Curry!

Most of you probably think of curry as a food from India.  And it is.  BUT, Japan has its' own version and it's one of the most popular dishes for both kids and adults.


If you ask any Japanese kid in elementary school what their favorite menu is for school lunch, most of them will tell you "curry".  It's my favorite lunch too! 

Japanese curry is pretty much a spicy stew (though with varying levels of spiciness) with meat and veggies.  There are many variations based on seasons and local specialties.  Usually it's eaten with rice (hence, being called in Japanese "kareraisu" - curry rice).  It's so different from Indian curry, you could really call it Japanese food!


You can find curry on the menu of many family-style restaurants, as well as curry-based restaurants.  I think the most famous is CoCo Ichibanya. 

Here is my daughter on our most recent visit.  She's got one of the kids' plates, featuring curry along with some french fries, chicken nuggets, corn, sausage, and some fruit jellies.  My favorite at this place is the "buta shabushabu" (sliced pork) curry with scrambled egg topping.  Yummy!!

For more info on how Japanese curry came to be, check out the Wikipedia entry.

School fees in Japan

I don't know how it is in other countries, but here, public school isn't actually "free".  The amount depends on the school/grade/area, but the categories are generally the same: school lunch (the main one!), PTA fees, textbooks & materials, school trip fees...

Sample of school fees bill for this school year

As you can see from the above sample, the payments are split across the school year over 4 semesters.  You can choose to have them withdrawn automatically from your bank account, or go pay each one separately (who would want to do that??).  The total for my daughter's school year is 72,470 yen.  Even broken down, this could be difficult for some families, especially if they have more than one child in school.

BUT...I don't actually pay this.  OK, I do, but I get most of it back.  How??  Every year, I sign off on a paper which gives the school permission to look at my income tax records on file at the city tax office.  Then, families are divided into three groups: 1- Pay in full with no rebates; 2 - Get about half back; 3- Get most of it back (supposedly ALL back, but my calculations for last year don't add up).

My daughter goes to a public special education school, but is there a system like this in regular public schools as well?  I had to ask around a bit, but the answer is yes!  I think there are more payment tiers, but it's essentially the same. 

I should also add that public daycares (hoikuen) also work on a sliding scale fee basis...if you can get into one, that is.  We definitely need more public hoikuen in Japan! 

Voting & "Sankanbi"

Voting time again today, for the city assembly members and mayor, as I mentioned before.  I got there fairly early, so the place was nearly empty.  Walked in, voted, walked out.  One problem with writing your vote by hand is if a candidate has difficult kanji characters in their name!  Or not necessarily "difficult", but just ones I've never written before.  I actually double-checked with an election worker just to make sure my writing was OK!


Yesterday, I went out to a little street-side "rally" for a mayoral candidate.  There was one guy there who kinda confused me...he seemed to be there to support the candidate, but wasn't one of the volunteers.  Then I saw a candidate car with his face on it!  Turns out he's an "independent" candidate for the assembly who came to give a short speech in support of the mayoral candidate. 


I've NEVER seen a politician like this guy, especially in Japan.  No suit, but a pink shirt and white pants!  Dyed reddish-brown hair!  During his speech, he SANG....  This dude is my new political hero!  I talked to him and he said he's not really a politician.  He just felt like running because he has some issues that he feels need to be addressed in our city and wants to do something about them.  He told me he's an "artist" so I looked him up and found an old photo on Twitter.

This shot should've been on his campaign poster...  I'd vote for a guy with abs like that!

So, I guess I'll see the results tomorrow and hope for the best!

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In addition to voting, they had a parents observation day at my daughter's school.  On a Sunday.  These days, most schools have this once a year on either a Sunday or Saturday, so working parents can attend more easily.  This means, the students and teachers get a replacement day off on Monday (but working parents DON'T...).

I know my expectations are too high.  I mean, I'm not expecting her to be a genius.  I know she's mentally disabled and it's a school for special education.  I just wish she'd participate more.  I know she's pretty smart and there's alot in her head, but it just doesn't come out as much as I'd like. 

And, to be honest, I was feeling disappointed with the school in general.  There is supposed to be 1 teacher for 2 kids, but her class is 5 kids with 2 teachers.  One of those 2 teachers is new, but she didn't bother to introduce herself.  I just had to assume she was one of the teachers...  And the "seikatsu" lesson, which I had assumed has to do with life skills or something, was just them singing songs.  WTF?!?  I guess there's not much you can do with special ed kids...  orz

Ended up pretty depressed, thank you.

More on local politics

This coming Sunday is the next set of local elections - for city council members and mayor.  There are some places (assuming they're rural) with uncontested candidates.  Just not enough people want to run.  You can read a short article about it at the Mainichi English news page.


My city doesn't have that problem!  We have 3 candidates for mayor and about 45 for city assembly.  Recently, I found out that the city assembly election is a bit different than I thought.  I assumed that the city was broken down into districts and different candidates run in each district.  Nope.  Although candidates may restrict their promotional activities in agreement with other members of their own political party, the election is city-wide.  This means I have to choose one candidate out of 45!  This seems a bit weird to me, since if one member of a certain party is super popular, he/she may draw votes away from another member of the same party and therefore end up with less power in the assembly.  But I guess it all works out somehow.


