A Japanese bullet train with a kingfisher's nose

Making a Shinkansen train run faster wasn't a great challenge; making it run more quietly was. The "claps" created by the train entering tunnels (caused by a sudden change in air resistance) were so loud that residents 400 metres away would complain.

Engineer Eiji Nakatsu noticed that kingfishers were able to dive smoothly from air (a low-resistance medium) into water (a high-resistance medium), and wondered if this was due to the bird's streamlined beak. Computer simulations proved him right. "Data analysis showed that the ideal nose shape is almost identical to the kingfisher's beak," he says. The new shape has also cut the train's energy use by 15 per cent, and increased its speed by ten per cent.

Here is the story

Japan Postcard: Sent Packing

Well it is that time again. I do the packing because I have a particular spacial awareness that is a useful skill in this area. Takayama tends to try to pack artistically, as we would expect, and like all artists demands that more gets shoved into less but everything has enough space around it to allow for the creative context. She's rubbish at packing!

So I do the packing. I have just finished and one case weighs 21 kilos and the other weighs 20.5 kilos which is within the tolerance of the stated 20 kilos per case per person. This did take a bit of juggling because the original pack had us at a total of 46.7 kilos. A quick re-evaluation, some items relegated to hand luggage and we got to within the required tolerance.

There is one small problem though. I haven't packed anything of my stuff at all, not one single item in that grand total of 41.5 kilos is actually mine. This is quite usual, after all Takayama is a sculpture so we have to bring and take back some weighty materials and tools otherwise she can't do any work whilst out here. Then there is HMiL's plum juice, jam and assorted bags and coats given to Takayama out of the cupboard. That cupboard is like the Tardis, over the last five years I have had to carry back about 2.78 tonnes of assorted bits and pieces and yet it is still bursting at the seams every time we get back here.

In addition there is the Chinese medicine supplies, obviously there are essential snacks and presents for most people and of course there are those strange electronic/magnetic devices that HMiL swears by in terms of alternative health care. After that lot's all in then there are Takayama's clothes, shoes and of course a supply of those Japanese heat patches that weigh in at a hefty two kilos.

Once I have winched the cases shut, snapped a ligament or two getting the belt around the case, then the job is done. My stuff? Well you might notice me wearing a similar style for the next couple of months, sort of looking like I only have two sets of clothes. I can get the laptop and camera into the hand luggage then I just stuff what I can into the space that's left and then leave the rest here.

Slowly but surely my wardrobe here is getting bigger than my one at home. Now the big question is, "Is that really something that worries me?"

I hear it's cold in London, Gordon Brown and David Cameron are calling each other sissy and the British taxpayer is set to fork up another 300 billion this year to make it look as though...well, well actually, that our economy is not almost one trillion pounds in debt. Hey and guess who is going to have to pay that bill off over the long term?

"Jack," Takayama calls, "You're not going on about consumer slaughteryards again are you?"

Looks like we've arrived back where we began but I have a feeling that I am not the only person this year who is going to have lost his shirt (well in my case, left it in Tokyo!).

Til next time.......

Mito Komon, Understanding who is boss and why.

I was just sitting around the house watching the television when I realised something about Japanese culture that I believe is actually very important. The programme on show was a typical holiday season drama; love, treachery, swords and samurai, everywhere samurai with swords. In fact I would imagine that for most people one of the first images the word Japan conjures up in their mind is that of the samurai.

Fine clothes, fine swords, the dangerous elegance of power

This icon of Japan is the foundation of television drama, the lynchpin format which places the history of Japan at the heart of entertainment. But the realisation I made was that with very small exceptions this is all there is, almost everything is samurai, almost everything is historical drama that proclaims one standard Japanese identity.

Every child knows who they are

Now this is so obvious that I am sure some of you are thinking, "Come on Jack, what are you trying to say here." Well it is obvious but it is so obvious that I feel we miss something. In our English culture we have historical drama, good lord we are riddled with it, the royal family through history, stories of the Englishman as empire builder, those Norman invaders, Robin Hood, the list is long. But in all of our dramas there are others, we always have others. Even when we deal with the royal family, an example being Queen Victoria, there is always the foreigner, Prince Albert, that German character. Robin Hood, well how many episodes before the skillful Moor makes an appearance? Besides the men in green of Sherwood forest are fighting that dreadful foreigner the Norman overlord.

We have always known who everyone else is

Our history is filled with the comings and goings not just of the continent of Europe but the whole world and they all turn up in the cast of our historical dramas. We source our identity in popular culture from this multiplicity of identities. In Japanese popular culture there is only one identity, all the time the same identity continually playing into the nation's consciousness.

