HOW TO: Create an online account with Yamato (Kuroneko)

Update (April 24, 2012): You can now request a redelivery in English online or via phone without an account on the English version of the site.

In order to arrange a redelivery online with Yamato, as I’ve written how to do over here, you’ll need an account. And so, instead of writing a nice introduction that makes you laugh until your side hurts (as much as I’d like to), I’ll just jump right in:

How to create an online account with Yamato

Step 1
Go to Yamato’s website. On the right hand side, click on create a new account (the green box where the red arrow is pointing).

Step 3
Enter your e-mail address (either cell phone e-mail or regular e-mail). Choose your desired password. Then click the large green button on the bottom right.

Step 4
The next page will say to check your e-mail (and list the e-mail you entered). Check your email and click the link that is sent to you. You will be taken to the following page in Step 5.

Step 5
Enter your information as indicated in the picture below. You'll want to be careful with name, as if you use romaji you should enter them as "full width" characters, so my name would be ＴＨＯＭＰＳＯＮ　ＡＳＨＬＥＹ.

You'll also want to be careful with the address as the address numbers go in two different boxes. So if you're address was SOMETHING123-4, you'd put 123 in the first box and 4 in the second (all of this comes after you enter your postal code and click the gray button, which will automatically enter all the first part of your address for you).

Click 次へ when you're done.

Step 6 
You can change the notification options if you prefer (top box), but not necessary. The second box you can choose what type of member's card you want - choose the top option if you want a regular card.

If you don't want to receive other news mail from them, uncheck the last two boxes. Click 次へ to continue.

Step 7
Now confirm all your information (scroll down). After confirming all is correct, click the green button on the right. Click the button on the left if you have changes to make.

Step 8
That's it! The final page confirms you've finished. Now you're ready to arrange a redelivery online with Yamato (Kuroneko)

HOW TO: Find (good) deodorant in Japan

If you're coming to Japan, you will probably hear someone lamenting about the inability to find any "real" deodorant here. When I heard this before coming, I promptly bought a 4-pack of my favorite kind (which I still haven't used up, two years later). Yet, for those trying to save luggage space, unless you are REALLY attached to your deodorant, let me reassure you, it IS possible to get deodorant in Japan. And no, I'm not even talking about typical Japanese stuff, although chemically, it isn't really different from the stuff you're likely already using.

where to find bulk, inexpensive nuts, seeds, spices and dried fruits

As I prepare for my weekend trip to Hakone (Kanagawa Prefecture), I thought I would leave with a brief post, before updating about Hakone sometime next week. (And yes, it is finally cherry blossom season! Note picture.)

In a post last week, I mentioned an online retailer for nuts and seeds, though I omitted the name until I received the products and could give it a proper review. My box from Ohtsuya arrived within a few days, as per the wonderful norm of shipping in Japan. True to size, I pulled out one kilogram bags of raw almonds and walnuts, and 500 gram bags of kabocha (pumpkin/squash) seeds, coconut slices and raisins. All the goods were in great condition and delicious in the homemade granola. Being that I'm quite satisfied with this purchase, I will be ordering more - soon. So, if you have a hankering for nuts, but don't wish to spend a fortune on them, or want them raw so you can roast them yourself, I would recommend checking out Ohtsuya. I also discovered that they carry a wide selection of dried spices and herbs, on tops of the dried fruits, seeds and nuts. Ordering spices in bulk? Easier on the wallet, and the environment.

So, a few tips concerning Japanese for using Ohtsuya (aside using your trusty dictionary and Google translate of course).

ナッツ (nattsu) - nuts
スパイス (supaisu) - spices
ハーブ (haabu) - herbs
ドライフルーツ (dorai furuutsu) - dry fruits
シー ド (shiido) - seeds
実 (み, mi) - seeds

Another thing to keep in mind when looking up spices or some of the other products: though most names will be taken from English and thus sound similar, some will have completely different names. So, for example, almonds are アーモンド (aamondo) in Japanese. They sound similar. However, bay leaf or leaves, are actually ローリエ (roorie) or ローレル (rooreru)  in Japanese.

