Unfortunately companies are doing a very bad job at broadcasting their efforts in support of the Japan Earthquake/Tsunami disaster.  It took an Aussie friend of mine in Japan to post a list of U.S. companies who are contributing to the aid needed in Japan for me to find the following from AT&T:

Effective beginning March 11, and continuing through March 31, AT&T wireless postpaid customers will not be charged for:

• International long distance usage from the United States and Puerto Rico to Japan
• Text messages to Japan, originated from a U.S. wireless number

In addition, and also effective March 11 through March 31, residential wireline customers can seek credits for up to 60 minutes of direct dial calling to Japan:

Upon receiving their wireline bill, customers may call AT&T to receive adjusted calling for up to 60 minutes. In other words, no charges for up to 60 minutes of call time from the United States to Japan between March 11 and March 31.

For any of the above activity, customers will either see no charges reflected on their monthly statement, or they will see a full credit applied to their statement for activity between March 11 and March 31

This is a big deal for anyone who has ever had to deal with killer international wireless rates. So Kudos to AT&T for doing it, but maybe getting the word out should also be part of the plan or else it is just a way to demonstrate support without anyone actually being able to use it.

Anyhow, here is the entire list of companies and what they are contributing to the aid effort in Japan.

Thanks to Jason Ball for clueing me in.

Cup Noodles, Ramen, whatever you might know them as in the rest of the world, but Ramen, is one of the core staple meals of Japan. From the worn down farmer to the zombie like salaryman, Ramen is one thing that you can always appreciate more in Japan than anywhere. Oh, I forgot to mention, that with so many Ramen Shops, there is always a competition to come up with the most unique type like…… Cheese Ramen.

I have a friend who, for the longest, was on a mission to explore all of the various types of food you can experience in Japan. One form of food became his specialty, Ramen. I will ask him if he will allow me to post some of his writings, but to say the least, they were both informative and hilarious to read.

You see, ramen is more that just seasoning in hot water with noodles, it is about spirit, the environment it is served in and the soul that drives the unique taste. There are generally two basic types; Miso (soy bean based) or Shoyu (soy sauce based). The former being more thick and cloudy, while the Shoyu one is more salty, dark and clear. Ramen shops are gernally famous for either the sauce or the noodles, but not realy for the ingredients that are along for the ride.

The noodles, as mentioned are always a critical part of the process and there are numerous types of noodles that can be used. The quality of the noodles are determined by whether or not they are hand made or machine made. The former being the more prestigious by default.

Back to the sauce. Many shops have developed spin offs of the basic sauce that combined with effective marketing drive up customer visits. The most exotic type I have had previously was Kimchii Ramen. For those who don’t know, Kimchii is a form of fermented cabbage produced in Korea. There are various secrets for making it but in general, it is very spicy and very hot, but yet vinegar like. Definitely yummy. It is cabbage with a red sauce all around it and served cold usually. Anyhow, I have had Ramen with the sauce mixed into the soup that adds a certain kick to the taste of the soup. Surprisingly good.

I said that the most exotic type I had PREVIOUSLY had. That was topped yesterday. I had never in all of my ramen experiences in Japan imagined that I would ever consider cheese as a selling point to a nice bowl of Miso Ramen. But much to my surprise, yesterday I took a bold step and ordered a bowl of it. As seen below.

That rather large mound of white power is of course Cheese. I am not sure what type of cheese, but the menu indicated that it was a cheese made in northern Japan. What I do know is that this Ramen Shop is quite famous for this creative Ramen concept.

After enjoying my first bowl of Cheese Ramen, I have to say that all of my initial fears are for naught. This was a rather tasty bowl of noodles. I was even given a brief instruction on the process of eating this form of Ramen. First they produce what is basically normal Ramen, delicious in its own right, then slide the bowl under this massive power grinder on the counter in front of you. Of course they have a plexi-glass shield to protect the patrons from flying shards of dried cheese. The lift a door on the top of the machine, plop in 2 or 3 blocks of cheese, then fire up the machine with one hand and spin the bowl in a circle with the other. What you end up with is a mountain of cheese sitting in the middle of the Ramen. It is then served.