The top vote-getters are elected to the assembly.  For my city, the number of assembly members is 36, so 36 out of 45 people will be successful.  I think those are pretty decent odds.  Each city's number of assembly members depends on the city population, of course.


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Of course, I have certain issues which are important to me.  As a teacher and as a parent, I'm most interested in making sure kids are taken care of.  One HUGE issue for me is the privatization of public daycares/after school care.  No matter that the quality of care is proven to DROP and it actually makes the job harder for the caregivers...  I fought against the privatization of my daughter's after school care last year.  I fought so hard that when I went to the after school care office at city hall (for an unrelated problem), the guy in charge of the privatization effort looked a bit scared to see me!   


Among the mayoral candidates, only one is against privatization.   So you know who's got my vote! 
(PS - Isshin no kai is pro-privatization...big surprise there....)

TACO BELL in Japan!!

I love tacos....but I can't handle spicy food, so Taco Bell level Mexican food is just right for me.  I was so happy to hear that there are Taco Bell restaurants in Japan!  Most of them are in Tokyo, but there are two in Osaka.  I went to the one in the Dotonbori area.  It's next to the Shochikuza （松竹座） Theater (well, there's a Family Mart in between) on the 2nd floor.  You can look out the window and see the famous giant crab and all the tourists taking selfies.

The inside doesn't look at all like a typical fast food place.  It's a bit dark, quiet...a nice place to relax a bit during a busy day of sightseeing perhaps.  Another positive difference is the ability to choose what type of meat you want: beef, pork, or chicken.  This allows people who can't eat certain types of meat for religious reasons to still enjoy their tacos!  If you're vegetarian though...I guess you could try the Chocodilla?


The last time I went, I got a Chalupa...which was the most amazing thing I've ever tasted.  I was really looking forward to eating one again, but this time, it was gone.  WHY?!?!?! 

The wrapping shows that I chose beef and mild spiciness.  Number 3 is the number of the item on the menu, I think.

So, I decided to try something new again and ordered a Crunchwrap Supreme.  Meh... I don't know why it has "crunch" in the name.  And it smelled burned.  I guess next time, I'll just go with regular tacos.


Despite, this recent less-than-satisfying experience, I still recommend it!  Being in a tourist area, the staff were calling out order numbers bilingually and I'm pretty sure the register staff today wasn't native Japanese (we spoke Japanese - don't ask don't tell).


You can check out the menu, prices, and locations here. 

Welcome to your new school!

Do any other countries make a big deal out of starting elementary school?  Do you have entrance ceremonies? 


Japan is all about the ceremonies!  The entrance ceremony for elementary school is a BIG deal.  Both parents and kids come in formalwear.  Because the kids are still little, the ceremony is fairly short and somewhat entertaining.  Usually the new 2nd graders (who were, themselves, 1st graders one year ago) perform a song and/or show off some skills to impress the little guys like jumping rope or playing kendama.  Sometimes, the teachers perform a little skit.  Afterward, there are a lot of photos - of the new class with their teachers, of the kids with their parents, etc.  It seems a bit stressful for the teachers, from what I've seen.  There's no possibility of rehearsal, so you have no idea what's going to happen.  Will some kids cry?  Will you lose a kid who wanders off unnoticed?  Will there be any parental problems? 

The entrance ceremony is here, yo!

Post-ceremony group photo time

Letters of congratulations from local politicians and the various kindergartens & daycares the new 1st graders graduated from.

I'm looking forward to meeting all my new students!  Granted, some of them will definitely be in the "pain in the @$$" category, most of them will be super adorable and ready to learn English.

I voted!

Today was my first time to vote in Japan!  As with all these milestones in my life here, I keep feeling like there should be more to it.  Confetti?  Little trumpets?  A tiara or something??  Even one of those little "I voted today" stickers we used to get back in the old country would be appreciated.


The weather was sunny and warm, perfect for getting people out to vote.  I heard that only half (or maybe even less) of eligible Japanese actually vote, so I was expecting the place to be empty.  I was pleasantly surprised to find other people there!  And they weren't all old folks either.  There were alot of young-ish people there too (like, young couples with a small child).  We broke up into lines according to our addresses, so there wasn't much of a wait.


Today's vote was for Osaka prefectural assembly members and the governor.  Each race was separate from the other, so there wouldn't be any mistakes.  We don't have voting machines (so no election tampering, ha!).  There's a list of people running and their party.  You write the name of your choice, then stick the paper in a locked box.  Repeat for the other race.  Done.  I don't think it took even five minutes. 


I was feeling super proud of myself....but no confetti.  Maybe I should bring my own next time? 

