Raw meat sushi bar in Tokyo attracting female meat-lovers
TOKYO —
A new kind of sushi bar in Tokyo has been proving popular with customers, especially younger women who have a liking for raw meat.
Instead of raw fish, slices and cuts of uncooked beef, chicken, pork, deer and horse meat are used as toppings on hand-pressed rice at ‘‘Nikuzushi’’ (meat sushi), which opened last May in the trendy Ebisu district in Shibuya Ward.
At least 60% of the customers are women, many of them around 30 years old, according to the restaurant’s operator Spice Works.
‘‘Customers can try various types and cuts of meat, and I think this stimulates the appetites of carnivorous women,’’ Akira Ito, an employee at the company, said in reference to a recent buzzword which suggests women are more aggressive in pursuing romance and sex than ‘‘herbivorous men’’ who are largely inactive.
After seeing monthly sales at the Ebisu restaurant chalk up an impressive 5 million yen, the company opened four more Nikuzushi outlets in Tokyo in the six months following the opening of the first restaurant, and is now looking to open franchise stores outside the capital.
When the restaurant opened one recent evening, its 15 or so seats were quickly filled by office workers and couples.
‘‘It’s a luxury to be able to enjoy meat and sushi at the same time,’’ a female customer who ordered ox tongue sushi and beer with her two female friends said.
‘‘I love raw meat, so when I saw this place on television I just had to come,’’ one of her friends said.
Sushi covered by a huge sheet of raw beef loin, about 10 by 20 centimeters in size, called ‘‘sashitoro,’’ is a hot seller on the restaurant’s menu, which has more than 15 items. Horse meat sushi with spicy miso is also popular.
To have the rice better compliment the meat, the restaurant dresses the rice with balsamic vinegar, rather than regular vinegar for ordinary sushi.
Dining at the restaurant costs on average around 3,000 yen.
For more information, visit http://r.gnavi.co.jp/a687110/.
2011 Kyodo News
www.japantoday.com
Pet insurance gaining popularity amid rising medical costs, longevity
Friday 21st January, 06:35 AM JST
TOKYO — Like humans, pets are living longer these days thanks to advancement in medical technology. At the same time, their medical bills are also on the rise, prompting more pet owners in Japan to take out ‘‘pet insurance’’ to mitigate the expenses.
Miho Hoshina, a 39-year-old company employee residing in Tokyo, is among those considering doing so, after she paid a hefty 67,000 yen of pet medical fees in October when her family dog, Maruko, accidentally swallowed a piece of plastic and had to undergo an endoscopic procedure.
‘‘The two medium-sized underbred dogs we used to have were strong and rarely had to visit the vets, but Maruko is a small indoor dog and quite naughty so I am a bit worried,’’ Hoshina said.
Under antitrust laws, veterinarians are given a free hand in determining medical fees and owners bear the full cost for their pets’ treatment. Many owners nowadays treat their pets as members of the family and have become more concerned about their well-being, often seeking advanced medical treatment that could be very costly.
Pet insurance policies are undertaken by about 10 nonlife insurance companies and small insurance businesses. Policies cover from about half to as high as 90 percent of the medical expenses, such as surgery, if the contract began by a certain age of the pet.
At Anicom Insurance Inc, a Tokyo-based company with the largest share in the pet insurance market, some 90% of its contracts are taken out on dogs, although it also offers a variety of policies including for such pets as birds and rabbits.
Premiums are fixed according to the pets’ breed and ages. For example, an insurance premium for a 1-year-old toy poodle is 2,370 yen a month which covers half of the medical expenses up to a certain limit, the insurer said.
Some other companies also provide a wide range of other plans with different compensation rates and other benefits, as well as policies with fixed premiums regardless of the pet’s age.
Fuji Keizai Co., a private market research company in Tokyo, estimates that enrollment in pet insurance remains at only a few percent of pet-owning households in Japan, but is expected to grow.
‘‘It used to be just a mutual aid system that was not under any regulatory authority. Now that it has been signed into law, requiring product evaluation and disclosures under the supervision of the Financial Services Agency, the system has become more well-known and more credible,’’ said Shimpei Iwama, who analyzes pet-related industries at Fuji Keizai.
