Living Tokyo

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  • 01/02/2011
  • 02/27/2021

Big Winter Sale in Japan – Fukubukuro

Sadly, there?is no boxing day in Japan.? But that doesn’t mean there is no sale! The probable largest sale season is the few days after New Year’s Day.? There are big sales of course, and another delight – Fukubukuro. Fukubukuro (胼頮?) is translated ‘lucky bag’ or ‘mystery bag’.? The former?gets the literal meaning better, but the latter is a good one too. Fukurukuro is a bag filled with unknown random contents and sell them for a substantial discount, usually 50% or more off the list price of the items contained within.? The low prices are usually done to attract customers to shop at that store during the new year.? ?Fukubukuro usually are snapped up quickly by eager customers.??Some stores have long lines hours (or even days!) before the store opens. Traditionally, Fukubukuro?meant a bag with luck and happiness inside.??Representitively, Daikokuten (紊ч??紊?), the God of fortune, toted a Fukubukuro, Lucky Mallet (there is another story about this item), and rice bale.? This can be seen in the drawing above. Fukubukuro in the commercial world?was invented by Ginza Matsuya, a department store, in the late Meiji period.??It was?an easy way for stores to unload excess and unwanted merchandise from the previous year, […]

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  • 01/01/2011
  • 02/27/2021

Japanese New Year’s Sport – Hanetsuki

A popular sport to do in the new year in Japan is Hanetsuki (臂醇?合?????). Hanetsuki is like badminton without a net, played with a square-shaped wooden racket and a birdie made with Sapindaceae seed.? Two players continue a rally, and the one who fails to hit back loses.? The winner can draw paintings on the losers face with Sumi (紜?, Japanese ink used for calligraphy) Actually, Hanetsuki is not as popular as it used to be, alike many other traditions.? However,?the wooden racket, Hagoita (臂遵?????), is still popular for displaying?at home. Hagoita is usually decorated beautifully.? Most of them are painted with lacqer, and some have steric silk collages (these tend to be expensive, so probably no one will use it for playing Hanetsuki). Hagoita are generally sold at?Hagoita-ichi (臂遵????水??, Hagoita fair),? in December. In?Tokyo, Sensoji (羌????絲?) is famous for its Hagoita-ichi, which had been held every year since the Edo period. If you are interested in the history of Hagoita, there is a small museum in Tokyo, which displays Hagoita from the Edo, Meiji, Taisho, Showa period. Hagoita Shiryokan (臂遵????粋?????蕕?) Address: 25-43-5, Mukojima, Sumida-ku, Tokyo Open: 10:00-17:00 on Thur., Fri., Sat. (Closed period Oct.1-Jan.20) — Higherground Co.,Ltd. 2-8-3 Minami-Aoyama, […]

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  • 12/31/2010
  • 02/27/2021

Apartment in Shinjuku

Platine Nishishinjuku?#1104 Agent commission 50% Off! No Key Money! Bed Rooms: 3 Floor Area: 112.5 sqm / 1210.98 sqft Address:? 1-20-7, Nishi-shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Access:?4?minutes walk to?Nishishinjuku Station /?Marunouchi Line 5 minutes walk?to?Tochomae Station /?Oedo Line 6 minutes walk?to?Shinjuku Station /?JR Lines, Keio Line, Odakyu Line, Oedo Line Completion: Apr. 2009 Structure: Steel-reinforced Concrete Rent: JPY590,000/month Management?Fee: JPY0 Key Money:?JPY0 Deposit:?4 month Parking: Available Pets:?Negotiable Platine Nishishinjuku?is a pet OK apartment, with a fitness room, accessible from Shinjuku station. On the way from the station, you will see many gigantic buildings of western (茱?, Nishi) Shinjuku. There is also a small Shrine, Josenin (絽御?????), on the way. With the newest skyscrapers and the old small buildings, Shinjuku is a never-boring chaos!? Of course there are?abundant leisure facilities, such as Karaoke and shopping malls 🙂 Garden of Platine Nishishinjuku. There is a small Inari Shinto Shrine (腮画?欠??腓?) in the site, guarding the building. Entrance. Chic, dark colored entrance hall. Room entrance with a walk-in shoes closet. Bed rooms. The white carpets with pattern design are cozy and look elegant 🙂 Rest room. Powder room. Inside the mirrors are cupboards. Bath room, equipped with?dryer. Kitchen, with 3 induction cookers, and a dish […]

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  • 12/30/2010
  • 02/27/2021

