The view from our office and thoughts on bubbles

As seen in the picture above, this is the view from our offices in the Marunouchi district of Tokyo. As I look out, I thought about the current economic mess that resulted from, among other things, the bursting of the real estate bubble in the U.S. My mind turned immediately to the strip of land before me, the Imperial Palace grounds. During Japan's heyday, some valued the 2.1 square miles of Imperial Palace land MORE than the entire real estate available in the state of California.

When put in its proper perspective, as seen in the red-circled land below, it is ridiculous that a strip of land so small could equal the value of land in a state that has the 7th largest economy in the world. But that's what people were saying. This underscores how easily asset bubbles can quickly get out of hand when investors form irrationally lofty expectations and greed clouds the better judgment of otherwise smart people. It makes me think that it might take some time for the global economy to be able to unwind and regroup from the mess that we're currently in.



Now that we're hitting winter time, the air is a lot more crisp and clear, which allows us to have these splendid views from our 33rd floor reception area. The jewel of our view, however, is Mt. Fuji, which can be seen off in the distance only on clear days, and usually then only in the morning.

Utah vs. BYU 2008

The annual football game between the University of Utah and Brigham Young University (BYU), dubbed the "holy war" took place this weekend with my Utes doubling up on BYU 48-24. This is an extremely intense rivalry as both institutions have deep roots in the LDS church, and each fan base has a mutual dislike for the other. Ironically, these same fans have much more in common, demographically, with each other than their differences. Maybe that's why it is so heated.

The rivalry in Japan is a slightly different experience. Being 16 hours ahead of Utah time, we had to enjoy this game during the daytime of the following day...or Sunday, right during church with loyal fans of each team in attendance. What was clear was the sudden emergence of iPhones and Blackberrys that were fixated on ESPN.com to get updates on the game, while still being able to listen to the talks and lessons being given.

I think the fact that I married a beautiful BYU coed is evidence of my ability to transcend the pettiness of the rivalry. Nevertheless, I still bleed red and therefore choose to post this great Ute-centric highlight video of the game for those that didn't get to see the game. Go Utes.

Ella the lip smacker

Ella is starting to exert more control over the movements of her face and mouth. She's starting to mimic a few of the facial expressions that we make. For example, she's discovered she likes the kissing sound we make when we smooch on her. She has learned to smack her lips, kind of, and does it over and over and over. Click on the picture to see a short video. You'll also see how close she is to crawling. She's about to get those legs underneath her, but hasn't quite put it all together.

She's also learned how to shake her head from side to side as if to say "no, no, no." We haven't been able to capture that, however.

Our not-so-new, new car

Shelley and I have been going back and forth for months about whether or not we were going to buy a car here in Japan. Mass transit here is probably the most convenient of any city in the world, but there is only so much mass transit you can stand with two kids in a giant stroller. So, a few months back we began looking in earnest for a car - and only recently did we find the car for us.

It's a 2000 Honda Stream - basically a slightly larger version of a Honda Civic. It can seat up to 7...not sure we'll need that many seats regularly, but the flexibility of having the third row is nice. It's big enough for a family but small enough to navigate the tiny streets of our neighborhood. And believe me, that's important as many of our friends and neighbors have had recent run ins with polls and other objects.

And while I'm at it...who says there hasn't been anything positive that's come from the subprime crisis? The previous owner was a former risk manager for Lehman Brothers moving to Singapore for a new job. Lehman goes under, he gets a new job, we get his car...we're all winners in this situation.

Buying a car here is a fresh reminder that Japan loves bureaucracy, red tape and onerous jumping-through-hoops. For example, before you register your new vehicle you have to submit proof to the local police that you actually have a parking spot. Evidently, police do random checks of parking lots to make sure cars have the appropriate parking stickers. And as always, lots of forms. We've hired a guy to do all of that stuff for us.

I decided that I was probably most protected in this transaction by giving him cash upon receipt of the car. I was pleasantly surprised, and yet strangely worried, to see that Citibank Japan ATMs will give you that much money in one shot.

Anyway, so we have a new car. Relatively low mileage, though I guess in Japan that would be Kilometerage wouldn't it? I guess the only thing that's left is to guess the over/under on when we'll get in our first accident and what the nickname of the car should be. Any ideas?

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

So, it's the middle of November and around Tokyo we're starting to see a lot of Christmas decorations. At least in the United States Thanksgiving is a significant enough holiday that people have to focus on it before they can start to digest Christmas. But not in Japan. As soon as Halloween was over the retail shops went into full Christmas mode. Christmas trees, lights, decorations...the works. And there's the unique Japanese spin to it all...I mean what do Godzilla and Christmas trees have in common? If you know, enlighten me.

