Bring a phone or buy in Japan?

A soon to depart JET left a comment the other day asking my opinion on what to do about a phone in J-Land. Hereshigoes writes:

Hmm. Very interesting. 

Question for you though: with all this knowledge and your experience in Japan, do you recommend just getting a Japanese phone there when expecting to be there for a year OR [drumroll] unlocking your U.S. phone for like Docomo or something? 
I've heard SO many yes and no's but I am not sure who or what to believe so I don't know what to do. Its annoying. 

Advice?

I replied to her comment, but for a more complete answer I've written up a guest post over at the JETAADC blog. Have a look if you're interested!

Tips for dehumidifying your house

Today I came across an article about some "eco" ways to dehumidify your home (J), which is helpful advice should you be dealing with the oppressive Japanese summer.

This is a topic that's been covered before; I know Ashley has written up some tips for surviving the rainy season and using bamboo charcoal. So those links are worth checking out. For some additional ideas, here are the basics of what the Japanese article suggests:

1. Use newspapers, unglazed pottery, or washi (Japanese paper)

Newspaper is something I was aware of and have tried as a water-absorbing device. Scrunching up old newspaper and stuffing it into wet shoes is a surprisingly effective way to dry out damp footwear (Yoshie was skeptical about this one when she visited me once, but was pleasantly surprised when I turned out to be right). Apparently lining the floor of your closet or the bottom of your drawers with newspaper can aid in dehumidification of your home.

Using washi or shoji paper in a similar fashion also helps absorb humidity. This helps explain why they were used in older homes in Japan. Though they are pretty terrible for insolation, the papers serve to absorb humidity, which would have helped at a time when there were no air conditioners and ventilation and absorption were probably the most effective ways of dealing with the heat.

Unglazed pottery is something that wouldn't have occurred to me, but I guess it also absorbs moisture from the air, so having some pots around for decoration could serve a dual purpose.

2. Charcoal, and not just the "good stuff"

The "good" stuff.

If you search around, you can find activated charcoal or bamboo charcoal for sale. These work well not only as deodorizers, but as moisture absorbers, as well. If you ever use charcoal for camping or BBQing, you can recycle that as your own (non-store-bought!) activated charoal. Some people use these charcoal "remains" as fertilizer, but if you want to, you can rinse them off and redry them in the sun, and then use them to dehumidify your house. You'll probably want to keep the charcoal on a piece of cardboard or paper, or better yet in some kind of open container that you can cover with a paper "lid."







3. Baking soda isn't just for deodorizing

Another deodorizer that can be used as a dehumidifier, as well. As with the charcoal, having a large amount of baking soda makes this more effective. If you like, you can spread it around on a cloth or on some cardboard, but it's probably better to have the baking soda resting in a container with paper or non-woven cloth over it as a cover. Then place in a closet or in a corner somewhere.

If you want something a little more fancy (both in appearance and effectiveness), you can pour the baking soda into an unglazed pot. Fill it about halfway, and if you like you can even tie a bow or doily around it to be extra fancy. The accessory is not recommended for guys as it can compromise your maleness.

There you have it. If you have any other ways of dealing with the humidity, let us know. Doesn't even have to be "eco!"

Volunteering in Japan, Children's Home

Ashley has a piece today in the Japan Times about volunteering at orphanages in Japan. If you think you may be interested in a such a thing, I recommend you pursue it.

My last year in Japan, I volunteered for several months at an orphanage called Children's Home. After reading an article about Smile Kids Japan, I felt inspired to see if I could set something up in my area, so I sent out some messages and was contacted by a Japanese woman on the Hyogo JET Program mailing list who worked with the BOE and said she would be interested in helping me set things up if I needed any assistance. I was grateful for the offer and took her up on it. She helped me make contact with the administrators of a local orphanage that I had found in my research, and she and I went to go meet the director in charge of volunteers. He was a friendly guy, though a little nervous because they hadn't had any foreign volunteers before. Despite his nervousness, he thought our visits could be good because we would be interesting and different to the kids, and also perhaps spark their interest in studying English. He gave us some literature and explained their rules and policies and about insurance, etc.

First I should mention that as Ashley points out in her article, the term "orphanage" in Japan doesn't usually mean a place for children with no parents these days. More often it's somewhere for children with volatile family situations, such as unfit parents. There can be children of all ages up to 18; once they hit adulthood, they can't legally be supported by the orphanage anymore. It's also not uncommon for children to be in and out of these facilities as they leave or rejoin their families. Generally these places aren't looking for kids in their care to be adopted.

After gathering together a core group of about 5 or 6 volunteers (other JET members), we worked out that I would try to schedule visits on weekends about twice a month, and the others would join me when they were available. After the first few times, our Japanese helper passed the baton to me and I began communicating with the volunteer director via email to schedule our visits. We would usually visit after lunch for 2 or 3 hours.  Most of the time we'd just hang out with the littler kids (probably about middle school age), since they took the most interest in us. There was a dirt yard with a kind of jungle gym and some swings, and we would usually place games like soccer or tag (they also loved piggyback rides - おんぶ in Japanese). If the weather was bad or it was too hot, we would go to the kids' rooms (they shared where they slept and there were generally about 8-10 kids per room, with desks and bunk beds and usually a TV) and they would show us their toys. The little boys would often make me and Joe play wrestling games with them and we would let them beat us up a bit.

