One of the reasons why I went to Denver. Irish Rich. Shamrock Fabrication.
Los Boulevardos Car Club Photoshoot
Down in LA this morning finishing up the Los Boulevardos photoshoot.
Japan This Week 1 August 2010
今週の日本
Japanese Reggae?
New York Times
韩美日本海军演结束
Caijing
Japanese oil tanker diverted to UAE port after feared terror attack
Guardian
Does Japan still need 23-yr-old exchange program?
Washington Post
Japón pone fin a la moratoria en la pena capital al ahorcar a dos presos
El Pais
Long-dead shut-in's corpse found; kin probed for fraud
Japan Times
Tokyo's oldest man was a corpse
BBC
Le Japon touché par la canicule
Le Monde
Japan hangs two death row inmates
BBC
Sumo needs to break gang ties: commentator
Yahoo Sports
Japanese women are spending
LA Times
Last week's Japan news
Japan Statistics
Life Expectancy in years by Country, 2009:
1. Japan: 82.6 (Female: 86.1; Male 79)
2. Hong Kong: 82.2 (Female: 85.1; Male 79.4)
3. Iceland: 81.8 (Female: 83.3; Male 80.2)
4. Switzerland: 81.2 (Female: 84.2; Male 79)
5. Australia: 81.2 (Female: 83.6; Male 78.9)
Source: Asahi Shinbun
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Japanese Reggae?New York Times
韩美日本海军演结束
Caijing
Japanese oil tanker diverted to UAE port after feared terror attack
Guardian
Does Japan still need 23-yr-old exchange program?
Washington Post
Japón pone fin a la moratoria en la pena capital al ahorcar a dos presos
El Pais
Long-dead shut-in's corpse found; kin probed for fraud
Japan Times
Tokyo's oldest man was a corpse
BBC
Le Japon touché par la canicule
Le Monde
Japan hangs two death row inmates
BBC
Sumo needs to break gang ties: commentator
Yahoo Sports
Japanese women are spending
LA Times
Last week's Japan news
Japan Statistics
Life Expectancy in years by Country, 2009:
1. Japan: 82.6 (Female: 86.1; Male 79)
2. Hong Kong: 82.2 (Female: 85.1; Male 79.4)
3. Iceland: 81.8 (Female: 83.3; Male 80.2)
4. Switzerland: 81.2 (Female: 84.2; Male 79)
5. Australia: 81.2 (Female: 83.6; Male 78.9)
Source: Asahi Shinbun
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Shimadzu Foundation Memorial Hall
島津製作所For fans of industrial history - or old buildings - the Shimadzu Foundation Memorial Hall in Kyoto is a good way to spend an hour or so.
Located at the northern end of Kiyamachi Dori, where it meets Nijo Dori, the museum was created in 1975, which marked the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Shimadzu company.
The museum features and highlights the successes of the company, whose current headquarters are now several miles southwest in a much larger compound (and where 2002 Nobel Laureate Koichi Tanaka continues to work as a Fellow).
Medical technology is prominently featured, but the company manufactures a wide variety of items.
Meiji Period:
Pipe organ, exhaust engine, electrical induction machine, x-ray technology
Taisho Period:
Microscopes
Showa Period:
MRI, PET, CT
Heisei Period:
Koichi Tanaka's work in lasers is prominently featured.
Access
Take a Kyoto city bus to City Hall. From there it is a five-minute walk. The Tozai subway line also stops here.
Information
Open 9:30 - 5 pm (last admittance at 4:30 pm)
300 yen for adults
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Amorphophallus titanum blooms in Tokyo
ショクダイオオコンニャク
The world's largest flower, the Amorphophallus titanum, which is native to Indonesia's Sumatra island has drawn huge crowds as it bloomed in Tokyo's Koishikawa Botanical Gardens.
At full bloom the plant gives off a terrible smell. The plant has grown from a seed donated in 1993.
The Koishikawa Botanical Gardens open from 9am-4pm and are closed on Mondays.
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The world's largest flower, the Amorphophallus titanum, which is native to Indonesia's Sumatra island has drawn huge crowds as it bloomed in Tokyo's Koishikawa Botanical Gardens.
At full bloom the plant gives off a terrible smell. The plant has grown from a seed donated in 1993.
The Koishikawa Botanical Gardens open from 9am-4pm and are closed on Mondays.
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Outdoor Dining Along Kamo River Kyoto
京都川床One of the great pleasures of living in Kyoto is eating on the decks that overlook the Kamo River.
Every summer, the many restaurants that line parts of Kiyamachi and then Pontocho set up decks that face the river and are connected to the back of the restaurants.
This makes for wonderful dining, in the early evening as the sun goes down or later under the stars
A cold beer or cool choko of sake on the decks is about as good as it gets.
The decks are set up in late May or early June and will be in use until early September.
