Absolutely nothing like it in the states

This is an image of a BIC Camera, this blog title gets straight to the point on this one.

If you consider Best Buy an electronics store you are sorely mistaken. A Best Buy is about 30,000sq ft of retail space with a decent selection of TV's and DVD's and a limited selection of everything else. Go to a BIC Camera in Japan, I at least 90,000sq ft over 6-8 floors. There are also Yodobashi Camera, Sakura Camera, and probably others I'm forgetting, but BIC was my favorite.

Here's a floor run down.

Typically the entry level floor is cell phones (and companies), Apple products, and the small boutique setups of TV's and laptops you'd see in an American electronics retailer.

From there go up or down, at my favorite store in Tachikawa the basement was clock's, watches and other stuff, the second floor was all cpus , laptops, and accessories and the next TV's (flat screens as far as the eye can see).

The fourth floor was an entire floor dedicated to cameras, digitals, DSLRs, lenses, tripods, bags, cases, etc so much stuff I could shop the floors I liked, hit up an Excelsior (cafe, I avoided all the Starbucks, even more overpriced in Japan), and even check out a metropolis for news on upcoming events before my wife was done her shopping. Living in Austin, TX, considered a relatively artsy community is very discouraging for her, no offence to Precision but the selection just doesn't even come close.

Going up to the fifth is all home appliances, granted the refrigerators and stoves there typically take up less space, but there's still a dedicated floor with (real) rice cookers, microwaves, nabe pots (a later blog), humidifiers, etc, etc, etc.

The sixth floor was cut in half if I remember correctly, sporting goods and shoes to one side and home cosmetic appliances and stuff on the other, I appreciated the merchandising strategy that allowed me to go through the sports stuff and still gave me a buffer at men's electric razors to prevent me from getting lost in the aisles flooded in pink girly girl stuff.

The seventh floor the crème if you will would be a paradise for gamers, if the titles were in English (actually I would rather develop my Japanese, they have all the American games translated and theirs look even cooler), a handful of GameStops on one floor. You've never seen so many titles, and the games aren't just targeting men 15-30, they have games for men and women of all ages, and again all the accessories you could ask for.

If I had the startup capital I would move to a place like Chicago or Houston, a city that's big, but not too big with diverse demographics, and get to work. Those of you visiting Tokyo check one out, there hard to miss with the cell phone girls in their miniskirts calling you in, but if you need to find one easily just go to Shinjuku. There are two BICs, two Yodobashis, a Sakura, and others. Follow the signs to the west to the Odakyu exit for a smaller but well supplied BIC with multilingual staff, behind that building is Yodabashi camera, maybe a little larger but confusing because there are multiple buildings for the products (good for gamers though, huge selection on two floors). They each also have a building outside of the East exit. Ikebukuro also has multiple of both with one huge BIC, also check Tokyo, Tackikawa has my BIC and nearby Hachioji has a good Yodobashi.

Here are a couple of links to check out.

http://www.biccamera.com/

http://www.sunnypages.jp/travel_guide/tokyo_electronics/consumer_electronics/Bic+Camera+Yurakucho/1916

http://www.biccamera.co.jp/shoplist/index_english.html

Images of Tokyo

Well the original purpose of this blog was to identify ideas and cultural differences between the states and Japan and illustrate how things could be made better. My first blog highlighting the benefits of a well developed public transportation system was one of those. I've strayed and I'm slowly getting back to it.

