Jonelle Patrick's Blog, page 35

In Which An 8th Century Monk Trolls Us All

Inside this telephone booth of yore lies the Miroku Stone. For hundreds of years (since the time of the venerable Kobo Daishi*) it has been known that if a virtuous person reaches through the little window and picks up the stone, it will feel light. But if you’ve been a bad boy, it will be unbearably heavy.

So…feeling lucky?

I watched as dozens of people lined up to find out if the Buddha of the Future agreed with their own assessment of their character…and have to admit that I was deeply entertained when they were ALL disappointed.

Yep, that little bugger of a stone is deceptively heavy (I know what you’re thinking SHUT UP) but…is this not an excellently-told lesson for the ages?

* The eminently overachieving Kobo Daishi (or Kukai, as he was known in life) founded the Shingon sect of Buddhism, which basically teaches that you don’t have to be reborn a gazillion times (sometimes as a mosquito or other unpleasant life form) in order to attain enlightenment. You can do it in one, if you carefully follow his (exceedingly strict) teachings.

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Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mysteries, now out for the first time in paperback. Nightshade is the first in the series…

A young woman is found dead in an abandoned car, with a pair of strangers old enough to be her parents. Their suicide note apologizes for a disaster that hasn’t yet happened. And someone is stalking the…Read more

…or watch the book trailer! (0:52)

The Magical Red Forest

If it happens to be raining when you are invited to walk through a magical forest carpeted with five million blooming amaryllis, do not say no. Because this.

 

If you’re in Tokyo at the end of September and would like to see the higanbana in bloom, get thee on the train to Koma Station (it takes about an hour from Ikebukuro Station) and follow the signs (and crowd!) to the Kinchakuda site. Admission: ¥200. Use the Jorudan Train Finder to figure out the fastest/cheapest way to get there from whichever station is closest to you.

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And since you’ll be on the train for a while, you’ll need something to read…

Watch the Nightshade book trailer (0:52)

The more part-time English translator Yumi Hata learns about how her friend Rika died, the more she’s convinced it was murder. Someone is stalking the websites where lost souls go to make a date with death, and…Read more

 

Uncuddly Stuffies

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that my sympathy runs deep for the poor toy designers who have to churn out new adorable stuffies when all the animals, vegetables, and foods that are even remotely cute have already been taken. I always gave them points for at least trying to make the wallflowers of the toy world into something that wouldn’t scare the shit out of you if you woke up next to it in the middle of the night.

Until now.

Squid. I always thought this was the animal I’d least like to discover in my bed, snuggled up by my chin. Until I saw…

…these. I mean, nothing against enormous insectoid crustaceans that I’m sure fulfil some essential ecological role scuttling around the ocean floor, but who ever thought that a toy ought to be made out of…

…this HORRIBLE SCARY EWW EWW EWW EWW SQUICKY SQUICKY GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME creature? (Thank you, Wikipedia, for getting up close and personal with Bathynomus giganteus so I didn’t have to)

Now, compared to The Isopod Stuff Of Nightmares, this tuna looks positively adorable. Until you realize…

…you can rip its velcro’d parts from stem to stern, revealing which parts are the choicest to EAT. (And yes, those little poopy looking things in the middle are its liver and heart NOOOOOO)

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Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series, now out for the first time in paperback. If you’re looking for some good books to binge this fall…

Should you start by slipping behind closed doors into a Japanese host club, or chasing a murderer through the shadowy sites where desperate souls go to make a date with death? Or would you rather have a backstage pass to the strange, strange world of Japanese music idols? Watch the book trailers & read more here…

Essential Gear For The Corporate Warrior

For those times when you need to make a stealth dash to an important meeting through a forest of trees with blood…red…leaves….

And no one will dare question your commitment to the mission when you appear at the obligatory company ballgame outing wearing this samurai baseball cap

Saw the red camo shoes at a shoe store in Skytree, and the samurai b-ball hats at Tokyu Hands in Ikebukuro

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Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series, now out for the first time in paperback. The fourth book will be out December 5th, which means…

When Tokyo Detective Kenji Nakamura’s phone rings with the news that his mother’s death ten years ago wasn’t an accident, his world begins to unravel. New evidence links her to…read more

You can get started on the first one here.