When they slide it in front of you with the bamboo ladle hanging out of it, you are told that you should spread the cheese across the top of the ramen to allow the heat of the soup to melt the cheese. When you are done, you dive your chop-sticks through the layer of cheese, grab some noodles and toppings and pull it up through the cheese. It sticks to everything and initially is a very interesting taste to those who are used to normal Ramen. The cheese is apparent, but not overwhelming. It adds a sort of, well, cheesy taste to everything, but not so much that it takes away from the miso flavor from the soup. (Cheese Spread with a slice of pork from the Mrs. Shoyu-based Ramen)

As you continue to plow through the meal, the corn that they had placed in the ramen, which was hidden under the mound of cheese initially has settled to the bottom of the bowl along with some of the bean sprouts that were also in there. Finally, you usually end up eating all of the noodles with nothing left but leftover toppings and soup. This is where the taste really gets good. The Cheese at this point has completely integrated with the miso soup to produce a very nice smooth tasting soup. With most ramen, I usually do not finish the soup because it is just too much liquid to consider consuming. In this case, it was the taste and the challenge of chasing down the corn and bean sprout stragglers that led me to completely finish everything in the bowl.

Will I have it again? You bet. However, having said that, I think given the amount of cheese that they put in this and the fact that your taste buds drive you to finish the entire bowl, I think I will be limiting myself to enjoying this as only one does with a special occasion. It is rich, thick and delicious. That of course equals a thought of a not-too-healthy experience. But it was soooooo good.

They do, of course have a normal selection and if you are interested to see what real Ramen is supposed to look at, check out their website On the left is a yellow menu that lists the different offerings. Clicking here brings up a separate window with pictures similar to the above. The first four links are the types of Ramen, the second set are the toppings you can get in addition to the standard port, bamboo or seaweed. The last two in the menu are basically side offerings of Gyoza (chinese fried dumpling), and Ikura (Salmon Eggs on Rice).

In closing, I would add that since this is done under the close supervision of the finest Ramen wizards straight off of their day jobs on construction sites, I do not recommend trying this at home with a cup of noodles and a block of parmesan cheese. Somehow, I don’t think the experience would be anywhere close.

Well the pain has returned. I think it started from stress that I am having from work lately, but when that happens, the muscles tighten up in my lower back and pull things out of place. I am in pain but nothing like I had previously. As such, I am making sure that I don’t do anything that will take me back to the floppy foot experience. First step… get to Koshindo ASAP. Appointment was made and I was in there yesterday.

Up early as usual, due to the Sammer’s getting up early all of the time. But the plan was to leave the house at 8:15 and on the road to Kawasaki. Time for a pre-flight check for the road. Wallet… check, keys….. check, and oh yea, tunes. Grabbed the shuffle and was out the door. Only one stop on the way and that was to the convenience store ATM to grab the cash. I was off.

As expected, travel was a bit of a nightmare, but I managed to only be 5 minutes late. I walked in the door fronted with the usual experience, people face down on tables and the apprentices either working on limbs or standing on the tables over the people doing some serious gravitational thumb therapy. Then I noted at the far end the empty table with my name all over it. Off with the Jacket, sweatshirt and shoes, on with the slippers and shuffling my way over to the tables with my own apprentice in tow.

As with any visit you are first asked to face a mirror and stand up straight as they assess your situation by various touch points on your back while looking at the reflection for balance assessment. From there it was face down on a sort of pillow for the chest that is like a wedge with a space cut our around your neck area. Separately there is another small pillow where you have to put your forehead. Of course there is a napkin draped over it to prevent germs (no I don’t want to go there).