Mito Komon, the definitive Japanese hierachy

We have to remember that for many years the traditional greeting for the tourist arriving on the shores of Japan was decapitation. The poor old sailor who managed to struggle through the surf as the sole survivor of a shipwreck would stagger half way up the beach but never make it any further. No words, no enquiry, no other consideration, the first person to see this demon from the sea would either take the head off there and then or get someone with a sword to do the job immediately. You see Japan is the sacred islands of the Japanese and in the past they intended to keep it that way. There was going to be no issue about foreigners coming and changing or ruining the Japanese way of life. Foreigners were simply not allowed to pollute the national identity.

But, as I have said before, pragmatism and a dislike of uncertainty were always on hand to deal with changing situations. Gunpowder, for the pragmatic mind, and European weapons, especially in a feudal society with clans protected by warrior armies, held a certain attraction. Even then the traders were kept in isolation from the nation of Japan, either on a designated island or in ghettos, contact with the foreign was limited. Once the technology and the skills of production were acquired then it was back to the good old days of banishing foreigners on pain of death.

Dark days ahead as America forges its diplomatic style

Things really do not change until July 14th 1853 when the United States of America decided to use their own interpretation of the word diplomacy to open up the country for trade. Commander Perry arrived in his famous Black Ship and gave Japan two options, either open for trade or have all your coastal towns bombarded. Faced with an opponent so technologically superior the decision was the pragmatic choice, open for trade. This ended 200 years of trading only with the Dutch and the Chinese. The nation still managed to protect its population from excessive foreign influence but it was recognised that Japan had to become an industrialised country and move on the global stage. The rest, as they say, is history!

That realisation I started with was the effect of a continually mono-cultural background on identity today. True, a lot of what I am saying here is actually quite superficial in some respects, but scratch any surface and you will find the true metal of your subject. I believe the metal of this Japanese identity is something special.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Two years ago a delegtaion of Islamic traders organising the sale of second hand Japanese cars from a port on the coast to Asia and beyond arranged to meet with the city mayor. Their petition was about trying to obtain halal meals for their children at the local school. They presented their case and the mayor, who listened patiently so the report stated, replied, "Ah yes, but this is Japan."

The delegation tried to further explain but anyone who knows the Japanese knows exactly what the mayor was saying. Perhaps I could translate for you, "If you want to eat halal please do but in Japan we are not muslim so we don't do halal in our schools. If you are not happy with this then please go to a country where your children can eat halal meals in their schools. Thankyou and goodbye."

Authority comes from the top

Perhaps this seems a glib interpretaton but to the Japanese mind the whole question would have made little sense and have been seen just as an odd request from a bunch of foreigners. There is only one cultural position and that is Japanese, all other relationships are a matter of pragmatism but Japanese culture is never negotiable.

Halal meals? I don't think so!

And so to Mito Komon. This is Japan's longest running television drama and I love every moment of it. This progamme has over 1000 episodes to its credit and began in 1969. At 16.00hrs most weekdays you can see an episode of the back catalogue and the current series plays in an evening slot within the schedule. 1000 episodes and all with exactly the same format, the same fundamental plot. This programme is the Doctor Who of Japanese television, by that I mean that every so often the main character, Mitsuemon, regenerates and so, I believe, there have been 5 Mitsuemon and with each new interpretation of the character his travelling companions change (slightly).

Outnumbered but never outmatched, Japan against the world.

This is the plot: wandering old retired man arrives at a location and finds something bad going on. He and his team investigate and discover the truth about how local people are being abused by corrupt officials and authorities. They then confront the evil doers and a fight ensues. This fight is badly ill matched with Mitsuemon's faithful and ever present key retainers Kaku-san and Suke-san usually taking on at least 15 opponents at any one time. However what the bad guys do not know is that these two men represent the most formidable of swordmen and the most formidable exponent of judo. Very quickly it is clear that no numbers of opponent will get the better of these two but that is just the first lesson.

The inro is produced

At some point Mitsuemon will call his men to him and then they will reveal that their master is in fact not a retired travelling crepe merchant but the second most powerful person in Japan, Tokugowa Mitsukuni, former vice-Shogun and reitired daimyo of the Mito domain. No matter what your rank or authority this is the moment when you get down on your knees because if Mitsuemon tells you to eat your own foot all you can do is ask permission for some salt.

1. 