 

Subway Manners…For Aliens

Because seriously, unless you were raised by Mechagodzilla, how could you not know that headbutting a station employee, grabbing him by his necktie and drunk-pitching your beer in his face are not exactly recommended by Miss Manners?

(And if you were raised by aliens, expect a lump of coal in your next Xmas stocking if a wimpy poster convinces you to abandon your mission to obliterate all humans and grow organic kale instead.)

Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series,  published by Penguin/Intermix.

The Best Cherry Blossom Spots In Tokyo – With Maps!

Whether you’re all about the beer drinking or just want to win a few photo contests, first you gotta find the big fluffy pink things. Here’s a list of my all-time favorite hanami party and petal-snapping spots, with maps so you don’t waste time trying to locate the pinkness!

 

 

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PLACES WITH BOTH EARLY AND LATE BLOOMING CHERRY TREES:

SHINJUKU GYOU-EN GARDEN

Admission: ¥200

Hours: 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Picnics/alcohol: Yes picnics/No alcohol (and they’re serious: there’s a bag check before you enter, and they’ll confiscate any booze they find.)

 

Here’s what the early blooming trees look like (see them in the last week of March):

SPOT #1: If you get there when the park opens at 9:00, you can often see the trees perfectly reflected in the pond before the breeze kicks up

SPOT #2: The wide grass promenades through the center of the park are lined with huge cherry trees

 

Here’s what the late blooming trees look like (see them in the first week of April):

SPOT #3: The best grove starts beyond this bridge that goes over the big pond

SPOT #4: This cluster of perfect pink princesses is found along the main swath of lawns

SPOT #5: There’s a large grove of late-bloomers at the far end of the big pond

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IMPERIAL PALACE

Admission: Free

Hours: Inside the palace gates – 9:00 – 17:00; outside the gates – always open, and the walk along Spot #1 is lit up at night until 22:00

Picnics/alcohol: Inside palace gates – No picnics/No alcohol; Outside palace gates – Yes picnics/Yes alcohol

Here’s what the early blooming trees look like (see them in the last week of March):

SPOT #1: This wave of pink is all along the Imperial Palace Moat, as you walk from Kudanshita Station toward Hanzomon Station

As a special bonus, this part of the moat is lit up at night until 22:00 during cherry blossom season

SPOT #5: The Ni-no-Maru Garden inside the moat has both early and late blooming trees, plus a nice reflecting pond

Here’s what the late blooming trees look like (see them in the first week of April):

SPOT #2: Rare varieties of cherry trees border the walkway outside the Imperial Palace

SPOT #3: A lovely cluster of late-blooming trees turns the moat near Takebashi Station into a fairytale wonderland.

SPOT #4: Choice pink yaezakura cascade over the tea bushes at the upper East Garden (the one past Ni-no-Maru, that you have to climb up the big ramp to enter)

SPOT #6: Late-blooming trees put on a glorious show along the moat, at the end closer to Hanzomon Station

 

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MONZEN NAKACHO

Admission: Free

Hours: Always open, lit up at night until 21:00

Picnics/alcohol: There’s no place for picnics, but the lantern-lit walk is fantastic and uncrowded

Here’s what the early blooming trees look like (see them in the last week of March):

SPOT #1: Lanterns line the path along the canal near Monzen Nakacho station. This is the view from the traffic bridge.

 

 

SPOT #2: During the day, you can get amazing pictures from the bridges that criss-cross the water at easily-walkable intervals

You can walk all along the water on this lovely (and deserted!) path

At night, the lanterns are lit from 18:00 – 21:00

Here’s what the late blooming trees look like (see them in the first week of April):

SPOT 3#: There’s a particularly beautiful kind of late blooming cherry at the Tomioka Shrine.

 

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Places to see before the end of March, because the trees bloom early at these spots:

ASAKUSA

Admission: Free

Hours: Always open; the Sumida River walk is lit up at night until 22:00

Picnics/alcohol: Yes picnics/Yes alcohol

SPOT #1: The Sumida River near Asakusa Station is one of the most famous places to see cherry blossoms in Tokyo. For an alternative view, take the waterbus down the river!

