Sunglasses

I have long known of the Japanese aversion to wearing sunglasses. I have thought it strange that when it's glaringly bright outside, no one here protects their eyes from the flaming ball of death known as the Sun. I had heard that this was due to the almost antiquated idea that only the Yakuza, and those who associate themselves with the Yakuza, wear sunglasses. The Yakuza is like the Mafia, but more organized and stylish. And not nearly as violent. Anyway, I know that this is the case. I still choose to wear sunglasses in Japan, however, because there's no way I would be confused for Yakuza. Besides which, I had never heard anyone in Japan actually mention this phenomenon. Until a few days ago.

Hara-sensei and I were preparing for our English class at Koto, and I still had my sunglasses on. She said to me, "Maybe take off your sunglasses. You maybe scare the kids." I felt that I knew where this was going, but I had to hear it for myself, first hand. "Why?" I asked. To which she replied, "Do you know about Yakuza?" This was a bit of a surprise for me. As I mentioned, I'd never heard anyone in or from Japan actually say this to me. I was kind of happy, too, in a weird way. I felt as though this was another confirmation that I actually do know something about this country, and that my passion for it is not misplaced. And yes, I still wear my sunglasses. It gets really bright here.

I have been super busy lately. I don't see it not being busy, either. Which is really a good thing. I have all of the classes that I mentioned before, plus a new tutoring gig. I met with a woman called Yumi on Thursday evening. She has had my number for a long time, and called me to ask about tutoring. I guess she had the volunteers before me help her with English, and she wanted me to help too. And I'm happy to. We will be meeting up on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school. Not really formal tutoring. She just wants to have normal conversation in English to build her vocabulary, so it won't be difficult. It's just another thing to put down on my schedule.

The weekends are definitely not so busy. I go to Himeji just about every week, because it's awesome. I was thinking of going back to Ako today, but it's been raining all day. And I don't feel like being out in the rain. Particularly now, because it's 70 degrees and raining, and it's kinda' gross. Muggy.

Everyone who knows me is aware of a few important facts; I love video games (called TV games in Japan) and I love zombies. And I really like it when these two things are put together. Like in the new House of the Dead game that may never actually see a release in the States. It's called House of the Dead EX, and I played it yesterday. It's incredible.



Most zombie shooting games involve just what you might imagine. An onslaught of zombies shambles towards the screen, and you shoot them. This doesn't vary much. This game, however, is amazingly different. There is a gun, and zombies, and even shambling. In this edition, though, you actually play as a zombie. Player one is a hulking undead dude with a sexy zombie lady-friend that all the other zombies want for themselves. So it's a love story. Of trying to get away from the horde that wants to steal your girlfriend. It's essentially a bunch of minigames that involve everything from boarding up windows to collecting apples to driving a car to escape a busload of zombie pursuers. It's fun, and different. in a good way.

I know that I posted some pictures of figures I've won in the arcades in Himeji, but here's one shot of most of my winnings so far.



Yes, that is a Playstation 3 you see there. I won it in the arcade. For ¥200. That's around $2. I would count it as the best item I've ever won from an arcade. The other items pictured are: a Doraemon plush head, a collection of Evangelion pins, a Rei Ayanami zippo, Rei and Misato from Evangelion, Nel Tu from Bleach, and a Pinky Monkey tin that was full of candy. There are probably some other little things sitting around that I've forgotten. Arcades in Japan are pretty cool. Good games and cool toys. Just another reason I love it here.

Today's drink of the day:

W Black Coffee - Rookies Edition


Canned coffee. Or, an aluminum bottle of coffee. Whatever. This one is delicious. It's just black coffee. Pretty straightforward. This can is printed with the Rookies logo. Rookies is a really popular baseball show in Japan, right now. I've never seen it, though, because it doesn't air in Kamigori.

Aioi

Today was pretty mellow. I slept in after a late night of sushi and drinking. No hangover, though. I win! I got to talk with Jen, which was awesome. Then I spoke with Mike and Dana, who offered some useful tips for this blog. Then I decided to get out of the house. Which I've been doing a lot.

I didn't want to go to Himeji, because I'm going tomorrow. I definitely considered Osaka, but it's not super close, and I got a late start. So I figured I'd go check out Aioi. Aioi is two stops away on the train, but it's much larger than Kamigori. That being said, there's not a whole lot to look at. I wandered around for a while, then stopped by Lawson's to pick up something to eat for lunch. Lawson's is like 7-11. I ended up down by the river, and it was very nice. Not the river itself, just sitting by it with my tonkatsu sandwich and Chu Hai.





I then made my way back to the station to return to Kamigori. On the way, I stumbled upon Aioi Sky Lanes, the local bowling alley. I had very little interest in bowling, but I happen to know that bowling alleys usually have an arcade. This was no exception. But the arcade here was small. The only real standout was a machine called Densha de Go! 3, or Let's Go by Train! 3. It's a train simulator.



After that I went home and watched Howl's Moving Castle, and an awesome show with a ton of stand-up comedians.

Today's drink of the day is:

Real Gold


Real Gold is an energy drink that tastes like gummy bears. It's delicious. There's nothing super special about this drink. It's just that every time I see it, it instantly reminds me of Jennifer. When we were in Tokyo in October, we found an arcade just so we could smoke a cigarette. We ended up in the back by the vending machines, and we bought a couple cans of Real Gold and played Taiko Drummer. Except the cans we got had an angry looking dude on them.