Get ‘Em Tiger!

“It’s been a long time! I shouldn’t've left you….”

Indeed, it’s been a minute since my last post! So long so, I have to start off by saying, “Happy New Year!!!” And it’s damn near the middle of February! How pathetic is that!?! In any case, I’m back and I don’t plan on leaving you again any time soon. And now with that out of the way, on to the post….

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The Gregorian New Year started 40 days ago but the Traditional Chinese New Year doesn’t start until Sunday, February 14th. As you must know by now, according to the Chinese zodiac this is – and will be soon in China – the year of the tiger! Tiger years are often described as being a time of great personal and social upheaval. But for the brave and the strong, this is the time to show courage, to summon great inner strength and rebelliously throw the things and ideas that have held you back. In short, it’s a time of personal revolution.

So I ask you what are your goals for 2010? What is your personal revolution?

All Things In Their Season: Strawberries

Japanese folk are keen on saying that Japan has four seasons. Sorry, J-folk, but y’all a dead wrong on that one! Because once you include rainy season, there’s at least 5! And that opens the door to all the countless other seasons which come and go, fleetingly, but demanding to be recognized and appreciated in its own right. Unwittingly, Japanese people have quietly acknowledged this in a kind of “all things in their season” reflected ever so subtly everywhere.

Being in the City Under Red Sun, I’m a little cut off from the seasonal tells of the natural world. But that’s nothing a trip to my special konbini – you know, the one with my bank’s ATM – couldn’t rectify. Sure enough, the plethora of new products all flavoured in strawberry marked the arrival of what has to be my favorite season of them all, strawberry season.

Goodness knows I LOVE strawberries! And the Japanese flavor goods have really brought there A-game this season.

1. Sapporo’s Ichigo Soda With natural strawberry flavor, it tastes like you’re drinking strawberry juice…. you know, if there were such a thing.

2. Nestle’s Sparkling Strawberry KitKat I abso-effing-lutely adore all the different flavored KitKats available here. On the low, it’s another one of those little things that keeps me here. The past few years, I went out of my head for Strawberry KitKats, but this year they threw in a twist…. sparkling Strawberry. It’s subtle at first but there’s definitely a fizzy, bubbly feeling that brings to mind a nice strawberry flavored champagne, making for the perfect combination of chocolate, strawberries and fine, French fizzy.

3. Morinaga’s Luxurious Strawberry Crepe I can’t remember exactly when I got in to ice cream crepes. They are ridiculously good but you gotta them with the quickness because unlike M&M’s they will melt in your hands. This one is strawberry ice cream with strawberry jam inside and topped with strawberry hand candy sprinkles, all wrapped in a strawberry crepe. I’m gonna miss this when it’s gone!

If you see any other strawberry flavored goodies about, lemme know! I’m such a fiend for strawberries….

2009 Kanji of the Year

It’s that time again!!!

Japan Today reports that the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation has conducted it’s annual Kanji of the Year survery. And in a public opinion to find of which single character out of the 3,000 over so Chinese characters used in standard Japanese best represents and reflects the events of the past year, voters selected 新 [shin - new] as this year’s character.

With a new prime minister, new American president, and a “new flu”, 2009 has been a year of new things in both Japan and the that mystical land, known here affectionately as, 外国 [gaikoku - foreign country]. The announcement was made in Kyoto, with a priest at the famed Kiyomizu Temple ceremoniously writing the character on traditional Japanese paper. Ironically enough, the announcement was presided over by the new president of the foundation as the last was arrested for mispropriety. How’s that for “new”?

Anyway, it may be the Kanji of the Year for 2009, but I’m co-opting it for 2010. See, 2010 is a new year, one filled with endless possibilities to start over, do it better and get it right!  Here’s to 新!!!

Music: Lady Gaga

Most of thought Kanye was off his rocker when he said some months ago that Lady Gaga was the new Madonna. Y’all were like, Lady Who??? Yeah, I know! I dug her first couple of songs. But I’m gay, and this stereotype is true, GAY MEN LOVE POP LOVE MUSIC! I mean Poker Face was in heavy rotation in 2-chome and the children were getting their lives!

It’s taken the rest of you a while to get in to her. She’s out there! Waaaaaay out there, like from the Oort Cloud! And that’s before you even really notice what she’s wearing, which is a best described as a hodge-podge of Madonna-inspired 80’s punk, ultra-modern European haute couture and apparently the Spring/Summer line of her home planet’s hottest fashion designer whose name can’t be properly expressed in any written Earth language but sounds alot like “Bob”. There’s also of course the matter of her live performances which are nothing if not intense. Still, all that aside, y’all can’t deny her sheer brilliance. I mean, at the end of the day, she can actually sing!