At this point I still haven’t seen “The Man.” I can smell him however, because between his callings from the apprentices he is in the room next to me puffing away on his smokes and surfing the web (I can hear the mouse clicks.) My apprentice, barks out some things about his assessment and like a voice from the unknown comes “The Man” calmly chanting out things he wants the apprentice to do. Thing is, I’m not the best at Japanese, but what he is saying is like code. Various things with numbers and when he is done the apprentice shouts “Ryokai” and begins to fly around me.

Since I have my face on the pillow face down, I can’t see what is going on but it becomes apparent that I am being wired. On my lower back goes a massive rubber pad that covers the majority of my back. From there his is next on my legs (have to wear sweats here) to run some rubber pads up to the back of my knees. Finally on my neck go two rubber pads strapped down with tape to hold them in place. He then commences to flipping some switches and tells me that when I begin to feel the pulses to let him know and that he was starting on my back. The first time I came here I thought they said “when you feel something” so I didn’t get much out of it. What they mean is “when it gets ready to hurt let us know.” So from the back to the legs and neck, he began cranking the juice stopping only when I think it will begin to hurt.

I stayed like that for about 5 minutes, and I guess it is to stimulate the muscles that they plan to work on and in some way, I also think it does something to re-route the energy in your body. Hey, I have to talk the talk right? The thing is, this machine was pretty cool. The pulses change every minute or so going through different speeds or cycles from extremely slow, to a pulse so fast it feels like one solid charge. I must admit that it is scary at first, the thought of having electrodes wired to you causing your muscles to twitch on their own, but it is quite cool once you get used to it.

From there and after all of the pads have been removed you are further assessed. He climbs on the table standing over you and bends over to run his finger down your spine. not sure what he is feeling for, but every now and then he would stop, re-verify at that section and immediately dig his thumbs into both sides of your spine. Now that hurts like hell. I have decided that he is looking for places where the disk in your spine is not seated correctly. Up and down my spine he worked until he got to the point where he was satisfied that he has done his best.

Down to the legs, he then grabs my foot raising it up at the knee and begins to shake it back and forth, then stops to flex my foot in and out. This is done a couple of times before he grabs the heel and pulls to a resounding “POP.” From there he sticks his thumb into my ass cheek on the outside and pushes my leg outwards to the side. That doesn’t feel too good either. When that is done he positions himself with his knee at the top of my cheek and lifts my foot high in the air which not only stretches my upper thigh but makes me feel like a damn pretzel. He repeats the above on the other leg.

Up to my shoulders and begins to beat on them, the whole time my damn face is sliding all over this pillow. I am here to tell you these guys are no joke and don’t play around about whether or not you feel pain. That is what it is all about. Up next the arms. He pulled them above my head and pulled each one, first with palms up then again with palms down. He dropped them and then silence.

Soon after he was again barking into the air. From that point the door to the back flew open and out stepped “The Man.” The prep work was done, it was now time for the master to get in on the fun. Immediately he greets me very politely, then hops up on the table, stands over me, then begins digging his thumbs right into the place that has been giving me problems. THE PAIN WAS PLEASANTLY PAINFULL AS HELL. Now for most they use the phrase “That’s the spot.” to mean something completely different. For me, it meant that behind the pain was the place that was giving me hell for the past two weeks and the fact that he knew exactly where to start digging told me that he was going to get the gold.

He went through the spine check process again and despite his age, he could have killed anyone with those thumbs. They were strong as hell and seemed to reach right through my spine into my guts. But it was getting to the point that needed getting to. He also did the legs again and I felt completely helpless with this guy. He was not joking one bit. The funny thing is, that during the whole process he told me what he was doing and kept apologizing for causing me pain. As soon as it began, he disappeared again. It was like a hit and run.