Pass the salt

Here is a video clip so you can see for yourself:

So there you have it, out comes the inro (the lacquered box bearing the symbol of the Tokugowa clan) and everyone thinks "Shit!" as Suke-san tells them "Do you know who this is, this is the former vice-shogun, this is the Lord of Mito, get down on your knees now and show the proper respect."

There is no chance or opportunity of any other action in this moment as everyone is faced with the power of Japanese feudal authority. What Mitsuemon says is exactly what will happen, there is no debate. Faced with such power the ring leader gets up and attacks, he knows that he is a dead man and so decides to go out fighting, it is all he can do. But for such unusual insolence even in his moment of death a judicious foot comes down on his neck. Most of the time the ring leaders just keep their noses in the dirt and take their punishment. The other bad boy is then dispatched with ruthless efficiency and all has been set right. Mitsuemon produces his trademark laugh, probably at the very idea anyone thought they could get away with such a scam in the first place, and then goes on to ensure all worthy citizens are safe within that local society.

Everyone on the floor before authority

Well yes, this is an historic drama played with humour and perhaps you would say hardly a touchstone of culture. I would contend that you would be wrong to look at this with such eyes. Those eyes would be your western interpretation. The fundamental of this drama is authority and its power. When that inro comes out everything stops, one look at the Tokugawa seal and everyone falls to their knees. Remember this is Japan's longest running drama celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. We have Coronation Street and the working class of the Rover's Return but Japan has supreme power and authority enforced from the top to ensure society functions as it should with all wrong doers punished mercilessly. Every day at 16.00hrs and once a week in an evening prime time slot, the message goes out, always the same story, always the same result, always consistent. No uncertainty at all.

And who was this Mitsuemon?

Tokugawa Mitsukuni (徳川 光圀, Tokugawa Mitsukuni?, July 11, 1628 - January 14, 1701) was a prominent daimyo who was known for his influence in the politics of the early Edo period. He was the third son of Tokugawa Yorifusa (who in turn was the eighth son of Tokugawa Ieyasu) and succeeded him, becoming the second daimyo of the Mito domain.

source: Wikipedia

Tokugawa Ieyasu

The key name in this extract is Tokugawa Ieyasu who is a formidable figure in Japanese history. This is the man who founded the Tokugawa Shogunate which ruled Japan for 250 years, absolutely no mean feat whatsoever. So Mitsuemon is Tougawa Ieyasu's grandson and a former vice-shogun in the Tokugowo Shogunate and that is someone you just do not want to pick a fight with.

This Tokugawa clan is very important because it established the capital of Japan at Edo, this today is the location of Tokyo. No Tokugawa, no Tokyo, as simple as that.

So how does this all translate into the contemporary. Well it is about authority and how we react to it. One flash of the inro and everyone is on their knees. But if you ask a company man today if that effects his life he would probably not understand what you mean, no Mitsuemon is just a television drama. However, if you ask that company man out for a beer after work he may just say to you that he can't make it because his boss is working late that evening. Nobody leaves until after the boss has gone, that's just the way it is in Japan.
In the meantime if any of you want to buy gold or silver rather than leave your money in collapsing currencies and negative interest rate bank accounts then here is where you do it: Saving in Gold Alternatively  you could simply believe what the politicians, bankers and economists are telling you, after all we all have to believe in something!

The man who replaced Liberal Democratic Party of Japan
Well Done Indeed Sir!
Overwhelming Election Victory on Change Mandate
Consequence: nothing changes.
Hatoyama, the grandson of the founder of a political dynasty

Hatoyama comes from a prominent Japanese political family which has been called the "Kennedy family of Japan."[2]

Hatoyama, who was born in Bunkyō, Tokyo, is a fourth generation politician. His paternal great-grandfather, Kazuo Hatoyama, was speaker of the House of Representatives of the Diet of Japan from 1896 to 1897 during the Meiji era.[3] Kazuo later served as the president of Waseda University.[3] His paternal great-grandmother, Haruko Hatoyama, was a co-founder of what is known today as Kyoritsu Women's University. His paternal grandfather, Ichirō Hatoyama, was a major politician; he served as Prime Minister and was a founder and the first President of the Liberal Democratic Party (ja:自由民主党総裁, Jiyū-Minshutō Sōsai?, 1956).

extract source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukio_Hatoyama

Mitsuemon source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mito_K%C5%8Dmon

The Temple and The Shrine

Meguro Fudo Son

Here then is the story of the journey out into Japanese New Year, a strange and unfamiliar land for those from a consumerist culture that has forgotten its spiritual mythology (U.K.). The first thing to know is that New Year is the feast of feasts in the Japanese cultural and mythological calenders. Christmas is just what it is in the UK, a festival of consumerism, but without the days off of work, New Year is the party every Japanese person goes to. The image above is from the Meguro Fudo Son Buddhist temple which is just behind HMiL's home. This was taken at 02.00hrs on the 1st January 2010 and as you can see the temple is packed.

