The end.

Last day of the year.

What do we do? Well, we have to clean up. It's the tradition here in Japan to clean the house from top to toe, so that's what we've spent all afternoon doing.

Tonight? Well, there's Kouhaku, also known as the Red and White Singing Contest. Imagine all the major and quite a few minor singers from your country all on the same show. They're divided into two teams; red for girls, white for guys - don't know the colour symbolism there. Then each 'artist' has one song to impress the judges, namely the audience, who vote with coloured balls. It's the 56th one this year and it's a little weird... actually it's quite the train wreck of a show. I enjoy it for all the wrong reasons.

You also don't have much choice. Two stations here have fights on - K-1 and Pride, both of which I'd rather NOT watch. There's Beat Takashi, doing what he describes as "the same crap we do every year". There's pop concerts and documentaries from the stations who decide they can't compete with the others.

Why watch TV on New Year's Eve? Well, there aint much else to do in Japan! It's too friggin' cold for partying outdoors in the true Aussie style (like my New Year's last year) and if you want to go to a club, you have to duke it out in Osaka which is too far away and I can't be bothered with the bullshit of clubbing anymore. Much better to stay at home, drink a beer, eat some soba (traditional end of year food) and sushi and watch the singers do their thing.

At least we'll have the midnight storming of the shrines to look forward, but I haven't decided yet if I'll go tonight or tomorrow... stay tuned I guess!

Holidays!

At last! Nine days off with nothing to do except do a bit of cleaning and get my stuff together for the new year. Expect lots of movie watching and relaxing... nice.

Japan, being what it is, is quite a sentimental country in the most unexpected ways sometimes. The extraordinary popularity of a sport like Figure Skating is incredible. For example, the recent Japan National Figure Skating Championships - which were broadcast on primetime TV here - garnered a ratings figure of 33.7%! That really means that one third of all TVs in Japan were tuned to a single show - about 45 million people! So a wide range of people must be watching it too, not the niche markets that figure skating would reach in Australia. A brief sweep of the sports pages in the (English speaking) Japanese media reveals that skating is certainly the most popular sport of the moment - not to mention that lots of pictures of the skaters are being posted.

Why? Well there is the fact that figure skating represents one of Japan's best hopes for a medal at the upcoming Olympics in Italy. You also have to consider the country's obsessions with beauty and 'kawaii' - the cute factor. These little girls (and one fella) are certainly not hard to look at, and they don't wear a lot on the ice, so a nation of young girls and women, not to mention the older women and quite likely the pervs will all be locked in watching the fortunes of these skaters next year. A lot has been written about Japan's obsessions with beauty and 'cute' and I'll certainly be doing my thing, since it's everywhere, and one of the things that definitely defines Japan.

As for me? I don't expect to be watching much of it unless there is absolutely nothing else on the telly! Personally, I'm hanging out for the playoffs!
But, as for the Winter Olympics... the luge gets my vote for watching. How anyone can hurtle themselves down an icy tube wearing next to nothing is beyond me... insane!

Another shot from today. This time from the middle of the main street at lunchtime. Most of the snow had melted but you can still see a bit on the castle. 

Waiting for the bus today.... I have NEVER seen snow like this in my LIFE! It took 50 minutes to travel what usually takes 15.... nearly missed the start of work too. 

Starting things off. What's it like on a train in Japan in the early morning? Pretty quiet sometimes, if you're lucky. This was snapped on a train that was deserted, save for the lone umbrella.  

Welcome

Yes, it's the new version of the old version.

The old version can be read here

You're reading the new version, so there you have it!

It's literally freezing cold today - and it looks like it's gonna snow! I may have to run outside and play in it for a bit. I have Sin City lined up to watch, I have snacks, I have a delivery of a 'More Cowbell' t-shirt coming.... life is good!