A little while back, the Tofugu team went on an excursion to Japan. One of the things we really wanted to see was the Mori building. More specifically, we wanted to ascend the Mori building and then look at everything not inside it. Being one of the best city-views Japan had to offer, we thought we’d give it a shot; unfortunately on our way there, we were accosted by an overly friendly Coldstone employee who helped us find our way there…by physically leading us to the foot of the building. At this point, we knew we had to go back and get some ice cream goodness. The guy helped us out, right?

On our way back to Coldstone, we started up a discussion. Like most Coldstones, do they accept tips in exchange for singing? Normally, the answer to this would be easy. In America, Coldstone is synonymous with singing for money. It’s one of the attractions that makes a Coldstone so fun! For a small tip you can finally feel good about you and your boring state job. Still, in Japan, the question of tipping is a little more difficult.

Tipping is not part of the culture in Japan. You do not tip for meals, you do not tip taxi drivers, and you do not tip hairdressers. There are a couple of exceptions to this rule, though, most of which you won’t run into. If you hire a chauffeur for a hired car, you might give him 500-1000 yen (the latter number being for an entire day of driving). The only other exception I can think of is when you receive a very special service in a hotel (not “special.” Get your mind out of the gutter). Someone would have to go way out of their way to help you, and it would have to be a very abnormal situation. Once again, something that most people won’t experience.

Of course, in the end, we found out whether or not Japanese Coldstone will sing for free. And the answer is…you’ll have to watch the video!

My taste in music is pretty eclectic. I’m usually not into the flavor of the month idol or boy band, though I do have my “pop” moments every so often. Anyway, here are some of my favorite artists:

Ayano Tsuji. If you’ve seen The Cat Returns (猫の恩返し), then you’ll recognize her from the theme song, Kaze ni Naru (風になる). She’s geek-chic, she plays the ukulele, she makes artsy music videos, what more could I want? The ukulele is my favorite part, as someone who grew up with it. She has that simple sort of untaught voice that’s absolutely charming, and consistently so, in all her songs.

The Pillows. As a professed FLCL fan, how could I not adore The Pillows (their songs were largely featured in the super-cool anime)? They do alternative rock, “alternative” being the key word here. They can be peppy or laid back, irreverent or inspiring, and their lyrics are generally a blend of deep thoughts and random engrish. That’s just the kind of randomness I love in my music.

Rimi Natsukawa. She sings Okinawan folk music, which is might not appeal to everyone, but is really comforting to me. My favorite song of hers is 月の夜 which is more upbeat, a departure from Rimi’s usual ballads. Unfortunately, I lost my Rimi Natsukawa CD last summer, and I’m too broke to buy a new one. So, yeah, if any of you out there have it, please share with me D:

m-flo. I like this group, comprised of DJ Taku Takahashi and emcee VERBAL, mainly for their collaborations with other artists. My favorite song of theirs has got to be Miss You (or m-flo loves Melody & Yamamoto Ryohei). The really addicting thing about their music is the fact that most of their lyrics are half English, half Japanese, which makes everything really fun to listen to.