Alice Gordenker - The Japan Times

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Alice Gordenker

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Alice Gordenker

Alice Gordenker writes the "So, What the Heck is That?" column, providing in-depth, carefully researched explanations of the things foreigners find so puzzling about Japan. Her work has been modified as a textbook for Japanese university students called "Surprising Japan" (Shohakusha, 2012).

For Alice Gordenker's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

Japan Times

Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT

Sep 16, 2010

Japan Times

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Jul 15, 2010

Japan Times

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Jun 17, 2010

Japan Times

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May 20, 2010

A traditional Christian pattern?

Japan Times

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Apr 15, 2010

Japan Times

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Mar 18, 2010

Dump-truck identification numbers

Japan Times

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Feb 18, 2010

Logo for recyclables

Japan Times

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Jan 21, 2010

Landlocked 'lighthouse'

Japan Times

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Dec 17, 2009

Japan Times

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Nov 19, 2009

Keikaisen (guard ships)

Japan Times

Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT

Oct 15, 2009

Underground rice paddies in Otemachi

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. In fact, he insisted a paddy was planted deep underground wherever it was we were drinking that night. Otemachi, I think. Can you check out what the heck he was talking about? I've got ¥5,000 riding on this.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Oct 3, 2009

The first Western diplomat in Japan

Pop quiz: The first Western diplomat to set foot in Japan came from what country? Portugal? Holland? England? Actually, the correct answer is Mexico.

Japan Times

Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT

Sep 17, 2009

Statue outside Shinjuku Sumitomo Building

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 been able to tell me what the heck a prominent saint has to do with the Sumitomo Company! Can you please find out? (As an aside, the statue next to that one seems to be of a very destitute person! She has nothing at all to put on!)

Japan Times

Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT

Jul 16, 2009

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 and want to know anything at all you can tell me. But there's one thing that bothers me: Aren't walls like that built for defense? If so, why the heck didn't they make it smoother and steeper? With all those spaces between the rocks it would be a cinch to climb.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Art

Jul 3, 2009

A freedom that fostered richness

Two exhibitions now showing at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography offer a fascinating contrast in photojournalism.

Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT

Jun 18, 2009

Dear Alice, Based on my forays into Japanese restaurants in North America, I was under the impression that Japanese cuisine didn't feature any spicy flavorsat all. Then, on my first trip to Japan, I wandered into a restaurant that specializes in soba noodles. When my order came, the waitress drew my attention to a little wooden tube on the table and indicated I should sprinkle the spice inside onto my noodles. I was surprised how piquant it was! I now know it's called shichimi — "seven flavors" — so I assume it has seven ingredients. But what the heck are they?

Japan Times

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May 21, 2009

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 a sudden everyone got very excited. Not knowing Japanese, I had no idea what they were talking so animatedly about, but one lady directed my attention to a group of pinkish white flowers high up in a fir tree. I think she was trying to tell me the name of the flower, which sounded something like "sankukuran." Everyone was taking pictures. Not knowing what else to do, I took one too. Leon de O., Tokyo

Japan Times

Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT

Apr 16, 2009

'No-wash rice' (musenmai)

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 a stickler about washing the rice thoroughly before cooking, but when I went to visit the other day she didn't rinse it even once. She says she uses "no-wash rice" now. What the heck is that? And while you're at it, can you explain why it was ever necessary to wash Japanese rice in the first place?

Japan Times

CULTURE / Art

Apr 3, 2009

The discovery in a German archive of documents and photographs related to the Prussian mission to Japan in 1860-61 has shed new light on the early history of photography in Japan. In particular, newly uncovered letters and records help explain the mystery of why so few images from the well-equipped mission survived and provide new facts on some of the earliest photographers in Japan.

Japan Times

Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT

Mar 19, 2009

Feral parakeets

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. My wife says I'm out of my mind because Tokyo is way too cold for tropical birds. Can you please find out what the heck those birds are — and who the heck is right?

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