Discount Monks Comforting

The traditional all-inclusive Buddhist funeral service held at temples is being challenged by lower-cost freelance monks.

Obohsan.com is one of these independent-monk providers. It has 45 monks on it’s roster, enlightened in seven disciplines of Buddhism.

Having a monk dispatched to a designated funeral service location cuts out the payment to a temple, where the temple-associated monk usually performs such services.

According to a 2007 survey by the Japan Consumers Association, consumers paid on average JPY 549,000 for ceremonies that include posthumous Buddhist naming, sutra-chanting,  and monetary offerings.

Obohsan.com offers an à la carte service selection – JPY42,000 yen for sutra-chanting at wakes and JPY84,000 at funeral services. It offers other pricing options, including four price plans for posthumous Buddhist naming, ranging from JPY31,500 to JPY157,500.  read more: Dial-a-monk firm eases funeral cost worries

Hearses Are Too Depressing

Transport of the deceased to their final destination is becoming more subdued. Use of the traditional garish, shrine-style hearses (miyagata) is steadily declining, in part because residents near funeral homes and crematoriums have complained, saying the miyagata are tacky and depressing.

The trend of crematoriums banning miyagata became evident around 1990. Now, the longstanding bans, complaints, a desire to avoid the idea of death, and changes in attitudes about showy processions, have led to the more common selection of the unobtrusive hearse version.

The Japan Hearse Association, based in Tokyo, has a membership of about 1,500 funeral homes and operators. In total, the members own about 1,500 miyagata. The number has fallen from the 2,100 owned in 1998, its peak year. read more: Neighbors say flashy hearses too depressing

photos: Gold hearse; plain hearse;  memorial service. related: Japan Funeral Coach; hearses and funeral options.

Kentucky Fried Chicken introduces it’s "Morning Menu". Now in the morning, you can get fried fish, fried chicken, or fried shrimp at the leading fast food chains in Japan.

morning menus Beckers; Burger King; KFC; First Kitchen; Lotteria; McDonald’s; MOS Burger .

related Metabolic Syndrome - Japan Ministry of Health

No Soy Sauce For You!

Olympic training includes more than fitness. Athletes need stamina. Focus. Specialized diets. And, apparently, foreign food survival and utensil adaptation lessons.

Every Wednesday, a special menu based on the food that will be available at the Olympic Village in Beijing, is served at Japan’s National Training Center. A sign at the NTC declares the food is offered so athletes can get used to unfamiliar tastes.

Miso soup and soy sauce is not available on Wednesdays. Athletes can instead enjoy spring rolls and dumplings. Japanese rice is not offered, replaced by rice from India and Thailand. Plastic knives and forks substituted for chopsticks. The Olympic menus will be offered every Wednesday until the end of July.

Name that Plan

This special Olympic menu training needs a name. May we suggest:
Good Eating Rules Instruction (GERI)
Japanese Inedible Nutrients Information (JINI)

Suggest a name!

photos: NTC; JOC; NTC table; NTC table Sponichi; Athlete eats

Bye Buy Butter

Thirty-five years ago, it was toilet paper. Now, consumers and bakeries are hunting butter as Japan is suffering a butter shortage.

Supermarkets are limiting butter to one per customer. At OK Mart, Hokkaido butter brand was available, up 100 yen from it’s previous price of 199 yen. Buyers were allowed only one package of the precious gold.

Manufacturers are apologizing as usual.

Bakeries and restaurants have been having butter troubles since late 2007.

Falling butter production in Japan is due to a variety of factors since 2006, including government efforts to maintain prices for local milk farmers, dairy closures, a decline in milk consumption, excessive import tariffs, and worldwide grain-feed price rises.

French bakery chefs are concerned: “We’ve had to come up with some new items that use less butter, like cookies. But you’re talking about flavor. How can you replace butter?” says a pastry chef at a bakery in Tokyo. la times

Butt Shortage Not First

Japan went into “oil shock” in 1973 when Arab members of OPEC set policies that would quadruple the price of oil. Reports predicted a shortage of goods, including (more…)

The Blue Shield

The one-man shelters that many of Japan’s homeless construct from heavy blue tarpaulins can be found in parks, under bridges, and along river banks.

An April 2007 Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare report shows there are 4,213 homeless in Tokyo’s 23 wards, and about 18,500 homeless nationwide. The country has a population of 127 million people. The average age of homeless in Japan is 57.5 years.

The numbers of homeless living in these locations:

Urban parks: 5,702
River bank: 5,653
Highway: 3,110
Station: 910
Other Facilities: 3,189

The Washington Post details how the homeless can get back into the system, and states that compared to US standards of homelessness, being homeless in Japan is “not a bad gig”.

Sometimes the homeless in Japan lose their sturdy do-it-yourself shelters, due to the cops, or the weather. The stories below reveal how some homeless people have opted for improved conditions. (more…)

"Sports Injuries Around the World" MAD Magazine #490, June 2008

Prisons Plan for Geriatric Perpetrators

Age: 80Gender:M Crime: punched, hurled souvenirs and sandwiches at shinkansen conductor

Age: 65Gender:M Crime: attacked son with hammer then accidentally stabbed himself and died

Age: 87Gender:M Crime: strangled 82-year-old bed-ridden wife

Age: 67Gender:F Crime: stabbed her 76-year-old husband in murder attempt

Age: 69Gender:M Crime: murdered, buried 74-year-old woman

LetsJapan has been tracking this trend. Now The Sydney Morning Herald reports on Japan’s “neo-geriatric” crime wave and prison preparations, and offers some theories about why senior citizens are trading their little houses for time in the big house.

related stories:
As Japan Ages, Prisons Adapt to Going Gray (New York Times); Japan’s Ageing Society (BBC) Tokyo Greying (Reuters) Slideshow - Japan’s Aging Prisoners, elderly inside prison in Japan (New York Times)
Illustration from graphic novel “Doing Time” by Kazuichi Hanawa

Bathing Gapers Sneak Peeks

Mixed bathing at a 320-year-old hot spring is being jeopardized by naked male bathers who stare at the nude females in the onsen. The 260-square-meter bath area at the Sukayu Hot Spring Resort does not have a wall to separate the men’s and women’s sections. Due to recent complaints from female bathers, members of the newly-formed Protect Mixed Bathing Association are encouraging visitors to follow the "no staring" rule. news source

photos: No Staring; Men’s and Women’s sides ; Mainichi; Sukayu Mixed Bath More reading: Sukayu Onsen Ryokan ; Onsen guide ; more Sukayu photos; How To Onsen

Strap-on this handy spare wheel holder and you’ll always have a big wheel when you need it.

But that’s not all! The Viva Hula can also be used as a mini-scooter! Just tilt your tummy to steer through crowds.

And the Biba Fura’s patented Swiveltation® technology helps you lose weight!

About JPY 4,000. Learn more here , and see the video here.