Recycling water in Japan...

We were able to have lunch with Tatsu and his family. He and his family are all doing well. Aya made the lunch and it was very good. His children are getting so big. Hiroto is talking up a storm (in Japanese). Actually I saw some of his learning materials and thought they might be good for me. Sae his daughter is now walking. Both children are keeping them busy.

We actually did a number of things this week, but I neglected to take the camera to any of them. We went to the community center and made airplanes out of thinly slice styrofoam. The class was all in Japanese, but were were able to get buy. There were a number of different shapes we made, from birds to flying squirrels, most flew amazingly well. Below is an image of one of them.

Both Kate and I also had dinner parties, mine was another welcome party, Kate's was a ladies night out. Sorry, no pictures of either.

Now I figured I would explain a little about water conservation in Japan. In general it appears that there is an effort to conserve natural resources. This post will explain a little about water conservation.

First, the toilet:

The toilet has a small sink on the back of it. You can see it below.

When the toilet is flushed the water that fills the tank comes out the faucet for you to wash your hands with. This water will be used anyway, so it makes sense that it be used to wash your hands, rather than use other water to wash your hands.

There are also two flush options 小,大 chisai, okii (small, big) use your imagination to figure out which goes with what, but the point is less water is used when possible.

The only down side to this, it is really, really,....really cold in the winter.

Second, bathing:

The bath takes a lot of water to fill.

First there is a control system for the tub. When you want to take a bath you just push the red button. There are actually two controls, one in the shower room and the other in the kitchen. The red button automatically fills the tub with hot water. It is also possible to set a timer so the tub will fill at a specific time. The yellow button will reheat the water in the tub by pulling water back through the system and heating it, rather than adding more fresh water.

To keep the water warm you put a cover on the tub. It easily rolls up to get out of the way. Of course if you wait too long you can always hit the yellow button again to heat it up.

To save water the family takes turns using the same water. What makes this reasonable is that you actually clean by soaping up and rinsing in the shower beside the tub. The tub itself is used for soaking in not actually cleaning. For the shower you can stand or sit on the stool. pre-soak with the shower or use the buckets. Next soap up and then repeat step one for the rinse. Once you are clean you can relax in the tub. Another nice feature about the room is that the entire room is water proof, once you close the door. This allows the children to go crazy with no concern of everything getting wet.

Since everyone was clean before using the tub, the original water is still clean. I wouldn't drink it, but it is not useless. The washing machine has an attachment on it that allows you to use the tub water to wash clothing. There are two options, wash cycle only, or wash and rinse, with the tub water. Kate was able to get more than two loads using both wash and rinse from one tub full. In the picture below you can see the hose going from the washing machine to the tub.

I am sure with most households making an effort like this, there must be a huge savings in the amount of fresh water used daily in Japan. We are considering bringing at least one of the toilets back to the US to use if possible.

On a different note, I had talked to a few people about how narrow some of the typical roads are in Japan. I snagged a couple of pictures as examples. The first is in Utsunomiya. You can see the road is very narrow and as a result the power line poles are actually in the streets.

The next is a picture (Takanezawa) shows how some of the signs are placed on the road. The sign starts in the road and then angles out of the way. I think the reason for this is the drainage system is at the edge of the road and the sign can not go into it. The sign in the picture is actually a stop sign. They don't look at all like American stop signs. Fortunately I was warned before I got behind the wheel. Unfortunately I was warned by another associate that ran the sign as the driving instructor yelled. He did not have an accident, but he made a point to explain it to all the others.

I will try to add more later about some of the roads.

Finally Liam found a miniature kotatsu at a toy store. He thought it was funny to set up his action figures around it. He explained to me that the red guy tricked the white one into sitting at the table. The white guy fell into the trap and was soon asleep. He is now vulnerable to attack.

Hope everyone has a good week...

