Year End Cleaning

We have "O-souji", a tradition to clean house at the end of the year.
Our office will be closed from Dec.30 to Jan. 4.
Before people leaving, we cleaned office.

There are lots of things which are not necessarily to have, but good to keep.
I decided to throw those ones and tried not to put things on the desk.

It feels good to work in a clean office.
I think I am ready to welcome the coming new year!

Night in Tokyo

Winter has come to Tokyo on November...since the light-up decoration starts in Tokyo in that season.
It gets colder and air gets clearer.

So you can enjoy Christmas light-up even before Thanksgiving in Tokyo.

Enjoy your night in Tokyo!

Mobile Phone Accessaries

Here are my mobile phone strap accessories!

1) Sushi strap (orange bubble with black tie one on the top)
It is called "Ikura" sushi. Ikura is a salmon roe.

2) MicroSD card strap ( light blue one in the middle, and the first picture with PC)
My mobile phone has a microSD data card and it has much better quality than my camera.
I take a picture and save it into PC via microSD with USB plug.
The microSD costs only 980 yen (about US$1,000).

3) Japanese kimono texture balls strap ( colorful balls with red strap at the bottom)
Those balls wrapped with cloth which has Japanese kimono like texture and colors.
I feel like I am educated as a quiet but sophisticated traditional Japanese lady by having it!

Color of fall

Japan has a clear cut seasons, spring, summer, fall and winter.

The differences are beautiful.

Here is one of the colors of fall.

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!

Presidential Election - observing from Tokyo-

The time has come around noon in Tokyo.

I was checking CNN website and looking at the number to get to 270.
The time to change America has come by voting for Barack Obama.


I remember that in 1997, former president Clinton gave a speech as a second inaugural address.
Within the speech, he used a key word which describes the needed word for America, "Change."
As people are aware, Mr.Clinton likes John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
He wanted to be the one to change the world.

The person who was elected by promising people to change is next president of United States of America, Barack Obama.

By observing from the other side of the Pacific, I am wondering what was the key point to persuade people to choose him.

Are these factors to choose?
young
Economy issue
African American
good looking
good at speech
vice president
non-female
sympathy for his grad-ma
money by using IT
no more war
not emotional in public


I hope this change will lead the better future for anybody in the world.