I've talked briefly about Crane/Claw Games before in other posts, but now is the time for a post dedicated entirely to it. It's as good a time as any considering I'm still nearly a month out from my Christmas travel plans and nothing interesting is going on since students are doing exams. Crane/Claw/Catcher/'whatever you want to call them' Games are widespread in Japan. Unlike many other places in the world where arcades were one of the casualties of the 90's, Japan still has a large number of them in operation. Make no mistake, they have been in decline. COVID was especially rough for these places, as you would imagine. That said, you can still find stuff like Street Fighter, Time Crisis, Dance Dance Revolution, and other such cabinets in many cities. There are light gun games, driving, music/rhythm (very popular here), Gundam (where you sit in an actual cockpit configuration), and even cabinets that let you operate trains (once again, Japan loves trains). The large chain arcades have been more resilient than the small ones, mainly due to operating out of high traffic areas like malls and train stations. This attracts more families, which branches out the customer base to include people outside the traditional gamer clientele. They have also been able to better expand their revenue streams by including both video games and prize games in the same area. The Prize Games in particular are something I have become hooked on since I got here. Claw machines and their many many variants are a ton of fun. The prizes available also don't suck, which is a better incentive for a chronic junk collector like me. We're not talking about those machines you remember in the entranceway of Zellers that were 25 cents to play and you could maybe win like a sticker or a bouncy ball or something. The machines here in Japan have a lot of cool options to discover and try for. Granted, they also do have the cheap machines where you can win a sticker or a bouncy ball or something. There’s simply a greater variety to them than only those kinds of games. There are many different types of games and prizes to be won. The cost to play usually ranges from as low as ¥10 ($0.10) to as high as ¥500 ($5.00). The normal amount, however, is between ¥100 ($1.00) and ¥200 ($2.00). These prices tend to coincide a bit with skill levels, as well. Cheaper games are usually more popular with young children and the elderly, allowing them to win small prizes with relative ease. The symbol in the middle, a green and yellow chevron with a black outline, is a symbol for “Beginner” or “Learner” in Japan. It is called a “shoshinsha mark” (初心者マーク). They are most frequently seen on cars to signify novice drivers. There is also one for elderly drivers, but I will discuss these in a separate post. Aside from the usual assortment of anime figures and stuffed toys, you can also find machines with stuff like chips, chocolates, keychains, mini-humidifiers, towels, hoodies, shirts, perfume, backpacks, and the list goes on. If you follow my posts, you will already be familiar with the weirdly realistic looking Chicken Nugget keychains I got on my last Tokyo visit, but I have also seen stuff like a keychain that is just a keyboard key that you can click, a “lost key detector” tag, 2kg bag of Quinoa, and- …whatever the hell this is. Not convinced I want to find out, to be honest. Anyway, the point is that there is a massive selection of prizes. New prizes are regularly swapped in as well, so there tends to be something new each time you go. Speaking of going, you don't even have to do that anymore if you don't want to. There are a couple of options for playing these prizes games online as well. Companies like SEGA, Konami, Tokyo Catch, and Taito have online sites and phone apps that let you play the claw machine games remotely. If you win a prize, they ship it directly to you. There are some that have options for worldwide shipping, but many of them just ship within Japan. The plus side is that this (domestic) shipping is typically free. Personally, the online versions of these games don't interest me very much. I loaded ¥2,000 ($19 CAD) on Konami's site to try things out and get some pictures for my article/post, which will probably be the only money I ever spend on remote-play machines. It's just not the same through a computer. I find it more exciting to actually be in the arcades to physically interact with the machines. “Did you manage to actually win anything with that $20?" you might ask. Surprisingly, yes. The only two games I tried using the money I added to my account were the 3-prong claw variety. I’m not a fan of these types, as they are typically based entirely on luck. How they work is that there is something, in this case a stuffed toy, that serves as the "dummy prize". This just stands in for the prize you are actually playing for. Grabbing these dummy prizes is normally very easy. Actually getting them to the prize drop is where luck takes over. As you would expect, the grip strength