Stocks aren't the only things plunging. A much more smile-inducing plunge was that of the naked tourist yesterday into the moat of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.
Watch this YouTube video of Japanese TV coverage of the event, and the over-the-top police reaction to it.
Kiyozawa Manshi (1863-1901) a Buddhist priest and philosopher, was born in Hekinan, a small town east of Nagoya. The traditional samurai house where he died young of tuberculosis has been preserved as a museum dedicated to his life and works.
On display are manuscripts, some of them written in perfect English and Kiyozawa's book collection preserved in a sealed room.
From a middle-ranking samurai family, Kiyosawa was educated at Tokyo Imperial University studying Western philosophy under the American professor Ernest Fenollosa. Kiyozawa readings of such philiosophers as Fichte, Hegel, Leibniz and Spinoza influenced his own Buddhist philosophy and teachings.
After graduation Manshi moved to Kyoto's Honganji Temple and later became dean of Shinshu (later Otani University) where he taught the history of philosophy.
Contracting TB early in his life, Manshi, a renown ascetic, returned to his ancestral home to die, passing away in a tiny tatami alcove so he would not take up too much space in the main house.
Kiyozawa Manshi is remembered as an educator, reformer and scholar who inspired a new generation of religious thinkers to reinterpret and re-evaluate the Shinshu faith.
Hekinan Station can be reached on the Meitetsu Line from Nagoya, Kanayama and Toyota Stations changing at Chiryu. The museum is a short walk west of the station. Map of Kiyozawa Manshi Memorial Museum
October 1 is designated as "Sake Day" in Japan - a PR campaign begun by the large sake brewers in 1978 in an attempt to increase sales of Japan's national tipple.
New rice is harvested in the autumn months and the first sake of the year is traditionally brewed at this time. A number of sake-related events take place in department stores around the country.
At the lower end of the sake market is One Cup Ozeki - a cultural icon since the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Developed so spectators could have a crafty swig while watching the Olympic events, One Cup Ozeki comes in a sturdy 200ml glass cup, with a metal ring-pull top and a convenient plastic cover.
Usually associated with the heavy drinking habits of the homeless, day-laborers and impoverished students, cup sake is available in convenience stores, vending machines and most liquor shops, retailing at about 220 yen (2.10 USD) for the standard 200ml cup.
A number of companies now produce cup sake including Kyoto-based giants Gekkeikan and local sakes (jisake) and high quality sakes also appear in cup form. Ozeki also market a 1.5 300ml version complete with a tiny bag of salt and sesame seeds as a "snack" to go with your 15%-16% alcohol sake hit. A white label karakuchi range at 13% alcohol complements the classic blue label.
The glass cups themselves can also be recycled as vases, beer mugs or as containers for nails, screws and nuts and bolts, which is what I use them for. Kampai!
The hotel occupies a 33-storey tower and has 673 rooms with over half of them having balconies with excellent views over Tokyo, especially at night when Tokyo Tower is illuminated. The Prince Park Tower offers 14 restaurants, a spa and indoor pool.
The Prince Park Tower Hotel is ideally situated to enjoy Tokyo sightseeing during the day and the famous nightlife of Roppongi after dark.
Part of the Prince chain of hotels, the nearby Prince Hotel was designed by the prolific Kisho Kurokawa, who was the architect behind the nearby National Art Center and before his death ran as a candidate for the mayor of Tokyo; this luxury hotel has over 400 rooms and is built around an open-air swimming pool.
True to architect Kurokawa's ecological ideas, the hotel has a lovely garden setting and several excellent restaurants.
The Prince Park Tower Tokyo 4-8-1 Shiba Koen Minato-ku Tokyo 105-8563 Tel: 03 5400 1111
Access
The nearest subway stations to Prince Park Tower Tower Hotel are Akabane Bashi Station on the Oedo Line, Shiba Koen Station on the Mita Line and Daimon Station on the Asakusa Line & Oedo lines). Hamamatsucho Station, on the JR Yamanote Line is a 10 minute walk.
On Thursday October 16 we will be celebrating our 4th anniversary at Mybar. I would like to personally invite you, to come down and enjoy the party. We will have DJ's, giveaways, you know, all the good stuff. No reservations needed just stop in and say "Hi."
