OTAMESHI CAFE





The other day, I was watching TV news and heard a
new word 'Otameshi Cafe'.  'Otameshi' means 'Trial'. 

Trial Cafe?  What is that









It is a cafe with something you can 'try' and have a
cup of coffee or light meal.

First, they introduced a cafe opened in April 
in Shinjuku.  The name of the cafe is "chair cafe".

When you enter this cafe, there are only tables, no chairs!
Then you find a good rang of chairs displayed near the wall.

You can try any chairs and choose the one you feel comfortable
to sit on.  Then order your drink, have a nice break.
If you really like the chair, you can purchase it!

There are some interesting designs such as antiques in 1930's and
the other one is transparent so it looks you are floating in the air!


chair cafe
Shinjuku Park Tower 1F.
3-7-1, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Tel: 03-5909-0910
Hours: 8am - 6pm
http://www.shinjukuparktower.com/chaircafe/ (Japanese)
http://www.shinjukuparktower.com/access/e_index.html 
(Shinjuku Park Tower Access - English)






Next cafe is "ATIC" in Omotesando.
You will find price tags on tables or even lightings.
It must feel like you are having a cup of tea in a hardware store.

ATIC
b6 Jingumae B1F.
6-28-6, Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Tel: 03-5464-7351
Hours: 11am - 9pm
http://adal.co.jp/atic.html (Japanese)
Map











The last shop on TV was called "Architect Cafe".
This is very interesting.  It's like a large showroom
with living area, kitchen, Tatami room, study room,
bathroom, and even has a meeting room. 
There is a food court in the middle of those showrooms.

You can use the meeting room for real meetings,
and in a bathroom, you can have a foot-bath.

Any goods in the showroom such as computers and
kitchen items are all for sale.


ARCHITECT CAFE
Comodio Shiodome
2-14-1, Higashi-Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Tel: 03-5733-4231
Hours: 10am - 11pm (Mon. - Sat.)
            10am - 10pm (Sun. & public holiday)
http://www.architectcafe.com/ (Japanese)  










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SPECIAL NEWS!!

Summer Sale is on at Tokyo Lease Corporation Showroom!

Italsofa, beautiful Italian style sofa sets are now 20% - 30% off.
















Please check their web-site to find other great items too!!
http://www.furniture-rental-tokyo.com/


Tokyo Lease Corporation / Azabu Interior
1-9-7, Azabudai, Minato-ku, Tokyo (Map)
Tel: 03-3585-5801
Hours:  9am - 6pm (Mon. - Fri.)
            10am - 6pm (Sat. & Holidays)
                   *Closed on Sundays









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FIREWORKS (HANABI) FESTIVAL
IN TOKYO & YOKOHAMA  2007





Fireworks were brought to Japan by the Portuguese in the
latter half of the 16th Century.  In the Edo period,
fireworks specialty firms such as Kagiya and Tamaya were
founded, and many skyrockets were made.
The famous Sumida River Fireworks Display in Tokyo
has been held since the Edo period.

Fireworks displays and events are held various places
in Japan throughout the year not only on summer nights. 
Japanese pyrotechnics are very famous all over the world
and even were used to light up Olympic ceremonies.










15th of July, Sunday

Yokohama Bay Memorial Minato Festival
The 52^nd International Fireworks Festival
Over water in front of Yamashita Koen Park
19:30~20:40
Place: Aka Renga (Red Brick)Park, Yamashita Park,
           Rinkou (Harbor) Park
Access: Every stations on JR Negishi Line or
             Minato-Mirai Lines.
6,000 displays


26th of July, Thursday

The 29^th Adachi Fireworks Festival
19:15~20:45
Place: Arakawa River Area
Access: 15 min. from Kitasenju Station
12,000 displays


28th of July, Saturday

The 30^th Sumida Fireworks Festival
19:10~20:30 (Opening attraction starts from 18:15)
Area 1: 15 min. walk from Asakusa Station
             North Exit on Tobu-Isezaki Line or
             15 min. walk from Asakusa Station Exit 5
             on Ginza Line/Toei Asakusa Line.
Area 2:  5 min. walk from Asakusa Station
             Exit A2 on Toei Asakusa Line, or
             5 min. walk from Kuramae Station Exit A7
22,000 displays

*Please note:
For Sumida Fireworks Festival 2007, if it's cancelled
by bad weather it won't be rescheduled to the
next day due to the Upper House Election Day
on the 29th of July.  It won't be rescheduled to any
other day for this year.  

Hachioji Fireworks Festival
19:00~20:30
Place: Hachioji Shimin Kyujo
Access: 15 min. walk from Yamada Station on 
             Keio-Takao Line
             15 min. walk from Nishi-Hachioji Station on
             JR Line.
3,500 displays


1st of August, Wednesday

The 22^nd Kanagawa Newspaper Fireworks Festival
19:15~20:30
Place: Over water opposite to the Yokohama
       Minato-Mirai 21 Bldg. Rinko Park
Access: 15 min. walk from Yokohama Station East Exit
             or Sakuragicho Station on JR Line, or
             10 min. walk from Minato-Mirai Station
             on Minato-Mirai Line.
8,000 displays


4th of August, Saturday

'Exciting Fireworks 2007'
The 32^nd Edogawa & The 23^rd Ichikawa Fireworks Festival
This festival is held around Edogawa river area.
In first 5 seconds, about 1,000 rounds of fireworks will be
displayed from 10 different locations in
Edogawa side (Tokyo) and Ichikawa-shi side (Chiba)
at the same time.
19:15~20:30
Place: Edogawa River Area
Access: 15 min. walk from Shinozaki Station on
             Toei Shinjuku Line.
14,000 displays


