“Gaijin mommy, gaijin”

...the little boy excited said to his mother over and over, as he pulled on her shirt and pointed. His mother, irritated not only at the boy continual chant, but at the possibility we knew what he was saying, kept shushing him, to no avail. You see, Gaijin is generally thought of as a derogatory word meaning something in between "foreigner" and "invading devil" in Japanese. Personally, I thought it was funny; both the boy and mother’s reaction. We were on the monorail out to Odaiba, an area of Tokyo newly developed. It is a beautiful ride over the Rainbow Bridge. We went to finally buy a couch to replace the one that wouldn't fit into our apartment, which we did, and get husband san some jeans (also did).

We also ventured into Toy’s r us. Having had a previous experience with Toys r us, written about in an earlier post last year, I am surprised I actually wanted to go. But then again, that was before I had anyone specific to buy things for. It was surprising in both a good and bad way.

Good - it was not nearly as crowded as the ones in the states.

Bizarre - seeing many recognizable toys sitting on the shelves with Japanese packaging.

Bad – Branding, branding, branding!! Japanese are big on brands here; most clothing has some sort of writing on it, but toys! I don’t think there was one item in the store that was not representative of a larger brand. They even had a play sized McDonald’s restaurant. Why????? I couldn’t find what I was looking for – an etch-a-sketch. Or any other simple basic toy that just was what it was.

Bad – no asian looking dolls. Lots of caucasion looking ones, but not one asian one. No wonder Japanese teenage girls are dying their hair blond and getting eye lid surgery. Sad.