SPOT #2: Hordes of people crowd the walkways along the Sumida River, but they often miss this park when they turn inland on their way to Skytree.

From inside the Ushima Shrine, the cherry-shaded walkways beckon.

And, of course, if you want cherry blossom-encrusted shots of the big Skytree thing, this is the place to whip out your camera.

 

SPOT #3: This jewel of a street has a stream running down the middle of it (although it doesn’t always have water in it) and during cherry blossom season it becomes a bower of white. This is a great place to bring your lunch and rest your feet, in the middle of Asakusa.

SPOT #4: This secret garden is hidden right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Senso-ji temple and it’s only open around cherry blossom season, so most people don’t even know it’s there.

Denpo-in Garden Admission: ¥300

Hours: 9:00 – 17:00

Picnics/alcohol: No picnics/No alcohol

 

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MEGURO RIVER

Admission: Free

Hours: Always open, lit up at night until 21:00 during cherry blossom season

Picnics/alcohol: Yes picnics/Yes alcohol

The blossoms are lit up at night with lanterns all along the canal. Lots of food and drink for sale at little stands along the way.

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YOYOGI PARK

Admission: Free

Hours: Sunrise to sunset

Picnics/alcohol: Yes picnics/Yes alcohol

SPOT #1: Even when the ground is paved with cherry blossom parties, the trees are splendid in Yoyogi Park

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RIKUGI-EN GARDEN

Admission: ¥300

Hours: 9:00 – 21:00 during cherry blossom season

Picnics/alcohol: No picnics/No alcohol

SPOT #1: There are other pink trees dotted around this fab garden, but the one everyone comes to see is this huge weeping cherry.

The trees are lit up at night during The Season, and the garden is open until 21:00.

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KORAKU-EN GARDEN

Admission: ¥300

Hours: 9:00 – 17:00

Picnics/alcohol: No picnics/No alcohol

SPOT #1: This garden doesn’t have a lot of cherry trees, but the ones that are here are really spectacular.

SPOT #2: Trees bordering the big pond in the late afternoon

 

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Places where you can see trees blooming into mid-April:

KYU-SHIBA-RIKYU GARDEN

Admission: ¥150

Hours: 9:00 – 17:00

Picnics/alcohol: No picnics/No alcohol

SPOT #1: This small garden has the latest-blooming yaezakura I’ve found – they’re still blooming strong, well into the third week of April

SPOT #2: You can stand under the trees at Kyu-Shiba-Rikyu and feel like you are in a pink and white room.

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ASUKAYAMA PARK

Admission: Free

Hours: Always open; lit up at night during cherry blossom season until 21:00

Picnics/alcohol: Yes picnics/Yes alcohol

You seldom see tourists at this wonderful northwest Tokyo park.

And they have an amazing variety of late-blooming trees.

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OUTSIDE THE NEW OTANI HOTEL

Admission: Free

Hours: Always open

Picnics/alcohol: No picnics/No alcohol

SPOT #1: The late blooming yaezakura lining the street outside the New Otani hotel are worth a special trip.

Somehow, these trees are so spectacular, you barely even notice the boring old skyscrapers in the background.

Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series,  published by Penguin/Intermix.

 

Get Your Very Own 3D Selfie

The idea of being able to get a Barbie-sized clone of yourself has been an internet tease for so long that I almost walked past the studio displaying these super lifelike figures that had obviously been modeled on real people.

Surely there would be the usual fine print: “GET A PERFECT PINT-SIZED REPLICA OF YOURSELF (for only $100,000,000,000)” or “NOW ANYONE CAN IMMORTALIZE THEIR AWESOMENESS (as long as they’re related to the inventor and willing to wait six months for it to be handpainted by magical elves)”

But WHOA when I stepped up to the counter and asked, it turns out this is a genuine get-scanned-in-five-minutes shop that will deliver a photographically detailed figure within three weeks, for a sum that isn’t usually associated with buying a house!

All you have to do is make an appointment at the Loft store in Shibuya and…

…stand on the X in the middle of a crankload of digital cameras (102, to be exact), all precisely angled to capture the nooks and crannies needed to build a 3D model.

