Welcome to Black Tokyo!
From Dec. 2, The Japan Times is serializing one of Japan’s early detective novels, “The Curious Casebook of Inspector Hanshichi: Detective Stories of Old Edo,” in which author Kido Okamoto (1872-1939), offers entertaining and thrilling stories set in Edo Period Japan.

The Curious Casebook of Inspector Hanshichi

The Restoration
The Serialization of Hanshichi, 1917 — 1937
A Tale of Two Cities
Hanshichi’s Namesakes
The Influence of Sherlock Holmes
The Origins of the Torimonocho

Although widely read in Japan since its publishing in the years between 1917 and 1937, it wasn’t until 2007 that the …

I received an email from a college student asking me to recommend books on Japan. Below are five books that I use for research and teaching. 

The African-American Encounter with Japan & China, Black Internationalism in Asia, 1895-1945 (Gallicchio)
African-American Views of the Japanese (Kearney)
Japan Rising (Pyle)
Japan’s Reluctant Realism (Green)
Japanese the Manga Way (Lammers)

Click here for additional recommendations, and my views, on Japan! If you are interested in purchasing any of the books, you can order via Amazon (and help Black Tokyo earn a small commission which will be used to pay …

A long-time Black Tokyo reader offers a few suggestions on stretching your money, and hopefully your stomach, in Japan. Hopefully, those in Japan will take advantage of the yen’s current power!:
Ruby Baby writes, “I think you’ll be better off cooking your own meals. Will you have living arrangements with access to a kitchen? Also, can you cook? If not, choose about five to seven of your favourite foods and learn to make those very well. In any case it’ll probably pay to read up on how to use some of …

Good friend and fellow Detroiter, Glynis “Black Ice” Martin, a.k.a. “G. John Martin” has another reason to smile while he continues to make great music in Tokyo.

His son, Glynis Martin, Jr., commonly known as Lil’ G, and best known remembered as the featured lead singer of the group, “7 Mile” continues to shine on his solo debut single ‘WannaBe.’
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Check out the Mekas website to learn about all things fashion in Japan. Below, Jean Snow gives a quick wrap-up on 2008 fashion trends:
Looking back, 2008 was not a particularly dramatic year for Japanese fashion. There was some good news: the industry did not succumb to total meltdown and panic, and some brands like Uniqlo, Cher, and Journal Standard managed to pull off impressive growth. But there was also the inevitable bad news: Japanese consumers’ seemingly-unflappable passion for European luxury goods took a major hit. Demand for import goods had been …

Japan Marketing News wrote about kairo, the omnipresent disposable pocket warmers favored by so many Japanese during the cold winter months (Kairo keep Tokyo Warm). They’ve been a mainstay in Japan for decades.
In retrospect, it’s amazing that somebody else hadn’t already thought of it, but in late 2006 Sanyo introduced a rechargeable kairo that employs the company’s eco-friendly eneloop batteries.

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Introducing Ping Mag Make. Here is a blurb from their website:
ingMag MAKE is the sister site to PingMag. We use an interview format to put the spotlight on a wide range of people active in rural areas. We document the voices of these unknown heroes and broadcast them to the world. It’s the Japan-based magazine about people and making things, coming out once a week. We’re passing on the passion, ideas, skills, and life stories of people who are building today and exploring tomorrow: craftsmen, engineers, entrepreneurs, and inventors. Stay tuned!
View …

A few months ago, Japanese convenience store chain CircleK Sunkus came out with a branded line of pasta bentos (boxed lunches).
The name? Rubetta.
If you know just a little bit of Japanese you can figure out the origins of this moniker.
Rubetta is a Japanese-stylesemordnilap,* which is a fancy term that means a word resulting from another word spelled backwards. For instance, Oprah Winfrey has named her production company “Harpo,” which is actually “Oprah,” spelled backwards.
Semordnilaps in Japanese are unlike their English counterparts in that Japanese is a syllabic language. So when you reverse spelling order, you are …

