Jib-kun's Diary - jibtv: December 2009Archives

December 2009Archives

December 24, 2009 12:24 PM

Helping Is a Piece of Cake

I'm very excited to be celebrating my first Christmas. I've been in Japan for a few hundred years, as you know, but in the forest there aren't any christmas celebrations. Well, at least not in the Japanese forests. I don't know about other countries. Perhaps the woodland and ancient mysterious creatures of other countries' forests do celebrate the season. It would make sense in one way, because the pine tree stands at the center of attention. That being said, I number quite a few Japanese pine trees amongst my friends and I'm not sure how they'd feel about it. Decorating sure, but the whole cutting down bit? It wouldn't go over well is what I'm thinking. Perhaps when woodland creatures celebrate Christmas in those countries they get a plastic tree.

Regardless, my real interest in Christmas is more to do with gustation than decoration. So many lovely and wonderful treats to eat are everywhere. I have been watching Newsline on the jibtv.com live stream for holiday news updates. A very interesting story, which will be airing regularly during Christmas on the Newsline broadcast, is about a charity group in Tokyo selling "Love Cakes." These cakes are sold missing a piece! Thats right, people are paying full price for a cake missing a slice. To me it seemed ridiculous, but they explained it was all in the spirit of Christmas.

You see, the money for the missing piece is donated to buy food aid for starving children. Every time you buy one of these "Love Cakes" you are helping out poor children around the world. It makes me so sad to see any child go hungry. That's why this year I am making it my mission to eat as many cakes as possible. It was a really interesting and touching way to celebrate the holiday season. And what's more important... I get to eat a lot of cake. Check out Newsline on jibtv to see this news piece among other events happening around the world at Christmas. Now if you will excuse me, I have some eating to do.

December 6, 2009 4:25 PM

Maid Cafes with Tokyo Eye

When I heard what they were filming I was sure to ask if I could tag along! NHK WORLD/jibtv program Tokyo Eye made a visit to Akihabara to visit the global center of otaku culture and bargain electronics shopping. In the first of the two part episodes we were introduced to Akihabara's great shopping opportunities. Part two, though had my curiousity slightly more peaked. The show uncovered many different Maid Cafes, the range of them truly surprising.

Now for those of you who don't know what a maid cafe is... hmmm... how do I explain this? A maid cafe is a coffee shop where young ladies dressed in maid costumes treat their guests as honored visitors. They use only the most polite language and make the customer feel as though they are practically visiting royalty.

But this episode of Tokyo Eye uncovered so much more. At one cafe featured in the program, the maids are actually quite rude to the guests, only becoming kind when the customer is about to leave. At which point they have a total personality shift, apologize for their bad behavior and beg the customer to stay. Yet another cafe has the customer face off in a contest of rock, paper, scissors with the Maid. If he loses he'll be foreced to drink a disgusting mix of milk natto and seaweed. But if he wins, he can drink a delicious drink!

The concepts behind maid cafes have really begun to individualize and break off into different directions. One cafe visited in the show is a recreation of Taisho era Japan (1912-1926) with staff who claim to have come directly through time and space from that period in history. Decorations are authentic and the atmospehere serene so customers can unwind in a time and place long ago.

If you ask me all of this Maid business is a little bit strange! Thats why I am so glad I went along for the adventure. What a wonderful, wacky place Akihabara is! Check it out for yourself on Wednesday the 9th here on jibtv.com!