From Hollywood A-Lister to Tire Salesman

One of the many amusing things about Japan is seeing hip Hollywood actors doing commercials that they could never get away with in the US. Andre Agassi's famous "image is everything" definitely has a different meaning here. Especially considering the huge sums of money that Hollywood A-Lister's get for promotions and appearances in Japan.

In 2006 I was living in Tokyo. There were enormous, two-story tall posters all over the city of Richard Gere promoting a men's product. I mean who does he think he is? Baseball great, Hideki Matsui?

Here is Nicolas Cage in funny ads promoting Pachinko, a slot machine-like gambling game:

In my wife's hometown - and we'll assume everywhere else in Japan - former heartthrob and Oscar nominated actor Leonardo DiCaprio is selling Ecopia's "environmentally friendly" tires at gas service stations.

In the US would his image survive being plastered on gas stations nationwide, even if related to an eco-product? And would anyone want to buy a tire from the star of Titanic?

Japanese Hot Springs Etiquette 101

For about 10 days now I have been staying at my mother-in-law's house. The home was built just after WWII and is considered kind of old for Japan. It is traditional style. There are sliding doors, tatami mat floors, a landscaped garden, and it is very difficult to maintain. We sit on the floor to eat, sleep on a thin futon mattress on the floor and shower....

Well, actually there is no shower. For some reason my mother-in-law does not want to fix it. This means that when we want to bathe we take a short walk to the local onsen (hot spring). My wife, Mika, like almost all Japanese people, is crazy for hot springs. I don't know how many trips we made in Colorado looking for hot, bubbling mineral water coming up from the ground. I think soaking is okay and can be very relaxing, but I do miss my 3 minute shower.

And unlike the privacy of your bathroom, when you are entering an area with many naked Japanese strangers there is always proper etiquette to follow:

1. 1. Wash your body clean before entering the tub (see above photo)
   2. No jumping in
   3. Don't put your towel in the tub
   4. Dry off completely before reentering the changing area

The Unwritten Rules:
1. Use your towel to cover your privates while walking around from tub to tub (see #3 above).
2. No talking. There aren't sports, politics or benign conversation about the weather. Everyone is very silent.
3. No Tattoos. Japanese still associate ink body art with Yakuza (Japanese mafia). We have a Japanese friend in Denver who has a small fashion tattoo on her back. She went to her hometown onsen in Japan, and they told her that she had to leave. She returned the next day with a bandage covering the offending tattoo.
4. No peeing in the onsen.

Hey Matsumoto-jō

Coming to Japan I said that there were three things I wanted to do: spend some days in Tokyo, hike up Mt. Fuji and visit Matsumoto-jō. Matsumoto is a bit out of the way if you do not happen to be in Nagano Prefecture, but I recommend it for anyone visiting Japan.

So we leave Hotaka and return to Matsumoto city to seek out Matsumoto-jo. Matsumoto Castle is Japan’s oldest existing castle and stands almost exactly as it was originally built over 400 years ago.

We pass the ticket booth(¥600)at the south entrance, go through a heavy wooden gate and enter the castle grounds to get our first clear view of Matsumoto. The black and white, building stands elegantly alone surrounded by a small lake and manicured garden.

It’s only once inside Matsumoto that you realize this was a military structure. The massive wood beams and pillars, small windows, steep stairs almost perpendicular to the floor, and wide hallways so that fully-armored samurai could run around were all built as defensive measures. Anyone who has seen an epic Japanese film can appreciate why one would want to do as much as possible to keep out hordes of angry enemy samurai.

We All Scream for Wasabi Ice Cream!

After five days in Mika’s sleepy hometown and five nights of jetlag (up around 5AM every morning) we decide to make an excursion to Matsumoto to see Japan’s oldest standing castle. After the 1hr. bus ride we decide to continue on by train another 25 minutes to Hotaka. From Hotaka station it is another 20 minutes by bicycle past rice fields with the Japanese Alps as our backdrop when we finally arrive at Daio Wasabi Farm, the country’s largest grower of the famous root also known as Japanese horseradish. Wasabi is most commonly used as a paste with sushi.

The short walk over and around the wasabi plants is beautiful. The black canopies shading the short green plants stretches on and on. A stream of pure mountain water running adjacent to the plants is used for irrigation. What is noticeably lacking here, however, is any in depth information about the actual process of growing wasabi.

It seems like the whole purpose of opening this farm to the public is to sell wasabi-based food products. And it works, as evidenced by the bus load of excited junior high students who headed straight for the wasabi ice cream stand and then moped around the farm bored for the rest of their visit. Overall, there are about six shops and two restaurants selling products like fresh
wasabi roots, wasabi juice, wasabi miso paste, wasabi crackers, wasabi beer, etc., etc..

One other small highlight of the farm are the creaky wooden water wheels. Movie buffs will recognize these from Akira Kurosawa’s film, “Dreams.”

A: Ina-city (Mika's hometown) B: Hotaka


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