Sometimes our visits would overlap with a group of senior citizens who would visit twice a month to play Igo with the children. They also wound up teaching us how to play.

I think it was probably good practice for being a parent...I would always leave exhausted. In retrospect, I'm very glad I got involved with the community in this way, but I wish I had searched for something like that sooner (there was apparently a group in Kobe also volunteering at a different orphanage, but I didn't become aware of it until I investigated setting something up in my area). I also wish I had visited more often, but you know how life is...we all have our own things going on, and sometimes it's all too easy to be selfish and do our own things.

Also reinforced for me how resilient kids are. I know those children have tough lives and I'm sure they have an inner turmoil and suffering that we didn't see. But it felt good to see them having fun when we visited, and for the most part they seemed like happy and positive children. The worst part was when we would leave and they would beg us to stay longer, or ask us when we would visit again.

If you are considering volunteering at a place like that, just be sure you can make the commitment. Because once you start going, the kids will come to look forward to your visits and they will be disappointed if you don't come back. I don't blame anyone, but some of the volunteers I recruited were busy and had a lot of obligations, and when some of them would miss a few weeks, the children would ask about them and why they weren't coming, and it was sad to see.

I'm not an expert on the subject, but if you have any questions about finding or setting up a group in your area, feel free to email me or leave a comment and I'll do my best to get you some information.

Guest Post: Is Western Union A Good Way to Send Money from Japan?

This guest post is written by foreign exchange specialist Peter Lavelle. How to send money home from Japan is a question I've heard asked many times, and Peter has offered to lay out one possibility for us.


Update 6/11/2012: For a much more extensive article about foreign exchange to/from Japan to which Peter contributed, check out Surviving in Japan.

--

Expat living in Japan? Then there’s a good chance that you (like other expats) have an ongoing need to send money out of the country. But what’s the best (that is, cheapest and most secure) way of doing so? Well, one of the most famous is Western Union. Is it any good? In this post, I aim to set out the pros and cons of using Western Union to send money out of Japan.

Overview:

If you’re not familiar with the Western Union concept, it’s simple. You wire a set amount from one Western Union-approved location (you must physically be there to do so) to another, where the person picks up the cash (again, in person.)

Though you cannot receive money from Western Union in Japan, it’s quite simple to send it given that the company has partnered with several large outlets. These include Family Mart and Seven Bank.

How does it work?

As of last month (that is, April 2012) you can send money online through Western Union, which removes a huge drawback to the service i.e. you must physically go to the location to send the money.

However, if you choose the old fashioned method of going in person, then the first step is finding your nearest Western Union outpost. You can do that here (if you speak Japanese.)

Once you find a good location, it’s then a matter of registering. Frustratingly, the Western Union services available at Family Mart and Seven Bank (as well as others) are not compatible, so if you want to send money from more than one chain you need to register each time.

Then, whether you’re using Family Mart or Seven Bank, you just need to send the money. There is a diagram How To for Family Mart here, as well as a demonstration of the online service for Seven Bank here (though it is in Japanese.)

Pros and Cons

The chief pro of Western Union is its speed. It guarantees to have the money available for pick up inside two minutes, which compares to the hours and days it sometimes takes using a bank. Hence, if you know someone in a tight spot, you can get cash to them all but instantaneously.

The other advantage of course is that they’re receiving cash: there’s no bank accounts involved.

On the other hand, Western Union is not suitable for big transfers. This is because it has a limit of Y97,000 per transfer (plus Y3,000 fee)meaning it’s best suited to emergencies (that’s about $1,300 dollars.) If you need to send more, you’re better off using an alternative,unless you wish to incur a Y3,000 charge for each Y100,000 you send.

There’s also the point that Western Union does not publicise the exchange rates it uses, which could leave you open to a poor rate.

Last of all, if you’re sending money to yourself, it’s no good, because someone has to be there to pick it up!

Summary

For people willing to make the trip, Western Union offers a fast way to send money out of Japan, without using banks. Yet its lack of transparency regarding exchange rates, as well as relatively small transfer limit, mean it’s best reserved for emergencies.

About the Writer

Peter Lavelle works for foreign currency dealer Pure FX. He’s never been to Japan, but in his line of work has picked up a lot of knowledge about sending money to places. If you’d like to keep up with his exchange rate updates, visit his Google+ page.

New Year's Cards: All About Nengajo

Every year around Christmas time in the US, the season's greetings cards make their rounds. Many families, individuals, or even businesses send out Christmas or holiday cards to friends, family, clients, etc. They can be nice, but I've never really been big on them. Though it's much the same thing, I was more into the Japanese version of this custom while I was living over there. Every year, people in Japan send out 年賀状, New Year's greeting cards.

