Japanese mom’s don’t-touch-my-baby-stroller sign stirs up debate【Video】

A whole lot of cultural values clash when neighborhood seniors don’t keep their hands to themselves around baby.

In Japan, you can often spot women with a “key holder” (or, more accurately, a small plastic placard strap) attached to their bag, showing an illustration of a baby. This is an indicator that the woman is pregnant, even if she’s not visibly showing yet, and by extension a silent request for use of priority seats on trains or other forms of consideration and understanding.

However, a woman in Saitama Prefecture has a baby-illustration key holder that she only started using after the birth of her child, as a way of telling people not to touch her boy.

In Japan, it’s customary for parents to keep their newborn babies in the house for the first several weeks after coming home from the hospital. After “Ai,” as the mother goes by in the video interview above, started taking her son for walks in the neighborhood though, when he was around three months old, she experienced a problem. “Elderly people would come up to us and say ‘He’s so cute!’ and then, without asking if it was OK, they’d touch his feet.”

After reading on Twitter about other mothers who were dealing with the same sort of situation, Ai decided to make a placard that says “Don’t touch” and has a drawing of a hand reaching towards a distressed looking infant, who has his forearms crossed into an X, the Japanese gesture for “no/don’t.” Ai now clips the placard to her stroller when she’s out with her son, as an in-advance request to strangers to refrain from pats, pinches, and the like.

The idea has proven pretty divisive among online commenters, in part because it touches on (no pun intended) a number of Japanese cultural values. First off, Japan, for the most part, isn’t very big on physical displays of affection, even of the platonic sort like a hug between friends or a pat on the back from a coworker. Most Japanese people would agree that it’s poor manners to touch someone you don’t know, including a baby, so many commenters can sympathize with Ai’s desire to take preventive action.

On the other hand, Japanese culture also has a lot of respect for the elderly, and a general attitude that kids can learn a lot from interacting with people from their grandparents’ generation. A strong sense of community is also a Japanese cultural ideal, as is the idea that early childhood is one of the few times in life when it’s absolutely OK to be showered with affection, before the pressures of school and work make diligent effort a daily requirement.

With all of those concepts floating around in the cultural background, plus hygiene concerns during the ongoing pandemic, reactions to Ai’s “Don’t touch” placard have been all over the board, with comments on Twitter and YouTube including:

“We’ve gone from worrying about our kids being shy around people they don’t know to worrying if they aren’t shying away.”
“Sign of the times. Seems like we’ve lost something important. I understand the mother’s feelings, but still, this makes me sad.”
“The world is weird these days.”
“I can understand where the mom is coming from, and also how the elderly people feel. But thinking logically, no matter how cute you might think a baby is [you shouldn’t touch it without permission].”
“It’s got to be rough having a bunch of people you don’t know touch you.”
“It’d be OK if they’d just ask ‘Can I touch your baby?’”
“Can’t help wondering if the hands of the people touching the baby are clean.”
“Consent is always required for touching!”

Adding another wrinkle to the situation is a recent raised awareness in Japan that some mothers who are out and about with children might need a hand lifting a stroller onto or off the train or getting a shopping bag up onto the parcel shelf. When asked by the interviewer if a “don’t touch my baby” sign will make people less likely to offer assistance in such situations, Ai replies “I think there will be times when I want someone’s help, and when that happens, I’ll ask them for it. [Otherwise] I’d like people to take a step back and [limit themselves to] watch[ing] over us.”

Further complicating the debate is the fact that touching a stranger’s baby is already something that most people in Japan refrain from doing, causing some to see the placard as needlessly standoffish and/or ineffective; most people wouldn’t be trying to touch the baby anyway, and those who do aren’t likely to notice or pay attention to the sign, they say. A few people even expressed skepticism that the soft, pastel colors of the sign will be noticeable to the elderly people Ai wants to be aware of it.

Still, the placard seems to be having the desired effect, since Ai is continuing to use it, so anyone who sees it, or the kid shown in the video, should keep their hands to themselves.