of the claw is controlled by the machine's computer. In other words, it's preprogrammed to only deliver a win every so often. This is my main problem with them. There is no strategy or control involved; the machine is going to decide if you win or not, regardless of what you do. It all boils down to how much money you are willing to throw in hoping for the jackpot to trigger. Simply put, you are just doing traditional gambling. There is little difference between this and a slot machine. You have a very minimal level of input from the player that ultimately makes no difference to their chances of winning. The only reason I played this type is because the first prize was a sunk-cost fallacy. In for a penny, in for a pound, as they say. The second prize was because I was watching other people try and fail, curious to see how much someone would be willing to spend on the prize in question. When they cleared out, I decided to toss ¥200 in to see what would happen. The results: Out of the ¥2,000 I added, I took 13 tries to get a Slifer the Sky Dragon figure from the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. Considering the figure is about 10 inches tall and nicely detailed, I consider that a pretty good score for the equivalent of $13. The second prize, where I watched other people as they tried and failed, was won on a single ¥200 play. Basically, the last person left in the queue had given up immediately before the machine decided "all right, time to let somebody win." What was the prize? KFC Chicken Sandwich, medium drink, and small fries’ coupon. Yes, I won a future dinner for the equivalent of $1.88 Canadian. How much does that meal deal cost to actually buy from KFC? $7. I consider that a win. My other 5 attempts were on a Metal Gear Solid floor mat that the machine gods at Konami deemed me unworthy of being blessed with. Perhaps they recognized that they had already given me a lucky draw and that was as much as I should expect for the day. As I said before, I prefer the ones where you can actually use strategy and rudimentary knowledge of physics to win instead of relying on pure luck. The 2-prong claws are my personal favourites. They come in a few different layouts, but the basic idea is that you use the claw to move the prize and cause it to drop from its perch. One of the most common type you will see is the one above. It consists of two parallel bars with the prize (usually in the form of a box) sitting across them. You need to get the box to slip between the bars in order to win it. During my first Tokyo trip, I talked about how you need to avoid going straight for the grab on these machines. The claw’s grip will rarely, if ever, be strong enough to actually lift the prize. Instead, you should be using the claw to push, nudge, flip, or otherwise shift the prize’s position as efficiently as possible. These games are more about the setup. You need to be willing to put a few dollars in to do the necessary preparation work, as opposed to trying to get it in a single go. Alternatively, you can stalk the aisles (or website, I guess) in the hopes of finding a prize that someone else has already been messing with but gave up on, allowing you to swoop in for the final touch. As a note, if you are playing these games in the arcade, or even on the website, for a popular prize, then expect to have people carefully watching over your shoulder, literally or figuratively. They are studying you to see if you position the prize in an advantageous way before giving up. You may notice them quietly wander off if it looks like you have secured the prize, or if you have screwed it up so badly that it’s basically unsalvageable. Whether you can tell the difference between the two situations will come down to experience. They are plenty of other styles of prize games, many of which I have yet to get the opportunity to try. Some of these can be won with skill, others are just as luck dependant as the 3-prong claw I mentioned above. The cool thing about all of them, however, is that they are the result of arcades constantly seeking to develop new and interesting ideas to attract attention. It keeps things fresh and exciting, even if not all of them work out as intended. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to check out a major prize arcade to potentially visit when I go on my New Year travels.

While my time in Japan is very quiet at the moment, the students are having the opposite problem with the onset of third-term examinations. High-school students have examinations every three months in Japan, at least in Akita anyway. These exams run for a week and cover all the major subjects. There is no immediate break for the students, either. After exams have wrapped up, it's back to classes for at least another two weeks. Only then will they get to enjoy the sweet taste of winter vacation. Vacation is also something I am looking forward to, as I have major travel plans. The lull in blog posts will therefore soon be over, thankfully.

