A company that operates a ski resort in Japan regularly uses its chairlift to dry sheaves of rice.

The Ishiuchi-Maruyama Resort trademarked the name "Sky Rice" (tenku-mai) for the Koshihikari rice harvested in Minami-Uonuma, Niigata Prefecture.

An employee of Japan Lift Service, which runs the resort, suggested the idea. The employee grew up farming rice before joining the company. JLS  started the sun-dried rice-on-a-lift idea in 2004. 

Hanging rice to dry rather than using a combine harvester results in a moister rice grain with a distinct flavor. The 800 meter ski lift goes into normal use when the Ishiuchi ski season begins in the middle of December.


photos: blue sky; indoors, Liftman ; valley Ishiuchi-Maruyama

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Can You ID The Badge?

The number of badges and pins on Japan Prime Minister Taro Aso’s suit lapel varies daily. The purple pin with gold center indicates "membership" in the Japan government House of Representatives. In the photo above, Lets Japan is unable to confirm the memberships associated with the blue ribbon badge, the gold pin, and the red item that appears to be a feather.

photos: Senkyo (9/24); Sankei (10/8; 10/14); standing related Lawyer experience badges (J); CPA badge (J); badge manufacturer (J); Aso hip with comic book crowd.

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.

The fear that people who have a tattoo are associated with yakuza (Japanese mobsters) persists. Tattooed bodies can be bad for business, so onsens, private pools, sento community baths, water parks and places where shirts come off and shorts are worn either ban tattooed people from entry, or require them to stay covered-up.

Stars and Stripes reports US service members who are adorned with tattoos are displeased. Of five facilities contacted by Stars and Stripes only Tobu Zoo Park allows entry to those with tattoos, but only when the tattoos are kept concealed.

Onsen spas and local communal baths also prefer to prohibit entry to persons emblazoned with tattoos.

no tattoos warning: Fujikyu Highland;  Tokyo Summerland (E) (J, Korean, Chinese); Toshimaen; Yomiuriland; Laqua;  Dekapathos; Chiba Greenery Dept. Pool; Seibu Yuenchi Pool; MobilityLand Adventure Pools

photos: montages LJ; signs  Left Shoulder; One X;  Two X; Three scenes

related: Tattoo services in Japan; Japanese Tattoos; Horiyoshi III, Legendary Irezumi Master; Art of the Yakuza - Japan’s Tattooed Men & Women; Tattoo in Japan;  Foreigners looking like fools with gobbledygook tattoos; Tattooed backsides