Japanese dictionary for Firefox

If you're learning Japanese, or need to read a Japanese website, then definitely install the Moji firefox extension: http://moji.mozdev.org/ I've only just started using it, but it's incredibly helpful for quickly looking up the various readings for single kanji or whole Japanese words.

Merry Christmas

I'm heading back to Australia for Christmas and New Year's Eve, and am looking forward to the hot weather (though I may change my mind when I arrive). I don't know if I'll update while I'm away, but anyway, have a great holiday season and a happy new year!

Disneyland

I recently got to go to Tokyo Disneyland with Chihiro and her friend Tomoko, who works for Japan Rail and got us some nice cheap bullet-train tickets. As you can see, everything had a christmas theme - even the haunted mansion! It was a very chilly day, but that only added to the christmas feeling, and kept the crowds away. Most rides we only waited around 10 minutes for, which was amazing considering usually there are hour-long waits!
The parade was charming, in it's own perfect-disney way. The dancers were so full of glee I was wondering if maybe they take anti-depressants before performing! However there was one guy who looked a little out of place with all the fairies and snowmen dancing around - the gestapo security officer.
The Star Tours ride, which took us through a Star Wars space station and onto a mechanical space flight simulation brought back many memories. Everything was modelled on the original Star Wars trilogy (perhaps the ride itself is 20 years old?!), and it really drove home just how different the new movies are from the originals. Oh well, no point crying over spilt midichlorians.
We had a huge amount of fun wandering around the "magic kingdom", and luckily got to see everything we wanted to. Somehow, even though I know that it's totally commercial, everything there was just so exuberantly joyful that I couldn't help but be affected by it.

Crab Feast

Last weekend I went to a crab feast at Chihiro's place with her family, aunt and uncle and grandma. They had ordered a large box of crabs from Hokkaido over the internet! They were absolutely huge, and there were several different types, all packed with juicy flavour. We ate as much as we could, though there was still a lot left over!

Tanuki

I saw my first live tanuki the other night. I was riding home along a dark backstreet near my place when something large dashed across the road in front of me. At first I thought it was a huge cat, but it had an oversized rear end and a stubby tail. Below is a picture of a real tanuki and a picture of one of the many common tanuki statues around Japan (usually in gardens or in front of restaurants). Tanuki have a rich folklore history and are said to love sake, often changing into human form to drink, and paying for it with money that turns out to be just leaves. Real tanuki apparently do have large testicles, though not to the exaggerated extent they are depicted with! Their balls represent fertility and good fortune, and are said to be the source of their magical powers. They are associated with wealth because the Japanese collquial word for testicle is kindama, which means golden ball. A schoolyard song about them roughly translates as: "Tanuki's testicles swing back and forth even when there is no wind blowing."

Tanuki are also very popular in Japan today, appearing in computer games, TV adverts, and cartoons such as Pon Poko (pictured below).