I had always thought their was a ban on casino type gambling in Japan… hence those crazy little holes in the wall where you sell back the pen you won at the pachinko parlour for cash. That being the case, it looks like the government is finally admitting the truth… people love to gamble in this country. Bloomberg.com reports that Japan is in talks with major global casino operators. I assume some gaudy monstrosity will pop up in Tokyo in the not so distant future… what will that mean for the tourism industry in Korea etc, where many serious Japanese casino fans go to “holiday”?

Is a head of lettuce going to be costing us 400yen soon? Do any of you remember when the rainy season was long and with conditions similar to this year a few years ago? It was around that time that vegetable prices skyrocketed and a humble lettuce was around 400yen at my local Akafudado. I heard on TV that the rain is doing serious damage to crops and then read on The Daily Yomiuri Online that the lack of sunlight, as the rainy season drags on, is stunting veggie growth and pushing prices up! Oh joy! They said prices will probably go up 30% by mid-august.

Am I wrong to think she is tying up resources? Megumi Ogawa is a Japanese PhD student who has been studying in Australia since 1999. Recently her visa ran out and she failed in several legal actions to be allowed to stay in Australia, so she was to be deported. It now seems (as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald) that she has applied for asylum!!! She has stated she has no fear of the Japanese government… I guess she really likes Australia. This story stays with me for two very different reasons. One, asylum is a very necessary process and I worry that her stalling process is at the determent to real asylum seekers in Australian Detention Centres (and I believe there are plenty of them thanks to Australia’s John Howard) and two, I was out with an Australian the other week who was telling me how “easy it is to migrate to Australia”… I guess Megumi would disagree.

Sorry if you weren’t interested, but I’ve posted it now…

There is also a stall selling antique furniture and sake shop that is giving tastings of Tokyo-made sake for 100yen (you get a few tastes for your 100 yen too).

If you’re in the Ueno area, head towards the main gate of Ueno zoo, you won’t be able to miss the pottery stalls with the large blow-up yellow arch in front of them.

Georgia’s Max Coffee is sold only in Chiba, Ibaraki and Tochigi. I never knew that, much to a amusement of my Japanese coworkers (who were buying up big at every chance they got). The coffee is sweet and that’s about it, but it seems to be very popular with people selling it on net auctions and driving from Tokyo to Chiba etc just to buy Max Coffee!!!

Can’t understand why they don’t release it in Tokyo, but the limited area of distribution seems to be working as a marketing ploy!!

On Friday we went to Dance, a relaxed and friendly wine bar in Roppongi that specializes in Australian wine. They had wines I’ve never found in shops in Japan and their prices were extremely reasonable.

Ozeki-san, the owner, is a wonderful hostess and Dance is certainly a totally different atmosphere from many other places in Roppongi.

We went there to enjoy the wine, so we’d already eaten dinner elsewhere – a wonderful Pizzeria called 1830 in Nogizaka. Fantastic authentic wood-oven pizza and beautiful Australian wine… try both, I am sure you won’t be disappointed in either.

The other weekend when I was walking a back street route from Akihabara to Ueno I happened across this “maid hairdressers”… I wish I knew more about it… am I paying a lot more to have my haircut by a stylist in a maids uniform? Has anyone out there ever been?