Since my order of the Blu-Ray collection of Seasons 1 and 2 of a particular game show is finally getting ready to ship, I thought I would talk about it a little bit. It includes a bit of information on a famous film studio lot here in Japan. Over in the top left corner of Yokohama (south-west of Tokyo) is the Aoba Ward. Located here is a place called Midoriyama Studio City. Midoriyama Studios is a television studio owned by TBS Holdings (Tokyo Broadcasting System). It contains a massive set lot, golf range, filming and photography studios, makeup/dressing rooms, and production/set piece material storage. The original studio was purchased by the Tokyo Broadcasting System with the intention to move there and use it as their headquarters. That didn't pan out, mainly because it was too far away for many performers and workers. Instead TBS made it a production studio. Many popular TV shows, dramas, game shows, commercials, and movies have been filmed here. Many of these are Japan-only, but some streaming series may be familiar to people elsewhere in the world, such as the Netflix series Alice in Borderland . It is also the location where the obstacle course show SASUKE is filmed (now known as Ninja Warrior . American Ninja Warrior also used this set for the first three seasons, I believe). It's an interesting place, but unfortunately one that is not open to the public, for somewhat obvious reasons. This is basically as much as I am able to see. The property is fenced off and is surrounded by trees in most places. Now, why would I want to see (part of) what is normally an empty dirt lot and some nondescript buildings? Well, Midoriyama Studios is where a certain famous game show was filmed. From 1986 to 1990, the original Takeshi's Castle was filmed at Midoriyama Studios. Starring Japanese comedian and actor Beat Takeshi (Takeshi Kitano), the game show involved people trying to fight their way through insane challenges in order to reach Takeshi in his castle. Although you may not have heard of this game show, you have probably experienced its influence in shows like Wipeout , Ninja Warrior , Fear Factor , Squid Game , and video games like Fall Guys . For others, like myself, you likely encountered it airing on SpikeTV between 2003 and 2007 as Paul Abeyta, Peter Kaikko, and Larry Strawther took the footage of the game show and made a somewhat raunchy English comedy dub called MXC: Most Extreme Elimination Challenge. This is what I grew up with during my teenaged years. I absolutely love this show. While the original game show is certainly a classic, the liberties that they took in transforming it into somehow more of a comedy series is amazing. I'm not sure what the opinion of it is from the perspective of Japanese people, but I loved it. I also think it still holds up, which is why I immediately put in an order for the Blu-Ray release of Seasons 1 and 2 (and half of 3) that was announced a few months ago by Discotek media. I will be sure to grab the second set as well, should it happen. So even though I can only see a tiny part of the filming studio, it was still something I wanted to see, both for the cultural significance of Takeshi's Castle and the fond memories of MXC .

Waking up and wandering around the apartment this morning, I heard some sounds from outside that motivated me to write up a post on the idea of child independence in Japan. The sound that I heard was the jingling of bells from somewhere on a nearby street. The first thought that may come to mind for many people is that it was a cat. The little jingling bells on their collars act as a warning for birds and other animals that domesticated cats love to hunt for sport. That was not the case in this instance. Instead, the sound of bells were likely coming from a young child on their way to school. The thing that will likely stand out about this to many parents in the West, however, is that the child is almost assuredly by themselves. I'll be using stock photography for this post, for obvious reasons. The police here in Japan would likely have some questions for a foreigner walking around taking pictures of children. Not sure the language barrier would contribute towards clearing up any misconceptions, either. Something that quickly becomes a common sight if you spend time in Japan is that of little kids wandering around on their own. This happens in large cities and small towns. Usually they are on their way to school, but sometimes they are simply running around for fun or to do errands. For parents in a lot of developed countries, this is probably horrifying. It seems like every 20 or 30 years there is a new child abduction scare in places like the United States. As sensationalist media becomes more and more accessible in our lives, parents are likely getting more and more hysterical about the idea of their children being left unattended somewhere. There are a few developed countries, however, where this is not the case. In places like Japan and Finland, the idea of kids having a high degree of independence is still prevalent. About two years ago, there was a series on Netflix that briefly gained notoriety called "Old Enough!" This is the English translation of a long-running Japanese series called "Hajimete no Otsukai", which means "My First Errand!" The show has been airing since the early 90s. The show follows young children as they go about running their first errand, such as buying groceries. In Japan, the idea of children gaining independence is widespread. Children often walk, ride their bike, and take buses or trains to school entirely on their own. While the scenarios shown in "Old Enough!" tend to be extreme examples, such as a 3 year-old going out to buy cabbage or something, there is some truth to the idea. Generally, kids are free to traverse familiar routes and places by themselves without it causing a national panic and calls for the parents to be arrested for negligence. There are a few reasons for this attitude. Japanese cities and towns are designed to be very easily walkable... This was the street I walked down when I was headed to Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine during Culture Day. 2-way street, traveled by city buses, no sidewalk, and with light poles that passing vehicles come within inches of. ...well, mostly. I have definitely experienced my share of roads around here which would make me question the validity of that assertion. For the most part, however, the streets are easy to navigate. Vehicle speeds in Japan are also lower, so the cars don't tend to go as fast as other countries. Vehicles tend to be much smaller as well. In fact, some of the most common vehicles would probably struggle to break 110km/h. That should give you an idea of the philosophy on cars over here. Another reason for this approach is Japan's low rate of crime. Cultural attitudes also encourage people to report anything that stands out, so "suspicious people" will find themselves likely being monitored by any number of local residents, with police not far out of reach. A common joke in anime and manga, albeit possibly on the darker side, is a character speaking to a child or otherwise young character and it being considered suspicious, with someone immediately calling the police or having an officer suddenly appear from nowhere. This extends to the home as well, with kids often returning to an empty home if their parents are still at work when school gets out. That said, it is more common for parents to arrange after-school activities or cram school for children so that they are not home alone. Something else you may notice is that these kids, or at least the younger ones, will often be wearing yellow hats. This is to help them be more visible to traffic and also signal to adults to be on the lookout for them if they are in need of help. As for the bells I mentioned at the beginning of the post? It serves as a useful signal to others that children are moving through the area. Perhaps more importantly, bells have a cultural significance in Japan, with the belief that they offer protection and ward off evil.

