w00kie's ramblings

Category: japan

  • New year woes

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    w00kie
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    In Japan, the new year is a big thing. Unlike in western countries, it’s a family holiday when all come, eat traditional food (new year soba) and go to the temple for a blessing and good luck in the coming year. It’s also a rare time when all all shops, banks, etc. can close for…

  • Ricoh GR Digital II – Best Seller

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    w00kie
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    Still haven’t decided if I’m going to get me a new GRD or not, my finances look bleak so it’s probably going to be a no-no. But according to the sales ranking of cameras in Japan for the month of November, many people don’t have the same qualms as me: It shot straight to 1st…

  • 80cm of fresh snow

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    w00kie
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    I was in Kagura Saturday for a my second day snowboard of the season. We left at 5:30AM to get there by 7AM, get dressed and catch the first ropeway car up the mountain. I was snowing big flakes the whole day, no wind. Deep powder everywhere, leg-deep out in the forest where we spent…

  • FON Anniversary Campaign in Japan

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    w00kie
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    If you’re in Japan and you want a free (or almost free) WiFi router, here’s your chance. One year after its introduction in Japan, the FON network gives away their Fonera routers for free this weekend only: Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th December. These cool little boxes let you share your connection safely with the…

  • Surf or Study

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    w00kie
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    Sunday December 2nd is for many of us in Japan the dreaded day of 日本語能力試験 – also known as JLPT or Japanese Language Proficiency Test. But this weekend is also the start of what looks like the best ski season I’ve seen since I’ve come to Japan. Trying out my new snowboard gear on 130cm…

  • Year-end tax adjustment

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    w00kie
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    I was just handed by my service’s executive assistant a 2 page “Year-end tax adjustment declaration for 2007” with a little not saying the deadline is in 5 days. The forms are accompanied by an English leaflet full of statements like this one: Special exemption for spouses Due to the change of income low (sic.),…

  • Dating guide TV show

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    w00kie
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    Yesterday I was watching TV pretty late as I was backing up my laptop to prepare for installing Leopard, and I found a pretty cool program called 恋愛百景 on TV Asahi. The name translates to “The 100 views of Love” referring to the famous series of artist Hokusai. The concept of the show is to…

  • Japanese Credit Card

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    w00kie
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    Sunday as I was going to the old apartment to give back the keys, I had the nice surprise to find both my JLPT convocation and my Flying Blue VISA credit card. Nice surprise since I was rejected twice by the Japanese VISA company and I was starting to lose hope. The situation was getting…

  • A tip about teeth

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    w00kie
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    In exactly 4 days I will officially become a fully local employee in my company. My salary will be in Japanese Yens, I will pay Japanese taxes, be under a Japanese pension plan (although I still retain an extra pension plan in France as a bonus) and be protected by a Japanese health insurance. Although…

  • Moving Preparations

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    w00kie
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    Today, I took 2 hours out of my not so busy schedule and called all the utility companies to cancel and/or open the gas/electricity/water/internet contracts for my moving next week. To help with the process, I found this cool webservice by TEPCO, Tokyo’s main electricity provider. You enter your old and new address and it…

  • Matsuri Food

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    w00kie
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    This weekend I went to the Kawagoe Matsuri, one of the biggest in this part of Saitama, and I ate 鮎塩焼き. They are little fresh-water fish, stuck on a skewer, dipped in salt and fried around a fire. You eat the whole thing, except the head, bones and scales included.

  • Cameo French license plates

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    w00kie
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    Could someone explain me why I see so many cars in Japan with French or German license plates under the official Japanese plates? I might understand that car maniacs who import the cars from Europe might keep the plates for style, but this is a Mazda Premacy with the wheel on the right!

  • How to print without a printer in Japan?

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    w00kie
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    Living in Japan, we are often faced with tough quandaries, for example: in a typical closet sized Tokyo apartment, having a printer at home can take up a valuable portion of your living space. But then without a printer, you’re often stuck in problematic situations, like last weekend when my girlfriend had some last minute…

  • S-Air summer ski jump

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    w00kie
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    What to do when you really want to snowboard in summer and you like stupid crazy activities? You find a place where they built a big-air jump on a hill with a pool under it. The place is called S-Air and is located in 所沢 in southern Saitama. You can get there from Tokyo in…

  • Bed town

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    w00kie
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    This Saturday, my girlfriend arrived in Tokyo to look for a job, pass some interviews, etc. She’ll be staying at my place for 2 weeks or so, hopefully enough to get a good feel of the current job market. So this Sunday, we went to Kawagoe to scout out the place and see what kind…