Source: Asatele News via Yahoo! Japan News, ANNnewsCH, Twitter
Top image: Pakutaso
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Can you use the fluctuating exchange rate and Japan’s weak yen to make some money? We find out

Our wannabe Wolf of Wall Street attempts to strike it rich with the volatile exchange rates.

The Japanese yen is pretty weak right now, with current rates being close to the lowest they’ve been in a long time. In fact, the yen got so weak that the government intervened in the foreign exchange market for the first time in 24 years. On September 22, the Bank of Japan decided to sell U.S. dollars and bought Japanese yen in order to increase the value of the yen, and as a result the exchange rate was pretty shaky.

After the Bank of Japan’s announcement, the exchange rate dropped from 145 yen to the dollar to 142 yen to the dollar in an instant. But while the uncertain volatility of the yen’s value might seem nerve-racking to some, our Japanese reporter Seiji Nakazawa saw the stormy seas of the foreign exchange market as an opportunity to make some quick bucks.

“If I bought some U.S. dollars at the current exchange rate and converted them back into Japanese yen once the exchange rate goes back up, I’ll end up with more money than I started with!” Seiji thought, and armed with a 10,000 yen bill, he made his way to his local bureau de change.

Seiji managed to arrive at the currency exchange mere minutes before it closed for the day, and the rate was 141.935 yen to the dollar. His 10,000 yen was exchanged for 63 dollars and 70 cents.

Seiji is no financial guru, but he predicted that the yen wouldn’t fall much lower than what he’d bought his at, and sure enough the very next morning the yen started to weaken, increasing over the weekend and eventually going back up to 144.540 yen to the dollar.

With an extra three yen for every dollar, Seiji’s initial ‘investment’ of 10,000 yen was sure to come back with a profit once he changed the dollars back into Japanese money!

… except he only got 9,261 yen, giving Seiji a net loss of -739 yen!

Seiji’s dreams of becoming a currency-exchange-born millionaire came crashing down harder than the exchange rate itself. How did this happen? He should have been making an extra three yen for every dollar he’d exchanged!

The issue was with Seiji’s initial exchange into U.S. currency. If the exchange rate was 142 yen, then 10,000 yen should have been equal to about 70 dollars, but Seiji only got 63 of them. After further investigation (and asking the clerk), it seemed that the money exchange Seiji had visited was offering 144.46 yen for every dollar — much different to the exchange rate listed in the news!

It was at that moment Seiji learned that the foreign exchange rate offered in banks and bureaux de change were completely different to the foreign exchange market rates often reported on the news. Coincidentally, it was around the same time that he learned that the exchange rates differ depending on the money exchange offices.

On top of that, while the yen to dollar rate was around 142 yen, the dollar to yen rate hadn’t changed, and was still around 144 yen per dollar!

All in all, Seiji’s attempt to get rich quick from taking advantage of the currency exchange didn’t go well, and his dreams of being the next Wolf of Wall Street were over as quickly as they formed. Still, he definitely learned something about the foreign exchange market; although exchange rates fluctuate a lot, it’s hard to predict what will happen.

Seiji will just have to try getting rich the old fashioned way — by re-selling cheap hats bought on Amazon.

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Bras of Versailles–Anime Rose of Versailles gets lingerie line designed by original creator【Pics】

Manga creator draws Marie Antoinette wearing bra and vowing to “bloom into full glory.”

Japanese lingerie maker Wacoal describes the theme for its Salute sub-brand as “dramatic sexy,” and roses are a frequent motif in its designs. Drama and roses, it just so happens, are also prevalent elements in Rose of Versailles, creator Riyoko Ikeda’s epic manga/anime tale of romance and upheaval set during the buildup to the French revolution.

Because of that, Ikeda and Salute decided to work together, and the result is a new line of Rose of Versailles lingerie.

Ikeda herself oversaw the design of the collection, with the team seeing main characters Marie Antoinette and Oscar François de Jarjayes as emblematic of the strong and sexy aura Salute wants to create through its intimate apparel. That desire for elegant allure means you won’t find character artwork fabric prints of Rose of Versailles logos on the items. Instead, Ikeda’s aim was to incorporate the fluttering rose petals and opulent ornamentation of courtly attire that regularly fill the pages of her manga into the collaborative bras and panties.