That is the thing about New Year, the festival really starts in the last few days of December when people go to the temples and shrines, more about this dualism later, to buy the necessary items to decorate the home with for the transition from old to new. Without these items Japanese homes would certainly not experience good fortune in the new year so a thousand yen here and a thousand yen there and the monks and priests will supply the necessary prayers, incantations, symbols and devices that promise every chance of wealth, health and happiness. (Though it should be noted that the first and the last are inseperable).

The Temple staff protecting the wealth,
health and happiness of the people

From first light on New Years Eve the Buddhist temples and the Shinto shrines are ready for the crowds. All day and all through the night, the big moment is the first dawn of the new year, people absolutely pack out these religious sites all over Japan. According to the wiki on Shinto shrines it is estimated that there are 100,000 across Japan. The number of temples is not a figure I can find and that is probably because it is simply uncountable. The number of these sites may seem vast but it is absolutely nothing to the number of people who attend them at New Year.

Cleansing the way

For regular readers of this blog it will come as no surprise whatsoever that on entering the temple the first task is to wash your hands. This is of course a ritual cleansing but I also believe that it is a deep statement of specific identity, "I am Japanese"

The ritual never ceases

What I have personally found truly surprising is not just the numbers of people but the complete cross section of society, when I say everyone goes I do mean everyone. There is an outstandingly high probability that members of the Atheist Society of Japan arrange to go together in a group and probably follow the rational, "Yes, obviously we don't believe in any of this but this is New Year and after all we are Japanese." Last night I even saw a group of Japanese punks washing their hands before going onto the next stage, spiritual purification.

First the physical then the spiritual cleaning

Wander up a few more steps from the water trough and you have a massive pile of incense sticks burning like a fireworks night bonfire and wafting large clouds of deeply scented smoke around the people. Most stop and "bathe themselves" in the smoke by pulling it in and around their bodies.

The burning desire for complete cleanliness

Observing this spiritual washing for some time what again is so amazing is that everyone appears to get involved. Young-old, goth-company man, punk-fashionista, executive-petrol station attendant, they all seem to want some of this cleansing ritual, and for very good reason. This is a moment when the goodness of the smoke gives you the opportunity to ask for a wish for the New Year and that really gives the insight about what is going on here.

Not a smoke screen

Once more this is Japan and this is the Japanese way of doing things. New Year is a re-affirmation of that Japanese identity, it is a defining moment of culture in the social and mythological calender. Yes, around the temples there are many stalls, a sort of fairground (spaces rented from temple or shrine of course) which provides a few light entertainments, some additional opportunities to buy spiritual commodities but dominated by food stalls. These food stalls are uniquely Japanese fare, the American hamburger or similar foreign fast food staples just simply do not exist within this particular universe. Here the seasonal favourite of octopus tentacles and squid hit the griddle plates with a hiss of steam.

Something to chew on

But it would be completely wrong to write off the attendance of young people at the temples and shrines as just the chance to "go to the fair". Of course there are some that just hang around the stalls but the vast majority ascend the steps, wash their hands and then cleanse their spirit with incense smoke before entering into the inner sanctum. There in Meguro Fudo Son they stand before the statue of the Buddha, clap twice and join their hands in a silent prayer with head bowed before throwing coins into the enormous trough before them.

This goes on all New Years Eve through to the dawn of New Years Day, throughout that day and on for another three days. People visit temple and shrine, they walk around or get the all night tube trains and go from site to site, eating, drinking and offering a quick prayer.

For whom the bell tolls?

This is the great beauty of the Japanese mythologies that those in the west fail so often to grasp. There is no monotheism in Japan; that dreadful mythology of the imperialism of the soul and the divine right of the one and only true God to dam into hell the non-believer, heretic and anyone who says their prayers in the wrong way. No, when people ask me, "Is your wife Buddhist or Shinto?" then I know they haven't got a clue about the Japanese culture. In Japan you can be both Buddhist and Shinto because neither are exclusive, they are inclusive beliefs that recognise there are many ways of seeing the spiritual aspect of humanity.

