Big in Japan: How do you say ‘power nap’ in Japanese?

by Matthew Firestone on

In 1980s, corporate culture the world over embraced a simple and effective technique for combating fatigue – the power nap.

According to Wikipedia, a power-nap is a short sleep that terminates before the occurrence of deep sleep or Slow-Wave-Sleep (SWS), and is intended to quickly revitalize the subject from drowsiness.

The term was coined by the famous Cornell University social psychologist, Dr. James Maas.

Although they may not taste as good as a Starbucks double mocha latte, there is no denying that power naps are an extremely effective way to combat fatigue and increase performance.

Sadly, few workers in corporate America would feel comfortable resting their head on the keyboard at work, though things are all together different in Japan.

Not only is power napping completely acceptable in Japan, it’s actually encouraged by employers.

In fact, there is even a specific term to describe this practice, namely inemuri ( ????????) or literally “sleeping while present”.

And here’s the best part…

Since you spend so much time in the office that you can’t ever get a normal night’s rest, inemuri shows employers how committed you are to the job!

Surprised? So was I, though hopefully this post will help clear things up a bit!

For starters, why exactly are power naps so effective?

According to American sleep expert Dr. Sara Mednick, regular power napping is a “lifesaving habit that can help improve your health and sex life, slim the waist and boost work performance.”

In fact, a 20-minute nap can give you an amazing energy boost, even if you just close your eyes and allow your mind to take a rest.

So, if power naps are such an effective tool for increasing efficiency, than why is the practice vilified in the West and revered in the East?

Although at first it may sound completely counter-intuitive, in Japan a person’s commitment to work is judged by the frequency in which they engage in inemuri.

Since the need to indulge in inemuri is the result of working hard and sacrificing sleep at night, Japanese employers feel that it is one of the best indicators of job performance.

(Believe it or not, some Japanese people fake inemuri to score extra brownie points with their boss!)

According to Dr. Neil Stanley, a sleep expert at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital in the UK, “The Japanese are right in their assessment that you work better after a nap than before it.”

He continues: “There’s a degree of machismo about it, you’re saying look how hard I’ve worked. But that’s better than the macho rituals we have over here, like how late you can send a work email to prove how long you’ve been working.”

Of course, there are strict rules to inemuri.

For instance, only those high up or low down in a company are allowed to nap at work. And, you must remain upright at all times, which shows that you are still socially engaged.

So, the next time you’re caught getting some shut eye at work, just tell your irate boss that you weren’t napping, but rather practicing the sacred Japanese art of inemuri.

Big in Japan: 37,000 year-old baby mammoth arrives in Japan

by Matthew Firestone on

This past Saturday, the frozen corpse of a baby mammoth arrived at Tokyo International Airport, just in time for the New Year’s festivities.

Discovered last May by a reindeer herder near the Yuribei River in northern Siberia’s remote Yamal-Nenets region, the six-month-old female mammoth calf had been encased in a layer of permafrost for 37,000 years.

According to Russian officials, the baby mammoth’s state of preservation is nothing less than remarkable.

The frozen mammoth’s trunk and eyes are entirely intact, and much of the body is still covered in fur. However, the tails and ears are missing, though there is evidence that they were apparently bitten off.

Alexei Tikhonov, the Russian Academy of Science’s Zoological Institute’s deputy director, has already stated on several occasions that the prospect of cloning the animal was unlikely.

Under freezing conditions, the whole cells required for cloning burst from invading ice crystals, though the DNA is kept nearly intact.

According to Mitsuyoshi Uno, an official with the joint Russo-Japanese mammoth-study project, this DNA will undoubtedly give us a better insight into phylogeny and physiology of these extinct wonders of nature.

After touching down in Japan, the mammoth was transferred to Tokyo’s Jikei Medical University, where it will undergo a computed tomography (CT) scan.

A CT scan is a groundbreaking diagnostic tool that allows scientists to get 3-D pictures of the body that is nearly as detailed as conducting an actual autopsy.

As a result, the goal of the research is to acquire detailed information about the animal’s organs and internal structure while simultaneously preserving the intact body.

So what exactly is a mammoth?

The word “mammoth” refers to any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus, which were proboscideans (elephants or their extinct relatives) equipped with long curved tusks and covered in long hair.

Mammoths lived from the Pliocene epoch from 4.8 million years ago to around 4,500 years, which coincided with the end of the last Ice Age.

