The Tokyo Traveler

Trading Tokyo for London, Rome or one of 20 other cities is now possible when you play the newest version of MONOPOLY. On August 20th, Hasbro, the makers of the world’s most popular board game announced the 22 cities elected by fans worldwide that will appear on the new MONOPOLY Here & Now: The World Edition game board.
The 22 cities, listed in order of property groupings with the highest rent properties listed first, is as follows:

Montreal
Riga
Cape Town
Belgrade
Paris
Jerusalem
Hong Kong
Beijing
London
New York
Sydney
Vancouver
Shanghai
Rome
Toronto
Kyiv
Istanbul
Athens
Barcelona
Tokyo
Taipei
Gdynia

Other cool additions to the newest MONOPOLY game board include tokens, houses and hotels that reflect icons and styles from all …read more

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EMOBILE, a Japanese cell phone company, created a parody of the Barack Obama series of “change” speeches as part of their summer sales campaign where Obama is portrayed as a monkey. Due to consumer complaints of racism they have been forced to pull the commercial. Here it is:

Check out this video of what the EMOBILE representative had to say. What do you think?

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The Tokyo Traveler has gotten a mention in The Honolulu Advertiser!  The headline reads “TRAVEL BLOG GIVES AN INSIDER’S VIEW OF JAPAN’S CAPITAL CITY” and it’s the second segment in the May 18th travel update.
The picture to the right is of me watching Sumo at Yasukuni Shrine and was used in the article.  It’s really exciting to be mentioned in the newspaper and not something that I am used to but I am sure getting a kick out of it!
Now I would like to say Aloha and Yokoso (welcome) to all of my visitors from Hawaii and ask “What do …read more

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In honor of World Cocktail Week (May 8-13), Jon, The DC Traveler, has challenged the Travel & Culture Channel here at b5 media to come up with a humorous/satirical cocktail that stereotypes their city.  But first, let me give you an idea for a twist on the traditional Margarita.  Why not try a Sake (Japanese Rice Wine) Margarita?  How to mix cocktails.com has recipes for almost every cocktail imaginable and was my source for the following recipe:
Sake Margarita
Salt1.0 fl. oz. of Sake1.0 fl. oz. of Orange Curacao1.0 fl. oz. of Lime JuiceIce
Mixing Procedure: Frost the rim of a martini …read more

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Yesterday, 65 miles northeast of Tokyo, Danica Patrick made history when she became the first woman to win an IndyCar Race.  Congratulations Danica!
She was racing in the Bridgestone Indy Japan 300 Mile at the Twin Ring Motegi in in the town of Motegi in eastern Tochigi prefecture.  The track is is a 1½-mile oval and Danica raced against 17 other drivers.
The start of the race had been delayed by rain but when the checkered flag finally fell it was Danica standing on the top flight of the podium holding the trophy.  The race was her 50th and Sports Illustrated quotes …read more

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Did you know that the latest accessory in Japan for successful women executives is a Geisha Guy? Women pay these Geisha Guys anywhere from $1-50 thousand, yes thousand, dollars a night to be lavished with compliments and treated like a princess. One customer is quoted as saying “This is a gift for myself, it’s the same as spending money on a trip or buying something.”
In Japan, if a women is over 25 and still single some would liken her to a Christmas Cake, which is really hard to get rid of after December 25th (or in this case …read more

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