There are only 153 days left until the start of the 2025 World Expo, which takes place in Osaka, Japan. I already have my season pass purchased for the event. All that's left is to wait until the school schedule for 2025 is released so I can plan out what days to attend. For those that do not know, which I'm learning is actually a surprising number of people, the World Expo is a major international exhibition that takes place every 5 years which showcases cultural and technological developments or projects. Each one has a unifying theme. For example, the first one was held in London in 1851 and was called the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations. Included in the exhibits were the Koh-i-noor (largest diamond at the time), the Colt Navy revolver, and the precursor to the fax machine. The World Expo used to happen much more frequently, but since Expo 2000 in Hannover, Germany it has been scheduled for every 5 years (with the exception of 2020, which took place in 2022 in Dubai, UAE because of the pandemic). The last one to take place in Canada was Expo '67 in Montreal, Quebec. This is where the precursor to IMAX made its initial debut, invented by Canadians. They would later show off an improved version at the 1970 World Expo in Osaka. Which loops us back around to the topic at hand. The 2025 World Expo in Osaka, Japan will start on April 13th and run until October 13th. The theme this year is Designing Future Society for Our Lives. This is split into three categories: Saving Lives, Empowering Lives, and Connecting Lives. Technologies that will likely be on display are robotics, environmental, vaccines, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality. Canada's pavilion is based on icebergs, with the theme being Regeneration. The pavilions from different countries are prime attractions, as they typically have very outlandish designs. Private companies will also have pavilions set up, with Bandai Namco doing a Gundam pavilion centered on connecting people through Gundam and looking to the future. It is definitely something worth experiencing, as you never know what kind of technology or development or showcase you will run into next. My current list of pavilions to see includes Canada, Japan, Germany, Portugal, Oman, Bandai Namco, and Panasonic. Finally, for those of you wondering what that strange creature is in the first image, that would be the Expo 2025 mascot: Myaku-Myaku. The red parts are meant to be cells, while the blue part is water. The name means "pulse", which refers to the pulse of life.

Since it was the last long weekend before the long dry spell that leads up to the New Year holidays, I decided to make a quick hop back to Tokyo to look at a few more places that I had wanted to see. The weather was unfortunately not great on Saturday, but I was there, so I had to make the push to go out. The first place I went to was GiGO in Akihabara. GiGO is a chain of arcades and this is one of the more famous locations. It is filled with crane games across its many floors. Very easy to spend a bunch of money here, since there are a variety of prizes to try for. The downside is that the cost of playing is higher than the location I mentioned in my post about Gundam Base Tokyo. Most games here tend to run ¥200 a play ($2) instead of ¥100. There are still some cheap games, though, such as this one that has chicken nugget chains. French fry ones are sitting right next to it. Make sure not to accidentally try and eat them. After leaving, I made my way over to this unassuming building. This place is called Popondetta. I mentioned before that Japan loves trains and they love models. Well, this place has both of those covered. The building has five floors of model trains and diorama pieces. B1F - Used stuff and overseas products. GF - A buyback counter for people to sell their stuff. Also sells starter sets. 1F - Test track diorama that can be rented out. 2F - Collections, rails, and diorama pieces like buses and buildings and stuff. 3F - New stuff from Japanese manufacturers and some more used stuff. It may be a good idea to stop by during the slow hours, however. The place is pretty cramped and it can be difficult to look around if there are more than a handful of people. This is kind of the common theme with Tokyo stores in general. Space is kind of a premium in such a massive city. Finally, I went to check out the Pokémon Centre at Sunshine City Mall in Ikebukuro. Just like in the rest of the world, Pokémon is massively popular here. This is actually just one store out of several that take up a good portion of the second floor. They have separate stores devoted to Pokémon Unite, Pokémon Go!, Pokémon Trading Card Game, and the Pokémon anime series. Unfortunately, this is the only picture I could get. I arrived at busiest time of day, so the place was absolutely blocked solid with people. It was difficult to even get to things you know you wanted, let alone take the time to actually peruse. I did manage to get a few cool things for myself, though. I also nabbed a special something for a certain little buddy of mine that I had the opportunity to visit again... Bob took a crap on the floor, pounced on the plush, and then carried it up to his perch in the corner. I suppose that means he likes it.

