So I’d briefly mentioned about Love Hotels in my Kinky in Kinki post back in January, and definately wanted to see inside one at some point out of general curiosity. Being told various things like “the rooms have karaoke and game consoles in them” definately added to my curiosity. After finding a friend who was also curious about the goings on, we decided to check out one of them in Umeda.

For those that don’t know, in a nutshell a Love Hotel is a hotel designed for couples to enjoy some quiet alone time, and can be paid for by the hour or overnight.

I’d just like to take this moment to say that we did not do anything of an adult nature at the hotel. ಠ_ಠ

Before meeting up at Umeda Station, I had a nose around Umeda’s Love Hotel area looking at prices by the hour. Prices really varied depending on the grandeur of the hotel, and at times the rooms had different charges dependant on theme or popularity. The cheapest I’d found was 2,000 yen (£13.38) and most expensive over 8,000 yen (£53.51), with the common price being around the 3,000 yen mark (£20.06). Ironically the least expensive hotel appeared to be one of the less dodgy, but as I’ve seen many times in Japan appearances can be deceptive.

After having a bit of food we headed over to the cheapest establishment. We must have been there at a relatively busy time as we saw one couple leaving (satisfied smiles on faces), and another couple heading in (excited smiles on faces). Apparently the 2,000 yen room had been taken so we opted for the next cheapest room at 2,500 yen (£16.73). At this particular hotel (might be different in others), when you walk in there’s a large wall with pictures of the different rooms and buttons to make your selection (pretty much like a vending machine). It then prints you out a ticket and you head to your room; there’s a little flashing light above your door. When your time is up you pay at a window which is partially obscured to protect privacy, however the security cameras kind of make it directly inadequate. Perhaps it’s to give the customer peace of mind that they don’t have to look in the eye of the cashier.

We headed to our room, conveniently on the bottom floor, and after taking off our shoes we slid the door open to reveal a quaint Japanese style tatami room. Off to the left was the rather nice looking bathroom, complete with washlet and various accessories standard of normal hotels; shampoo etc. Through another door was a large bath and shower area (plenty of room for 2 ^_~), which had a window giving a view of the main bedroom and vice-versa. By flicking a certain light switch, the whole room went red. Romantic for some, this just seemed to remind me of many blood stricken horror films.

And then the main bedroom. A huge futon bed taking up the majority of the space that I could easily have just stayed in all day. Perhaps it’s because my dorm bed isn’t wanderful, but this bed felt great. The only thing that marred it for me was the knowledge of “I know what people have done in this bed” >_<. After flicking on the TV and getting a screen full of boobs and pixels (in Japan certain aspects of pornography are illegal, so those aspects are generally pixelated or blurred) using a series of complex remote controls we managed to flick through some of the other channels, trying to find the karaoke and games. Yes, we did have karaoke, and yes there was a game system; not a PS3 like I'd been led to believe, but perhaps that's in one of the more expensive rooms.

Generally the room itself was really nice, and had it not been for the condoms at the head of the bed instead of the customary chocolate mints, I'd have been none the wiser. But it was time to get to action and do what we'd set out to do by coming to this Love Hotel. I opened my bag, and pulled out my copy of Kanji in Context and cracked on with some revision. What? Did you forget I have an important exam on Friday? My friend also had some work she needed to do so we both got on with it for a bit.

Finishing the hour with a little karaoke we left the room; the room itself was probably very dissapointed with us.

Love Hotels are something I’ve only really seen or heard about in Japan. When I spoke to some people at home about them they instantly got the wrong idea, thinking of brothels or a hotel where people just did it any old where. To be honest I probably won’t visit another one during my remaining couple of weeks, and it’s doubtful I’ll ever go to another one. However, we were really curious about what the more upscale rooms or hotels would be like.

In other news, today is Children’s Day.

I’d printed off the target kanji, vocab, grammar in such a way across 40 sheets of A4, giving me the challenge of learning one a day. This means in 40 days (I’m aware that the test itself is in 5 days, but I’m planning to make sure I can pass the resit having accepted the non existance of the aforementioned bungee jump scenario), I will have covered everything and still have time to go over it for a good revision session. The main negative part is obviously I won’t come across these words written in the street in daily life. Though to be honest the only time I saw the word 売春 (baishun, prostitute) since being here, was in the Kanji in Context textbook and anywhere I happened to be practicing writing it down (not in public this one).

