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01 .21Antique Watch BargainsOne of the joys of living in Japan is the amount of antique shops that are around. Quite often I will take my trusty eye glass with me and see what’s around. As you can tell by the picture, I have a thing for antique watches. However, I don’t like to pay a lot of money for them. That’s not a problem. In Japan, if you are patient, take time and have a little good luck, you’ll come across the bargain here and there. For example, last weekend I was walking around Uji, Kyoto and I came across a small jewellery shop. As I quite often do, I popped in to have a look. Amongst all the wares was a gold watch that caught my attention. It was a 1975 Seiko quartz watch (2nd from the right in the picture). On closer inspection I realised that it had the initials “VFA” (very finely adjusted) stamped on the dial. That means the watch was hand built by two people with one person checking the other. When the watch was new it was the same price as a new Toyota car. You have to remember that quartz was new technology in 1975. “How much is this?”, I inquired. “5000yen, okay?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing as I quickly handed over the money.Admittedly, you’re not going to run into such a find every day; however, there are plenty of bargains to be had. For example, the watch on the far left of the picture is a “Skaagen” from Denmark. While not a Japanese antique, it is nonetheless made out of titanium. It was found in a junk box at an antique fair for 600yen! The green watch at the top of the picture is a 1974 Seiko “Elnix”. This watch is famous because it has a mechanical movement that also runs on a battery. It was the crossover watch before quartz watches. It is quite popular with overseas collectors and in Japan I only paid a few thousand yen for it. And I bought the light blue Orient and others just for fun.Quite often my wife will offer to buy me a new “retro” watch like a “Paul Smith” or “Nixon” for my birthday or Christmas. Are you kidding? Why would I want that when I can have the original instead at a fraction of the cost? In my opinion, antique Japanese watches from this period with their style, grace and build quality are certainly the better buying option.Of course, there are a few things to take care. It’s important that you do your research before you buy. There are many online auction sites to check models and prices; however, you should refrain from buying from these sites. While I have had no troubles, there have been a few reported cases of fraud or fake watches being sold. It’s best to go to a watch shop, 2nd hand store or antique market. That way you can take it back if there are any problems. Also, remember it is an antique, so they sometimes need a little care or “TLC”. But hey, you only paid a couple of thousand yen, right? So, no problem.Another tip is to make sure you take a small eye glass or loupe with you. That way you can check for scratches and more importantly it identifies you as a serious collector and guarantees a better discount.So, next time before you spend money on a “pretty” foreign made fashion brand watch please consider a Japanese antique instead. Your friends and especially older relatives will be certainly impressed with your style choice!Photo credit: Mark WrightMark Wright
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01 .14My Journey Towards Zero WasteSometimes on Instagram we see these terrible pictures of sea creatures who have died because they have eaten plastic, and we see pictures of plastic waste floating in the ocean. Plastic is a new invention: it has only existed since 1907. It has been very useful because it is cheap to manufacture, it is strong, and it is waterproof. It has replaced traditional materials like wood, stone, leather, glass and metal in many things. When my parents were teenagers, they drank Coca Cola from recyclable glass bottles, but now young people drink Coke from bottles made of PET plastic. My grandparents played with toys carved from wood, but I remember melamine plastic toys from my early childhood. The problem with plastics is caused by one of the reasons that they are so popular: it takes a very long time for them to biodegrade, or rot. Because they are a combination of particles that are never made naturally, the natural processes of decomposition take hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of years.Some people think that this is not a problem. If we burn plastic items that we no longer want, they are gone, right? Unfortunately, when we burn things, we release gasses into the air. Carbon molecules enter the atmosphere. The Earth’s natural system is really wonderful: trees and plants ‘breathe in’ this carbon, and ‘breathe out’ oxygen. But because we humans are releasing so much carbon into the atmosphere recently, and also cutting down lots of trees, the balance has been lost. Too much carbon in the air works a little like the blanket that you have on your bed in the winter time. It holds in the warmth, instead of letting it out into space (or your bedroom). The Earth is getting hotter and hotter, and many species, including humans, are having trouble. The sea is rising because the Arctic ice is melting, and low countries are losing land underwater. It doesn’t rain enough, and some countries can’t grow enough food for their people. Storms and typhoons are bringing flooding and dangerous landslides.Because of these two things, plastic polluting the ocean and the burning of plastic polluting our air, I have decided to try to reduce the amount of plastic in my life. I know that a target of zero waste is very difficult, but I am trying really hard to halve the number of trash bags that I put out for collection each year. Here are some of the ways that I am trying.