Besides this we all have to remember the Japanese qualities touted by this blog repeatedly. The Japanese are fundamentally pragmatists and they dislike deeply any level of uncertainty. Shinto is very much about being in tune with the kami (let's just say this means spirits here but it is actually much more than this) and thereby good fortune is yours in life. Once again, a whole paper could be written just on that word 'fortune' and what it means in Japan. The key point here is that Shinto is an ideal belief for making life good, so the Japanese use it mainly for the rituals of birth and marriage. On the other hand Buddhism promises re-incarnation, hmmm says the Japanese psyche, sounds good to me, where do I sign up? So Buddhism deals mostly with the rituals of death.

Obviously, for both to work you still have to put the effort into both of them. In observing all the feasts and rituals you pay the shrines and temples in a constant stream of coin, an investment in keeping all life harmonious and well balanced. After all, surely this is the pragmatic spiritual solution and doesn't leave room for the appearance of uncertainty! There is a Japanese saying that reflects exactly this pragmatism and certainty; "If one God throws you out you always have another to pick you up."

On New Years Day we went to the Hei Shinto shrine, a shrine associated with the Imperial family and with close ties to the sport of sumo wrestling. The image you see above does not give you anything like the true story here. We arrived at 16.00hrs and the queue to get into the shrine was out in the street.

Shrine security men in blue police style uniforms and armed with megaphones were marshalling this huge snake from the pavement, up six flights of steps (about thirty steps in each flight), in through the entrance, in through the outer courtyard to the main entrance for the inner courtyard. At this point you started to realise the enormity of the operation. You see the shrine is set in a square with roads on all four sides and queues were feeding in from all four street entrances. When you managed to arrive at the main inner courtyard then all four queues were merged into one gigantic parade ground file.

At least forty minutes to get this far, at least!

Everyone was patient, everyone was queuing, there was no trouble and everyone conformed, well nearly everyone. Takayama has never been one to wait in line, perhaps that accounts for her having left Tokyo when she was 18. She and I scurried up the steps into the outer courtyard where all the food stalls were. I thought that I was quite happy to just film around that area. I am also not fond of queues and suffer what I like to refer to as creative impatience!!!!!!!!!

Four minutes later and another three feet further on

But, as Takayama delights in pointing out, I suffer from guilt as a result of a Catholic education. She equally rejoices in her own position, "Guilt, what's the point of that?" So when she came brushing up against me and said, "I found a way in and no need to queue, it's just around the back." I felt a little uneasy knowing her track record in this area. She led me around and sure enough she had found an exit from the inner courtyard and, with a heavy heart beating with a sense of betrayal of thousands of loyal queuers, we entered against the flow of people exiting.

What it was all about

Once inside the inner courtyard my emotional burden was relieved because I saw at once the aim of the queuing activity and I hadn't in any way breached that purpose. Before the main shrine there is a row of bells from which hang red and white ribbons. After having made the journey from the street and been patient and polite, once all obstacles had been surmounted, all passage travelled, the queuer found themself before one of these bells and with a quick grasp of the ribbon able to ring it once.

Ringing in the New Year

Once they had rung the bell they stood for a few seconds with hands clasped and head bowed making their prayer for the New Year. A quick throw of some coins into the enormous open trough just behind the bells and off to buy some of that special spiritual merchandise. All around, the inner courtyard was lined with booths staffed by men and women in white and red robes. They were selling prayers, charms, fortune predictions for the coming year and spiritual arrows, one of these is a must have for every home.

Everyone goes to New Years Day

The arrows are made of something like balsa wood, flighted with card, wrapped with a prayer and touched up with red and gold paint, mass produced, not more than 50 pence each to make. Currently, at 150 yen to the pound, the arrows sell for 1000 yen each, about £7.50. These of course are the cheapest arrows, if you pay for a more expensive one it may not look very much different but it will have a much better prayer attached to the shaft.

Around the back in the outer courtyard staff were opening the rear doors to the inner courtyard booths and unpacking a constant stream of merchandising into trolleys inside the booths. If you remember the size of the queue, if you remember that this activity goes on for almost four days, then you have to understand the triumph of logistics that keeps this whole process moving. At a very conservative estimate of a thousand people an hour spending an average minimum of £10 each, each hour for four days then your supply lines need to be good. The temples and the shrines of Japan never, never let their customers down, the organisation and delivery are management models that sparkle with the world famous Japanese efficiency. And if you require a lesson in added value then it has to be worth the 50,000 yen for a private twenty minute consultation with a monk or a priest.