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Broomsfield, Colorado Part 3
Spent the day with Irish Rich all day Monday. I shot some photos of his shop and we sat down and did a interview. Later in the day "Part Timer Steve" showed up on the bike he and Rich built together. Steve rides it everywhere. I will have the photos of that and the story behind it later on.
Waiting inside right now for a lighting storm to pass by and it's back out on the lake for more wakesurfing. Aloha Beach. The Denver people know the history of this place. Rich told me some goodies that happened here back in the day.
Amaterasu
天照大神
On a recent trip to the town of Kawagoe, about an hour by train out of Tokyo, I saw this poster in a rather unattractive little Shinto shrine called Kumano Shrine in the town’s Renjakucho area. Drawn by the odd-looking character depicted on it, with his stick-on looking beard, I did some research.
He is holding a fuda (the name for the oblong piece of card he is holding) with the words
Amaterasu-sume-ohkami-miya, a shrine name that indicates it is affiliated to the national shrine bearing that name, Ise Jingu in Mie Prefecture.
Amaterasu is held by the Ise Jingu shrine to be the supreme god of the Shinto pantheon, the god of heaven, who created heaven and earth, while all the other gods are no more than her retainers.
Amaterasu, however, has not always been held to be the supreme deity. In a fierce dispute that happened within the Shinto ranks in 1880 and 1881, the followers of the Ise Shrine pitted themselves against the followers of the Izumo Shrine in Shimane. While the Ise faction insisted on the supremacy of Amaterasu over the separate worlds of the seen and unseen, the Izumo faction insisted equally vociferously on the unity of the seen and the unseen, and the supremacy of the god of the earth Ohkuninushi (as opposed to the god of heaven, Amaterasu) who should be regarded as supreme.
The dispute was so virulent and divisive that the Emperor Meiji was brought into the dispute to pronounce upon it, declaring in favor of the Ise faction.
The doctrine of the Ise faction has spread throughout Japan, and there is a Jinmei Shine (i.e. one where Amaterasu is worshiped) in every part of Japan.
Along the very bottom of the poster is the name of the body that produced the poster, the Iruma Branch of the Saitama Prefectural Department of Shrines. The Department of Shrines is a nationwide body administering Shinto shrines that, for all its (no doubt wishfully) official-sounding name, has nothing officially to do with the government.
Finally, I never found out who the bearded gentleman was - maybe just a poster boy for Amaterasu.
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On a recent trip to the town of Kawagoe, about an hour by train out of Tokyo, I saw this poster in a rather unattractive little Shinto shrine called Kumano Shrine in the town’s Renjakucho area. Drawn by the odd-looking character depicted on it, with his stick-on looking beard, I did some research.
He is holding a fuda (the name for the oblong piece of card he is holding) with the words
Amaterasu-sume-ohkami-miya, a shrine name that indicates it is affiliated to the national shrine bearing that name, Ise Jingu in Mie Prefecture.
Amaterasu is held by the Ise Jingu shrine to be the supreme god of the Shinto pantheon, the god of heaven, who created heaven and earth, while all the other gods are no more than her retainers.
Amaterasu, however, has not always been held to be the supreme deity. In a fierce dispute that happened within the Shinto ranks in 1880 and 1881, the followers of the Ise Shrine pitted themselves against the followers of the Izumo Shrine in Shimane. While the Ise faction insisted on the supremacy of Amaterasu over the separate worlds of the seen and unseen, the Izumo faction insisted equally vociferously on the unity of the seen and the unseen, and the supremacy of the god of the earth Ohkuninushi (as opposed to the god of heaven, Amaterasu) who should be regarded as supreme.
The dispute was so virulent and divisive that the Emperor Meiji was brought into the dispute to pronounce upon it, declaring in favor of the Ise faction.
The doctrine of the Ise faction has spread throughout Japan, and there is a Jinmei Shine (i.e. one where Amaterasu is worshiped) in every part of Japan.
Along the very bottom of the poster is the name of the body that produced the poster, the Iruma Branch of the Saitama Prefectural Department of Shrines. The Department of Shrines is a nationwide body administering Shinto shrines that, for all its (no doubt wishfully) official-sounding name, has nothing officially to do with the government.
Finally, I never found out who the bearded gentleman was - maybe just a poster boy for Amaterasu.
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Frank Lloyd Wright Imperial Hotel
明治村旧帝国ホテルFrank Lloyd Wright's former Imperial Hotel, in Hibiya Park in Tokyo, survived the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, but did not escape the wrecking ball, in 1968.
The hotel was Wright's best-known work in Japan, and featured Maya design elements.
However, in an odd twist of fate, the lobby of hotel was rescued and rebuilt. It can be seen in the amazing Meiji Mura, outside of Nagoya.
Entering the vast lobby is literally like taking a step back in time. There is a second floor, a cafe, and some original furniture.
