Shimokitazawa (下北沢) Bear Pond Coffee House

So the winter cold, cloudy weather and holidays near and we can all use a jolt or at least a good shot of espresso.



Look no further than Bear Pond in Shimokitazawa (下北沢,) 2-36-12 KitazawaTEL: 03-5454-2486 東京都世田谷区北沢2-36-12

Honestly, it doesn't look like much from the outside, but the coffee if wonderful and a welcome change from the more watered down version of espresso that is popular in Japan.

Opened in April 2009 by Katsu Tanaka, Bear Pond is a welcome addition to the coffee scene around Tokyo. Created by Katsu Tanaka after close to two decades as a barista/trainer in New York City, Tanaka moved back to Tokyo to open his own shop.

Armed with a desire to offer true espresso, Tanaka found an old candy shop that he transformed into his coffee haven.

So what motivated the choice in name Bear Pond for a coffee shop? Tanaka, as previously mentioned, lived in NYC for several years and was fond of a part of the New York lake region - hence the name.

Tanaka's beans are provided by specialty roaster Nori Yoshimi.

So head to Shimokitazawa for the day, walk around and then take a break at this wonderful little coffee house.

All the best......Mark

Google's Pacific Fiber Optic Cable

Some exciting news for the tech geek in us all.....

The laying of a new high-bandwidth fiber-optic cable connecting North America and Asia via the northern Pacific Ocean began on November 1st from Japan. The cable line, called “Unity”, is a project of six major communication companies, including Google and Japan’s KDDI.


In light of the ever increasing traffic between the two regions of the world, six companies aim to increase the overall transpacific cable capacity by at least 20% when it is set to launch approximately in the spring of 2010.

The cable, when finished, will stretch approximately 10,000 km (6,200 miles) from data centers in the Los Angeles area to KDDI’s data center in Chikura, just outside of Tokyo. From Japan, information can then be distributed to other countries in East Asia.

News sites noted that the planned maximum capacity of Unity was 7.68 Tbps; however, that number has since fallen to 4.8 Tbps for its initial use, according to a report from Japan’s ITpro. (For the curious, according to one reporter, John Bourdreau, 4.8 Tbps would supposedly be the equivalent of approximately 75 million simultaneous voice calls!)

All the best.....Mark

Japan Selected to host 2019 Rugby World Cup

Hot off the presses......the International Rugby Board (IRB) announced today July 28th that Japan will host the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

In the past, Japan was considered a lock to hold the 2011 World Cup but lost out in the end to New Zealand.

As Japan continues to be in the running for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games...if selected this will prove to be a very interesting decade for international sports using Japan as their stage.

All the best.....Mark

Zen 禅 - 2009 Takahashi Banmei film

Zen (禅) - the Banmei Takahashi film originally shown in theaters in January, will be released on DVD with English subtitles this month in R2-J DVD format.

This interesting film follows the life of Dogen Zenji, a legendary Zen Buddhist monk, philosopher and founder of Soto-shu (曹洞宗) - played expertly by noted kabuki performer Kantaro Nakamura (中村勘太郎), with emphasis on the rather tumultuous Kamakura period.

At the urging of his dying mother, the main character becomes a monk to focus on the welfare of others. Losing both of his parents at a young age made this monk appreciate the fleeting nature of life and motivated his search along the path of enlightenment.

While he studied Buddhist teachings elsewhere, it was upon his return to Japan that he met with the greatest resistance as he worked to promote a new form of Buddhism Soto-shu (曹洞宗).

Well worth it.

All the best....Mark

JR East Test Runs New Shinkansen at 320 kph

Japan's East Japan Railway company rolled out a new shinkansen 新幹線 (bullet train) - E5 type bullet train - capable of reaching 320 kph. The new higher speeds can be reached in part due to the sleek construction of the train and its prominent elongated nose cone which will reduce air friction/resistance.

The new train started test runs at Sendai (仙台) Station and once officially used the train will link Tokyo (東京) and Shin-Aomori (新青森) Station in a bit more than 3 1/2 hours by the end of 2012.

Starting in December 2010, the E5 will first start operating between Shin-Aomori (新青森) and Hachinohe (八戸) stations, both in Aomori Prefecture.

The beauty of the Tohoku region (東北地方) will soon be able to be enjoyed by the masses as Tokyo (東京) and Aomori (青森) are accessible with even more efficient and timely methods of transportation. Whether you plan to visit Hirosaki, the Oirase Valley Gorge, Lake Towada, or any one of the other spectacular areas in Aomori Prefecture now you'll get there even quicker.

All the best....Mark

Cell Phones - 携帯電話 - rentals in Japan

So you are heading to Japan and want to be able to keep in touch and realised that your mobile phone either will not work in Japan or will be ridiculously expensive and are looking for options.

Unfortunately, Japans telecom system is not compatible with GSM or other US Systems.

You can either buy a prepaid calling card sold all over Japan at convenience stores and vending machines or you can arrange to rent a cell phone 携帯電話 (keitai denwa) while in Japan.

The rental option seems to be more popular and certainly convenient with pick-up/drop-off at airports such as Narita in Tokyo, Kansai in Osaka as well as deliveries to various hotels when arranged for an additional fee.

