ビデオ試写室「キャッツ」京都店

As a result of an early October arson at the Cats Video Parlor in Osaka, which left 16 dead, the Kyoto branch and all branches nation wide have been ordered closed.

In a nutshell, what Cats offers is tiny rooms where you can watch DVDs--adult or non-adult--for pre-set periods of time. The room consists of a lazy-boy type reclining chair, the video player, and a place to hang your coat. For one hour the fee is 300 yen; the "nighter" course, from 11 pm - 10 am, costs 1,300 yen ($13).

As a result of this overnight option and its low cost, many homeless men--it's always men--and salarymen who miss the last train use these establishments as a cheap place to spend the night.

On October 1st, at the Namba branch in Osaka, an arsonist set fire to the building. Because of multiple fire code violations--lack of smoke control, working emergency lighting, and exits--the customers were trapped. Most died of smoke inhalation.

There was a typed sign on official Cats stationery in the window of the Kyoto branch apologizing and expressing profound regret for the incident.

When and if Cats will be able to reopen is unknown.


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If you can master the words for Japanese place names, you can begin to demystify your surroundings and get your bearings in Japan's often bewildering urban landscapes.

Hold on to your hats for a quick tour of Japan's physical and human geography.

Japan has 47 prefectures made up of 43 (県 ken), 2 urban prefectures (府 fu), Kyoto and Osaka, one capital Tokyo (都 to) and one "circuit" or "road" (道 do) Hokkaido.

Japan's four main islands are Hokkaido (北海道), Honshu (本州), Shikoku (四国) and Kyushu (九州). shu (州) is state - so Honshu is literally "main state," and Kyushu "nine states." koku (国) is country or land, so in Japan we have chugoku (中国) - which in this case is not the country name China（which has the same kanji characters) but the area of southwestern Japan centered on Hiroshima and Shimane Prefectures and Shikoku "four lands" - the island south of Chugoku.

Other useful geographical terms to know are: island shima or jima (島), mountain yama or san (山), sea umi or kai (海), river kawa (川), cape saki (崎), lake ike (池) and peninsula hanto　(半島) lit. 'half island'. Thus we have Hiroshima (広島), Sadoshima, (佐渡島), Higashiyama (東山), Nagasaki (長崎) and Noto Hanto (能登半島).

The cardinal directions are easily learnt and crop up everywhere: North (kita or hoku; 北), South (minami or nan/nam; 南), East (higashi or to; 東) and West (nishi or sei; 西).



Now to Japanese addresses: the address will consist of a 7-digit zip code yuubinbango (郵便番号), followed by the prefecture (though this is usually omitted), city name -shi (市), ward -ku (区) and then your apartment or house name. The administrative term -gun (郡) is often found in the countryside.

Wards are often named for directions, thus nishi-ku (西区), higashi-ku (東区), minami-ku (南区) or kita-ku (北区) - plus chuo-ku (中央区) and naka-ku (中区) (central and middle/inner ward respectively).

Roads are rarely signposted in Japan but the name for road or street is doro 道路 or confusingly dori 通り. Hence Shirakawadori (白川通り) in Kyoto - lit. 'white river street' - but that brings us on to the colors and we'll leave that for another Japanese class.

Last week's Japanese lesson

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ヨン様

Bae Yong Joon, or more commonly known as Yon-sama to his fans in Japan, is the Korean mega-star who makes middle-aged Japanese women dizzy with desire.

He featured in several films and television drams in Korea prior to making it big in Japan. His big break came with "Winter Sonata," in 2002, a maudlin drama which had as much as 20% of Japan tuned in.

This set off Yon-Sama mania--and the ensuing Korea Wave. Every month seemed to bring a new male or female mega-star, each better looking than the previous one. All Japanese DVD stores now have whole aisles devoted to Korean dramas.

In 2004, when Bae visited Japan at the height of the hysteria some 5,000 screaming fans were waiting for him at Narita Airport. In order to keep the hormonally enraged women in line, 350 police officers and 70 anti-riot cops were posted to the airport.

In Seoul recently, our hopes of bumping into Yon-sama were realized.

On the final day, in the subway station, there he was.

As handsome as ever, a billboard pitch man for Global Pioneer.

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フラワー　オークション　ジャパン

Flowers, more flowers, and things you hardly even realized were flowers. The Flower Auction Japan, in Tokyo, is a veritable zoo of all things floral. It is also features a constant human hubbub of visitors and buyers, milling around the stalls inspecting the wares, or sitting amidst the shouts in the tiered auction room finger poised over the electronic bidding console.