And now, I must finish packing. Hakone adventures start bright and early in the morning!

how to check the (accurate) weather in Japanese

When I need to check the weather, there's a few things I can do... but I've found that some are less helpful than others. Of course, upon arriving in Japan, I still regularly checked MSN and weather.com for weather updates and temperatures. Although, I soon found these to be wrong more often than right, and thought about how else I could find more accurate weather reports.

Of course, I could just turn on the TV, but since I rarely watch TV and acquire most of my news via RSS, that wouldn't work too well. Especially if I needed a report right away. Up to this point, I often heard students and teachers around me throwing around "Yahoo."

Japanese words to know when ordering online

It's been almost a month since I last posted, leaving me to wonder why I let all that time get away...

Dinner tonight was curry, as in カレーライス, or "kare raisu (curry rice)." Japanese curry is a somewhat stew-like curry, brown with orange carrot blobs and/or yellow potato blobs and/or beef/chicken/pork chunks, etc. The spiciness ranges from mild to "hot," although hot wouldn't necessarily be as spicy as Thai curry. I find curry to be incredibly addicting, and though I ate it in the States before coming to Japan, my way of cooking it has become much more "Japanese," as I attempt to emulate the various delicious curries found all over the country.

Since today was a dreary, wet, cold March day, I thought curry sounded perfect for dinner. Around 5 p.m. I started the process of chopping onions and sauteing them, whilst I minced garlic and ginger and gathered the rest of my ingredients from around the kitchen. The onions began caramelizing, so I threw in the ginger and garlic, followed with water, stock, a bay leaf and star anise. That all simmered nicely as the flavors amalgamated. About an hour later I put the still-somewhat-frozen chicken in the pot as my husband returned home, soaking wet. Since the chicken was so cold, I turned the stove up and put the lid back on to get everything heated quickly without allowing bacteria or anything to form. Well, as I got caught up in talking with my husband per the usual end-of-the-day conversations, I completely forgot I had left the burner on high, and sat down to read some food blogs while I "waited" for the chicken to "slowly" cook.

what do I eat!?

As a native Washingtonian, I grew up surrounded by great food - the fresh seafood, ripe, juicy apples, and a plethora of tart, sweet berries. After high school, when I moved to Seattle for college, my new found food independence couldn't have established itself in a better city. Farmer's markets, organic food stores, a wide ethnic variety of restaurants and one of my absolute favorites - Uwajimaya, the Asian food market in the International District. My taste for quality food developed, along with my chopstick usage skill. When restaurants were too expensive (especially at the end of a paycheck cycle), I found it easy to pick up a pre-prepared meal from Whole Foods or PCC on the way home from work. This, along with my time-consumed schedule of work and school, kept me from pursuing cooking and baking as much as I would have liked.
That changed when I came to Japan.

how to get something redelivered (online) from Japan Post

There it was again. That red and white notice in my mailbox letting me know I had missed a package. I'd gotten them a few times before, along with notices from other delivery companies (such as Yamato and Sagawa). Everytime they'd come before, I'd shove the notice in my backpack and pull it out at work to show the coworker next to me. She'd offer to call for me and arrange a redelivery time. After three or four times bringing her my notices, she said, "did you know you can do this online?"

That may have been her subtle way of letting me know I didn't need to keep bugging her about it. Though, when we looked online, I had to sign up for an account, and I felt I shouldn't have to do that... (This is before I realized you need to sign up for accounts to do almost anything online in Japan).

Later on at home, I pulled up the site for Japan's postal system. (There is also an english version of the website, but it is more limited as to what you can do from it). Of course, you can also bring the notice into the post office and give it to the clerk, but I was never able to make it to the post office before it closed due to work.

The Japanese site overwhelmed me - as kanji swam everywhere on the page, looking like nothing intelligible to me. My first thought was to find a way to translate the Japanese, so I could find the "redelivery" link. Now, there is a simple way to do this, especially if you use the Firefox browser. In Firefox, you can install widgets to the browser, and one particular one I use is called "FoxLingo". Now I can click "AutoTrans" (auto translation) whenever I come across a site too complex for me to decipher. (Alternatively, you can use Google Translate in the Chrome toolbar, or any preferred translation service).