I did manage to put another upload on the videos/photos of Japan section, though it’s only one today. However, tomorrow I’ll try to whack on even more. So here’s a video of part of my daily commute to Kobe; Juso to Tsukaguchi on the Hankyu line.

I wish I could say that I’ve been studying along all year in preparation for it, but that would be an outright lie. Don’t get me wrong I have studied for it when I’ve had time free, but no where near enough. I guess I’ve got a month now to see how I can get on, but alas this means I only have a month and a couple of weeks in this country I’ve come to think of as my home. Quite sad really.

Ohanami takes the form of a picnic (or similar) where groups of friends, families, work-colleagues (etc) have a fun time in a park with, often under, sakura trees. Often alchohol is drunk (sometimes in excessive amounts), but the atmosphere amongst the groups is usually friendly enough to keep all parties under some sort of control … bare in mind I did say usually.

Coming up in a mo, I talk about my ohanami experiences this week, but first here’s a video from Clark in Japan of ohanami in 2007, which will give you a better idea of what I’ve been talking about.

So I ohanami’d (can’t believe I made an English verb out of a Japanese noun … well, not a very good one) twice this last two days, coming away with two very different experiences from them.

My first ohanami was at the park of 大阪城 (oosaka jou, Osaka Castle) with three others; my French friend and two of our Japanese friends. I and one of my Japanese friends arrived late after deciding to walk from Umeda, not realising how far it was (and not realising we were going in the wrong direction). Along the way I bought a can of beer (Strong Seven), though this stayed in my bag the whole time (honest!). By the time we got there our friends had already drunk theirs, but the small number of us meant that we could really enjoy the moment, a real 一期一会 (ichi go ichi e, a moment to be cherished, link to Nakamura-sensei’s homepare as he taught me about it).

Many (3; English, French and Japanese) languages were spoken and a world variety of topics discussed as we spoke beneath the shade of a sakura tree, with past experiences being shared with one another. We enjoyed the scenery with all the other groups beside and around us doing likewise, and caught a few photos of the land-train that is not unsimilar to Telford Town Park’s own Teddy’s Train.

Walking through the park on the way back, we passed many different groups in the park also enjoying a moment of 一期一会. School sports clubs were together with each other enjoying the moment (not drinking … I assume). Work-colleagues of a variety of ranks were together enjoying some time together out of the office (drinking … I assume), and one group of foreigners were … well, they seemed to be enjoying a game of “that sign’s in Japanese, so it must not apply to us” (to be fair, maybe they couldn’t read it, I just don’t know), as they set up a smoke-spewing barbecue right next to a sign saying “no barbecues or fireworks”.

Today there was another ohanami organised by some of the exchange students at uni and took place in a park in 夙川 (Shukugawa). To be honest I didn’t have high hopes of enjoying this one, especially by comparison to yesterdays, partly due to the common behaviour of some of students who were expecting to attend but mainly because we’d been predicted pretty naff (aka usual UK) weather.

When I arrived, brolly in arm, there was a guy on the roof of the gazebo we seemed to have taken over and many empty bottles and cans. That being said everyone seemed to be in good spirits and having fun (in a non-drunken way). Strangely though we’d taken a spot where the sakuras could barely be seen. After about an hour and half fatigue caught up with me though, not to mention the annoying “stoppy-starty” rain started getting on my wick, so I headed home early.

Cliche as this will sound, and pretty much everyone with a vague interest in Japan will have heard this at some point, but there really is something special about sakura and I don’t just mean it’s scent (which is really nice by the way). The reverance they receive despite and possible because they are only around for such a short time, has given them a real imprint onto the hearts of those they touch.

I’ve also remembered that Telford actually has sakura within the Maxell Cherry Garden, so those of you back home can actually have a little ohanami of your own.

