Arrival to Japan...SUCCESS!

It seems coming west over the Intl Date Line isn`t as hard on the system as going back to the US. I will try and update here and there over the next couple weeks.

Some observations after being in Japan for a day: It`s been a while since I have been in Japan during winter, but every shop and restaurant is decked out for Christmas, and it`s still November! I don`t remember things being like this. I don`t see any houses with Christmas lights, though, only businesses. In general Christmas is always celebrated as a sort of holiday for lovers, accompanied with the official Japanese theme song for Christmas, Wham`s `Last Christmas`.

One of my favorite things to do over here is go to bookstores. My favorite is the GIANT Kinokuniya store in Umeda, Osaka. For a country that is so up on technology, HD, gaming systems, etc. it makes me happy to see how crowded bookstores are. It is not just comics and magazines (though there is no shortage of those) but fiction and non-fiction books as well. It still appears that Japan is remaining a well-read society.

Big news now is the trade of Hanshin Tigers pitcher Igawa to the Yankees for about 30 million bucks. The Tigers fans are famous for their obsessiveness, despite the teams history of struggle. Man-in-the-street interviews in Osaka about the trade on Wednesday elicited three kinds of responses: 1) `Good for him! He can follow his dream of playing for the American pros!`, 2) `This is a blow to the team. I hope the Tigers can find a decent replacement` (typical so far) and then 3) `I hope the Yankees know that he stinks it up after five innings!`. A very typical Osaka-jin reply. On the news program I saw three different people (two men and a woman) came up with something along those lines. I had to laugh.