2007 Yokosuka Kaikoku Fireworks Festival
19:30~20:10
Place: Umikaze Park, Mikasa Park
Access: 15 min. from Yokosuka Chuo Station East Exit
             on Keihin-Kyuko Honsen Line, or 15 min. from
             Yokosuka Station on JR Yokosuka Line.
10,000 displays


11th of August, Saturday

The 20^th Tokyo Bay Fireworks Festival
19:00~20:20
Place: Harumi Event Area (Harumi Athletic Field
           5-9, Harumi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo)
Access: 15 min. walk from Kachidoki Station
             on Toei Oedo Line, or 20 min. walk from
             Toyosu Station on Yurakucho Line.
12,000 displays


16th of August, Thursday

Jingu-Gaien Fireworks Festival
19:30~20:30 *Must purchase tickets to enter each venue.
Place: 4 different Parks in Gaien
-Jingu Kyujo Ballpark
-National Kasumigaoka Athletic Field
-Chichibu-no-miya Rugby Field
-Soft-Ball Park
Access: Sendagaya Station or Shinanomachi Station on
            JR Sobu Line; Gaienmae Station,
            Aoyama 1-chome Station, or Omotesando Station
            on Subways; and Kokuritsu Kyogijyo Station
            on Toei Oedo Line.
10,000 displays










*In case of bad weather, fireworks will be rescheduled to the next day.
*Details may change without any notice.  


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BASIC JAPANESE CONVERSATION 6

There are some special words you should remember
when you are invited to someone's house.

First, when you are entering someone's house,
you should say; 'Ojama shimasu', which  means
'I hope I'm not bothering you.'

(Jama=bother, interruption)

Then, dinner starts.

Before you start eating, you should say;
'Itadaki masu', means 'let's eat'.

After you finish eating, you should say;
'Gochiso-sama deshita', means 'I've enjoyed the meal'.

(Gochiso=treat)










After the dinner, you are about to go home.

When you leave, you should say;
'Ojama shimashita'. 
Literal translation is 'Sorry to have bothered you',
but it's more like 'Thank you for letting me in your place.'


And when you get home, you should say;
'Tadaima.' - I'm home!

Tolls for expressways and payments

Tolls for Japanese expressways are the most expensive
in the world.

For example, when you go to Nagoya from Tokyo by driving
ordinary car, you have to pay toll of 7,800 yen.
From Tokyo to Osaka, it's 11,600 yen.

Payments will be made either by cash, or by credit cards without
limitation of amount, or ETC below.
You can use the following cards for payments:
Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB, Nicos, and Diners Club.


ETC Process
ETC=Electronic Toll Collection






If your car's ETC system activated, you can go through the
blue 'ETC only' gate.  If your car doesn't have ETC system
or you wish to pay cash or by credit card, please go to the
green gate.  Some gates have the sign like above right 
'ETC(blue) / OTHER(green)', you can go through this gate
with or without ETC system.


1. Application for ETC card to credit card companies
2. Acquire ETC card from credit card company.
3. Purchase and installation of ETC device.  It costs about
    30,000 yen - 40,000 yen.
4. You can start to use ETC on expressways.

*Late night discount, early morning discount or mileage 
 discount are available in selected areas.  Please contact
  East Nippon Expressway Company Ltd for more information. 
  http://www.e-nexco.co.jp/ (Japanese)

Metropolitan Expressway Company Ltd.


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Sacred Fuji, 3,776 meters high, is not only Japan’s
tallest mountain, but has been cherished by the
Japanese since antiquity for its beauty as well.

Mt. Fuji is indeed an appropriate symbol of Japan.
On the border between Shizuoka and Yamanashi
prefectures, its handsome form can be seen from
Tokyo in winter when the air is clear.

Mt. Fuji is a volcano.  Its symmetrical cone was formed
by eruptions repeated over tens of thousands of years.
Although it has been dormant for the past 300 years,
a future eruption is said to be inevitable.

Since ancient times, fear of Mt. Fuji’s eruptions has gone
hand in hand with veneration.
From the middle ages on, belief in Mt. Fuji spread, and
Asama shrines dedicated to the mountain deity were
erected in various regions.  Lodgings were built on the
mountain in the Edo period, and people climbed it with
fellow-members of religious associations.
Thus the tourist practice of climbing Mt. Fuji today
originates in a religious belief.

There’re cabins open in summer, and the average person
can climb Mt. Fuji.  It's a pretty tough climb but there's a
road to the halfway point, and a number of paths from
there to the top, so even a family can make it if they take
their time climbing.  Still the air is thin, so you have to watch
out for altitude sickness.  And summer nights are as cold as
cold as Tokyo in winter with even snow occasionally, so
please make sure to be properly equipped.

Many people climb at night to reverently watch the
sunrise from the summit.  At night the path is a glowing
stream of climbers' flashlights.  If you begin the climb
in the afternoon, nap in a mountain cabin, and then start
walking again before dawn, you reach the top just before
sunrise.

Tsuyu- the rainy season is just around corner.
It starts from early June to the middle of July and
it rains or is cloudy almost every day.

Id doesn't rain that hard, but near the end of the
rainy season there's concentrated heavy rain that
sometimes causes great damage.

The continental high-pressure zone located over Japan
during winter blocks the Pacific hight that's the main
air mass in summer.  A front forms where the two highs
meet, and remains about Japan for a long time. 

This sesonal rain called 'Baiu Zensen' drops a great deal of
rain over the entire Japanese archipelago, except for Hokkaido.

Things get moldy and food spoils easily.  But if it doesn't rain
enough, there's a risk of summer water shortages, and for
rice cultivation, rain at this season is extremely important.