Entertainment

All Posts / Culture / Entertainment — No Comments
12
Aug 11

Radio Taisou: Daily Exercises

Every morning at 6:30, the NHK radio airwaves plays a special tune and encourages residents of Japan everywhere to join together for a special 5-10-minute workout. Communities gather at local parks, employees at offices arrive early to exercise before the work day begins, and kids who get to school early for sports team practice join together to workout. In the summer, schools, parents, and communities encourage young children to head to the local park and participate in the morning exercise. In many areas, a volunteer instructor will stamp a participation card for each morning a kid comes to the session in the summer; if the kids fill up their cards, they get participation prizes.

These morning exercises are called “radio taisou,” or “radio calisthenics.” There’s also an afternoon version that airs at 3:00. Some companies have their workers drop what they’re doing to stand and perform the exercises. There are two kinds of exercises: those for younger, more energetic people and those for everyone else. The basic exercises is mostly a series of stretching routines, a simple “warm up” to get the blood flowing and the mind more alert for the day. At most sites, a volunteer will lead the group in the workout. After many days of repeating the stretches, you may come to remember how to do them yourself.

Radio taisou began in Japan in the 1920s. The Japan Post newspaper and NHK Radio started the project, although they may have been inspired by MetLife’s American radio exercise programs that appeared around the same time. The radio taisou briefly stopped after World War II, when American occupiers thought the masses getting together for a daily workout was too militaristic in nature. However, the program was reworked in the 1950s and focused more on exercise and bonding with co-workers, classmates, and members of the community. They’ve aired consistently since.

See an example of the radio taisou in a park here.

Have you ever participated in radio taisou while in Japan? Do you like the idea of a short daily exercise you do together at work, school, or in the neighborhood? Why or why not?

All Posts / Culture / Entertainment — No Comments
1
Jul 11

Jankenpon: Rock, Paper, Scissors

Since what we know in the West as “Rock, Paper, Scissors” (or “Stone, Paper, Scissors”) was developed in China, it shouldn’t be a surprise to discover that the game exists in many countries around the world. The sheer amount you see the game played in Japan, though, particularly on Japanese TV shows, may surprise you. It helps if you’re familiar with the Japanese take on the game in case you’re ever asked to play. You will see the game played to determine who wins something, like a flip of a coin, or just to pass the time.

In Japan, the game is called “jankenpon” or “janken” for short. The game is usually played for the best of three. The rules are similar to “Rock, Paper, Scissors” in that you make the same fist for “rock,” peace sign for “scissors,” and flat palm for “paper.” Paper still beats rock, rock still beats scissors, and scissors still beats paper. The players begin the game by shaking their fists up and down in tandem three times, revealing their choice of rock, paper, or scissors on the third beat. In Japan, you say “jan” on the first beat, “ken” on the second beat, and “pon” on the third beat.

If the players both throw the same choice and the round is a tie, they say, “Aikou deshou” in three beats (“ai-kou-deshou“) and play again, shaking their fists up and down on each beat and throwing their new choices on the third beat. This means “one more time!” However, you can keep saying it and keep playing again and again no matter how many times you tie thereafter.

Some, but not all, games of “jankenpon” are more complex, particularly when played on Japanese game shows. During this version of the game, the players are seated at a table. On the table is one toy hammer (a plastic collapsible squeaky hammer) and one hardhat. The two players play a round of “jankenpon” but the person who throws the winning choice of rock, paper, or scissors doesn’t necessarily win. Instead, the loser must scramble to grab the hardhat and put it on his head. The winner must grab the toy hammer at the same time. The winner is trying to hit the loser on the head with the toy hammer before he successfully puts on the hardhat. If she does hit him, she wins the round. If the loser puts the hardhat on before the hammer hits the top of his head, no one scores the point and the players go back to playing jankenpon.

Have you ever seen Japanese people play jankenpon, with or without the hammer addition? Would you rather play jankenpon or flip a coin to settle a debate?

