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