Access
Meiji Mura
1 Uchiyama
Inuyama
Aichi
484-0000
Tel: 0568 67 0314
Admission ¥1,600. 9.30am-5pm (Mar-Oct) 9.30am-4pm (Nov-Feb). Take a bus from outside Inuyama Meitetsu Station.
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Yoshida Shrine Kyoto
吉田神社Kyoto's Yoshida Shrine is just east of Kyoto University, nestled against the base of the hills that surround the city.
In the past, the shrine enjoyed imperial patronage.
Today it is a quiet refuge for neighbors and students.
Its most well-known event is the annual "setsubun" bean throwing ceremony that signals the end of winter.
On this night, Feb 3rd, people scatter soybeans to drive evil spirits out and bring in good luck.
On that night, revelers gather at Yoshida Shrine and drink and party until the wee hours.
Access
Kyoto city bus No.17, 102 or 203 to the Kyoto University of Agriculture bus stop. By Kyoto city bus No.31, 65, 201 or 206 to the bus stop near the gate of Kyoto University. Or by Keihan train to Demachiyanagi station, and from there walk for about 15 minutes.
Open: 9:00~16:00
Admission Fee: Free
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Japan This Week 25 July 2010
今週の日本
Toyota Receives Subpoena on Steering Flaws
New York Times
中国增持日本国债：目的、意义与风险
Caijing
Ex-North Korea spy to help solve Japan's abduction mystery
Guardian
Japan PM's wife criticizes him in new book
Washington Post
¿Qué fue de Megumi Yokota?
El Pais
North saboteur Kim leaves; visit 'very meaningful': Sengoku
Japan Times
Le japonais Rakuten part à la conquête du marché mondial du commerce en ligne
Le Monde
Japan pupils' unique history lesson on Hiroshima
BBC
Japan Training Program Is Said to Exploit Workers
New York Times
Many in Japan Are Outsourcing Themselves
New York Times
Japan's World Cup bid 'very balanced', says FIFA
Yahoo Sports
Last week's Japan news
Japan Statistics
In 2009, Japanese embassies and consulates provided aid to 18,843 Japanese nationals. That was a rise of 4.1% compared to the previous year.
Many of those were senior citizens who fell ill while abroad.
Source: Yomiuri Shinbun
Top Donors to Haiti for Reconstruction (amount pledged, in millions of US dollars)
1) Venezuela: 1,324
2) USA: 1,152
8) France: 256
13) Japan: 100
Source: Washington Post
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Toyota Receives Subpoena on Steering FlawsNew York Times
中国增持日本国债：目的、意义与风险
Caijing
Ex-North Korea spy to help solve Japan's abduction mystery
Guardian
Japan PM's wife criticizes him in new book
Washington Post
¿Qué fue de Megumi Yokota?
El Pais
North saboteur Kim leaves; visit 'very meaningful': Sengoku
Japan Times
Le japonais Rakuten part à la conquête du marché mondial du commerce en ligne
Le Monde
Japan pupils' unique history lesson on Hiroshima
BBC
Japan Training Program Is Said to Exploit Workers
New York Times
Many in Japan Are Outsourcing Themselves
New York Times
Japan's World Cup bid 'very balanced', says FIFA
Yahoo Sports
Last week's Japan news
Japan Statistics
In 2009, Japanese embassies and consulates provided aid to 18,843 Japanese nationals. That was a rise of 4.1% compared to the previous year.
Many of those were senior citizens who fell ill while abroad.
Source: Yomiuri Shinbun
Top Donors to Haiti for Reconstruction (amount pledged, in millions of US dollars)
1) Venezuela: 1,324
2) USA: 1,152
8) France: 256
13) Japan: 100
Source: Washington Post
© JapanVisitor
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Denver Colorado
Flew out of Long Beach airport today to Denver Colorado. Staying with family up there on a private lake. Get some wakeboarding and surfing in over the next few days and then it's time to get some work done. Monday plan to hang with Irish Rich and begin work on the next Joyrides Art Company showcase. Denver Dan has made some calls to his buddies for me so I look forward to hooking up with them also.
Downtown Denver.
Calbee Japanese Baseball Cards
野球
Calbee is a major Japanese food company specializing in potato chip and various other snack foods. The company, established in 1949 as Matsuo Food Processing Co., Ltd. in Hiroshima, also dabbles in granola products among other types of food.
Oddly enough, it's also in the baseball card business. Each year Calbee releases it's series of Pro Yakyu Chips in groceries and convenience stores all across Japan.
The chips themselves are standard fare. But glued to the back of each bag is a gray foil wrapper containing two baseball cards featuring players and managers from the 12 Nippon Professional Baseball teams.
The cards are usually released in sets, with the first going on sale around the start of the season, with the others being released later in the year.
Two sets for the 2010 season are currently available. There are 192 "regular" player cards with a host of special cards to go out and find.
Calbee's website contains a database of all the cards from each set dating back to 1998.