The Flower Auction Japan is in Tokyo’s Ohta ward, only a few minutes drive from Haneda Airport. Officially it is the premises of the Flower and Ornamental Plant Department of Ohta Market, the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Market, a market concern that also includes a separate fruit and vegetable department, and a seafood department, both located nearby. It has been operating since 1988.

I visited it on a public holiday which, because it was a Monday, meant business as usual for the Flower Auction Japan, but, because it was a public holiday, meant less business than usual, too.


Photography was permitted, so long as no flash was used, and it was an atmosphere of complete laissez faire as the idly curious, like myself, and those whose livelihoods depended on it all, browsed, snapped pictures, talked to stall keepers, and participated in the auction.

Flower Auction Japan is about 10 minutes on foot from the Tokyo Monorail Ryutsu Center Station.

Check out the English language Flower Auction Japan website for more details.









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SL やまぐち号

One of the last remaining steam trains operating in Japan is the SL Yamaguchi-Go which runs between Shin Yamaguchi station in Yamaguchi Prefecture and Tsuwano in the mountains of Shimane Prefecture.



The train operates between March and November, and runs most weekends and on national holidays.



The 69 kilometre journey up into the mountains takes about 2 hours, and 20 minutes faster on the downhill return leg. It leaves Shin Yamaguchi at 10:30 am and arrives at Tsuwano at 12:30 pm. 3 hours later it returns, giving enough time to look around the popular tourist destination of Tsuwano.



The rebuilt steam locomotive was originally built in 1937, and is a C57 class 4-6-2 (2-C-1) Pacific-type - built by Kawasaki.

Each of the train carriages has been outfitted in the style of a different era.

It is very popular, so advance bookings are necessary.

SL Yamaguchi Go
Tel: 0570 002486



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今週の日本

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Japan Statistics

Average Salaries, 2007

Salaryman: 4.37 million (Men: 5.4 million, Women: 2.7 million)
Banking: 7.42 million
Finance: 8.3 million
Insurance: 7.85 million
Real Estate: 7.2 million
Shipping: 8.07 million
Travel: 4.7 million
Advertising: 7.6 million
Sushi Restaurant: 4.6 million

Source: Nenshu Labo

A record number of seniors were arrested in 2007. The number has quadrupled since 1997, reaching 48,605 last year. This figure excludes traffic-related offenses.

The majority, 31,573, were arrested for theft.

Source: Daily Yomiuri

Government offices misused 125.36 billion yen in fiscal 2007.

Source: Board of Audit

There were 5,258 complaints of workplace harassment in Tokyo in 2007.

Source: Tokyo Metropolitan Labor Consultation Center

A record 430,000 people climbed Mount Fuji in 2007.

Source: Japan Times


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ノリタケ

Noritake Garden, a short walk from Nagoya Station, is an interesting open-air museum and a good place to meet Japanese friends for an al fresco meal or a drink.



The present-day Noritake ceramics company was founded by Ichizaemon Morimura in 1904. Morimura began his business exporting Japanese antiques overseas in the 1870s, but switched to making European-style tableware in the early 20th century.

The Noritake Gardens' site contains the original red-brick buildings and kilns of the first Noritake ceramics factory as well as the Noritake Craft Center, a Noritake shop, restaurants, gardens and a cafe.

The 4-storey Noritake Craft Center (open 10am-5pm; 500 yen) displays the different processes in ceramic production including pottery shaping, firing, glazing and china painting. You can also try your hand at making and painting your own ceramics. On the 3rd and 4th floors are the Noritake Museum with a collection of historic china including pieces in Art Deco and Art Nouveau styles.



The "Celabo" Noritake Showroom (open 10am-6pm; free) next door has more demonstrations of ceramic production plus modern applications of Noritake ceramic technology as used in electronics and industry and some exquisite tableware on display in its shop.

The original brick factory buildings in Noritake Garden were in use until 1975. One of them has been renamed "Canvas" and has a history of world ceramics displayed inside. The "Kiln" restaurant (Tel: 052 561 7304 ) nearby serves European cuisine, mainly French and Italian on Noritake's famed tableware.



If you are looking to buy Noritake ceramics, the site has 3 main outlets: "Stage" Noritake Prestigious Shop for high-end pieces, Noritake "Palette" offers a collection of other companies tableware and "Box" has more affordable Noritake items.



The grass lawn behind the brick buildings and the biotope garden are lovely places to stroll and look back at the skyscrapers rising above Nagoya Station from the old brick kilns.

Noritake Square
1-36, Noritake-Shinmachi 3-chome
Nishi-ku
Nagoya
451-8501
Tel: 052 561 7114

A 15-minute walk from Nagoya Station or 5 minutes from Kamejima Subway Station on the Higashiyama Line.

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