New Year in Japan 4 – Hatsu-hinode

On New Year’s Day, many people go to see the sunrise. The sunrise on New Year’s Day is called Hatsu-hinode (?????ャ????), literally ‘first sunrise’. In Japan, Hatsu-hinode is thought to be very auspicious, as it is the first dawn in the year. This custom is actually not very old.? It is said that seeing Hatsu-hinode was spread in the Meiji period (1868-1912), and the origin?was the New Year’s ceremony by the Emperor. There are many spots famous around Japan, for seeing the beautiful Hatsu-hinode.? Some people climb Mt. Fuji and see Hatsu-hinode from the mountaintop. There are Hatsu-hinode seeing events in Tokyo, and the observation decks of tall buildings such as Roppongi Hills, Sunshine City, and Tokyo Tower, are open early in the morning for this. — Higherground Co.,Ltd. 2-8-3 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan TEL:03-6459-2230 HP:http://www.higherground.co.jp/ TOP PAGE:?https://livingtokyo.net/

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  • 12/29/2010
  • 02/27/2021

La Tour Aobadai – Pets OK Apartment

La Tour?Aobadai?#3204 Agent commission 50% Off! No Key Money! Bed Rooms: 4 Floor Area: 280.90 sqm / 3023.68 sqft Address:? 28-6-3, Aobadai, Meguro-ku, Tokyo Access:?8?minutes walk to?Ikejiri-ohashi Station /?Denentoshi Line 8 minutes walk?to?Shinsen Station /?Inokashira Line 12 minutes walk?to?Shibuya Station /?JR?Lines, Ginza Line, Hanzomon Line Completion: Aug. 2008 Structure: Steel-reinforced Concrete Rent: JPY1,750,000/month Management?Fee: JPY0 Key Money:?JPY0 Deposit:?4 month Parking: Available Pets:?OK La Tour Aobadai is near the busy traffic of the capital freeway. It is not very close to the station, but there is a shuttle bus from La Tour Aobadai to Shibuya station! Garden and colonnade. Both will be beautifully lit up in the night. Entrance. Room entrance, with 3 shoes closets, one of which is a walk-in. Walk-in closet on the corridor. Entrance hall.? The white room and the view from the large windows are beautiful when you enter?:) This space is not counted as a room, but it is wide enough to call it one. Rest room. Bed rooms. Closet on the corridor. Powder room. The round wash bin looks like a dish.? It is like a powder room in a chic restaurant 🙂 Bath room equipped with a dryer. Storage room, and utility room. Master’s […]

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  • 12/28/2010
  • 02/27/2021

New Year in Japan 3 – Hatsumode

Very strangely, and typically Japanese at the same time, many Japanese go to a Shinto Shrine on New Year’s day, a few hours (or sometimes minutes) lator from visiting a Temple.? Though Shinto and Buddhism is a different religion, well, few Japanese mind that. Visiting the Shinto Shrine on New Year’s Day is called Hatsumode (???荅?).? This means ‘visiting the Shinto Shrine (荅?) for the first time (???)’. Until the 19th century, it was normal to visit the local Shinto Shrine which proteced the family, called Ujigami (羂霛?), but nowadays it is normal to visit a famous, powerful Shinto Shrine.? Some Shinto Shrines, for example Meiji Jingu, have millions of visitors over the three days. During Hatsumode, it is common to wear Kimono, and buy a written oracle called Omikuji (?????帥?????).? If your Omikuji predicts bad luck (???), you can tie it onto a tree on the shrine grounds, in the hope that its prediction will not come true.? Omikuji goes into detail, and tells you how you will do in various areas in your life, such and business and love, for that year. People will also often buy an amulet called Omamori (???絎????).? There are various kinds of them, […]

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  • 12/27/2010
  • 02/27/2021

La Tour Yoyogiuehara – Pets OK Apartment

La Tour Yoyogiuehara#101 Agent commission 50% Off! No Key Money! Bed Rooms: 5 Floor Area: 302.83 sqm / 3259.74 sqft Address:? 1-28-3, Uehara, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Access:?6?minutes walk to?Yoyogiuehara Station /?Chiyoda Line, Odakyu Line 4 minutes walk?to?Higashikitazawa Station /?Odakyu Line Completion: Mar. 2003 Structure: Steel-reinforced Concrete Rent: JPY2,000,000/month Management?Fee: JPY0 Key Money:?JPY0 Deposit:?4 month Parking: Available Pets:?OK Yoyogiuehara is known as a quiet, posh district. La Tour Yoyogiuehara is a pet OK apartment in this area.? The concierge is very friendly 🙂 Entrance. Courtyard. Room entrance. There are closets for both coats and shoes. Rest room. The living room is very wide! (67.62 sqm) Balcony, connected to the living room,?dining room and family room. Very long and?wide, it would be lovely to dine or play with your family and friends.? The balcony?faces another apartment, but the trees will be a good blind. Dining room, and family room. Kitchen, with 4 cooking stoves, and a dish washer. The white ovens and refrigirator pulls the whole look of the kitchen together 🙂 Utility room. Walk-in closet on the corridor. Powder room. Bath room. Master’s bed room. The floors of the bed rooms are carpets, warm and cozy 🙂 Powder room and bath room […]

