Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

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An angel to watch over me

It was reported in the The Daily Yomiuri over the weekend, that Saitama Prefecture (just north of Tokyo) will begin hiring the services of The Guardian Angels this year.

Last year’s arrest rate in Saitama was a measly 14.4%. And with 200,000,000 Yen (1,000,000 Pounds) in its general security account budget, the local government seems intent on spending a large chunk of that on The Guardian Angles.

Now feel free to call me naïve, but wouldn’t the money be better spent on increasing the number of police officers, and giving them better training? Surely that would make more sense.

But whether it is the right decision or not, we all know Japan isn’t that dangerous. And with this in mind, it has been rumoured that Saitama will be looking to hire more experienced Guardian Angels. Amongst them wily old veterans such as Edna and Humphrey pictured below.

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Perks of the job

“Prostitution has become an accepted part of company trips. In some areas of China and Thailand, companies appoint people to find prostitutes for their trips.”

This is a quote from travel agent Yuji Ishida concerning Japanese company trips abroad.

After a 3 day orgy involving hundreds of Japanese guests in a Chinese hotel last year, such kinds of corporate perks are making a lot of headlines.

It would be interesting to see how imaginative these businessmen are when they have to put in their claims for travel expenses. I don’t think that hospitality would quite cover it!

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Asking for trouble

I’ve always been a beer drinker, but in a desperate attempt to slow down the ever-increasing size of my stomach, I’ve recently started drinking wine. So on a recent visit to Ginza, I had a look in the rather fancy wine shop Enoteca.

The shop contains all manner of wines, which unfortunately mean little or nothing to me. But one bottle in particular caught my eye. Lying in a wooden box dangerously near the door, was a bottle of wine with the hefty price tag of 130,000 Yen (675 Pounds). No cover, no chain, no security at all. It was just there, begging to be stole purchased.

Can you imagine that in any other country? I don’t know whether the owners are either very trusting or very foolish, but in a bid to teach them the error of their ways, I had no choice but to steal it.

No, only joking.

Or am I?

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Some unattended wine in Enoteca last week

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Mildly amusing Japanese-English #4

Hole-in-one

If this was used on the golf course it wouldn’t be amusing at all, but when you hear it chanted in a football stadium, it does have a certain novelty value.

I’m not sure if it’s a chant used by all Japanese football fans, as I only go and watch FC Tokyo, but every game I’ve been to it’s been sung (shouted?) at least once. Yet despite my best efforts, I still can’t work out its meaning. No event on the pitch as far as I’m concerned has warranted a cry of hole-in-one. Nor do I ever expect one to.

Admittedly I could find out by simply asking somebody, but then the mystery would be gone. And quite possibly the amusement factor too. Because not only is the chant entertaining in itself, but it is often accompanied by fans making an “O” shape with their arms. The “O” presumably depicting a hole.

Work that one out.