use in my own bathroom before I can get the much-coveted Washlet.  Perhaps I can start creating my own private Japan in my bathrooms at home!

Otohime unit installed on the wall

Complete Set of TOTO Amenities

Women Only (女性専用)

I have been away from Japan so long that my “Japanese common sense” must be at least a bit off.

Last time I was in Japan I noticed a big sign at a subway station, “Women Only（女性専用車） “  on the platform indicating where the train car for women only stops.   I figure this is a good thing as apparently those perverts who grope women in sardine packed trains are still prevalent and these “women only” cars are to protect women, right?

Meanwhile, I have also seen parking spots in some parking structure at a department store in Yokohama marked, “Ladies Only”.  The few spots marked as such were wider than others and located near the walkway bride connected to the store building.  Does this mean they (whoever they are) are saying women drivers need more space to park and can’t walk too far?  Shouldn’t these spaces be marked rather as “handicapped” (although “handicapped” is also very P.IC)?  Or are they actually saying “ladies” are synonymous to “handicapped”?  Huh?

Some things don’t change: Yamate Jubankan (山手十番館）

Almost 40 Years Later (40年後）

Every time I go back to Japan at an average rate of once a year, there are new highways, new subway line or new high-rise, etc. and I always have to reorient myself as I navigate the cities.

My hometown, Yokohama, has changed so much since I left in 1982 it looks like a totally different city compared to what it was back then.

Still there are certain places and things still staying the same, which I’m selfishly holding onto for my own nostalgia’s sake.

Yamate Jubankan is a French restaurant on the bluff, opened in 1967.  Together with the Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery （外人墓地）across the street, this is one of a popular sight seeing spots in Yokohama, which both signified the historical transformation of a sleepy fishing village into an international port city becoming a gateway for much of the Western culture into Japan after 250 years of isolation from the world.

My grandparents visited the restaurant shortly after its opening and had a picture taken in front. I discovered the photo when I was going through my fathers belongings after he passed away. So almost 40 years after the photo was taken, my husband, Kenny and I went back and got ours taken.  They look strikingly unchanged!

Cat Cafe (猫カフェ）

The sign reads, “Healing and Pleasure Cat Café is Leon in Yokohama since 2008.”

My mother plays with Musashi

Leon, the cat. He’s the boss at the cafe, a Munchkin

My mother lived most of her life with cats, just like I have, until her last cat, Ojako, died about 17 years ago.   I had suggested they get a kitten or two at that time, but both said, “Nah, they’re going to outlive us…” Well, my dad passed away about seven years later, but my mom is still going pretty strong.  She could have easily had another cat or two well into their full maturity, but she wouldn’t even though she desperately misses having cats around.

Then I heard a while ago, there is this new kind of establishments sprouting around in Japan called, “cat cafes.”   It is where people who love cats but don’t or cannot have them can go to mingle and play with cats while having drinks and food.

On my last trip to Japan, I dragged my mother to check out one of those cat cafes in Yokohama.  It was called, “Café Leon.”  Leon was the name of a cat, who’s supposedly the owner of this café.  He’s a Munchkin, which I had never seen before with short legs and folded ears.

The sign reads, “Healing and Pleasure Cat Café is Leon in Yokohama since 2008.”  The café had a “cast” of thirteen cats, mostly about a year old and of different breeds.  Out of the menu, we chose a lunch special, which consisted of salad, lunch dish (I had a pasta dish, and my mother had a rice dish) , and a coffee or tea with 90-minute of play time with the cats for ¥1,980 (approximately $20).  Of course, they suggested we get a dish of treats for ¥100 each to get the kitties to come to you.  If we go over 90-minutes, it would be ¥200 for every 10 additional minutes.  The package goes from ¥600 for the first 30 minutes of only play time to ¥2,980 for the deluxe package with dinner, drinks, and whopping 120 minutes of kitty time!

It took us a while to figure out our favorites out of the 13 cast members, but by the time we left it was Musashi, the yellow tabby, who stole our hearts.  It was definitely “healing and pleasure” for my mother, I think.  Our tab came to about ¥5,000 ($50) for lunch, play time with kitties and a few postcards my mom bought.

Ear Cleaning (耳かき) for Comfort

The other day my friend Alexia asked me if I had a Japanese ear cleaner.
“What?  A Japanese ear cleaner?”
She says, “You know, the one made of bamboo.”
Oh, yes, the ear cleaner, the “mimi-kaki.”  Of course I have one.  Alexia’s ears are tickling, and she wants to poke it with the mimi-kaki.

When I was a kid, one of my favorite things was to put my head on my grandmother’s lap while she went digging in my ears with one of those bamboo ear cleaners with a little fluffy thing on the other end that sweeps off the residues of ear wax.  Sometimes she would accidentally poke my ear canal, but it mostly felt ticklingly good.  I would be fascinated by the stuff she would excavate from my ear.  I think this ear cleaning ritual had some comforting effect for us Japanese.  Only a few years ago, I heard there were what they called “mimi-kaki cafes” sprouting up in Tokyo, where stressed businessmen go to get their ears cleaned by some yukata- (summer version of Kimono)-clad young women.  They claim, “Nothing more than ear cleaning!”  Ear cleaning for comfort . . .

