We kicked off this week’s Fun Friday with some awesome rap from Kenjiman. Check out his Myspace page for some excellent tunes and incredible rapping from Tokyo. (If you are a band in Japan, please contact us at info(at)learnjapanesepod(dot)com if you would like your music to be considered for our podcast)

The festival season was today’s theme which is starting in Japan. Waka sensei and myself will be checking out as many summer events as we can in Japan and reporting you about it stay tuned. Check out our festival calendars for Kanto and Kansai to find some great events to attend.

We also talked about the latest Eco convenience store located in Kyoto which doesn’t sell plastic bottles or provide plastic shopping bags for customers. It’s the first of its kind in Japan and we will be waiting to see if the idea spreads. Waka sensei suggested that plastic manufacturers had try to protect the “pet bottle” in Japan which is why this idea hadn’t taken off sooner. I suggested that plastic bottle making ninjas would soon put a stop to this. Waka sensei didn’t agree…

A big shout out to Dennis for sending this photo of an ad to ask people to smoke more responsibly.

The interesting thing is, in the UK you have posters telling you to quit smoking whereas in Japan they tell you how to be a good smoker. And being good is not disturbing those around you.  The tide is slowly turning in Japan as more and more public areas are designated as smoke free areas. I’m not sure what will happen when they take the last cigarette away from the hassled and stressed salaryman. Japan could have a revolt on their hands.

Again thanks to Dennis for the picture. Please send us your own Japan related pictures, comments, questions and suggestions to info(at)learnjapanesepod(dot)com or alternatively leave a comment at the end of this post. DOMO!

Related posts:

1. Fun Friday for 9th October 2009
2. Fun Friday for 2nd October 2009
3. Fun Friday for 12th June 2009

What: Tenji Matsuri

When: 24th – 25th July

Getting there: Rail:  Osaka-Temmangu Station on JR Tozai Line Subway: Minami-mori-machi Station on Tanimachi Line or Sakaisuji Line

I took this video of the Tenji festival in Osaka in 2006. It is one of the “big three” festivals in Japan and is an incredibly crowded but fun experience. The festival is held in late July and over a million people regularly attend each year. It has everything a good Japanese festival should have, stall food, games, people in Yukata and fireworks. There is also a procession of over 100 boats on the river which is an incredible site.

It has over 1000 years of history and is one of the main cultural events in Kansai. So if you are wondering what to do on your trip to Japan this is a must.

Related posts:

1. Fun Friday for 3rd July 2009
2. Fun Friday: Namaste India Festival in Yoyogi Park
3. Osaka hang outs