Today (Nov. 3rd) is Culture Day in Japan. It's a national holiday to promote the arts, culture, and academic success. As such, today is the day I shift away from shopping trips and Tokyo to focus more on cultural and historical locations. To that end, I traveled to Saitama today to visit the Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine. It is a Shinto shrine dedicated to dedicated to the spirits of 5 gods: Susanoo-no-Mikoto (Husband) Kushinadahime (Wife) Onamuchino-mikoto (Son) Ashinaduchi no mikoto and Tenaduchi no mikoto (Parents of Kushinadahime) Before entering the shrine, make sure to bow before the gate. I've heard that men should cross the threshold of the gate with their left foot first, while women start with their right. This may only be in the case of weddings, though. Nonetheless, I made sure to put the best foot forward. After entering, stop by the little fountains on the side and purify your hands by pouring water over them. There are wooden cups on sticks that you use to do so. In some shrines, you may simply need to cup the water in your hands. Inside, there are a few things to do and see, mainly related to receiving blessings and good fortune. -People expecting children come here to pray for a safe delivery and healthy child. -Those who have just had a child will bring them here to give thanks for a safe delivery. This is called the First Visit (as in, the child's first visit to the shrine). -Shinto weddings are also held here. The reason for all of this is that two of the enshrined gods are married, so they signify good luck in marriage and love. Since the son and the grandparents are also enshrined, it is also a place that signifies good fortunes in family. As such, it is a popular location for the visitation reasons listed above. So, the question is why would I travel 2 hours all the way out to Saitama for this specific shrine? There are many shrines in Tokyo (an estimated 1,500) after all. It would be no problem to find one much closer to the city center where I was staying. Well, in addition to the things listed above, this shrine is also known as one of the premier matchmaking shrines, due to Susanoo-no-Mikoto and his wife Kushinadahime being honoured there. I'll be honest, at this point only divine intervention could possibly help me in that regard, hence my desperate little pilgrimage. First, a fortune. You make an offering of coins and use a little fishing stick to snag a little papier-mâché fish. Red and Gold for business or general life fortunes, white and pink for love. Each one has a little fortune slip inside. The result? Actually good, at least for the love one. General luck was aggressively average, unfortunately, but hey, at least it wasn't bad luck. Yes, it is possible at some shrines to get a bad fortune. It's not one of those feel-good "everyone's a winner to some extent" type of things. One of the specific fortunes listed for me was that overseas travel will bring great luck, which is about as good a fortune as I could ask for, really. I'm pretty much as overseas as you can possibly get right now. After this, I stopped at the stall to purchase some good luck charms. These are called Omamori (御守). They are amulets for good luck and protection. They are made from silk and contain a small piece of paper or wood that has prayers written on them. DO NOT OPEN THEM. If the Omamori are opened, then they are said to lose their protective or luck qualities (you have essentially released the prayers contained within, so they are no longer with you). The purple one on the left is specifically an amulet for good fortune in academics. I am in the process of earning another bachelor's degree and am currently taking courses online towards that end, so I got one of these to hopefully assist me along the way. I currently have it hanging from my laptop at the school office, which is where I do most of my school work. I also got a random charm from one of the boxes set up by the nearby fortune fish. This is called a Magatama. Used decoratively in ancient Japan (way back in BCE), they took on more ceremonial purposes as the CE ages approached. There are many interpretations of the meaning of magatama, from representing animal teeth, to a fetus, to souls. This one is used as a talisman, with different colours representing different kinds of fortune. According to the paper you see above, the colours are: -Blue = Bond with coworkers -Pink = Bond of lovers -White = Family relationships -Orange = Friendship -Purple = Success/Victory -Light blue = Connections to academic studies -Green = Relationship with health -Yellow = Money Mine was green, so hopefully that will mean good health. You are told to always carry it with you, so I have mine in my wallet. Next, I got an ema (絵馬) plaque. This is a wooden tablet with a picture on the front. In Shintoism, you write your wish on the back of it, then tie it up in a special location at the shrine so that the spirits and gods will receive it. Eventually, the tablets will be burned in a ceremonial ritual which releases the wishes from the person (the idea being that the gods have already received your wishes during the time the ema were hanging there). The practice stems from the historical donation of horses to a shrine in order to earn good favour. This eventually shifted to wooden plaques with just a picture of a horse on it, seeing as how horses are a little impractical for randomly gifting. The large one is for hanging while the little one is a souvenir to take home. For mine, I wrote the kanji for Love and Bloom, so... yeah. Let's see if anyone up there can work a miracle. I then walked down the small pathway where the thousands of other ema are tied up. You can see from some of the others that people may write lengthy wishes. Given the limited Japanese I know, I could only manage the two kanji. It is important to note, however, that the intention and sincerity of the wish are what is important. It would have been acceptable to write a more verbose wish in English, but I felt like I should at least