Meanwhile, the National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan advises pet owners to ensure they have thorough understanding of the insurance policies, such as the extent of coverage, before concluding any contracts.
‘‘While owners are likely to go for the insurance plan as they purchase the animal at the pet shop, it is better to make sure you get a clear and thorough explanation of the terms and conditions before signing into any contract, just like when choosing any other kind of insurance,’’ an official at the state-backed center said.
Pet insurance used to be an unauthorized product. Under the Insurance Law revised in 2006, enterprises are required to obtain a license as insurance companies or register as a small-sum, short-term insurance business to be able to get new contracts.
2011 Kyodo News
Source: www.japantoday.com
'Shitamachi' communities need to catch up with fast-rising Sky Tree
TOKYO —
For Henry Killackey, a well-traveled tourist from Los Angeles, Tokyo Sky Tree was the first place he wanted to visit upon arriving in Tokyo for the New Year’s holidays.
Once at the foot of the modern architectural feat, which is on track to reach 634 meters in March to be the world’s tallest stand-alone communications tower, Killackey and his wife Liz found little to do but take pictures of the gigantic steel structure in the cold wind.
‘‘We couldn’t even find souvenirs,’’ the 50-year-old said on his way back to the hotel.
While several stores sell souvenirs in the area, the dearth of establishments catering to the growing number of tourists from across the country and even from overseas, is a common complaint heard in the area.
The shitamachi district, where small merchants, craftsmen and artisans have thrived for decades by plying their trade, is facing the need to adapt to the new environment, and do so quickly.
Built at a cost of about 65 billion yen, the new tower is slated to open commercially in the spring of 2012, with a cone-shaped observatory providing sky-high revelers with a 360-degree view of the landscape below, and the requisite dining experiences.
An adjacent commercial complex, which is to open at the foot of the tower, is expected to have about 300 shops and restaurants, plus an aquarium and a planetarium. It will also boast direct access to local trains connecting to Haneda and Narita airports, the nation’s two main gateways for air travelers.
The stakes are high for local communities.
Tobu Tower Skytree Co, the tower operator, predicts that 5.4 million people will visit the tower in the first year of its opening, and a total of 25 million people visit the complex every year.
Tourism and other activities associated with the project would generate economic benefits worth 47.3 billion yen annually for areas such as Sumida and Taito wards, according to research published in 2006.
But the money is likely to be generated after the tower opens commercially, said Toshihiro Nagahama, chief economist at the Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute, who wrote the research paper.
‘‘What I had not anticipated when I did the projections,’’ he said, ‘‘is that people would flock to the tower well before it is completed.’‘
The growing presence of visitors eager to see the tower has led some local merchants to put souvenirs in their storefront and others to open restaurants and cafes in the area to cash in on the new business opportunities.
Check In, a restaurant bar that opened in July, is one of them. It offers an original brandy-based cocktail called The Sky Tree and 634-millimeter-long fried cakes, the latter priced at 634 yen each.
‘‘The sweets have been selling well,’’ said Kota Kuramochi, the 26-year-old bar manager.
Other local establishments have also come up with foods that conjure up images of the tower, such as 634-mm parfaits and tempura rice bowls with stacked-up shrimp fries.
Some locals are worried, however, that their communities are changing too slowly to attract future visitors from the tower complex and to spend time in their neighborhoods.
They are particularly concerned about one scenario: While many tourists flock to the tower, they just come and go on tour buses, satisfying all their sight-seeing needs at the complex.
‘‘We only have one more year to go. We must open up to attract tourists, both international and Japanese,’’ said Koji Imagawa, who sells souvenirs at his apparel company minutes from the tower. ‘‘If we miss this opportunity, we will all be shuttered once and for all.’‘
This is a point well taken by the tower operator’s side.
Killackey, the American tourist, says the tower has big potential because it is being built within a walking distance from Asakusa—a well-known tourist spot about 1.5 kilometers west.
‘‘This place would be the No. 1 tourist place in five years,’’ he said, ‘‘depending on how they do it.’’
2011 Kyodo News
Source: www.japantoday.com
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