All Posts / Culture / Entertainment — No Comments
20
May 11

Nanpa: A Special Kind of Flirting in Japan

Last week we discussed goukon, group dating, in Japan. To continue in the same vein, this week we’ll discuss “nanpa,” sometimes called “nampa.” Nanpa roughly translates to “soft school” but more accurately means “talking to girls.” That “soft school” meaning is a comparison to men who pursue the traditional “hard” studies of academics and sports as opposed to men who’d rather study the art of wooing women.

Nanpa refers to young Japanese men in their teens, twenties, and sometimes thirties who hit on young women in public, usually on the streets where a lot of pedestrians walk. The men tend to dress sleekly in what’s perhaps known as a “metrosexual” look in the West (but this look is far more common and accepted in Japan). The young men who nanpa usually take the “art form” seriously and may shadow a more experienced young man for a time, read up on nanpa techniques, and spend time preparing before he starts hitting on women.

Many women are turned off by nanpa but still others will gladly take a guy up on his offer for coffee, karaoke, or tea. Young women visiting the country should be aware, though, that if ever asked to join a fancily-dressed man on the street for tea, he’s asking you out on a date. Some men may even expect a one-night stand if the date goes well–but that’s not to say that they all do. And, while some nanpa men are enjoying their youth and playing around, still others are looking for “the one,” so a date that goes well may lead to future dates.

In a country in which seriousness is valued and individuality isn’t as important as it may be in the West, nanpa is the art of those “bad boy” rebels, which some women find appealing.

The female equivalent of nanpa–in which women try to pick up men–is gyakunan, although this is far less common in Japan, especially outside of bars and singles clubs. Nevertheless, some men in Japan may find themselves pursued on the streets by go-getter women as well.

Do nanpa and gyakunan sound appealing to you? Why or why not? Would you rather hit on others or be hit on?

All Posts / Culture / Entertainment — 2 Comments
13
May 11

Goukon: Japanese Group Dating

In Japan, a country in which professional matchmaking (called “omiai“) is still a viable method of meeting your fiance(e) (although a much less often used method than in the past), goukon is a popular method of meeting potential boyfriends or girlfriends. Goukon, which roughly translates to “get together party,” is like a group blind date. A single man and a single woman–friends or potential dating partners themselves–will arrange a meeting between a handful of single friends of their gender. (The goukon organizers are of course along for the ride, looking for a match themselves.)

The average group for a goukon may include between four or five people of each gender, although you can find goukon with fewer or more people. However, a total of eight to ten people is big enough to lessen the embarrassment and awkwardness of meeting new people but also small enough to allow these people to get to know one another.

A goukon usually takes place at a public, noisy place like an izakaya (a sort of bar), a location that’s welcoming for conversation over a few drinks. No one is particularly paired with anyone else although there should be an equal number of men and women so no one’s left out. The group is often seated with a man between every woman (placed randomly) so that everyone can get to know potential partners. After a self-introduction to the entire group, the individuals may focus more on getting to know the people next to them.

The groups of men and women may take frequent breaks to pull each other aside and discuss whom they find the most attractive and personable; they may also text each other during the meeting to share their thoughts without the others knowing. The people in the goukan can ask for phone numbers or e-mail addresses of the people who sparked their interest (if polite, they may want to mask which man or woman they’re particularly interested in and ask for everyone’s phone number and e-mail) and may get to know each other better later. They can also ask each other to help arrange a new goukan with some new people swapped into the group.

Have you ever been on a group date? Would you prefer a group date to a blind date where it’s just one-on-one? Why or why not?

All Posts / Culture / Entertainment — 2 Comments
1
Apr 11

Japanese Host and Hostess Clubs

If you’re familiar with geisha culture–and not the Western stereotype that a geisha is a Japanese prostitute–you know that formally entertaining a guest is an integral part of Japanese culture. There’s a proper Japanese way to interact with guests and your host even in a casual or business setting. The geisha culture is similar to basic Japanese host-guest interactions but is somewhat set apart because guests pay for the hosting ability of the geisha. The aim of the geisha is to make her (paying) guest feel special and doted upon, even if she’s never met the guest before.

While the geisha still exist in small numbers, the more prevalent modern example of hosting of this type is the hostess club or the host club. The goal of a hostess or host club is somewhat similar to that of the geisha. The guests at these establishments pay the club and select a host or hostess (or two or three) to entertain them. The host or hostess puts aside his or her own feelings and makes the guest feel loved and lavish attention on them. They engage in conversations that appeal to the guests and they may even pour alcohol, much like a geisha would.

