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We’re having a huge sale today, so please go check that out! Seriously guys, this is the biggest one we’ve ever done. Go get it! :D Alrighty, on to this week’s main story...

MUCH ADO ABOUT DOGEN

I’d like to talk about balls. No, not the sports ones. The kind that are metaphorical, the kind that you have when you stand up for what’s right in the face of intense opposition. I mean, think about it: there’s stuff that takes courage, and there’s stuff that takes balls. Asking someone out to prom? Courage. Telling a Firefly fan to let it go, since Fox canceled their show fifteen years ago? That’s courage with a little bit of balls. Standing up to the bully ten times your size? That’s balls. 

Bringing your baby to work with you when you’re a politician in one of the most male-dominated societies in the world? That’s more balls than you’ll find at a basketball tournament. [Washington Post]

Image courtesy Asahi Shimbun/Getty Images

Just look at this picture. Words fail me. Here, check out the video:

This is Kumamoto City Representative and certified bad ass mama Ogata Yuka and her son Dogen, who has a very nice hairstyle going for someone who’s only seven months old. She made the “mistake” of bringing her son to work with her, which resulted in many male members of the chamber crowding around her and demanding she leave - with some of them even demanding she apologize for doing so (even though Dogen was being a good boy and not making any noise).

According to her official bio, Ogata is a graduate of the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and holds a graduate degree from George Mason University in Virginia. She’s also worked as a program officer with the UN’s Development Program in Yemen, which I imagine is not the UN’s easiest mission. After moving back to her hometown, Ogata became interested in local politics and ran on a campaign emphasizing support for working mothers, traffic/pedestrian safety, public health and welfare, and promoting tourism to Kumamoto. [Editor’s note: we’re working on a tour pitch or two, Ogata-shigi!- Team PacSet]

Fun fact: Ogata was elected when her first child was just 1 year old, and the day she brought Dogen to work was her first day back from maternity leave. Now personally, I would have appreciated a “Welcome Back” cake, a balloon bouquet... maybe some of Kumamoto’s famous Ikinari Dango* with a nice message written on it? Like this?

But hey, I guess a bunch of old dudes being rude is kind of like a welcome. I mean, isn’t that how the bullies welcome the nerds back to class in all of those teen movies? Sorry, I digress.

Although child care is provided in municipal assemblies in Kyoto and Akita (as the WaPo points out), Kumamoto’s model male citizens decided to get their pantsu in a bunch over this, eventually forcing Ogata to leave Dogen in the care of a friend before returning to the chamber. 

In a statement, Ogata said that she wanted to bring attention to the tough conditions facing working women in Japan. She’s not wrong; numerous  [Bloomberg/Benchmark] articles [Japan Times] have been written about Japan’s shortage in adequate day care facilities and how hard it is for women in the workforce. In fact, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has cited making the working world more friendly to women a priority, since Japan’s birthrate is declining and the benefits of being a mother are not all that attractive if you want to have a career/support a family in Japan. However, apparently Abe forgot to mention this to fellow LDP member and “guy at the pachinko parlor” Haraguchi Ryoji, who said that Ogata could be “subject to punishment for disturbing the chamber over a personal reason.” [Mainichi Shimbun] Which I guess I understand... I mean, I bet no one in the LDP has ever been in a scandal for personal reasons, right? (Fun game: Google “LDP Scandals” and see how many you can find in 10 minutes!)

The truth is that there is still a cultural stigma against working mothers in many social circles in Japan. Not too long ago, having a baby meant a women would leave work altogether and focus their entire lives on child rearing. Even today, mothers that go against the grain are often harassed by other mothers and people who aren’t parents at all but have so many opinions. Which is probably one of the reasons why Japan’s fleet of online trolls have since invaded Ogata’s Facebook page and are tweeting nasty replies to English language stories about her. Nice of them, isn’t it? 

Regardless, we hope that Ogata-shigi keeps fighting for working women, that we are able to create the best Kumamoto tour EVER, and that Dogen can keep that clean, awesome looking hair forever. <3 Speaking of clean...

I’LL HAVE A WASH AND DRY WITH THAT YAKITORI

If you have traveled with us, you know how tough it can be to find coin laundromats in Japan sometimes. Fortunately, the effort to make them more common just got a massive (and I mean massive) push from a somewhat surprising source: convenience store (conbini) chain Family Mart. (LINE NEWS)

That’s right - one of Japan’s biggest conbini chains, the place where you get a meat bun when you’re hungry, a manga volume when you’re bored, and a Pocari Sweat when you’re drunk, is installing coin laundry! According to an official statement, the company is planning on rolling out the service quickly, with laundry popping up in at least 500 locations by the end of 2019. [Family Mart]

I’ll level with you guys: I’m trying to think of a negative angle to this story, and you know... there just isn’t one. The thought of being able to wash my clothes during FanFest while eating a lemon ice, buying breakfast onigiri for the next morning, and browsing the latest Shonen Sunday? What did I do to deserve this kind of joy?!?!?!?!

The best part? Because the competition between conbini chains in Japan is such a bloodbath, it probably won’t be too long before Lawson or Seven Eleven decides to try out Coin Laundry as well. Japan in the summer is all kinds of humid - keeping it clean is a concept I can definitely get behind.

TAKA IS NOT [ONE] OK [ROCK] WITH SMAP... KINDA

One guy isn’t keeping it clean this week in the world of gossip; ONE OK ROCK front man Taka sent shockwaves across the Japanese interwebs this weekend when he dissed recently disbanded J-Pop royalty SMAP during an appearance on Super Beaver singer Shibuya Ryuuta’s radio show late Thursday night. Although both of their bands specialize in rock and not the kind of J-Pop sound SMAP embodies, the two were discussing which song from the band they like most. Taka’s selection? SMAP’s 1993 single “Ten Dollars”:

This is a somewhat deep cut from the SMAP catalogue; it’s from when the group still had six members, and it wasn’t nearly as popular as SMAP’s turn-of-the-millenia hits Lionheart and Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Everyone in Japan has heard this song twenty million times oh god please make it stop**. 

