Category: Japanese Society/Culture

Ekusupato vs. Ekisupato

Is there anything more annoying than the jet set expert on (pick any foreign country)? I just read a guide to eating sushi by a self-proclaimed successful author who visited Japan a few times and was probably taken to nice places to eat, and now seems to be a full-blown master of sushi, sake, and Japanese table manners (among MANY other things).
Shabure, shabure, Mr. Roboto.

Thai ATM Horror Story

So today turned out to be a big bummer because of the stupid Thai banking system. In short, I tried to withdraw 20,000 Baht from my Japanese bank with an international (PLUS system) bank card, which is something I’ve done many times before with no real problems. This time, however, the ATM (Thai Commercial Bank) flashed an error, “Communication Error,” and spat out my card but no cash and no receipt. I figured it might be an error with this particular bank and mine in Japan (Mitsui Sumitomo), so I tried again with the ATM to the immediate right of the first one (Thai Military Bank). Same error message, same exact result: No cash, no receipt.
Then I figured I’d try a little bit later so I pulled up to a Krung Thai Bank ATM at a gas station and tried again to withdraw 20,000 Baht. This time I got an “insufficient balance” error, and a sinking feeling in my stomach (and again, no cash and no receipt). Sure enough, when I rushed home to look at my balance online, it showed that 20,000 Baht had been withdrawn today.
I immediately called my bank in Japan and explained the situation. The man on the other end was sympathetic and said I needed to talk to the banks here in Thailand first, but that if nothing could be done on this side, he could probably launch an investigation into the matter which would take weeks to find anything (if at all), but sounded much better than nothing. At this point, I was pretty sure that appealing to the banks here would end in squat.
Sure enough, both Thai banks claimed since I wasn’t sure which bank had actually made the transaction, it absolved them both of responsibility until I found out this info from my Japanese bank. Of course, by the time I received this happy reply (via Nam, who went to go find the contact info on the ATMs while I watched sleeping baby at home), my bank in Japan had already closed for the day.
So.
20,000 Baht (68,000 yen or around $600) just disappeared into the ether, and, as of now, I have fuck all to show that this is what actually happened.
My question: At times like this is it more appropriate to hate computers, the third world, or banks in general?
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UPDATE: I called my bank in Japan to tell them that the Thai banks are not accepting responsibility (big surprise!) since I don’t know which one caused the problem, and they insist that the Japan side must initiate action of some kind. The guy at my bank who is following the case advised me to wait seven working days to see if the problem is corrected automatically, then to contact him again so he can initiate an inquiry which may take a couple months to finish. This blows.

git up a git git down 911 119 191 is a joke in yo town

It made so much sense when I found out in Japan that the number for the popo fire department was 119, because like so many other aspects of Japanese culture, it was the exact opposite of what I was used to. Namely, 911. But it is kind of strange that Thailand has taken the only unique left in that series and dubbed 191 the number for emergency services countrywide.
So the real question is, why don’t they standardize the number for emergency services worldwide?
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Flava Flav says “Ho!”

Dumpling diplomacy: Green lantern fix?

There’s obviously a problem when someone decides to add pesticides to Japan’s foreign-produced frozen food supply, but is the best answer for Japan truly another “buy local” scheme? I can see about 6,200 problems with this, not including shipping. I mean, this is the same country that makes airports for airlifting vegetables (which probably had the net effect of driving more agro business to China since it cost – duh – too much to ship fresh produce by air), right?
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In other Japan-related news, all of you from the camera-toting, chrysanthemum-kissing, anime-addict set are OFFICIALLY NO LONGER WANTED AT TSUKIJI FISHMARKET. That’s what you get for questioning the validity of scientific whaling, yo.

Contradiction: American Wagyu

This article about Kobe and pseudo-Kobe beef was interesting, but kind of pissed me off: Raising the Steaks
I mean, the author is passing judgment on a practice he’s never seen first-hand? I lived in Japan for many years, knew a lot of people raising cattle, and I never saw a single cow living in a lean-to (I can’t remember seeing any lean-tos in Japan!).
I sure saw a lot living in barns, open pastures, and ranches, though. This quote from the article especially struck a nerve: “And where is all that pasture to begin with, given that Japan is so short of land?” Oh, I see. The problem is that this guy has never been to Japan, has probably never even seen Japan outside of the photos in the wikipedia articles he used for “research,” and couldn’t find a single Japanese rancher to interview so instead asked his questions to experts in the US… and in the end recommends their product over the Japanese one because he’s lost his taste for “beef raised in a crate.” As evidenced by the testimonial of a single Frenchman. Oi.
Hey, and I’m really curious as to under which Shinto tenets, “beef was not consumed in Japan until the Meiji Restoration.” Or is this just a very slanted way of presenting Shinto vegetarianism?
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A great contrast to this article, also written last year, is this one: The Sublime Culture of Kobe Beef
It paints a much different picture than the article above…. In the end, only one question remains: ARE THE COWS ACTUALLY MASSAGED, OR IS IT JUST SHIT BEING RUBBED OFF THEM WITH A HANDFUL OF STRAW?
and also: DOES SHIT-COATED COW MAKE FOR BETTER EATING, OR WHAT?
These are questions that deserve straight, honest, and thoroughly documented answers.
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I, personally, can offer the following:

  • I have seen cows in Hyogo that were being raised for meat being massaged by their owners
  • I have seen small “houses” especially built for cows to sleep in at night in some pastures
  • A worker at a small ice cream factory on Awaji Island told me that they sometimes sold old ice cream in bulk to local farmers for cattle feed
  • I have never seen a cow lying in its own shit unless it was sick

The Origins of Kaiten-zushi (Conveyor Belt Sushi)

Envisioned in 1933: Mechanical grocery store walks around the customer
Substitute raw fish and vinegared rice for the “groceries,” lose the wrapping option (mawarizushi is one of the few things the Japanese don’t wrap), and add self-pouring draft beer vending machines, and then you’ve got a recipe for a winner (that sounds a lot like Kura Zushi near KIX, but I digress)
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