How to Get the Vote, Japanese style

It is election time again. That means that political candidates all around the country are campaigning from vans with loud speakers blaring:

My name is SuzukiThank you for voting for meMy name is SuzukiThank you for voting for meMy name is SuzukiThank you for voting for me

This usually starts from 8am with a lunch break between 12-1pm and then until 6pm.  I guess they are trying to get their names in the heads of voters so when it comes to polling day, people see their names on the voting card and tick the box.  Repetition to gain our attention, repetition to RE-gain our attention, repetition to gain our trust and then repetition to get us to take action. One marketer suggests though that too much repetition can have the effect of “causing people to exit quicker than a skunk from a movie theater!’

We promise to never advertise in this way and or shedule a bike trip during elections.  By the way, I am wearing ear muffs.

Permission to Build Trails

We went down to the local Furano Government Office yesterday to see whether we could get permission to build trails in a certain area.  The land manager in the office was very helpful, but the area that we had in mind is owned by many private parties, so gaining permission might be difficult.

I asked about another area which would be ideal.  It seems like the area is owned by the government, so it just might be possible. I thought that it was national park, but turns out it isn’t.  Keep you posted on the next meeting.

GPS Trials

We were trialing a GPS for our self guided tours today. The Garmin Geko 201 seemed to be quite adequate and was quite obvious when we had make a wrong turn as the arrow invariably pointed back at our chest, and not on the road. This will be great for customers as they will be able to concentrate more on the road and views rather than the cue cards!

Bike Tricks, Old and New

Stunts performed on bicycles over 100 years ago, filmed by the great inventor Thomas Edison.  Contrasted with tricks recently performed on pisto bikes in Tokyo.

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Photo of the Day from the ‘Playground of the Gods’

Sunflowers are in season presently .  Sunflowers have the ability to follow the direction of the sun in the sky as it tracks from east to west, heliotropism being the technical term.  At sunrise when the sun comes up the flower faces are facing east and slowly follow the sun around to the west in the late afternoon, and during the night the faces rotate back to the east again.

Cafe along the Way

A local pension owner in Furano who I know fairly well has volunteered some of the land he owns for a mountain bike sing-track.  We rode out there the other day and found that he was running a cafe with views of the Tokachidake area of Daisetsuzan National Park.  Better yet, it is very close to our ‘Playground of the Gods’ route.  Really nice cakes, coffee and pasta that you can enjoy indoors or out.

Obon Period

Obon is one of the most important holiday periods for Japanese people.  It is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the deceased spirits of one’s ancestors and when their spirits  are thought to return.  Many people go to their ancestral family place during this period and visit and clean the graves of their ancestors, often leaving gifts on the headstones such as food, sake and even cigarettes.

In some parts people hang lanterns on their houses to guide the spirits back and at the end, floating lanterns are then put in rivers to guide the spirits back to their own world.

Fixing Squeaky Brakes #2

The blog that we did for squeaky brakes was so popular, we have decided to do a follow-up.  Park Tool has a great website for bicycle maintenance, including brake maintenance;

http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=21

Japanese Table Etiquette, noodles

It is common place in Japan to slurp when eating noodles. Rather than being impolite, making a slurping noise while eating is considered a compliment.  Some Japanese believe that noodles are best eaten when they are hot and covered with broth and slurping is a way of cooling them down.

In this segment from the movie ‘Tanpopo’ a teacher of western etiquette tries in vain to teach a class of young Japanese ladies the proper way of eating spaghetti.

Trail Advocacy on Furano Ski Resort

The fastest cable-car in Japan

Matsuzawa san giving the lowdown

keen

Where’s the downhill?

Views and checking the next line

MTB trail advocacy is gaining momentum in Furano.  The resort has given the go ahead for bikes to be allowed on the cable-car and to use the resort for downhill.  We spent 2 days trialing the area first with club members on the first day and then bike shop owners from Sapporo and Asahikawa.

It was a really successful 2 days and the shop owners are planning to bring groups to ride the resort once or twice a season.  We are hoping that this will lead to the possibility of trails for bikes in the near future.