The card database can be found here (in Japanese)
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Japanese Baseball
Calbee is a major Japanese food company specializing in potato chip and various other snack foods. The company, established in 1949 as Matsuo Food Processing Co., Ltd. in Hiroshima, also dabbles in granola products among other types of food.
Oddly enough, it's also in the baseball card business. Each year Calbee releases it's series of Pro Yakyu Chips in groceries and convenience stores all across Japan.
The chips themselves are standard fare. But glued to the back of each bag is a gray foil wrapper containing two baseball cards featuring players and managers from the 12 Nippon Professional Baseball teams.
The cards are usually released in sets, with the first going on sale around the start of the season, with the others being released later in the year.
Two sets for the 2010 season are currently available. There are 192 "regular" player cards with a host of special cards to go out and find.
Calbee's website contains a database of all the cards from each set dating back to 1998.
The card database can be found here (in Japanese)
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Kawagoe - "Little Edo"
川越 小江戸
Kawagoe is a small city about 20 miles slight north-west of Tokyo. It is best known as "Little Edo," Edo being the pre-1868 name for Tokyo, because it preserves much of the look and feel of old Tokyo lost in the 1923 earthquake, World War II, and modernization.
Kawagoe is well-known for the Kawagoe Matsuri (Festival), held on the 3rd Saturday and Sunday in October with its huge floats(up to 7.5 tonnes) paraded by groups of men straining under their weight, urged on by percussion and woodwind bands that compete with each other in what is called a "hikkawase," attempting to make the other team lose its beat.
There are numerous famous buildings in Kawagoe, most of them religious, including Narita-betsuin Temple, and the nearby Kita-in Temple with its mysterious collection of over 500 stone statues known as Gohyaku Rakan.
The center of the town is 10-15 minutes walk from the station down Crea Mall, where you can see the 16m high Toki-no-kane bell tower, the Kawagoe Festival Museum, the Kashiya Yokocho (Confectioner' Alley), and much more.
Read more here about Kawagoe.
Kawagoe breakdance
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Kawagoe is a small city about 20 miles slight north-west of Tokyo. It is best known as "Little Edo," Edo being the pre-1868 name for Tokyo, because it preserves much of the look and feel of old Tokyo lost in the 1923 earthquake, World War II, and modernization.
Kawagoe is well-known for the Kawagoe Matsuri (Festival), held on the 3rd Saturday and Sunday in October with its huge floats(up to 7.5 tonnes) paraded by groups of men straining under their weight, urged on by percussion and woodwind bands that compete with each other in what is called a "hikkawase," attempting to make the other team lose its beat.
There are numerous famous buildings in Kawagoe, most of them religious, including Narita-betsuin Temple, and the nearby Kita-in Temple with its mysterious collection of over 500 stone statues known as Gohyaku Rakan.
The center of the town is 10-15 minutes walk from the station down Crea Mall, where you can see the 16m high Toki-no-kane bell tower, the Kawagoe Festival Museum, the Kashiya Yokocho (Confectioner' Alley), and much more.
Read more here about Kawagoe.
Kawagoe breakdance
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Fly Wheel Magazine July 2010
Just got it in the mail yesterday. I got event photos in there from Hippy Killer Hoedown, Viva Las Vegas 13 and Born Free 2. Check it out their website. Working on another feature for them coming up soon.
Now It's Time To Embellish
Last week I showed you the fabrics, the yarn for couching and some of the felt flowers. Now I've put it all together. It's 24 x 34. Next time you see it, the beads and embroidery will have been added. Another beautiful pattern from Rose Hughes.
Yoshinoya
吉野家
Yoshinoya is a household name in Japan for gyudon - beef served on a bowl of rice - and has 1000s of branches throughout the country and overseas, employing over 8,500 people in Japan alone.
Yoshinoya began life in 1899 as the Japanese took up beef-eating under western influence in the Meiji Period. The first Yoshinoya restaurant opened in Nihonbashi in Tokyo before moving to the Tsukiji Fish Market after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.
The BSE crisis in the US caused Yoshinoya to suspend imports of American beef in 2004 and switch to pork (butadon) as a substitute.
Yoshinoya now serves beef from both the USA and Australia as well as pork gyudon.
Yoshinoya has restaurants in the following countries overseas: Australia, China (Hong Kong), Indonesia, Malaysia (no pork on the menu), The Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and the United States (Arizona, California, Las Vegas, and New York City).
Yoshinoya's motto is "umai, yasui, hayai" (tasty, cheap and quick).
Yoshinoya
115-8529
Kita-ku
Akabane Minami 1-20-1
Tokyo
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Japanese Food
Yoshinoya is a household name in Japan for gyudon - beef served on a bowl of rice - and has 1000s of branches throughout the country and overseas, employing over 8,500 people in Japan alone.
Yoshinoya began life in 1899 as the Japanese took up beef-eating under western influence in the Meiji Period. The first Yoshinoya restaurant opened in Nihonbashi in Tokyo before moving to the Tsukiji Fish Market after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.