The little extras that really count

Once you have your arrow then you can tie a handkerchief or strip of material to it, so as to identify it as your own, and hand it to a very elegant lady from the shrine's staff. This lady is a Miko, a messenger of the spirit world and she gathers up the arrows in her arm and takes them to the centre of what appears like a small stage.

After the queuing, after the bell, after the purchases, a moment of real beauty

In one arm the arrows are gathered like a bouquet, in her free hand she holds a small shaker of golden bells. From the side of this stage a small group of musicians produce a traditional sound with traditional instruments that even a hermit living in a cave on Mars would recognise as Japanese. Our lady with the arrows then begins to perform a ritual blessing, I assume. This is done with slow graceful movements and starts with a bow towards the audience. The audience bow in return.

Respectful bowing commences the blessing

The lady shakes her bells and then turns slow circles before stopping facing to her left side of the stage. She shakes the bells and then slowly turns more circles until she faces the audience once again. Everyone is silent, everyone is mesmerised, everyone is captivated, this was truly beautiful.

A final blessing

Once this small ritual is complete our lady of the arrows moves to the front of the stage and shakes the bells over the audience. They all bow as she walks along the front of the stage from her left to her right and finishes with a final bow. Once this is complete she then hands the arrows back and each person holds their hand up to receive the one with their handkerchief on. Once they have reclaimed their arrow they have an opportunity to place some yen in a box, in Japan there are limits to what is for sale but added value is always appreciated, good manners would not allow less.

And so this is my own view of New Years Day in Japan, a small glimpse from a very partial viewpoint. Perhaps you would think that I am just writing from a cynical insight but nothing could really be further from the truth. Yes, I can see humour in what I see each year in Japan but only the humour a foreigner sees in any unfamiliar culture. However, as my stated aim is to understand something of another culture and share with all those who read this blog something of Japan, then we have to put this mix of spiritualities and commercialism into context and that context is cultural.

If you hold on to a deep pragmatism then you accept the way the temples and shrines do business, after all business is a necessary function of life. Japan is the consumer society, I would contend, without peer. As there is no conflict with visiting a Buddhist temple and a Shinto shrine so there is no conflict between the material practicalities and the spiritual practices, both can co-exist without compromise. Ask any Japanese how wealthy the temples are, ask them how good a business is a shrine and they will nod their heads and draw a breath. Senior ladies like HMil may even say they are built on gold and that to get a good funeral you need a high ranking monk for a good afterlife and that costs serious money. But when you are talking 'afterlife' there are not enough coins minted to value that commodity.

Wrapped in culture

As with everything else in Japan, if there is good customer service and value for money, like the Shinkansen, then it is seen as emblematic of the culture. The people may pay the temples and the shrines year in year out but all over Japan there is a cultural heritage in these buildings that defines an identity you cannot buy into but have to have been born to. The monks and priests spend their lives in prayer to defend the spirit of Japan and even if you don't want to be too involved in the rituals they do all the spadework for you and that is worth the cost. At the end of the day, if you spend New Years Day in Japan you are going to see a lot of people enjoying themselves, together, peacefully and pragmatically. Of that you can be absolutely certain.

Coals to Newcastle, queueless?

Oh and yes, in the five New Years I have spent in Japan I have never seen anything but Japanese stalls at the temples and shrines. The image above was photographed today at the Hie shrine. Perhaps a trend but I doubt it, it didn't seem like a lot of people were buying. Japan loves its food, loves its tradition and New Year is not a place where I would like to sell cross culturally. However, it reminded me of a night driving back from Exeter to London many years ago. We were hungry, it was nearly 1am in the middle of West Country nowhere but my friend Ali Gullen insisted we pull off of the M5 at the next junction and get a kebab. I told him he was mad, it was midweek, the early hour of the morning and we were heading to a village or town we had never heard of before. Thirty minutes later we were eating kebabs.

"You see Jack, we Turks get everywhere and when we do we open a kebab shop."

Ali Gullen, British of Turkish cultural descent.

And is if further confirmation was necessary then you just have to look at this image from the BBC web site showing Japanese businessmen praying at the Kanto shrine on the first trading day of the New Year. In Japan, wealth and happiness are indivisable and pragmatism says, even if you don't believe you still pray, after all, that leaves no room for uncertainty.

source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/8439594.stm

This shows you the real difference between the Japanese and us, never in your wildest dreams would you expect to see the souless of Canary Wharf and the spiritless of the Square Mile gathered in prayer. The only shrine our business people know is the mirror in their bathroom!

Want a shinto shrine?