Japanese people love local specialties and local food which are only available in an area tend to be very popular. Recently one of the major beer company Kirin focus on the fact and start making local edition "Kirin Ichiban" in each prefecture. "Kirin Ichiban" is one of the most famous and popular product of them.
Recently "Kirin Ichiban made in Yokohama (Yokohama factory limited edition)" was released and it was available in West Tokyo area. Also I had a chance to go to Aichi prefecture last week and found "Kirin Ichiban made in Nagoya (Nagoya factory limited edition)".
Backside of the beer cans there are explanation of each local edition. For example, backside of "Kirin Ichiban made in Yokohama", it says that "We made a special taste to fit the atmosphere of Yokohama city where has been in a harmony with exotic culture in the long history. Please enjoy the sophisticated taste made in Yokohama exclusively" and there is an illustration of a famous historical building in Yokohama.
Regarding "Kirin Ichiban made in Nagoya", on the back of the can there is an illustration of famous Nagoya-jo castle and an explanation that tells "We made a very tasty beer with a strong color and flavor which will be chosen by people in Nagoya who are good at see the true value of things."
You might wonder how much differences there are between them and usual Kirin Ichiban. I compared them with usual Kirin Ichiban. The color of "Kirin Ichiban made in Yokohama" is darker than usual one as you can see in the lower right hand side photo. The taste of "Kirin Ichiban made in Yokohama" and "Kirin Ichiban made in Nagoya" are both very different from usual Kirin Ichiban.
Although nowadays we can find many local craft beer in Japan, it would be also fun to try those local edition Kirin Ichiban and compare them to usual Kirin Ichiban which is sold worldwidely when you visit different areas!
In Japan, the ordinary name of these Motorcycles in the photos above are "Shiro-Bai (White-Bikes)". Yes, they are policemen's motorcycles. Since the bikes are painted pure white color, people started to call the motorcycle policemen troopers "Shiro-Bai Tai (White-Bikes Troopers).
The photos are taken in Tokyo, but the style of the bikes are same in all over Japan. Therefore when you hear somebody say "Oh, there is a White Bike!" in Japanese, it means "Oh(or oops), There is a motorcycle policeman!". So please be careful, cars and bikes around you might slow down suddenly!
Recently, Inagi city Tokyo started an interesting project called "Okawara Kunio Project". It's not well-known but "Kunio Okawara" is an animation mechanic designer who is living in Inagi city. Although his name wouldn't be very famous in general most Japanese probably know some of robot characters he designed.
One of the TV animation programs he designed robots for is "Mobile Suits Gundam", a Kids' TV show which was broadcasted around 1980. The show was super popular in those days so that everybody in schoolchild age knew at least the title and famous characters' names. Many kids vied to get plastic models of the robots (mobile suites) in the show which designed by Kunio Okawara and absorbed in assembling them.
As the start of "Okawara Kunio Project", Inagi city started displaying two big robot statues which are the most famous mobile suites in "Mobile Suits Gundam" under elevated railroad near Inagi-Naganuma station as shown in the photos above. The white robot is "Gundam" and the red one is "Char's Zaku". Behind the two robots, there are a cafe and a shop selling local items inside the window.
Today, the kids who were big fans of the show when it was on TV are all adults, but they would have good nostalgic feeling by seeing these two robot statues. Moreover, the TV show is not limited to one generation. Since it became so famous and popular in 80's, it became movies and also many TV shows were made as continuations of it in later days. So even in these days some kids would know the recent "Gundam". Then, maybe some parents and kids can enjoy having drinks in the cafe and talking about Gundam, and have a fun time together.
By the way, interestingly, according to a newspaper article introducing this project, the designer, Kunio Okawara, got an idea for the Gundam design from Samurai hair style. It sounds funny, but please compare the two small square photos in the lower right hand corner, the shape of the robot's head is in fact similar to typical Samurai hair style. I never thought of it but the design of Gundam robot was actually very Japanese.
The two photos on the top row are showing a typical style of Japanese dragons. The Image was originally imported from China in ancient times. The shape is the same as typical Asian dragons, but it is clearly different from the images of dragons in Western countries.
Comparing to dragons in Western countries, Asian dragons looks more like a big snake with the four limbs and don't have wings although they can fly.
In Japan, dragons have been considered as one of the nature gods, but they are not always nice to people even though they have an aspect of being a good omen.
Ancient people related them to water, and thought they can control/bring water disasters such as storms and floods. Thus most shrines which worship dragons are usually located near water in Japan and typical images of Japanese dragons show dragons flying in a rain clouds or in a thunder storm.
So it is easy to be reminded of a dragon when people see a string-like cloud in the sky especially with a rain clouds in dark gray color. Well, do you see any dragons in the photos on the middle and bottom row?
Today, May 5th is Boys’ Festival Day in Japan, and now it is also a national holiday called “Children’s Day”.
For this seasonal event, many parents who have boys display traditional decorations to wish their boys’ success and promotion in future.
In contrast to Girls’ Festival Day, which people display beautiful dolls set for their girls to wish their happy marriage as I introduced on March 3rd, people display decorative Samurai armor set which are special dolls representing historical heroes as symbols of strength/success, or carp shaped wind streamers (Koinobori in Japanese) on Boys’ Festival Day. The carp shaped wind streamers (Koinobori) is also a symbol of success. There is a story in a Chinese legend about a carp who successfully swam up a big fall and became a dragon to fly away into the sky, and therefore carps are considered as a symbol of promotion.
Apparently this seasonal event was originally imported from China in the 3rd century BC. After coming to Japan it was mixed with Japanese customs and became Boys' Festival Day. Especially after the 12th century, as Samurai society in Japan and the society became more significant, this event became also important. People probably wished their boys to be stronger and their family will be prosperous.
However, today many people live in small houses or condos/apartments in big cities, and they don't have enough space for these decorations especially carp shaped wind streamers (Koinobori) which traditionally requires a yard to erect a big pole. As a solution, some communities recently started to display many of the wind streamers (Koinobori) in public parks or river side fields, from donations from people who can't display them at home. It would be a good way to avoid wasting Koinobori handed down in each family and have a good seasonal event in communities.