try to use Japanese, seeing as how I'm here. Do as the Romans do, in other words. I also wrote my name, where I am from, and the date of my visit. Last stop for me was to make a wish at the shrine. You start by offering some money to the box. After that, straighten your back, bow twice, clap twice, pray, then bow again. Finally, make sure you bow once more to the main shrine as you are leaving the area. This is the large Torii gate on the other side of the shrine. Torii gates are very common in Japan and are often featured prominently whenever Japan is depicted. That said, many Asian countries use gates to symbolize sacred places, so it is not limited to only Japan. Torii gates mark the spot where you transition from the normal world to the sacred world. The one at Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine is about 15-metres tall, which is on the large size. The largest in Japan, however, is over 33m tall.

Today is Halloween, even in Japan. You likely won't see many people out and about, however. That struck me as a bit strange, but there is a simple reason for it. Japan does love costumes and dressing up. There is a widespread hobby called "cosplay" (costume + play) where people dress up as their favourite characters from manga, anime, comics, movies, and video games. There are contests and conventions devoted to this across the country. There are also many cafés you can go to where young women and young men serve you in maid-inspired costumes (Maid Cafés) or butlers (Butler Cafe). Despite that, the only parties or parades you will likely find for Halloween are in major hotspots like Shibuya or Roppongi Hills in Tokyo. Why is that? The main reason is fairly simple if you know Japanese society. Japan typically looks down on things which disrupt public order or inconvenience others. While people at home may be accustomed to roaming gangs of children knocking on doors during this day, that would be considered extremely disrupting in Japan. Given Japan's notoriously brutal work culture, it's understandable that people would not want to be disturbed at home after getting back from a long day, or having people fooling around in flamboyant costumes on the train/bus-ride home (where many Japanese people try and get some sleep in). Thus, Halloween has not caught on here the same way it has in many other places around the world. As such, I felt obligated to go full-tilt with it while giving presentations on it during classes today. Pretty embarrassing for me, but the students had fun gawking at least. They also got some candy.

A news story that tends to make the rounds every so often is about how Japan has so many vacant homes that it is giving them away for free to anyone that will take them. Sounds too good to be true, right? Obviously. That said, there is a kernel of truth to extremely affordable housing in Japan that has a number of explanations. First, an example of "too good to be true." The "free" houses you may hear about whenever there is a slow news cycle are pretty much what you would expect in terms of quality. Many of them are in dying towns or communities with little in the way of job prospects. They can be in rough shape, ranging from simply being old structures... to looking like a leftover set piece from a Scooby-Doo ghost town. These buildings are 'akiya' (空き家) [ah-key-ya], which simply means 'vacant house'. Akiya have become an increasing problem for Japan, which is why you hear about them being either sold for a song or outright given away for free. Typically what happens is that young people will have an elderly family member that passes away and leaves them or the family their house. Because the house may be in an area that is less desirable to move to than their current location, the family may wind up having no use for it. Another reason may be that the homeowner is forced to move away for some reason, either medical, professional, or economical, and thus leave behind their empty house. Now, the very first things that comes to mind for many of you is "Why don't they sell it?", "Why is that an increasing problem?", and "Why would you ever have to try and give away a house for literally nothing?" All of those questions can be generally answered by one problem that Japan has been facing for some time: population. Like many places in the world, Japan is dealing with a demographic crunch. Their population has been skewing steadily older for a long time. The median age in Japan is currently 50 years old. This is higher than even Newfoundland and Labrador (45.5 years old). Birthrates are also way down, with the fertility rate currently sitting at 1.20 as of 2023 (about on par with Newfoundland and Labrador's). For those who are unaware, a fertility rate of roughly 2.1 is needed to maintain a stable population. So what does all that mean in stark terms? From National Institute of Population and Social Security Research Japan. Basically, Japan is currently going through a net loss of about 800,000 people a year. It's current population is about 123 million. In 35 years, current projections put Japan's population at 93 million. It's not only birthrate that is causing this problem. The only country where Japanese is the main language... is Japan. It is also an island country. These are major barriers to immigration, with only 3.16 million foreigners living in Japan permanently (less than 3% of the population). All of that is a very long-winded way of saying that Japan has far more housing than it needs, with the supply still rapidly growing. Now, even with that in mind, some of you may still be of the opinion that giving away a house for free is extreme. There may be an abundance of supply, but there is also still some demand. That may be true, but who would want to buy the (likely) worthless house that you are offering? Japan uses a 'scrap-and-build' approach to housing. Basically, houses are typically good for about 30 years, at which point you tear it down and build anew. This is done for a few reasons, such as frequently updated building