My first year working in Japan, I decided that to improve my Japanese and blend in better (both at work and into the culture), I would send out cards to some of my coworkers. It was kind of hard work, but worth it I think. Got a lot of practice writing kanji, anyway!

One thing I really like about 年賀状 is their variety. I'm not really a big collector, but I enjoyed receiving and keeping all the different cards every year. The general theme of each year's cards depends upon the  animal of that year, derived from the Chinese zodiac (十二支). The years I was in Japan were those of the cow, tiger, and rabbit, so most of the cards I've collected show those animals. Some cards are custom-made and sport family pictures, much like a lot of Christmas cards in the U.S. 

In my experience, many foreigners in Japan don't bother with them and aren't really expected to. So if you do send some out, you may surprise your friends and coworkers. Doing so is a good way to get some back, too. Generally people start sending them a week or two before New Year's (the post office will hold them and wait until New Year's to deliver them), and then during the first week or two of the new year they will often send cards to people from whom they received but didn't originally send one. They often write "年賀状ありがとうございました！" (Thanks for the card) on the front as an acknowledgement.

If you're interested in trying to send some yourself or you've received a card and want to know the deal, here's an explanation for you.

The boxes at the top of the blank side are for the recipient's postal code and the space below that is for their name and address. The person should be addressed as 様 (さま). For example 田中様, 安田様, John Smith様, etc. さま is an honorific, much like さん, but is used to indicate even more respect and formality. Whether you write vertically or horizontally is a stylistic choice.

At the bottom, generally you write your name and address, though some people leave it blank or just write their name.

The  *'s at the bottom represent two numbers that can be found on every New Year's card. Every year the post office holds a lottery. There are big prizes like computers, vacations, and TV's, and smaller ones like free stamps. The larger prizes generally don't have many winners, but the cheaper ones do. The winning numbers (or digits) can be checked online or at your local post office after New Year's. Generally the number on the right is the one you need to look at, but apparently some prizes are restricted by the letter of the digits on the left (A, B, or C). I have won a few stamps in the past, but never bothered to claim them.

Here's an example of a filled-out card:

On the front of the card you don't need to write anything, but you can scribble some personalized message, write some English just for the novelty of it, or use a set phrase (決まり文句).

For New Year's, you'll generally see/hear:

明けましておめでとうございます! 

or

お正月おめでとうございます！

Both basically mean "Happy New Year!"

Anyway, the New Year's cards are one thing I kind of miss about living in Japan. If you're over there but haven't bothered with them, it's your call...but I recommend giving it a shot.

Update (12/19/11): One thing several people have pointed out in the comments that's worth mentioning is that writing something by hand on the card is considered the "right" way to make up a 年賀状 for someone. I guess having everything printed on doesn't show the right level of effort.

Jen of Perogies and Gyoza dropped a link for a New Year's card commercial featured right now on the JP Post website. I had never seen any of these before, but apparently there are a number of these commercials from years past. Here's a previous one (maybe from 2008, which I think was the year of the rat):

How to get a Japanese Driver's License - Part 1

Hello I'm Mac from a little blog called JLPTBootcamp.com. I've been living in Japan now for about 7 years. I currently live in Kyoto. From time to time, I like to blog about stuff that well, isn't so JLPT-y if you catch my drift. So here I am sharing my wisdom with you about the wonders of acquiring a driver's license in Japan, or should I say converting a driver's license? Anyway, hope you enjoy, and if you are taking the JLPT sometime soon, you might enjoy taking a look at my blog, JLPTBootcamp.com. Come over and see me sometime.

I remember growing up in rural Ohio and thinking that having a driver's license was like a rite of passage. When you got your license and your accompanying car, you had finally become a man, and if you were one of the first to do so, you had become the man. You were the guy that could drive to lunch (we had open campus at our school), drive to school without your parents or a school bus, and just cruise.

That was all fine and dandy in rural Ohio, but when I moved to the big city, Chicago. I could care less about having an automobile. It cost a lot of money to maintain a car and there was public transit that I could use. I mean seeing people getting arrested on the 'L' once a month wasn't so bad, was it?

But, then I moved to Japan and really had zero need for a license. I guess I'm not in Kansas anymore. It's great to have a solid public transportation system where people aren't getting arrested on a regular basis and there is actually, not even a need for transit cops. Who knew such things could exist?

So, Why in the World would you Want a Japanese Driver's License?

Well, that's an excellent question. I can think of a few reasons why you might want a driver's license in Japan. One good reason is that you have better access to big box stores. Believe it or not, Japan does have large supermarkets and discount home furnishing stores that are roughly American-sized (minus the excessively large parking lot that never gets used.)

Another reason is that driving comes in handy when you are on vacation in Japan. There are a lot of places, especially hiking trails and camping sites, that are not easily accessible by bus or train. That's actually one of the advantages of those places. There aren't many people around so you can enjoy the peace and quiet.

But, the main reason why I want one now is that I've just recently gotten married. So, I want to be able to help my wife out and be able to do some simple things like drive her to the hospital in case of some kind of emergency.

And, let's face it, it conjures up those memories of high school when having a driver's license was cool. Because chances are if you get your driver's license you'll be one of the few of your friends that has one, and that means you can go cruising in Japan. Ohhhh yeah!

