Rona Moon

Writer / Translator

As a Kiwi kid growing up in the green hills of New Zealand, Rona Moon never dreamed she would end up packed in like sushi on the Yamanote line every morning, wearing a suit with discreet underarm sweat pads. Moving to Japan in 2005, she survived a tough initiation of hazing as a Japanese company employee in the pumping heart of Tokyo, did her best to become as Japanese as possible and succeeded in acquiring a great love for karaoke and a cute way of hiding her smile with her hands. Rona now works as a freelance writer and translator, with a special interest in literary translation and the erotic side of Japan (no tentacles barred).

Posted by Rona Moon (Page 2)

Pay it forward and experience the kindness of strangers at Tokyo’s Karma Kitchen

Rona Moon
Jul 11, 2013
Tweet

Have you seen the movie Pay It Forward? The one where 11-year-old Trevor has an idea to change the world for the better by, rather than repaying a favour like a debt to the person who did you that favour (pay back), the idea is that you “pay it forward” by doing something for someone else just for the sake of it. In the movie, the result of paying it forward was a miraculous chain of giving.

As great as it seemed in the movie, in practical terms it’s difficult to pay it forward and know that the kindness is passed on. But a small restaurant in Tokyo has embraced the idea and allows customers to literally pay their kindness forward to the next guest. Our Japanese reporter headed over to Karma Kitchen to gave it a try!

Rona Moon
Jul 9, 2013

Every woman deserves to be treated like a princess sometimes. Plied with champagne, pampered, flattered and adored. What if you could go to a luxurious bar and receive this kind of attention, from the man (or men) of your choice, selected at whim from a “menu” of attractive males?

This is one extracurricular activity you can get up to in Tokyo. It helps if you speak Japanese, but you might even find a host who’s fluent in English. This actually happened to my mother when we visited Shinjuku together. A good-looking, very well-groomed young man in a suit approached us and propositioned us in a strong Australian accent. I tried to explain to her what a visit would entail—it’s not a brothel, women go there to enjoy male company and attention. We didn’t end up going to a host club that night, but recently one intrepid RocketNews24 reporter took one for the team and visited one of these fine establishments, along with three friends. She spills the beans on her first time!

Rona Moon
Jun 20, 2013

On June 16, locals spotted a stranded dolphin at popular tourist destination, Sanya, in Hainan Province, China. The relevant authorities were contacted, but while waiting for help to arrive, people swimming nearby seized the photo op, lifting the dying dolphin out of the water to strike their most flattering poses.

Rona Moon
Jun 14, 2013

On 20-21 May in Geneva, Switzerland, a report by the Japanese government was presented for the UN Committee Against Torture.

At the end of the two-day session, Mr Hideaki Ueda, Ambassador in charge of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, suddenly lost his temper, shouting at committee members and demanding that they “Shut up!!!” What on earth could have caused the ambassador to raise his voice?

Rona Moon
Jun 11, 2013

Whoohoo, party’s on tonight! Happy, happy, joy, party rock is in the house tonight!! Drinking parties (nomikai) in Japan go off. Can’t wait!!!

But hold on… there’s a catch. It’s still common for smoking to be permitted in bars in Japan. You might not notice it, but as soon as you get home it hits you like a karate chop to the nose—the stink of cigarette smoke. Even if you weren’t smoking yourself, the second-hand smoke will make your clothes reek, right down to your stinky underwear. Yes, even if you didn’t expose your underwear. Yuck.

Could this simple trick be the solution?

Rona Moon
Jun 9, 2013

Mount Fuji, Japan’s highest and much-climbed mountain, has lately been acknowledged as a priceless part of the world’s cultural heritage. But a climb to appreciate this heritage may now come with the hefty price tag of 7,000 yen (about US$70) per person.

If you only make it half way up, how about a half price discount?

Rona Moon
Jun 6, 2013

Many a foreigner living in Japan has attempted and mangled this classic karaoke favourite, the theme song from popular Japanese animated film My Neighbor Totoro, just so they can let their vocal cords rip in the chorus. Even with limited language skills, you can probably belt out “Totoro, totoro” one million times and manage to mumble through the rest of the words.