codes, advances in design and materials that resist disasters (especially earthquakes), and the fact that houses in Japan are not treated as assets. In Japan, the land itself is what builds value. Houses suffer depreciation, the same way a vehicle would. By the time the house hits 20-30 years, it has pretty much depreciated to worthlessness. So no matter how good the house might be, if it is sitting on a bad piece of land then you likely won't get anyone interested in buying it. In Japan, a bad piece of land is basically anything outside of a city, which is where the young people are flocking to for work, much like in every other developed country right now. That said, there are still good deals to be found on account of oversupply and Japanese attitude towards housing (it being more of a disposable thing rather than a long-term investment). Would I buy this beauty, built around 1990, extensively renovated in 2022, sitting on about 4000sqft of land that is 5 minutes from a train station and in a city of about 75,000 in Japan's fifth-largest prefecture? Yes. Yes I would. Oh, what's that? Japanese houses tend not to be as well insulated as in the West, so they can be a little drafty in the winter? Oh, well I guess that could be something of a dealbreaker... Give it to me now and find a way to shrink it so it fits in my luggage.

Something interesting about schools in this region of the world is the concept of students cleaning their school. I will primarily be talking about Japan here, but other countries such as Malaysia, India, South Korea, and Philippines do this as well to varying degrees. Only a stock photo this time. Again, it is difficult to get pictures from Yuri High School due to privacy restrictions. Although there will sometimes be a groundskeeper who may do some light cleaning, the students themselves are largely responsible for cleaning up at the end of each day. This includes going through the teacher's office to collect trash and sweep. Janitors are uncommon in Japanese schools for this reasons, unlike in many Western countries where they are a fixture. As I mentioned in the last post on uniform changeover, Japan has a collectivist culture. As such, students doing daily cleaning is meant to teach them responsibility for public spaces. Since they all use the facilities, they should all be doing their part to maintain them. Although it does not happen at Yuri High School, there are schools where school lunch is served by the students as well. These things are actually part of the official educational curriculum. An example of a day at Elementary School from an English-language guide produced by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). The included sections show times set aside for students to clean their classrooms and the process for them serving lunches. Generally, older students tend to bring their own lunches, so you don't see that part play out much once kids hit High Schools, which is why I have not seen it myself. Now, this may seem amazing for parents and teachers back home. I'm sure many of you are probably wishing that kids today were forced to do this as part of their education. After all, it does teach good values like cooperation and social responsibility, while also developing useful life skills like food handling and basic sanitation. It has helped to foster the idea of cleanliness in Japan that many foreigners like to comment on when visiting. Here's the part where I burst the bubble a little bit. While there are certainly benefits to this approach, there are also drawbacks. For one thing, the lack of janitors and cleaners means fewer entry-level job opportunities. At the moment, this is not a concern for Japan specifically because of the ongoing demographic crisis. It is, however, something to consider for other countries who have implemented it or wish to try. There can also be a big difference in the quality of what you are getting. Keep in mind that these are kids we are talking about. Kids that are typically between the ages of 8-17. Kids between the ages of 8-17 who are being forced to do something . You are just asking for trouble. Kids don't want to be cleaning things. They want to be out of school and doing club activities, hanging out with friends, sleeping, checking social media, playing video games, and yes, even studying. Even 15 minutes out of their day is too much to ask for some of them. You get what you pay for, essentially. If you pay nothing, then expect nothing. From what I have observed, the students here at Yuri High School do a good job with these duties, but that isn't the case everywhere. There are horror stories online from other teachers that talk about students at schools who get "cleaning" done with as little effort and time as possible. This can involve such genius ideas as simply blasting toilets and urinals with a hose or even lobbing buckets of water at them and letting all the water just dry where it lands, then considering that a job well done. Here at Yuri High School, there is a mix between the two. Yuri HS has a groundskeeper/maintenance person who does certain spot cleaning while time permits. As I type this, he is actually just outside the teacher's office squeegeeing the windows that look out into the courtyard. This provides an important additional layer of sanitation in the event of student slacking or goofing off. The students getting involved in cleaning is good, but you should still be supplementing that with more professional cleaning by people who know what they are doing and have some kind of incentive to do a competent job. Finally, there is a slight danger of hyper-focusing on the group dynamic. When you push society to do everything as a group, or with the collective as the primary focus, then you risk stifling individuality. It's kind of like the opposite of hyper-focusing on individualism, where you risk creating people who cannot work as part of a group, as well as fomenting a "screw you, got mine" mentality. So, "all things in moderation" is probably the best approach here.