Today I'm just highlighting some images from Japan. These pics, taken by my wife, are two of my favorite images of Japan. The top is of Shinjuku, just northeast of Shinjuku station, the lights, the energy, the chou line, I miss it. Would you believe that the Kubukicho red light district is in the middle of all of this just past the train line on the left. That's not exactly what I want to highlight about Japan but rather the fact that everywhere you go there's not much you can't find. I know, 40 million people, of course you can find everything. Well, Tokyo is actually a bunch of cities, there are major areas like Shinjuku, Tokyo, Ueno, Ikebukuro, and Shibuya, and some smaller ones like Tachikawa, our local area. Even in Tachikawa pop. 175,000 there are designer stores, giant electronic shops, up scale restuarants and what seems like dozens of Starbucks. Having anything you could want so accesible is a major convenience, and in reality the options are probably necesary considering the apartment sizes.
The second image was taken in Harajuku, Tokyo. It was taken after my wife and I ate at our favorite Mexican restaurant there. Would you believe she likes Mexican food better there than here in Texas (to her credit it is really good). Anyway this was a new advertising scheme we saw in several shops around town, don't know if it'd work in the states, and not sure about the optimism when everything was marked down 70% for the FINAL SALE, I appluad the creativity though. I went to my local grocery store this morning. I pulled into the parking lot and saw signs that said "Thank you" on the backs of the cart returns, interesting. I went in and made some selections. As I returned to my car the big sale item for the week was advertised prominently as I pushed my basket into the cart return. Don't get me wrong, the store could be getting you in a good mood by thanking you when you come in and trying to put the sale idea in you head for your next visit when you leave, but I don't think the creativity will be as effective.

For more photos from Japan and around the world,
http://www.genevievesawtelle.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/igoglobal/
and if anyone wants good Japanese Mexican food, Fonda De La Madrugada;
http://www.fonda-m.com/

Non-blogging blogger

Well can't say I've really kept up with this and I'll give my excuses here and there, moving from Tokyo to Texas, traveling, job hunting etc. Well excuses are excuses and don't really amount to much, follow thru however amounts to alot. That being said I'll probably use the current excuse of looking for good employment for now. I want to stress good employment because that's kinda what I want to talk about right now.

In my previous blog I whined about experience meaning nothing and not getting a job and so forth, well at least I'm man enough to admit that I was whining. I've gained a little prospective on this through the interviews I've been doing recently, particularly one I did today. The interviewer first asked about my management experience with HEB Grocery, as any good interviewee would, I rattled of a list of notable achievements to highlight my versatility and ability to succeed. He then asked me about Japan, he didn't ask about the work I did or my sales, training, or instructing experience, he asked, "how was Japan?". Now don't get me wrong friends and family have asked this Q several times since my wife and I have returned, and the response has generally always been the same, "unbelievable". It really was, and talking with this successful Investment Banker, company owner, and entrepreneur, and hearing about his own "unbelieveable" experience living and working in Sweden and England made it really it home for me. He felt the same way as me, living and working overseas is just not like anything you can really explain, you just have to do it, have your own "unbelievable" experience. For all those recent college grad's out there you have the greatest opportunity, check out a site like Dave's Esl cafe (http://www.eslcafe.com/)or something. Career's don't have to start right out of college, what's the point of life if your not living it? Money will come. I said experience-shemerience but after my interview today I realize that I loved my Tokyo/ Japan experience and I wouldn't trade it, or blowing things up with a tank, hiking the mountains of Korea, sitting under the stars in Kuwait desert, seeing the sunrise from top of Fuji-san or any of the other experiences I've had for any job now. I like working hard, I enjoy solving problems, and for me, few things beat the feeling of exceeding goals and expectations. I'm going to continue doing all that and a job, hopefully a career, will come... It's just not going to stop me from continuing to live life.

Experience Shmerience: The wonderful virtues of experience

Well we've been back in the States for about a month now and I must say the economy really doesn't seem to be as bad as everyone makes it out to be. People are still shopping, eating out and enjoying life, yeah they may be a little more conservative but life seems to be going on. The job market on the other hand, really is as bad as advertised. Take, well, me for instance. I've never been out of work for more than a week since I was 16. I started work in operations for a local bank while I was in High School, then moved on to the military where I traveled to Kuwait and Korea. While in the service I fired more guns, tanks, and weapons than I can remember, drove tanks (primarily BFVs), trained other service men in both and had an abundance of once in a life time experiences. After I left the service I moved down to Austin and immediately moved into a job with HEB. I spend six and a half years working full time moving my way up through various management positions all the while attending the University of Texas full time. Managing a grocery store is demanding work to say the least, if you're good your constantly on the move and getting stuff done, not only did I work and go to school full time but I also took the obligitory tour of Europe, got married, and bought and remodeled a house. After graduating from college my wife and I decided to take teaching positions in Japan. Another experience of a life time. What do all these add up to? Well as of now an unemployed Tony... I'll keep you posted I guess.

