Ai Rabu Yu
As you'd expect in Japan, Valentines Day has men as the beneficiaries, receiving chocolates or cards, sometimes from admirers, but Office Ladies are generally expected to make a gesture (of respect & appreciation, mind you) towards their boss. But fear not Ladies, for a month later, the 14th of March is White Day, when the boys return the favour & give stuff to the girls...however both days can be viewed with the same cynicism some Westerners reserve for Christmas...especially since it's generally believed that Valentines Day was "imported" in 1958 by a confectionary company, and White Day in 1960 by a marshmallow company (hence the name). Neither day is a national holiday.
This may be something of a rambly entry...I'm unsure as to the role this blog is playing right now (yes, I've finally reached the stage of blogging about blogging)...it's partially a travelogue, a way to let friends know en masse what I'm up to, an excercise in writing...it's not like I've got writers blog (noooooooooo!! [your fault, Obi Wan]), heavens no - I have a whole pantheon of topics to write about, even a proposed trilogy...I guess I'm facing the problem of too much research on a topic swamping what makes it personal, this oft-touted entry on religion being an example. I feel that for a couple of entries I've just been regurgitating facts...and I don't want this blog to become an online diary, cataloguing what we did this or that weekend. 
So last weekend we went to an Irish music night in Tokyo - some serious ex-pats present...haven't been around that many non-Japanese since Christmas. Always refreshing to hear a northern accent anywhere in the world. Then, hungover & exhausted, we took a random trip to Shinjuku, arriving by a lucky coincidence to catch the 13th Nippon Festival of Performing Arts (pictured - that man is about to engage in an 80's robot dance...he later ate a balloon for our pleasure).
Photos courtesy of the lovely Hayley. That's taken from the top of Shinjuku Tower - not quite as tall as the Tokyo Metropolitan Building, but it was free and lush. The arrow points to Mount Fuji. Click for biggitude.
Nothing more to say right now, and I've already spent too long trying to decide how to finish...more later...
Labels: cool places, fun, I wasn't expecting that, Japan, tourists, writing
posted by Shining Love Pig @ 9:15 am
sake belches: 7
7 Comments:
From what height did the lovely Hayley take that photo/ By the way - have you seen your counter now? Not so bad for just a few days!!
Ted and I believe that there is a place called England, in Japan. Can you confirm?
I think you`re really quite amazingly mistaken mother. I`d be interested to know where you got that idea.
Valentines update, and it seems that chocolate gifts are not limited to Office Ladies and their Bosses, as I`ve just been handed a box of rather posh looking things, courtesy of the female staff of Kyomachi...rampant sexism does have its benefits sometimes.
No ReallY!! Ted thinks that he has heard of a place in Japan that the japanese called "England" so that they could claim that certain products of theirs had been "made in England"! This - of course - in the days of the British Empire, when it was considered that British Made was best, and that "Empire Made" (meaning Britain's SATTELITE (?) countries) could not do HALF so well. We all know now that there has been a massive role reversal, but Ted STILL believes that his thought is factually correct. I must do some research on that.
Whooooooops!! Have I mis-spelt Satellite?
I believe that during the days of the British Empire, Japan was in the thick of her own Nationalistic fervour...
...and Japan was never a colony...
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