On this week’s Fun Friday, Sandra (@sandrajapandra) and I talked about Quakebook, a collection of essays, photos and art by those affected by the tsunami and earthquakes in Japan.

Originally started by a tweet by a former British journalist @ourmaninabiko, the idea was to crowd source contributions for a book that could be quickly edited together and sold to help those in need in Japan.

100% of the profits go to the Japan Red Cross so if you haven’t already please consider purchasing a copy on Amazon.

A huge thanks to Sandra for hanging out with us, sharing her thoughts and explaining how this inspired project came into being.

Sandra also appeared in this Fun Friday episode, and this one too.

Other topics mentioned in this podcast are:

• William Gibson - Neuromancer
• Yoko Ono
• Japan Red Cross

In this week’s Slang from Japan we look at “胡散臭い” (usan kusai) which refers to something that is suspicious or unbelievable. This uses two words: 胡散 usan – which means suspicious and 臭い kusai – which means smelly. It almost literally means something that “smells fishy”. For example:

彼の言うこと、胡散臭いよね。

kare no iukoto, usan kusai yo ne

What he is saying is suspicious.

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Today Asuka and I checked out a small festival (祭り) in the trendy neighbourhood of Sangenjaya (三軒茶屋) in western Tokyo.

三軒茶屋 means three tea houses which is a reference to it’s past as a stop over for travellers coming in and out of Tokyo. Today it has coffee shops, restaurants and a great drinking area near the station.

It’s also close to Shimokitazawa (下北沢) which is known for it’s youth culture, second hand stores and music which is definitely worth a visit if you are in the neighbourhood.

One great aspect of Tokyo are the local festivals such as the one we checked out today in Sangenjaya. As with many small festivals in Japan there is a check list of things essential for making a Japanese Matsuri. These include but are not limited to:

屋台- yatai – stalls that sell food and other items

焼きそば – Yakisoba -fried noodles, yum

タコヤキ – Takoyaki – Cooked octopus in a dumpling

金魚すくい – Kingyo sukui – A game where children try to scoop up goldfish to win them

お面 – Omen – Plastic masks for kids usually in the form of a manga or anime character

御神輿 – Omikoshi -A portable shrine that is carried by the local community around the town

The list goes on but I shall end it there.

A huge shout out and thank you to Asuka who took me around the festival and told me a little about her life and Japanese culture. She has her own podcast which you can find at Asukashow.com Check it out!

If you want useful information on cycling in Tokyo or to network with other cyclists then Tokyo Cycle Club is a good website and forum.

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Today’s Fun Friday edition of Learn Japanese Pod was recorded at the A to Z cafe in Omotesando in Aoyama. I was joined by Jim and Sandra of Japandra fame.

The walls of the A to Z cafe are adorned with drawings by the artist Yoshitomo Nara and they even have a mock up of his studio.

In the podcast we talked about Sandra’s latest article for Japan Pulse Blog which is about Twiwari. It’s an ingenious scheme where businesses post discounts for services on Twitter.

We also talked about the renovation of Kabukiza and old theatre in Higashi Ginza which has daily Kabuki shows popular with fans and tourists. This led us on to the topic of the Tokyo Marathon as Jim took part and ran past Kabukiza. We gave a shout out to Joseph Tame who podcasted his marathon run. We mentioned Run Keeper which is a great iPhone app and time keeper for athletes.

Other points mentioned in the podcast:

Tokyo International Anime Fair
Tokyo Kawaii Exhibition @ The Design Festa Gallery
Daniel and Yuki
El Gringo and News From The Other Side
Dan Morales of How to Japanese
K-Pop boys
Smart FM
Kotoba iPhone App
Run Keeper iPhone App
Anki
Learn Japanese Pod Forums

The first way Lead Trust and the second Able.

In the end I signed with Able, however I first went to Lead Trust. Also recommended to me were Mini Mini, but in the end I didn’t go. They do apparently deal in quite a lot of very small, but cheap apartments and a English friend of mine said good things about the company. Lead Trust I didn’t get any recommendations about, but a Japanese friend found some apartments online via them so he booked an appointment for me. Able was recommended via a friend as having been used twice before with good results.

From my experience, don’t use Lead Trust. Their service was fine, although I didn’t like the fact that everything they showed me has two months gift money （礼金）when 1 month is common, but the apartments were OK and we got taken to three, the last of which was a newly refurbished, pretty large manshon（マンション） 3 minutes from a very convenient station. The price was good (1 month gift money), the location excellent. The final bill however was extortionate. Their agency fee was 1.05 (one point zero five) months rent, which isn’t unusual but many agencies at this time of the year have a campaign for half price fees. The apartment also came with a cleaning fee (nearly half a month’s rent), for the previous tenant or for me, I don’t know, and an extra fee (1/4 month’s rent), I can’t remember what it was for, and then the thing which made me angry; a charge for a guarantor company even thou my Japanese friend sitting next to me was going to be the the guarantor. ‘But because you’re a foreigner the guarantor company is still required, even if you have a guarantor already’ they said. That’s an extra 1/2 month’s rent, please. Bollocks. I’m not entirely sure if that was a lie, but research online suggests this just isn’t the case. You only use a company if you haven’t got a Japanese that can do it. Maybe different landlords are picker than others, but the guy in the agency said ‘almost always’ this is so, which I do think is either ignorance or a lie.

