Notes from a small group of Japanese islands

Shinjuku’s Golden Gai district may not exactly be a ghetto, but it is a little grubby.

In a good way.

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Despite Tokyo’s blistering summer heat, the busy city streets suggest that it’s certainly not just mad dogs and Englishman that go out in the midday sun. However, whereas parasols are now practically a prerequisite, and even boasting only one’s birthday suit wouldn’t make the conditions more comfortable, it’s nice to see that some people are still very particular about their appearance.

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Due to an upcoming month long sojourn back to the motherland, Tokyo Times will have something of a summer slowdown from this week. But, while I may be putting my feet up and lounging around a little, the site will continue to be updated — just not quite as regularly that’s all.

A change that means the usual five or six weekly posts will slow down to a somewhat more sedate and suitably summery four, which should be enough to keep things ticking along nicely.

Oh, and, should you have any complaints, I’m afraid to say you’ll have to answer to my PA, and you wouldn’t want a playful little pawing now would you?

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With Japan boasting such tantalising titles as best Jeanist and Nailist, it’s perhaps not surprising then to see that online entertainment site ZAKZAK has created the Japanese Gravure Idol Award. A prize that finally gives the nation’s hard-working bikini models the recognition they so richly deserve, with the judges taking into consideration the likes of photo album sales and media exposure, along with an ample number of other assets.

And, after some no doubt lengthy deliberations, the judges finally presented the first ever title to 24-year-old Yuko Ogura.

Although obviously overcome with emotion, Ogura-san managed to just about pull herself together enough to proclaim that, “I really appreciate my fans who support me all the time. When I started bikini modelling eight years ago, everybody thought models should have big breasts. But it’s different now. Diversified girls with different characters and shapes can succeed in modelling.”

A well intentioned statement that on closer inspection, however, may,

or indeed may not,

have much merit.

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Tokyo is often touted as being Blade Runner-esque due to its blaring, neon-lit nightscape, and, in its more maudlin moments, the metropolis also has an almost Gotham City mien.

Plus, it now appears that Star Wars can be added to the movie medley, with Tokyo’s celebrity super trooper and Sith cavorting round the capital, although the selected soundtrack sounds strangely familiar, rather than one from a galaxy far, far away.

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With the seasonal heat and humidity now firmly ensconced in the Japanese capital, confining oneself in air-conditioned comfort is the most successful way of surviving the summer, but when venturing outside simply can’t be avoided, there are several tried and trusted techniques to help diminish any discomfort.

For the particularly adventurous, simply taking off one’s trousers helps cut down any uncomfortable clamminess.

Or, for the more timid, a towel tied round the head is a time-honoured tactic.

But, when all is said and done, a fan is by far the best approach, and, like many things in life, the bigger they are the better. Although waving such a whopper about can be a bit unwieldy.

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The vast majority of golfers would no doubt agree that Mark Twain’s famous suggestion that golf is a good walk spoiled is a little harsh to say the least, but rather strangely, the Showa-no-mori Golf Course in Akishima, western Tokyo, appears to have taken the denunciation to heart. As, while for obvious reasons the pummelling of the ball hasn’t been eradicated from proceedings, the hindrance of hauling one’s bag around has.

Meaning that, for the fairly efficient at least, a good walk now need only be spoiled by some seventy or so swishes of a club.

(click images for gargantuan golfing gadgetry)

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