America needs a few good Izakaya's

I was very enthusiastic that President Obama did mention creating jobs and reducing America's carbon emissions by improving public transportation. Though it is a daunting task, since American cities are so spread out, what we start now will be invaluable for the future of America.

On to a lighter idea to incorporate into American daily life, the Izakaya

In Japan its almost impossible to walk five minutes from any station without passing a few of these neighborhood bars. Izakaya's are similar to the trendy more expensive tapas bars now found in the U.S. Of course tapas bars are also great places to enjoy a light snack and have a few drinks in places like Spain. The American counter parts however have been a bit of a disappointment, often with over priced food and drinks that aren't all that good to begin with.
The signature that makes an Izakaya stand out is that the food really goes with the drink. In Japan the key drinks offered are sake, shochu (or the Korean style Soju), and beer. The typical food of an Izakaya is yakitori (grilled chicken skewers), kushiyaki (grilled chicken and vegetable skewers), edamame, small pizzas, and shashimi. There are also other things on the menu that might not catch on so well.
Izakayas are small with the owners usually working in the restaurant and they don't typically stay open too late, 11 or 12 seems to be the norm for the neighborhood bars. They're just a real good way to grab a light meal and wind down with a good drink in a relaxing atmosphere. For more info, check out this article from Metropolis magazine, Bar Time.

Improve the economy, help the environment, and trim the fat

Lost in all the talk of improving the environment and the economy in the U.S. is the idea of improving America's public transportation infrastructure. While I have heard that the new economic stimulus package will push for green energy technology, I haven't heard anything about encouraging and improving a very green mode of transportation. Investing in improved public transportation could have several benefits for the American economy, environment and for American people.

Developing railroads, mono-rails and subways would obviously create many jobs in major cities all over the U.S., just as the stimulus package plans on creating jobs in the construction field through improving current infrastructures and also improving and retrofitting buildings to be greener. While these are all beneficial for either providing Americans with jobs or encouraging a greener America, it relies on and promotes the use of automobile transportation, one of the leading problems when it comes to green house gas emissions. I'm confident that just as many jobs for the same or an even more diverse group of workers could be created by investing in improved public transportation. And what of those jobs after roads are improved? The workers move on looking for another area or company to fit in with and come back in another 5 to 10 years. As for public transportation, at least some workers remain employed for the long haul.

Public transportation is not perfect, there can be only so many stations and stops so there would have to be some walking involved. While this may be one of the reasons public transportation hasn't caught on it could conceivably help trim the waistbands of the average American. Looking at the 25 "fattest" cities and the 50 cities with highest rates of public transportation ridership you'll see only one city overlaps, Chicago (fantastic deepdish?). Whereas for healthy cities, several overlap with cities with high public transportation ridership rates, most notably Baltimore, America's healthiest city in 2008, as well as San Francisco, Seattle and Boston . Commuters would have to probably spend 5 to 10 min at most each way from home to the station and from the station to the office. We're talking only 20 to 40 mins of walking each day, sounds like something most Americans could benefit from.

My two final closing remarks. First, I know that developing an efficient public transportation system is more costly than improving a bunch of roads and bridges down highway#. However by stretching the cost using city, state and federal money (the government has been handing out so much of it) the cost could be reduced, and as toll highways pay themselves off in a number of years, so too could effective public transportation. Secondly, I am aware that our chosen mode of transportation doesn't effect our waist line as much as our everyday food and health choices, but have you ever seen a train, subway, or any other type of public transportation stop at a McDonald's drive thru?