And then the barking from beyond started again. Remember all of this was taking place while I laid there face down. Out of all of the barking this time I recognized one word… Hari (pron. ha-ry), that means only one thing…. needles. Buckle up sports fans, time to become a human pin cushion. The apprentice began to roll up my shirt and clip it at my neckline and pull my sweats up above my knees. After a brief swab down with alcohol pads, he told the man I was ready.

Back he came again, whispered in my ears that he was about to start the hari treatment as if I was somehow going to stop him. I was completely vulnerable in this position. I grunted “daijobu” (o.k.) and he began. In all honesty the actual process, if done by a professional, is a bit of a non issue. They put the needle in a little tube, set it in place and tap the needle 2 or 3 times to get it into the skin, they slid out the needle and twist it a couple times deeper. If it is in the right place according to the map on the wall of the human body and all of the energy pin-points, you shouldn’t feel a thing. So all in all, you feel are a few taps and he moves on.

However, note I said “should”. I do remember one bad experience when I went to the another acupuncturist when my foot was limp. That time, he tapped, twisted the needle for depth…. and struck a nerve! Talk about a “WHAT THE F*!!!!” experience. A bolt of pain shot all the way up my leg to my neck! It was over in about 1/10th of a second but enough to make it clear to him that he pudged up!

Now my experience of trying to understand acupuncture is this. It is the process of inserting a needle on one of the points which are along various paths that line the body from head to toe and basically are routes where you body’s energy travel. The interesting thing is, these routes are dotted with points that affect places on your body that they are no where near. For example. they could stick you in your hand to adjust the energy flow around your toes or something like that. I have heard and seen people who have gone to acupuncture to quit smoking and they have pins in their ears and nose. This is not much different that pressure point treatments. It is said that if you have a headache, you should squeeze the meat between your thumb and hand extremely hard and your headache will go away. I am not going to pretend to understand it, but I do believe in it.

O.k. back to the story. So, the first thing I felt was warmth. That was the red heat lamp that they pointed on my back before beginning. Then the tapping began. I don’t know how many of these things he put in me, but I do know they were all over my back and one on each leg in the soft spot behind my knee. While he was doing the inserting of the needles (which by the way I am glad he didn’t delegate to the assistant), the assistant had the job of connecting alligator clips to certain needles pointed out to him by the doctor. When he was finished we went through the exercise of him telling me he was powering certain ones up and to stop him when i felt the pulsing from the electric machine. He began and I was determined to let him go until I really started to hurt. I needed the juice to fix this process. It hurt, but I knew it would be worth it in the end.

I imagine what I looked like laying there, red light shining on my back with needles dancing up and down my back. I could also feel my foot twitching involuntary to the mystery beat at the same time. Unlike the first electrode treatment when I first came in this was much more direct to specific areas. After all it was shocking from beneath the skin with the needles as the conduit. It was not long before switches were thrown and the twitching stopped. Electrodes were disconnected and I was being told that the needles would not be removed. It was fine for the apprentice to do this. Needles removed and another swabbing with alcohol pads.

Finished? Not quite, Mr. Man came back out and asked me to lay on my right side. I rolled over, they removed the pads and he commenced to instruct me to lift my left leg up bending it at the knee. The doctor adjusted my arms and stuff, and then asked me to take a deep breath. At this point he had one hand on my left leg and the other on my left shoulder. “O.k., let it out…..” THEN HE FLOPPED ON MY HIP! Craaaaacckkk! My spine rippled with that sound and I felt a serious release of pressure. He apologized politely and asked me to roll over to the other side. Again the process was repeated on my right side. Craaaaacckkk! I think I could have just laid there four hours like a wet jelly fish. He moved away again.

The apprentice told me to lay on my back and he began to cover me with towels. Moving down to my feet, he grabbed my left foot and tugged on my little toe. Crack! The next toe… Crack! And on he went. He then lifted my leg, bending at the knee and started whipping my whole leg to the side and back and forth. It was a weird feeling but a bit relaxing. The secret, I learned here is to consciously avoid resisting the treatment. Your body in general is always trying to control a situation, the test here is to mentally stop your muscles from resisting their treatment and to just loosen up and go with the flow. They did the same with the right leg.