The BSE crisis in the US caused Yoshinoya to suspend imports of American beef in 2004 and switch to pork (butadon) as a substitute.
Yoshinoya now serves beef from both the USA and Australia as well as pork gyudon.
Yoshinoya has restaurants in the following countries overseas: Australia, China (Hong Kong), Indonesia, Malaysia (no pork on the menu), The Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and the United States (Arizona, California, Las Vegas, and New York City).
Yoshinoya's motto is "umai, yasui, hayai" (tasty, cheap and quick).
Yoshinoya
115-8529
Kita-ku
Akabane Minami 1-20-1
Tokyo
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Giichi Tanaka
田中 義一
Giichi Tanaka (1864-1929) was the 26th Prime Minister of Japan and an important officer in the Japanese army during the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), and the later Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905).
Tanaka was a native of Hagi in south western Japan and his statue stands outside the gate to Hagi Castle.
A vehement anti-communist hawk, Tanaka's policies while Prime Minister dragged Japan deeper into a growing conflict in China, though he withstood the machinations of the Japanese ultra-nationalists in China, which eventually lead to the resignation of himself and his entire cabinet in 1929.
Tanaka died a few months later.
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Giichi Tanaka (1864-1929) was the 26th Prime Minister of Japan and an important officer in the Japanese army during the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), and the later Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905).
Tanaka was a native of Hagi in south western Japan and his statue stands outside the gate to Hagi Castle.
A vehement anti-communist hawk, Tanaka's policies while Prime Minister dragged Japan deeper into a growing conflict in China, though he withstood the machinations of the Japanese ultra-nationalists in China, which eventually lead to the resignation of himself and his entire cabinet in 1929.
Tanaka died a few months later.
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The Keisei Sky Access
スカイライナー
The Keisei Sky Access service began running on Saturday between Ueno Station and Nippori Station in Tokyo and Narita International Airport.
The new Skyliner trains run at a top speed of 160kph on the 51.4km route and completes the journey in just 36 minutes.
The train stops at both Narita Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 stations. The first service from Nippori is 6.35am with the last Skyliner at 5.50pm. Trains begin the journey 5 minutes before at Ueno Station.
Keisei Main Line trains run until 10.06pm from Nippori Station.
The present fare from Nippori to Narita is 2,400 yen. The new service is a direct competitor of JR's Narita Express from Tokyo Station.
Keisei's Access Limited Express connects Narita and Haneda Airports via the Toei Asakusa Line with the journey taking 1 hour and 40 minutes.
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The Keisei Sky Access service began running on Saturday between Ueno Station and Nippori Station in Tokyo and Narita International Airport.
The new Skyliner trains run at a top speed of 160kph on the 51.4km route and completes the journey in just 36 minutes.
The train stops at both Narita Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 stations. The first service from Nippori is 6.35am with the last Skyliner at 5.50pm. Trains begin the journey 5 minutes before at Ueno Station.
Keisei Main Line trains run until 10.06pm from Nippori Station.
The present fare from Nippori to Narita is 2,400 yen. The new service is a direct competitor of JR's Narita Express from Tokyo Station.
Keisei's Access Limited Express connects Narita and Haneda Airports via the Toei Asakusa Line with the journey taking 1 hour and 40 minutes.
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Gland Open Vitamin Golf
グランド オープン ビタミン ゴルフ
Were your testes terminated? Your lymph laid off? Your kidneys kicked? Your adenoids absented? Is your pancreas payless? Your spleen on the scrapheap?
Fret for them no more: there's an opening! And at a Vitamin Golf Course at that, providing a clearly nutiritious and supportive environment for any gland with the gumption to sign up.
But seriously, Vitamin Golf is an indoor golfing school in Tokyo's Aoyama district that opened last month. You pay 20,000 yen (USD230) to "register," then a per-hour fee of 9,000 yen (USD100) (with a junior teacher) or 12,000 yen (USD140) (with a senior teacher) who takes you through your swing on a virtual golf course, lined up along a wall with a dozen other punters in front of a screen - these fees further inflated by a miscellany of minor "facilities usage" charges and the like. Looks like it's basically Nintendo Wii golf for OL with the addition of some live young male charisma.
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Were your testes terminated? Your lymph laid off? Your kidneys kicked? Your adenoids absented? Is your pancreas payless? Your spleen on the scrapheap?
Fret for them no more: there's an opening! And at a Vitamin Golf Course at that, providing a clearly nutiritious and supportive environment for any gland with the gumption to sign up.
But seriously, Vitamin Golf is an indoor golfing school in Tokyo's Aoyama district that opened last month. You pay 20,000 yen (USD230) to "register," then a per-hour fee of 9,000 yen (USD100) (with a junior teacher) or 12,000 yen (USD140) (with a senior teacher) who takes you through your swing on a virtual golf course, lined up along a wall with a dozen other punters in front of a screen - these fees further inflated by a miscellany of minor "facilities usage" charges and the like. Looks like it's basically Nintendo Wii golf for OL with the addition of some live young male charisma.
