Calling all Postcards!

To whom ever is reading this, Please send a postcard from where you are right now. I got a postcard the other day from Liechtenstein and i thought it would be fun to ask who ever is reading this to send a postcard. It can be a fun postcard, or a "touristy" postcard. (just know that if it is a "touristy" postcard, i will show it to my Japanese friends). Here is the address:

Mike Staffa
#805 Media Plaza
1-4-35 Midorigi
Suminoe-Ku
Osaka-Shi
Osaka-Fu
559-0022
Japan

I will look for postcards to send back if you so desire.
THANKS!!!!

Apples

Apples
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Everyone knows Japan is expensive (or you should). Here are some examples. Want an apple? It will cost you 158yen. That's $1.45! For ONE apple. I decided to splurge and treat myself to a $2.10 peach. Ughh. Want a watermelon?...take out a loan. Or do what the yakuza do and cut off yet another finger to get one. (and to think, watermelon is 90% water). Also, five slices of bread is about $1.25.

Out of curiosity, how much does one apple cost where you live?

No Thank You

No Thank You
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Most of my friends know that i don't like seafood. Well, add this nibble food to the list. "Nuts and Fish"? Excuse me? Look at this picture. How random of a mix is that. I cant even imagine being a vendor at a baseball game. Here is what i can understand...and as you read it you will realize the ease in speaking it as it rolls off your tongue.

"Popcorn, get your popcorn." ....good ring to it i think.

"Peanuts, get your peanuts." ....ah the classic call from the isles of a ball park.

now try this.....
"Nuts and Fish, get your Nuts and Fish (died, old and small in a bag) Nuts and Fish."

I see this collection of randomness as "leftovers" in a giant warehouse. Here is how it went.

"Hey Takashi, we ran out of bags for the nuts but we still have some nuts left.
"Yah Hideki, I still have some mini dried fish left and a few extra bags too. Why don't you just throw those extra nuts in with these fish and we will call it a mix."
"Sounds like a plan Takashi"

And people say that Japanese food is the best food in the world. HA.

Yakuza

Yakuza
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

If I die for writting this, please distribute my belongings equally. (nothing goes to my roommate though). I have just read the newspaper and found some exciting news. There is a new guy in town. Actually not in my town, but in the city of Kobe which is 20 mins by train away.

The Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) have elected a new Supreme Clan Lord (equal to "the Don" in the Italian Mafia). Rumor has it Yoshinori Watanabe is a bad ass. And you kinda have to be to head up the Japanese Mafia. This is the mafia where if you do anything to dishonor yourself or the clan, you have to cut off your own pinky finger and mail it to the Supreme Clan Lord. If you mess up again, cut off another finger. What does this Supreme clan guy do with all these fingers anyway? I'd hate to be his mailman. "You have a package today sir." says the trembling mailman...."Oh, thanks i guess." says an annoyed Supreme Crime Lord.

Here is the news brief bio about him.

"When you see a photo of Yoshinori Watanabe, you just know that he could never have become anything but a Yakuza chieftan. He has a body like a gorilla, a face that reveals a sharp, calculating intelligence that most of us could only dream of possessing, and laser beam eyes that cut right through you."

Now he is the head guy. Apparently there is quite the ceremony to swear him in. All the Yakuza leaders are coming in from around town to see this guy take the helm of a mafia that has its fingers into everything. Even busses.

Wow!

As regular readers know, i have talked about crazy english writting on signs and shirts...Today i saw a shirt with some interesting writting on it. It read as follows:

"Fuck Milk, Got Pot?"

nuff said.

oops

oops
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Ok, so my father would be dissapointed in me. I let an important date in history slip me by...and because of it, i think i made a cultural faux pas. It was Aug 14th. I was biking to get some groceries and i saw our local temple decorated like i have never seen before. Everyone was there. Parents, kids, the Yakuza in their "Fun Bus" and the military.

"hmm, it looks interesting, i want to see whats going on." i thought. So i raced home on my one speed beast and grabbed my camera. I parked my bike and went into the open space in front of the temple (walking past a wall of pink lanterns inside the massive Temple Gate). I saw people standing in silence. Some in uniforms.

It took me too long, and my presence was noticed, before i fully realized what i was looking at.

It was the 60th anniversary of the day Japan surrendered to America to end WWII. I was standing in the middle of a service remembering the dead. They people who were killed by my countrymen. Needless to say, i should have noticed the ceremonial cemetery marble Anchors and Airplane propellors. I should have realized the date and combined that with the decorated people full of silent onlookers. But there i was, the blond haired AMERICAN standing with them in their temple marking a day their country "lost" a lot of honor.

I turn around and left as quick as i could.

Fun Bus!

Party Bus!
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

To those who get my mass emails, my fifth email was about the "Fun Buses" in Japan. Here is a short recap for those who didnt get the mass email....First of all, you're probably wondering what a fun bus is. Well, I'll tell you. Basically, they're the busses of the various Nationalist parties in Japan and a few smaller racially based groups. This buss it for the Yakuza, which is the largest gang in Japan (and HQ'ed in Osaka).

You have to ask yourself where they get these busses, and where the driver gets his license to drive a vehicle - imagine the insurance form or the license application - "Reason for applying for license: To drive bus full of racists around Osaka playing nasty music really loudly." The other thing about that bus...is what the hell is inside, because at best there's about 5 men on that bus, and I'm pretty sure the stereo and amplification equipment required a large amount of internal modification, but I'm wondering if they tore out the 'silver seats? (Those seats on Japanese transport systems reserved for the elderly). Mind you, if they've got all that stereo gear, someone probably decided to stick a nice big TV in there and a good DVD player. Hope so. Fridge and drinks vending machine might not be a bad idea either.

This picture was taken less than 3 minutes from my apartment! And if you are to say the word "yakuza"...you better whisper it around here!

AHHH!

AHHH!
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Sorry for the delay in the blogging. A lot has been going on, most of it not exciting. I looked at new apartments but have decided to stay put for a bit longer. I have also been going to a lot of summer festivals. Today i went to a Lantern Festival in Nara (pics to come soon). It was amazing.

As for this picture, well i went to the local park and at first i didnt want to ride the slides there because they are scary. Or that is what i thought this sign said. Then i looked at it again and thought maybe the dog was scary. Nope! The sign is to remind kids to not go down slides where dogs have pooped at the end of the slide....that would be scary.

Hmmm #5

Hmmm #5
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

I actually asked for a beer from this guy. He didn't seem to be the cleanest person in the world, but he was the bartender and i wanted a beer. He was at an outside bar during a huge block party.

David Roach and I

David Roach and I
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

After two years of very little contact, I have been lucky enough to have had 4 days to catch up with David Roach, an old friend from Perth Australia. He had to come to Osaka to get a teaching Visa to work in South Korea. Imagine a kid from Minnesota going to the other side of the world (named Perth, Australia) and meeting David. Then two years later the fact that our places crossed in Osaka made our week together a blast. We went to Nara (a city full of nature, deer, and temples). We had a random drunken night with a blow-up kangaroo and wondered the city together. It was a blast to see him and catch up on old times.