With Autumn in full swing, the time has come for students to switch to their Winter school uniforms. (L) Girls in Spring/Summer uniforms. (R) Girls and boys in Fall/Winter uniforms. As of this past Monday (Oct. 21), the Winter uniforms were mandatory. From the beginning of October, however, students were able to choose between Winter and Summer styles based on comfort and weather. The main difference in style between the seasons is the darker colours and addition of a blazer, sweater, or jacket. The boys usually add a tie, while the girls add a bow or ribbon (also stockings). Most high schools in Japan still mandate school uniforms for students. These uniforms vary slightly in style between schools, typically in terms of colour combinations and accessories. Compare the uniforms of Yuri High School above to those of Masuda High School in Yokote, Akita below. Japan has a collectivist culture, which encourages valuing the needs of a community or group over the needs of the individual. As such, school uniforms serve as a way to instill a sense of community in students, as well as represent their youth. I mentioned in a previous post that Japan romanticizes youth and considers it a very important time. The most popular style of uniform is the セーラー 服 (say-rah-fu-ku), which refers to Sailor Uniform. 服 - fuku - Clothing 制服 - Seifuku (say-fu-ku) = Uniform セーラー - Sera (say-rah) = Sailor This style caught on during the 1920s and was based on the uniforms of the British Royal Navy. The style had already become a fashion trend in Europe during the Victorian era of England. Although the uniforms are normally based on sex, with boys wearing pants and girls wearing skirts, there has been a massive increase since 2019 in the number of schools that allow students to pick their uniforms. Many female students may prefer to wear pants as part of their uniform, for example. The reasons include being warmer during the fall and winter and making it easier to ride their bikes. Thus, students have achieved a little more freedom in their daily dress. How strict this dress code is will vary from school to school and usually comes down to whatever students can get away with as they seek to add some personality to their uniforms. They do this by adding small accessories, moving or hiding badges and emblems, removing ribbons or ties, rolling up sleeves, and making skirts longer or shorter. Some schools may let that stuff slide, while others will crack down on it to maintain conformity. So if you have ever seen any Japanese media set in modern times before, this is the reason why you might see so many characters all dressed in a similar way. Characters from Sailor Moon, showing how school uniforms vary slightly based on school or grade.

The Kamikiri (髪切り) [kah-me-key-ree], meaning "hair-cutter", is a Yōkai that does exactly what its name implies, although not in the sense of a barber or hair stylist. Kamikiri secretly cut the hair off of people's heads. In some cases, the hair is specifically mentioned as being the strands that are tied up with a motoyui (元結). Both men and women wore these strings to tie their hair at the time this Yōkai first started getting mentioned. If you have ever seen old samurai movies or depictions, you may see the men with a topknot (a little bit of hair tied up that sticks up or out from the back of their head). Often, people would not notice their hair was cut until later. There are a few possible origins for this Yōkai. The most obvious one that many of you may be thinking is that it came about as a way to explain sudden hair loss, which can have a bunch of different root causes (stress, illnesses, genetics, etc.) that medical science at the time was likely not advanced enough to understand or figure out. Other possible origins include troublemakers playing pranks and weirdos with a hair fetish (women were often the target of this). One possible explanation, although not with much evidence, is that it came about from marketing tactics. The idea was that wig shops were running around snipping hair off in order to drive up business. There were also side businesses created by the Kamikiri in the form of charms and talismans that were said to be able to ward them off. From the 1737 picture scroll called Hyakkai Zukan ("Illustrated Volume of a Hundred Demons").