Sugamo and the Privacy Mark

I went to Sugamo to submit the Privacy Mark documents at the Japan Data Communications Association.

Sugamo is famous for its original street which is called the Sugamo jizo dori shotengai.

The street is also known as “Harajuku for old women”.

I guess you know that Harajuku is one of the famous shopping areas in Tokyo, and there are some famous shopping streets there.

In Sugamo, there are many shops in the Sugamo jizo dori shotengai.

the Japan Data Communications Association is near that street, so I thought that it was a good chance to enjoy window shopping in Sugamo after the submission.

By the way, I want to write about the Privacy Mark system which is becoming more and more widespread in Japan, and also about the Privacy Mark acquirement project in my company of which I’m in charge of the project leader.

When I finished the submission, it was getting dark outside.

I thought that most of the shops in the street would close before the evening because their customers are generally old people, so I needed to hurry.

One of my purposes in Sugamo was to buy salty rice cakes, Shio Daifuku in Japanese.

The red bean filled rice cakes are very common, however the salty flavoured rice cakes are a bit rare, and I imagined that they would be more tasty than the normal Daifuku.

Since my English teacher recommended me to try them, I was looking forward to buying them.

The following image is of the Shio Daifuku.

I ate them after shopping in Sugamo, with my friend and colleague, Naomi, who had recently moved near my area from Osaka.

If I have a chance to go to Sugamo again, I think I will buy them again.

Although the salty rice cakes were sold in many shops in the street, I bought them at the original shop which had developed the salty rice cakes. I think my choice was not wrong, because they were very delicious.

Red underwear is also a special item in Sugamo.

In Japan, red is a symbol of happiness and a celebration of longevity.

When one shop which is called Maruji, developed the red panties, they became a great hit. As a result other shops followed them.

It was a great experience for me to enjoy window shopping in Sugamo, because I really like such traditional shopping districts.

After window shopping in Sugamo, I went directly back to my apartment, and bought a bottle of wine and some snacks, then I prepared dinner for my friend who would come to my apartment after work.

Since my husband was staying at a hotel on that day, as he would play golf in the early morning of the next day, Naomi and I enjoyed chatting till midnight.

The following images are of our dinner. It was very healthy.

Now I will tell you about the Privacy Mark and our company’s Privacy Mark project.

If you have seen some Japanese company’s websites, you might have seen the following logo of the Privacy Mark.

The Privacy Mark is one of the official certifications, which is proof that Japanese companies deal with private information.

Here I want to explain to you about what private information is. Private information consists of, for example, names, addresses, telephone numbers and account information, which are sometimes misused for illegal purposes.

We sometimes see such news on the Internet or in newspapers or on TV, where companies have leaked private information which they are holding, to the outside.

It’s easy to imagine the damage to the companies which had leaked the private information and, also to the people who had their private information leaked.

So a solid system whereby companies deal with private information carefully and systematically, is becoming more and more important in Japan.

In addition, in the business world, it’s becoming difficult to get contracts for public projects, if the they don’t have the Privacy Mark; the official certification.

So my company decided to apply for the Privacy Mark.

However, to tell the truth, it is the second time for my company to try the Privacy Mark.

When applying for the Privacy Mark, it’s necessary to do many things, for example, create many documents, explain the Privacy Mark system to all members in the company, and of course, create new IT systems.

In addition, most companies can’t carry out the Privacy Mark application process without a specialist.

I heard that my company tried to get the Privacy Mark several years ago and hired an outside consultant, however they eventually gave up.

So I felt a heavy responsibility, when I was nominated as leader of the Privacy Mark project.

Soon I noticed that it was very tough to accomplish the project, because, it was troublesome to get all members in my company to cooperate with me, because most of them were very busy.

Furthermore, unfortunately, the managers in my company were lacking responsibility of commitment and understanding for the Privacy Mark application, because only I could communicate with the consultant according to the contract.

I had been feeling heavy stress to accomplish the task since several months ago.

However, now I’m thinking that I was very lucky, because I could learn how to accomplish such a big project, and could also know about the Privacy Mark system in depth.

I think that the most important thing in such a project is the management and delegation of various tasks to different people.

It’s necessary to consider the situation of each project member and think logically how to accomplish the project.

I usually work with only a few colleagues, and most of my colleagues also work with only a few members on our projects.

So we don’t have many chances to learn about such big projects where it’s necessary to consider all members.

Although I need to do many things for the next step of the Privacy Mark project, I feel more relaxed now, because I have finished the first step; the submission of the documents.

The next step will come soon, so I should continue to do my best.

I hope I will be able to report about the final step of the project in my blog.

The dinner party at my colleague’s apartment

My best friend and colleague, Alisa planned an interesting dinner party at her nice apartment.

She is really interested in joining or organizing events, especially food events.

On October 2nd, she invited all colleagues who are working in the Tokyo branch office to her apartment.

At first, she had trouble deciding the dinner menu. She wanted to impress the guests.

I helped her to think about menu.

I thought of having Tsukimi Dango, white rice dumplings which are generally eaten while viewing the moon on Tsukimi, at the party, because the day after party was Tsukimi day.

She also wanted to eat special Sushi, especially that which she had eaten in America.

