Jamaica/Japan Connections

[Tropicana]

Re: Jamaica/Japan Connections

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Did you notice there are rarely any hand towels in Japan's bathrooms, people normally walk with dem kerchiff, so mi just flash the wata dem off a him hand the fuss time, now mi walk with mi white silk kerchiff like mi deh a Jamaica again. </div></div>

[img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crybaby.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crybaby.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crybaby.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img]

I was posting about this while YOU were posting.

[img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crybaby.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crybaby.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crybaby.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img]

CEW, I did a trip report for my family. I will edit it and post it.

[evanovitch]

Re: Jamaica/Japan Connections

yeah...dem always have dat option....juss like how dem put di english newspapers at u door since dem know seh u a english speaker...but wen u travelling across the islands an dem more rural areas, u find di local bathrooms more...u aim haffi good fi real...but den dere version of truck stops have boat ....wat i love in the rural areas is the soups...i love Japanese soups....buy u bowl an carry it wid u....mi juss love soup fi real

[Tropicana]

Re: Jamaica/Japan Connections

This should be helpful for your next trip Kingston [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> When entering a Japanese house, you should take off your shoes at the entrance (genkan) and change into slippers which are usually provided by the host.

When entering a room with tatami floor, you are supposed to take off your slippers, since one should step onto tatami mats only in socks or barefoot.

Finally, you will find special toilet slippers for exclusive usage inside the washroom. Leave your usual slippers outside the door while using the washroom.

Please consult also our special pages about sitting techniques and rules, table manners, toilets and bathrooms.

</div></div>


Mi belly. Bwoy mi wish me did read bout de bathroom slippahs before me left...anyway, I figured it out.

[img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crybaby.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crybaby.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crybaby.gif[/img]

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2001.html

There are two types of toilets in Japan: "Japanese style" toilets and "Western style" toilets.

Public washrooms are usually equipped with Japanese style toilets, but the number of public washrooms with Western style toilets has been increasing especially in tourist areas. Public washrooms with both, Japanese and Western style toilets, are also commonly found.

Because toilet paper is sometimes not provided in public washrooms, it is recommended to always carry a small package of tissues with you. Similarly, because paper towels or dryers are not always provided to dry your hands, it is recommended to carry a handkerchief.

How to use Japanese style toilets:


1) Face the hood of the toilet. Kingston [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img]
2) Pull down your trousers completely below your knees.
3) Squat down as closely to the hood as possible. In case of elevated toilets (see picture), you need to stand on the raised platform while squatting.

When using the washroom in a private home, minshuku or ryokan, you will find toilet slippers for exclusive usage inside the washroom. Leave your usual slippers outside the washroom, and don't forget to change back into them, afterwards.

[img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crybaby.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crybaby.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crybaby.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img]

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2003.html

[Tropicana]

Re: Jamaica/Japan Connections

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">...u aim haffi good fi real... </div></div>

[img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crybaby.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crybaby.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crybaby.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img]

[evanovitch]

Re: Jamaica/Japan Connections

so Tropi , u try one a di stan up bathes yet...weh u tek a bath standing up...not a showa, a bath....or one di likkle cubicle hotel room dem...di one dem like locker room or file cabinet drawer, di way dem stack [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img] low budget hotel rooms [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img]

[Tropicana]

Re: Jamaica/Japan Connections

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: evanovitch</div><div class="ubbcode-body">so Tropi , u try one a di stan up bathes yet...
weh u tek a bath standing up...not a showa, a bath....
</div></div>

No not yet. The tubs were deep and big but not deep enough to stand. The water was HOT and soothing.


<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
or one di likkle cubicle hotel room dem...di one dem like locker room or file cabinet drawer, di way dem stack [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img] low budget hotel rooms [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img] </div></div>

You mean the capsule inns. No I was afraid I would get clausterphobic...not that I have ever had a problem like that but the thought of it just made me feel hemmed in. Did you ever try the standing bath or the capsule inn.

I stayed at a couple of the low budget hotels where everything is this plastic like material in the bathroom..not plastic...not even sure what it is...beige coloured.

