Neil Duckett

It’s been a quiet week for me this week, we’re in the middle of long winter and it’s cold. Tomorrow signifies the beginning of the last official month of weather and fingers crossed it’s on the improve.

I’m changing hosting companies at the moment due to traffic restrictions and things have been troublesome to say the least. I expect to have it all sorted out in the next few days and i see February being a busy month for me with a few site changes, maybe a competition and hopefully continue increase in readers.

In about 2 months time we’ll be experiencing another Cherry Blossom season, a great time of the year for throwing the frisbee in Yoyogi Park like this young lass last year.

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Today i attended this years Miss Nippon / Miss Japan (ミス日本グランプリ決定コンテスト) contest and what a day it was. Firstly let me clarify, Miss Nippon and Miss Japan are one and the same, Miss Universe Japan is a different contest which started in 1998.

Miss Japan Pageant

The Miss Japan pageant had existed from 1952 to 1997. During that period, the pageant managed to produce three top 5 finalists and a winner, Akiko Kojima, who claimed the first crown for Japan in 1959.

Miss Universe Japan Pageant

Since its founding in 1998, the Miss Universe Japan pageant, run by acclaimed French national director, Ines Ligron. It has achieved the impressive result of having three top 5 finalists and one winner at the Miss Universe pageant within a short span of 9 years. Ines Ligron was catapulted to the international spotlight when Riyo Mori won Japan’s second Miss Universe crown in Mexico in 2007

Now, on to business - Over a preliminary day of “Competiton” where only the parents of the competitors were allowed, the starting 27 were narrowed to 10 finalists.

In what turned out to be a closed to the public event, i was fortunate enough to be invited and sponsored, the only Gaijin in attendance.

The Winner of Miss Nippon / Miss Japan 2008 - Suzuki Eri　(スズキ　エリ)

Upon arrival we were met with 8 of last years finalists, a nice way to start the day. The girls included;

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This weeks theme in The Photo Hunt is Old Fashioned or Jidai Okure (じだいおくれ) in Japanese although i’m told this is not very polite and have been given some other version to use if the opportunity arises but we’ll stick with this for now.

Living in Japan we’re presented with Old Fashion things every day, for such a modern place with regards to technology, the place feels very old when you’re going about your day to day business.

I didn’t have a whole lot spring to mind as a good photo to depict this weeks theme until Thursday night when i went to dinner at my local sushi bar, then there it was staring me in the face.

I didn’t want to have the picture staring at me for the next week either so i’ve decided to put it on the read more page, here’s a lead in instructional image to my photo for this week.

There are two styles of toilets commonly found in Japan. The oldest type is a simple squat toilet, which is still common in public conveniences. After World War II, modern Western-type flush toilets and urinals became common. The current state of the art for Western-style toilets is the bidet toilet, which, as of 2004, are installed in more than half of Japanese households. In Japan, these bidets are commonly called Washlets (ウォシュレット, Woshuretto), a brand name of TOTO Ltd., and include many advanced features rarely seen outside of Asia. Depending on the exact model, these bidets are designed to open the lid when they sense a user nearby, wash the anus or vulva of the user (including a number of pulsating and massaging functions), dry afterwards with warm air, flush automatically and close the lid after use.

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Coming to work this morning it was a very clear day, much clearer than the last few, which also meant much colder. The temperature when we came through the station this morning was 1′C and i felt it.

Still, when got to work i was able to take a few photos of Mount Fuji, unfortunately the photos i took were through the glass so they lose some quality, you still get the idea though.

Mount Fuji (富士山, Fuji-san^?), is the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776 m (12,388 ft). A dormant volcano that last erupted in 1707-08, it straddles the boundary of Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures just west of Tokyo, from which it can be seen on a clear day. It is located near the Pacific coast of central Honshū. Three small cities surround it: Gotemba (east), Fujiyoshida (north) and Fujinomiya (southwest).

Mount Fuji’s exceptionally symmetrical cone is a well-known symbol of Japan and it is frequently depicted in art and photographs, as well as visited by sightseers and climbers.

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Train Grope offences are on the rise in Japan and i’ve previously written about this in november. The Groping Train behaviour has been around years and now there’s an increased desire to protect the innocent from wrongful accusation.

According to a survey conducted in Tokyo a few years back, nearly 64 percent of Japanese women in their 20s and 30s said they’ve been groped on trains, subways or at transit stations in the city. These subway gropers — who lean, rub and pinch during the remarkably crowded rush hours — are known in Japanese as “chikan.”

It seems Women Only carriages aren’t enough to combat the groping on the Japanese rail system. There’s now a portable strap available for 525 Yen, (~$5).

The strap actually provides no support whatsoever when the train stops or starts with sudden movement, it’s sole purpose is to show female passengers that your hands are busy which reduces your chance of a quick train grope.

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