Foxes’ Wedding (きつねの嫁入り）

Rainbow in the valley

As I was driving back to L.A. from my mountain retreat the other day, a light rain storm was passing through the area.  Driving through the hills on the Interstate 5 in scattered showers, the sun was also shining through the clouds creating a rather magical sight.  I remember how my grandmother used to call this a “foxes wedding”  (きつねの嫁入り)　when it’s sunny and raining at the same time.　Apparently, the Japanese used to blame the foxes for anything unusual or inexplicable, or foxes were often likened to con artists.  I think this is a bad deal for foxes.

The Financial Minister of Japan at G7… What an embarrassment!

I can’t stop watching Rachel Maddow on MSNBC these days.  So Rachel showed a clip of Japanese Financial Minister, Shoichi Nakagawa’s “performance” at the G7 press conference making some kind of uh,  utterance in slurpy Japanese, which I could hardly make out.  Even for non-Japanese speakers it was obvious, as Rachel put it, he was “hammered!”

He claims it was a combination of the antihistamine he took for his cold symptoms and the jetlag.  Really?  Not to mention he has been known for his drinking habit for quite some time.

He is apparently a good buddy of the increasingly unpopular current Prime Minister Aso, who initially tried to cover his butt but promptly asked him to resign once the media was all over the incident.

I haven’t been following Japanese politics much.  It’s too frustrating.  The “Liberal Democratic Party” that’s been occupying the majority for well over 50 years – although they’re definitely losing their ground -  is exactly the opposite of “liberal democratic.”    It’s a joke.  I don’t see much democracy in the way the Japanese government operates in contrast to what America did in the last election.

I thought Washington was getting pretty scary before Obama came along, but Japanese government is beyond scary.  It is embarrassing!

(Sorry, no photo again!)

“Don’t Be Afraid of Our Toilet”

On Kenny’s first trip to Japan, I took him to meet a couple of good friends of mine. Upon arrival at their home, I pulled him into the powder room right in the foyer area (before my friends came out to greet us, mind you), pulled his pants down, sat him down on the toilet, and started pushing buttons. This was no ordinary toilet; it was the TOTO Washlet, equipped with a seat warmer and a high-tech mechanism to clean your behind after your business in the bathroom.

This was in 2000, and by then, Washlet and similar products were fairly well established in Japan; most of the modern homes and public establishments seemed to have it. But it was certainly a new thing for Kenny! The way it gives you control of the water temperature, the angle at which the water hits your behind, and even the dryer are all quite delightful, and I’m coveting one for my home in California. They have been sort of available through the local Japanese communities, but now TOTO has a beautiful showroom in West Hollywood with full services! http://www.washlet.com/

So, last year, I had an opportunity to go to Japan with a prominent sports agent on quite a lavish business trip. We were staying at the Four Seasons Hotel in Tokyo — not to mention being on the same floor as Bono, who was there for the African Conference. In my room I noticed a dainty little card on the bathroom vanity saying, “Don’t be afraid of our toilet.”

オバマ大統領就任

Day of Inauguration

この火曜日、１月２０日、オバマ大統領がついに就任。
普段は人ごみが大嫌いな私も、この日ばかりは大衆の中でこの歴史的なイベントを味わおうと、朝早起きしてロスアンジェルスダウンタウンのノキアプラザへ繰り出しました。就任式は東海岸時間で正午、ロスの現地時間で午前９時。ノキアプラザは現地時間朝７時半から人が集まり始めていました。私と夫は8時頃到着していくつかの大画面に映るCNNの生中継に見入りました。

画面にオバマ氏が映る度に大衆は沸き立ち、 携帯電話やデジカメで大画面をスナップ。回りにいる人達は私を含めオバマの宣誓や演説を聞きながら涙を流しました。

もうこの日は仕事にならない事を予め見込んでいたので、就任式をダウンタウンで見届けた後はサンタモニカの地元でMoveOn.Orgの祝賀パーティーに出席。

MoveOnとは1998年にクリントン大統領の弾劾裁判がきっかけで西海岸のアクティビストが始めたメールによる草の根運動の非営利団体。それ以来民主党の選挙資金集めに大貢献しており今回の大統領選でもオバマの選挙事務所と並行して、前例のない選挙運動を繰り広げました。 この日はMoveOnの呼びかけで、全国の何千カ所でお祝いのパーティーが行われたのです。

私の住むサンタモニカ周辺でも終日、一般家庭やレストランなどでMoveOnのボランティアがホストとなったパーティーが行われていました。私が出席したパーティーは自宅から徒歩５分ほど先のデザインスタジオで地元のMoveOnボランティアの人達、また単にオバマ大統領の就任を祝う人達が集まっていました。出席者が持ち寄りのポットラックのランチににぎわい、白い壁に映写されたインターネットのCNN生中継で就任パレードを見ながら食べた同スタジオのスタッフが作った「オバマケーキ」は抜群でした。

そして夜は私の住むアパートの住人が集まってまたまたパーティー。オバマ夫妻が転々とした晩餐会の中継を見ながらシャンペンで乾杯。思えば我が家のネイバー（お隣りさん達）は人種多様。人口11人のうちイタリア系アメリカ人の私の夫の他、白人は２人、あとはイギリス人、イラン人、メキシコ系アメリカ人、ブラジル人、黒人、そして韓国人と私の日本人。あらためてアメリカと言う国のユニークさ、そして「やっぱり何でも可能なんだ」と言う希望と底力を感じます。

感動の一日。さあ、これからが大変です。オバマ大統領に習って私も頑張らなくっては、、、