From there it was up to my right hand. He grabbed it and went for the pinky…. Crack! And each finger after that. To the wrist and began shaking my hand violently. Then held it and Crack! Straightened out the arm and dug his thumbs into my forearm and the space between my thumb and hand. Off to the other arm.

At this point, he decided to disappear into the back where I heard water running. He was washing his hands. Now from experience, this is the part I hate. With clean hands, he has basically removed all of the oil from his hands. At this point he is gunning for the neck. He returned to the head of the table, crouched down and grabbed my neck with his cold hands. His fingers, after being washed, gripped my skin like velcro. As he dug deep, it felt like he was ripping my skin off of my neck. I don’t know if I got anything out of that, his grip wasn’t really there or I was focused more on the pain.

That was finally over and he then focused on stretching the muscles in my neck. Pull head to the right with one hand, and push the left shoulder down. Two or three times of this and then switch to the opposite side. Then he stood up with my head in his hand. Started rolling my head around and then lifted it up off of the table bending forward at the neck. His hand was also pushing down forcing my left shoulder blade towards the table. That is one of those things that hurts sooooo good. If you have never had your neck stretched out, it really feels good. Gently laying my head back on the table, he walked away again.

Bark, bark, bark, “The Man” was back squatting at the head of the table with my head in his hands. He was speaking rather calmly to me while he turned my head to the right. In a single motion, he performed a movement that felt like he was hugging my head, then…… CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!!!! From my neck down to the middle of my back. All of the tension seemed to jump right out of my body. Before I could do or say anything and still being in a bit of shock, he had my head facing to the left while still talking to me calmly CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!!!! Damn it! He did it to me again! I should also say that after each crack, he apologized profusely. I was again in a peaceful completely relaxed state.

I was told to get up, and sit on the end of the table. We were approaching the end now, and I knew what was next. The final adjustment. Doc hopped upon the table behind me with the pillow. Told me to cross my arms in front of me. He ran his hand down my spine… stopped, placed the pillow there, and put his knees into the pillow. I leaned back, dug his knees in and yanked! CRACK! Apology, spine check…. stop, pillow, knees… CRACK! Apology, and an otsukare samma deshita (basically you worked hard and now your done).

I was guided by the apprentice to stand and face the mirror. He told me to take a deep breath, and he slapped my back down my spine. Have no idea what that was about, but what the hell. He also gave me the otsukare and I was back over to the door where my basket of gear was waiting for me and another apprentice was serving me up some kind of peanut flavored tea. I was done. All that was left to do was pay.

In the end, I think there is a lot that could be learned from eastern medicine. After all, western medicine has only been humane in the last 100 years or so. And more specifically within the past 30 years. Eastern medicine has been around for 2000+ years. And it doesn’t always end up with someone wanting to cut you open or “try a new experimental treatment” on you. Maybe it is time we look back for the answer, in order to move ahead.

There comes a time in everyone’s life when you begin to realize that you are getting older. I know, I know, as depressing as that may sound, it is true. I seem to have been in denial for the past 3 or 4 years around this very thing. I have an issue with my L5, that I thought I was over. There is only one thing that has helped me through the pain…..Koshindo.

Allow me to explain….

I used to love to play basketball. Couldn’t get enough of it. Every weekend you could find me at Komozawa Park hoopin it up with “The Rockers.” A group of kids who paid to have a back board and rim build and mounted at the park. Simple 1/2 court 5-on-5. It was about 4 or 5 years ago when I first felt the pain in my lower back. Think it was a rebound or something that kicked it off. I sat out, went home and eventually the pain went away.

