Small vans in Japan..

To the average American nearly every car in Japan seems small. But how about this modified Japanese mini van that has been made to look like an old Volkswagan Bus. Lots of details including the bumpers and hub caps. I saw this one back in June and thought it was one of a kind but have since seen many other mini VW Buses.

Cute!

Some more photos over at this post at the German Car blog here.

Cats migrate to Japan too...

It's my first week in the office and things are going smoothly. Luckily the cats are adjusting well to the new big house. The process to get them ready to import to Japan was a long 7 months but in the end it was worth it as we breezed through customs without any delay. It consisted of RFID chip implantation, two rabies vaccines, certified rabies blood test, 6 month waiting period, last minute inspection with flea/tick/worm treatment, and official USDA vet certification. Did I mention the loads of cash too ?!?

Lulu is handling it well and really seems to like soaking up the sun in the office window.



My second Amazon.co.jp purchase was a couple of folding outdoor chairs as a reusable supplement to the limited rental furniture we've got. Damian's proclaimed himself "Captian Stag".



And here's Damian learning to bow at the Apple temple (aka the dining room).



Up next - high speed internet in Japan (think bullet train)...

The 1st Curry

A rice cooker seemed like an unnecessary appliance to this mid-westerner. Yes, my Chinese college roommate had one but I never understood the point since you could just put a pot on the stove and get the same cooked rice (and don't forget "Minute Rice"). Mike expanded my horizons in NYC with our first rice cooker and I soon discovered how much easier it was just to dump the rice and water in a pot and press one button. Presto! You've got perfect cooked rice which is especially nice when you eat a lot of rice.

One night last week we went to the giant Yodobashi store in Akihabara to see about a new rice cooker that would work on the Tokyo 100v 50Hz AC power infrastructure. Rice cooking must be an art here. There were more than 40 different rice cookers on display ranging in price from US$80 to US$800! Different styles, bowls of varying metals, heating methods (most induction heating), sizes, and finishes. We settled on one with a medium size bowl, induction heating, and pressurized cooking to reduce cooking time for a mere 24,000 Yen (US$200).

The next day I managed to match Kanji characters on the bag of rice with some cryptic instructions in the manual and made perfect brown rice which I then enjoyed with a quick Japanese Curry sauce. This packaged curry mix had two bags of sauces that only had to be warmed in hot water for a few minutes. Wikipedia helps explain what Japanese Curry is but let me just say yum! Here's the bear on the box, my curry, rice cooker and bag of rice:

First Amazon Japan Purchase

We arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday May 16th, 2007. One of my first tasks was to see about using Amazon.co.jp to make some purchases. I'd become an accomplished Amazon.com consumer in the US and wanted to see if I could continue here in Japan. The Amazon Japan site does have an English setting, but that really only helps with the "foreign" language books section and some of the button labels. Google language tools and it's translator seems to be a good start for finding other things, but I'm sure it's going to be a challenge.

Before leaving New York, I wanted to order the Lonely Planet "Hiking in Japan" book but it was not available on Amazon.com. Luckily I found it over at Amazon.co.jp but I waited until my arrival to order it. I was able to use my US credit card for the order with delivery to my Japan address. Amazon also takes part in a service that lets you place your order online and then go to a local convenience store to make payment. I placed my order on Friday May 18th with free standard shipping and amazingly they attempted delivery on the following Saturday evening. I wasn't home, but they left a note and I was able to call and schedule for delivery the following Monday. Well, I should say that Mike was able to call and reschedule the delivery for me in Japanese. And on Monday my first Amazon Japan purchase arrived:






Next we buy a rice cooker and I cook my first quick Japanese Curry! The suspense must be killing you...