Movie theatres in Japan

In keeping with my second year resolution to share everything that to me is new, exciting, different, and/or strange, we went to our first Japanese movie theatre yesterday (well, actually that was a couple weeks ago now, as I waited to post this) to watch the premiere of Star Trek: Into Darkness.  (Which, while googling pictures to put here, I noticed was voted the worse movie of all time by Trekkies.  Interesting, as I didn't particularly like it myself, but it had some moments.  I think Star Trek 5 was much worse. Also, J.J. Abrams is not a Star Trek fan.  Sacrilege.:)

In Japan, you have assigned seats, and can choose them when you buy your tickets.  I think this is brilliant, and alleviates having to stand in line for a good seat for forever.  Everyone gets let into the theatre when the attendant announces your movie, so you can come early to claim your seat, then relax in the lobby eating snacks, drinks, what have you.  So typical Japan--organized and orderly.

A was sad because he couldn't figure out how to get a refill on his soda.  But really, if you order a large soda (which is at least 2/3 of a 2 L bottle), do you really need a refill?  Snacks are comparable to American prices, but tickets are a whopping $18 a piece--which is why we haven't been to a movie before now. 

Ouch.

We chose the Japanese subtitled 2D version, as we would have been out of luck with the Japanese dubbed version, which was also in 3D--leading me to believe the dubbed movies are more popular.  I am curious to hear the voices they chose, and I plan to google the Japanese trailer and see if it has the dubbed voices.  Just like America, they have cheesy advertisements and warnings, but unlike America, the volume is deafening.  I literally had to cover my ears multiple times during the movie because it hurt my head.  It may just have been this particular movie.  We will go again when the new Hunger Games is released after Christmas (Japan has the very last release date, just like with Star Trek) and I can compare the two.

Perhaps the strangest thing about our first movie in Japan was that *everyone* stayed until the end---through every last credit and company picture.  Maybe 6 people left before the credits finished rolling.  We had people on both sides of our row, so we had to stay as well.  At first, we thought maybe they knew something we didn't--there was secret extra footage or more previews at the end or something.  Nope.  Just an endless parade of credits and company logos, and thank goodness they didn't do the whole thing in Japanese as well. 

In other firsts, we had our first American style pizza from Pizza Hut in over a year.  In America, I can't remember the last time I actually ate Pizza Hut pizza... but compared to the crap pizza they have on hand here, it was one of the most glorious things I've eaten to date in Japan.

Hawaiian for Alan only, Cheese for both of us.  Yumilicious.

Japanese seem to have a fascination with mayonnaise, not the least of which is demonstrated through the many kinds of pizza on the menu containing mayonnaise.  They even have a mayonnaise special (I'm really not kidding). One of my students recently wrote in his homework about how he hates natto, claiming it is "not a food".  I make the same claim about mayonnaise.

The Hellman's website lists the following ingredients in its original mayonnaise: SOYBEAN OIL, WATER, WHOLE EGGS AND EGG YOLKS, VINEGAR, SALT, SUGAR, LEMON JUICE, CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA (USED TO PROTECT QUALITY), NATURAL FLAVORS. So, based on this analysis, mayonnaise is basically soybean oil and water.  This is a beverage, not a food.  Case closed.:)

Truly though, the main thing I miss about America is the wide variety of food.  I miss eating Ethiopian food one night, Mexican the next, and topping it all off with a Mediterranean feast.  And it's so *easy* to make healthy, multi-cultural food at home in America, as opposed to here, which requires advance ordering of rare ingredients on the internet and hours slaving over making things from scratch.  I took the convenience of American healthy eating for granted.  In Japan, if you are craving any of the *unhealthy* tastes like cardboard fast food you should never eat--it's all yours.  Good luck finding spinach. 

My new all time favorite quote is from 30 Rock, the first episode of Season 4.  Jack takes the actors and Liz out to a hot new Asian restaurant, and Jenna and Tracey are shocked by what they are served. This is so true, I rolled out of my chair laughing... you can find cheesy blaster type things in any grocery or conbini.  Ew.  Check out the clip here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1W8R5TSNNk

At any rate, I love Japan, but I just can't get on board with the food. Sorry guys.  But for now, I think the awesome mountains, crystal clear rivers and peace and quiet make up for it.:)