Great Dreams

I’m on summer vacation now so I don’t have a lot of time to… uh…

Okay. In fact, I have more time that I’ve ever had. I should be translating for TechJapan or something, but I’m just lazy. I started to move this site to a new, cheaper, less flexible hosting service, but I had trouble moving the board, and MovableType (not so movable is it!!!) so I decided to take a break. I’ll tackle it again later.

So, for now, you get a bunch of random stories.

People seemed to really enjoy talking about the healing properties of certain foods here in Japan. Of course in the states we say that carrots will give you rabbit eyes so you can see well, and stuff like that — but Japan seems to do this more often. Like, Hamamatsu’s Unagi Pie (Eel Pie) is good for your “staminia” *wink wink*.

This blueberry jam, is apparently super good for your eyes. Click for a bigger shot with a more readable label.

Here is a Pachinko sign I saw in Kobe a long time ago.

Hey… That’s a good question. I always wondered about that. Lots of smokey Japanese salarymen will line up for hours in the morning, just to get first pick at the hundreds of pachinko machines in the morning. Then, they will grab hold of this… “knob”, and hold it steady as they watch balls bounce up and down in this machine. If they stay a long time and have some skill, they can win lots of money. Must be great, just sit down, turn off your brain for a few hours, blast your ear drums from the racket of the balls, inhale about 10 years worth of second hand smoke, and hey, you’ll make a few hundred bucks.

Personally, I would rather sit in my room and read… Or wander aimlessly around the city… Or go to the dentist or something. In fact, I would pretty much rather do anything than play Pachinko…

Maybe there is something deep down in the Japanese psyche that despite my fluency in the language, and 3 years in the country continues to evade my understanding. Something that can never be fully comprehended by the gaijin mind. Some innate, 8th sense if you will, only possessed by “true” Japanese. People always say that no number of courses can allow one to truly understand the Japanese Mind. Alas… I will never reach that level…

Why DO people love the Pachinko???

Wait… What’s this now? Could it be?? The Answer!?

Ohhh!!!! DANG! Of course! It was right there all along! It’s because of the countless great dreams floating there! Man. I obviously am still a JapanNewbie if I didn’t even realize the root cause (根本原因) for this cultural phenomenon. If any of you guys in Japan have an urge to be surrounded by floating great dreams, just stop into your local Pachinko parlor.

This last one needs to be sent to Engrish.com. Thank goodness for the zoom. 3x baby!

Dude collecting money for a good cause.

I dunno. Call me simple minded, but I thought that was funny.

Let the slacking continue…

-Harvey