Blizzardboy | A Kiwi in Japan is the blog of Simon Gibson, a New Zealander living in Tokyo, Japan. Focused on New Zealand, Japan, web design and other shiny things.
Snapped this photo with my mobile phone on the way back from the office yesterday morning.
If you head down the hill from Meguro Station, you will come to a river bank with some wonderful cherry blossoms in bloom. They should be in bloom for another week or so, and further along other trees will come into bloom soon.
It is the season for cherry blossom drinking parties, with many Japanese people heading off to their local park to wine and dine - or mostly just wine under the pretty pink petals.
We are heading to Yokohama on the weekend to partake. Looking forward to it!
A nice video from National Geographic showcasing Tokyo architect Yasuhiroi Yamashita’s Penguin House. It is quite fascinating to watch this and to see how he utilises the height of rooms to give a greater feeling of spaciousness to the houses he works on.
What interests me with Japanese architecture is how they manipulate space and light to create some beautiful living environments. Little in the way of traditional building techniques and materials are evident - for me, I would rather go all the way - completely traditional, or on the other hand something like the penguin house.
The Blue Parrot Bookstore near JR Takadanobaba station on the Yamanote line is currently holding a Giant Half-price Sale! The sale is on until the 23rd of March (Sunday) and they are offering 50% of all used books, DVDs, CDs, magazines, and more!
I have no connection with this bookstore, but it sounds like a great deal:)
If I had a thousand yen for every free paper out there, I think I could almost make the taxi fare to Narita airport. These giveaway magazines showcasing restaurants and massage parlours (of the kind ones mother might go to, not the kind you find down Manchester Street or in Shin-Okubo) can be found all over Tokyo in places like railway stations and supermarkets. We got another one in our letterbox yesterday - this one was called Gyutto (Japanese only) and covered our local Azabu / Tamachi area.
While I am not really that interested in getting a sunbed tan, or yet another Asian-fusion-noodle-barbecued-meat-and-sushi restaurant with stylish decour and soft mood lighting, I was interested to read an article about differences in love between guys and gals in Japan. They asked 50 men and women a range of questions about what they looked for in the opposite sex, what sort of language they liked and didn’t like as well as their favourite foods.
They had a listing for the places they dont want to go on a date:
For Japanese Women, the worst places were:
1. Akihabara
2. Shopping
3. Horse Racing
4. Pachinko (Horizontal pinball like gambling)
5. Manga Cafes
with chain pubs, haunted places and forests also listed.
The places Japanese guys most don’t want to go on dates to were:
1. Tokyo Disneyland
2. Shopping
3. Shibuya
4. The womans parents’ house
5. Sanrio Puroland (Kitty Chan theme park)
as well as Matsuya Department Store in Ginza and other places, dessert buffets and mountain climbing.
So there you go - it is perfectly safe to take your date to a strip club. Or even better - train spotting!
If I had a thousand yen for every free paper out there, I think I could almost make the taxi fare to Narita airport. These giveaway magazines showcasing restaurants and massage parlours (of the kind ones mother might go to, not the kind you find down Manchester Street or in Shin-Okubo) can be found all over Tokyo in places like railway stations and supermarkets. We got another one in our letterbox yesterday - this one was called 