That following year, in the early fall, I began to get this shooting pain down my right ass cheek right below my belt-line. I did some research and realized that it was sciatica. A condition where the nerve that comes out of your back is pinched or swollen and basically makes your life a living hell. It was an unbelievable pain and something that didn’t come and go. It was constant. Everything I read said the same thing…. rest and it will go away when the nerve swelling goes down. It did.

It happened again on/off over the years until Christmas 2003 on a flight back to Tokyo on a rather popular airline. This airline is renowned for it’s unique approach to serving the customers. All of the entertainment you can eat. Movies galore, games whatever all at your fingertip. The problem is, seemed to be that the more frills you give the more people you need to pack in to turn a profit. I am only saying this because the damn seats were sooooo small. I am not a tiny guy by any means, but at the same time, I could not imagine someone with a weight problem taking this airline.

Anyhow, it is usually an 11~13hr flight back to Tokyo from London and I must have watched about 4 or 5 movies on that flight. Hell it was free and on demand. Need to go the bathroom? No problem. Put it on pause! So anyhow, the lack of rest combined with the small assed seat (literally), pretty much did me in the next day. BACK PAIN AGAIN!

This time was different though. Really different. It was scary. The reason being is that I somehow began to lose the feeling in my right leg. It actually went to the point where I could not flex my foot at all. It was just limp. I had sensation in the foot, but my calf muscle just refused to flex no matter what! What the hell goes through your mind at this point? Everything that you could horribly imagine. I couldn’t sit for long periods of time, I couldn’t walk for long periods of time…. I was in hell.

I tried everything… Warm baths, cold compresses, stretching exercises, crunches, everything to try and fix my self. On fine day all of that changed when I bent over in the bedroom to grab my jeans from the floor and was hit with the most excruciating pain that I could remember. I couldn’t move. Trying to stand made it worse, trying to get to the ground also left me in complete agony. You know that kind of pain? The kind where you can’t breathe? I figured that it might be better to let gravity work its magic and try to slowly lower myself to the floor. About 4 minutes later I made it. Face down on the floor in complete pain. I could not move one bit. The Mrs. was standing over me freaking out! “I called my Mom and she said to call the ambulance!” “HELL NO” I replied. I wasn’t going out like that on a weekend morning. Everyone watching them wheel my ass out. I needed to save my pride and somehow get my jeans on first! I simply followed like a beaten man by saying with a whimper… “Just give me a few minutes here. It will be fine, then we can go to the Hospital down the road.”

It took me 30 minutes to get back on my feet. Now, how to get to the hospital. She says “I’ll get the truck.” I was freaked by the idea of climbing in and out of the truck, so I simply decided that walking there was the best option for me in this condition.

At the hospital, of course I was too scared to sit down and as usual we had to wait for all of the sniffle cases to be seen, so I was walking around as if I was running from another attack of the back-beast. Then I saw something that put me at ease.. NOT! They wheeled a dead body right through the waiting area! Family in tow and everything. This day wasn’t going to get much better. I finally got into the doctor and after a few x-rays he says that the space between my L4 & L5 was smaller in the back where my spine arches out near my ass. As a result it is forcing the disc to slip forward and pinch the sciatic nerve in my back causing the pain I was experiencing. The prescription…. rest, pain killers, inflammation meds and cold pads for my back. Gee, that’s it? Yup.. Suck it up Marine, it’s only a flesh wound.

This was the case for almost all of January when I finally decided to try eastern medicine. I made an appointment for an acupuncturist. I went a couple of times and each time it felt much better but I still had issues with moving my foot. February came and I was getting desperate. I couldn’t go on line this forever. That is when the Mrs. suggested that I go to Koshindo.

Koshindo is a little shop in Kawasaki that is run by one dude and his many apprentices. He is apparently very famous in the world of those who believe in eastern medicine. I think the best way to explain what he is, is a chiropractor with a twist. He pulls out all of the stops depending on what ails you. He doesn’t run a big organization, it is a rather small space with 4 tables. When you first walk in you get to see three of the tables and the apprentices hopping over patients who are usually face down on the tables getting a serious work over.

