Jan-Ken-Hoi!

Jankenpon, or rock paper scissors, has been played in Japan since forever.

During my school day I'll see it played to decide which student gets the hardest part in a role play, which student has to go first, which student clears the desks after lunch etc. Occasionally on the news you will see that a judge might use it to settle some ridiculous dispute.

But more recently, "alternative janken" has come into play. Since the pioneering days of those on the Nathan Barley show with their "Cock, Muff, Bumhole" moves, numerous alternatives have sprung up. One South African ALT introduced me to "Tinfoil, Cat, Microwave", while another South African ALT introduced me to "Gun, Grass, Goat".....

The other night, during an alcohol induced wave of 飲speration*, we invented "Smoke (or toke, we're undecided), Coke, Poke". Can't quite decide what wins over what though.....

*It's only clever if you understand that 飲 means to drink, and is pronounced "in".

Haunting

Ever since Yasushi converted the parking space under his house into Bar X Billiards = Y"s (Or whatever it's called), it's become a regular hang out for us foreign types.

He has good English music piped in, three good sized tables, and he mixes his drinks strong. You're always going to have a good night at Y's. Yasushi and his wife are cool people, and so's their son Sooshi if he's around playing Doraemon games on the computer (even at 4am) and telling you to shut up. The characters that show up at all hours are also good people, and some of the youngest that you will find out and about in Niimi at night.

Here's self-proclaimed "Handsome Boy". On the night I met him, he showed me Billy's Boot Camp before and after photos his wife had taken on his phone.

I've spent many a late night here before drunkenly careening home on my chari and forgetting exactly what occurred here the night before.

Icky Men

Japanese males have surpased the adjective hansamu when it comes to describing their good looks. They can also be described as kakkoi, cool, warukakkoi, bad-boy cool, erokakkoi, sexy cool......the list goes on. The multipurpose term used for a good looking young male is ikemen.

These guys are metrosexual to the point of being effeminate. They spend more time on their hair and beauty regime than most women, and spend more on their outfits than they can afford.

Once you get past the handsomeness of a guy, you then have to describe his style. Style name is based on where a guy shops, the designers he wears, or the look he adopts, such as sentaa-gai, onii-kei or gyaru-o.

You have to admit, they must work hard to look this..... good.

If you want to learn more about ikemen, or feel the need to worship them, check this website out: http://community.livejournal.com/ikemen_suki/

Detox

I've done nothing noteworthy recently except drink and make a fool out of myself. Okay, that's not really noteworthy....

Time to chill out and enjoy one of my favorite views of Niimi.

What's a "Jesus Face"?

Hanami season is nearly at an end, so to make the most of the last of the cherry blossoms tenuously clinging to the trees, we had a hanami party on Niimi's own Joyama. Complete with new Japanese friends, out of town friends, and recent additions to the Niimi Crew we had a meat-laden bbq and a stupendous amount of drinks on offer. There were hand shaking drinking games, assorted impressions of the "umai" scene in Japanese cooking shows, and probably a lot of other things that I have no clear recollection of, seeing as drinking was a prerequisite if you wanted to stay warm. I just recall it was a pleasant evening with good company and conversation. The bbq was followed by kombinioke, and a telling-off seeing as we'd snuck a chilli-bin full of drinks and two bottles of wine into the establishment. For me, the evening was topped off with a drunken yet speedy cycle home while others had more exciting adventures before bed.

Hakusho~~~n

The ride home on my chari looked pretty so I took some more spring-themed photos.

Sakura in the City

Finally spring has reached Niimi, and the winter greys and browns are giving way to fresh greens and blossoms.Ahhh, the 180 Highway...Ahh, the countless limestone mines...

Paper Folding Made Easy

I have a list of things I want to do before I leave Japan. One of the more practical and less expensive ideas I had was to learn origami, or paper folding. Specifically, to memorise how to fold a number of objects without referring to a book.

You may have already seen the "How to Eat Sushi" clip I posted previously. The same crew offer instruction on "How to Fold Paper".

I was proud of my haphazard paper crane before I saw the "Tour De France" masterpieces. Don't want to get in "fold off" with these guys.