Macau- a mixture of Chinese and Portuguese cultures

A Happy New Year!

How have you been started this year?
Did you wish or think about your new year's resolution?

I went to Macau this weekend.
Macau was a colony of Portugal and it is "the Macau Special Administrative Region" after 1999 handover to China.
It still has Portuguese taste among Chinese cultures.

It is somehow different from original "Portugal" and "China."
But somehow nicely mixed...I guess it's because there are people who live in the midst of mixed culture.


Macau is now growing as a exciting sightseeing spot like Las Vegas.
There are casinos and bungee jump, sky walk, and other attractions at Macau Tower.
There are gigantic hotels to have enough space to have conventions.

It seems like a party space, just to get together in a scheduled time.
Yet, there are a culture for the people who live in Macau.

Back to the top of this blog...
As a new year's resolution, I think we as a company want to be in a spot something like Macau.

New Hot Spat in Tokyo -H&M-

The Swedish fashion brand giant, H& M (Hennes & Mauritz AB) has come to Tokyo this year.
On Nov.8, the second shop in Tokyo has opened in Harajuku.

The first one in Tokyo is located in Ginza which is popular for higher socio-economic area like 5th street in New York city. The clothes are more business like compare to Harajuku one.
The acculturation of the town worked very well so far and pricing is not as high as other foreign brand shops in Tokyo.

In Tokyo, we have their competitors, such as GAP, UNIQLO and ZARA (and more).

Here is my perception.
H&M appeals wide range of generation like GAP.
H&M is inexpensive like UNIQLO.
H&M is fashionable like ZARA.

I like them a lot, but I personally want to recommend you UNIQLO.
Do you know why?
It's because good quality, inexpensive and Japanese brand!

If you come to our office in Shinjuku, you can try those shops in just 10 minutes walk distances!

"Torino-ichi" - one of the traditional Japanese festivals

10 minutes walk from our office, there is a shrine called "Hanazono jinja."

On the "Rooster Day" of Chinese zodiac in November, people make a wish for better business, health, and family safety or for getting rid of evil spirit at "Torino-ichi" by buying ornaments decorated with gods, cats, and rice in this harvest season.

At the "matsuri" festival, people eat "yakisoba" cooked noodle with special source, "yakitori" grilled chicken, and "sake."

In Japan, we have "yaoyorozu-no kami" millions of god. We thank many gods in each occasion such as land of god, water of god, and any. We appreciate what we have given by having "matsuri" festival, so we have hundreds of "matsuri" in a year.

If you find "matsuri" sometime, somewhere in Japan, please enjoy it!