Obligatory photo of cherry blossoms

Now, I hope you don't mind if I get a little political rant out of my system.  The Osaka governor/mayoral race was NOT supposed to be today.  It was supposed to be in November, the same as in other areas of Japan.  BUT, the governor of the prefecture and mayor of Osaka city are of the same political party Osaka Isshin no Kai (Osaka Restoration Association).  They seem to have only one part platform - to integrate Osaka city and Osaka prefecture.  Thus, their party's nickname "One Osaka".  They keep pushing for this, but nobody wants it.  There was even a vote once, and it got voted DOWN.  But this doesn't stop them.  These two guys QUIT their respective positions and are running for the other's job...hoping that wins for both of them will regain some momentum for their "one Osaka" position. 

These are my problems with One Osaka.

1. As I said above, NOBODY WANTS IT!  I doubt there would be any substantial financial savings.  Honestly, it's mostly about "proving" that Osaka is just as good as Tokyo (Tokyo city and prefecture are merged).  Hey, we don't need a merger.  Osaka is awesome as it is!
2. The founder of this party (Toru Hashimoto) is a total @$$xxxx.  Fill in the blanks there.  Even though he quit (for now), I'm sure if the merger started gaining support, he'll be back. 
3. Just in regards to today's governor/mayor race...  They decided to do this maybe a month before the election.  This didn't give any opposition parties much time to decide on candidates.  I don't know about mayor, but there was only one other choice for governor (running as an independent).  Maybe within the official rules, but not totally fair.
4. In addition to their one note-one Osaka platform, these guys are drooling over the possibility of a big casino resort complex being built here.  These things NEVER bring the benefits they're "supposed" to.  The government will spend tax payers money to support the project, but the only benefits will go to a few at the top.  Yet, Osaka prefecture's junior high schools don't have school lunch!  Let's make sure our kids are taken care of before building any casinos, guys!! 

McDonald's trays go GREEN

My daughter's birthday was yesterday, but since we were busy with work/school, today I took her for lunch at McDonald's.  She kept hugging me because she was so happy to be there! 


Today, I found something new...

Sorry it's not a super clear picture...  Anyway, it's a box to accept old Happy Meal (or in Japan, Happy Set) toys for recycling.  This box will only be there until May 9th, but they'll run another recycling campaign in the summer and winter.  The recycled toys will be used to make new green food trays (as shown in the sample on top of the box). 


Anyone else think this is a great idea?  Those toys get played with for a little while, but then they just take up space in the toy box.  Or get stepped on in the middle of the night like the infamous Lego?  The ones that play sounds wear out and don't have replacable batteries.  It's nice to have a responsible way to do some spring cleaning!


Check out the official site for more info (in Japanese).  Any other countries doing this?

Elections in Japan, part 1

To be honest, I don't know how anybody can NOT be interested in politics.  I understand that there are alot of awful people involved, no matter the country.  That's not cool.  BUT, these are the people who, once elected, will be making decisions about things that affect each and every one of us.  From how much we pay for our health care to how our children are educated and cared for, even to the very air we breathe and water we drink (through environmental laws)...


Anyway...as you can see, I feel very strongly about this.  One of the MANY reasons I chose Japanese citizenship is so I can vote in the country where I live/ pay taxes and my ultimate dream is to become a politician.  I'd be happy to take over as the Prime Minister, anytime! 




Yeah, Shinzo...THIS will make me vote for you....

So, I've been pretty excited about the upcoming elections.  My first as a Japanese citizen!!  The other day, I received my voting slip in the mail.  

No need to register to vote!  As long as you've lived in the city since a certain date, they automatically send you a voting slip.  You MUST take this with you.  They include a little map to the voting station for your area.  Usually it's a local public school or a community center.

Voting is NOT mandatory here.  Personally, I feel this is a mistake, but that's something to deal with once I take over for Abe.  Voting IS, however, on a Sunday and runs for fairly long hours.  In addition, if you know you'll be out of town or just busy on that day, you can go to city hall and vote in advance.  Alot more convenient than certain countries that won't even let Election Day be a national holiday....

One thing I find confusing is that there are multiple election dates.  The voting slip above is for the April 7th election for Osaka prefectural assembly members and the governor.  The following Sunday is the election for city council members.  I think there might be national elections later this year...?  (Don't quote me on that!)

Who's running?  Well, the city puts up these boards before the elections and on a certain date, the candidates' teams put up posters.  These boards are often near the voting stations, but also near public areas like parks.

There's alot more to talk about, but that's enough for now.  I'll just leave you with one final thought....  Just say no to the"One Osaka" party!

 



What time is it?

Even after all these years of living in Japan, one thing I still have trouble with is TIME.  In Japan, the 24 hour clock system is commonly used. 

For example, this store closes at 21:00...or by the 12 hour clock system, 9pm.

The pharmacy in this store is open until 8pm on Monday through Friday, unil 5pm on Saturdays, and is closed on Sundays and national holidays.


At first, I thought this was just a Japan thing.  Maybe left over from the post war occupation.  BUT, according to everyone's friend Google, most of the world uses the 24 hour clock system!  It's mostly English-speaking countries that use the 12 hour system.  Who knew?? 


So, I learned something new today!  It doesn't make figuring out what time it is any easier for ME though...