As proof of how well they fit the aesthetics of the Rose of Versailles world, Ikeda has created illustrations of her characters modeling a few of the designs, as with Marie Antoinette below saying “Blossoming at my breast is the noble rose called Salute.”

▼ For the record, Salute’s bras aren’t necessarily meant to be worn sticking out from above the neckline (a fashion called misebura in Japanese), but we suppose being the princess of France means you can do whatever you want.

The bras pictured above are part of Salute’s 73 Group push-up/lift-up bra line. For something less flashy but still luxuriously lacy there’s also the 74 Group selection, which is available as either a “real up bra” (as Salute calls it) that enhances the visual voluminous of the wearer’s chest, or in a design meant to deemphasize bust size.

▼ Marie Antoinette modeling one of the 74 Group Rose of Versailles bras, while declaring “Wearing Salute, I will take bloom into full glory at center stage, living my life like a rose.”

Prices start at 10,450 yen (US$73) for the 73 Group bras and 8,250 yen for the 74 Group, with slight price increases for larger sizes. Bottoms are sold separately, with the 73 Group’s available as standard panties, shorts, or a T-back design (prices ranging from 4,400 to 5,170 yen)…

…and standard panties or a string-sided T-back for the 74 Group (3,850-3,960 yen).

The 73 Group designs can be purchased though the Salute website here, while the 74 Group goes on sale in late December, meaning the entire range will be available by the time that new Rose of Versailles anime movie comes out.

Source: PR Times, Wacoal
Top image: Wacoal
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Ed Sheeran becomes a Pokémon anime character for new music video【Video】

”Celestial” video sees Ed Sheeran meet up with his favorite Pokémon species and fight against the series’ greatest antagonist.

Back in August, the Pokémon World Championships were held in the U.K. for the first time, and none other than Ed Sheeran welcomed fans and Trainers to the competition in a special video greeting.

That wasn’t the end of the collaboration between the Sheeran and the Pokémon franchise, though, as the video for the British pop star’s new song “Celestial” is filled with Pocket Monster guest stars, and before it’s done Sheeran himself gets turned into a Pokémon anime character.

Things start off low-key, with a sleepy Sheeran getting an electric-powered morning wakeup call from Pikachu. He then heads to the kitchen and whips up a lavish-looking breakfast with the help of some high-heat Charmander cooking flames.

As he sits down to eat with a group of Poké-pals, though, it’s a little hard to tell how much of this is taking place in Sheeran’s imagination, and imagination is very much a theme of the video. After breakfast Sheeran heads out into town while trying to work out the lyrics for a new song, with various Pokémon species like Snorlax and Lapras looking out for him and helping how they can.

Inspiration finally does strike, though, while Sheeran is (maybe) sitting in a field surrounded by Bulbasaurs. He races home and heads into his studio, where more Pokémon show up to listen and help, and then it’s time for Sheeran to go into the Pocket Monsters’ world.

Mewtwo is on a rampage, and Sheeran joins up with the team of brave underdog Pokémon standing against the sinister Psychic-type.

▼ In a special bit of personalized fan service, the animators go all out on this sequence of Squirtle, who Sheeran is on record as saying is his personal favorite Pokémon.

As the battle reaches its climax, there’s a massive energy explosion…and then we cut back to Sheeran, asleep on his couch with Pikachu scurrying away just as he wakes up. We’re left to wonder if the dramatic adventure we just saw was real or not, but maybe the point is that the answer doesn’t matter. Works of pure fiction can still create very real emotion and inspiration for fans, which is just what this video does.

Source, images: YouTube/Ed Sheeran
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Ramen and dekotora come together at this restaurant in Japan

Korakuen Iekei Ramen Truck Yaro Since 2021 celebrates Japan’s culture of decorated trucks. 

There are a number of ramen restaurant chains in Japan worth visiting, each with its own unique selling points and individual charm. Korakuen is one of those restaurant chains, and they’re known for marching to their own beat of the drum with out-there menu items like Mochi Ice Cream Ramen and gyoza with chocolate cookies.