Furthermore, the party would be held after work on Friday, so we didn’t have enough time to cook the food.

So, we decided to buy some things on the day before the party, and to buy some juice and beer on the day.

Also, I wanted my colleagues to listen to my shamisen music, so I brought my shamisen to the party.

One colleague who is interested in foot massage recently, also suggested by email in advance giving us massages.

The following images are of our party.

The owner of our Tokyo branch office building is an old nori company, so we bought special nori at their shop.

I was in charge of making Tsukimi dango, so Alisa helped me to drink beer.

It was very easy to make Tsukimi dango. Here is the recipe.

Step1: mix the dango powder with water and knead into dough.

Step2:roll the dango dough into small balls.

Step3:throw the balls into boiling water.

Step4:scoop them out when they float to the top and cool them down on a dish.

I also prepared soybean flour, bean paste and a tin of fruit.

The above images are not the correct way to eat Tsukimi Dango, however I just wanted to eat various style of dango, so I made my own version.

The following image is of the correct way to decorate Tsukimi Dango.

The following image is of Origami rabbits. Although I couldn’t buy Japanese pampas grass for Tsukimi, I made these with origami paper.

In advance, Alisa researched some combinations for Sushi on the Internet. I really respect her passion for food.

Some colleagues finished their work on time, and went to the apartment ahead of us.

Other colleagues arrived there gradually.

The following image is of the correct way to making temakisushi. However I couldn’t make it well.

Some colleagues cooked salad and made delicious cocktails, and a Taiwanese colleague brought Taiwanese dumplings.

In the latter half of the party I played the shamisen, and my colleagues praised me.

I think my technique is not so special, however I’m happy that they could know about the shamisen a bit.

Some colleagues wanted to hold my shamisen, so I took photos for them.

The following image is of the scene of massage.

Actually some arguments happen between some colleagues, however their personalities are not bad.

I don’t know when I need to leave my company, however I want to enjoy my life with them until that day.

Dinner party at my friend’s new house.

One of my close friends who is also my colleague, invited me to her new apartment.

She is a Japanese-American and her parents bought the new apartment in Tokyo, however her parents still live in America.

At first we were planning to have a small dinner party with just our common close friends, but she changed our plan.

She invited many friends, 17 people, to her new apartment.

I like such dinner parties, because I can get new friends, whose backgrounds are different from mine.

I bought special bread named “Melon-pan” in Nishiogikubo, and in Kichijoji, I bought one kind of Fish-cake and also some snacks.

It was about 3pm when I reached her house.

Both my friends were in the middle of cooking.

The view was very very nice from her house!

I helped with the cooking and writing the welcome board.

Other members came there around 5-6pm, and the dishes which they brought were interesting.

Some dishes were very special, so I was ashamed that I didn’t bring a homemade dish.

One person at the party was my friend’s friend’s friend, and he was a lawyer.

His background was very impressive.

He became a lawyer after working as a office worker for 7 years. Before passing the lawyer exam, he’d tried 6 times.

And after passing it, he traveled around Asia and the Middle East for 1 and half year.

Not only this story impressed me, but also the fact that he selected “Saga prefecture” as the place where he has been working.

He told me that he was not interested in working in big cities, and  he likes to connect with local people deeply and do everything by himself which he couldn’t do when he was working as “a office worker”.

I can understand his thinking, because I had been studying law at University, and gave up my dream to become a lawyer.

I thought about my future in a new light, because I want to continue working even if I have a baby.

Unfortunately it’s difficult for woman to have a full time job, if we have children in Japan.

So our skills are very important. umm, I need to think more..

Pink food

I think that we Japanese love Sakura(cherry blossom).

There are many kinds of Pink food(Sakura iro) in many shops, and we instinctively buy them.

We enjoy this season which only lasts about 2 weeks with all our force.

Many companies develop products,food and services related to Sakura,and we continue to buy them.

In Asagaya I found some examples! How lovely they are!

I bought Sakura-okowa(similar to rice) , and It was delicious!

The season of Sakura is finishing.

Lunch in Nihonbashi

There are many old restaurants near my office.

I usually cook my own lunch box(to save money), but today I went to an old restaurant with my coworker.

I found it on the Internet.

According to some comments on the bush telegraph site, the Kamameshi seems to be delicious.

 I want to eat Kamameshi!(Kamameshi is a famous Japanese dish)

The sign was too high for everyone to see, but I could find it by chance.

The building was very old and  the song of birds is piped in through the speakers.

An old man and woman managed that restaurant, and the restaurant was very small and quiet.

We sat at the counter.

The old man said to us that he was from Shimane, and he loves his hometown,so he uses only fish that are caught in Shimane.

The kamameshi was so delicious!

The old man said to us that he considers the balance of nutrition in his cooking.

I said to him that the Kanameshi had the taste of Kansai（West of Japan).

He laughed.

The taste of west Japan is different to that of the east Japan.The taste of Kansai food is lighter and more delicatte than the taste of Kanto;the east of Japan.

I became to like the restaurant and the Kamameshi which he cooks.

I want to search for such a nice restaurant around Nihonbashi.

The restaurant’s name is Zubora(寿保羅)