In her latest video, she combines the hottest Sea Monkey fashions, a bit of MJ’s (May the King rest in peace) Thriller, and more intergalactic haute couture than any three fashionistas styled personally by Kanye the God could shake a stick at!

You’ve seen it before, but I KNOW you want to see it again!

Fame Monster

Music: Kid Cudi

Earlier this year, in my daily worship at the altar of Kanye I discovered a new GOOD Music artist by the name of Kid Cudi. The video for his lead single Day and Nite really grabbed my attention. Sure, it was mad creative, but what would you expect from one of Kanye’s artists? Still, the video resonated with because it’s really just a guy going about his day imagining his life as something other than it is… walking in his own daydreams as it were. If you know me for real, you know that’s pretty much me!

Listening to the album, Kid Cudi really takes you there with the depth of introspection and emotion. He’s something like Kanye minus the ego, something like hip hop emo. And I was feeling it from track 1. Months after I first “acquired” it, Cudi’s Man on the Moon is still in heavy rotation. It’s something the soundtrack to my day on the grind! And perhaps no song primes me up for that daily grind more so than this track here….Pursuit of Happiness!

Grind with me on this one!!!

If you ain’t up Man on the Moon yet, you LATE AS HELL! Lemme help you though…

Man on the Moon: The End of the Day

World AIDS Day 2009

Yeah, I’m a day late but I was in-flight back to the City under Red Sun and didn’t get in until late…

So….. December 1st is (was) World AIDS Day! A day to stop and reflect on the plague of our time and the terrible toll it has taken worldwide. To date, this scourge has claimed the lives of some 28 million people, and another estimated 33 million people around the world are currently living with the disease. There is no cure!!!

By now, we all now the devastation this plague has caused. But today (and EVERYDAY), perhaps more than ever, we really need to stop and reflect on this disease and our lives in the shadow of AIDS/HIV. Too many of us see AIDS and HIV as an African problem. Too many of us see it as a African American problem. Too many of us still see it as a homosexual problem. Somehow we always manage to map it outside our spheres, outside of our personal definitions of ourselves. Perhaps it’s because we aren’t African, or African American. Perhaps we don’t live in DC, NYC ATL or San Francisco. Perhaps we aren’t gay. Then again, maybe we’re too young to remember those truly terrible days, before the anti-retroviral drug cocktails, when an HIV diagnosis meant certain death, and when we watched helplessly as our best friends and family and our idols wasted away and died.

Those days a gone! The fear has subsided, and in its place a terrible new disease has taken hold. This disease…. complacency. Here in the City under Red Sun, as elsewhere, people just aren’t very concerned with AIDS. More than anywhere else, it really is seen as something that happens to other people in some other place in some other other time. Too many times have I heard that AIDS/HIV is alternately a gay, Black, or foreigner disease. And if you’re a gay, Black foreigner (such as myself), then you’re the living embodiment of risk. Largely separated from these at-risk “others”, Japan is lulled in a false sense of security.

BUT AIDS/HIV IS EVERYWHERE. AND EVERYONE IS AT RISK!!!

What really scares me and where to get tested after the break

The Ubiquitous Mask

Swine Flu, err…. New Flu, err…. H1N1. This bug has so many names now, it’s hard to keep track. Whatever you call it, it’s everywhere and spreading. And although this new strain is powerful and highly contagious, it so far hasn’t proved itself anywhere near as lethal as it’s more traditional cousins.

Still, people are rightfully concerned and taking the necessary precautions. For those that qualify, these precautions include the highly controversial H1N1 vaccine. Is it safe? Does it work? Even the so called experts aren’t entirely sure!

These days almost every public space is equipped with a bottle of alcohol-based hand sanitizer. I’m a dyed-in-the-wool germaphobe, so y’all already know I’m thrilled because this means that I don’t have to wash my hands in ice cold water or wipe my wet hands on my pants But, I’m especially thrilled because, although Japan seems unwilling or unable to provide either hot water or paper towels, at the very least it seems people are finally embracing the one thing known AND proven to cut the spread of contagious agents… alcohol-based sanitizers.

