genfab

Keeping our holidays as Japanese as possible - we decided to visit a temple on New Years Day in Tokyo. Conveniently enough, there’s half a dozen temples within walking distance of our place. We decided to do our Hatsumoude (New Years temple visit) at Nanzuin temple - about a 20 minute walk south east of our place. It’s located on a particularly busy street - but like many things in Tokyo you wouldn’t know that once you’re inside! Join us for our 2009 Hatsumoude…

Keeping with the tradition of previous Christmas’s away from home - and being back in Japan - it seemed appropriate to make it another KFC Christmas! This year we had a full array of KFC designed Christmas dinners to choose from. It’s not what you think - there’s much more to it than a plain old bucket of chicken and coleslaw. We pre-ordered a full roast chicken with stuffing, biscuits, salad and cake! Call me crazy - but I was as excited about this meal (if not more so) than a traditional home cooked turkey dinner.

Want in on the action? Just press play…

The verdict? Read on for spoilers…

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And with the magic of Christmas still upon us - Naoki is back with his adventures from December 2008! Join us for some highlights, namely:

• outtings to Akabane & Shimurasakaue
• meeting some friends (thanks Mike & Su Young!)
• playtime in the rain forest
• … and a bath!

All in all - exhausting…

For decades, this question has gone unanswered.  With the recent craziness surrounding donuts in Japan - do Japanese people really like donuts?  Or is this again just love of all things name brand?  genfab investigates…

I decided to put this to the test by buying a dozen donuts and mysteriously leaving them in my office’s pantry early one Friday morning - before others arrived.  As my fellow Japanese colleagues showed up - I would observe their behavior to determine just how much they like man’s ultimate junk food compared to say - the average Canadian like myself.

First off - choosing the right donuts is essential.  Critical really.  I couldn’t cheap out by getting your average run of the mill, dried up donuts.  I had to drop some serious cash on the premium variety.  For that - the shop “and on and” (bizarre name I know) is a short walk from my office.  “and on and” is a new contender in Japan’s donut market - but to me it looked quite upscale without having tried them beforehand.  A hefty 2520 yen later ($35 Canadian at current exchange rate!) and I got myself a dozen mixed delights.  Even the bag looks posh compared to old Timmy’s brown paper variety:

I proceeded to leave said boxes of donuts open in the pantry…

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With Christmas just a little over a week away now, there’s plenty of signs that it’s nearly upon us - even in Japan.  While I still think it’s more “in your face” in North America, there are a few areas that are well decorated for the season.  Some decorate tastefully - with nicely chosen lights and decorations.  Others - well… maybe there’s simply no Japanese word for “tacky”.

Here’s a mostly positive look at signs of Christmas in our neighbourhood, as well as Shinjuku - arguably Tokyo’s “downtown”…