indispensible advice from Mrs. Edo-san

and

the entertaining evesdropping of Loose Talk

Educated Answers to Tokyo's Most Oft-Asked Questions

Q:I woke up from a light snooze to find my bus approaching so I stood and waved frantically. The driver saw me but all he did was wave back as he passed. The sign said "ichijikan oki ni," so I went down the street to buy a paper. But just as I got back another bus came. I tried to wave this one down but it passed, too. Doesn't "ichijikan oki ni" mean once every other hour? Are Tokyo buses always this bad?
--E.H.

A: There are many situation-specific waves in Tokyo. In addition to the "come here" gesture--which would have been appropriate for your situation--there are waves that mean everything from "your path is clear" to "Hello" and "I am gay." I can only guess that you erroneously used the wrong one. Bus service is usually first-rate provided you wave correctly at the right bus. "Ichijikan oki ni" does mean that a bus stops every other hour. As you will recall neither of yours actually stopped.

A: There are, I imagine, a few places today that do serve seasonal dishes regardless of the time of year, but the easiest answer to your question is, it's tradition. When I was a young girl growing up in Ginza, we were taught that there were 12 meals particular to each three-month period. Back in those days, the Ginza was a beach side community and housewives who didn't respect the custom were thrown into the sea.

A: No.

You can also email questions straight to Mrs. Edo-san's desk - but make sure you state clearly in the subject line that your mail is for Mrs. Edo-san, or somone else in the office might read it, and we wouldn't want that, now would we.

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