However, the geisha is a nationally cherished Japanese performer and is often an expert in a traditional Japanese art. She also wears an elaborate traditional costume. Modern hosts and hostesses dress up–sometimes in a thematic outfit, depending on the establishment, but usually in stylish eveningwear–but they only receive basic training from the establishment. While geisha can train for years as teenagers and go on to entertain their whole lives, hosts and hostesses normally only look at the job as a way to earn pretty good money. Most hosts and hostesses are between the ages of 18 and 25 and are asked to retire from the profession after that. They need to be attractive as well. Geisha are beautiful in their own way, but being a stunning beauty is not absolutely required.

Another great difference is the host club. While the hostess club is somewhat more reminiscent of the traditional geisha culture, in that women are paid to entertain male guests, host clubs are just the opposite: male hosts being paid to entertain female guests.

Attending a host or hostess club can be pricey, so be prepared to spend the equivalent of hundreds of dollars–mostly on drinks, but there may be a minimum charge. The hosts or hostesses will continue throughout the night to encourage you to spend more money at the clubs, so be cautious. The more money you spend, the more attention you’ll get.

Have you ever been to a host or hostess club? Would attending such a club interest you? Why or why not?

All Posts / Culture / Entertainment — No Comments
4
Feb 11

The Japanese Love Hotel

Valentine’s Day is approaching and chances are, the love hotels in Japan will experience an increase in business. The Japanese love hotel (actually called “rabu hoteru,” the Japanese pronunciation of the English words “love” and “hotel”) is somewhat of a uniquely Japanese cultural phenomenon for adults.

Because the metropolitan areas of Japan are especially crowded, space is limited and many apartment buildings have thin walls that can make privacy a little difficult to come by. Living with family–which is much more culturally accepted for young adults before marriage in Japan than it is in Western countries–can also complicate trying to have sexual relations with a partner. In order to have some privacy, many couples look to have their sexual encounters at love hotels. (Of course, there are people having affairs and illicit encounters that turn to love hotels as well, but the majority of customers are couples in need of privacy.)

Love hotels are different than regular hotels in that they specifically cater to people having sex and giving couples privacy. Many of these hotels have no windows and discrete entrances so that couples don’t have to worry about being seen. They often also don’t have anyone manning the front desk (but they may). Instead, couples select a room via a computer screen and deposit the room key card on their way out in order to verify that they’ve left. Couples can also often purchase sex toys and costumes via vending machines.

Many of the love hotel rooms are themed to add to the excitement. Themes can include fetishes and may also include pop culture references like anime characters or even Hello Kitty. Some theme rooms don’t resemble bedrooms at all and recreate an entire scenario, like a bad student in detention after school with a teacher, an encounter on a train car, or a nurse providing a checkup for a patient.

Love hotels are not intended for long stays. After usually 10 pm, couples may choose to pay for an overnight stay. However, they may come to the hotel at any time and stay for a shorter period (called a “rest” stay) from anywhere between one and three hours. Rates vary by hotel, but a “rest” could cost around ¥2800 to ¥4500 (~US$34 to $55) and an overnight “stay” could cost about ¥7500 to ¥12,000 (~US$92 to $147).  Leaving the hotel  before you’ve finished with your stay is usually discouraged.

All Posts / Culture / Customs / Entertainment — No Comments
24
Dec 10

Japanese New Year Games

Our coverage of the the Japanese New Year celebration continues. This week we’re going to talk about traditional New Year’s games that children (and sometimes adults) play with each other during the holiday. The tradition of playing these games on New Year’s is quite old. While fewer children are interested in traditional games in the modern era, you’ll still find many participating in the custom of playing these games during the New Year holiday.

Fukuwarai (“lucky laugh”): This game is somewhat like Pin the Tail on the Donkey, although a human face is used. Blindfolded, children must take the shapes for eyes, ears, mouth, nose (and sometimes eyebrows, mustache, etc.) and try to properly place them on an outline of a face. Unlike Pin the Tail on the Donkey, this is traditionally performed sitting down with the face on a table and every participant gets his or her own face to make. Once finished, all of the participants remove their blindfolds and laugh at all of the faces, sometimes (in good humor) saying who in the family each face resembles.