All the sanitizer aside, Japan, like the rest of Asia, remains committed to its face masks. According to some, it’s to prevent the wearer from getting sick. But according to others, it’s to prevent the wearer from spreading his/her germs with others. Which ever you choose to believe, seems everyone ends up wearing one this time of year. Like, gloves… check. Scarf… check. Hat… check… Louis Vuitton… check. Face mask… check!
Continued after the break

Shitsugyoteate II

Blogging wirelessly from my bedroom at my Momma and Daddy’s house…. in Oklahoma! G-D bless their technologically striving hearts! =)

I don’t even have to tell y’all how hard it is being broke! Two years in to this recession – yes, despite whatever the J-Gov says, it’s STILL going on – we’re all very familiar with the feeling by now. I’ve mostly gotten over it for real. Instead, I, like the rest of you, have learned to scale it back to something alot less fabulous and alot more pragmatic… like “if I can’t eat it do I still need it???” :-/ LOL

So yeah, being broke…. I can manage that. But through this whole ordeal, the one thing that I’ve looked forward to has been going home to spend Thanksgiving with my family. The tickets were bought back in April so the date has been set… November 24, 2009. As the months waiting dwindled to weeks and days, my anticipation was palpable. But then a monkeywrench….

Continued after the break

Mission: MBA

In my last post, I wrote about Japan’s Yakuza hitting the books for their mobster MBA’s. I got mad jokes about the yakuza and just how pathetic some of them (lemme make sure I don’t wake up swimming with the fishes!) have become in their attempts to wade their way through this recession. Honestly, though we all gotta respect the hustle, especially when that hustle means getting an education. As an MBA student, I especially gotta respect that!

Thinking about my last though, I realized that I’ve made several references to going to school here in the City under Red Sun but, I’ve never really done a post on my educational pursuit. Truth is, that is the MAIN reason why I’m still here even after all the drama of the past few months, and really the past two years! A post on what I’m really doing is like waaay past due!

So here it is….

I’m a second-year MBA student at Temple University Japan, and in less than 6 months I will have earned my MBA. I still remember distinctly looking at schools all over the US, certain that I wanted to go home after my 3rd year on the the JET Programme. But, wanting to study international business, it just made more sense to try to find a program abroad. Yeah, I studied Spanish so there was alot of thought given to going to, you know, one of those really beautiful countries with warm climates and hot boys. But ultimately, I was already here in Japan and it seemed reasonable to stay put (read: I forgot all the Spanish I learned!). If nothing else, it would give me a chance and a valid reason to relocate to the city.

I studied for my GMAT, took the test and got all my application materials together and sent them off. I was so nervous when I came in for my interview that I needed buckets to collect all the sweat from my hands. My voice trembled and when Dr. Leeds extended his hand for a handshake, I felt that my wet, pruney hands sealed my rejection. But about a month later though, I was surprised to discover an email in my inbox kindly informing me that I was accepted! With a scholarship!! WHAAAAT!!! Boy, you couldn’t tell me nothing that day. Blasted that Kanye song ALL the way home! Bounan Middle School just don’t know, I was ready to quit on the spot!

My first class started about a month after that. And so almost every Saturday from 9am to 6pm, you can find me here on the 4th floor of Mita Hall taking in all in. It’s ALOT of work, I can’t lie. And it takes up ALOT of time. But me being me, I think these two factors have kept me out of alot of trouble. It’s also kept me from getting too too caught up in my own ever-changing mental, emotional and financial states. Like, you can’t spend all day in the bed depressed, or all night in the, ummm, far end of that street in Ni-chome when you got a case to write and presentation to prepare.

Looking back on these past 18 months, yeah, it has been alot of work. I’m always saying that I’m studying. And it really seems like I am. even though I’m man enough to admit that there are times when I’ve used studying as an excuse for being anti-social. But for real, IT IS NOT A GAME! And I haven’t been out on Friday night in only G-d knows how long. But I honestly, I feel like I’ve learned what I’ve needed to propel my entrepreneurial spirits. Six months from now when I graduate, I don’t know whether I’ll be staying here in my beloved City under Red Sun or moving on to fairer pastures (read: someplace where I can actually get paid something resembling what I’m worth), but with what I’ve learned in my courses, I really believe that I’m capable of doing it big, doing it right and making millions. And now I’m hungry!

I’m definitely not getting paid to say this! My, how I wish they were!!! But if you’re looking for an excellent MBA program (or any higher learning experience) in an international and very unique learning environment, Temple University Japan might be a good look for you.

Broke Gangsters III

I don’t know why but the yakuza, Japan’s infamous nine-fingered bad boys, remain one of my favorite subjects. They claim to be the last descendants of the samurai class, but live through to modernity as lords of Japan’s criminal underworld. Unlike criminal organizations elsewhere though, the yakuza operate as officially recognized corporate entities with control over not only the criminal staples of sex, drugs, and exhortion but also strong influence in finance and politics. Ummm, criminals with strong influence in finance and politics!? Sounds oddly like bankers, no?

Bankers have their exams, and now it seems the yakuza have theirs! In these tough economic times, yaks are getting their education on, hitting the books in an effort to more fully break into the greatest racket in the world… stocks! They even got a TEST! My boy, the Great Logistician, sent me this link the other day. Seems as though I’m not the only one who sees the yakuza as a barometer of economic indicator of an economy in decline.

