Kinky Japan: “The 48 Techniques of Winning in Sumo” and Hotel Chapel Christmas Love Hotel
by projecthitchhiker on December 25, 2007
in Accountability Lists, Japan
Christmas in Japan
Christmas in Japan is for lovers. In Canada, people enjoy special time with their families, going to church and such. Here in Osaka, the streets are lined with couples going to movies, shopping for couture, and lined up to eat fried chicken. Yeah, apparently KFC has done such a good job at marketing in Japan that most Japanese people think it’s what North Americans do. Another point for capitalism (although it’s not like it’s difficult, here in Japan).
This holiday season, I decided to go in search of the famed Santa-themed Love Hotel, Hotel Chapel Christmas. Again I enlisted the help of a research partner to join me. First, we did one of my top 10 favorite things to do in Japan: Kaiten Sushi bar hopping (the restaurants where you pick your sushi from a revolving conveyor belt; each plate costs about a dollar). This is basically going a sushi place, eating two or three plates of their best/freshest sushi, then picking up and doing the same at the next three or four sushi restaurants.
“Come On My House!” — Love Hotels, Sexy Engrish, and Quote-Unquote “Research”
by projecthitchhiker on December 25, 2007
in Accountability Lists, Japan
Adventures in Love Hotel Land
In keeping up with the accountability list I posted the other day, I decided to go in search of the “Gang Snowman” Love Hotel. This hotel is kind of underground-famous in Osaka for its Cadillac-converted spa on the roof (the headlights flash and horn honks when the car shakes…) and it’s extreme S&M themed rooms.
First step was to enlist a research assistant (who shall remain anonymous…) and then head to the love hotel district: Tanimachi 9-cho-me.
My research assistant and I came across a few strangely named love hotels, but no “Gang Snowman”…
We found this one for kinky Vegans:
And this one that was a little slightly more appropriately named.
We went and checked out the pictures of the rooms, but there wasn’t anything too exciting, so we kept on.
“Pick up the Phone…”
by projecthitchhiker on December 17, 2007
in Japan
A rare gem
Not my photo, but I recently went with a friend to the store where it was bought (Hysteric Glamour)
Hello Kitty Bondage, Etc: An Accountability List of Eccentric Things I Want To Do in Japan in the Next 2 Months
by projecthitchhiker on December 17, 2007
in Accountability Lists, Japan
Lists
I like lists, and I like being able to cross things off lists. I recently came across a list on my computer that I made last year in Vietnam entitled “100 things to do before I turn 35″, and although I had almost forgotten what was on the list, I got to cross off a few items (get a lebret piercing; eat that disgusting duck embryo thing; eat the beating heart of a snake in Vietnam).
This time, to hold myself accountable to doing things that I say I’m going to do (this is really important for me — my pet peeve is when people talk about doing awesome things and never do them), I decided to share my list of experiences/foods/crazy things I want to try while here in Japan — and to give myself a specific timeline so that I can’t cop out and say “but I’m still in Japan, so I’ve got time…”
Oh, and I’m very open to suggestions if anyone has them (comment below please!)
My English Students Speak Better English Than Me
by projecthitchhiker on December 5, 2007
in Japan
For an hour and a half every Wednesday evening, I am a private English tutor.
My student, Tsubasa, is 26. She just came back from a year studying in New York and wanted to continue her English.
Today, we were talking about how it is difficult to pursue a goal that not many other people can appreciate, and again she baffles me with using metaphors in English better than most native speakers.
I would teach her for free, simply to hear the metaphors and similes that she makes up on the spot (However, I do not tell her this. I simply smile and take her money)
“When you try to do something different from everyone else – like maybe start a business or something – it’s kind of like trying to become a professional high jumper – you know, the kind where they use the the pole (pole vault). And a lot of people, they quit while they are still learning how to run and use the pole — before they get good at jumping — they never even get to actually jump high. If you just push a little bit further, you can try to jump – then you do more practice and you can jump higher. Eventually you are jumping so high, you go over the top bar… No quitting while learning how to run.”
It’s a good thought for the day.