Central Park Nagoya, that is. Yes, Nagoya has a Central Park. It is basically a wide median in the center of the city. It is nice though to have such a green strip running through the center of the city. Today the Park was abuzz though because there was a 24 hour television event, some music underneath the TV tower, and the main stage for the Domannaka Festival. Wow, what a day for Nagoya.

There were some old-timers jamming underneath the TV tower.

And some sort of 24 hour television event. I’ve never quite understood these events. They don’t seem to be fundraisers or have any purpose other than promotion. I never really watch these events. I don’t watch much Japanese TV.

This weekend is the 12th annual ど真ん中祭り (yes, another festival). I’ve written about this festival before. I only saw one group wearing fundoshi this year, and perhaps it would have been better to have been a little more modest. As always though, the costumes and dancing were fun.

The requirements for the festival are simple:

The rules of the festival state that each dancer must hold a naruko, or clapper, and that a melody from a local folk tune of the participants’ home area must be incorporated in the music. The teams thus prepare original dances and music that give a sense of their local culture. The greatest characteristic and charm of Domatsuri is that it connects people from many different areas and countries, and gives them an opportunity to vitalize local communities as well as to create and pass on new cultural expressions.

I ended up going to the festival site, having a beer, and watching the stage performances on an outdoor screen. The weather today wasn’t that bad.

Maybe it was over 90 degF, but the humidity was a little lower so I was comfortable in the shade.

Over the weekend, I went up to Tokyo to hang out with Ben and Carrie, and also with Tomo when he wasn’t working. It was sort of a random weekend with no real initial plans. Ben and Carrie wanted to check out Asakusa and Kappabashidori. Asakusa is famous for the sensoji temple, and Kappabashidori is famous for excellent cooking supplies including famous knife shops. It had been a while since I had been to Asakusa, but it never fails to interest me. It is the most “touristy” place in Tokyo that I know. The approach to the temple is lined with souvenir shops with some rather interesting things available. The temple was under renovation – is this THE year for temple renovation? I have never seen so many temples under renovation. Kappabashidori was interesting as well – lots of cookware shops, knives, and plastic food shops. I find the plastic food fascinating. We had a delicious lunch at Freshness Burger, and then went to Akihabara.

I’ve never really understood Akihabara – perhaps I just don’t go to the correct place. We checked out a manga shop featuring dojin comics. Carrie felt a little out of place as we looked at book covers with a wide assortment of big-breasted semi naked cat-eared girls. There were only 7 floors of books, but the building was skinny. We also hit a few electronics shops as well, which can be almost as visually shocking as the manga shop.

For dinner, we met Jin and had a good visit.

Souvenir shops in Asakusa

Yes we can! Obama-mania has not sold out yet in Japan.

The area around senjo temple

Ben and Carrie look like they are having fun.

We noticed some funny things around Akasuka and Kappabashidori. I am extremely curious what the heart farting character represents. Oh, such pretty farts. It is noce that I can maintain my juvenile humor after all these years.

Also, I think this gas cassette is definitely not a good idea to try to carry on to a plane.

And where exactly does cowgel come from?

The symbol for kappabashidori is a frogman. I thought it was strange.

I was fascinated by the plastic food. There were several cases of plastic beer. Don’t the ice covered cans look great?

There was case after case of sample food.

Sunday we had no real plan either. We waked from Shidome to Tokyo Station to meet Kevin for lunch. We hit Ginza and the Sony showroom. The Sony showroom is not the technological showplace it once was. I think Sony has not found the next new thing and is suffering. After lunch, I remembered the JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) showroom was nearby, so what better place to take two space geeks? Carrie bought an H2A rocket pen and some spacefood!

Can’t you see them as astronauts?

We also visited a display celebrating Japan’s World Baseball Classic championship win. I had to photograph Ichiro and Matsuzaka’s actual jerseys.

I’m not an Englishman in New York, but I am a legal alien. I have my official Certificate of Alien Registration, recorded at the local Ward office. A Ward ( 区, ku, in this case) is sort of like a township. I guess. It is hard to describe exactly what a Ward is. No complications whatsoever. It is my third gaijin card. The first two I had to give up when I left the country. This one allows multiple entry (that was through the regional immigration office).

After I got my gaijin card, I went with a Japanese colleague to open a bank account. Opening a bank account is never easy in any language. Opening one in Japanese did not disappoint. I was asked if I wanted a Visa card … then when they found out that I hadn’t been in the country for 6 months the offer was rescinded … then when they found out I was employed they offered the credit card again. Why do I want a credit card? Well, you never know when the three that I currently have will fail. Anyway, it is my Japan emergency credit card.