Those heated bubble glasses sucked all over one back. On another a heat lamp with dozens of needles stuck in and electrodes connected to them. Finally the “sensei” is standing on the table over one individual with his thumbs dug deep into her spine. She moans but takes it like a trooper. Have I stumbled into the little shop of horrors? Seemed to be a whole lotta pain goin on here. At that point I didn’t give a shit. I needed it to stop and needed to regain the mobility back in my right leg.

I will skip my experience that time in lieu of my experience yesterday which I will tell you about in a separate blog since it is still fresh in my mind, and this one is getting a bit long. But needless to say, after 3 visits to Koshindo my foot was completely back in action, the pain was gone and was completely good to go. I spent almost 3 months in complete pain for this guy to sort me out in 3 sessions in 3 weeks! Plus he also told me that I needed to stop carrying things on my left shoulder which was mis-aligning my spine and contributing to the problem. HOW THE HELL DID HE KNOW THAT I CARRIED MY BACK PACK & COMPUTER BAG ON MY LEFT SIDE!?!?!??! He who is going to question it. His shit worked!

So since what I have is not really going to go away until I do one of two things… Start exercising more on the abs to strengthen my core or wait until it gets so bad that they have to do something crazy like fuze my vertebrae…. Gee, you wonder what I am going to do? Let’s just say I have to go now for some butter fly kicks.

Spring has sprung. With it comes cherry blossoms, people walking places and a general sense that the frigid part of the year is finally over. It is also the time of the year in which nature renews another season of life. This is very true in the botanical space. Although it does reek havoc on the general population.

Pollen is the number one factor in Japanese society that seems to really take its shot at the general public. I can say that I have been fortunate to have never been a victim of Hay Fever, It doesn’t look fun at all. Watery, itchy eyes, runny nose, difficulty breathing, it is just not a pleasant thing to be a victim of. Despite my fortune in this space, I live with a woman who is taken down for the count every spring. Endless sniffing and snorting topped off by either a grunt or moan.

This is just my personal view of the situation right now given the crisis that fell upon the household this past week. You see because we are two working individuals who have very little time after working 12~14 hours a day, we needed to hire a house cleaner who comes in once a week to do the basics. This past Thursday, the lady came by on a very beautiful spring day. Following normal protocol for such weather in Japan, you usually take the various bedding outside and hang it in the sun to let it air out and basically kill off any little mites that may be hiding out in the depths of the fibers. This was NOT a good idea. The reason being, is that it is that time of the year when tons of pollen is flying about the city and country side of Japan. You see the Mrs. is highly susceptible to pollen, call it hay fever if you will, but in Japan it is known simply by it’s effect as kafun-sho. The past few days have been about identifying the reaction level of the Mrs. then stripping the linen, bedding, pillows whatever, down and tossing them in the washer. This is my personal tale.

However, a simple trip out into the general public is both equally horrifying as well as quite funny. You see the common tool in the battle against what is referred to as kafun-sho, i s a simple white surgical mask. They are everywhere. Young, old and everyone in between. It seems like a bad western where the population of the medical community are out robbing individuals on the streets. However, as with any downside to a situation, the Japanese have found a way to scrape for profits. It seems as if every pharmaceutical company in this country has targeted the populations misfortune as an opportunity to increase revenue.

I am not referring to the cost of various allergy medication, no the return on investment in an effort to beat this thing once and for all is just not in the best interest of the bottom line. This is they way that most western cultures handle the situation. He who finds the cure rules the world. In Japan it seems to be more about profiting from making the situation bearable without actually addressing the root cause. Now I am not saying that it isn’t happening with Japanese pharmaceutical companies, but just that the majority of them are looking at the annual recurring spend by the population on a simple white mask.

