episode #12 APPLE STORE / CAPSULE HOTEL
In episode #12, I discuss my recent trip to Tokyo. I ended up spending two days checking out the Apple Store in Ginza, a Capsule Hotel in Shinjuku where I spent the night, and the infamous district of Akihabara.
For this week, I play the clips I recorded while on my way to the Apple Store, at the Apple Store, and my misadventures in trying to find the Capsule Hotel. I also whisper a report to you guys from inside my capsule. What a wild ride it was.
Next week, I will be playing the clips from my day in Akihabara. Both episodes are filled with all kinds of useless knowledge, so sit back and enjoy!
The “Japanese Phrases of the Week” are:
ã„ãらã§ã™ã‹ = ikura desuka? = how much is it? (in relating to price)
ãŠãªã‹ã™ã„㟠= onakasuita = i am hungry
Also, don’t forget to check out my new “Sights of Japan” gallery. It’s located permanently in the header of my blog. You also see what’s going to come next once I get some sleep!
Here’s a pic of what Japanese Yen used to look like about 1 year ago. The 500 piece pictured is actually about 5 years old (the new one is gold and isn’t the exact weight of a Mexican Peso), and the design on the bills changed early this year……
And here’s a link to the Japanese MAGLEV train that I was discussing on the show……
So, enjoy, and until next time,
mata-ne!
September 19th, 2005 at 5:08 am
Recently found this podcast. I spent time in Japan in the 70’s and 80’s, on tour with my band at bases and also several months in Osaka playing a private nightclub. Your broadcast brought back many memories and it sounds like things haven’t changed a lot. You do capture how very different the culture and lifestyle are.
In Osaka I had the experience of someone returning 600 yean that fell out of my pocket–but also saw the club’s maitre do was missing a finger and at one point got seriously beat up by his bosses. So, I did see the not so lovely underside of the Japanese society.
September 19th, 2005 at 8:42 am
I thought “Unakasuita” meant “I’m hungry” and “Unakaipai” meant I’m full. Just checking.
September 19th, 2005 at 8:56 am
Hey Josh, this is an extra treat for me, because I work in the London Apple Store. I’ve always been interested in the Ginza store, because it’s another flagship. Excellent design, and that spinning square on the roof is insane!
September 19th, 2005 at 10:35 am
Yeah you should try and get a deal with Asahi to advertise. I mean hell I bought some Asahi super dry the other day because of your show. So, yeah.
September 19th, 2005 at 1:23 pm
i can’t download this one from iTunes, and you’re not showing up in a search.
September 19th, 2005 at 2:01 pm
you’re right, onakasuita is “i’m hungry”. did i mess it up on the show? …. and onakaipai is “i’m full”, but i didn’t mention it
simon, i think you’re my second apple employee listener! w00t! in exchange for a plug on the show every week for apple (or for you if you go off commission), how about a 20inch iMac? huh? maybe? no?
and yes LVS, i would love to have a sponsorship with asahi, but paid with product not yen….. well, that is alot of beer, maybe yen would be a little easier to use. i can’t go to the store and pay in beer…..
and brian, thank you for mentioning that! i emailed the itms people last night about that. as soon as i posted i checked to see if it pinged my feed on the directory and i wasn’t there. it happens for about 2 hours every day. i have no clue why but it’s every day for a couple hours. hopefully they will get back to me with a reason instead of a generated repsponse telling me to check my feed…..
September 19th, 2005 at 2:19 pm
Awesome pics from tokyo! I’m glad that you got to check out that apple store. Looks a hell of a lot bigger than the ones we have in the states. The only ones that I have been to were in malls so the shop size was relatively small. Maybe if I get a job with JET, I’ll be able to check that bad mother out.
ganbatte!
September 19th, 2005 at 8:58 pm
carnt download latest podcast
September 20th, 2005 at 1:01 am
i also noticed that your latest edition is not loading, in itunes, or now even on the website. I think that the bandwidth may be over your limit. I was really hoping to listen to this one! just fyi
September 20th, 2005 at 1:40 am
this podcast isn’t working. It wwon’t load in page or download. Hope you can fix it.
September 20th, 2005 at 4:44 am
hey josh. just wanted to drop a line to say i really enjoy your podcasts. most of my friends in college are international japanese students and i love being immersed in their culture. i’m actually planning to move out to japan in about 2-3 years so it’s nice hearing about the country from a different perspective (that is of a non japanese person). i actually have a question, and i’d appreciate any feedback. i will be traveling to japan this winter for a short vacation, and i will be staying at tokyo and kagawa. i’m actually going to be there during christmas and new year’s, so i’m wondering if you know any good spots where I can celebrate the holidays.
thanks a lot and keep up the great work!
-erikson-
September 20th, 2005 at 7:52 am
everyone, sorry about the outtages. i posted a comment about it on the blog. sorry!
and erikson, there is no place that is any better than the next. just make sure you’re staying with family and friends who you enjoy being around. i know that’s not the answer you wanted, but i can’t think of anything off the top of my head.
let me try to get back to you on that one. sorry….
September 21st, 2005 at 1:54 am
Hi Josh,
Just started listening to your show - sounds great! I look forward to listening to your earlier podcasts as well as new stuff in the future.
Keep up the good work!
September 21st, 2005 at 7:54 am
Hey Josh
Am listening to your Apple Store/Capsule Hotel Podcast now. I lived in Japan from 1999 to 2001.
One note about used cars. My understanding of the situation is each year you own a car in Japan, the taxes actually increase. The reason Japanese don’t keep cars for a long time is they cannot afford to. I’ve been told that by the time a car is (3) years old, the taxes are more than if you bought a new car.