As it turns out, Korakuen’s menu items aren’t the only things that are out-there, as the chain opened two rebranded stores, one in Chiba and one in Saitama, last November, under the name “Korakuen Iekei Ramen Truck Yaro Since 2021“.

“Truck Yaro” (“Truck Rascals” or “Truck Guys“) refers to the popular ’70s film series of the same name, which saw a pair of truckers driving around Japan in highly decorated trucks, helping women out during their travels and inevitably falling in love with them. The films became so popular that they sparked a trend amongst Japanese truckers known as “dekotora” (“decorated trucks”), where the large goods vehicles were decorated with all sorts of lights and extra adornments.

▼ There’s even a famous dekotora known as the “Aki Kannon”, which went on display in Shibuya for a limited time last year.

Korakuen Iekei Ramen Truck Yaro Since 2021 tips its hat to the movie, and dekotora culture, with a number of unusual design details, despite its relatively staid exterior.

▼ The branch in Kashiwa City, Chiba

▼ The sign at the front of the store says, “Love for trucks and ramen by Truck Yaro”

Stepping inside the restaurant reveals an exterior you don’t see at other branches of Korakuen — there are round marker lights, usually used to indicate the width of a vehicle, lined up along the booth partitions.

▼ And on the ceiling, tail lights!

If you look closely at the ceiling, you’ll see the patterned lining often used on the driver’s seat of long-distance trucks. This is a nice way of adding a sense of warmth and comfort to the otherwise metal-heavy interior.

Speaking of metal, the “non-slip iron plate” used on truck beds is a primary feature, giving a tough, hard look to the partitions throughout the dining area.

The highlight of the space, however, is the projection mapping, which shows the image of a dekotora on a feature wall.

▼ After a while, the truck transforms into…a bowl of ramen!

The projection mapping is a very clever addition to the interior, and though the whole space may seem less flashy than expected, it reminds us that the key to a perfect dining experience, as any ramen restaurant owner would know, is balance. The design features are just right for the space — not so overwhelming as to put diners off their food, and not so understated as to disappoint fans of dekotora.

▼ Would this mastery of balance be seen in the food as well?

Using the tabletop tablet, we ordered the Truck Yaro Ramen (680 yen [US$4.70]) with a side of gyoza (220 yen), and got a free bowl of rice as part of a special deal for those who order ramen.

▼ When it arrived, it looked fantastic, and we couldn’t wait to tuck in.

The first thing that caught our eye was a fun message printed on the seaweed that read: “Love for trucks and ramen by Truck Yaro“.

Aw. That touching message warmed the cockles of our truck-and-ramen-loving hearts, and as we gazed at it, we tried one of the gyoza, which was crispy on the outside and soft and moist on the inside — just how we like them.

As the name of the restaurant suggests, the specialty here is Iekei ramen, a type of ramen first created in Yokohama that contains a pork marrow and soy sauce broth, and straight, thick noodles.

▼ The broth here didn’t have the same heartiness as the Iekei we’re used to eating, but it was still rich and flavourful.

The noodles were flat, chewy and slightly thick, and went well with the broth. We’re not sure if we’d go so far as to say these matched the style of an authentic Iekei, but it was a good bowl of ramen nonetheless.

Ramen is a staple dish for truckers, who can pull up and enjoy the hearty dish as a quick meal while on the road, so it’s nice to see so much love for the two come together at this branch of Korakuen.

If you want to feast your eyes on even more dekotora, there’s plenty to see at the national dekotora association!

Restaurant Information

Korakuen Iekei Ramen Truck Guys since 2021 Shonancho Store / 幸楽苑の家系らーめんトラック野郎 since2021 沼南町店
Address: Chiba-ken, Kashiwa-shi, Minowa 759
千葉県柏市箕輪759番地20
Open: 9:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. 8:30 a.m.-10:00 p.m. (Sat and Sun)

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Can you enjoy a day at Tokyo’s Kokugikan sumo stadium if you know nothing about the sport?【Pics】

Our sumo beginner gets a lesson from a kimono-clad veteran.