Kite Making (Tako)

We took the children to the Eco Center this week for a kite making class. Kite in Japanese is Tako たこ also 凧 (in Kanji). The class was free and the materials were provided. Our original plan was to drop the children off for the class, but in the end we decided to stay and help out. There were a number of volunteers on site to help. One of them 山ちゃん Yamachan, helped us through the activity. He is currently a college student in Utsunomiya. The combination of his English and our Japanese got us through the class with no major difficulty.

First the children were given paper to cut to shape. The paper was very fibrous, which gave it some strength. Next the edges were folded and glued with nori (flour and water).

Once all the edges were folded and glued it was time to decorate them. Liam decided to make an いか たこ、烏賊凧 (ika tako), which is a squid kite. Colleen decided to make an たこ たこ、蛸凧, which is tako tako or octopus kite. If you have the Japanese font installed on your computer you can see that the kanji symbol for the first and second tako are different. In Japanese there are a number of words with the same sound but different meanings. This seems to happen when two kanji symbols have the same sound, but different meanings. When the words are written it is easy to differentiate them, but when spoken sometimes the context is important to figure out the meaning.

Once they were decorated, two pieces of cane were applied for structure. They were glued in and covered with small scraps of paper for re-enforcement. Once this was finished we broke for lunch to allow the kites to dry. Unfortunately Kate and I did not bring lunch as we were not planning to stay. I ended up walking to the nearest vending machine and getting two coffees and two corn in a cans for our lunch, while the children ate their bento. After lunch we walked to a field to fly the kites. I believe all the kites were successful at flying for at least a little while. Liam's and Colleen's did very well.

Here are a few of the other kites that were made.

Here is Colleen flying her kite.

Liam flying his kite.

The entire group and their creations.

We had a great time learning about and making the kites. Everyone was very friendly and I am still surprised that it was all free.

This week we also got together with the other US associates for bowling and dinner. We had a good time bowling and dinner was great. We found an item on the menu called death tomato. Liam said if someone got it he would try it. Matt decided he would get one, and so Liam agreed to hold to his statement and try it. He said it was pretty hot after he drank it, but he was a trooper about it.

Colleen had the tako yaki. (Octopus dumpling). Must have been something crazy in it. You can see the impact it had on her in the picture below.

Some of the restaurants in Japan have you take your shoes off inside. Sometimes you leave them by the door, sometimes there are boxes to put them in, and sometimes there are shoe lockers. This restaurant had the lockers. The keys were metal plates with grooves in them and kana written on the front to identify which was yours.

Here is Mike demonstrating how it works.

On the way out I saw this wicked crazy van in the parking lot. I can not imagine driving, or parking this thing in Japan. Somebody must have spent a lot of money to create this vehicle. I can't fully understand why, but it is really interesting to see. I believe the base vehicle is a Toyota Hiace. They are larger vans in Japan. I believe many times used for camping. You can see it really does not fit in the parking spot.

Well, that is enough for this week.

Tokyo Auto Salon.

Tokyo Auto Salon is an auto show that happens each year. It gives aftermarket component manufactures and tuners an opportunity to showcase their products. If you don't like, or are not interested in cars this post will not be for you.

Mike, Dan, and I headed down to Tokyo for the day. We arrived just at the start of the show. The show was split into two main sections. The larger of the two were the domestic market vehicles. The smaller were the imports (Jeep, Chevy, Ferrari, etc..) From 2-4 there was a D1 drift exhibition in the parking lot between the two buildings.

Four main tactics are used to draw attention to each companies booth.

1. The display of flashy or impressive show cars.

****We determined that the car below gets a perfect score on the pimptastic scale. The base was a high end car (Mercedes in this case), rims are >20" with low profile tires, long haired baby seal fur skin seat covers, and you just can't get any more bling on the exterior. The entire car was bejeweled. Therefore from now this car will be set as the coefficient of pimptasticity, all other cars shall be measured against it.****

2. Race/drift cars from famous motorsport series.

Brian, this one is for you.