To date, a definitive explanation for their mass extinction is yet to be agreed upon, though there are three predominant competing theories.

One hypothesis is that the entire population was wiped out due to climate change, which is a scary proposition (to say the least) considering the precarious nature of our present situation (eg global warming, greenhouse gases, polar ice melting, etc.).

A second theory suggests that the entire population was wiped out due to infectious disease, which is also a scary proposition (to say the least) considering the precarious nature of our present situation (eg SARS, avian flu, HIV/AIDS, MRSA, etc).

Another theory was that mammoth populations were hunted to the brink of extinction by early human, who may have depended on them for food and clothing. Archaeologists have found butcher marks on several mammoth bones, and their remains are often found in association with early human camp sites.

Anyway, in case you’ve never seen a mammoth before (few of us have!), the frozen carcass and scan images will go on public display starting on January 4 at an office building in central Tokyo.

Big in Japan: Hello Kitty goes macho

by Matthew Firestone on

Easily one of the Japan’s most recognizable cartoon characters, Harō Kiti (Hello Kitty, ハローキティ) is known and loved the world over.

Created in 1974 by Sanrio, the very first Hello Kitty product was a clear vinyl coin purse bearing the face of the smiling feline, which sold for 240 yen or approximately two dollars.

Originally, Hello Kitty was intended to be named ‘Kitty White’ after one of Alice’s cats in the Lewis Carroll classic ‘Through the Looking-Glass.’

At the time, British culture was the height of fashion amongst Japanese girls, and Hello Kitty was never intended to have any appeal beyond the pre-adolescent female market.

Of course, the designers at Sanrio failed to fully appreciate the Japanese obsession with all things cute.

More than thirty years later, graying salarymen think nothing of dangling a hot pint Hello Kitty strap from their cell phone, while middle-aged housewives swear that the Hello Kitty toaster is the best on the market.

(And, truth be told, I’ve been known to rock out some Hello Kitty chopsticks from time to time).

Of course, all of this is about to change as Hello Kitty is getting an image change and going macho.

This week, Sanrio announced that the face of Hello Kitty will soon be stamped on T-shirts, bags, watches and other products targeting young men.

According to a company spokesperson, “Young men these days grew up with character goods. That generation feels no embarrassment about wearing Hello Kitty.”

The for-men products will go on sale in Japan next month, and will likely be sold soon in the United States, Europe and other Asian nations assuming the new line is a success.

So what exactly will the new face of Hello Kitty look like?

The new line of man-focused Hello Kitty products will have a “rugged, cool look” to appeal to men in their teens and early twenties.

One of the first products will be the face of the famous feline on a black T-shirt with the words, “hello kitty”, instead of the usual dots for the eyes and nose.

But, no matter how much Hello Kitty changes over the coming years, one thing is for certain – she’s here to stay.

Today, Hello Kitty is a global trademark that is appeals to virtually all age groups and both sexes. According to estimates, Hello Kitty adorns over 22,000 products worldwide, and earns almost a billion dollars a year in revenue for the Sanrio Company of Japan.

Since 1983, she’s held the position as the US Children’s Ambassador for UNICEF, and has been sported by celebrities as diverse as Mariah Carey, Cameron Diaz and Paris Hilton.

Sanrio stores can be found across the globe, and the face of Hello Kitty adorns everything from clothing and stationary to jewelry and electronics.

Despite her syrupy sweet image, Hello Kitty has even appeared on adult underwear, wedding dresses and even a signature line of sex toys.

Hello Kitty – she’s not just for little girls anymore.

Big in Japan: Japan’s maglev train will be the world’s fastest

by Matthew Firestone on

Quick question: what is the most iconic symbol of modern Japan?

If you guessed the shinkansen (??????) or bullet train, you’re sadly wrong!

Although for years these sleek and sexy high-speed trains have been smashing rail speed records, they’re only two decades or so away from being totally obsolete.

This week, the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) announced that it plans to construct the world’s fastest train, a second-generation maglev train that will run from Tokyo to central Japan.

With an estimated cost of 5.1 trillion yen (44.7 billion dollars), the project is expected to be completed by the 2025 financial year.

According to a company spokesperson: “It will be the fastest train ever – if it beats the one in Shanghai – with a velocity of about 500 kilometers (310 miles) per hour, travelling a distance of 290 kilometers (180 miles).”

