Reference | SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT Mar 18, 2010

Dump-truck identification numbers

by Alice Gordenker

Dear Alice, It has been my great pleasure, these past few months, to watch from my window the total destruction of a large building. The work started with three hydraulic excavators that carefully crushed their way down from the roof. Now I’m watching a ...

Reference | SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT Feb 18, 2010

Logo for recyclables

by Alice Gordenker

Dear Alice, What the heck is that symbol I see on plastic packages in Japan? I assume, from the arrows in a circulating pattern, that it means the package is recyclable. But I’m not sure because I can’t read the Japanese inside the arrows. ...

Reference | SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT Jan 21, 2010

Landlocked 'lighthouse'

by Alice Gordenker

Dear Alice, I’m very curious about a building I passed the other day on my way to Shinagawa Station. It’s an old Western-style building, probably from before the war, and it has a tall, way-out-of-proportion tower on top. To be honest, it looks like ...

Reference | SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT Dec 17, 2009

Scary crow

by Alice Gordenker

Dear Alice, I live in rural Kyoto and am puzzled by what seems to be the local version of the scarecrow. They take plastic crows and hang them, usually upside down, on a string off a pole. I can’t figure out what the heck ...

Reference | SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT Nov 19, 2009

Keikaisen (guard ships)

by Alice Gordenker

Dear Alice,When I’m in Tokyo on business, I like to take my morning run along the rivers and canals in the eastern part of the city. On several occasions now I’ve noticed smallish boats parked smack dab in the middle of a river, where ...

Reference | SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT Oct 15, 2009

Underground rice paddies in Otemachi

by Alice Gordenker

Dear Alice,Please settle a bet. I met this guy in a bar who swore up and down that there are secret subterranean rice paddies all over Tokyo, part of a hush-hush government program to feed the national body in the event of nuclear war. ...

Reference | SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT Sep 17, 2009

Statue outside Shinjuku Sumitomo Building

by Alice Gordenker

Dear Alice,On the premises of the Shinjuku Sumitomo Building in Tokyo there is a statue of St. Francis of Assisi. It’s quite big — larger than lifesize. I’ve known about it for years, since the building was first constructed, but no one has ever ...

Reference | SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT Jul 16, 2009

Ishigaki

by Alice Gordenker

Dear Alice, Is it weird to love a wall? I recently visited the Imperial Palace in Tokyo and was totally blown away by a high rock embankment on the far side of the moat. That rugged face! Those elegant lines! I am completely enchanted ...

Reference | SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT May 21, 2009

Wild orchids

by Alice Gordenker

Dear Alice, Can you please find out what the heck I saw on Mount Takao on the outskirts of Tokyo? Last spring, about this time of year, I was on a trail with a lot of other hikers lugging cameras and tripods. All of ...

Reference | SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT Apr 16, 2009

'No-wash rice' (musenmai)

by Alice Gordenker

Dear Alice,I recently returned to Japan after 12 years back in my home country. I knew a lot of things would be different after such a long time away, but I never expected the rice to have changed! My former home-stay mom was always ...

Reference | SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT Mar 19, 2009

Feral parakeets

by Alice Gordenker

Dear Alice, Please settle an argument. I play tennis on the public courts in Arisugawa Park in central Tokyo. On several occasions I have seen bright-green noisy birds flying free around the tall outdoor lights there. I’m convinced these gregarious dandies are wild parrots. ...