Adventures at the Hospital

Reblogged from Foreign Dad in Japan:

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The last few days have been a blur.  So much has happened.

I should begin by saying that April had been one of the more difficult months for us, because Tomoe had caught a cold twice in the first half of the month, requiring us to take a lot of extra care of her.  She'd been to the doctor several times, had to stay at home with a very expensive babysitter on the weekends, and stay at a clinic's nursery on weekdays that she had a fever. 

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This shows a bit of an account of what it's like to use the hospital system in Japan. Very annoying thing is that the first hospital we tried has an ER that closes at 11 pm. We were told not to use an ambulance unless it's an emergency. Use a taxi. We did, and we wasted our time and money to go to a hospital that's closed. We were quite fed up with that, so we did get an ambulance. Glad we did, because there was a possibility of a very serious medical problem.

Renting a car in Japan

On Friday, my wife and I decided that we’d rent a car to go to Costco, rather than take the train all the way to the Kanazawa store in Yokohama, dealing with the crowded Seaside Line and a sick toddler, and spending money to have most things delivered.  In the end, it cost us about the same, it was faster, and we could run around and do some other errands, such as take our daughter to the doctor for her stomach virus.

Well, we rented the car in the morning, and it cost us less than 4000 yen for a small car.  We got a Nissan March (could’ve chosen a Toyota Vitz, but I wanted the instrument panel in front of me, not in the middle of the dash) and it was lavender.  Since we were driving only a short distance, we didn’t have to fill it up with gas, and only paid a bit for the gas at the end.

So, when we rented the car, we had to show driver’s license and health insurance.  I have a Japanese driver’s license, so I can only drive in Japan!  They did a check on the car, walking around it to make note of any current damage.  Once all of that was done, we strapped in the baby car seat and went on our way.

Driving in Japan is a bit different.  Although the rules are mostly the same as in Canada, we have to drive on the left side of the road in Japan, with the steering wheel on the right.  This is actually an easy adjustment for me.  The only difficulty I have with the car is that the turn signal and windshield wipers are opposite.  Many streets are very narrow in Japan, and a big problem for me is blind corners.  Far too many of them!  And then there are all the people who stop on the street and turn on their hazard lights.  It’s not easy to get around those cars because they occupy most of the lane.  But otherwise, it’s fairly easy to drive if you have a car navigation system.  We didn’t get one.  Our route was quite direct, so we relied on my iPhone’s Google Maps app instead.

Parking is something I have to get used to in Japan.  In Canada, we’d normally just park in a space driving forward.  In Japan, everyone backs into a parking space.  Easy to get out, but not so easy to get in.

When returning the car, I drove back to the rental shop by myself.  For some reason, I find it easier to drive alone.

Renting a car in Japan is fairly easy, and some places will accept cash.  Most places prefer credit cards, though.  But since I don’t have a credit card, I need to find a place that doesn’t require them.  Where we rented the car, the staff was quite nice.  We’ll probably be renting from them again.  And now, some car pictures!

Our car for the day, a lavender Nissan March. Yes, I left the wipers on when I turned it off.

The March is a fairly basic looking car inside. The steering wheel on the right side is easy to get used to.

Have you experienced renting a car in Japan?  Share your experiences in the comments!

365 Rotations – A photographic experiment

I decided to try something I’ve seen done a few times, post a picture a day from the same location.  Others have also taken a picture of themselves every day for several years.  I want to show how the seasons change here in Japan, as well as show the daily weather.  So, I started 365 Rotations.

It’s called 365 Rotations because the Earth rotates 365 times in a year (well, 365.256363004 times).  I’m posting a picture every day from each of 3 locations (all within 50 metres or so of each other), as well as some weekly photos from places I don’t go to every day.  I’m looking forward to seeing how the view changes over time.  So please head on over and check it out.

2013 Weekly Series – Exploring Japan

Last year, I completed the Picture of the Week successfully.  This year, I’m doing more of a writing series, all about Japan.

Every week, I’ll write a post about a different prefecture in alphabetic order.  Following that, I’ll post about the 4 biggest cities, not including Tokyo.  Tokyo is kind of a special beast.  It’s not really a city, it’s not really a prefecture, it’s a metropolis.  It will be covered as a prefecture.  That means there will be 51 posts.

But wait, aren’t there 52 weeks?  Why, yes there are!  This is post number 1 right here.  This is the introduction, and I will briefly talk about the prefecture system in Japan, as well as types of cities.

Prefectures

There are 47 prefectures in Japan, 4 of them having special status.  The regular prefectures have the suffix “ken (県).”  The special prefectures are as follows:

• Metropolis “to (都)” – Tokyo
• Urban prefectures “fu (府)” – Osaka and Kyoto
• Territory “do (道)” – Hokkaido

Tokyo is the really special one.  It doesn’t have a city government.  In fact, the “city” part is separated into 23 special wards that are officially cities on their own.  The Tokyo government governs the entire metropolis, which also includes the cities of western Tokyo.