3. Display walls to show the companies products.

4. crazy costumes

5. Celebrities (Here is Smokey from Top Secret)

It took me 4 times visiting the booth. He was hiding behind the booth in meetings. The security guards kept telling me to come back in 30 min. I think they finally got tired of me coming back. On the last try, the guard went behind the curtain, probably told smokey I was not getting the hint, and then he came out for the picture and immediately went back into meetings. He is a pretty busy guy I think.

6. Women are used to draw attention. (Here are some of the more classy models.)

It was actually a little crazy around the women. The men took the models very seriously and were also very determined to get pictures. On a number of occasions I was even pushed as men struggled for position to get the perfect photo. You can see a crowd below, the one guy brought his own ladder. I even saw men with cameras on poles so they could shoot pictures over top of the crowd.

Midway through the show there was a D1 drifting exhibition event in the parking lot outside. Many of the big names were there. It was really interesting to see and hear the cars in action. You really have to hear it in person to appreciate the sound of the engines.

At the show many companies hand out brochures and bags for you to carry around the pamphlets you get. I am convinced that the companies strategically use large bags so you will consolidate your items in their bag and then walk around advertising for them. Mike was proud of the one he received. It was big, and well made so he felt he could carry all his stuff in it.

As the show progressed we discovered that Mikes bag was also very popular with the ladies.

A few companies got in on the action with motorcycles.

Finally I will end the post with this picture. These were pretty big wheels on this car. I was never able to get close enough to figure out what size they are. If anybody can figure it out, let me know. I think they would look pretty good on the Diva.

Tokyo New Year Holiday.

Liam made this with Legos after we got back, I thought it was fitting as the opening picture for the trip.

For the New Year holiday we decided to go to Tokyo and explore.

On Dec 31 we loaded into the Diva and I drove to Hoshakuji station and dropped the family off. Then I drove home and walked to the station to meet them.

We all loaded onto the JR rapid train bound for Ebisu. The Shinkansen is faster (about 50min compared to 1hr45min) but about 4 times more money. From Ebisu we took the subway to Roppongi and our hotel.

The train is faster than car or bus from Utsunomiya. They are very clean. As you get closer to Tokyo they get more and more crowded, but we started our journey outside of Utsunomiya so we were able to sit the entire trip. We were not so lucky on the return trip.

Below is some footage from the train before it got crowded. A little boring, but shows the experience of riding a train in Japan.

After dropping our things off at the hotel we headed for Tokyo Tower. This is my third time in Japan, but I had never made to the tower. It is 333 meters tall (the Eiffel Tower is 320). It was built in 1958 (69 years after the Eiffel Tower) As a result it weighs 4,000 tons which is 3000 tons less than the Eiffel Tower due to advances in steel manufacturing and processing.

Before going up we decided we should eat lunch. I read there was a restaurant at the base of the Tower called the Tokyo Curry Lab. It was conceived by the creator of The Iron Chef TV show. Actually I would recommend this restaurant. The curry was exceptional. They had a children's menu. The price was reasonable. We were very glad we went.

After finishing our meal at the Curry Lab we headed off to wait in line to purchase tickets to go up the tower. When we finally arrived at the counter I explained that I wanted to purchase tickets to go to the top. I was informed that I could not purchase them on the ground I had to purchase them after making it to the first observatory. 40 minutes later we made it to the first level (150 meters). We discovered that there was also a line to purchase tickets to go to the special observatory. I convinced everyone that we had made it this far we should go to the top. Kate was stoked about the decision. You can see it in her face below. 45 minutes later we were on our way to the 250 meter high observatory.

It is difficult to explain how big Tokyo is. I am not really sure where it starts and where it ends. when we take the train from Tokyo to Utsunomiya the buildings never really stop, they just get smaller and farther apart. Below you can see in the picture from the tower that as far as you can see there are buildings. The view really was incredible.

Next we waited in line 20 min. to go back down to the first observatory at 150 meters. After arriving at the first observatory we found we would have to wait more to go down to the ground level, so we decided to take the option of walking down. It was a good and bad one. We were able to get fresh air, but 150 meters = a whole lot of steps.

