Japan's first 'cleavage cafe'

In no way is this sexist or demeaning. Women looking like 'sexy secretaries' shine your shoes for the small entrance fee of 400 yen (about 3 pounds/ six NZ dollars) and will happily discuss manga, anime or anything else you want to talk about.

Oh, and they definitely won't be wearing this fashionable little number.

You said what?

It has only recently occurred to me how many odd phrases there are in English compared to other languages. 

Idioms such as 'it costs an arm and a leg', 'out of the blue' and 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' have left my Japanese friends and colleagues looking at me like I was speaking another lang...

Anyway, in addition to the common foreigner tactic of talking really slowly and over-emphasising every third or fourth syllable, I've also taken to trying to use the simplest word at all times. Needless to say, this is very tiring and has also caused a couple of people to ask if I had some sort of speech impediment.

When I tell them I don't, they ask me to talk at my normal speed. Unfortunately, I am seemingly unable to do this as I'm so practised in speaking at pedestrian pace.

Mr Tired

The direct translation of 'thank you, good work today' in Japanese is 'Mr Tired'. We say it in English at the end of every day at work. This is one of my favourite things I've learnt so far in Japan.

My incident at the public bath

Near my apartment there's a public bath. Interested to see if it was an onsen (hot, natural springs etc.), I took my shoes off and wandered in. The old man at the counter gestured me to pay, but I simply asked if I could 'have a look' without paying, pointing my two fingers from my eyes towards the steamed up, but still see-through window into the bathing area. 

The poor old man gave me a disgusted look and I suddenly realised he thought I wanted to take a ringside seat while a bunch of naked men took a bath. Needless to say, I was hurried out.

After consulting my colleagues, I realised it is simply an old public bath, not an onsen. It's tradition for people without a washing machine (or bath) to go there while their clothes get cleaned at the laundry next door.

Fortunately, I have my own washing machine and bath as I am now probably on the banned list after that episode.

The definition of irony?

When I bought my new iPad, I noticed this magazine in the store. I mentioned to the girl working there that it was ironic. She didn't understand.

I should have known better as Japanese people don't tend to get irony or sarcasm. This makes my attempts at humour even more hit and miss than normal!

Cherry blossom

This weekend saw the peak of the fleeting cherry blossom ('sakura') season. It lasts only a few weeks as it moves through Japan, but it's a great sight to behold and you wish it were more of a permanent fixture.

During the cherry blossom season, people have hanami ('flower viewing') parties in the park where they eat and drink all day. 

Here is a selection of cherry blossom that I saw near my apartment.

The herbivore man

The other day, my colleagues were discussing a `herbivore male`. They kept slagging him off for various reasons that baffled me; how could they be so dismissive of him merely because he was vegetarian?

As it turns out, it has nothing to do with his views on the food chain. Instead, it seems to mean a combination of asexual and metrosexual. It centres around the herbivore having no great interest in a real sex life, despite spending an inordinate amount of time on personal grooming.

Instead, as this article on The Wall Street Journal discusses, a large section of the Japanese male youth are purely interested in gadgets, gaming and reading dodgy manga.

The term was coined by pop culture commentator Maki Fukasawa a few years back and certainly supports the timidness of many men I've met in Japan so far.

Thank you, thank you, you're far too kind...

The Japanese are known for being an extremely friendly, yet conservative nation. Nothing sums this up better than their concept of customer service.

As an example, when you walk into any cafe in Japan, the staff say 'thank you very much' ('arigato goziamasu') like it was a broken record. I bought a coffee this morning and counted the staff say it to to me eight times. Eight times!

And yet, when you ask someone for a recommendation on anything, they are typically loathe to give a personal opinion.

People's public persona and private persona are entirely different; sometimes a little too different for my tastes. Baristas, waiters, check-out staff and the rest are so polite it can be a little tiring at times just being in the same vicinity.

I'm all for politeness, but the Japanese take this to an unnecessary extreme.

Image courtesy of fanboy.com.