September 21st, 2005 at 9:35 pm
Andy,
thanks for listening, but unfortunately, i will have to say i disagree. the taxes do not go up for each year that you own a car.
vehicle tax here in japan is dependant on the size of your engine. say for instance, i own a #300 license plate (some will understand what i mean), I will have to pay 17,500 yen each year in taxes. however, if i own a #500 plate, my tax is roughly 8,000 yen a year.
the disposability of vehicles here is strictly a cultural difference, and has nothing to do with an increase in taxes or vehicle insurance. and, well, it’s also dependant on whether the family can buy a new car as well
September 22nd, 2005 at 1:08 am
Hi,
I just wanted to make a comment regarding what you said about the state of Christmas in Japan. If I had walked past a radio playing your show and didn’t hear that you were talking about Japan as you made that criticism, I would have assumed you were talking about the US. I would say that the state of Christmas in the States is very similar, where it has become about giving presents, seeing family, holiday decorating, and food. Everything else is secondary. It seems to me that there might be more widespread knowledge of the origin of Christmas because the US is 90% Christian, and so there might be more people who therefore pay *lip service* to the idea of it being about Jesus. But in all honesty, when Christmas season is coming around, you hear people talking about when they can make it to the store, or the house down the street with light-up reindeer on the roof, or which family members are getting together where this year, and very little about a deepening religious experience (if at all).
Not to say there aren’t exceptions… but I just don’t see the Japanese treatment of Christmas (from your description) to be particularly Japan-specific. It is just even *less* directly connected to the religious aspect than the US because they aren’t 90% (or whatever high percentage) Christian, they are 1% Christian.
Just giving them a bit of defense, hope you don’t mind. I enjoy your show, I feel like I’m learning a lot about Japan that you don’t really get from a texbook.
September 22nd, 2005 at 6:03 am
Finally managed to download the podcast.
You say in the podcast that Koizumi recently made the first apology since the war about Japans wartime actions. This page shows there have been a few more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_apology_statements_issued_by_Japan
On a related note, this article is interesting:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article313782.ece
I would like to know about far right anti-foriegner groups in Japan.
September 22nd, 2005 at 4:36 pm
Mark, you’re right to a point. But I was just trying to get acros the point that they have no grasp whatsoever here on the origin or even why they do what they do for Christmas Day. I guess I learned my lesson about talking about controversial subjects like this. For some reason, people can not listen to some one else discuss politics or religion on the internet without letting the speaker know they have a difference in opinion. It’s not a bad thing, just something I would not like to get caught up in with this blog, or my show!
And dave, thank you for the links. I’m glad you had the time to listen enough to my show to WIKI for corrections. I heard that he was the first by another person and noone by any means official. you have now corrected me. thanks for the links.
And as for your request. NO, I will not be providing you with any information of the sort. There is no reason for me to help anyone investigate those type of matters. You found the WIKI for Japanese Apologies, so I assume you should do just fine researching this on your own.
Sorry folks, but any more requests that stray away like this one will just be deleted before I get to approve them.
September 23rd, 2005 at 11:39 pm
It sounds like the Ginza Apple store is cooler than the Cleveland Apple store lol. It’s ok to ramble a bit Josh, I was star struck the first time I bought an Apple product. I still use PCs now, but I’m on the boat with you, my next computer will be an Apple. Have you checked to see if you can get a military discount. I know if you work in an office around computers, Apple is pretty good at giving discounts to office people. I’m a student and got my first Ipod refurbed and with a good discount. I’m sure their policy is pretty much global, but sometimes they don’t like to tell everything on their website. Their stuff is so overpriced, I think they see it as a way to grab customers by saying that can shave off a few bucks to get you to walk home with a Apple products, it’s good marketing.
Rob
September 24th, 2005 at 2:28 pm
Rob,
I can get a military discount…. but the student discount is a bit better. I take various online courses with normal colleges, so I’m always eligible for the student discount. That, and I have a couple apple employees that have offered me their employee discounts if I need them……
I need cash fist damnit! :p
September 25th, 2005 at 1:26 am
more info on cars and why people recycle them so frequently here from Scott…..
Scott is on a mailing list for all things Japanese related, and he forwarded me this via email…..
“For some reason, living in Japan robs a person of the ability to open the hood
of their car. When I lived in the U.S., I was quite comfortable giving my car a
tune-up, changing spark plugs and so on, but since coming to Japan I find I
haven’t touched my car’s engine in over a decade. My wife is indicative of most
Japanese on the subject of auto maintenance — she recently said to me, “I
opened my hood once, but I didn’t know which one was the engine.” This is
partially due to excellent Japanese service — a helpful uniformed employee will
cheerfully check your oil and air when you buy a tank of gas — but another
reason is “sha-ken,” a government-mandated automobile maintenance check-up you
have to get every two years. Since sha-ken is expensive, costing $800 or more,
which includes various road taxes, foreigners generally hate it, but the upside
is that cars are safer and you get your regular maintenance done for you as part
of the deal. The sha-ken check-ups have a somewhat cynical purpose too: since
new cars get three years without having to get the check-up, it provides a
useful excuse for Japanese to buy a new car sooner than they otherwise would,
and no doubt contributes millions to car manufacturers’ bottom lines.
Motorcycles also have sha-ken, although those with 250 cc and smaller engines
don’t, which creates more demand for small-engine motorcycles than would exist
in other countries. ”
Thanks for the Email Scott!!!!
September 26th, 2005 at 2:12 am
Josh,
Since there is very little privacy in each indivdual capsule, I assume that it is not allowed to talk or receive calls on your cell phone?
September 27th, 2005 at 10:12 pm
roy,
you are correct. that’s why i was trying to hurry and get done talking. however most of the guys there are apssed out drunk so it won’t matter to much as long as you try to be quiet…..