Hanetsuki (“shuttle passing”): This game is often called Japanese badminton. It’s similar to badminton except that there is no net and the two players simply try to pass the shuttle (called hane) back and forth. The hane also looks different from a Western shuttle and is usually a very small round ball with feathers attached. The paddles, called hagoita, are ornately decorated in traditional Japanese style. Some people even collect these paddles without using them.

Sugoroku (“two sixes”): A board game that’s existed for over a thousand years, sugoroku is another traditional New Year’s game to play. A bit similar to backgammon, you roll a die and advance across the board. There’s a simpler version that’s popular with children that’s closer to Snakes & Ladders.

Karuta (“cards”): Playing a traditional Japanese card game is another common activity around New Year’s. However, karuta is not like the card games you tend to think of. Instead, cards are arranged face up on a surface. Each card has something on it–a vocabulary word, lines of a poem, pictures–and the goal of the game is to find the right card and grab it before the other people playing do. Someone directing the game will call out whatever he or she wants you to choose (reading the first few lines of a poem and asking you to complete the poem, saying a vocabulary word in one language and asking you to find it in another, etc.) and it’s up to the other players to find the right card. This is a great game for learning vocabulary words.

All Posts / Culture / Entertainment — No Comments
17
Dec 10

Kouhaku Uta Gassen: Red and White Song Battle

Now we’re going to switch our focus over the next few weeks to New Year’s celebrations in Japan, as the New Year is a much more important holiday in Japanese culture than Christmas. For the basics of the New Year celebration, read more here. We’ll look at a few fun specifics of the holiday celebration over the next few weeks.

Since 1951, an annual entertainment tradition has become a part of the Japanese culture on New Year’s Eve. First broadcast on radio for a couple of years, the Kouhaku Uta Gassen (“Red and White Song Battle”), often called the Kouhaku for short, has been aired on TV since 1953. A live-broadcast singing competition, the Kouhaku now lasts about four hours and ends shortly before midnight, allowing for the more typical TV countdowns when it reaches the midnight hour.

The Kouhaku is a showdown between singers. Not at all for amateur singers, the annual competition extends private invitations to popular or upcoming Japanese pop and rock singers as well as classic enka singers. It’s considered a great honor in the music industry to secure a position in the competition, as it can either propel your career or validate your position as a current hot commodity in the industry. Decades ago, as many as 81% of the population tuned in to watch this event. These days, the percentage of people watching may be as low as 30% to 40%, but that’s still extremely high in terms of television ratings, so the event is an annual cultural spectacle.

The competition features musical performances by the invited guests split into two teams. The red team (akagumi) consists of all female performers and the white team (shirogumi) consists of all male performers. (If there are groups or bands with male and female performers, their team membership is determined by the gender of the lead singer.) There are ten judges from a variety of fields to offer commentary and vote on the winning team, but the audience in the venue can vote as well. Like American Idol, some viewers at home are allowed to vote and help determine the winning team, but the home voters must be subscribers to a certain digital broadcasting service.

One more note on the program–sometimes the fashions, makeup, hairstyles and dancing routines can cause as much fervor as the actual singing! Since the performance is broadcast live, some last-minute costume changes sneak by the program’s directors (a somewhat common ploy when singers want to wear risque or outrageous outfits).

You can see some clips from a Kouhaku here.

What do you think of the Kouhaku? What would you compare it to in your country? Would you like to see an all-stars performance of popular singers from your country?

All Posts / Culture / Entertainment — No Comments
19
Nov 10

The Japanese Game/Variety Show

“Japanese game shows,” perhaps more accurately referred to as Japanese variety shows, are fairly famous around the world as a genre. Known for their over-the-top wackiness, Japanese variety shows have inspired spin-offs in other countries, such as America’s I Survived a Japanese Game Show, as well as parodies in popular programming like The Simpsons. Of course, an outsider’s view of the genre can be a little warped, as some of the parodies make the variety shows seem even more wacky than they are, but the fact is that a Japanese variety show can be pretty strange to a person not accustomed to the genre.