Shutters click and lights fire a couple of times, then your bits and pieces are whisked away to a couple of hella fast desktops for compiling.

It takes about 20 minutes for all the scraps to assemble, but you can watch with Wonka-esque fascination as your figure becomes more and more detailed on the screen.

The artist can rotate you around and zoom in at any time to fix glitches. (Regrettably, he couldn’t give me the nose job of my dreams or fix my bad hair day, but I guess the whole point of this is that we don’t all end up looking like identical members of idol bands.)

Wow, looking pretty detailed, about 15 minutes in!

And voila! Me and my cheapo umbrella!

Now all that’s left is to decide whether I want to be Minifig size or Gundam Perfect Grade…

Okay, I realize you may be one of those rare people who don’t have a burning desire to see yourself immortalized in eternal  plastic, but what about…

Fido!

Or the cutest baby in the whole world?

Or your Significant Other, dressed as his favorite video game avatar?

Check this out – these things are seriously detailed, and the color is integral to the plastic, not painted on

So finally, let’s go bottom line – it’s still not cheap. But which would you rather have – sixty skinny soy lattes or a Mini Me who can battle your 1/25 scale Megatron on a level playing field?

Get Your Very Own 3D Selfie!

The idea of being able to get a Barbie-sized clone of yourself has been an internet tease for so long that I almost walked past the studio displaying these super lifelike figures that had obviously been modeled on real people.

Surely there would be the usual fine print: “GET A PERFECT PINT-SIZED REPLICA OF YOURSELF (for only $100,000,000,000)” or “NOW ANYONE CAN IMMORTALIZE THEIR AWESOMENESS (as long as they’re related to the inventor and willing to wait six months for it to be handpainted by magical elves)”

But WHOA when I stepped up to the counter and asked, it turns out this is a genuine get-scanned-in-five-minutes shop that will deliver a photographically detailed figure within three weeks, for a sum that isn’t usually associated with buying a house!

All you have to do is make an appointment at the Loft store in Shibuya and…

…stand on the X in the middle of a crankload of digital cameras (102, to be exact), all precisely angled to capture the nooks and crannies needed to build a 3D model.

Shutters click and lights fire a couple of times, then your bits and pieces are whisked away to a couple of hella fast desktops for compiling.

It takes about 20 minutes for all the scraps to assemble, but you can watch with Wonka-esque fascination as your figure becomes more and more detailed on the screen.

The artist can rotate you around and zoom in at any time to fix glitches. (Regrettably, he couldn’t give me the nose job of my dreams or fix my bad hair day, but I guess the whole point of this is that we don’t all end up looking like identical members of idol bands.)

Wow, looking pretty detailed, about 15 minutes in!

And voila! Me and my cheapo umbrella!

Now all that’s left is to decide whether I want to be Minifig size or Gundam Perfect Grade…

Okay, I realize you may be one of those rare people who don’t have a burning desire to see yourself immortalized in eternal  plastic, but what about…

Fido!

Or the cutest baby in the whole world?

Or your Significant Other, dressed as his favorite video game avatar?

Check this out – these things are seriously detailed, and the color is integral to the plastic, not painted on

So finally, let’s go bottom line – it’s still not cheap. But which would you rather have – sixty skinny soy lattes or a Mini Me who can battle your 1/25 scale Megatron on a level playing field?

How To Tell You’re Near Mt. Fuji

Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series,  published by Penguin/Intermix.

Finally, Girls’ Day For Goths!

Is your favorite lipstick color black? Do net quizzes always sort you into Slytherin? Would you rather eat deep fried cod testicles than be seen in a pink kimono? Then this set of Girls’ Day dolls is for you!

Goto Dolls has done a major update on the whole thank you very much we’re just sitting here with our platters of rice cakes and oxcarts scene. In addition to dressing the imperial pair as the Emperor and Empress of Emo, their throne room is furnished with fabulous bouquets that are actually rings, hair clips, earrings and necklaces for the honorable daughter to wear!

Goto Dolls also makes doll sets with other themes, like this Cherry Blossom pair, and I gotta say, every one is gorgeous. Ogle the whole lineup shot in moody splendor on their website.

Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series,  published by Penguin/Intermix.