For anyone who thinks of a surgical mask you generally think about that which is worn on some TV show that highlights the life of a hospital staff. Or better yet a cheezy soap opera centered around a hospital. Here it is much more than that. There are options. Simple two elastic banded (for behind the ears) cotton version, more ergonomically designed one piece filter material masks that cup from below your chin to the bridge of your nose, and the types go on and on.

I suppose that in the long run it is more profitable to allow the public to suffer from killer sniffles every year if you can ensure yourself a decent revenue stream in the spring. After all, unless one comes up with the ultimate solution to this problem, you can always be guaranteed that people will be flocking to the local drug store to check out the latest in hi-tech anti-pollen, personal filtration masks. After all, that is what they are, aren’t they?

As for me, I will continue to knock on wood and pray that I never fall victim to this horrible epidemic. I am making light of the situation, but I will close on a serious note by saying that over the next few weeks, I will probably have to begin to sweep the drifts of yellow pollen off of my balcony or else the Mrs. will never be able to open the windows come summer time.

Many are familiar with the term “Old Money” in reference to people or families that control towns due to the fact that their ancestors had made a lot of money historically and since, their names are pretty much linked with various things and politics around town. I wonder if this would be the case going forward since many countries are changing the “Look” of their currency.

This has happened recently in Japan in response to the various counterfeiting efforts experienced here. I would hate to think so, but it all seems to be occurring in response to an incident a few years back when people were importing Korean coins that were the same size and weight of a Japanese 500 Yen coin (est. $4.50 US). There was an increasing number of these coins begin collected by vending machine operators since the Korean coins were worth something rediculous like maybe 100 Yen (.80 cents). The deal was, put the coin in, buy one drink and collect the change in Yen. SCORE!!!!!

The first thing that happened, was the release of the “new” 500 Yen coin. Now about 3 years later, they have also decided to release new versions of their bills. 1,000 – 5,000 – 10,000 yen bills now have a new look. I have not really though about the images on them, but apparently they are breaking new ground as the 5,000 bill is the first one ever to sport the picture of a woman. Way to go Japan, now if the rest of the society could actually begin to appreciate women then that would be groundbreaking.

As a side note here, I want to add that the Japanese money itself has always been ahead of the game in comparison to that of the US. Take for example the built in features for the blind. That’s right, the blind. Each bill old and new has had a physical print embossed that allows the blind to distinguish between the various types of bills. In the old version this came in the form of dots in one of the bottom corners of the bill. The only way to know they are there is to either hold it up to the light, or to lightly rub your fingers over the corners. In the new version, they have repalced this with vertical or horizontal bars embossed in the bill. I guess that is to let the blind know whether or not they have a new or an old bill, although for the life of me, I can’t figure out why they would care.

Another thing to note about the new bills is that prior to their release, apparently one of them was found in China and was put up for auction and generated an upward bid of about $80,000 US before it was pulled off the web. What a scam. Should have taken the money and run.

There are several other new “features” on the bill that are already in use in other countries, so I won’t go into that now. So where am I going? O.k., here comes the vent. Everyone and their brother knew that the new bills were coming, so do you think the vending manufacturers would prepare? Just put it this way, as I said in a previous post, I had to go to the Ward office to renew my gaijin card. In doing so, I was informed that I needed 2 passport sized photos. Luckily enough there was a machine in the lobby to do just that for only 600 yen. So, I whipped out my new 1,000 yen bill and tried to feed it into the machine before I realized that there was a sticker newly placed on the bill slot informing me that the machine did not accept the new bills. “Oh Wonderful!” Next to the machine was a little snack stand. I’ll just exchange the new one with an old one from the stand.

As soon as I walked in the place the womain knew why I was there and promptly refused to exchange the bill!!! Can you believe that? Why, for what reason? Was this money not yet “Officially” signed off by the snack stand manager? So I had to buy a damn candy bar for 100 yen so that she would take the bill and give me change so I could use it in the photo machine! WHAT THE?!?!?! is really going on?!?!?! I hate the bureaucracy!