I’m going to end this entry with a song from Kobukuro called Sakura, a song so beautiful it takes the words away from the very man trying to sing them in their 2005 tour. You can see the non-live version here, and if you want to know what he’s saying the lyrics are below.

Japanese lyrics (Kanji)
Japanese lyrics (Romanized)
English lyric translation

Kanji version (from Corichan)
名もない花には名前を付けましょう この世に一つしかない
冬の寒さに打ちひしがれないように 誰かの声でまた起き上がれるように

土の中で眠る命のかたまり アスファルト押しのけて
会うたびにいつも 会えない時の寂しさ
分けあう二人 太陽と月のようで

実のならない花も 蕾のまま散る花も
あなたと誰かのこれからを 春の風を浴びて見てる

桜の花びら散るたびに 届かぬ思いがまた一つ
涙と笑顔に消されてく そしてまた大人になった
追いかけるだけの悲しみは 強く清らかな悲しみは
いつまでも変わることの無い
無くさないで 君の中に 咲く Love・・・

街の中見かけた君は寂しげに 人ごみに紛れてた
あの頃の 澄んだ瞳の奥の輝き 時の速さに汚されてしまわぬように

何も話さないで 言葉にならないはずさ
流した涙は雨となり 僕の心の傷いやす

人はみな 心の岸辺に 手放したくない花がある
それはたくましい花じゃなく 儚く揺れる 一輪花
花びらの数と同じだけ 生きていく強さを感じる
嵐 吹く 風に打たれても やまない雨は無いはずと

桜の花びら散るたびに 届かぬ思いがまた―つ
涙と笑顔に消されてく そしてまた大人になった
追いかけるだけの悲しみは 強く清らかな悲しみは
いつまでも変わることの無い
君の中に 僕の中に 咲く Love・・・

名もない花には名前を付けましょう この世に一つしかない
冬の寒さに打ちひしがれないように 誰かの声でまた起き上がれるように

Romanized version (from Megchan)
Na mo nai hana ni wa namae wo tsukemashou
Kono yo ni hitotsu shika nai
Fuyu no samusa ni uchihishigarenai you ni
Dareka no koe de mata okiagareru you ni

Tsuchi no naka de nemuru inochi no katamari
Asufaruto oshinokete
Au tabi ni itsumo aenai toki no sabishisa
Wake au futari taiyou to tsuki no you de
Minoranai hana mo tsubomi no mama chiru hana mo
Anata to dareka no kore kara wo
Haru no kaze wo abite miteru

Sakura no hanabira chiru tabi ni
Todokanu omoi ga mata hitotsu
Namida to egao ni kesareteku
Soshite mata otona ni natta
Oikakeru dake no kanashimi wa
Tsuyoku kiyoraka na kanashimi wa
Itsu mademo kawaru koto no nai
Nakusanaide kimi no naka ni saku love…

Machi no naka mikaketa kimi wa sabishige ni
Hitogomi ni magireteta
Ano koro no sunda hitomi no oku no kagayaki
Toki no hayasa ni kegasarete shimawanu you ni
Nanimo hanasanaide kotoba ni naranai hazu sa
Nagashita namida wa ame to nari boku no kokoro no kizu iyasu
Hito wa mina kokoro no kishibe ni
Tebanashitakunai hana ga aru
Sore wa takumashii hana ja naku
Hakanaku yureru ichirinbana
Hanabira no kazu to onaji dake
Ikite iku tsyosa wo kanjiru
Arashi fuku kaze ni utaretemo
Yamanai ame wa nai hazu to

Sakura no hanabira chiru tabi ni
Todokanu omoi ga mata hitotsu
Namida to egao ni kesareteku
Soshite mata otona ni natta
Oikakeru dake no kanashimi wa
Tsuyoku kiyoraka na kanashimi wa
Itsu mademo kawaru koto no nai
Kimi no naka ni boku no naka ni saku love…

Na mo nai hana ni wa namae wo tsukemashou
Kono yo ni hitotsu shika nai
Fuyu no samusa ni uchihishigarenai you ni
Dareka no koe de mata okiagareru you ni