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Japan This Week 18 July 2010
今週の日本
Japan's Ruling Party Suffers Setback
New York Times
揭秘日本饮食中潜伏的危险—回转寿司篇
Caijing
Japanese government faces heavy losses in elections
Guardian
Annandale boy heads to Hawaii to compete in Pokemon championship
Washington Post
Fitch cree que el FROB cubriría a la banca si suspende las pruebas
El Pais
Kyoto ryokans: Zen and Now
Guardian
Three die, two vanish in deluge
Japan Times
Les démocrates nippones boivent encore la tasse
Liberation
Japan is more associated with high-tech companies but that is not the whole
picture
BBC
The sound of a Princess on the toilet
CNN
Toyota Acknowledges 2 Vehicle Flaws
New York Times
Scandals expose venerable sumo’s shady underbelly
Yahoo Sports
Last week's Japan news
Japan Statistics
Average number of days per year when rainfall exceeded 400 mm in one day:
1987 - 1997: 5.2 times
1998 - 2008: 9.8 times
Source: Asahi Shinbun
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Japan's Ruling Party Suffers SetbackNew York Times
揭秘日本饮食中潜伏的危险—回转寿司篇
Caijing
Japanese government faces heavy losses in elections
Guardian
Annandale boy heads to Hawaii to compete in Pokemon championship
Washington Post
Fitch cree que el FROB cubriría a la banca si suspende las pruebas
El Pais
Kyoto ryokans: Zen and Now
Guardian
Three die, two vanish in deluge
Japan Times
Les démocrates nippones boivent encore la tasse
Liberation
Japan is more associated with high-tech companies but that is not the whole
picture
BBC
The sound of a Princess on the toilet
CNN
Toyota Acknowledges 2 Vehicle Flaws
New York Times
Scandals expose venerable sumo’s shady underbelly
Yahoo Sports
Last week's Japan news
Japan Statistics
Average number of days per year when rainfall exceeded 400 mm in one day:
1987 - 1997: 5.2 times
1998 - 2008: 9.8 times
Source: Asahi Shinbun
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House of Flys Tokyo
The really eye-catching thing (so to speak!) about House of Flys Tokyo is the immense panorama of eyewear visible through the front window as you walk by, or, more likely, stop and look.
Blackflys Eyewear is subdivided into Blackflys (for guys) and FlyGirls - both of which are party-hard, street/club style, and BFOP, the optical brand of just frames for corrective lenses.
The range of materials, colors, models, and looks is huge, and the prices range from about 8,000 yen to the 20,000 yen range, but with an average price of about 10,000 yen.
The clothing they stock is strictly young rocker and, fortunately, doesn't define the store as much as the cool eyewear does.
House of Flys Tokyo
1F Cynic Sekine
6-28-4 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
03-6418-4933
東京都渋谷区神宮前6-28-4シニック関根1F
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Shark Fins At Kesennuma
気仙沼
This gruesome video was shot by Hong Kong based British photographer Alex Hofford in Kesennuma in Miyagi Prefecture.
Kesennuma is Japan's and indeed the world's shark fin capital with most of the fins destined for the domestic Japanese market and some exported to Hong Kong and mainland China. The fishing port also lands large numbers of tuna, bonito, and Pacific saury.
Kesennuma was virtually destroyed in the March 2011 tsunami.
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This gruesome video was shot by Hong Kong based British photographer Alex Hofford in Kesennuma in Miyagi Prefecture.
Kesennuma is Japan's and indeed the world's shark fin capital with most of the fins destined for the domestic Japanese market and some exported to Hong Kong and mainland China. The fishing port also lands large numbers of tuna, bonito, and Pacific saury.
Kesennuma was virtually destroyed in the March 2011 tsunami.
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Ryosenji Treasure Museum
了仙寺宝物館/黒船美術館
The Ryosenji Treasure Museum and Kurofune Art Gallery in Shimoda on the Izu Peninsula is the main place in town dedicated to the historic landing of Commodore Perry's Black Ships (kurofune) in Shimoda back in the 1850s.
Located near to the main buildings and garden of Ryosenji Temple, the two storey museum has a video introduction to the momentous event of Perry's unannounced arrival in Japan, contemporary paintings and sketches by both Japanese and foreign eye-witnesses and numerous authentic objects from the period including weapons, uniforms and maps.
The museum also covers the story of Okichi, a local woman who was supposedly forced by the shogunate to become a maid servant to Townsend Harris, America's first consul in Japan.
Facts surrounding the story of Okichi, who later became a bitter alcoholic and committed suicide, are decidedly murky and often contradictory, but this poignant vignette in early US-Japan cross-cultural relations is a pantomime story readily propagated throughout Shimoda. Think Nottingham and Robin Hood for a comparison.
