There are about 70 cases of American parents who are kept from seeing their children in Japan, and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell met with several of them in a group earlier Tuesday. He called their situations “heart-breaking.”

In some cases, Japanese mothers living overseas have fled to Japan with their children and kept the fathers from having any contact with the kids, even if court rulings abroad ordered joint custody.

“This situation has to be resolved in order to ensure that U.S.-Japan relations continue on such a positive course,” Campbell told reporters in Tokyo. “The United States government strongly believes that these children have a right to enjoy the love of both parents and the benefits of both cultures.”

Campbell’s comments are the strongest to date on this issue, with Tokyo coming under increased international pressure to sign on to the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction, which is designed to address such international custody disputes.

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This season you can find sushi, beer, curry, green tea, shochu, and baseball in their chocolate incarnations.

A variety of Japan’s tastes and trends are made into “cho-co” versions for the Valentines Day boom.

Check the label on your favorite beer, curry or sushi package before purchasing to make sure if it’s the ‘real’ thing or the chocolate version!

If you hear this music playing in the background at the shop, you’re most probably looking at the cho-co.

Crush, crush I’ve got a crush on you,

Sweet, sweet I’ve got a thing for you.

Boom, boom my heart is beating for you…

You know I can’t stop Love.*

*(lyrics and photos from the “LOFT” Valentines Day display)

JGY

Aikawarazu Life in Japan

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Masatoshi Shimbo has always felt more than a bit paternal toward the changeling Roppongi district, the inner-city neighborhood where he grew up and his family made its real estate fortune. But Roppongi often breaks his heart, over the decades turning from a U.S. servicemen’s haunt into a respectable business district and then back to disrepute — the gentle women in kimonos giving way to mobsters and drug dealers. Good or bad, in this famously safe city, Roppongi stands out: elegant one block, seedy the next, a multicultural meeting spot known as Tokyo’s most cosmopolitan dusk-to-dawn adult playground. Through it all, Shimbo has fiercely gone to battle over Roppongi’s reputation. Now the 58-year-old merchants association leader is facing a new challenge: bar touts. Popping up sometimes five or six to a block, the mostly young men from Nigeria and other African nations have a particularly un-Japanese way of doing business.

Source: Los Angeles Times
Photo: John M. Glionna

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Tomare with radiant center, by Joanne G. Yoshida

How does a symbol become a universal symbol?

Like the peace sign and the smiley face.  How would one read a peace sign before having the knowledge that it is a peace sign.

If you don’t know Japanese what would this sign mean to you?

And if you know Japanese and know it is derived from a stop sign painted on the road for cars, could you look at it a-new, with fresh eyes, and see it as meaning START?

Stop and find your center.

Let your energy radiate out from your heart.

♡

JGY

aikawarazulifeinjapan

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This year, one kakasenai (can’t do without) fashion item is sure to warm your ears and catch the eyes of fashion conscious passers-by.

Along with simple earmuffs in glorious plush winter whites and browns, you can find fashiony puffs in heart, smile and even hamburger shapes.

There are also ear warmers, attached to woven bands that fit snuggly like a headband to keep out the winter chill.

Keep warm this winter from ear to ear.

Only next winter will tell if the trend lives on from year to year.

JGY

Aikawarazu Life in Japan

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There are two signs of fall where changing colors let you know you are entering into the colder seasons in Japan. One  is  Ko–yo (pronounced ko-u yo-u,紅葉), the glorious changing colors of the fall leaves; and the other is the changing of  the colors on the  Ji-do-han-bai-ki （自動販売機）, the ubiquitous vending machines which are now announcing the addition of hot drinks.

The former can be seen subtly as the famous leaf-peeping areas from Hokkaido to Kyushuu are anywhere from zero to 100 percent at their peak.  The latter are not tracked on television news so it is not clear what percent of the vending machines have already changed, but certainly by now they too are at their  peak– you should be able to see the red strips which say either “attatakai” or “HOT” taking over the amount of blue “tsumetai” or “COLD” strips on most machines.

The leaves changing color can seem to happen overnight.  One day the leaves are green and the next you notice autumn reds, oranges and rusty browns.  In the case of the drink machines, it truly must happen overnight.  I mean, have you ever seen the strips being changed?  One day the cans are all cold, marked by blue strips and then suddenly, just as the first chill sets in, there are the strips of red,  letting us know that from now there will be hot drinks to warm our hands and our hearts.  Until, of course, spring approaches and of course the two signs of spring in Japan are…

You guessed it– pink cherry blossoms, and the abundance of blue coming back to the ji-do-han-bai-ki.

But lets enjoy those reds while they are here, after all ’tis the season to savor a freshly vended hot can of your favorite drink.

JGY

Found in Japan

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Giving abandoned umbrellas a new life in a Halloween costume

Beware Batman, Masked Marvels, and Spider Woman.

This year I am going to be

an Umbrella.

With the haunting and bewitching full moon shining down upon us this Halloween night, what are you going to be?

JGY

Found in Japan

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Depending on where we are from, zen can be found in different ways.  If you are from the mountains, you may need to travel to the Himalayas.  If you grew up by a lake, it may be necessary for you to find a shimmering reflective body of water and take a solitary row.  But if you are from the suburbs, an on-sen in a shopping mall might just do the trick.

In Japan, there are on-sen complexes which are the the bathing equivalent of a multi-plex theater, where you can choose from a variety of baths to soak in.  These range from whirlpools with various built-in seating arrangements, to rotenburo, outside baths, under palm trees.  The tropical style architecture and design create a far-away resort feel.

After trying out all the baths, take your time in a relaxation room where fabrics in patterns from Southeast Asia drape over rattan armchairs and translucent curtains give semi-privacy to small rooms where you can lie down on a massage table and go into a heavenly state.

All this for 490 yen.

Sama Sama onsen in the D-Plaza Mall, Oita

If, like me, you are from the suburbs and prefer not to go too far for your nirvana, check your local listings to see if one of these complexes will be coming soon to a shopping mall near you.

JGY
Aikawarazu Life in Japan

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Here are a couple of great quizzes from Karanagai.com to help you learn or polish up your Hiragana and Katakana.

I find it really useful to do the quizzes every so often so I don’t forget. Good luck!

Hiragana and Katakana Quizzes
Quiz Instructions
Katakana Quiz
Hiragana Quiz

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They say ‘a rose is just a rose’ but when it comes to morning glories, you can’t always assume the same.

In Japan, what you think is a morning glory is not always just a morning glory.

Especially this time of year, if you see one of these star-shaped beauties you might just be looking at an afternoon glory.

While morning glories and the afternoon varieties might both be planted in spring,  morning glories bloom in summer and afternoon glories bloom later into the fall, depending on the variety and climate.  There are also “evening glories”, which can be eaten.  That is, the fruit of this flower when dried is called kanpio,  which is popular in makimono, sushi rolls.

If you stop next to one of these glorious flowers in the afternoon sun, ask her for her name.

In Japan there are many varieties:

朝顔　　Asagao  　　Morning Glory

昼顔　　Hirugao 　　Afternoon Glory

夕顔  　　Yuugao         Evening Glory

西洋顔      Seiyo-gao      Heavenly Blue Morning Glory

イリオモて   Iriomote   A variety from Okinawa with a thick vine, beware they can grow wild and damage other flowers in the garden

Joanne G. Yoshida

Aikawarazu Life in Japan

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