Suffice to say, I didn’t sign. In any case, I still needed to see Able.

This estate agent was far better. Same service (I see why they charge so much, you get driven to each place by an agent), but with a better selection of apartments with lower initial fees. They had a campaign which was half price fees, and no cleaning fee or guarantor money. I got a new apartment in a nice location for work, for a lot less up front money. They even pushed the gift money down a bit on my request.

You can go with other companies who specialize in dealing with foreigners. I was recommended Tokyo Rent but they didn’t have anything in the area I wanted. There are others too. I expect rents to be higher with these companies or else quality lower.

A few things I learned.

1) Searching online isn’t as useful as I thought. The information of some apartments was just wrong. Campaign special prices that rise after 3 months, or just plain wrong. I don’t think there was a single one found online that we actually went to see. If you want the most accurate information go direct to an agency and get them to find places. You have to do it anyway.

2) Check the charges first. Obvious, but I really wasn’t expecting that guarantor charge or cleaning fee.

3) Learn to write your address, occupation and company address, in kanji.

4) Generally you have to pay gift money. Places without tend to have higher rent.

There are other options. I could have rented a place with my company. It would have been furnished, although probably not cheaper for the location I wanted. No initial fees, of course, but if I move company I have to move apartment anyway. I could have got cheaper rent If I’d hunted more but I had a deadline and the place I finally found was very nice.

Now the hassle of moving my stuff, and cleaning this current apartment to within an inch of it’s life.

The other day, NHK came, filmed around the office and followed Kelly the editor of the magazine on her rounds. I’m in the video for about 2 seconds trying and failing to not look like a complete idiot speaking Japanese.

Some of the Japanese in this isn’t too challenging so this might be good practice for you budding students of the language. NHK was also kind enough to provide subtitles for our interviews so there is some reading practice for you too.

Enjoy.

For those of you interested in Tokyo and possibly planning a trip here you should check out Tokyo Weekender Magazine.

What is it?

It’s a lifestyle magazine and website aimed at the foreign community living in Tokyo. It covers various topics including fashion, parties, events, products and a lot more. It was traditionally aimed at the expats but the website might have an appeal to a global audience who are interested in what’s happening in Tokyo.

When did it start?

It started in 1970 back in the days before the internet, twitter and even the Sony Walkman. A lot has changed since then and with the recent updates to the website it could morph into something quite different. After the 40th Anniversary watershed there is even talk of video and audio podcasts but we’ll have to wait and see.

Blogs

One really good recent feature is the inclusion of blogs written by the editorial staff. They cover different aspects of life in Japan and are updated regularly. They include:

Tokyo Designed: A blog on cool design from Tokyo and looking for interesting new products around the metroplis

Tokyo Foodspotting: This is a great little blog with information on random culinary discoveries made in Tokyo.

Tokyo In Heels: Not all blogs on Tokyo are written by nerdy men who collect plastic dolls. This is a great blog on fashion for women in Tokyo. Check it out ladies.

Some useful Links

The Tokyo Weekender Website

The 40th Anniversary Issue

The Tokyo Weekender Facebook Group

Location: 57 in Roppongi

Date: 15th January 2010

Time: 8pm start

Entrance: 4000 yen advance tickets (5000 yen on the door)

There will be an open bar, food and live music. Guy Perryman will be spinning the decks for us so this promises to be a great party.

You also have the chance to win a lot of freebies in our prize draw. Included in the prizes are free hotel tickets and organic food packages. We Japanese Language school will also be providing some cool prizes for students of Japanese.

You’d be absolutely bonkers not to come and we’d love to see you there. If you are interested please sign up here.

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What a crazy year that was and in true Japanese style we will be holding our 忘年会 (Bonenkai) or end of year party. Interesting enough 忘年会 translated literally means “forget the year party” and I can imagine there are more than a few people who would like to do that.

The party will be held at the Pink Cow. We will be holding this in conjunction with their Japanese Lounge event. There will be traditional Japanese music performances from Shakuhachi and Shamisen player. There will also be Kimono wearing.

ENTRANCE: FREE!!!!!

Doors open at 7pm
This is a free event so this is an excellent opportunity to experience some amazing Japanese culture, learn some Japanese and make friends. We would love to see you there so if you are interested please come along and if possible please sign up to the Facebook Event Page so we know how many people to expect.
Useful links:

The Pink Cow Website

The Pink Cow Facebook

The Pink Cow Map