Some of the more popular companies are Softbank, KDDi, NTT DoCoMo, AU and G-Call.

I found the site for Softbank to be the easiest to understand, navigate and place an order. Softbank has a rental option using the 703SH model noted below, as well as a phone only rental option or a SIM card only rental option.

Softbank's daily rental is 250JPY per day and all incoming calls are Free. Calling locally in Japan 105JPY/min and calling back to the USA 300JPY/min. They have a table listing rates to other international destinations as well as additional fees for insurance, SMS, etc.

Their web site is http://www.softbank-rental.jp/ and the site is available in English and Japanese.

For those interested, some additional company sites offering rentals in Japan are http://www.roaming.nttdocomo.co.jp/ and http://www.g-call.com/

Lastly, many of these same companies also offer a for sale option which might be of interest especially to those who plan to stay in Japan for a while. Mobile phones are cheap to buy and there is a wide array of choices to pick from.

All the best....Mark

Akihabara 秋葉原電気街 - an electronics playground

So you have a craving for the latest and greatest electronics item not yet available back home....


Akihabara ( 秋葉原電気街) also referred to as 'the' spot to go to in Tokyo if you need any kind of electronics. With nearly 600 shops and merchants offering everything under the sun... this should certainly be one of the first stops on your itinerary as it is a major shopping area where you'll find electronics (Digital Cameras, electronic dictionaries Eng-Jap, flat screen/plasma TVs, rice cookers), computers, new DVD/CDs, robotics as well as anime can be found here.

New items are mostly to be found on the main street, Chūōdōri, with many kinds of used items found in the back streets of Soto Kanda 3-chōme.

Parts for PC-building are readily available from a diverse range of shops. Merchants along the cramped passageway of Soto Kanda 1-chome sell any number of tools, electrical parts, wires, cameras, etc.

Laox, Yodobashi and Radio Kaikan are some of the big name shops, with multilingual staff, very popular with out of towners looking for the latest and greatest electronics item before it can be found back home flock here to also take advantage of additional discounts afforded those Duty Free shoppers - come with your passport and your shopping list.

As you walk around Akihabara you'll see many people dressed in cos-play costumes - either fans of a particular anime series or simply an employee trying to get you to go to their cafe or trying to sell their companies products and looking to draw customers with their costumes and signs.

If you are a die hard manga fan you'll want to stop by two spots: 1. UDX Building housing the Tokyo Anime Center (you can record you voice and have it dubbed into an animated movie) or 2. Kanda - roughly a 12 minute walk where you find approximately 160 second hand book shops housing roughly 10 million books many stores specializing in new and used books.

All the best....Mark

Sake 酒

Sake 酒, while the term is often used in the west to refer to Japanese rice wine, can actually be used to refer to any kind of alcoholic beverage - beer, shochu, whisky, etc.

While I am far from a sake sommelier, I wanted to from time to time list some interesting brands that might appeal to those looking for something new to try.

Sake falls into 4 categories:

Honjōzō-shu (本醸造酒), in which a slight amount of brewer's alcohol is added to the sake before pressing, in order to extract extra flavors and aromas from the mash. This term was created in the late 1960s to distinguish it, a premium sake, from cheaply made liquors to which large amounts of distilled alcohol were added simply to increase volume. Sake with this designation must be made with no more than 116 liters of pure alcohol added for every 1,000 kilograms of rice.


Junmai-shu (純米酒), "pure rice sake," made from only rice, water and kōji, with no brewer's alcohol or other additives. Before 2004, the Japanese government mandated that junmai-shu must be made from rice polished down to 70% or less of its original weight, but that restriction has been removed.

Ginjō-shu (吟醸酒), made from rice polished to 60% or less of its original weight.


Daiginjō-shu (大吟醸酒), made from rice polished to 50% or lower of its original weight.


Typically sake is judged on aspects - such as sweetness, bitterness, sourness, etc. - and can be drunk warm or chilled - the finer or higher quality sakes are best consumed when chilled so as to enhance and retain the flavor of the liquor.


Some varietals that you might enjoy are:



Kikusui no Junmaishu - Junmai (純米酒) brewed in Nigata


Hoyo Manamusume - Junmai (純米酒) brewed in Miyagi and crafted from rare Manamusume rice grown only in Miyagi Prefecture.




Hakkaisan Honjozo - Junmai (純米酒) brewed in Niigata

Masumi Arabashiri - Junmai nama Ginjyo (吟醸酒) - a mild sake with a fruity taste and aroma best served with robst foods such as Latin dishes.

Enjoy.

All the best...Mark

Kalafina カラフィナ - new CD single Sprinter

So now that I can focus on something other than the economic meltdown...it's time to get back to posting.

I just heard the new single Sprinter by a J-Pop band Kalafina カラフィナ and really like it.

The band created back in 2007 and represented by Sony Music Japan primarily records songs to be used for anime releases.

Sprinter is the second single by Kalafina, featuring Wakana Ootaki, Keiko Kubota along with two new members Maya and Hikaru. The single will be used in the Fifth Chapter of the anime series Kara no Kyoukai. Also, for those with an iTunes account this single and the corresponding album are also available on-line to download onto your iPod.

The song is great and upbeat - perfect for a run on the treadmill at the gym.

All the best....Mark