Yakuza’s Series 7 Exam Is Harbinger for Economy
William Pesek

Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) — Japan’s underworld can tell you a lot about what’s happening in the legitimate economy.

Gangsters are on the run as growth wanes and deflation worsens. Yet the oddest development by far involves yakuza members sitting for exams covering key aspects of their work.

If you think this is just a law-enforcement issue, think again. It’s a sign Japan’s funk will be longer than economists predict. That may surprise those betting Japan is recovering. Oddly, though, the plight of gangsters tells the story.

Huddled over legal texts and documents isn’t the popular image of Japan’s storied mobsters. When they aren’t collecting debts, shaking down shop owners, overseeing prostitution rings or rigging stocks, members of Japan’s biggest organized crime group, Yamaguchi-gumi, are studying for 12-page tests.

Surreal? Yes, but also a telltale sign of the seriousness of Japan’s deflationary cycle. The yakuza are having to work harder than ever to get by and are stepping up education efforts. This column isn’t meant to convey sympathy for them. It’s that the advent of a yakuza version of the Series 7 exam that stockbrokers take is a bad omen — very bad.

“The yakuza are a real barometer,” saysJake Adelstein, a blogger and the author of a new book, “Tokyo Vice.” “When the yakuza are doing poorly, the economy is doing poorly.”

All this hints at the harsh environment facing even the most industrious of gangsters, never mind average households. And it says lots about the need for growth opportunities. And Japan has a disturbing paucity of them at the moment.

Mob Crackdown

News of all this first appeared last month in the Mainichi newspaper. Police found the exam during a mob investigation in western Japan. Its timing coincides with the fallout from organized-crime laws that went into effect in late 2008. Gangster groups can be held responsible for actions of even the lowest street-level associates. Kobe, Japan-based Yamaguchi-gumi alone has about 40,000 members.

Areas of study include everything from phone fraud to dumping of industrial waste to auto theft to securities laws. The exercise is aimed at avoiding lawsuits as stagnation eats into profits from real estate, construction and stock trading.

This latter category has kept authorities extraordinarily busy. The yakuza invasion of Japan’s financial industry has been amazing and rapid. And intimate observers joke about feeling nostalgic for the days when the yakuza were simply thugs wearing bad suits and sporting full-body tattoos.

Yakuza as Investors

A decade ago, it wasn’t hard to spot who they were and what they might be up to. Now, they are diversified investors in Tokyo’s stock market. Observers are learning finance and forensic accounting to keep up with them. If you don’t understand Japan’s system of stock trading, issuance and manipulation, you can’t understand the modern yakuza.

That diversification often makes the yakuza a more useful economic gauge than one finds elsewhere — and explains why their plight says more about Japan’s outlook than many realize. In late 2008, Adelstein said there might be 600 “yakuza- connected companies.”

There’s no sanitizing the yakuza’s influence — it’s huge. Hence the keen focus on training members on trends in financial markets and key industries. Think of Yamaguchi-gumi’s education push as an M.B.A. for gangsters.

What’s fascinating about the yakuza is how nimble they can be. The shift from old-fashioned crime such as prostitution and drugs to finance has accelerated. Gangsters were quick to exploit a crackdown on consumer-finance companies. The government’s bungling sent more business their way, making organized crime an early beneficiary of the credit crisis.

Signs of Weakness

That was then. The economic signs are getting worse. The strong yen is weighing on Japan’s export-driven economy as the jobless rate hovers near a record high.

Japan will remain in deflation until 2012 because of “significant slack” in the economy, the International Monetary Fund said last week. Proving the point, consumer prices tumbled 2.4 percent in August, the fastest decline on record.

The other dilemma is politics. Gangsters long enjoyed getting a piece of multibillion-dollar public-works projects. That gravy train ended when Yukio Hatoyama’s Democratic Party of Japan took over last month. The prime minister’s government is actually halting projects, never mind devising new ones.

Business opportunities are evaporating, faster than many economists say. The bar owners that members pressure for protection money can’t pay much these days. Prostitutes aren’t raking in customers the way they did two years ago. Households are reluctant to take on fresh debt, especially at extortionate rates. Stock trading and real estate are languishing.

Have no doubt gang members are brainstorming on how to survive the recession. Crime probably still pays well enough to keep some yakuza in the style they are accustomed to. The tension among Japan’s 80,000 or so yakuza is palpable, though, as evidenced by violent altercations between rival groups.

Just don’t be fooled into thinking this isn’t about the economy. It absolutely is. Gangsters studying for exams are a clear sign of where the underworld finds itself today. That goes for Japan’s broader population, too.