But this cockatiel Poko-chan’s sense of pitch and inner pizzazz puts humans to shame. Accompanied by her owner on piano, she warbles through a song that few have fully mastered. What would Simon Cowell say? You be the judge.

Rona Moon
May 7, 2013

Desperate to master the power moves we’d seen so many times in our favourite anime (Japanese animated cartoon), we practiced them day and night. Nothing impresses friends and destroys enemies like a well-timed “Turtle Destruction Wave”. Sure of our eventual success and rise to glory, we eagerly followed in the footsteps of heroes, mimicking their warrior cries and poses. Our best efforts were doomed to fail, but we kept on trying. You did too, right? Probably. Hadouken!

MyNavi News asked 286 men and women in Japan which moves they practiced as children. Here are the most common (and surprising) responses.

Rona Moon
May 3, 2013

Toast in Japan is taken seriously. If you order the “breakfast set” at a restaurant in Japan, you will probably be confronted with one of the thickest slices of toasted bread you’ve ever seen. If you manage to peer over it, you might spot a boiled egg and a small, sad amount of salad cowering there.

At the supermarket, some popular toast spreads which come in a squeezy tube are chocolate, cinnamon, melon and “french toast” flavour, but for many people, toast means butter, and the more butter, the better. For butter-lovers, the new Easy Butter Butter-Former will transform hard butter straight from the fridge into soft and cotton-like butter threads, ready and easy to be used. Sound too greasy to be true? It probably is.

Rona Moon
Mar 18, 2013

Following the most powerful earthquake ever to hit Japan, the sheer scale of the tsunami which smashed into northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011 was unprecedented. Coastal communities were devastated by waves which at their highest reached 40.5 meters above sea level, travelled up to 10km inland, and swept everything along with them. Mud, debris, cars, boats, houses, and fire.

The small town of Otsuchi in Iwate Prefecture was one of the hardest hit. About 10 percent of the population perished or went missing, including the mayor and many town officials. Iwate’s leading local newspaper, the Iwate Tokai Shimbun, was unable to continue operating as their printing press was washed out to sea, and two of their reporters were killed.

In 2012, a group of journalists banded together to once again start reporting the news from Otsuchi to support the town’s recovery, using the Internet to connect with people. Tsunami survivors have shared their stories of terror, panic, suffering and hope for the future through this new newspaper, known as the Otsuchi Mirai Shimbun (“Otsuchi Future Times”). These stories have been translated from the original Japanese into English by a team of 28 hard-working volunteers from Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the U.S., and published on the second anniversary of the disaster as a Kindle ebook.

Here are some excerpts from these true stories of survival:

Rona Moon
Mar 11, 2013

You’ve all heard the joke about the sinking ship, right? This joke explicitly reveals the deep inner motivations of the men of many different nations. It’s famous for hitting the nail on the head when it comes to cultural stereotypes. Really, this joke knows you better than you know yourself. Popular in Japan, it also goes down a treat at drinking parties worldwide.

So, what is this joke that so accurately pinpoints cultural stereotypes? Here it is…

Rona Moon
Feb 14, 2013

Now all you need is an intravenous drip, catheter and bed pan…

On 7 February, a new day of sloth dawned with the issue of Thanko’s new upside-down laptop desk, aptly named Aomuke Gorone Desk (“Napping Face Up Desk”) for 7,980 yen (US$86).

Rona Moon
Feb 13, 2013

Crushes at primary school are so cute, aren’t they? Rolling 50 deep to the school picnic, attended by a crew of giggling cuties on every class outing and fending them off right and left in the playground… girls want them and other boys want to be them. The harsh reality is that often more than half the girls in the class are in love with the same kid – but why? What makes the “cool boy” so popular?

Japanese website Goo News has recently investigated this phenomenon, uncovering the most striking characteristics of these popular boys. Take a look at their results, ranked by the top five attractive “characteristics”, below:

Rona Moon
Feb 12, 2013

55 contestants… 110 funbags!

Surely the main attraction of world-famous restaurant Hooters is the waitresses and their gigantic…appreciation for quality customer service. Now you can help select the cream of the Japanese Hooters crop in the Miss Hooters Japan 2013 by voting for your favourite “pair” online. The first round of voting runs from February 1-14, and the lucky finalists will be announced on the website Feb 16.