Sumo is often considered to be Japan’s national sport, in light of its long history and many aspects tied to Japanese cultural and religious beliefs. The side effect of all that, though, is that a lot of younger people in Japan haven’t ever been to watch sumo in person, since the layers of tradition can make it seem intimidating and unfamiliar.

Our Japanese-language reporter Takashi Harada isn’t a complete sumo neophyte, but he’s pretty close. In his whole life, he’s been to exactly one sumo tournament, back when he was an elementary school student in Fukuoka Prefecture, and aside from that his only experience with the sport is catching a few random glimpses of matches that his grandfather used to watch on TV in their home.

But recently Takashi has been wanting to learn more about the sport, and a chance to do just that fell into his lap when another member of our writing team, Ikuna Kamezawa, offered him a spare ticket she had to the September grand sumo tournament held in Tokyo’s Ryogoku district.

▼ Ryogoku Station

Takashi remembers his grandfather watching sumo in the evenings, so he was surprised when Ikuna told him to get to Ryogoku well before noon. Even before he was out of the station, Takashi was wrapped in the sumo atmosphere, with portraits of great wrestlers from the past adorning Ryogoku Station’s walls.

A sign asking train travelers to wear masks and disinfect their hands also employed sumo style…

…and even the attached 7-Eleven has a sumo sculpture and old-school lattice-like storefront.

Kokugikan, Tokyo’s sumo stadium, is right across the street from the station. As you approach the entrance on tournament days, you’ll see flags, called noborihata, bearing the names of the sport’s top stars.

As promised, Ikuna was waiting outside the entrance for Takashi, and she was definitely dressed up for the occasion.

While casual attire is perfectly acceptable for Kokugikan, Ikuna is a diehard sumo fan. Being born in rural Shimane Prefecture, there weren’t any major tournaments held near her home, so she used to take the overnight bus to Fukuoka to see the big-name wrestlers in action. Speaking of which…

…Takashi found himself on the receiving end of Ikuna’s glaring gaze when he failed to react to the rack of pamphlets she was standing next to.

“That’s Kotoshogiku! Don’t you know who he is? Not only is he from Fukuoka, just like you, but the two of you are the same age! You could have been classmates. He just retired after the last tournament…so you mean you weren’t cheering for him for his whole career?”

Takashi sheepishly informed Ikuna that no, he hadn’t ever heard of Kotoshogiku. Then again, there are a lot of sumo wrestlers that Takashi has never heard of, which is why he was here, Ikuna remembered, so she decided to cut him some slack and they headed inside.

Even without being a sumo fan, though, Takashi knew he was on hallowed ground, and he felt a wave of excitement as he passed through the threshold and saw the trophies and awards on display.

Before checking out the rest of the facility, though, they made their way to their seats.

Though it’s Japan’s premier sumo venue, Kokugikan isn’t as big as, say, a pro basketball arena, and the distances/sightlines mean you get a pretty nice view of the ring even if you’re not in the first rows of seats.

▼ Speaking of “seats,” the closer sections, like where Takashi is sitting here, have traditional flat floors with cushions, while the ones further back and on the second floor have chairs.

As they sat down, Takashi realized why Ikuna had told him to come to Ryogoku so early: the grand sumo tournament is an all-day event! Taking place over the course of 14 consecutive days, the morning matches are between lower-division wrestlers, the afternoon the mid-rank, and the evening is when the top-tier talent steps into the ring. Morning matches start around 9 a.m., and the last ones finish around six. Tickets start at about 3,500 yen (US$24.50), which isn’t a bad price at all for a whole day of live pro sports entertainment.

While some people skip the lower-rank bouts, showing up for the a.m. matches lets you enjoy them in a much less-crowded atmosphere, and Takashi was immediately impressed by two things that he hadn’t been able to fully appreciate just watching on TV.

First, though sumo is a competition among very large competitors, the ring itself is surprisingly compact. It’s just 4.55 meters (14.9 feet) in diameter, shorter than the length of most boxing rings, and since stepping or being forced outside the ring results in a loss for a sumo wrestler, it takes a lot of agility to stay inside the circle.

