This was kind of interesting. It's the first time I have seen a Coke machine with a video in it. The video was playing Coke commercials along with an educational tape that showed how to use your phone to purchase a Coke (that's right, you don't even need change to buy a Coke in Japan. Just swipe your cell phone and out comes a Coke.)

Having lived in Japan for over 10 years, most strange spelling and names don't even grab my attention anymore, so when something does, it has to be really awful. I came across this clothing store for kids in a mall near our house. Probably not the best name for a store of any kind...

You can tell it's spring not only by the time, but also by all the flowers around the clock

You know that it's springtime in Japan because the cherry blossoms are out and ever conceivable thing in Japan has that theme - including cherry blossom rice wine (sake)

I love the signs in Japan

I was wandering around Kobe this weekend when I came across a memorial for the Great Hanshin earthquake that happened in 1995 - believe it or not, I was there for it. Although I lived a bit outside the disaster zone, I was there within a few days in order to help my wife's aunt. It is certainly a natural disaster that I hope I never have to live through again...

When I walk anywhere in Japan, I'm always on the look-out for used telephone cards that people throw away after using them. When I first came to Japan, they were easy to find, but now that most people carry around cell phones, it's much more of a challenge. I would estimate I have amassed a collection of about 10,000 cards all of which I have found over the years.

As I walked quickly through the store yesterday, I looked for some more names of products that probably wouldn't make it too well in the US (there are plenty in Japan).

In the comments of Calpis, scfr suggested I introduce those that don't know to Pocari Sweat:

I came across some chocolates with the name Asse:



and sometimes I wonder if the Japanese just accidentally use the wrong word. This is for a snack called Leafy, but it seems to me what they wanted to call it was Flaky:



I'm sure I'll come across more to share...

One thing about Japan is that it is a land of vending machines. And the cans that often come out of those machines have stickers on them for prize contests. Basically, you collect so many stickers from the cans, send them in and if your card is drawn, you win a prize.

While I get a few hundred dollars worth of stuff from these contests every year, I don't spend a cent (or yen in my case) collecting these stickers.

I have gotten into the habit of picking up cans thrown on the street and throwing them away properly (an old habit taught to me by my father to always leave any place you go better than when you arrived). If those cans have a sticker on it (which they often do), I take it as my payment for cleaning up.

The prizes in Japan can be quite good -- my winter coat, spring jacket and portable CD player are all prizes just to name a few. So in the end I get some good exercise (walking), make the area a bit cleaner, and get cool things for my effort. Seems like a good deal to me.

There are some things in Japan that will never be popular in the US because of their name. There are a huge number of examples, but here is one from a recent trip to the store:

It's a drink called Calpis (say it out loud and what does it sound like?)

One thing that you don't see a whole lot of in Japan is graffiti (at least in comparison to similar sized cities in the US and Europe). I think it's a combination of less people doing it as well as better clean-up when it does occur. So I was a bit surprised when I came across this piece under a walkway on my walk this morning.

While a lot of people consider graffiti to be an art form (and there is some graffiti that I believe is well done), for the most part I think it's nothing more than an eyesore. It also costs a lot of taxpayer's money to clean it up which means the money isn't available for other things.

One thing that you see in Japan as you go down streets is a lot of banner advertising. Many stores, gas stations, car dealers, etc fly banners in front of their storefront to attract customers. On my walk this morning, I found these banners advertising something that caught me a bit off guard: grave site plots.

It just seems kind of tacky to be flying these signs over the graves of people, but maybe it's just me...

On our trip to the God of Wealth shrine yesterday, there was a whole section where companies had left offerings of barrels of rice wine to Ebisuten (the god of wealth) for the coming year. All the barrels piles upon one another made for a pretty impressive display...

One of the funny things about Japan is how often technology is so close to nature. I tried to capture it in this photo with a bare light bulb hanging outside in the middle of a beautiful shrine garden - didn't come out quite as I hoped, but does give a glimpse...

I like dark / bitter chocolate and the cacao craze has definitely hit Japan. I was in the store the other day and saw bars of 99% cacao being sold. Even though I do love dark chocolate, I'm not sure even my taste buds could handle something like that...

I was wandering around when I came across this nature trail through a bamboo grove near our house. What I found interesting is that the steps and fencing along the trail, although they may appear to be wood, are actually concrete painted to look like wood.

Now I can't remember ever seeing something like this in the US, but after my initial shock, I can see there are some financial benefits to doing it this way. The concrete will last much longer than wood ever would and that means less repairs and manpower needed to maintain the trail.

Still, it's a bit strange to be walking through a beautiful natural area with concrete logs under your feet and a concrete fence to your side...

One thing that I notice in Japan is that they utilize the space they have much better than we do in the US. On this morning's walk, I came across a building where they had converted the rooftop into several tennis courts where they were conducting classes. Not something you would likely see in the US

Since I don't drink soda anymore, I'm not familiar with the latest releases so this may not be anything exciting to you. During my trip to the store I came across Pepsi Gold which caught my eye because if it's color.

I was tempted to try it, but decided I wasn't going to get into that habit again. Anyone ever try it?

One of the things that I love about living in Japan is some things are so different than you'd see in the US. Take fire hydrants, for example.

In our neighborhood, they also store fire equipment in boxes along the main streets.



From a taxpayer standpoint, I'm not sure this is the most efficient way to do it, but it shows that even basics like emergency services work a bit differently in other countries.

We end up getting a lot of our stuff off the street in Japan. Because houses are small and space is limited, when something new comes in, the old stuff usually gets put out even if it is still in perfect condition. On my walk this morning I found this on the side of the road:

One of the things I do love about Japan is the honesty which still can be found even when not in the countryside. Vegetable stands where the fresh vegetables have been left with just a sign saying how much to pay for them (there is nobody watching over them) are much more common in the countryside, but still can be found in city areas too. This is one that I walked by today:

The sign says that the vegetables are 100 yen each (about $1) which may sound expensive, but is less than you could get them from the local grocery store here. To the right you can see the tube where the money should be placed - it is simply duct taped on so anyone could take it if they wanted.

It's nice to see this type of honesty when it comes to money. Not many urban areas in the US where this would work.

One of the reasons I enjoy wandering around Japan is I love coming across things like this