An excellent 12-page English introduction to the exhibits including the complete text of President Milliard Fillmore's open letter to the Emperor of Japan is available free of charge. Ask at the counter.
"I am desirous that our two countries should trade with each other, for the benefit both of Japan and the United States."
Ryosenji Treasure Museum
Ryosenji 3-12-12
Shichiken-cho, Shimoda
415-0023
Tel: 0558 22 0657
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The Ryosenji Treasure Museum and Kurofune Art Gallery in Shimoda on the Izu Peninsula is the main place in town dedicated to the historic landing of Commodore Perry's Black Ships (kurofune) in Shimoda back in the 1850s.
Located near to the main buildings and garden of Ryosenji Temple, the two storey museum has a video introduction to the momentous event of Perry's unannounced arrival in Japan, contemporary paintings and sketches by both Japanese and foreign eye-witnesses and numerous authentic objects from the period including weapons, uniforms and maps.
The museum also covers the story of Okichi, a local woman who was supposedly forced by the shogunate to become a maid servant to Townsend Harris, America's first consul in Japan.
Facts surrounding the story of Okichi, who later became a bitter alcoholic and committed suicide, are decidedly murky and often contradictory, but this poignant vignette in early US-Japan cross-cultural relations is a pantomime story readily propagated throughout Shimoda. Think Nottingham and Robin Hood for a comparison.
An excellent 12-page English introduction to the exhibits including the complete text of President Milliard Fillmore's open letter to the Emperor of Japan is available free of charge. Ask at the counter.
"I am desirous that our two countries should trade with each other, for the benefit both of Japan and the United States."
Ryosenji Treasure Museum
Ryosenji 3-12-12
Shichiken-cho, Shimoda
415-0023
Tel: 0558 22 0657
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When umbrellas go cup-shaped
おちょこにされる
Japan's rainy season, or tsuyu, generally happens between May and July. Japanese are very particular about getting rained on, and umbrellas go up at the slightest hint of droplets in the air. The past three or four days have also been quite gusty, meaning the sight of umbrellas - especially the 500 yen, convenience store, variety - turned inside out is a common one. There is even a special word for the phenomenon: ochako ni naru, or ochako ni sareru.
An ochako is a small sake cup, the two characters for the word being "boar" and "mouth" 猪口 - a combination that, nevertheless, is believed to be substitute characters used phonetically, not etymologically. (However, it is usually written using only hiragana.) The word is also used to mean "cup-shaped."
Thus, having your umbrella turned inside out is to have it made cup-shaped: the typically small circle of a base, under which you are haplessly standing, flaring out upwards on now ramrod-straight ribs towards a large-diameter rim.
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Japan's rainy season, or tsuyu, generally happens between May and July. Japanese are very particular about getting rained on, and umbrellas go up at the slightest hint of droplets in the air. The past three or four days have also been quite gusty, meaning the sight of umbrellas - especially the 500 yen, convenience store, variety - turned inside out is a common one. There is even a special word for the phenomenon: ochako ni naru, or ochako ni sareru.
An ochako is a small sake cup, the two characters for the word being "boar" and "mouth" 猪口 - a combination that, nevertheless, is believed to be substitute characters used phonetically, not etymologically. (However, it is usually written using only hiragana.) The word is also used to mean "cup-shaped."
Thus, having your umbrella turned inside out is to have it made cup-shaped: the typically small circle of a base, under which you are haplessly standing, flaring out upwards on now ramrod-straight ribs towards a large-diameter rim.
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Nagoya Friends YUKATA PARTY! - THIS SATURDAY at Red Rock 7/17
Nagoya Friends is holding it’s 92nd party in Nagoya!
at
- Date: SATURDAY July 17th, 2010
- Time: 18:30 - 21:00
- Drinks will be served between 6:30pm-8:45pm.
- Place: The Red Rock (2F Aster Plaza Building, 4-14-6 Sakae, Nagoya (very close to Sakae Station)
- Fee: EVERYONE 2500 yen!! 1st 15 foreigners 2000 yen each!
- Dress code: Anything (Casual, etc)
- Reservations: Not necessary but recommended and appreciated. Just show up to the party!
- Over 25,000 Yen worth of exciting prize giveaways each month!
- Great Prizes for best Yukata!!!
- There will be free food along with free drinks (beers, wine, cocktail drinks and juices).
Our party is not a dinner party, but we will have light food & snacks. Quantities are limited, so please come early! Please free to come alone or bring your friends. EVERYBODY is welcome to join regardless of nationality/gender. Reservation is greatly appreciated. About 125-150+ people are expected to attend. Approximately 55% female and 45% male, 70% Japanese and 30% non-Japanese. Pictures from previous Nagoya Friends Parties.