After the song played, Taka voiced a sentiment that many indie rockers, rappers, and artists in Japan have long thought but always been scared to say. SMAP is... eh. From the man’s own mouth: [Model Press]

“Actually, I hate them, really. I hate SMAP. They’re like Japan’s national group,” said Taka. He’s not exactly wrong; SMAP’s TV show was one of the view where western stars appeared regularly, and even Eric Clapton wrote a song for them. Yes, ERIC CLAPTON. Taka, probably realizing that the internet could twist such a comment out of control quickly, added: “No matter which group you’re in, whether you’re an idol, a superstar... we’re all just human... Being in a group like that shouldn’t be your WHOLE life - that’s tiring. So when I heard SMAP was disbanding, I was thinking, ‘Wow, they really worked hard to come this far...’” I can’t help but agree with Taka myself; to have a group be your entire life until you’re alone again - that’s truly a Mighty Long Fall.

Taka’s comments were also a reflection of the public’s sadness when SMAP disbanded - so much so that many thought the group should keep going. Indeed, artists in Japan that are popular are expected to devote their lives to their work to a degree that many in the west would consider horrifying (just ask any former idol star... ugh). For what it’s worth, many on Twitter and message boards in Japan agreed with Taka on this point. 

Now if some of those nice, sympathetic folks would go help support Ogata Yuka... that would be awesome. 

NOTE: I’m off on Japan Holiday next week, so this column will be on hiatus. We’ll be back in a few weeks with more goodies. Until then, be lovely to each other!

*About the Dango: The popular YouTube series Cooking With Dog (RIP, Francis ;_;) actually did a segment on how to make Ikinari Dango; check it out! We miss you, Francis the Dog... <3

Hi folks! Welcome to PacSet Insider, a monthly feature where we divulge some of the ways you can make the absolute best out of a trip to Japan, whether you’re on a PacSet tour or traveling by yourself. Today we are going to talk about Walking in Japan. Why? Because walking isn’t simply just an unavoidable thing you have to do to get from place to place while traveling in Japan (especially in the cities), but because the act of walking is actually an integral part of Japanese culture. Let me elaborate. Unlike here in the United States where we rely heavily on cars to get from place to place, much of the Japanese population relies heavily on public transportation and a sturdy, reliable pair of feet. Commuting to school with peers on foot is a commonplace practice – even preschoolers are seen walking in single file lines on streets to get to school (accompanied by an adult, usually). In fact, in many towns, students aren’t allowed to ride a bicycle to school until junior high school. It gives students the chance to be social, active, and to greet fellow townspeople as they make their way to school every day. In the cities, it is impractical and often expensive to own a car, so most people rely on trains and other public transportation instead. Japanese society functions on its active citizens to keep everything running efficiently for its 127 million or so people. So my advice to you, fellow traveler? Prepare yourself physically and mentally so that you can confidently join, and more importantly, enjoy seeing the country on foot. Before and during the tour, eat well and eat right. If you don’t usually exercise, try to fit in at least 15 minutes of light exercise a day leading up to the tour. Pack comfy shoes, a water bottle, and breathable socks. Preparing yourself for walking – whether you’re going to see temples, on shopping sprees, or simply just wandering the sights, you’ll be glad you did.

We all know that that when you go to Japan, there are certain things you must try – sushi, ramen, okonomiyaki…those are typical go-to foods that are quite correctly experiences to be had. And then there are the lesser known dishes…some of which are an entire adventure in themselves! While on Kyushu Hideaways this past October, the gang got to try two uniquely Japanese dining experiences – hotspring steamed lunch and nagashi somen! Kyushu is the most southwestern island of Japan’s main islands and consists of eight prefectures. On Kyushu Hideaways 2017, we visited Kagoshima, Miyazaki, and Oita Prefectures. The island is south enough to have a subtropical climate, with plenty of beautiful green scenery, mountains, and rain.

Noodles float down the bamboo shoots! Nagashi Somen A popular summer pastime in Japan is to eat somen, a very thin, refreshing noodle, by running the noodles in cold water down a bamboo shoot and catching them with chopsticks. This practice is called “nagashi-somen”, with “nagashi” meaning “running/flowing”. While visiting Takachiho Falls in Miyazaki, we stopped at a nagashi somen restaurant for lunch. The restaurant consisted of two long, sloped tables with two cut-open bamboo shoots running down the center of each.

Nagashi Somen Set Meal The noodles are quite thin and can be hard to see in the water, so catching them is quite the challenge, but lots of fun! The noodles came in mouthfuls – we would catch them, then dip them in a delicious ginger-soy sauce broth. When a round of noodles was about to go down the shoot, the shopkeeper would shout “Nagashimasu!” to let us know they were coming. To complement the noodles, the meal came with an assortment of healthy side dishes and tea. If your table doesn’t have the most proficient chopstick skills, or if everyone is not paying attention, you’ll end up with a lot of extra noodles in your basket at the end of the meal. But not to worry, you can still pass those around and finish them off!   Steamed Lunch Our other food adventure took place in Beppu, the famous hot spring town of Oita Prefecture. Tourists from all over Japan and the world come here to marvel at the various hot spring “Hells”, and to enjoy the various baths that the town has to offer. One of our favorite experiences in Beppu was the steamed lunch.