[evanovitch]

Re: Jamaica/Japan Connections

i did the bath but like u , not the hotels...mi no like small space long terms...took awhile to be able to sleep in dem bunks pon tour buses...use to freak mi out an since di star get di one big bedroom [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif[/img] u done know [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img] mi juss no like small spaces an wuss if it a go dawk [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/eek.gif[/img]

now dere is a famous restaurant in Tokyo i am tryin to memba di name...it is reallly higggggggggggh up....u can feel di swaying of di building if u unlucky [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/eek.gif[/img] it is atop a really nice hotel...an di elevator is so fass , is a toss up bet di motion sickness an di claustophobia fi me...[img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/eek.gif[/img]

[Tropicana]

Re: Jamaica/Japan Connections

I didn't get to go to the high up restaurant. Here is the bathroom I was talking about. Some of the Tokyu and Excel Hotels have them. They are identical. They have the high tech toilets that Kingston talked about. The tubs are tiny. I didn't realize the hotels had the shared bathing facilities (where you can lock the door for privacy). Oh well next time.:

[swedishrasta]

Re: Jamaica/Japan Connections

(((Tropi))))
Thank you and all the others participating in this thread. I found it highly educational and full of usefull info. Please share some more. Very interesting and I love to learn more about the culture and the more deeper aspects of it.

[Tropicana]

Re: Jamaica/Japan Connections

With pleasure.

I have started my trip report.


Japan Trip Report

[Gen]

Re: Jamaica/Japan Connections

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Kingston20</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: evanovitch</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Tropi ,did u try the traditional 'bathroom'..di kidney shape ones... </div></div>

noh sah dat remind mi a pit toilet, the new one dem is the bomb, with the bells and whistle and water fi wash yu dung, the traditional one dem confuse yu which way fi si dung...fi see mi in deh a bawl out help...or mi figet sumimasen </div></div>


seen those bathrooms in Europe too. Imagine mi a walk rung Barcelona and a dat mi see a road [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/70400-talktohand.gif[/img] and then yuh have 1 minute in deh or else the water jets come on and the whole inside a the room start wash dung [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img] a seh from I was bawn.


saw them in another country too nuh membah if a france cause mi nain a study dem too tuff. yuh haffi drap money fi open dem [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/70374-lipsrsealed.gif[/img]

[Tropicana]

Re: Jamaica/Japan Connections

Evanovitch is sharing some beautiful photos that she has taken in Japan with us in the trip report. The garden photos are stunning. Come join us:

Japan Trip Reports

[Wahalla]

Re: Jamaica/Japan Connections

I have never been a fan of Japanese culture in truth.. It is stikingly immitative.. And the case in point is the acceptance of Jamaican culture... Alot of the ideas that are veiwed as Japan are in fact facimiles of other cultures.... The writing script the ideas of Bushido were all copied from the Chinese.... The much vaunted miracle of zero defect quality management come from a English Professor who was resident in the US who postulated it in the 70's... My dealings with Japanese companies have been let us say less than pleasant... Oh they are honest but boy can they micro manage and are unable to delegate stuff they sub contracted to me... Buinsess as an Africa is like sex you should not fcuk, you should make love...

As a youth in my rebellious phase I was always struck by the fact that every one should rebel against the dreaded economic hegemony of the European.. At one stage I even beleived that the heros of the anti colonoial struggle should have joined the Asia Economic community that the Japanese used as their excuse for expansion in the 30's... Until I discovered the effects of the Japanese expansionism in Asia... It was brutal.. while vist the "River Kwai" legend and the number of Burmese killed dwafed the few Europeans starved to death... A visit to China show how deeply the hurt at tjhe atrocities is felt... Dont be fooled by heady excitment generated by the differences.. It is akin to the way the Tourist view us Jamaicans after a vist as slightly eccentric exotics....

As for trade.. They take our raw materials as coffee grind it and make a premium on it ? are you telling me that Jamaicans cant market our own premium brands or is it due to the fact that their is barriers to us manufacturing ground coffee and adding value to a raw material..

As for the reason for the trade, it is not so much as a natural fit. It was as an attempt to buy Jamaica's vote for them to reisatate whaling.... They did the same for the Antiguans...