Let's Get Started Already

So enough with why, let's talk about the process of getting your license. Now, this process differs depending on what country you are coming from. For instance, if you are from Canada and Australia apparently all you have to do is get it translated and walk into the driving center and get a Japanese license. I always knew being Canadian had it's benefits.

But, if you are from the great United States of America you have the distinct privilege of going through the process of 'converting' your license into a Japanese one. This involves a variety of different things, namely going through a festival of paperwork, a short 'easy' written test, and then a disproportionately difficult driving test. After that, you get a driver's license.

On a side note, you may be wondering why oh why do Americans get the special privilege of going through all this rigamarole. Well, apparently it comes down to the fact that in order for Japan to agree to do a simple conversion of the license, America does too. Unfortunately, driver's licenses are handled at the state level, so all 50 states would have to submit traffic safety reports, and offer simple conversion for Japanese licenses. That's obviously a lot of paperwork that some DMVs would rather not spend time doing, much to our dismay.

I should note that this procedure seems to vary a lot from place to place and when converting from different countries, so try to treat my experience/advice as a general guide and be sure to read up on what the exact procedures you'll need to be doing.

Step 1 – Getting a Translation of your Driver's License

To start this process you must have a Japanese translation of your American driver's license. Actually, if you are getting a license converted from any country, this is always going to be the first step.

The best place to do that is through JAF, Japan Automobile Federation, which is basically like the AAA of Japan. They can translate your license for 3000 Yen at one of their offices or for a little more if you prefer to do it by mail. I chose to do it by mail because there really weren't any convenient JAF offices nearby to go to.

When you get your license translated, JAF will hopefully provide you with a packet of information that will tell you exactly what you need to do to get your license converted including where the closest driving center is.

Step 2 – Setup an appointment and get all your 'stuff' together

For my driving center here in Kyoto, I had to make an appointment to take the test. I'm not exactly sure why, but it's required nonetheless. For me, I had to call between 4pm and 5pm to schedule an appointment for sometime between 8:30am-10am on a weekday. Talk about crazy rules and restrictions!

Anyway, after you make the appointment for a time of their choosing (in my case it was for the following month), you need to get your paperwork in order. You'll need the following:

1. Japanese translation of your driver's license
2. Your original driver's license
3. Your Alien Registration Card – Make sure this is up-to-date. Don't be like me and forget to put your visa extension on it. Oops!
4. Your passport
5. One 3cm X 2.4cm photograph – NOTE: This is for their paperwork to keep track of you and be able to recognize you during the tests, not for the actual license.
6. Your inkan or name seal if you have one, otherwise you can just sign the documents over and over again.
7. Money (about 5000 Yen, but it can vary from place to place, check the packet from JAF)

Armed with all that, you can now go to your local driving center that JAF probably recommended to you in their packet of goodies they sent you or handed to you.

Step 3 – Showing Up and doing the Easy Written Test

Driving centers in Japan aren't like the ones back home. They aren't going to be a small little store in a strip mall. Yours is most likely going to be a large concrete structure that roughly resembles your typical Japanese elementary or junior high school. The only difference is that the driving center has what looks to be a go cart track from hell in it's backyard.

When you made the appointment they probably asked you to go to a specific window at your appointment time. Be sure to be there on time and prepared with your paperwork. Don't expect anybody to be friendly or to speak any English. Don't worry to much though if you don't know that much Japanese. If you have your paperwork and your letter from JAF, they will most likely know what to do with it.

After filling out a short questionnaire (about your driving history in Japan) with some horrendous English translations on it, they will begin to process your paperwork. I'm assuming they need to verify that you have everything up-to-date and are ready to go. This took about 30 minutes for me.

After that, they will call you up and conduct a short informal interview about your driving experience in the states. They might ask when you first got your license, did you take public or private driving classes, and how often you renewed your license. This is where having a Japanese speaking friend might come in handy. I sometimes couldn't catch some of the things the clerk was asking and my wife had to translate a few bits.

Step 4 – Paying for and Taking the Test

After they give you the thumbs up on your paperwork and driving experience, you need to go to the cashier to pay for the test. All government agencies in Japan (that I've dealt with anyway) deal in revenue stamps. I'm guessing this is because they want all the cash to be in one place. Anyway, you need to get some stamps for your application. It cost me about 2400Y, but of course that might vary from place to place.

They'll put the stamps on the application and then you must either sign them or stamp them with your inkan. Be sure to have your seal or signature half on the stamp and half on the application that they are attached to. You need to sign/seal each stamp. In my case, I had to sign 4 stamps.

Then, after paying for the stamps and signing them, return to the original window and they will take you to the testing area. The test is available in English and is true/false. There are only 10 questions and all of them are pretty easy.

One thing to remember though is that unlike the US, you can not turn left on red EVER. In the states you can turn right on red if you stop and check, but that is not the case in Japan. Also, you should carefully stop at all railroad crossings no matter what and slowly proceed through the crossing. Those were the only two questions I wondered about. The rest are pretty much dummy questions like 'You've been working all day and are completely exhausted. You aren't sure you can operate the vehicle safely. Should you drive home by yourself?'