Half way down the children were losing it. I took this picture while they were still in their oxygen deprived state.

In the end it was still worth it. Next was Harujuku. It was interesting to see. Many youth clothing shops and some children expressing their individuality. I did not take many pictures here. Maybe some day we will go back to see it in the day and take more pictures.

On to Shibuya. I wanted to show the family the famous intersection. It has been in a number of movies. (including Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift) There are maybe 5 roads that come together at the intersection. The lights cycle through all the vehicle traffic, and then the walking is signaled all at the same time. Walking occurs from all sides. The night we were there was New Years eve. It was dead. Below are two videos, the first is New Years eve, the second was taken on Jan 2. when we went back. You can see there is a big difference.

Finally we went to the Hotel to rest and ponder whether we should go out for the new year or not. Final decision (everyone did agree) was to head for Asakusa to the Senso Ji temple to ring the new year in. I am not sure how many people were there. This was the largest crowd we have had the children in, but it was very orderly and I never felt the children were in danger. In the end it was an extraordinary experience. At midnight the bells were rung and everyone slowly moved forward to make a new years wish and throw money into the shrine as an offering. It was amazing to be part of this tradition.

Both of the children were very tired at the end and although they probably won't appreciate this until they are older it was well worth it.

After passing the shrine there are many options for souvenirs and for eating. One of my favorites it tako yaki. It is breaded octopus that is baked in a cast iron pan made specially for cooking it. Kate took a picture as they were making it. These stands are scattered throughout Japan.

The subways ran all night for the New Year and we did not make it back to the Hotel until after 3:00am. As a result the next day got off to a late start. We walked around Akihabara, shopped at Tokyu Hands and then headed back to Asakasa to catch a water bus to Tokyo bay. The water bus is a boat that is very relaxing. It is nice to sit back and see the city from the water. The roof is glass to you can see all around. It was definitely worth doing.

Dinner and off to bed to prepare for the Emperor's Palace.

Jan 2. The Emperor's Palace is only open 2 times a year to the public. December 23 and Jan 2. We set out in the morning toward the Imperial Palace. After getting off at the station it was not hard to tell which way to go. We just followed the massive crowds. On the way everyone was given a paper Japanese flag. We passed through 2 security check points and then entered the grounds. We lined up in front of the Palace with everyone else and waited. We were able to determine that the Emperor would speak at 1:00 (about 45 minutes waiting). Yet another amazing thing to participate in.

I only have a short clip of the Emperor speaking as I had to hold Liam up to see. I am also including a clip that was actually a mistake. I was trying to take a picture, but accidentally had the camera on video. I still think it is interesting as it show the number of flags and the sound they were making from waving and the wind as everyone held them up.

More shopping and we rounded the day off with a trip to TGI Fridays. The menu is a little different, but the food is basically the same. The decorations on the wall are even American. If you did not pay attention to the waitress you may forget you were even in Japan. I ended up with the biggest burger I have had in years. I left Fridays completely stuffed.

Feb3 We explored Roppongi a little. We stumbled onto the giant spider sculpture at Roppongi hills. It is a huge sculpture. The children ran under it so you can get an idea of the size.

We finished off the trip by visiting the Meiji shrine. It was also unbelievably crowded. We were able keep the family together as we waited, but while standing in the crowd we decided we were finished after this one.

Here are giant barrels of Sake at the shrine.

This is a view just prior to entering the shrine. This shrine is actually very plain, so I have not included a picture of it.

This did finish us off. We caught the subway to Ueno and boarded the JR train headed back to Hoshakuji. For the first half of the trip it was standing room only. About half way we were all able to sit down. While riding the train the family decided to just walk home from the station rather than have me walk home, get the car, and drive back. It is about 1.6 kilometers from our home, but it was at night and pretty cold. I was happy that everyone agreed to walk and we made it home pretty quickly and with no concerns. In the end I am glad I have a couple of days left before going back to work to recover from the vacation.

Hope everyone had a great holiday.