Now let us turn to the herioc African Samuri.... Good an African who belonged to a Warrior Caste.. ..there is a fella called teh Scotish Samuri...Thomas baker Grover... A sort of Local Hero in Grampian http://heritage.scotsman.com/greatscots.cfm?id=38762005

This fella help lay the foundation of the destruction of the Fuedal systems that so many find romantic....Any one who develops beer industry cant be half bad... I am sure there is a American Samuri who doesnt look like Tom Cruise, a disenfranchised Union soldier, a Russia Samuri, a Korea Princess who married into the current Japanese Royal family, a chinese Samurai who introduced chinese script and one who introduced Taoism ..

Well I still say when the Spanish came the Taino should have massacred the hell out of them....

[Tropicana]

Re: Jamaica/Japan Connections

Well Wahalla. Clearly I see it differently but I do respect you and you have a right to your POV. I do like the culture. I enjoy the music, the dance, the food, and the artwork. The gardens are phenomenol.

Of course no country is perfect and they definitely have some blemishes on their past but then so do we, so does the USA, UK and Canada. No one country or nation has a monopoly on brutality.

I guess I look at it this way. I have never had a Japanese person call me the N word or pass me over for promotion. When attending social functions I have never had a Japanese man shun me, ignore me and pretend that I am invisible. Quite the contrary. When I have gone out with Japanese men, they have treated me well, always paid and never attempted to pressure me into sex. I wish I could say that for some of the other men I have dated. Are they perfect? Of course not. Men are men and some will fool around on you no matter WHAT their race or culture. A soh it go!! I guess a Jamaican player is just a littled easier to spot and more open about it [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/704555_dwl.gif[/img]

BTW, I asked a question earlier and no one has guessed:

Who is the CEO of Hitachi Canada?

I'll tell you now. Hugh Shearer's son. He has been with Hitachi for a long time and regularly attends Japanese events.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Howard Lincoln Shearer is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hitachi Canada Ltd (HCL), having joined Hitachi in October, 1984. He is also a member of HCL's Board of Directors, a position to which he was appointed in 1999. Prior to this, he served as Vice-President & General Manager of HCL's Semiconductor division. Prior to joining Hitachi, Mr. Shearer was employed in the high-tech industry by Texas Instruments as well as Murata Erie. Mr. Shearer holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), as well as on the boards of the following non-profit organizations: Responsible Gambling Council of Canada (RGCC), Japan Society and The Canadian Nurses Foundation (CNF). He is a member of the Principal's Advisory Council (PAC) at the UofT at Mississauga and of the Canadian Studies Advisory Committee of University College of U of T. He serves on the Special Advisory Council to the League for Human Rights, B'nai Brith Canada.

</div></div>

http://www.bbpa.org/BBPA%20Exchange/Howard%20Shearer.htm

[Serenity82]

Re: Jamaica/Japan Connections

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Tropicana</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The Japanese are our best customer for Blue Mountain Coffee. They pay a premium price for it before it is even planted. Some Japanese companies have invested in our coffee plantations.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Japan has had a long love affair with Jamaican coffee, buying 75% of Jamaica's coffee in 2004 </div></div>

http://www.teacoffeeasia.com/news.asp?id=669

A few years ago, Junko “Bashment” Kudo, a Japanese young woman was crowned dance hall queen:



Japanese bands have performed in Jamaica at reggae concerts. So I guess it shouldn't have surprised me in Japan:

- to see young men wearing Rasta tams and belts and sporting Jamaica and Bob Marley tee shirts
- to come across souvenir shops in some of the tourists areas (for example one of the shops going up to a large shrine in Kyoto) selling Jamaica bracelets, ashtrays, flags, tams, belts, Bob Marley posters, key chains, etc. I spoke with the owner and he said that it is mostly the local people who buy them
- Takishimaya, a Japanese department store with locations all over South East Asia and even in Paris, regularly plays reggae as background music while people shop
- to hear Bob Marley's Exodous album playing at a coffee shop at the Narita airport ( I was pleased to be around to hear Natural Mystic....one of my favourite tracks....now THAT was a nice send off on my way back to Canada)

What are some other Jamaica/ Japan connections? What do Japanese like from our culture and what do we like from theirs? What are some other opportunities for our 2 countries to collaborate? </div></div>

Very nice thread!!!!!!!!!!!

I love Nihonjin, Nihongo, Nihon and everything else Japanese. Boy, do I miss it and probably will retire there. Only thing---very earthquake prone country.