English Translation (from Megchan)
Let’s name this nameless flower
There’s only one of it in the world
So it’s not battered by the cold of winter
So it can rise again when someone calls

A lump of life sleeping within the ground
Pushing aside the asphalt
Whenever I see you, we can share
The loneliness of not being able to meet, just like the sun and moon
Even the flowers that don’t bear fruit, and those that wither as buds
Are bathing in the spring wind
Watching your future with someone else

Whenever the cherry blossoms fall
Another unreturned love
Disappears with tears and a smile
And then we grow up
And the sorrow of always chasing after
That strong and pure sorrow
Never changes
Don’t ever lose it, let it bloom inside you – love…

When I saw you on the street
You seemed lonesome as you slipped into the crowd
Don’t let the swiftness of time
Sully the sparkle within your clear eyes
Don’t say a thing, it can’t be put into words
The tears you shed will become rain, healing the wounds of my heart
Everyone has a flower on the banks of their heart
That they don’t want to let go of
It’s not a sturdy flower
But a single flower, swaying fragilely
You feel the strength to live
In the number of its petals
Even when the storm rages and the wind flattens it down
There’s no such thing as a rain that will never let up

Whenever the cherry blossoms fall
Another unreturned love
Disappears with tears and a smile
And then we grow up
And the sorrow of always chasing after
That strong and pure sorrow
Never changes
It blooms inside you and me – love…

Let’s name this nameless flower
There’s only one of it in the world
So it’s not battered by the cold of winter
So it can rise again when someone calls

Good evening everyone and welcome to 春分の日 (shumbun no hi, Vernal Equinox Day), a national holiday here in Japan where people visit graves of departed family members and holding family reunions. And since I could do neither of the above, how did I spend my day eh?

Well to start with a nice lie-in was had (no food on holidays, you know the drill by now) as well as a day off from Uni. This in itself seems quite rare, as we normally (as exchange students) go in on most national holidays. Some of my Leeds friends at other Uni’s in Japan always seem somewhat shocked that we still have to go in during the Spring break.

Today I’d arranged with a couple of Japanese friends to go down to 日本橋 (Nippombashi) to look at the second hand manga shops and other anime related goodies. Like me, my friends arrived earlier than we agreed to meet so we could head off earlier. I love it when people are punctual ^_^.

After arriving at Nippombashi we headed in the direction of Den Den Town to first grab some food. Suddenly we came face to face with a barrier and a guard directing foot traffic. After crossing a road to where we wanted to go, we noticed a sign over a bridge saying that ‘something’ (not being able to read the kanji) was happening that day. According to my friends there was some kind of festival on, but even they weren’t entirely certain, suggesting it could be an Otaku Festival.

Sure enough the moment we turned the corner the street was jam packed with cosplayers, photographers and maids among other people. Voices could be heard over loudspeakers aswell as the excited calls of shop staff as they tried as hard as they could to entice people in to make a sale or two. After having a very brief nose around, we headed to the nearest McDonalds.

After chowing down we headed off down the road to the A-Too Media Recycle Shop, my favourite shop in the area. For my friends, this was the first time they’d gone to Nippombashi, so going in a shop that had manga starting at 10 yen (just over 7p at today’s rate) appeared to be a real treat. I too was astounded by the number of books that had been put down into the 50 yen and 100 yen sales. Picking up 7 books from the 100 yen section and a set of 6 books for 300 yen I headed for the till.

Now, either this shop was having an amazingly generous sale, they undercharged me, or both. Let’s just do a little math shall we? 7 books at 100 yen is 700 yen, plus the 6 book set for 300 yen, totalling 1000 yen (convenient number). Now when I was at the counter I heard one girl (there were two at the counter serving me) mention that the 100 yen books were now at 50 yen. This in itself was pretty sweet, so let’s change the equation. 7 books at 50 yen is 350 yen, plus the 6 book set for 300 yen, totalling 650 yen, right? ブー (buu, wrong (audible noise like a buzzer)).

I paid a total of 410 yen (£2.97) for my 13 books, giving an average price per book at just under 32 yen (23p) each. Get in! Checking the reciept later, they’d charge me just 60 yen instead of 300 for by 6 book set.

