Japanese Calendars

This calendar stopped me dead in my tracks (above). The art is so stunning I had to post every month. Printed with vibrant inks on handmade washi paper. If you look closely you can see a debossed rectangle on each page - meant for cutting out so the image can be used as a postcard for its second life! I love multi-purpose things like this - so clever.

This is similar to the above calendar, but with stylized animals on colorful backgrounds. I like the eel on moss green. The debossed rectangles for use as postcard guides come through more clearly in this series.

This is really fun...this is how the calendar looks closed.

Then, voilà! Individual die-cut panels swing out, all attached by a grommet. Cool retro-style art. I don't know how practical it is but very rewarding to play with. Made from uncoated, heavy cardstock, very yummy and tactile.

Cats are well-loved and seen on every type of product. I saw many cat calendars, this one being my favorite. It features a community of kitties with distinct characters, engaging in activities such as dancing or enjoying fireworks.


This calendar features everyday objects with smiley faces on them. So kawaii.


This is a sweet calendar...charming illustrations of a girl and her dog doing things together. Each page has a door, window or other object die-cut to reveal a surprise underneath. Hard to tell, but this month has the book's page that opens up. Click on image to enlarge.

More cats! This one shows cats for every week. A wide range of whimsical, quirky, painted cats.

This calendar is illustrated with traditional Japanese icons and motifs that match the season. I liked the gold accents and bamboo binding.

Beautiful black and white botanical prints in an oblong format.

I purchased most of these calendars at Tokyu Hands - they made excellent souvenirs.

Check out my Japanese stationery post here.

World's Greatest City: 50 Reasons Why Tokyo is No. 1

This "50 reasons" list from CNNGo just makes me want to hop on a plane and fly back to Tokyo tonight. Among my favorites on their list are:

3) Tongue-gasmic food porn
10) You can commute to the mountains
12) Even the serious museums are weird
26) Cyberpunk infrastructure
35) The cuddliest cafes (for cat lovers)
36) The most bars per square meter
40) The most prolific festivals
45) You can eat like a sumo wrestler
49) The finest art cafes

Photo: Peak Bar at the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku

Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

Jake Adelstein spent a grueling twelve-year stint as a crime reporter for Japan's prestigious Yomiuri Shinbun. His career gave him an inside look at parts of Japanese society that few foreigners have a chance to see: the underworld of organized crime. Tokyo Vice follows his exploits from his rookie beginnings, culminating in the scoop of a lifetime and yakuza threats on his life. I couldn't put this book down and was sorry when it ended.

Adelstein's life in Japan started off as a Japanophile's dream. He mastered the language, landed a respectable journalism job straight out of university, and proceeded to boldly go where no gaijin has gone before. He's the first American journalist to have gained access to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police press club while learning about the intricacies of connections between the police force, the press, and sources of information from the shadier side of the tracks.

Adelstein's story has been described as hard-boiled and gritty, but coming through his lurid tales of crime and the sex trade is a self-depracating, funny, likable and very human voice. I cheered him on as he rolled with the punches, whether it was having to eat fish eyeballs or working a night in a host club in order to follow through on a story. I also loved the accounts of evening visits to the home of his detective mentor, Sekiguchi-san, as he plied his family with ice cream and patiently waited for useful information.

Tokyo Vice is an eye-opener, not just in terms of the prevalence of the yakuza in all corners of Japanese society, or the horrific rise in human trafficking. I also learned fascinating details about Japanese culture I didn't know before, like how nihonjin often remove their shoes before committing suicide - presumably because, just as it's poor etiquette to enter a home with shoes on, it would be just as rude to enter the afterlife in this manner. Or, that the top-selling books on Amazon Japan are how-to manuals, including a sex manual, a suicide manual and a manual on how to argue with Koreans.

The Japanophile's dream begins a grim descent to reality, however, as Adelstein pursues two big stories: one involving a yakuza boss getting a liver transplant at UCLA, the other about human trafficking in Japan. He becomes increasingly involved with the victims whose lives are shattered by sexual slavery and this becomes his crusade. As he works obsessively towards exposing this darker side of Japan, his personal life, family, health and well-being are put at risk.

This book begins as a coming-of-age story and a fascinating look at crime reporting in Japan, and ends with the tone of someone who's seen too much, veered too close to the moral edge and lost too many friends and mentors. In one unforgettable chapter called "Evening Flowers," he writes about the many words for sadness in the Japanese language and how the various subtleties can't be translated. My sense was that Jake-san had a chance to experience many kinds of sadness during his crime reporting days, and he will remain haunted for some time.

Related links:

Jake Adelstein's site, Japan Subculture Research Center, with a Random House interview

Awesome interview with NPR where Adelstein talks more about yakuza and how they've infiltrated society

Tokyo Vice on Amazon

Image used with permission from Jake Adelstein

Tanka: The City

With bright promises
of eternal youth
the city lures me
but even one night here
is too long without you

Ads and Signs Around Tokyo

T-Shirts in Shibuya Shops

Some funny t-shirts I saw on display.

Haiku: Shibuya Crossing

Shibuya crossing
in the frenetic midst
a man reads a book