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  • 12/26/2010
  • 02/27/2021

New Year in Japan 2 – Kohaku & Joya-no-kane

Another regular feature of Ohmisoka is watching Kohaku Uta Gassen (膣???醇????????), a TV program by NHK, starting at 19:30.? Though this custom is getting weaker, especially among younger people, the program is still one of the most popular in Japan. The title of the program means ‘song festival between Red team and White team’.? Popular singers are split into two teams by gender, women in the red team and men in the white, and sing by turn.? After the final singer finished at around 23:30, the audience and a panel of judges cast their votes to decide which team sang better.? The winning team gets a trophy and the winners’ flag.? The program ends at about 23:45.? Programming then switches to coverage of midnight celebrations around the country. Usually, people either watch these TV programs at home, or visit a temple to ring the bells of New Year’s Eve. This bell is nothing like the small handbells used in the choirs.? It is the large bell hang up in the site, which you might have seen if you’ve visited a temple. The bell of New Year’s Eve is called Joya-no-kane (??ゅ???????).? New Year’s Eve is the night of removing from […]

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  • 12/25/2010
  • 02/27/2021

New Year in Japan 1 – Cleaning & Toshikoshi Soba

Merry Christmas! …and the next thing to think about is the coming year 🙂 In Japanese, New Year’s Eve is called Ohmisoka (紊ф????). Misoka (?????) means ‘last day of the month’, and New Year’ Eve is the most important month-end, so it is called Oh(紊?, big)-misoka. People tend to be very busy on Ohmisoka, because they have much to do to prepare for the new year, and New Year’s Day in particular. Through cleaning is usually done in spring in the West, as there is a term ‘spring cleaning’, but in Japan, it is often done on the last few days of the year.??In Japanese style houses, this cleaning?involves changing the paper on?Shoji (???絖?)?doors and setting?Tatami (???)?mats out to air in the sun.? The purpose doing this in the cold winter?is to get ready to welcome in the new year with everything?including people’s minds and bodies?in a fresh, clean state. After cleaning and all, it is time for supper. Around 23:00 on Ohmisoka, people often gather?at home?to have a bowl of Soba.? This Soba eaten in Ohmisoka is called Toshikoshi Soba (綛頑???????????, year-crossing noodles).? This tradition?has the meaning of a wish to be able to live a very long (like […]

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  • 12/24/2010
  • 02/27/2021

Apartment in Yoyogi

Residia Yoyogikoen?#101 Agent commission 50% Off! No Key Money! Bed Rooms: 4 +S Floor Area: 259.68 sqm / 2795.26 sqft Address:? 25-34-5, Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Access:?8?minutes walk to?Yoyogikoen Station /?Chiyoda Line 8 minutes walk?to?Yoyogihachiman Station /?Odakyu Line Completion: Jul. 1998 Structure: Steel-reinforced Concrete Rent: JPY1,000,000/month Management?Fee: JPY0 Key Money:?JPY0 Deposit:?4 month Parking: Available Pets:?Not Allowed Residia Yoyogikoen is an apartment located near Yoyogi park. Near the station is a railroad crossing, which doesn’t open for a long time during rush hour periods (there is a footbridge, if you don’t mind the stairs). On the way from the station is Yoyogi Hachiman Shinto Shrine (篁ｃ???????后腑?腓?), which opened in 1212. The woods?of Yoyogi Hachiman Shinto Shrine growing out into the road. Entrance. Lobby. Outside the window, a Japanese?dry garden, with a stone pagoda is displayed. Elevator hall. Room entrance. The wooden door with gold lines remind me of old prestigious hotels 🙂 Entrance. There is a lot of room, suitable for placing bicycles, baby carriages, outdoor goods, etc. Rest room. The wooden door knobs are cute! Living dining room is very wide, 63.2 sqm! The dry garden on the ground floor can be seen from this room too 🙂 The balcony is […]