Shopping List: The 山田家 (The Yamada-ke, The Yamada House) books 1-6, 涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱 (Suzumiya Haruhi no yuuutsu, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) books 1 and 2, and げんしけん The Society For The Study Of Modern Visual Culture (Genshiken (a word made from an acronym of) The Society For The Study Of Modern Visual Culture) books 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8. There is of course one big problem with buying manga at the moment at that has a lot to do with the fact I only have 2 months (ish) left, shipping this stuff home is going to be a heavy and expensive PITA.

After having a nice look around the area and in some other shops, we then headed to nearby Namba for some more nosing. One of the biggest differences between the two places was the vast difference in the kind of people that seemed to be in the area. Sure, both were full to the brim, but whereas Nippombashi was packed with people dressed in outfits of characters from Ace Hono to Zodd The Immortal, Namba had a more “commonly dressed” crowd, the two barely seeming to notice the fact that they’re right next door to one another.

Vistiting Namba Parks again was a nice little experience. We didn’t really go with a set plan or list of things we wanted to see, meaning we could freely wander around. Heading up through the restaurant section we were treated to a display where a chef was showing how cold soba noodles are made from dough. One person from his restaurant was then giving samples out so we could have a taste. Personally I’ve never been a fan of soba, but these were quite nice. I took a video of him cutting it with great care and attention, so that’ll be on the photo and picture blog soon.

After this we headed up to the top floor where there was a garden area. Performing on a staged area was a clown from America (I think he said his name was Dave or something). Don’t get me wrong, when I said clown I don’t mean he was some tosser arsing about, I mean he was actually performing clown-like things (well, we only got to see his finale, juggling knives on an elevated unicycle). Also fair play to the guy, his Japanese was pretty damn good (he slotted in English every now and then, but it seemed to work), so good in fact that it wasn’t until the end that he said he was from the States that I’d have believed it. Good show Dave.

Throughout the rest of the garden were handprints people who had achieved fame in Japan. We had fun comparing different people’s handsizes to our own and I felt a nice sense of acomplishment that my hand could compete with writers and athletes to name a few professions.

Parting ways in Umeda, I headed to Matsuya for my usual holiday meal of Curry-Rice.

Setting off at about 3 o’clock, not too long after getting my lazy arse out of bed, I headed off in search of some lunch and an appropriate gift. After not too long I found myself in Umeda, under the bridge in the restaurant that I ate in on Monday, eating the same niku-udon. After giving thanks to the woman at the counter I headed towards the far side of the Umeda Sky building, an area I hadn’t yet walked around.

Passing a wide range of small factories and small businesses (including a lot of mechanics), I was reminded of Telfords own industrial areas, the kind of places a normal guy like me could work. Maybe not a fantastic job with a great pay, but work is work. I also pondered the possibility of working in a place like this after my degree. I also considered the average part-time job done by my fellow exchange students, and how all but a few seemed to be doing the well paid English tutor/teacher thing. But the people I really take my (metaphorical) hat of to are the guys working ‘normal’ jobs, like in a cafe, or in McDonalds. Yeah the pay isn’t as good, but this is the sort of job where you’re using real Japanese in a real Japanese environment.

I (metaphorically) salute you.

Coming from the other side of the Umeda Sky Building I soon found myself face to face with a nice garden area with waterfalls, walkways and awesome plant-life. If the weather would have been more Summery (I had to allow for the fact that it wasn’t summer), like when we first arrived in Japan this would have been a very tropical environment, similar to when we went to Jamaica‘s Dunn’s River Falls over 10 years ago.

On the walk back, walking a different way from usual (as usual) by chance I looked up to see a sign attached to a fire escape advertising an ‘anime and manga production and training school’. Now I know that I’m more likely to find one of these in Japan than in England but I really wasn’t expecting to actually see one. Walking around the corner I came face to face with it, so casually picked up one of it’s leaflet packs from outside (which came with a copy of one of the schools manga publications). As much as I’d love to go to 大阪アニメーター学院 (Osaka Animator School), it’s a bit expensive for me. Not to mention I’m only here for another 2 months.

