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Broadcasting to an audience of three (and a goldfish)...
Comment, ramblings and musings... life through the eyes of a Japanologist...
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Sunday, December 1, 2002 |
 Web articles worthy of mention...
An article in the Mainichi Daily News about the return of whale meat to school lunches in Osaka.
Whale meat used to be the standard meat for school lunches, according to the older people I talk to. While I've never seen it in a school meal here, it's not that uncommon in izakaya, and I have to say it's quite tasty. From just the taste or the texture of the meat, I think it would be difficult to know you were eating whale. I've eaten it both raw and roasted, and I prefer the roasted, I think; it's not that dissimilar to beef.
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It's just been on the news that the Shinkansen extension to Aomori is scheduled to open in Heisei 24 (in the Japanese system of years)- so, in ten years' time, which is three years later than I seem to remember reading.
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Today I listened a few times to 'Brainwashed', the new album by George Harrison I bought in Hiroshima yesterday. I have to say it felt a little odd playing a new album by a dead artist; I was almost apprehensive as I pressed 'Play'. Would this be a typical George Harrison album, a fitting final work? Or would I hear the voice of a weakened, dying man?
Anyway, first impressions: I like it. A very great deal. I think 'Any Road' is outstanding, but I wouldn't say that there are any tracks on the album I would skip. 'Looking for my Life' and 'Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea' are two particularly strong tracks in my opinion.
There is an unmistakable Jeff Lynne influence in the album, although it's not as strong as I'd been expecting having read some of the reviews of the album on the web. All in all, an excellent album. I'm glad I bought it.
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The Shinkansen started running to Hachinohe, in the north of Honshu, today. This is the first new Shinkansen for five years, since the Nagano Shinkansen was opened. The new service is called 'Hayate' ('Swift wind'), and is being operated exclusively using a fleet of new 10-car E2-1000 series trains. Apparently, a public ballot was held to decide the name of the new service, and the names 'Michinoku' and 'Umineko' came first and second. 'Hayate' came in 19th place...
From the television reports, it looks like the new extension is a 'full' Shinkansen, rather than an upgrading of a conventional line, as was the case, for example, with the Akita Shinkansen. Anyway, the new stretch of line, from Morioka, is the first extension of the Tohoku Shinkansen to the north in 20 years, since the section to Morioka opened in 1982. The maximum speed is 260 km/h north of Morioka, which means a journey time of just under 3 hours for the fastest services between Tokyo and Hachinohe. It is planned that the line will eventually run all the way to Sapporo, but when the line will be completed is anyone's guess. I seem to remember having read that the section as far as Aomori is scheduled to open in 2009.
An interesting point is that with the opening of this new Shinkansen, JR has been forced to give up the part of the Tohoku Honsen that runs parallel to the new line. This line is now being run by a private company, Iwate Ginga Tetsudo. Apparently this was one of the conditions of the building of the Shinkansen.
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After having taken only two doses of the medicine I bought yesterday, my throat and nose are already feeling much better. It looks like I've finally found a medicine in Japan that has some effect!
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The fact that today is the first day of December is important for another reason. From today, the rubbish separation rules change. In Etajima, as in most towns in Japan, rubbish has to be separated into burnable and non-burnable rubbish, as well as into several minor categories (such as recyclable rubbish). However, the categories and classifications have all changed; for example, PET bottles used to be non-burnable rubbish (i.e., they would be buried), but now they have their very own category. Also, most plastics are now burnable (although safety shoes and sunglasses are non-burnable).
It goes without saying, I suppose, that all these regulations make things complicated. There is even a poster to explain everything:
But that's not all. In fact, I also have an index of rubbish, a publication about the size of a telephone directory with details of which category each item of rubbish fits into. There's even a telephone helpline, for all and any rubbish questions!
I think it might be fun to scour the index for something not included (for example, 'non-bake cheesecake') and then phone the helpline to get them to decide which category it should be included in. Or perhaps this is just further proof of how living on a small island can alter concepts of 'fun' and 'interesting'...
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I noticed this morning that the carton of the milk I buy fairly regularly proclaims very proudly, '100% milk'!
Am I being completely stupid or something? I mean, what else would be in milk, apart from... milk?
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It's already December! Only three-and-a-half weeks to Christmas! This year has really passed koin'ya no gotoshi...
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© Copyright 2003 Nathan Duckworth.
Updated: 8/1/03; 8:58:05 pm.
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