It's a little disconcerting to see that a country whose population is 99% Buddhist/Shinto has been so taken in by the consumer aspects of the holiday and not the true meaning behind why Christians celebrate Christmas. Truly, this is a holiday that has been hijacked by retail marketers. The story goes that Kentucky Fried Chicken, back when they were new to the country, spent a load of money promoting fried chicken as THE Christmas meal. According to NPR this is one of its biggest money making months of the year. Et tu, Colonel?

So in that vein I'd like to say that the Cannons have joined the masses in starting to celebrate Christmas. Though we would like to retain our rights to make this a more meaningful holiday season. At Anthon's urging, we put the Christmas tree went up on Sunday. Since Halloween Anthon has been talking about it nonstop. Anthon has spent a lot of time staring at the tree and playing with his favorite ornaments that are at his eye level - a squishy santa and a tin nutcrakcer. He even discourages turning on other lights in the room so as to not take away from the tree's sparkly lights. Shelley and I can tell that this is going to be a very fun Christmas season with our extremely excited boy.

Sleeping on Trains

Allow me to paint with broad cultural strokes - the Japanese, especially those in Tokyo, are world class sleepers. This isn't to say they get a lot of sleep, quite the contrary. I believe many in Tokyo suffer from a chronic lack of sleep. But when opportunities for sleep arise, the speed at which people fall asleep is impressive. It's as if there is a latent genetic narcolepsy that takes hold across society at the opportune times. There is no better example of this than on Tokyo's trains. Long work hours and insufferable commute times make trains a fertile ground for sleeping.

You may be thinking that I should leave these people alone. But sleeping on trains is not a victimless crime, mind you. Many sleepers are looking for places to rest their weary heads, and that usually means encroaching upon the space of the person sitting next to them. It's at those times when you have to develop a quick response elbow to keep people from resting their head on your shoulders - something that's happened many a time. A quick jab to the ribs, however, is only a temporary solution as most train sleepers will fall right back to their sleepy ways within moments.



As you can see from the guy above, others sleep on trains because they introduce immense levels of alcohol into their system and it causes them to lose their sense of Japaneseness. This guy uses his man purse as a pillow. He stretches out across four seats and even keeps his shoes on! I've never seen such a brazen display. I have seen, and come to expect, this from mass transit in the U.S. **cough** LA's Metro Gold Line **cough**, not Japan.

Other train sleepers are more advanced - they have mastered the art of sleeping while standing. They jam themselves into a corner of the train and sleep, or they use handlebars as make shift pillows. Some brave souls just stand like cows and let the crowded trains be their protection against the buffeting from the train. Still

The worst of all train sleepers are the fake train sleepers. These are people who fake being asleep so they don't have to give up their seat to the elderly, pregnant or disabled - usually in areas of the train designated for such people. You see them everyone once in a while peeking out to see if the coast is clear.

There a whole host of varieties of sleepers, including the massive snorers. For a non train sleeper like me, this brings nonstop amusement.

Harajuku Halloween, 2008

I can't think of two things that go better together than Harajuku and Halloween. They're the perfect complement to one another, soul mates, peanut butter and jelly if you will...extremely goth peanut butter and lolita jelly...if you can imagine such a thing. And we weren't disappointed as many were out in force late showing off their costumes. While most wore the usual shocking garb, I thought it was a nice touch to gore it up a bit with more blood, scars and open wounds.

Anthon clearly is getting used to this place. As we walked out of the elevator onto the bridge where the Harajuku Girls congregate, Anthon says, "Oh, here are the weird girls!" Clearly blinded by the fact that these girls are wearing scary makeup and odd outfits, Anthon cheerily accepted their candy and stood by a group of them for pictures. I think Anthon charmed them.

As usual I spent time shooting as many of the girls as I could. Click on any of the pictures to see the gallery.

Our sad little dinosaur

Here is Anthon in this year's halloween costume: a dinosaur. This costume was given to him by Shelley's Mom over the summer. Anthon practiced his part by going around and roaring like a dinosaur to random people he met on the street.

Unfortunately, this is the happiest picture of Anthon I took this Halloween. You can see the red eyes, cheeks moistened (I hate that word, moist) with fresh tears, and the overly manufactured fake smile. We're not quite sure what set this in motion, but he was sad for the better part of the day despite the fact that he could snatch and grab a lot of free candy.