On the way home I stopped at the Family Mart convenience store to pick up some chocolate. I decided to buy a piece for all the staff members at the dorm, let’s face it they’ve been pretty awesome, so I bought about 15 or so small pieces. When it came to giving them out, the staff member seemed to be really shocked at the gesture, but at the same time really greatful.

Seeing as I didn’t go out the night before last, I made a point of deciding I would without a doubt go out last night. Checking the schedule for Sam and Daves (once again I couldn’t be bothered to go to Shinsaibashi, wanting to stay in Umeda) they were going to be having ‘Playboy Mansion Party’ theme, so decided to go to that. Unfortunately trying to convince others to do the same wasn’t so easy, especially as I’d left it so late to email everyone. For the homestay students, it was understandable if they didn’t want to go (the same reason I seldom go with them to Sannomiya, it’s too damn far) and for the dorm guys they had other reasons ranging from illness to plans already being made.

“Sod it” I thought, “I’ll go solo”, and so I did.

As far as Playboy Parties go, with the exception of the barstaff wearing dressing gowns on top of their normal uniform, there wasn’t really much different to be honest. Non of the customers were dressed up (neither was I thankfully), so if it wasn’t for the fact I’d seen it advertised on the website I wouldn’t have been any the wiser. However, apparently there were bunny girls there before I got there.

Even though I went alone, by chance I met three people in the club who I knew; a guy who I study with at Leeds, a Japanese girl that he knew and I’d met a few times at Konan (despite the fact she goes to another Uni), and one of the guys I met when I did that 初めての日本 (hajimete no nippon, first time Japan) TV show a few months back (skip to the bottom of this entry to watch the show).

So throughout the night I managed to practice Japanese and also held the occaisional conversation in English as I met a few people wanting to learn the language. I did meet one very irritating American buggar though. Here’s a brief of how the conversation went

Him: Approached with a nod of the head
Me: 今日は (konnichiwa, hi)
Him: Yeah, I could speak to you in Japanese, but I save that for trying to score with the ladies
Me: Riiiight … good luck with that.

I was very thankful to see him then walk facefirst into a wall. Karma, you gotta love it.

So like yesterday, the majority of today was spent in bed due to the fact it was about 7 o’clock this morning I got home. Hangover? Meh, if that’s what this is it’s not doing a very good job, more like I ate something funny. And speaking of eating funny things, I now present to you my first (and probably only) television appearance in Japan. Enjoy! (The Room of Living Dolls is on the second video)

I’d just writen a long blog entry, but somehow I’d clicked the back button and now it’s all sodding gone! I’m not going to write it all out again, I really can’t be arsed so here’s a summary of what I did write, and will continue normally at the bottom.

• You’re listening to Life is Like a Beach by Rie Fu – I’ve come to think of it as my theme song.
• On Wednesday realised was just wasting time by coming home and not doing anything nightly.
• Went out drinking.
• Went to darts bar in Umeda where I (and a friend) played darts and spoke in Japanese constantly.
• Came home at 4 am instead of studying for big religion exam.
• Bombed Japanese kanji quiz (that’s bad).
• With a loss of motivation, I didn’t study for the religion exam and slept instead.
• Finished writing exam 15 minutes into it.
• Came home and slept.

So today we had our weekly Japanese language test and I’m almost certain of failing that also. My lack of motivation to study hasn’t just limited itself to religion. Afterward I went and hung out in the Ajisai room where a friend and I made a little game out of flicking 1 yen (0.8p) coins into a box. Sounds boring but it actually became quite interesting, with me kicking buttock left, right and … hmm … three buttocks … ok, not centre.

On the way home a few of us stopped by an arcade where we spent (blew) some money on some games of DDR (Dance Dance Revolution), Time Crisis 3, some guitar game (not Guitar Hero T_T) and UFO Grabbers. I left the arcade with a new 3 inch tall Winnie The Pooh, dressed as James P. “Sulley” Sullivan (Monsters Inc), after spending … not too much money on it. Oh! And we 太鼓の達人 (taiko no tatsujin, Taiko Master), an awesomely cute drumming game.

