Dec
16
2009
I found this interesting fact in my Twitter stream yesterday morning. My first reaction was, “I call bullshit.” I’ve lived here for over 19 years and not once have I ever heard of condoms being sold door-to-door. In fact, I can’t see why they would be sold that way seeing as how every convenience store I’ve ever bothered to check stocks multiple brands.
But this rumor had to have come from somewhere. At some level it has to be true.
First thing I did was ask one of my coworkers.
“This is probably a stupid question, but there’s really no such thing as コンドームの訪問販売 in Japan, is there?”
“Actually,” she said, “I think I’ve heard of it.”
Shocked. Utterly shocked. How could I have lived here for so long and not known about it?
So I did some Googling. Turns out that 25-30 years ago, roughly half of condoms sales in Japan came from pharmacies, the other half from door-to-door sales. “Skin ladies,” as the saleswomen were called, named after the leading brand “Skinless,” sold them to young married couples by the gross. At that time condom makers weren’t allowed to advertise in print or on TV, and convenience stores weren’t as prevalent, so it starts making sense. This article has the lowdown on the history of the condom in Japan.
On a bit of a tangent note, if sex in Japan is relevant to your interests, check out Jake Adelstein’s Japan Subculture Research Center. I came across it the first time yesterday:
Japan Subculture Research Center was founded in 2007 to expose the hidden side of Japan – its underground economy, its sex trade, and all the other intriguing and seedy aspects that keep the country running.
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May
27
2009
It's the middle of the week already and the only extra masks I'm seeing are on service industry employees–convenience store cashiers and people working in restaurants mostly. I was expecting to see a repeat of what it was like in Osaka a few weeks ago where it looked like 9 out of 10 people were wearing a mask, widespread school closings, etc. Frankly, I'm disappointed. I enjoy seeing people overreact. Schnozzlefreud, or whatever it's called.
Update: Schadenfreude.
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May
25
2009
Last night while the rest of my family was at a soccer match, lightning struck about 100 meters from our house and blew out our TV, VCR, Wii, phone, wife's PC and fried the network card in my PC. Luckily the fridge, washer and air conditioners were spared.
On the bright side, with nothing left to have fun with and no money to buy replacements, maybe our kids will start reading books.
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May
21
2009
No surprise at all, but the Flu of Death officially has arrived in the Kanto region–one case in Tokyo of a 16 year-old girl who recently came back from a mock UN in NYC, and another student in Kawasaki, west of Tokyo. Seems to me that constant bombardment of government and media-inspired panic of the past few weeks was all for naught. Now they're trying to tell people to "remain calm." Chew on this: had this new strain of influenza actually turned out to be deadly, do you supposed it probably would have spread just as quickly? I think so, unless hazmat suits become the latest fashion. One of these days, we're all gonna be screwed.
I predict that next week schools and universities in and around Tokyo will start closing. What's ironic about that is kids who would normally be confined to school all day instead will be out and about town, eating in restaurants, singing in karaoke boxes and increasing their chances of spreading infection.
Here are my plans: If I catch the flu, I'll get tamiflu from our family doctor, stay locked in my room and in bed a few days reading and sleeping, then get on with my life. Then again, if I die from it, I'll be pissed off because I really want to find out what happens on LOST.
I wonder, if you catch the flu early, will you build up an immunity to it so that if it mutates later you won't get as sick?
One more thing. For about a week now, I've been amusing myself on the way home from work by coughing and sniffing loudly while I'm in crowds. So far it hasn't gotten me a seat on a jam-packed train, but it does cut down significantly on how long I have to wait in line for the turnstiles after arriving at Koga station. I'm thinking I should try again, only next time while wearing a Mexican sombrero and poncho.
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