 Calling all vegans and those thinking about taking the plunge! The Spinshell Report has posted an informative video on organic supermarkets, restaurants, support groups and best-selling books on things vegan in Tokyo.
Check it out here:

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Hairfish posted some nice shots of her and some friends wearing kimonos at a Japanese garden. You can view the pictures, taken with a DS, here.
You can also view other pictures of temples and shrines on the Hairfish Blog here.
BTW, my new shipment of Kimono Girl oil-blotting paper made exclusively in Kanazawa, Japan has arrived. You can view product information and place an order here. The 963 Group, LLC ships worldwide!
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A very interesting post on the fate of the Japanese language!
[1] The Fall of the Japanese Language in the Age of English [ja], the latest book by Japanese novelist and essayist [2] Minae Mizumura [????] [en], roused debate among many Japanese bloggers recently over the fate of their national language. In this essay, the writer, who had the opportunity to live and receive an education both in Japan and in the U.S., examines the role and future of the Japanese language. Mizumura contextualizes her discussion of this language, used for centuries by many literates …

It’s that time again! Those planning on taking the JLPT test or interesting in improving your Japanese should check out PlaySay. Click on the BT PlaySay link to test it out! PlaySay can be downloaded to ANY MP3 device. The picture above and below show PlaySay on an iPod. (Pix credit to Japan Newbie)

PlaySay is a great resource for preparing for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (nihongo n?ryoku shiken?), or JLPT, which is a standardized test to evaluate and certify the language proficiency of non-native Japanese speakers. It is held once every year, …

Addressing a widely-publicized feature omission for Japanese iPhone users, local carrier Softbank on Thursday announced plans to begin selling a TV Tuner add-on later this year that will also serve as an extended battery pack.
Expected to retail for around US$100 when it goes on sale in mid-December, the rechargeable brick-like receiver will include an internal Wi-Fi module and external antenna for tuning into the One-Seg (or 1seg) mobile terrestrial broadcasting service available in Japan and parts of Brazil. 
The device will deliver the One-Seg signal to iPhones via Wi-Fi through a …

Thirsty? This in from Brent at Konbini Life. Not sure if I would buy a bottle but interesting none the less!
“So I’m walking by the soda section, and frankly this bottle is pretty hard to miss, so at the very least I have to give the design team props. ‘Pepsi & Yogurt’?! WTF?!?
Usually I don’t have to put much thought into what something tastes like, but this one I mulled over for a good 30 minutes. Eventually I came up with an answer: Girl’s Body Lotion. The split second it hits …

So, you’re a Japanese consumer and you’re thinking of buying a new outfit online, or you’re wondering how you might look with the latest trendy hairstyle, but you can’t decide which look is right for you. Well, worry no more.
If you’re an owner of a KDDI au cell phone, you can now use their EZ MY STYLING feature to snap a photo of yourself and composite it with various hair styles and fashion items. And if you want to get that haircut or buy those clothes, well the au partner …

You can now purchase Black Tokyo promotional items on Cafe Press. Please click the BT Shop link under the banner or here to browse and order. Thank you for your continued support!
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Japan Sugoi writes:
“If you live in Japan or are learning Japanese, one thing you’ll pick up very quickly is theJapanese fondness and common usage of onomatopoeia. This is especially true if you are a manga comics reader. In English, as in Japanese, onomatopoetic words are those that imitate natural sounds. In Japanese, however, there are literally hundreds of such words, and they are used much more frequently than in English. Words that represent actual sounds (e.g., animal noises) are called giseigo e.g.
Frog Croaking: English, ribbet ribbet, Japanese, kero kero 
Dog Barking: English, woof woof, Japanese, wan wan 
Cat Meowing: English, meow, Japanese, nya nya
In addition, Japanese recognizes two additional types of onomatopoeia: one that basically suggests states of …

Foreigners in a market gone from boom to bust and back (a bit)

Foreigners and the Japanese property market — the two sound like unlikely bedfellows, but in recent years their “liaisons” have been the focus of much media attention — and not all of it positive.