After passing the written test, they will give you instructions on how to take the driving test along with a packet of information that goes over the basic rules of the road that are specific to Japan.

That's Part 1

Sorry I'm going to cut it off here and write a separate post about the driving test. Why? Well, I haven't passed the driving portion of the test yet. I'm hoping to soon and I'll try to give you pointers about that part of the test in a later post.

In the meantime, if you have any questions about getting a driver's license in Japan, I'd love to hear them. Leave me a comment below and I'll be sure to get back to you.

Photo by James Buck

How to use McDonald's Wifi

Recently McDonald's has become my favorite place to study. I always liked to study there because of the free coffee refills, but now after finally setting up my computer to work with their wifi, it's become my main studying location. It's great because I don't like studying at home, there are McDonald's everywhere, and I'm able to keep my Anki deck synced over the Internet as well as be able to copy and paste definitions quickly from online dictionaries. The process of signing up for McDonald's wifi is a bit strange but convenient and somehow also convoluted. I thought it might be something that would interest you guys.

The wifi that McDonald's uses is Yahoo! BB Mobile Point. The instructions are here, but I'll summarize in English.

Step 1: Go to a FamilyMart convenience store. They have a machine there called the Famiポート (FamiPort). Push the button that says "プリペイド"(Prepaid). It's a green button with the ￥ symbol on it.

Yeah, that's the one

Step 2: Push the button that says "インターネット電話/無線LAN"(Internet Telephone/Wifi). You'll see it has the Yahoo!BB logo inside.

Like so

Now it'll give you an option to either do this in English or Japanese.

Step 3: Select how much time you'd like to buy. There are three different lengths: 1 Day = ￥500, 2 Weeks = ￥1000, and 3 Months = ￥4000.

Step 4: After you select and confirm, it will print a receipt. Take that receipt and pay at the register. They will print out and give you your username and password info.

Step 5: Next you need to activate your username and password which strangely involves already needing Internet access. A mobile phone is fine. Follow the instructions on the form they gave you which involves going to http://www.bbmp.jp. Click on the link to validate your ID and agree to the terms. It should now automatically open your email program. Just send them a blank email to their address (activatee@bbmp.jp), or put SBTM in subject and body if you can't send blank emails. You should immediately receive a reply with a link. Click the link and input your Serial No. and Confirmation Code and submit. After that it should say you're successfully activated.

Step 6: Finally go to McDonald's with your computer, login to the "mobilepoint" network using the WEP key from your username and password sheet, open a web browser and put in your username and password. And you're done! Now study, enjoy your coffee, and try to take it easy on the fries.

Green Tea Time

Green tea. Sitting there, all smug.

I don't really like green tea. There, I said it. But it's one of the most popular beverages and flavors in Japan, so if offered some tea or a matcha (抹茶) flavored pastry, I suck it up and act like I'm delighted. There are exceptions - soft cream, Kit-Kats, I'm looking at you - you rock!

Recently, though, I've been trying to drink it at work. A lot of it. Why? Because it's healthy, and it's free. Let's start with the healthy part. It's no secret that drinking green tea has been linked with a variety of health benefits. It can reduce stress, lower the risk of certain cancers, increase mental awareness, and speed up your metabolism, among other things. Part of this is due to the fact that tea in general is pretty damn healthy. Another part is that the antioxidants found in green tea are particularly potent. The last part is, well, uncertain. In reference to taking green tea containing supplements, WebMD says:

"I don't think it can hurt to drink it. I'd focus on dietary sources rather than supplements because there are several compounds in green tea that might need to be consumed together. We just don't know yet,"[...]

So really there's a mystery element to green tea. It's good because...it's good. Now as the WebMD article notes, green tea isn't going to cure anything, but certainly doesn't hurt to drink. At the moment I'm trying to drink a lot of the stuff so that I can acquire a taste for it, as I have with so many other consumables.

Luckily for me, right now I'm in a situation where I can drink all the green tea I want at no cost! At work, anyhow. Why is that? Well, at each of my schools, we have the Japanese equivalent of a water cooler. It looks like this:

Serves tea and also hosts the school's computer network.

I know what you're thinking "Oh, so instead of water coolers in Japan, they just havee green tea coolers. Figures." Phff, no. Racist. They have water, too. Err...well, the one at my part time school has cold water. This one only has hot water and hot green tea. Decisions, decisions.

Caveats


While green tea is largely considered to be a very healthy drink, there are a few things you should keep in mind. I wasn't aware of these things, but I want you to be. It's my thanks to you for reading. Really, thank you!

• Green tea and caffeine - I've heard that green tea doesn't have caffeine. This isn't quite a statistic, but it might qualify as a damn lie. The truth is, it's variable. There are many factors that play into it. Younger tea leaves contain more caffeine. First infusions contain more caffeine. Cold tea generally has more caffeine than hot tea. Tea from teabags often has more. Man, I'm glad I learned that. That could be why I've been feeling particularly antsy the past few days. For more information, see this Wikihow page on how to minimize green tea caffeine. Update: As Ashely points out in the comment section, tea still contains a lot less caffeine than coffee, so it's a great alternative if you're trying to cut back.

