Comments on: Tokyo, in 18 Pictures

By: Benjamin Ross

Benjamin Ross — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:16:10 +0000

@ Another Ben R. from KC who lived in China (now in Vietnam)

I must say, I have never been a fan of Burger King. I’ve always felt that while their burgers seem to be of relatively high quality (compared with other fast food joints), they just don’t taste so good. I’ve always been partial to Wendy’s, or even McDonald’s.

As for me, I am in Chicago now working as a Chinese healthcare interpreter. Any far off chance you will be in Kansas City for Thanksgiving? I will be there from 11/21 until 12/1.

By: Another Ben R. from KC who lived in China (now in Vietnam)

Another Ben R. from KC who lived in China (now in Vietnam) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 04:32:17 +0000

There is no Wendy’s in China now, but Burger King has opened
some restaurants there.

http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12488790

What are you up to in the US, Ben?

By: kayaitch

kayaitch — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:25:30 +0000

noticed in one of the train photos you’re on a women only carriage, hope you didn’t make the same mistake as me and get on it after office closing time, only after many stares did i realise!

By: Tina

Tina — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:34:07 +0000

I have a friend who works for Wendy’s HQ in Ohio, I will forward your blog to him. P.S. They were bought out by Arby’s

By: Benjamin Ross

Benjamin Ross — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:28:13 +0000

@ John & Dave

According to my friend who has lived in Tokyo throughout the majority of the Bush administration, Pachinko, while around for a long time, has seen a boom in recent years. Being as I have only spent around one week of my life in Japan, I unfortunately have to rely on second hand information for these kinds of things. I was not meaning to imply that Pachinko is new. Thanks for keeping tabs though, as I’m sure your collective knowledge of Japan exceeds my own by several degrees of magnitude.

@ Sarah

Nice to hear somebody got the Danny Tanner reference. As a child of the late 80’s and early 90’s, Mr. T (as Kimmy Gibler would say) was the archetypical anal parent that every kid loved to have drive them crazy. I can only imagine his response to a trip to the Middle Kingdom. Would airport security confiscate his dust buster before he arrived?

By: sarah

sarah — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:21:02 +0000

Hahaha, how many of your readers do you think got the Danny Tanner reference?

After being in Beijing for three weeks now and comparing it to my trip to Japan six years ago, I am amazed at how completely opposite these two countries are. Oh how I miss cleanliness!

By: Dave!

Dave! — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:14:51 +0000

The street festival is a pretty common occurrence, it seems. I saw several when I was in Japan (in both Tokyo and Kyoto). I think it’s a Shinto thing, they take the local shrine on a tour of the neighborhood, essentially. Wish I knew more…

And John’s right, Pachinko has been around for a *long* time…

By: John

John — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:50:15 +0000

I had to smile when I read that “the big gambling rage in Tokyo these days is Pachinko.”

(“The big gambling rage in Tokyo these days” has been Pachinko for a long, long time.)

By: David

David — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:55:22 +0000

Forget Wendy’s – I want Freshness Burger to come to China!

I was happy to see that Freshness Burger has recently opened in Hong Kong and hope its part of their march into China. Beats the bland pap that is available in China today and they certainly create a less sterile an environment than the other major Japanes player Mos Burger.

By: shoe

shoe — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:19:54 +0000

still,i dont see much excitement in the pics.I’d definately enjoy my town better without the red circle stuck on the streets.