Too much of a good thing

Yes, it is possible to have too much of a good thing, even when that good thing is Japan. A good buddy of mine introduced me to this website and article. This guy has lived in Japan long enough to see the ugly side. It happened to myself, but I've always tried to give Japan the benefit of the doubt or blame my own ignorance. This particular article provides an unfiltered rant on some real issues that one might come across on a regular basis. He brings up some good points, though I don't have nearly as big of an issue with smoking as he does. But as for smoking at 'toddler-eyeball-burning height' - I think I've actually seen a warning sign that shows a kid getting his face burned. He is correct in that virtually EVERY video game console in an arcade has an ash tray on it. Its interesting to note here that I have yet to see someone steal one of those ash trays.

I was surprised to hear about another vegetarian in Japan, and I completely sympathize with this guy. You can try to avoid meat in Japan, but its a 25 hour a day job. Japan still equates meat to 'genki' - a feeling of energy and vitality. This is akin to the 50's motto of 'eat your red meat, its good for you', which is obviously retarded. I've had numerous experiences like his bacon salad adventure. I usually try to give Japan the benefit of the doubt and figure that Niku (meat) is used to describe the big hunks of meat, not the minced stuff that finds its way in to everything. Big chunks or not, its still meat.

The 'screaming is the message' section was particularly hilarious. Many a time I found myself getting some melon-pan (oh so delicious) at a conbini, standing right next to someone restocking the shelves. Then out of nowhere some incoherent shout caused by Japanese turrets scares the crap out of me, and then silence. Does this guy need help? Should I be calling 119? (Now you know how to call the ambulance in case of an emergency!)

Though everything he says is a little spiteful and a tad overly sarcastic, its fact. I'm so glad to hear that Japanese TV bugs someone else as much as me. I just thought I was spoiled by one of the few things America actually does well.

If you get sick of hearing how awesome Japan is, check out more stuff from Tim

Break me off a piece of that soy sauce bar!

This is a follow up to a post I've already made. I've already mentioned some of the fantastic flavors that Japan has to offer such as ketchup and mayonnaise Pringles, but I seemed to have left some amazing flavors out.
Here is a review of some of the odd Kit Kat flavors Japan sells. I've only had the privilege of trying about half of these. Royal milk tea was quite good, but you have to be a fan of milk tea already. The green tea was very good too but I'm not sure why. The bitterness of the green tea plus the sweetness of the chocolate just went really well. I'm a little disappointed they didn't review the 'apple' flavor, cause I'm sure the comments would have read something like
"better than chrystal meth!", or something along those lines. I didn't know what true happiness was until I found apple Kit Kats.

My lady friend claims that the Soy Sauce flavor is pretty decent, just a bit salty. Apparently salty flavors are popular in Japan lately. I hope Japan isn't growing out of the corn mayonnaise phase!!! I haven't tried it yet, but I would recommend dipping the corn flavored Kit Kat in mayonnaise....I can't see how that could be bad.

Herbivores

Check this out. Its an interesting article about how more Japanese kids are becoming less motivated and men are becoming less manly. This is another article that focuses on men in particular. They call these unmotivated, more effeminate men 'herbivores'. Before I continue, let me just say that find calling feminine men 'herbivores' a bit offensive - especially considering that all human beings are herbivores. Nah, I'm not really offended, but I'm pretty sure that name was picked to be offensive.

Japanese kids are supposed becoming less motivated to find a good job or even study abroad. The men are supposedly becoming less motivated to go through the motions of dating and finding a wife. There must be a problem there because I've seen Japanese women and any guy who wouldn't want to date them is obviously sick....or gay, which is a valid excuse. I've heard many reasons for this trend. Reasons such as no war makes it unnecessary for men to prove their manliness or people are just not motivated to work 14 hour days for the rest of their life, can you blame them?? In defense of the Japanese kids, the survey conducted in the first article to show this trend was a little cheesy.

I feel like this trend has been occurring everywhere, but in Japan (a country very resistant to any kind of change) this kind of change is considered a step back and very scary.