Map & Directions
Contact: 080-3648-1666(Japanese) 080-5469-6317(English)
Get off at Sakae Station [Exit #13]
The Red Rock (2F Aster Plaza Building,
4-14-6 Sakae, Nagoya (very close to Sakae Station)
The Red Rock is located behind the Chunichi Building in the Sakae business/shopping district.
Subway access from Sakae Station (serving the yellow and purple lines) Exit 13. It’s a big station connected to a huge underground shopping mall so you’ll need to do a little underground walking.
We’re also just a couple of minutes’ walk from the Tokyu and Precede hotels, and a 10 minute walk up Hirokoji Street from the Hilton Hotel in Fushimi.
| Train Directions |
| From Nagoya Stn. take the Higashiyama Subway line to Sakae Station (GET OFF at Sakae Station!!) Take exit #13 and then walk straight AWAY from Hirokoji-Dori for about 3/4 of a block. TURN LEFT Red Rock is on the right side of the street in the middle of the block. Look for the sign on the sidewalk. |
| Sakae |
| Sakae Station |
| Higashiyama Line |
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Happiness Realization Party
幸福実現党
The Happiness Realization Party, founded in May 2009, is the political organ of the Happy Science religious movement. Happy Science is a sci-fi religion founded by Ryuho Okawa, a former high-flying trader turned charismatic religious leader who claims to be a reincarnation of the Buddha.
The Happy Science movement has been extremely successful. With a law degree from Tokyo University and a finance degree from the City University of New York,“Master Okawa” is obviously brainy; having set himself up as a literal demi-god, he is obviously ambitious; and, having attracted enough followers to have well over 200 centers in Japan and over 30 overseas, he is obviously charismatic and convincing.
The beliefs of Happy Science as outlined on its website are an untidy package of banal New Age platitudes: basically watered down Buddhism with plenty of sci-fi seasoning: “The ‘Real World’ is multi-dimensional. Human spirits exist from the 4th dimension to the 9th, with each having different qualities.” etc etc. (Incredibly, by the way, Tokyo’s free what’s-on magazine, Metropolis, published an article on July 9 about Happy Science that lauds the organization for its “heroic attempt to inject religious values back into modern society.” What other oddball cults has Metropolis magazine raved about in the past, we wonder?)
Little can then be expected then, of the Realization of Happiness Party, and little, indeed, does it deliver. I came across the Party campaigning inGinza and, the next week, in Akihabara. “Doctor Nakamatsu” was the candidate for the proportional representational seats for which the elections were held last week. He paraded in absurd fairytale finery while a recording of him singing his election song in a quavery voice to the tune of “Doe, A Deer” played from his election van.
His young minions paraded behind him holding to their faces the paper masks of Doctor Nakamatsu that were the feature accoutrements of his campaign: a major platform of which is to ... lower taxes! The Party also milks the Japanese public's fear of China and North Korea for all it's worth by predicting a nuclear attack on, and the colonization of, Japan by either or both of these powers.
The dignity of Japanese politics got some respite in the first half of this decade with Junichiro Koizumi, but the lid is clearly back off. The encouraging thing is that “Doctor Nakamatsu” got only 30,000 votes. Er, did we just say “encouraging”?
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The Happiness Realization Party, founded in May 2009, is the political organ of the Happy Science religious movement. Happy Science is a sci-fi religion founded by Ryuho Okawa, a former high-flying trader turned charismatic religious leader who claims to be a reincarnation of the Buddha.
The Happy Science movement has been extremely successful. With a law degree from Tokyo University and a finance degree from the City University of New York,“Master Okawa” is obviously brainy; having set himself up as a literal demi-god, he is obviously ambitious; and, having attracted enough followers to have well over 200 centers in Japan and over 30 overseas, he is obviously charismatic and convincing.
The beliefs of Happy Science as outlined on its website are an untidy package of banal New Age platitudes: basically watered down Buddhism with plenty of sci-fi seasoning: “The ‘Real World’ is multi-dimensional. Human spirits exist from the 4th dimension to the 9th, with each having different qualities.” etc etc. (Incredibly, by the way, Tokyo’s free what’s-on magazine, Metropolis, published an article on July 9 about Happy Science that lauds the organization for its “heroic attempt to inject religious values back into modern society.” What other oddball cults has Metropolis magazine raved about in the past, we wonder?)
Little can then be expected then, of the Realization of Happiness Party, and little, indeed, does it deliver. I came across the Party campaigning in
His young minions paraded behind him holding to their faces the paper masks of Doctor Nakamatsu that were the feature accoutrements of his campaign: a major platform of which is to ... lower taxes! The Party also milks the Japanese public's fear of China and North Korea for all it's worth by predicting a nuclear attack on, and the colonization of, Japan by either or both of these powers.
The dignity of Japanese politics got some respite in the first half of this decade with Junichiro Koizumi, but the lid is clearly back off. The encouraging thing is that “Doctor Nakamatsu” got only 30,000 votes. Er, did we just say “encouraging”?
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