With a week long hangover and impending first skiing trip in nearly 14 years, it’s time for a round-up of my first year in Japan. Traditions and what not, everyone’s probably bored to death with yearly round-ups already but hey it’s the season of excess so I’ll add to it, considering I managed to keep my xmas shopping consumption to pretty much zero this year.

A lot has happened in one year. I’ve changed jobs much to my surprise, I’ve visited a lot more of Tokyo and Japan than I thought I would and I’ve also managed to attain a somewhat decent ‘beginner’ level in Japanese.

So to sum it up are two lists of what I consider good and bad points about living in Tokyo and Japan.

This’ll be my last post of the year. I’ve still got a bunch of things to write up which have accumulated and which I’ll get onto in the new year - once I’ve drunk away all the money I need to live and am forced to do nothing but work and sit in front of my computer at night.

Happy new year and wishes for 2008 to everyone.

2007 in two lists, bullet points and randomness  

Continue reading »

Popularity: 8%

written by Laurent \\ tags: food, Japan, Random

Actually I won’t be doing much of the talking. These guys will: Ramen Tokyo blog. They kindly left an answer on my post about Ramen Jiro in Hibarigaoka, my first ‘real’ ramen experience in Japan. I was so excited about finding the place that I posted in detail about it soon after discovering it near the school I used to work at.

I’ve spent most of the year raving about Jiro ramen to anyone who would hear it (or wouldn’t sometimes). It’s also earned me cool points with many of my Japanese friends, as it turns out Jiro is a bit of an institution among Tokyoites who are fans of ramen. I’ve also discussed it with students at the school in Hibarigaoka whenever I could. These discussions led me to believe there were a few Jiro branches around town, but it turns out I was still far from the truth. As the Ramen Tokyo guys pointed out in their answer to my post, there are actually about 30 odd Jiro branches spread out around Tokyo and the suburbs! I’m now still trying to figure out if that’s a blessing or a curse.

You see, Ramen Jiro is somewhat addictive and by far one of the best ramen experiences I’ve had since moving to Tokyo. I’ll spare you the details once more, but you can check my old post here and the Ramen Tokyo blog excellent page dedicated to Jiro. Considering I wrote my post and ramblings about ramen a mere month or so after landing, it’s high time I updated it, especially in light of the treasure trove of information that is the Ramen Tokyo blog.

If you’re after some ramen in Tokyo, and don’t speak or read much Japanese than the blog is your saviour. It’s currently got a pretty nice list of reviews of various ramen spots around central Tokyo and the suburbs, as well as info on ramen chains, ramen lingo and the dedicated Jiro page. The reviews are particularly useful. They’re short and to the point and include all the necessary info and handy links on how to get there, times etc… These guys are obviously serious about their ramen and it’s nice to have finally found a place on the net dedicated to the subject in English, considering the majority of good sources of information are generally in Japanese only.

Having browsed the site for most of the day I’m now dead set on indulging my ramen addiction a little more seriously than I previously have. Looks like I’m gonna need to go to the gym a little more often to counterbalance all the forthcoming ramen-y goodness.

Popularity: 7%

written by Laurent \\ tags: food, Japan, ramen, Tokyo

Spannered is a year old this month, and for the occasion the guys at the helm of one of the nicest music sites around have decided to re-design the whole ting. As anyone who’s ever attempted such a thing on a site with a substantial amount of content will know, it ain’t easy. The guys have pulled it off nicely though, and the whole thing is a lot easier to navigate and still looks funky fresh.

If you don’t know about Spannered yet I can only recommend you head over and find out more. Not only do they have a nice archive of interviews, features and reviews covering a wide range of music, subjects and artists, they also do it in your earhole with a podcast series and a hefty archive of live, recorded and exclusive mixes from featured artists and others - all streamable and downloadable.

For me it’s definitely one of the nicest music sites around thanks to its content and variety, and no I’m not saying that because they’ve featured my interview with Goth Trad on there a few months back  :lol: .

A new addition to the site is an mp3 blog, which will be taking shape over the coming month as the contributors get digging and uploading. The list of contributors is pretty sweet too, including the likes of DJ C, Kid Chameleon, Kone R and various other people dotted around London and the world. So I was pretty chuffed when they kindly asked me to take part as well. I’ll be contributing various bits once a month or so, with a look at exposing some of the weird vinyl I’ve come across in Japan as well as some rarer and more exclusive material from the Turntable Radio archive and artists I know. My first contribution should be up in a week or so, featuring a few bits from the TTR archive and some random Japanese records I picked up over the summer.

In the meantime, the guys have started it off with some wicked Brasilian gems and it’s only gonna get better so you know what you gotta do  :smile: .

Big up Ali and the Spannered crew for this!

Popularity: 6%

written by Laurent \\ tags: Music, Random, writing

As of this week I officially start in my new job. Even though I’ve been working there once a week for the last month, this week is the proper beginning of my new job life in Japan. I’m leaving the ‘comfort’ of full-time teaching employment for the relative uncertainty of two part-time contracts which can be both be renewed or cancelled every three months. Thing is the ‘job security’ is actually not the biggest concern if I’m honest. What I’m more worried about, though putting it like that makes it sound worse than it is, is my new position as a copy-editor (aka sub-editor in the UK) at the Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan’s biggest English daily newspapers.

Why worried? Well cause it’s all turned out to be a bit of a blag. I applied for the job more as a ‘whatever’ moment than anything serious, considering I didn’t have the required qualification - that magical ‘previous newspaper experience’ requirement which you can never get until you find a job that will give you the job without the pre-requisite ‘experience’. A lovely catch-22 situation most university graduates only know too well about. Looks like I’ve managed to break it this time. Ok I’m not totally blagging it, considering I do have over 4 years of subbing experience, just not in a paper and while I guessed it would be a lot more different, I didn’t know how much.

Continue reading »

Popularity: 6%

written by Laurent \\ tags: Japan, motivation, office life, Teaching, writing

While I’ve been busy this last month with a change of jobs, impending flat move (the worst possible thing to do in this town at this time of the year) and other assorted pleasures, I’ve still managed to spend a few days around the city. In this case two days spent re-discovering two areas I’d already visited, but doing so in different conditions. The old and new together cliche of Tokyo is, well, a cliche but it’s also something that hasn’t bored me yet, and the two trips I made this month only made that clearer to me.

First up was Asakusa, home to the oldest temple in Tokyo and one of its most famous tourist spots. I’d been to Asakusa in the summer during rainy season, which gave the place a certain charm as people sheltered from the rain under the temple or in the shops. Going back on a crisp, sunny winter day totally changed the vibe and feel of the place, with bright colours grabbing your attention everywhere, and as was the case back in July, a throng of people to fight through.

Continue reading »

Popularity: 7%

written by Laurent \\ tags: Japan, pictures, Random, Tokyo