As I said, I needed a hanko (personal stamp) to open an account. It seems so arbitrary. I just buy this stamp and then somehow it is official? My name in katakana isn’t particularly beautiful either – フィシュ. I wanted to use the kanji for fish, 魚, but all my J-friends thought that would not work well. It turns out every time I made a little mistake like a cross out or anything like that, I had to STAMP! the mistake. I felt so imperfect – my application was filled with lots of little red stamped circles. Stupid foreigner. The choices were very confusing to me and my helper. I remember when I helped Tomo open an account at the credit unionI had a hard time suggesting the proper choices. Japan was no different.

Not much else to report. Working. Eating, Sleeping. I got a call tonight that basically said I might have to go from my frying pan pressure job here in Nagoya and go help out on a super hot wok job in the States for a bit. I don’t want to go. I want to be “home” in Nagoya for a while.

OK, I’m outta here for now. More later.

If you read the article about a stabbing spree in Akihabara, remember that I live in Nagoya and not Tokyo. I was a long way away from this. Yes, I’ve been to Akihabara before, but not today. I’m sure some people are concerned so I thought I’d clear it up!

I am now officially checked out of the hotel. That’s a good thing too because apparently my work credit card just max’d out. Hmmm. I sure wish I could figure out how to get my expense reports to be approved. But that’s a different story. And not that interesting.

The important and cool thing is that I slept at the apartment for the first time last night. It is a comfortable place. Yesterday afternoon I did a little shopping but didn’t really buy that much. I was just trying to figure out how to satisfy the requirements of my place. No dresser, for example. And I still need lights.

Today I got together with a colleague and he helped me a lot and I got some more things for the pad. He’s going to be here for at least 18 months so I was showing some of the stores I went to so he’d have some ideas what was out there. Still everything was on foot. Today I bought some stackable plastic drawers in place of a dresser, a laundry basket, a broom, a clock for the bathroom (does it have a battery- probably not), and clothes hangers. That doesn’t sound like much in the end, does it? Well it seemed monumental. Oh I got a couple of mouse pads and an Ethernet jumper for my Airport Express (called AirMac Express for some reason here).

Hey, that’s right! I forgot about internet. It is up and running. One of my big debates was whether or not to use my in house LAN and whatever internet access I was provided or for the fiber service. My apartment internet is just fine, thank you very much at 15.4 kpbs downlink.

Today, after a short rest, I continued my adventures. It was time for a haircut. That is never an easy experience. How do you explain in Japanese what you want? Luckily one of the guys spoke some English and between his English and Japanese we were able to get figure out what I wanted. Sort of. All my haircuts in Japan are intricately executed trims. My hair always seems as long as when I went in. So when I go in next month I’ll have to try to have them take a little more off!

On my way home, I went to the grocery store. I had to call Tomo in order to learn the Japanese word for spinach（hourensou - ホウレンソウ) which was amusing to the staff. I stumbled accidently into another western type grocery and found some Maple and Brown Sugar Quaker Instance Oats. Yippee!! That is a kind of convenient quicky breakfast when necessary. One of the problems with urban living is that it is difficult to find a “real” grocery store. I’m not sure I can survive on Dean and DeLuca and 7/11.

In general, I’m pretty happy with the location of my place. It seems very convenient. My streets are not crowded with people, but in about 15 minutes I am in the heart of the shopping area of the city. Today I even found Banana Republic (don’t feel too good for me because nothing will fit).

It is already 8:45 pm and I still have to do my dishes, make some dinner, do some work emails, hang a light, try to clean, and watch LOST on iTunes. I don’t think I’ll get it all done but I’m having fun. It beats sitting in the hotel room. More to come. My couch arrives Saturday so my apartment will be primarily furnished. The only things left will be accessories and such to make it a little more livable. You know, accessories like a kitchen knife, pots, pans.

For anyone who has traveled to Japan, this headline should make sense. For those that have never been, well, it takes some explaining. I’m back in the States, of the land of cold toilets. In Japan, toilets vary. In a public restroom you are just as likely to have a squat toilet as a sit down toilet. Some public restrooms have both, I assume so you can pick your style. But at home, the variety is much more extravagant. Many toilets have heated seats, and the complexity of the heating is a product of what you paid. Many also have heated water sprays that, with a little self positioning, hit you in all the right places. The hotel certainly has this more deluxe toilet and I think my apartment does too.

Wow, I was going to write more but I suddenly got overwhelmed by sleepiness. I’ll write tomorrow about shopping and the fabo outfit I was recommended to buy.