• Tea stones! - You should be fine so long as you drink in moderation, but certain components of green tea can lead to kidney stones.

• Hot tea and cancer - At least one study has linked the consumption of hot tea with esophageal cancer. So you might be better off drinking it warm, lukewarm, or cold.

• Green tea with milk and lemon - You can, of course, drink green tea plain, but studies have shown that adding milk actually decreases its beneficial effects. Conversely, adding citrus such as lemon helps the body absorb more antioxidants. Maybe I should start bringing lemons with me to work.

There you have it. While this is by no means a comprehensive guide to green tea, I hope you learned something you didn't know before. I know I did!

The vitamin C is a lie

Emptor caveat. Or "buyer beware."

Many Japanese (and foreign) people I've met consider Japan to be a pretty healthy society. Physically, anyway. People here exercise and eat well. But for such a supposedly health-conscious people, it's a little startling to realize that nutritional information doesn't seem to be very important to most people here. Whether this is the cause or result of the fact that it's often a bit confusing or unavailable, I'm unsure. But then, nutritional information doesn't seem to be as heavily regulated as it is in some countries, particularly the U.S. This was surprising for me, given the bureaucratic nature of so many elements of Japanese society.

But what exactly am I going on about? Japanese food has nutritional information labels! Well yes, it generally does. But most people don't know how to interpret it, and the labels don't do you any favors. I've already written about how to understand Japanese nutrition labels, along with a warning about serving sizes and hidden sugar. You should also be careful about overly vague labeling.

Let me compare two products so you can get an idea what I mean. On one hand, we have Japanese Vitamin Water, which clearly advertises on the label: "1000 mg of Vitamin C." I'm not too crazy about the amount of sugar in the drink, which is disguised by reduced serving size information (I don't have one available, but off the top of my head I believe it's about 4.5 grams of sugar per 100 ml, with a total of about 500 ml pr bottle).

Then we have Fiber 7500 Plus Vitamin C, which says that it has 7500 mg of fiber per bottle. When I saw this drink, I was a little hopeful. Fiber and vitamin C, huh? Well, it's  カロリーゼロ (0 calorie), so no sugar. If I don't get cancer from this thing, I could be onto something here. But if it sounds too good to be true...

...it usually is. Looks like Fiber 7500 Plus Vitamin C packs between 16 and 84 mg of Vitamin C per 100 ml. Again, this is a 500 ml bottle, so we must multiply that by 5. That means there's between 80 mg and 420 mg per bottle. I'd say that's a pretty big variance. Ok, to be fair, all we really need is about 60 mg a day, though more Vitamin C never hurts (our bodies constantly use the stuff, but since it's one of the only water-soluable vitamins it can't be stored). So in that respect, this drink is adequate. But if you're looking to pump Vitamin C, like if you have a cold or something, you'd be much better off with either supplements or something like Vitamin Water, which contains about 2.3 - 12.5 times as much.

For those of you who aren't as interested in looking for and crunching the numbers for stuff like Vitamin C content, just be aware that vague labels are a reason for caution. You may not be getting exactly what you think.

A Complete Partial Guide to Being Vegetarian in Japan

Hello readers and readresses. My name is Dylan Southard. I’m originally from Spokane, Washington (if you’ve never been there or even heard of it, feel confident that you are part of a vast majority of people, with the power to crush us Spokanites with but a wave of your collective hand) and originally moved to Japan in 2004 to teach English as part of the JET Program. I am currently a graduate student at Osaka University and vocalist for the band 異邦の客 [Ihounokyaku] or “Strangers in a Strange Land” (plug: www.ihounokyaku.com).

Adapting to daily life in a new country can be a trying process. Even the most trifling endeavor is potentially rife with slip-ups and misunderstandings, like a mini-car packed full of giant humiliation-inducing clowns. This is especially true if one has peculiar non-negotiable dietary restrictions, such as vegetarianism or space madness. Being subject to the former, I found that becoming acclimated to gastronomic life in Japan (a country that has fewer vegetarians than it has species of animal on an average restaurant menu) was a challenge, to say the least. Most of what I learned I discovered through trial (attempting to decipher lists of ingredients, explaining to people my situation, etc.) and error (the inevitable result of most of my early trials). Thus, I’ve decided to compile a not-nearly comprehensive guide for those herbivores who are currently struggling with this problem, or who have made plans to do so in the future.

As we all know, meat does not always make its presence known. Sure, often times it comes in the form of a 4lb T-bone steak or in a can labeled “SPAM”. However, it can just as easily be a silent enemy, lurking in the broth of your favorite restaurant’s veggie noodle soup or hiding behind monosythiumdioxatenfraven in an ingredient list the size of a novella. This little inconvenience is compounded by the fact that some 70% of Japanese food contains pork extract. Now, depending on how strict a vegetarian you are, this can pose quite a problem, especially if your speaking and reading abilities don’t quite measure up to your firm ethical resolve. Taking this into account, it is time to lay out one of the grim hard realities of living in a foreign country. You will probably eat meat. At one point or another you are going to unintentionally ingest something that once bore legs, eyes, wings and, quite likely, tentacles. In order to minimize this sort of unpleasant experience, here are some tips to keep you from going omnivore when the going gets rough.

