8 posts tagged “roppongi”

Frisky

Aug 19, 2009
4 comments

While waiting for my lunch I was toying with my keitai and realized there were some numbers for people who have left Japan either temporarily or (presumably) permanently; either way they won't be using the same number and text e-mail address if they do come back to Japan and get themselves a new cell-phone/keitai. I would have to delete these.

I don't know about your country, but in Japan keitai has this infra-red communication functionality on most of the models, and you can send or receive other people's number/text address (or your own) by keeping two phones "face to face" so to speak. Problem is I don't really understand exactly how I'm supposed to do this (they need to be more clear and precise on their manuals!!), and since you could send your entire address book to the other party's phone, I'm still very apprehensive to use this function; I don't want to leak people's personal information to somebody just by me choosing the wrong option in the menu.

I'm feeling kind of frisky this week. (Can guys use "frisky"? Or is it more "girly" vocabulary?) Maybe I'd be going out around my office area (Roppongi, that is) later this week (^o^)

There should be a non-smoking club

Jun 21, 2009
6 comments

There's this small Irish pub near Roppongi Hills that's non-smoking. It's just a small joint, owned- as I understand- by a bunch of guys who used to be working for another Ex-Investment Bank used to be stationed up in Roppongi Hills. It's so cool. Nothing special if you really think about it, but an Irish pub that's completely non-smoking environment, is just great as far as I'm concerned.

So it's too bad that there's no club, as far as I know, that I can go dance where it's non-smoking. It's part of the reason I no longer go to clubs; those places are too smokey. I think the idea would fly, I hope someone will open one. (or maybe one already exists and I don't know about it because I'm kinda out of the scene)

What's up with the whole hostess club thing

Jun 15, 2009
7 comments

Strange. Last week, three people asked me if I have been to a hostess club. To be more precise, one of them asked me which hostess club I frequent. (He just assumed I must be frequenting one!!!) Yes, all three of them were male, and all three of them were Japanese.

Still. I didn't think going to a hostess club was so big among Japanese people (okay, men) my age. I didn't even know they were, but then again I'm not really interested in what other people do, so it's not really a big deal.

I guess this is something a Salaryman Impersonator such as myself should take note. Personally I was never really interested in going to one- unlike most men from older generation, I don't have a wife you got married to just because of peer pressure (in the old days, staying unmarried beyond age 25 was considered to be very bad) or because of career pressure (again in the old days, being married was almost a prerequisite for men's promotion- you got family to feed, you are less likely to be, you know, disloyal to the Company). Many of them, as years went on, found out his wife was almost a stranger (which she was to begin with), didn't have much in common or maybe didn't even share the same kind of sense of humor. So they needed to go to some place else for agreeable female company.

I'm not even married so I don't have this problem. Moreover, I have more female friends than guy friends, so if I need to chat away with someone over some beer or wine, I just text one and meet up.

Also, they want to know your phone number or keitai e-mail address at hostess clubs. (Hostess club customers like to be called up or texted from girl from the club; personal touch, you see) This would freak out a small-time security nut such as myself. I think I'm just not for the whole scene. Sorry WH and Ukifune in my 'hood!

Roppongi Engrish

Dec 18, 2008
9 comments

Found this sign in Roppongi.

Roppongi sign

Very insightful.

Unnoticed labor

Nov 11, 2008
10 comments

If you have ever lived in Japan or stayed here for some time, sooner or later you must have tried stuff they sell at our convenience store. Aside from sandwiches and Onigiri (rice balls) you can get all kinds of microwave friendly food there (and then some, like Oden they sell at the counter). Although some are just not the kind of invention intended for human beings to eat... :-P

Anyway, if you have you might have inspected the package and what's written on the back. If you understand some Japanese (even if you don't, the numbers aren't too hard to guess), you would have noticed the production time and to-be-consumed-before time (I say time, not day; it says stuff like it was made 4pm yesterday and to be consumed before 10pm today). This leads to enormous amount of unconsumed food discarded everywhere in Japan (any food that went past the best-before time will be taken off the display), but there's something else.

Today I was eating this rice ball studying the package. The information thingy said it was produced in a food factory in Tochigi prefecture (it's like 100km north of Tokyo, I believe) at 2am last night, to be consumed before 4pm today.

This means someone in Tochigi prefecture was up at 2am, making this onigiri or watching over whatever rice ball producing machine they use so I can eat it, high above the ground in Roppongi Hills, in a fairly comfortable office listening to other people bitch how stupid convenience stores don't have much variety of food anymore.

I wonder what that person eats after s/he finishes the shift. Does that person pick up a rice ball just like the ones s/he saw being wrapped and shipped off? How does it feel to be undertaking the effort people will somehow ignore and think it "just happens" without any human effort involved?

And how much of these unnoticed labor hours are we taking for granted to be surfing through so-called modern, convenient lifestyle of the new century?

This week on engrish T-shirt

Sep 20, 2008
1 comment

This week I saw this guy in jeans and blue-and-white stripe T-shirt walking around Roppongi Hills with pretty decent-looking digital camera- curious thing about this guy was that his T-shirt said "Useless Toy".

Well, it may not be exactly "engrish"... And my wicked mind kind of imagines that this guy could be an active member of world famous (at least for those "in the know") S&M scene in Tokyo. Still, pretty weird thing to wear in the middle of the day... (^^;)