Halloween in our area is a big deal. Hundreds (thousands?) of kids descend upon our neighborhood and jam the streets looking to score a lot of candy. It is not uncommon for folks to buy up to 1,000 pieces of candy to hand out...and usually that isn't enough. Our particular street is COMPLETELY empty, however. So I have a large stash of candy at my office that I'm hitting every afternoon when I get tired and need a sugar pick-me-up!

Evidently dressing up and being social was a bit more than our sad little dinosaur could handle. Unfortunately, he ended up looking a bit more like the photo below.

Dad's Visit to Tokyo

We've truly been blessed to have so many visitors to see us in Tokyo these first 10 months. Last month my father came to visit for 10 days, something we've been looking forward to for a long time.

Anthon and my Dad have a special relationship. And right now that relationship is based on watching Snow White together which started over the summer when my Dad began showing movies outside. Anthon is obsessed with Snow White, now, especially the character of the "old heg"...not hag, he pronounces it "heg". Don't ask us where he got it. We don't know. In the hours and minutes leading up to my Dad's arrival from the airport, Anthon was literally bouncing off of the walls. He couldn't contain his excitement. (As a side note, I think any comprehensive energy policy by our future governments should include research into the inner motors of young children. If there is a way to tap into that seemingly unending source of energy we would all be better off!)

But I digress. The reason for my Dad's trip was to watch the LA Philharmonic play at Suntory Hall. Some of your may not know this, but the acoustics at Suntory Hall were done by the same guy who did the acoustics at LA's Disney Hall where the LA Phil plays now. Consequently, Suntory Hall, while bigger than Disney Hall, has an eerily similar look to it.

But I digress yet again. We saw the Phil play both nights, and they brought the house down. I've never seen such adulation thrown at an orchestra and its conductor. Each night, we're talking 2-3 encores and 8 curtain calls before Esa-Pekka Salonen, the soon to retire conductor, led the concertmaster off stage, both nights, signalling the end. Even as the Phil disassembled, the crowd cheered and Esa-Pekka came out once more for a final curtain call. Crowds of people gathered up front to snap one last shot with their cell phones - girls calling him "so cool!" as they ran off. We met the maestro back stage and upon leaving saw a line of 100+ people waiting to meet Esa-Pekka and get his autograph. Truly an awesome experience.

We spent one day in Hakone - visiting the Open Air Museum. This is a contemporary art museum with lawns filled with sculptures for the adults and some interactive art/play-structures for the kids. You certainly can't miss the Chia Head that's one of the first things you see. Interestingly enough, there's also a permanent exhibit of Picasso's pottery - something he took up late in life. There's also a hot spring foot bath, and a lot more.

And of course, it wouldn't truly be time spent in Japan without spending time eating at good restaurants. We focused our time on local eateries that we hadn't tried before and came away finding new favorites. All in all, it was a wonderful time to have my Dad around. But good things come to an end and literally Anthon was in a funk for about a week after his Papa left. MAJOR FUNK.

As with everything in the Cannon family, there is some video documentation. Click on the picture below for the brief video:

Good Day

Last Saturday was one of those days where you just are grateful to be alive - and for no other reason than you spent fun time with family doing really nothing at all. Fall is here and the leaves are starting to change colors. The air is crisp. There was a slight breeze which caused the fountains to spray us - leaving a beautiful rainbow...as you can see from the picture below. Anthon and I ran around playing hide and seek, hitting plastic golf balls and throwing rocks into the pond.



We met up with Shelley and Ella at our favorite burger joint, Arms. It's here that we realized that Ella loves strawberry milk shakes. Click on the video below for a quick video.



For those of you in the Tokyo area that know, and love, Arms...we hear they're opening a new takeout and delivery only restaurant near Yoyogi Hachiman - good news indeed.

And it wouldn't be fall without gathering up leaves and throwing them at each other. If you click on the picture below, you'll see a short video of Anthon trying to throw leaves on everyone.



It's easy to appreciate these great days...especially now that I'm typing this in bed, sick.

Ella Says Dada...I Think

Our cute Ella is 6 months old and continues to be a sweetheart. She's eating rice cereal, apples and pears. She's getting close to scooting around which should add another dimension to her life.

The other day I caught Ella on video talking in her soft voice - saying the beautiful word that is "dada." I'm try hard to convince myself that 1)she actually said it; and 2)she has associated that first formation of words to me. Click on the picture below to see the video and decide for yourself.