1) Understand what the Japanese mean by the word “meat”.

Being the good vegetarian you are, I’m going to assume you have, regardless of your Japanese ability, probably learned the word for meat (niku). This word is quite useful when referring to slabs of mammal flesh, but notsomuch when it comes to our fine-feathered friends or those scaly sea goers. Often you must specify chickens and other birds (tori), fish (sakana), and shellfish (kai) as being apocryphal to the cannon of foods that make up your shopping list, as well. It is also important to keep in mind that these words often exclude certain meaty products based on how they were prepared. Upon arriving in Japan, my coworkers were shocked to discover that my being a vegetarian also meant that I also couldn’t eat foods containing meat extract. Just remember, Japan is a country with next to no vegetarians, so be specific. As a side note, be ready to explain your reasons for being vegetarian, as you will most likely be doing it a lot. Because there are so few veggies in Japan, people tend ask a lot of questions. This may seem like you’re being challenged at first, but I’ve found that most people are just curious or want to be accommodating.

2) Learn to ask.

If you are living in Japan and expect to enjoy the companionship and absence of crippling suicidal loneliness that come with having a social life, you will end up eating out A LOT. In almost any restaurant it is imperative that you ask before you order! Assumptions made in this department can lead to either and empty stomach or an empty wallet. I kid you not; you may order a single sprig of parsley, only to have it reach your table slathered in bacon grease and lodged into the center of a pork chop. I hyperbolate here only slightly, and only to make the point that no matter how vegetarian something may seem on the menu, ask anyways. In Japanese, it’s as simple as:

“(whatever food) wa niku ga haiteimasu ka?”

Remember; ask about meat extract, as well! Just replace the word niku with niku ekisu. (See section above for other things that are often not considered to be meat).

3) Learn some basic kanji

Grocery shopping in a foreign country (especially one with an unfamiliar writing system) can be a daunting task for anyone, let alone for someone with a specific diet. In regards to what you eat, learning a few important kanji can mean the difference between a crisp juicy apple and a bag full of pig anuses (kudos to anyone who catches the UCB reference). Here are a few of the most important ones:

原材料名 (genzairyoumei)—ingredients

牛 (ushi/gyuu)— cow

豚 (buta)— pig

鳥 (tori)—bird (note: usually any kanji that contains this radical [e.g. 鶏／鳩] is a type of bird.)

魚 (sakana)—fish (see note about bird)

チキン (chikin)ーchicken

ビーフ (biifu)ーbeef

ポーク(po-ku)ーpork

肉 (niku)—meat

エキス (ekisu)ーextract

豚の肛門 (buta no koumon)—pig anuses

There you have it. This is by no means the definitive guide to vegetarianism in the Land of the Rising Sun; but I hope, a good start. I’ve also included a couple other resources below. Gambatte!

Tengu Natural foods

http://www.alishan.jp/shop/nfoscomm/catalog/

What can I say? They’re awesome. Great service, excellent selection, and 100% vegetarian (a lot of vegan stuff as well).

A Guide to Being (and Remaining) Vegetarian in Japan

Available through Hyogo Ajet (http://ajet.net/lang/en/ajet-publications/#veg). I got this book from a very dear friend as a Christmas present, and it’s been invaluable. Tips, Recipes, you name it. Good stuff.

Getting by in Japan: Nutrition

As should be fairly self-evident, living in a foreign country almost invariably presents a number of challenges. The exact nature of these obstacles and how difficult they are to adjust to depends on a number of factors, such as which countries one is moving from and to, personal adaptability, profession, language ability, etc.

From now on I'd like to periodically write about some of the challenges that I and friends of mine have faced in Japan, and hopefully provide some resources and/or advice in each case. It's my hope that this will be of help to someone living in or planning to live in Japan.

Since coming here and adjusting to living alone, I've found myself becoming more and more conscious of healthy living. When there's no campus dining hall or mom to cook for you, you basically have three choices: (1) Eating out all the time, (2) Buying pre-made stuff like sushi or sandwiches every day, or (3) Manning up and learning how to cook. Options (1) and (2) can both get expensive and unhealthy, and they don't add anything to you as a person. I think you can see where I'm going with this.

I'll save cooking tips for a future post. First, I want to talk a little bit about how my diet has changed since coming to Japan. It's a frequent observation that Japanese people are generally much thinner than we in the West. I credit several factors for this trend, but diet is no doubt an important part of it. Aside from eating different foods, Japanese people eat less. Sometimes this means smaller portions, but what I have in mind is snacks. In my experience, Japanese people don't chow down between meals as often as we do in the States, anyway. I've attempted to drop this habit recently. We eat for a lot of reasons aside from hunger - boredom, depression, social interaction. Reading about the science behind some of it makes you think.

