First major purchase since arrival:
I passed through Ochanomizu on my way to Akiba last night, and had a moment I’m rather proud of. I thought to myself, hmmm – “Ocha” is tea, and “Mizu” is water. “No” is the possessive of course – so I wondered if the name of the neighborhood has something to do with water used to make tea and, lo and behold, it turns out that Ochanomizu was the place where water was extracted from the Kanda river to make the Shogun’s tea during the Edo period. Progress!
I definitely find myself reading the signs and ads much more carefully now, now just the Katakana but trying to puzzle out the Kanji too. I also noticed that periodically when I’m in Shibuya-Eki they’re playing some kind of creepy chorale music featuring a child’s choir. I can offer no explanation for this whatsoever, but that’s often the case for me over here.
elianthos
October 19, 2012 at 2:11 pmA Tsuritama shirt! XD I approve of the colour as well.
Also, the pleasures of toponymy.
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Creepy children chorale music? This is intriguing.
Well, seems you're managing to have fun. Good.
Litho
October 19, 2012 at 2:57 pmYou should get yourself an Oyasumi Punpun tee.
Richard
October 19, 2012 at 4:16 pmYou mean Toryanse?
http://youtu.be/e4zS-wRBjH8
Horizon's iconic theme: Toorimase (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sep4XKDU3uo), has a very similar melody and the lyrics fit weirdly with the original Toryanse (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMd4hw4Mnng).
admin
October 19, 2012 at 10:33 pmNo, I know that tune very well, definitely not the one.
Anonymous
October 19, 2012 at 4:22 pmThe shirt looks huge. Enzo must be a big guy.
admin
October 19, 2012 at 10:31 pmHeh, I'm statistically exactly average height and weight for an American adult male, give or take 5 pounds or so under. In Japan, I am as a giant among them – well no, not really, but slightly taller than average, and I do find I need to buy a larger size here most of the time. At home, for t-shirts I can generally go M or L depending on the maker – with Cospa shirts, L or XL. In this case that shirt's a L, but it seems bigger than their usual large.
Anonymous
October 19, 2012 at 6:16 pm"…carefully now, now just the Katakana.. "
you mean
"..carefully now, not just the Katakana… "
Beckett
October 19, 2012 at 11:37 pmTsk tsk, at the same time that his Japanese skills are improving, his English skills are slipping.
😉
Anonymous
October 19, 2012 at 6:20 pmAbout your interpretation on Ochanomizu… I'm Japanese and I didn't even know that.
Anonymous
October 20, 2012 at 1:26 amI loved that show. Loved it like a brother. Still kinda bummed that it ended! In related news, that's a great shirt. Glad you're enjoying this settling in time, Enzo!
~Riley