News Sushi #69: Morsels of News from Japan and Beyond
News Sushi #69 And we keep serving News Sushi!
Editor Note:It is Friday and that means it is time for the World Famous, soon to be Intergalactic Famous, News Sushi from our very own, Hamish Downie. Hamish brings us a decidedly different slant on Pop Culture as viewed through the lens of a non-native living in Japan.
Thank you Hamish, for your insights.
The G20 has finally gone. Thank goodness. I’m not debating the usefulness or otherwise of the summit, as countless commentators have done every year in the newspapers (just put “G20 useless” into a search engine as see what pops up over the last ten years). What has me saying “Bye Felicia” to the summit is the fact that we’ve had Police and security cameras crawling all over the city like a fascist big brother state – causing delays both large and small scale (although, delaying me crossing the street when I’m hungry and needing to go to the supermarket does feel LARGE SCALE to ME!). So, goodbye and good riddance to the G20 in Osaka.
I also had a great time this past weekend meeting my old English Teacher from High School and his partner… but, I was too caught up in the moment and forgot to capture the kodak moment. So, if you’re one of those people who demand pictures or it didn’t happen… I guess this didn’t happen.
I haven’t done this in a while, but, DJ OzYBOY… spin that new record for me!
Jellyfish or Alien?
Former News Sushi interviewee Clancy Mason was with her dog Molly on the beach recently when she found this THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD!!!!!
Berlin-based Fritz Schumann, who does visual journalism, is perhaps most well known for covering Japan. Recently he created this beautiful documentary on mountain monks in Japan:
Mountain Monks from Fritz Schumann on Vimeo.
Sleep stations
Over to other parts of Asia, sleep cafes have recently become a thing. The following is a Sleep cafe in Korea, which strives to make Japan look like a country that doesn’t like hard work (when Japan is the country that coined the word for working to death – Karōshi (過労死))…
These cocoon-like massage chairs, are the sleep stations.
I can’t really say anything, as I’ve been taking siestas very often these days (I think it’s the heat). Over to Thailand, where the sleep cafe has a towel that looks like poop (sorry, not sorry)
Now in Tokyo, we are in the throws of summer with warm nights, and sleep becomes a long forgotten dream (a survey said that people in Japan sleep the least in June and July), sleep stations are opening here. Some companies are even encouraging sleeping on the job! All in the name of improving productivity.
Nestle Japan has opened the Suimin Cafe in the heart of Tokyo near Oimachi Station. Naps come at 750 yen a pop.
For more information: https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Life/Japan-wakes-up-to-the-benefits-of-napping-on-the-job
Osaka gets permanent Pokemon Cafe
On the topic of cafes, Osaka gets a permanent Pokemon cafe. I’ll leave it up to you whether this is a good thing or not.
Osaka Gets Permanent Pokémon Cafe in September https://t.co/kRe30bRby0
— Hamish Downie (@hamishdownie) June 13, 2019
Kagura Theater opens in Osaka
An exclusive theater opened near JR Nanba Station here to promote the traditional performing art of “kagura” (sacred Shinto music and dance) at home and abroad.
For more info: http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201906140005.html
HOT link of the week
And that’s all for this bumper week!