• For about a year now I have been carrying a reusable cup in my bag. When I want a drink, hot or cold, I use my cup instead of a disposable plastic one. Lots of shops are happy to serve drinks in my tumbler instead of a disposable plastic cup. It saves them money! Sometimes it makes me a little sad because I can’t have something delicious, though. One example of this is Mt Ranier coffee, and I used to drink one almost every day. I know that I will only enjoy the coffee for a few minutes, though, before the plastic tumbler either sits for hundreds of years slowly degrading, or until it is burnt and adds pointless carbon to the atmosphere. Thinking about this makes me stronger in my decision not to buy it anymore!• I also carry a small spoon, some chopsticks and a cloth serviette in my cloth food bag. This means that when I want to eat a tub of yogurt or ice cream, I can say ‘no, thank you’ to the small plastic spoon that the person at the register tries to give me. I can pick up the treat, and put it directly into my cloth bag, which means that I don’t need a register plastic bag.• I’ve also been spending a few minutes each evening packing myself a lunch for the next day. I fill my lunchbox with rice, veges and a little meat left over from dinner, plus some mayonnaise or barbecue sauce. When I look at similar lunches in the convenience store, I know that my choice to bring a packed lunch means that one big plastic box, a little sauce sachet, and a plastic register bag is not being wasted.• In the previous bullet point, I mentioned that I use mayonnaise and barbecue sauce. By buying big bottles of sauce, I am reducing the amount of plastic that I cause to be made. One big bottle uses less plastic than several small ones, so it is better to buy a big one if you can. When I can find sauces that I like in glass jars, I buy those, too.• Finally, I have learned to say ‘no’ to lots of things. When I started this journey, it was quite difficult to say ‘no’ to the staff at the register who have been trained that they must provide plastic items to customers. I’m getting used to it, though, and so are the staff of the shops that I visit!I’d love to talk about these topics with you. Please come and visit in the Communication Room at OIC some time!Photo Credit: Leonid Danilov@pexels.comOlivia Kennedy
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01 .06How to find an apartment in Sydney, AustraliaFinding a place to live in Japan is a challenge for foreigners as they are new to the customs of Japan. It is the same when non-Australians try to find a place to live in Australia, especially for the first time, as non-Australians do not have any previous transaction records. This means the renter cannot refer to your previous rent payment history and cannot prove how reliable you are. So if you are in Sydney for studying, I recommend you try to get a dorm room first. However, eventually, you might have to get out of the dorm and find your own apartment one day.In that case, I am sure that you will have many questions, such as, “Where do I start? or “How much do I need to prepare?” Therefore I will let you know how you settle in Sydney.1. Look up the site and go see the rooms To begin with, you access https://www.realestate.com.au/rent/ Put the information of which area, the minimum number of bedrooms, and property type under “Rent.” Price is always per week in Australia, and rent payment is due every two weeks. So if you want to find an apartment for A$2,000 (about 150,000 yen) per month, you choose the price of A$400 to A$450 per week. After you enter the necessary information, you will see some candidates. In Australia, the realtors usually show properties on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Sometimes you need to make an appointment, but most of the time, the showing time is stated under the picture, so you can plan which ones to see before you leave home.2. Submit the documents After seeing some apartments and choosing a property, you have to submit some documents such as an application form (you need to indicate how long you want to rent), a bank statement, and a reference letter from your job (even you are a part-timer). It is quite a lot of work to submit, therefore, I advise you to prepare the bank statement and the reference letter beforehand. You have to submit the documents as soon as possible, as all the properties in Sydney move so fast. After you submit the documents, the realtor will pass them to the landlord. If you want to negotiate the rent, you can do so with an application form.3. Deposit A day or so later, the realtor will inform you if your application was successfully approved. If not, you have to start over from number one. If your application is accepted, then you have to deposit two weeks’ worth of rent. This is called a bond and it is like shikikin in Japan. You also pay the rent for your first two weeks.4. Walk through and signing Now, the realtor has acknowledged the bond. You have one more chance to walk through the property with the realtor to see if there are any places you want the realtor to clean or fix, for example, a stain on the wall or a smear on the floor. After the walk through, you will read the rental contract together with the realtor and sign it. Then you can get the keys.5. Set up the utilities and the date to move in Now you can access your property. Just a few more exciting steps! Set up your utilities and Wi-Fi, decide the date to move in, buy some furniture and finish up packing.6. Inspections Even if you don’t have many things to move, it still takes three weeks or so to settle into your new home. Even after you’ve settled, the realtor will conduct on inspection after three months, six months, and a year. The realtor makes a report to the landlord. Therefore, you need to arrange the inspection dates after you have settled in. As I mentioned before, the rent is paid every two weeks. You can set up automated payments with your bank. Enjoy, and good luck with your apartment hunting in Sydney!Mayumi Hashimoto