So, for the first 47 posts, I’ll be discussing each prefecture, including vital statistics, the biggest cities, places I’d like to see, and local food I’d like to try.  Here are the prefectures in alphabetic order, the order I’ll be posting:

1. Aichi
2. Akita
3. Aomori
4. Chiba
5. Ehime
6. Fukui
7. Fukuoka
8. Fukushima
9. Gifu
10. Gunma
11. Hiroshima
12. Hokkaido
13. Hyogo
14. Ibaraki
15. Ishikawa
16. Iwate
17. Kagawa
18. Kagoshima
19. Kanagawa
20. Kochi
21. Kumamoto
22. Kyoto
23. Mie
24. Miyagi
25. Miyazaki
26. Nagano
27. Nagasaki
28. Nara
29. Niigata
30. Oita
31. Okayama
32. Okinawa
33. Osaka
34. Saga
35. Saitama
36. Shiga
37. Shimane
38. Shizuoka
39. Tochigi
40. Tokushima
41. Tokyo
42. Tottori
43. Toyama
44. Wakayama
45. Yamagata
46. Yamaguchi
47. Yamanashi

At the end, I’ll be asking for advice about good places to see, events, and food.

Cities

There are 4 kinds of cities in Japan.  The first is the regular city with a population of at least 50,000 people.  Second is special city, which has at least 200,000 people.  Then it’s core city, which has at least 300,000 people and they take control of some prefectural level functions.  Finally, we have the designated cities.  These have at least 500,000 people, and control many functions normally designated to prefectures.  They are also required to be divided into wards “ku (区)” which take over many functions that cities perform.

I will be showing you the 4 largest cities of Japan, not including Tokyo.  They are all designated cities.  They are:

1. Yokohama, Kanagawa
2. Osaka, Osaka
3. Nagoya, Aichi
4. Sapporo, Hokkaido

I will do the same as the prefectures, discuss vital statistics, places I’d like to see, and food I’d like to try.  As for Yokohama, I’ve lived in and around this city for nearly 8 years, so I can also talk about places I’d recommend.

So, I hope you enjoy this series.  Any questions?

2012 in Review

It’s been quite a year for me, as well as Japan and its neighbours.  There was a flareup between China and Japan over the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, Shinzo Abe became Prime Minister again, North Korea launched a satellite that went over Japanese airspace, and more.  But I’m not talking about that, I’m talking about this blog.

Top 10 Most Popular Posts

In the past year, I saw a similar theme in post popularity as previous years.  In fact, my most popular posts are all from before this year.  They just keep being popular!  Well, here they are:

1. September 2010 Aki Basho Tokyo Grand Sumo Tournament – This is 2 years old.  I guess sumo is still popular!
2. Flashback: Shinjuku in May 2005 – Part 2 – Everyone loves Shinjuku skyscrapers!
3. Flashback: Shinjuku in May 2005 – Part 1 – And this was part 1.
4. A visit to West Edmonton Mall – This wasn’t even Japan.  However, it is a popular place.
5. May 2010 Natsu Basho Tokyo Grand Sumo Tournament – It’s sumo again!
6. January 2010 Hatsu Basho Tokyo Grand Sumo Tournament – Well, half of the top 6 are about sumo.
7. Exploring Japan: Yuigahama Beach, Kamakura – January 25, 2010 – The beach is popular, too.
8. Cormorants – Now this just confused me.  Why is this one so popular?  It’s just pictures of cormorants on a wire.
9. Exploring Japan: Honmoku, Yokohama – August 2, 2009 – Honmoku’s a popular place in Yokohama.
10. Hina Matsuri, the Doll Festival – Just a little something from my own home.

Noteworthy Posts

There are some posts that I think that are rather important, though they may not be as popular subjects as above.  I’d still like you to read about them.

My daughter has been born! – More important than any blog post on here, in my opinion.

Dangerous driving in Japan – This has been a big concern of mine this year, especially after nearly being hit by a car 4 times due to the driver not paying attention.

2012 Picture of the Week (21/52) – Solar Eclipse – This was just incredible to see.

The tradition of gift money – Is it really a gift?

Bullying in Japan – Very big problem in schools and businesses.  Sometimes it can be extreme.

You’re from Canada, so… – Just answering a question I always get.

Sunset at Shonan Beach – Just some incredible colours.

Things I’ve heard often: My child could never do well! – This really irritates me.  Support your kids, don’t demean them.

Oshogatsu 1: The local shrine and temple – I don’t want you to just read this post, but also the following 4 posts about the Japanese New Year.

There are so many more things, but these are some of the highlights of my year of blogging.

Here’s to a great 2013!

2012 Picture of the Week (53/52) – Mikan

The mikan (みかん) is a kind of orange native to Japan, but also grown in China and other countries.  It’s traditionally sold around the end of the year in Japan, and you can buy them in large bags or boxes.  Does this sound familiar?  In North America, it’s very common to buy Mandarin oranges in boxes for Christmas.  Well, the mikan is a type of Mandarin orange.  It’s also known as tangerine, satsuma orange, or even Japanese Mandarin orange.

Big bags of mikan.

With this, I close out the 2012 Picture of the Week.  It was one extra, since I did two in one week sometime during the year.  I just haven’t figured out when.  Picture of the Week is not returning next year.  However, I am doing another weekly series that’ll focus on Japan’s 47 prefectures plus the 5 largest cities to round out 52 weeks.  I hope you enjoyed all 53 pictures!