The Japanese Toilet

When you first get off the plane and land in Tokyo one of the first things that you will likely do is go to the john.  Nobody really enjoys having to use the cramped airplane bathroom!  Upon entering the public facilities you'll notice a couple diffrent types of toilet.

One:  The oldschool.

This thing looks like a urinal on the ground.  You have to squat to use it unless urinating.  I highly recommend finding another toilet because we gaijin are not used to that kind of posture.  I have never and will never use one outside of a leak.

Two:  The new school.

Japan is way ahead of us in crapper technology, that I know for sure.  The Toto Washlet and all its versions are incredibly convenient.  Many westerners have heard that it sprays water in your butt, and that is a very accurate ass-esment.  Why would you want this?  It cuts wiping time down to a fraction, and also helps women clean themselves as a bidet.  If you've ever been sitting on the throne wiping all day, you'll wish you had one.

How to use:  The button with a butt is for the butt, the red button is stop, and the woman button is for women.  The one that looks like wind is a dryer.  Don't touch the other ones as that will mess with angles.

When you're done, most modern toilets have a button on the wall that you can conveniently press with your foot.  Newer and public toilets rarely have a western style flush these days.

Just a stupid little update, but it's a good thing to know when you're in Japan anyway.

Sumo Tournament

Today is the beginning of the March Sumo tournament.  Another battle awaits the Mongolian Yokozuna rank rivals Hakuho and Asashoryu.  Asashoryu is reigning grand champion, Hakuho the only man who has bested him recently and champion of 2 tournaments last year wants to take his spot.

Since moving to Japan the frequent Sumo tournaments have been one of my favorite things to watch on TV.  I mainly watch the top division, known as Makuuchi (behind the curtain due to the original usage that top ranked wrestlers sat in an area behind a curtain) because the other televised matches can get a bit stale, those with lower ranked fighters

Of course Asashoryu is steamrolling with 4 wins and no losses as of this writing.  15 wins is a perfect record, anything under 8-7 and a wrestler might get demoted.

I am especially excited to see Yamamotoyama (his name means "Mountain, REAL MOUNTAIN") he is the largest Japanese born sumo at 550 pounds.  Very fun to watch him squash a smaller opponent.

Best Program to Learn Japanese

If you are moving to Japan, or plan to be, you must learn the local language at least enough to get by.  One of the only phrases I knew upon landing in Japan was "tamonegi nashi" to be said at the counter of McDonalds (Makkudonarudo, Makku) to remove the onions!

That being said, I've tried out tons of language software since my arrival.  One of the best but most difficult to use has been Rosetta Stone.  The premise of the program is simple, click the picture or sentence that corresponds to the speaker.  The hard part honestly is sticking with it, Rosetta Stone is heavily vocabulary based, and you will learn a lot of less useful words in the beginning.  It teaches in a totally different way, similar to how children learn by context.  I liked this approach because I am not much for reading a language book.

I highly recommend that you get started months before you come to Japan, because Moving to Tokyo is not an easy thing to do.