The plan for the night is to go out and have some fun. We’ve got mid-terms next week and since I can’t go out and have fun on Sunday night, we’ll do it tonight instead. Finally a hello to Lauren, a fellow Osakan, who’s looking for the Osaka Monopoly.

今私はアジサイ・ルームにいます。たくさん人がいないので、皆は自分のものを勉強しています。私、このブログを書きながら、漢字を勉強しています。
(ima watashi wa ajisai ru-mu ni imasu. takusan hito ga nai no de, minna wa jibun no mono o benkyoushite imasu. watashi, kono burogu o kaki nagara, kanji o benkyoushite imasu.)
(Now I’m in the Ajisai Room. Because there aren’t a lot of people, everyone is studying their own things. Me, while I’m writing this blog, I’m studying kanji.)

今日リーズ大学の冬休み前作文の採点をもらいました。パッスしたけど、採点をまた知りません。
(kyou ri-zu daigaku no fuyu yasumi mae sakubun no saiten o moraimashita. passushita kedo, saiten o mata shirimasen.)
(Today I received my result for the essay we had before the Winter holiday. I passed, but I still don’t know the mark.)

日本語の授業の後で、先生は私にチューターをしてくれました。いつも面白くて、私の日本語が上手になるために、違うことを話しました。例えば、今日の昼怖い話を読んだり、私の新しい漢字を書いたり、週末にした事を話しました。
(nihongo no jugyou no ato de, sensei wa watashi ni chu-ta- o shite kuremashita. itsumo omoshirokute, watashi no nihongo ga jouzu ni naru tameni, chigau koto o hanashimasu. tatoeba, kyou no hiru kowai hanashi o yondari, watashi no atarashii kanji o kaitari, shuumatsu ni shita koto o hanashimashita.)
After Japanese class, my teacher gave me some tutoring. It’s always interesting, and in order to improve my Japanese, we talk about different things. For example, we did things like read scary stories, write my new kanji and talk about things I did at the weekend.)

日本語ですから、この日記はとても短くて、すみません。
(nihongo desu kara, kono nikki wa totemo mijikakute, sumimasen.)
(Because it’s in Japanese, this journal is really small, so sorry (my bad ^_^).)

Going no where in particular, with no real goal in mind, I wandered around the area of Umeda between the main town area and my home. Having a browse around various shops and looking in (non residential) windows, something hit me. Well, two things if you count a bicycle that got me in the back of the leg because I wasn’t paying attention.

When compared to prices of things back home, Japan is rather odd. Generally speaking, things can be classified as two kinds of prices (even second hand goods); “really expensive” and “just about normal”, with the rare anomaly of an actual cheap thing. It’s only recently since the high price of the yen (円高) kicked in that I started to notice that what I thought was cheap wasn’t actually inexpensive, it just looked that way next to it’s top class counterpart.

Looking back at my numerous visits to the 100 yen shop, the 99 yen shop, or buying from the 100 yen menu at McDonalds, I realise that I was neither getting ripped off nor getting a bargain (bar the exception of a few awesome finds at the 100 yen shop). Even going to our favourite ‘cheap’ watering hole, it occured to me last night that paying roughly £2.80 was a bit more than usual compared to back home. However, compare that with what appears to be the average price of a beer at £4 to £5 and it instantly looks like a bargain.

Since last week the price of the yen has come down a scoshie bit (no where near to how it was when we first got here mind you), but I’ve really been wanting to squeeze the pennies … or should I say ‘yennies’.

It’s a holiday from Uni this week as new University Konan students take their entrance exams. Good luck folks. Though the break is always well received, I’m not a big fan of time away from University here. Not only because it means not getting food at the dorm (this holiday isn’t a national holiday, which means we get food … well yesterday was), but because it takes me away from chances and opportunities to practice speaking. I did try to start up a conversation twice today with perfect strangers, and it went just as I expected it … very badly. Thankfully not too badly to get me deported, but a lot of confusion on both of our parts (and extreme shock from one guy) led to a very fast exit on both sides.

Anyone remember The Beets? Damn Disney breaking them up T_T