Most Japanese variety shows combine a series of quizzes, musical performances, stunts, pranks, and comedy routines. They may have Japanese celebrity guests who do more than just answer a few questions and put on a performance–they can participate in all the stunts and quizzes as well. The stunts can range from physical challenges to eating food to designing underwear. There’s always something new and bizarre awaiting those who tune in.

The Japanese variety show may also be known for its over-the-top costumes and set designs. Perhaps more over-the-top than costumes and set designs are actually the actions of the host(s) and guests on the show. Japanese humor relies largely on physical humor and zany expressions, perhaps somewhat like Jim Carrey humor during his height of popularity in the 1990s. So when Japanese variety shows are trying to get a laugh, the host(s) and guests can do some pretty strange-seeming things to someone who’s not into physical humor.

Perhaps the most popular Japanese variety show is Waratte Iitomo! (“It’s Okay to Laugh!”), which has been on air with new episodes five days a week since 1982. Japanese comedian Tamori (real name Morita Kazuyoshi) has been the host the entire time and has even earned accolades in the 2003 Guinness Book of World Records for having hosted 5000 episodes of the show.

Here are a few examples of Japanese variety shows:

Waratte Iitomo

Eggs

Have you ever watched any Japanese variety shows? Did you like them or find them odd (or both)? Do they remind you of any shows from your own country?

All Posts / Culture / Entertainment — 1 Comment
24
Sep 10

Playing Pachinko: How Illegal Gambling Is Legal in Japan

In Japan, gambling for money is illegal nationwide. Nevertheless, somewhere between 40 to 50 million people gamble on occasion–and 30 million of those people are regular gamblers. They gamble in large groups in licensed parlors that together employ roughly 300,000 people across the country. The gamblers win money–or perhaps more often, they lose money–just as anyone does at any casino. And Japanese lawmakers are perfectly aware of these parlors.

Welcome to the world of pachinko. There are about 13,000 pachinko parlors in Japan, where you’ll find dozens of pachinko machines crammed closely together. Pachinko is somewhat similar to a vertical pinball game in that the aim is for the player to try and control where a small steel ball goes using a series of levers. (Some machines can process up to 100 balls per minute!) Balls that fall all the way down are lost; balls that can be maneuvered into special holes can win the player bonus steel balls. Older machines were typically mechanical and most newer ones are digital. The game ends either when the player has lost all of his or her steel balls or the player decides to “cash out” and return trays of steel balls to the prize counter.

Players start with a number of balls that cost about ¥4 (roughly US 4¢) each; they typically buy them in amounts of no less than ¥1000 (~US$10) at a go, so they can start with around 250 balls. Payout is usually the same (¥4 per ball) or slightly less and if you’ve managed to increase the number of steel balls in your possession, you can make more money back than your initial investment. However, here’s where the pachinko parlors skirt the law so that they’re actually legal establishments.

Within the pachinko parlor, you can exchange your trays of steel balls for non-cash prizes, such as cigarette lighters, stationery items or even more expensive items (if you’ve won a lot of balls), such as computers and other electronics and even electric scooters and bikes. “Gambling” for non-cash prizes is legal in Japan. However, most regular customers will instead opt for nondescript tokens as their prizes. That’s because they know that if they take these tokens outside of the parlor to a small window usually around the corner or a small distance away, they can exchange those tokens for cash. These windows are of course usually operated by the owners of the parlor (who else would be interested in buying parlor tokens?) but because the gamblers win tokens, not cash, within the parlor and step outside to exchange the tokens for money, pachinko parlors are not breaking the law.

Children aren’t technically allowed in pachinko parlors because many parlors serve alcohol and allow smoking, although you may find some children who have snuck in with their parents or grandparents. Don’t let the sometimes cute designs on the pachinko machines (such as anime and Hello Kitty designs) fool you! These designs are aimed at adults because animation and “cute” is more acceptable for adults to enjoy in Japan.

Have you ever been to a pachinko parlor? Did you find the game fun? What do you think of this brazen sidestepping of the law?

*Photo by Michael Maggs, Wikimedia Commons*

← Older Entries