The other awesome thing about watching sumo wrestling in-person? The sound. The cracks, thuds, and crunches as the wrestlers slap, slam, and shake each other are all more impactful when they’re echoing off the walls and ceiling of Kokugikan, rather than being facsimiled by your TV’s speakers.

During a lull in the action, Ikuna took Takashi to see the rest of the arena, including its various trick art photo spots.

They also decided to grab lunch before the higher-rank matches started in the afternoon. Luckily, Kokugikan has multiple places to get a bite to eat, starting with this takeout counter that sells snacks and bento boxed lunches.

There’s also a cafeteria located in the basement level…

…which is where Takashi got a bowl of chanko nabe hot pot for 500 yen (US$3.50)…

…and a 1,200-yen bento.

The chanko is especially appropriate, as the hearty stew is the traditional meal served at sumo stables, as the wrestlers’ training facility dormitories are called. You might think that means it’s incredibly calorie-intensive, but chanko is actually a pretty healthy mix of meat and vegetables, and its connection to sumo is more about tradition and the ease of it being easier to make a huge quantity of stew than most other kinds of cooking.

▼ The cafeteria

After lunch, Ikuna took Takashi up to the first-floor terrace area, which looks out onto the path the wrestlers walk on when entering the stadium.

The railing has been put in place since the start of the pandemic, but you used to be able to get even closer to the wrestlers, so it’s a safe bet that the barricade will eventually come down.

With the higher-ranked matches starting, Takashi and Ikuna headed back to their seats, where she whipped out her program.

The daily sumo tournament program is called a hoshiorihyo, which translates literally as “star-taking chart.” Instead of stars, though, you’ll find circles by the name of each listed wrestler. These indicate their record in the tournament so far, with a white circle standing for a win and a black circle a loss. So, for example, if the hoshiorihyo for a wrestler looks like this, 〇〇●●〇, it means he won his bouts on Days 1 and 2 of the tournament, lost on Days 3 and 4, and won again on Day 5 (wrestlers each fight one match per day).

The program also lists the wrestlers’ height, weight, and hometown, so even someone who doesn’t regularly keep up with the sport, like Takashi, can get a sense of story and pick out who they want to cheer for. On the subject of height/weight, Ikuna pointed out that it’s a common misconception that the biggest wrestler always wins, as power is just one factor, along with skill, speed, experience, and tenacity, that goes into determining who wins and loses each match.

As the higher-ranking wrestlers start showing up, so too do the bigger crowds of fans.

Aside from the enhanced level of skill and strength in the top division, the thing that struck Takashi the most was the intense, concentrated anticipation at the start of each bout. Each match starts with the opponents silently staring at each other, and the hush that came over the crowd, with every eye in the house focused on the center of the ring, was another awesome feeling you can’t really get from watching the sport on TV.

When the day’s matches were all done, the sun had gone down. Ikuna and Takashi took the scenic route back to the station, as she guided him past Ekoin Temple, where the graves of several prominent sumo wrestlers are located…

…as well as a couple of sumo stables located in the neighborhood.

Looking back on the matches they’d seen, Takashi realized that the one that had left the deepest impression on him was actually one of the mid-rank ones. Sumo works on a promotion/demotion system; win consistently enough in your rank, and you move up to the group above, but if your performance slips enough, you get sent down. The latter is what happened with Asanoyama, who was demoted after sitting out a tournament entirely. Since his demotion wasn’t based on losing matches, he’s been thrashing his opponents at the lower rank as he rushes to get back to his former position. On Takashi’s day at Kokugikan, everyone expected Asanoyama to easily defeat his opponent, a less-celebrated wrestler from Osaka named Yuma. As the match started, it certainly looked like that was how things were going to go, but Yuma refused to give up, fought with all of his strength, and came away with the upset victory.

So while he still doesn’t know nearly as much about sumo as Ikuna does, Takashi now considers himself a sumo fan, and a Yuma fan too.

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