Cutting out snacks can be tough. Sometimes you just want to eat. I know - about an hour ago I was going to town on a big bag of pretzels I got at Costco. I think the trick, however, is always trying to keep nutrition in mind. Tangerines make good, healthy snacks. Bananas, too - those are filling. But if you really need something less healthy and yet don't want to go overboard, read on.

Before I link this more fully to living here, another, related challenge I have encountered has been trying to adjust my diet in conjunction with my exercising routines. There have been times during the past year when I have wanted to put on muscle. Protein and calcium are important for getting strong.

But how the hell do you know what your body needs when all the nutrition facts are in Japanese?

And what about trying to make sure you're getting enough vitamins and minerals? One thing I frequently miss about life back home, as insignificant as it sounds, is the availability of nutrition labels that provide Percent Daily Value information. Ok, these yogurt raisins have 12.9 g of fat, but what percentage of your daily allowance is that? If you don't know how much fat is okay to eat per day, knowing that you just ate 12.9 g means absolutely nothing to you!

Worry not - I'm here to help. If you care about your daily allowances, you will have to do some arithmetic. Luckily, it's not that difficult. From the Mayo Clinic's website on food and nutrition, here is the first part of what you need to know, condensed into a nifty table (based on a 2,000 calorie diet):

Reference values for nutrition labeling: How much should you get each day?
Nutrient	Amount for adults
Biotin	0.3 milligrams (mg)
Calcium	1,000 mg
Copper	2 mg
Folic acid	0.4 mg
Iron	18 mg
Magnesium	400 mg
Niacin	20 mg
Pantothenic acid	10 mg
Phosphorus	1,000 mg
Protein	50 grams (g)
Riboflavin	1.7 mg
Thiamin	1.5 mg
Vitamin A	5,000 international units (IU)
Vitamin B-12	6 micrograms
Vitamin B-6	2 mg
Vitamin C	60 mg
Vitamin D	400 IU
Vitamin E	30 IU
Zinc	15 mg

Reference values for nutrition labeling: How much should you get each day?
Nutrient	Amount for adults
Total fat	Less than 65 grams (g)
Saturated fat	Less than 20 g
Trans fat	Less than 2 g
Cholesterol	Less than 300 milligrams (mg)
Total carbohydrate	300 g
Fiber	At least 25 g
Sodium	Less than 2,400 mg
Potassium	3,500 mg

Unfortunately International Units (IU), which are used in a couple places, are pretty ambiguous. But then I doubt you're going to be monitoring your Vitamin A intake that closely, so let's move on.

Ok, now that you know you should probably be eating less than 2,400 mg of sodium per day, how do you figure out how much sodium that Men's Pocky has? Well, if you're good at Japanese then you're dismissed. I promise you there's nothing amusing from here on in - just stuff you already know. If you can't read Japanese, or don't know the words for stuff like calories and sodium, here's some nifty information for you!

Calories - エネルギー (enerugi)

Protein - たんぱく質 (tanpaku shitsu)

Fat -脂質 (shi shitsu)

Carbohydrates - 炭水化物 (tansuikabutsu)

Sodium -ナトリウム (natoriumu)

Fiber -繊維質 (seni shitsu)

Sugar - 糖 (tou)

Iron - 鉄 (tetsu)

Vitamin - ﾋﾞﾀﾐﾝ (bitamin)

Those are probably the most important ones to know. If you can read katakana, you should be able to figure out any other nutrients. If you can't read katakana, get studying! I'll leave you with a couple compounds you'll want to know if you're into eating healthy:

全粒粉 - if you find this one on a pack of bread, it indicates whole wheat. Snag that!

脱脂乳 - skim milk. Unless you enjoy drinking cream-like cow juice, I recommend looking for this.

Update: Tim adds - "Don't forget high fructose corn syrup. That crap is in everything 果糖ぶどう糖液糖. But it is usually just the last 2 kanji, 液糖."


Update (1/13/11): I had been thinking about adding this addendum for a while, forgot, and then Orchid at 1000 Things About Japan wrote an entry on labeling information and reminded me.

It's important to pay attention to labeling and serving sizes. As Orchid notes, different products measure serving sizes in different amounts. The amount is noted with the nutrition information, but figuring out the total property values isn't always straightforward.

Above is a blurry photo of a box of Kilimanjaro Blend coffee. The label notes that the values correspond to one juice box (1本), which is 250 ml. Sometimes, though, the information will refer to 100 ml, or 200, or some other arbitrary amount. And the total contents may not be printed clearly on the front of the label. In this case, you must look on the back for 内容量, which means "amount contained." It will usually say something like "内容量: 500 ml."

Also, sugar is not always sugar. In America, I believe labels usually specify how many calories are compose of sugar. In Japan, though, many times you won't see the kanji for sugar (糖 or 砂糖 or 糖類). You may only see 炭水化物, carbohydrates. But if you're eating or drinking something sweet, chances are many or most of those carbs are actually sugar.

Update: 3/9/11 - new post related to nutrition. Beware of vague labeling!