Awesome.

The Shanghai maglev train, which was launched in 2002, is currently the fastest train in the world. Running from Pudong airport to the financial district, Shanghai’s maglev train travels at 430 kilometers (267 miles) per hour over a distance of 30.5 kilometers (18 miles).

So what exactly are maglev trains you ask? Good question.

A maglev, or magnetically levitating train, is a form of rail transportation that suspends, guides and propels carts using electromagnetic force.

Compared to traditional wheeled mass transit systems, maglev trains in theory have the potential to reach speeds upwards of 900 kilometers (600 miles) per hour, which is equivalent to jet aircraft.

To date, the only commercial maglev train in operation is the Shanghai line, though the Japanese have been experimentally testing maglev trains for years.

In 2003, a maglev train operated by JR Central reached speeds of 581 kilometers (361 miles) per hour, which is a smidgen faster than the French TGV, which is the fastest conventional train in the world.

At the time of the press release, JR Central did not actually confirm the exact extent of the new maglev line, though it’s likely to run from Tokyo to Nagoya, and perhaps as far as Osaka.

Although the Japanese are keen on reclaiming rail speed records from the French and Chinese, the pressure is on, especially since a series of other maglev projects are being planned around the world.

In the southern state of Bavaria in Germany, the government recently announced that it intends to build a maglev train line by 2014 that will connect Munich with its airport.

And in China, the government recently announced that it intends to extend their Shanghai maglev train to the city of Hangzhou, which is 170 kilometers (105 miles) away.

And even in the United States, the government has been considering a number of commercial maglev services to alleviate traffic congestion, such as a line between Washington and Baltimore.

Given the severity of the energy crisis and the increasing unliklihood that our days of driving SUVs are going to last forever, the future of maglev trains is indeed a promising one.

** All images sourced from the Wikipedia Commons project **

Big in Japan: How to rent an apartment in Tokyo

by Matthew Firestone on

It’s been a busy week for me here in Tokyo…

After all too many years of living in foreigner guest houses, I decided that it was finally time to get a real Japanese apartment.

Now, I know you’re probably thinking that this is a completely normal and respectable proposition. However, I can assure you that moving shop in Tokyo is anything but easy.

What exactly is involved in renting a real apartment in Tokyo? Good question!

For starters, Japanese use the phrase hikoshi-bimbo to describe someone who recently moved into a new apartment.

Literally translating as ‘moving poor,’ hikoshi-bimbo describes the state of having to fork over six months’ salary for the privelege of renting a new apartment.

That’s right folks – it costs an average of six months’ salary to rent an apartment, not including purchases of furniture, bedding, appliances and other “luxury items.”

Believe it or not, Japan still has a number of feudal laws on the books aimed at maintaining the gap between rich and poor.

Essentially, this means that you need a serious amount of cash on hand before you can even step foot into the realtor’s office.

Confused? So was I, though hopefully this post will help clear things up a bit.

My new apartment is a 2LDK, which means that it has two bedrooms, one bathroom and an all-purpose living room / dining room / kitchen. It is located in a high class part of Tokyo, though the rent is affordable since the building is fairly old.

Rent for one month is 170,000 yen (US$1500), which isn’t that terrible considering that I’m sharing the place with a good friend. However, before being handed the keys, we had to pay considerably more than this amount – in cash.

As a rule, all new renters also have to pay two month’s rent in advance, which is somewhat reasonable considering the percentage of defaulters in Japan.

On top of that, all new renters have to give another two month’s rent as a security deposit, which is refundable assuming there is no damage to the apartment.

Here is where things start to get a bit shocking…

On top of that, all new renters also have to give another two month’s rent as a gift to the landlord, which is not refundable under any circumstances. This money, which is known as reikin (礼金; key money) in Japanese, is a huge blow to the wallet.

On top of that, all new renters also have to give another month’s rent as a finder’s fee to the realtor, which is also not refundable under any circumstances. This money is considered to be a small price to pay given the competiveness of the Japanese real estate market.

To summarize, this means that my somewhat affordable apartment required an initial down payment of a whopping 1,190,000 yen or approximately US$10,000 in cash.

With that said, my apartment is amazing, especially if you’re a fan of traditional Japanese architecture. Although I’m certainly going to be hikoshi-bimbo for a little while, at least I’m doing it in style.

(If you don’t believe me, check out the pictures of my swinging pad!)