 

 
First it was investments by foreigners driving up land prices; now they’re supposed to be driving them down.
Of course, most of these investments are by foreign-owned or foreign-run corporations, as opposed to your run-of-the-mill individual gaijin. However, the number of foreign residents buying properties in …

The talented and sometimes funny owarai duo, Tunnels, have recently hooked-up with DJ Ozma (former Kishidan band leader) to form and produce a temporary female trio called Yajima Biyoshitsu (Yajima Beauty Salon). The female trio is actually the three men in drag. Here is the official website.
The Yajima Biyoshitsu new song ties into a new Lotte chewing gum commercial (the CM schedule can be found here) starring actress Masami Nagasawa. The debut song, “Nihon no Mikata - Nevada Kara Kimashita,” debuted on TV the day before and saw a reportedly 14,000 chaku-uta (ringtone) downloads in the hour after its premiere, …

I love watches and found this great article on watchmaker Haruo Suekichi from Ping Magazine:
 

What a beauty! Looks like an accessory out of the Steamboy anime — except that it’s real and a watch you can (theoretically) wear! Crafted by Haruo Suekichi to beam you in an alternative time.
For close to thirteen years, Haruo Suekichi has been investing hours upon hours every day to develop watches with a Steampunkflair. Reminiscent of Jules Verne and influenced by manga, hisfinely crafted watches are of a vintage futuristic kind. And what started with an unsuccessful attempt to hawk them …

This in from the Pink Tentacle:
This video takes a peek inside their Reversible Destiny Lofts in the Mitaka area of western Tokyo. Designed to stimulate the senses and force inhabitants to use balance, physical strength and imagination, the lofts feature uneven floors, oddly positioned power switches and outlets, walls and surfaces painted a dizzying array of colors, a tiny exit to the balcony, a transparent shower room, irregularly shaped curtainless windows, and more.
For the adventurous, two rental units are now available for 220,000 and 250,000 yen ($2,000/$2,400) per month, which is a bit pricey for …

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — A product recall may delay Friday’s expected arrival of iPhones at U.S. base exchanges in Japan, a SoftBank representative said Monday.
He declined to say how many phones have been ordered, but said it would be “sufficient” to cover anticipated sales. However, the recall may delay shipping, said the representative, who did not want to be named due to company policy. SoftBank has exclusive rights to sell iPhones in Japan.
“We hope they’ll be there in time, but we’re not sure,” he said.
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Ahhhhhhhh!! So much for getting my drink on! Across the paddies and orchards of rural Japan, the autumn harvest festival season is usually a riotously boozy affair. It is a moment to rejoice in nature’s bounty and to honour the local deity by drinking - occasionally immodestly - in its honour. Favourite draughts include distilled shochu, and the weaker, sweeter, saké rice wine.
In the past week more than a million bottles of shochu and saké - drinks made from rice - have been recalled over safety fears. The company behind the …

The Big Red Dot reports that Japan-based companies Asahi (the brewer) and Kagome (the fruit and veg juicer) have teamed up to present us with a new and unique product: a range of fruit and vegetable sake cocktails. No longer will you have to choose between getting drunk cheaply or drinking a healthy vegetable juice mix, you can now do both at the same time. It sounds like a strange concept, and it is- the marketing ploy behind it must take its inspiration from the recent upswing in the number …

 

This in from Hairfish: 
Everyone goes nuts over Roppongi, and I admit, its interesting but Shibuya is where it’s at, mainly because it’s where the locals hang out. It’s far more affordable to spend a night in Shibuya and even go to a pub or a club without spending over 5,000 YEN (that’s about 50 USD). For my train fair, food, and karaoke, I only spent 2,000 YEN. There is so much to see and do. Shibuya really is something to see at night. There are arcades everywhere, purikura, places to …